tricksters and weavers

sunday morning...diva dog is at grandma's...it's early and crispy. i put on a tshirt, sweatshirt and windjacket - mostly for the large velcro pocket in front to hold keys, phone and cigarettes. time for diva's favorite walk, but just me. it's about 40 minutes - across the street and onto the path, then head around the pond/lake and into the woods. birds call, squirrels chirp and fuss. nuts hit me in the head as i walk under the tree canopy. my mind is restless. i feel slightly grouchy and out of sorts. who knows why? i want to know the source of my dis-ease. i start to ruminate, then realize that is the wrong path entirely. focusing on the the dis-ease will only perpetuate it. so i smile, and begin to look carefully at the abundance around me, and give gratefullness that i am able to share in it. i ask, "who will walk with me?" and wait to sense a presence or a gentle nudge in my heart from a beloved. a minute later, i spy a butterfly on the path...obviously hurt and trying to make it to the grass. i put my finger down for it to crawl on, with the intention of being a taxi for it. instead, it crawls up my hand and onto my sleeve. it's just magnificent! when it's wings are oulled tight together, it has the markings of a monarch, but the colors are slightly off....a two-fer - my "nikita sign" is a monarch, and this is the same "trickester" butterfly i was just reading about somewhere. when it opens it's wings flat, oh, the majesty! a black heart forms - half on 1 side of the body, half on the other. around this are small white squares that form a link around the heart. beneath that, the most amazing green/blue opalescent color i've ever seen. the butterfly is nicknamed "trickster" because it mimicks the monarch colors, and predators leave it alone. the monarch being a nasty, bitter meal for butterfly eaters. so, my walk buddy will be nikita, and my thoughts go back to ideas i started about doing an art piece about the coyote/trickster. the coyote is known as the trickster in Native American culture. haven't researched enough why, but it is. i wait a few minutes for the butterfly to gather it's wits and fly, but nothing doing. it crawls further up my sleeve. since it's wing has a chunk out of it near the bottom, i know it won't be flying anytime soon, and won't make the migration, which should be going on now. so i start walking again, figuring any minute we'll say goodbye. as i walk, the butterfly crawls down and perches on my finger, it's legs wrapped tight. it faces the front to see where we're headed, then turns and faces me. it's antennae wave a bit, every so often, and stroke my finger. then it turns back. when we get to a patch of sun, it spreads it's wings flat to pull in some warmth to it's body. i pause while he tans a bit. then on. 45 minutes later, i am almost home,and can't wait to show aunt debbie my new amazing friend. she'll "get it." she's amazing all on her own - very spiritual, Native American heritage, Feng Shui Master, artist, and very together. about 5 mins from the house, my butterfly starts walking up and down my finger, so i stop. he turns and faces me, opens and closes his wings a few times, and with a final wave, flies up into the tree. he could fly the whole time! he just wanted to walk with me. so now i knew that sunday was to be magical. i went home and called debbie...in the middle of the conversation she yells, "oh my God! Stevie Nicks is on tv and i think she was wearing your cape!" SHUT UP! so we sit breathing on the phone waiting for another glimpse, but no. we said goodbyes, and i picked up the paper to check...yes, i admit, the bride section. i also check the obits, since i have a better chance (at this age) of finding a familiar name there. nothing and nothing. ok. so i feel like i need to go somewhere - but where. The Pottery Fair leaps out at me from the STARS magazine. oh yeah! art AND nature all in one. i am so there. i guilt the husband into going, so i won't feel like i deserted him and we head out on the most perfect day. one of the first things i see is a bowl that i must own in my lifetime. my throat tightens, as tears fill my eyes - the colors sing to me....peach, blue, pink...which is strange, since i tend to be drawn to more earthy greens and rust. i look closer, and it's part of a series called Trickster! ah HA! again trickster! someone has put a tag in it that belongs to another bowl, and it says $22 instead of $220. i must find the artist...this can't be so. i look - Oh My God! this magnificent piece is made by an artist that my angel-friend Georgia JUST told me she wanted me to meet! hmm. twilight zone music, please. so i hunt her down, and the second i introduce myself, there is an instant connection. unexplainable. but palpable. she starts making all these words about loving the box i made for Georgia and blah blah blah. i'm blown a-way. tears form again in my eyes. hair stands up on my arms. i feel so validated and flattered and any good thing you could imagine. the creator of my bowl loves my work! yikes! we talk of a project upcoming and other things, but the energy is unreal. this is an Important Moment. my gut says this is the start of Something. but more like the continuation of something started ages ago and once again here. she has to go work at a booth, and we regretfully go our own ways for the time being. as i turn to go find my husband, i see an old friend from radio. we get chatting a bit, and i meet his wife. after all these years, i finally meet her! she is wonderful! grounded, warm, personable. she is earth. i like her a lot. he and i talk briefly about how we enjoyed working together, and he mentions how he feels like it was a missed opportunity for the station that they let me slip through their fingers. the 4 of us walk down the big hill to our cars, and i have a sense that the Weaver of All Things has been making a cloth that day, to be continued. threads of this and that being warped and wefted in....past and future being blended...things about to be, and things that were, that may be yet again. who knows? but the peace that had eluded me hours before had settled into my bones again - a sure sign of Magic. and if all of that wasn't enough, a free Harry Potter book was bestowed upon me...Potter at the Pottery Fair! Magic and more magic. so hit me over the head with it, just in case i'm not clear on the point! i am truly, immensely humbled every single minute in every single fiber of my being. i feel like i'm radiating good things. as the seasons have begun to change, so i sense a change in things to come. was it just last week that humidity and heat were pushing at my bones, challenging me to walk across the parking lot? and now, a snip to the air. fast fast are the changes. and so the feeling in my spirit - that changes will be coming fast. good things. like, tugging- on- a- parent's- hand -'cause -you- promised- we'd- go- to- the- circus fast. the urging to move to the next level, tempered by patience to wait for the path to become clear. what an exciting time. what an absolutely wonderful moment in my time. no, it hasn't been all cherries and peas....i've had some moments lately where i'd just as soon sleep the day away, or just felt so incredibly ordinary that i wonder who made the art that sits on my bookshelf. but i remember the Promise and smile. and feel truly blessed all over again. hey - thanks for reading. thanks for (hopefully) not thinking i'm incredibly self-absorbed. it's just all so new. so fresh. so very very chocolate. L