...Wishing you all a good End of Summer ...
Samhain

the final harvest done, bring in what you have collected,
stop your hunting drive for the months to come..
a time of rest, reflection and enjoyment of the fruits you have gained
elves, pumpkins, fire, the night and the blood of a plum.

set a place for your dead at your table tonight,
tell me tales of your ancestors and i will tell you about mine
slaughter that which you think will not make it through the winter
transform it into what will feed and nourish you, make it your shrine

let's extinguish our individual fires and come together in one
take a light from our common fire and relight your hearth
bond me to you and you to me
walking hand-in-hand, purify me

throw apples and nuts into the air high,
show me where they land
who will be my Lover, my Spouse?
how many children will descend in me from the sky?
tell me tonight, tonight i can understand.

run after the crows my child, show me in which direction they flew
Divine for me, tell me please - what will be new?

what to strive for in life..
Arundhati Roy, excerpt from her Come-September speech
thanks for pointing me to it Redz.

"The only dream worth having [...]is to dream that you will live while you're alive and die only when you're dead. [...]



"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget."

i just can't shake these words off me, they're not mine,
but how i wish they were, they speak for my soul, which i hear speak far too little.

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by

Clear the thistles and brambles
Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble'
Now there's a bubble of me
And it's floating in thee

Stand in the shade of me
Things are now made of me
The weather vane will say...
It smells like rain today

God took the stars and he tossed 'em
Can't tell the birds from the blossoms
You'll never be free of me
He'll make a tree from me

Don't say good bye to me
Describe the sky to me
And if the sky falls, mark my words
We'll catch mocking birds

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Laat zien wat er in jouw hart omgaat en verberg het niet, opdat ik kan laten zien wat er in mijn hart omgaat en kan zien waartoe ik in staat ben

(Roemi)

6.47pm the birds are back. they fly in swarms over my skylight windows, temporarily painting the sky black, letting streaks of evening grey through.
6.54pm their collective chatter is comforting and familiar. i am happy my background soundscape is filled again with nature's sounds, in overdose. drowning out the inane sounds from the television, drawing me out of my trance and into the world outside my window. a veritable conference of birds.

6.57pm the phone rings and a dear and distant friend calls to make an appointment. catch up tomorrow night, before the bass drowns out our speech and fills our spines and spirits. more familiar things to bring me back to myself.

i lie belly down on the carpet, eyes on the green turning brown outside my window. the birds are restless, jumping and twitching and chattering like there is no tomorrow. at first i thought it was hundreds, then i thought it was thousands. they own the trees. 3 trees at the most. jostled together, filling the trees with jubilant twitter, a cacophony of sound. now i think it must be a million. the trees are strong to hold them all.
children walk under the trees and vie for attention. they yell and squeal. the birds reduce their decibel for a moment as if to listen. the children walk on, the birds resume their boisterous conference.
how many more days until they leave my trees again. where will they go? back to familiar lands for the winter?
where am i going.
back into familiar things, familiar friends, familiar sounds, familiar chatter - will do very nicely for now.

Come you lost Atoms to your Centre draw,
And be the Eternal Mirror that you saw:
Rays that have wander'd into Darkness wide
Return and back into your Sun subside

The Bean, late Sept 2007, Roma
and Pip and Dom and the Vatican and our voices.. fascinating stuff. for those who care.
taken with mobile vlogging tools, during 2.5 hours post-conference visitation opportunity
Thanks Pip, Dom & Bean! Much love, xxx

Especially Bean the Phone Eater - sorry Pip, not YouTube, hope Blip.tv is good enough.. ;)
or view the smaller, less vague, phone version (loads Quicktime)

Pip, Dom & the Vatican, anyone?
phone version

and this one is for you ilan, up close and personal, as you hadn't seen any pics yet. Will video do nicely?
phone version

Always good to see Lucie
PICT0002, originally uploaded by NynkeKruiderink.

Acte de Presence @ Web2forDev
PICT0020, originally uploaded by NynkeKruiderink.

Acte de Presence @ Web2forDev
PICT0012, originally uploaded by NynkeKruiderink.