feeling blessed again….

so, i froze my ass off last night. as one of my fire family stated "wow, this is the most fun you can have getting frostbite". heh.

we had a show last night. it was an outdoor show in weather that was approximately 20 degrees, give or take a few icicles =) it was a smallish show, not too many people wanted to brave the weather to see this crazy group of freaks spin fire, but i suppose we were the only warm ones on the whole street =) we made our own bonfire. heh. there’s something entirely unique about spinning fire in the winter that i knew i missed, but didn’t realize how much until we did this show. last year, we performed at northstar, a local ski resort, on new years eve. all of the sensations and everything are different performing in cold weather. instead of figuring out how nekkid you can get and still not get any of your jiggly bits burned, like in the summer or on the playa, you are trying to think about how you can not feel your face but still smile…..how many layers CAN you get on and still look sexy? how many layers can you peel off and not cause permanent damage to the aforementioned jiggly bits? can i effectively spin fire with my gloves on? two sets of gloves on? (this really isn’t a concern for me because i HAVE to wear gloves with one of my fire tools or burn my hands, but i did appreciate anew the coverage they afforded my cold hands).

hot pizza, coffee, and cider tastes MUCH better when it’s freezing outside and the slice of pie you take from the box is steaming and fresh with gooey cheese goodness. people with backpacks carrying warm liquid goodness should be sainted, i am sure. trying to figure out if the smoke rising is coming from your breath or your fire tools is an entirely unique experience. so, you get the point. it’s also a great good to have one of our members (who is an attorney) have his office a block away from the festivities so we could defrost between sets.

the bottom line, however, is that it was FUN. this crazy, zany, dysfunctional fire family of mine, i adore them. i hope i always feel about them the way i do right now, because this feeling, this is good. not one of them is perfect (nor am i), but we all share the love of this crazy art form and i think we all genuinely care for each other. i sometimes think the last year would have been much, much more difficult for me if i didn’t have these people around me, just being who they are, but accepting me for who i am.

one of our members had a really close call on a car accident on his way home last night. i am glad he’s okay. today, i remain grateful for my life and the people in it.

happy friday, everyone.

*peace* 

returned, from adventure….

 last week i spent with my honey in austin, texas. a good friend also moved there recently. i hope things work out for her. she has a man who loves her, but it’s very different there from anything she’s used to. people are strange, as jim morrison would say….

i saw lots of cool stuff in austin, things i’d not seen before. i had never been to a presidential museum and was able to visit the lbj presidential museum. it was very interesting and i bought a book about lbj during his white house years. i admire what he accomplished and feel bad that his enduring legacy seems to be the vietnam war when he gave this country to so very many other wonderful programs.

i also visited a cave that was cut off from human existence or interference for millions of years. it was very cool. there were little tiny bats hibernating on the ceiling. individual bats only, that we saw. they are such fascinating little creatures. their appendages and features are so tiny, but so detailed. one bat even had little condensation droplets on his fur, and he was most definitely in a deep sleep.

i saw the stevie ray vaughn memorial down by the river. that was cool and it felt good to pay my respects to someone who died way too young.

i saw how my husband is when he’s at a conference. much like he is at home, he likes to hibernate and not go many places. heh. that was somewhat amusing. i was afraid he would be mad at me for wanting to scamper madly around this place i don’t know if i will visit again but he seemed okay with it and glad that i wasn’t mad that he didn’t want to do anything.

i was indoctrinated into the ethos of texas state history, which i have to admit is a little frightening for me. i also saw a mexi-arte museum that made me feel like i was honoring my roots, even if i took a phone call while in the gallery space. i was the only one there, and i thought how sad that more people don’t enjoy such things that are low cost or free.

we stayed at a swanky resort-type place compliments of the government who sends all sorts of army it types to these conferences for networking squared….networking and talking about it stuff. heh.

i also ate some awesome food. i had texas bar-b-que, and tex mex food that was yummy and tasted very different from stuff that we have here. i also had some really yummy greek chicken, hummus, and tofu fries. leave it to americans to find a way to make tofu unhealthy. fry it up, baby =) they were good though, served with a sweet and sour sauce for dipping. i couldn’t eat them all, though =)

the university in austin was amazing. relatively speaking, i work at a smallish university, but it seems that austin and the university have grown up together in a symbiotic, incestuous relationship, sharing space and all being the center of this community. i saw a student services building that looked like a sky scraper to me. parking there was REALLY outrageous, i should tell people here who complain about parking. more than three hours in a garage is a minimum of $8. there are lots of city buses that go all around there. and so many people, in that small area! all with longhorn clothing on, it seems almost cult-like. perhaps it’s just so striking because it’s ORANGE.

i think i last wrote about blood moon, and there’s more to write, but perhaps not today. today feels nice. it is bitterly cold here. it’s been almost a year since my mom passed away, and i am feeling grounded and generally happy. i don’t really believe in regret, but wonder if i did everything for her i could. i miss her still, but know she would be proud of how we are conducting our lives. i feel her sometimes, around me.

i decided to have christmas spirit this year. i bought a live tree and decorated it. i have been making cookies, and cooking a lot. it feels nice. my sister doesn’t live with me anymore, and this, too, i think is a good thing. she seems happy doing what she’s doing, and as much as we still depend on each other, i think it’s healthy for us to exist on our own, too.

that’s all for today.

peace.