B is for Bear

Oh my goodness! I just wrote a post in Microsoft Word but didn't post it yet. Instead I went to http://www.dailywriting.net/Alphabet/B.html and read the new entry. What can I say? We are tuning in to each other uncannily--pretty soon we may not even need to post--we'll already know what each other is thinking!

So happy to be here, fellow travellers and seekers. I thank you all for sharing your creations, and I thank Heather for sharing the magic. Here's my First Labor:

On a walk just now, happy over the prospect of joining this pilgrimage to the Lemurian Abbey, I greeted first a huge orange dragonfly that buzzed over my head, and then a yellow-and-black Zebra swallowtail butterfly—the first I’ve seen this summer. Feeling doubly blessed and by now just groovin’ along, I continued out of the bright sun and into the deep shade of tall evergreen trees. Along this woodland path, my mood shifted as I noticed the stout blackberry vines reaching out from their thickets to snare unwary travelers. A stranger passed by me, both of us averting our eyes as people are wont to do here. From high up in the canopy, an unseen bird trilled. Mystery is where you find it, I thought. And where did I find it? This pocket of nature was on the campus of a huge software corporation!

It’s amazing what synchronicities can occur when one can tune in to the wavelength of the Universe (not always easy for me). Here is one I’d like to share with the residents of the Abbey: the beginning of an unfolding story about my unseen companion in this new Soul Food Cafe adventure (unseen only in that I don’t have the means right now to post a photograph of her, but I will see to that as soon as I can borrow a digital camera).

I found her years ago in the display window of a fascinating little shop in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, a 500-year-old city where I used to live. Handmade by doll artist Sandy David, she sat stolidly amid the feathered boas, gushes of brilliantly colored silk, and exotic embroidered fantasies of this unique shop called Origins. (If you’re ever in Santa Fe, do drop by Origins. For creative people, it’s one of the wonders of the world.) Though she’s crudely, artlessly stitched together, clad only in her fur and a gingham apron, she is nevertheless holistic. She has Presence.

For years, she held her space in that display window, while moneyed globe-trotters flitted into the shop to buy one-of-a-kind glad rags and ethnic jewelry. Every year, when I made my own pilgrimage to the city I love, I found some excuse to wander by that window to see her again. Like the Velveteen Rabbit that was loved into life, this Bear doll had been gifted with spirit by her creator, Ms. David. Was I the only one to recognize that?

Years went by, and no one bought her. I would even go into the store and apologize for “just looking” so I could take a closer look at her. There was a baby bear tucked into one of her apron pockets. And a price tag: $200. Too dear for me but I lusted for her nevertheless.
(To be continued)