Oct. 31, 2024: Blessed Samhain!

image courtesy of StockSnap via Pixabay.com

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Dark Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

Samhain

You can read about the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.

There’s a post about a special reading I do every Samhain for the year ahead over on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that on Tuesday, I also read the next book for review, because the review is due today.

In addition to a lack of sleep, yesterday was also the day before the dark moon, which tends to be my lowest energy day of the month. It feels weird to have Samhain on a dark moon instead of a full moon, but that’s the way the planets move. Literally.

I also forgot to mention what absolute PITAs both Charlotte and Bea were during Tuesday night’s rehearsal. Charlotte, of course, believes ZOOM is all about her, so she was all over the place – popping up behind me, sitting on my lap, walking back and forth so only her tail was visible on screen. She climbed on the tops of chairs. She tried to march across the fireplace mantel.  Bea was peeking to see what was going on, and then playing with her loudest toys and banging around as much as possible. Thank goodness for the Mute button.

I mean, it was kind of funny, but. . .

Anyway, I headed out early to the RMV (known as the DMV in most other states). I brought in my current car registration and had a huge file of insurance, lease, and other paperwork (because she with the most paperwork wins). Didn’t need any of it. I was in and out with my new sticker in less than five minutes. I know there are lots of RMV/DMV jokes, but everyone here is so nice.

Home, got to work on the tarot spreads/photos for the post on Cerridwen’s Cottage. Tessa “helped” and I had to use several backgrounds before I found one that worked. I really have to sort out uploading from the digital camera. DropBox screwed everything up, but I’ve gotten rid of it, so I should be able to do it. The camera photos will be better than those on my phone.

It was afternoon before I could turn any attention to script coverage, which meant I was in somewhat of a pickle, with so many on deadline. But I turned around the five coverages that were due first thing this morning, and I have one small one for this afternoon. If some more come in, and I can do another couple today without stress, good for me. I hope some more come in for the start of tomorrow’s pay period, although that will mean working through the weekend again.

Put in a Chewy order. Am debating whether to put in a Target order or go down there this weekend, because there are also a couple of things they carry that I need to see in person before deciding whether or not I want them. Things I’ve tried to sort more locally, but can’t. The Staples in Pittsfield is closing. Not a surprise, because they rarely had what I needed, and I couldn’t order from them because they insist that the CITY of North Adams is “rural” and want to slap a $13.95 “rural delivery” fee on everything. And you can’t order something to go to a specific store for pickup anymore. Nope, nope, nope. There is a Staples in Bennington still; otherwise I have to go to Albany or Troy.

I did not get the monthlong residency in Tennessee, which is actually okay because of some other stuff I have going on. I would have liked the money (it offered a stipend), but it also frees up a stretch of time to go after a couple of other longer-term freelance jobs I’ve eyed that may serve the longer-term plan better.

As I said to a friend lately, “throw the spaghetti at the wall, and see what pays best.”

To say I am worried about the election is an understatement, but so are a lot of people, so at least we can all lean on each other.

I went to bed early and slept for 10 hours, which means I feel more like a functioning human again.

Meditation this morning. Then some writing (and proofing STRANGERS, which came back formatted for its galley proofing), a couple of errands, writing the book review, and a small script coverage. If more come in, great. If not, I can concentrate on Samhain.

I didn’t want to put up an altar for the dead at the same time as my mom’s 100th birthday – that was a little macabre. So I’m putting it up today, for the ceremonies over the next few days. This Samhain feels like a big turning point on multiple levels.

I just hope next week brings the transformation those of us with brains and hearts want, and for which we’ve worked.

Have a good one.