2012 Reveal

Since Alexandra Franzen’s “If you really knew me, you’d know…” post  I’ve seen a number of people playing along and have been charmed by all of them.  I love random odd facts about people.

And so here’s my take on the game – 2012 facts about me.   Ok, maybe that IS excessive, but I do want to give a nod to our retiring year, so how about this — 20 + 12 factoids.  That’ll work.

• I keep a large bottle of soap bubble mixture on my front porch.  It delights me to sit and blow bubbles when I’m having my morning coffee, and I especially like aiming them at unsuspecting people walking by.  Dogs delight in them as well.
• I like to write messages on the soles of my feet.  I think of them as little prayers placed wherever I walk.
• I consider my life now as proof positive there are happy endings.
• I love feathers.  I feel blessed by every one I find, and I keep little vases of them all around.
• I haven’t found a kale recipe I like, and I’ve tried a LOT.
• I believe Spirit speaks in many languages and I love keeping my eyes and ears open.
• I celebrate the first day of Spring when it’s warm enough to enjoy an iced coffee.
• Since 2001 I’ve been keeping track of the dates of my first annual Spring sighting of robins.  I’m not sure why it delights me so but it does, so I keep doing it.
• My first business, Lunar Dreams, was a partnership.  I LOVE making jewelry but totally hated selling, which worked out okay because my partner was so gifted at it.  While I was busy downing Rescue Remedy by the bottlefuls because I was so traumatized at the thought of talking to customers, she was nonchalantly charming them all.  (Yay you Donna – I love you!)
•  I have a crown and a scepter.  Yes I do!
• I use flower essences daily.  And my life is better for it.
• I have two wonderful cats, Amaterasu Solaria and Jupiter.  But they don’t get along at all.  So each reigns supreme on a separate floor of the house. We’re all happier that way.
• Eating breakfast out is my favorite, but I think pancakes taste best for supper.
• There are two childhood toys I adored and continue to look for even to this day.  The first was a tin pie that when cranked played the nursery rhyme Four and Twenty Blackbirds while birds popped out of slots in the pie. And now you know how my love of Crows began!   The second was really more of a party-favor kind of thing.  Small little scallop shell halves taped together with thin paper strips.  When you put the shell in a glass of water the paper tape would dissolve, the halves would open and up would float a little paper flower on a string.  I was always totally enchanted.  It’s what I imagined a mermaid garden would be like.  They used to come in little packages of three I think, and I’d portion them out – trying to extend the delight for as long as I could manage.
• I’m directionally dyslexic.  Don’t count on me to rescue you if you’re lost or give any kind of useful directions.  It’s hopeless.
• I love holey stones. I have a collection of them and I love each one, but there is one that is truly magical – both in its appearance and in the circumstances it came to me.
• I love make herbal beads.  My mother had a string of beads made from rose petals which she purchased when she was a young woman from a nun who was going door to door selling them.  I found the necklace and the story behind them quite magical.  How I wish I had those beads!  But I still remember their delicate scent.
• I love anagrams.  Bet you didn’t know my name anagrams out to Wore Herb Bead.  How perfect is that?  And Rehab Word Bee.  Given my propensity to make up words for the sheer delight of it, that one totally makes me laugh.   Need an anagram server?  Try this one.
• I’ve always loved the night sky.  I can still remember being very very young and looking at all the stars and literally feeling awestruck.  It felt so big I almost couldn’t breathe. I still say hello to the moon every time I see her.  But I live in a city, on a very small plot of land, and with the city ambient light and the closeness of the neighbors roofs and trees, my patch of visible sky isn’t as dramatic as it once was.  But on a magical trip to Yosemite I once again saw the sky in that I-can’t-catch-my-breath-this-is-just-too-awesome way.  Delicious!
• My cousin and I spent our childhoods reading detective novels and dreaming of someday having a great mystery to solve.  We were always looking for treasures and secret compartments, and clues hidden in obscure places. No wonder I love making journals with hidden pockets and fold-out pages.  I can’t help myself.

• I have little altars everywhere.  All things deserve to be celebrated and honored and held sacred.
• I like the title Sacred Timekeeper that and dear friend once graciously bestowed upon me.  I love to observe rhythms and celebrate them, and that title gave me a sense of legitimacy in a time when my practices felt so out of line with those around me.  It was a big beautiful much-needed permission slip to own who I am that extended far beyond that one thing.  I will always be grateful for that gift.
• I have a chunk of Rose Quartz in every room in my house.
• I’m crazy in love with my husband – he may be the sweetest soul in the universe.  And perhaps almost as eccentric as I am.
• I love having answers a Google keystroke away, but nothing, nothing, beats the joy of being in the stacks of a large university library.
• I love apothecary chests and have a number of them.  So many little drawers to fill with treasures.  Heaven!
• According to the Chinese Nine Star Ki system I’m a 3.1.7.   That translates to Yang Wood, Water, and Yin Metal.
• My brother and I had a caterpillar, Herman, as our first pet.  Needless to say we learned about transformation early on in life.
• A cardinal rule for good sleeping in my world:  the window must be cracked open no matter what the weather.
• I always try to greet bees and butterflies and thank them for the pollinating prowess.
• I’m fascinated by tree bark.   If you are too you should check out this book – it’s amazing.
• The most wonderful restaurant experience I ever had was near Big Sur.  The food was great and the view was spectacular, but the best thing was spotting whales.  My heart felt cracked open with the beauty of it.

There you have it – a peek into my inner workings.  I think maybe the numbering is showing up a bit wacky.  At least it did when I previewed the post.  But trust me, there are 20 12 factoids.

Now it’s your turn.  Join in the fun.  I’d love if you’d share a fact or two.  Or if you’ve done your own blog post please share the link.