Renewal

  It is November 1st, 2019, and I am starting over again with this blog, and the Dedicant Path for Ár nDraíocht Féin, or ADF for short. A lot of things will be different going forward, and hopefully I will not "fall off the path" again! I am setting myself up a task to blog every Friday, like I did before. It's a good end of the week goal, I think.
  I have been participating, as much as I can, in Echo Summer's DP class on Google Classroom. She is doing a much better job than I was at keeping assignments going. The Study Group is still a thing, but it's pretty quiet now. I am unsure how to really proceed with it, but I am not gonna get rid of it either.
  Today begins the 9 Days of Brighid, hosted by Clann Bhride. It consists of 3 morning prayers/offerings/flame tending, 3 midday prayers/offerings, and 3 evening prayers, etc. I did it somewhat a few years ago, when they were starting it, and was able to keep up for a bit. Today I missed the morning prayers, but did do the midday ones, and hoping to remember to do the evening ones. The groups Book of Hours is lovely, and hopefully I will get the handwritten, illustrated version done that I started.
   We do have Northern Roots Grove's Samhain ritual, which is Sunday, and so looking forward to it. 
  It's cold out...and the skies are darkly grey. I both love, and hate, this time of year. I love the coziness of a warm home and blankets, rich soups and the fun of holiday movies and treats. I hate how dark it is. I have lived in the upper Midwest all my life, and I still hate when it gets dark so early. It makes my depressive episodes longer, and in general makes me feel snappier, crankier.
  This year I know will be especially hard. My husband is away at army chaplains school, and I won't get to see him until mid December. As we are moving in literally 2 months, I cannot decorate to help lighten the place. In fact, by the time it gets truly dark up here in Minnesota, I will have mostly bare walls, and boxes everywhere filled up with our lives. I do not thrive in chaos, and yet here we are.
  I will do what I can to make myself continue working on my Path...bullet journaling, the Google Classroom setup, writing in this blog. It's something that is fulfilling, and needs to be tended, just like a fledgling forest.

Awen,
Alyssa