Z is for...

Today is day twenty-six of the A to Z Challenge. It's our last day of this adventure!

Zephyrus is our topic for our last day together of the challenge.

Zephyrus is one of the Anemoi, or the Greek gods of the winds. Zephyrus ruled the west winds. He was considered the gentlest of the winds, bringing in the first breath of spring. As such, he was also considered the god of spring. Different stories have him with different wives; some stories say the rainbow goddess Iris is his wife. Others say the goddess Chloris (whose domain was flowers) is his wife and with her, he fathered Carpus. In yet another story, he fathered Achilles' horses (Xanthus and Balius) with the harpy Podarge.

I'm thinking that Zephyrus could bring a little more of the pretty spring, because the weather is rainy and dismal today. And it's making me sleepy and lethargic.

Y is for...

Today is day twenty-five of the A to Z Challenge!

We're almost there. :-)

Today's topic is Yule, or the Winter Solstice. This is the second Sabbat of the Wheel of the Year (the first was Samhain).

Yule is the celebration of the rebirth of the God, who as I mentioned in the Samhain post, died at Samhain. It's the longest night of the year, but it is the joyful celebration of the light's return. Many of today's modern Christmas decorations and symbols do harken to the time of this pagan holiday: evergreen boughs (the Druids believed they symbolized immortality), candles (the return of light and the Sun), the Yule Log, the decorated evergreen tree.

For me, Yule is a time of celebrating what I have and the promise of a new start. It's the opportunity to thank the God and Goddess for shining Their light into my life. It is joy and laughter and music with the people who mean the most to me, my family. Yes, it is also a time of gift-giving, but it's important to remember that the gift we are giving symbolizes the gift of life of the God. By giving a gift, we are honoring the person who is receiving it, because they are important to us, and we are honoring the Divine.

X is for...

Welcome to day twenty-four of the A to Z Challenge!

Today's topic is xylophone.

I was ten when we left Berlin and moved to Misawa Air Force Base in Japan. I was not thrilled with Mom's new assignment, because I got to experience an earthquake and a typhoon in my first week. I was more than ready for this particular tour of duty to be over.

I was in this music class with a teacher whose name I can no longer recall at my elementary school and we got to play with all these instruments to try to play a song. I got to play the xylophone. I loved it. I loved its sound. It kind of reminder me of this album Daddy used to play called Tubular Bells. So awesome.

Anyway, my love of music found a new outlet that day. I went from there to singing in the choir. Ah, the good old days. I sang in choir from 8th grade on (7th grade wasn't allowed in the choir, so I played the oboe in band that year). My poor parents went to choir concert after choir concert.

Do you have a fondness for an instrument or book or film that ignited a passion?

W is for...

Today is day twenty-three of the A to Z Challenge.

Today's topic is wonder.

I don't mean wonder in the sense if questioning or being curious. I mean the other sense of wonder. Being in awe of someone or something. Being dazzled by a sunset. Seeing the magic in the technology we have when compared to the past.

There isn't enough wonder in our world, in our lives.

I find wonder in so many simple moments. Sometimes I get giddy, because I get wrapped up in the our awesome world. Awesome in the original sense of the word, not the modern, "wicked awesome" sense.

Where do you find wonder? In a well crafted poem? The reflection of a mountain in a clear lake? The stars in the sky?

V is for...

It's day twenty-two of the A to Z Challenge!

Today's topic is vehemence. Or rather, that's the title of the poem I'm sharing today. This poem is from Pieces of the Soul, so you're getting a rare glimpse inside the book today.

vehemence

there aredays
i just want to roll back over
submerge into fantasy
forgetting the banality
of day to day existence

my life isn't horror
it's not even all that interesting
most days

it's the scary little dark part
deep in me
that i wish to avoid
that makes me huddle
small and childlike
the mask, the defense,
the armor that kept me safe
through the early years
the tumultuous years

the fiery, raging fury
which swept over all
and left naught in its wake -
not even ashes -
for it was so hot and bright

that sword, still sharp,
still gleaming bright
has been sheathed.

i havelittle need for

it now           

from time to time
it comes, unbidden,
a habit, an addiction
a double edged sword that
scars us both, victim and me

it's part of me

but it frightens me all the same