An evening with Dixon's Violin

 This current New Moon energy was intense for me again. Lots of anxiety, racing mind, relationship upheavals, emotional therapy sessions, etc. So Woodchuck and I took a much needed few hours together to see a concert. I had wanted to this person when he was in another local place, but couldn't find anyone to go with me, and I just didn't want to go alone. I wish now that I had, but everything worked out the way it was supposed to and it was a beautiful outcome.

On our recent anniversary trip to Plymouth, Indiana to walk around downtown, we stopped at The Rees theatre to look around outside and at their bulletin board of upcoming events. I am a sucker for old architecture, and this Art Deco, 1940's theatre made me swoon! We could only look at it from the outside, but were very interested in attending something there. In looking at the board, the same person I had wanted to see before was also going to be playing here! So we talked about it, and Woodchuck said he would go with me.

I bought our tickets, and the show was this past Friday evening. While I admit I wondered how parking would be, traffic, etc. I didn't feel anxiety about it like I normally would have. If I had to walk 5 blocks, I would! There's been A LOT of weird little (and some big) hiccups this week with electronics, bills, and more. Recent storms and heavy, heavy rains, split two or three trees here at home. They fell right along the driveway (the trees are on railroad property, though we take care of issues like this, and getting rid of the Tree of Heaven, etc.) Thankfully, the trees missed our sons car! But when I saw the mushrooms, I knew the night was going to be magickal! 

 We got there a bit early from when they said the doors would be open, and the process of figuring out who to give our tickets to was a tad confusing, but we got it worked out and I had scoped out the merchandise online beforehand and knew what I wanted to get! I have a woven tapestry-like bag that I attach pins to, and this one will be going on it! 

Woodchuck thought on his feet and asked if he could get a picture of me with Dixon! Something that didn't even cross my mind because I never want to invade people's personal space or privacy or peace. But I'm glad that he got it! Dixon just BEAMS joy!

We were so in awe of the space inside! Beautiful, clean, virtually flawless. The lobby that I am standing in the picture with Dixon feels small, and so for someone who can't handle crowds, this would be difficult when full, but we got lucky on this night! The blue light behind us is the concession stand, with a round window! Woodchuck got some popcorn and I got a little box of Junior Mints, then we headed in to find seats!

Not overly ornate, newly renovated, comfortable, and clean! What a beautiful, intimate space! They even showed a slideshow of the renovation process and WOW! We love that a place so run-down and empty for so long, got a new lease on life! You can tell that it really is the hub of the community! They have concerts, comedians, movie nights, and more. You can even rent out the facility! I had visions of some sort of Ghosts in the Theatre handmade market in October, a Positivity Vibe market in the Spring, a Solstice market in the Summer, and a Yulemas market in December. 😍

Dixon's show was ABSOLUTELY moving, healing, and magickal. There were a few times that each of us wanted to cry. Dixon's messages of love for yourself and humanity, living from the heart, letting yourself feel your emotions and then getting them out, were EXACTLY what was needed to be heard. There was no mistaking that we were MEANT to be here on this night, and together hearing it. Not only was Dixon's music and message beautiful, but the show was a color fest visually as well!   

                                                          

I am going to try and load at least one video from my phone to this posting. All of a sudden this Blog stopped supporting what I've loaded into my computer from the phone, so maybe if I try it from the phone directly it will work? Either way, I encourage you to look Dixon up! He's playing a lot of locations in Michigan, and a few others in surrounding states. You can buy merchandise from his website if you can't make it a show. He's hustling for his dream like a lot of others and we all need to support each other in some way. )O( store.dixonsviolin.com

Woodchuck and I wanted to get a picture with the lights outside, but I just couldn't get it to work very well, so I just took pictures of the lights, lol. BTW, that's an apartment up there at the top! I would LOVE to see what that looks like 😍

We headed home as the sun was dropping, rare for us to be outside, or even up and moving, at this time of day. We've fallen into a comfortable pattern of spending the evenings watching t.v., me stitching away and him sleeping in his recliner. The loss of our satellite t.v. signal (what's everyone else got? Because we are FED.UP. with Dish!) for over a week now has us realizing just how much we relied on that. We really, really enjoyed this concert, and the venue, and are hoping to get back to it again!

Here at home, heavy days and extreme heat have been ongoing for a few days now. We haven't heard anything from the excavation company about the pond, so we are taking a drive out there tonight when Woodchuck gets home from work. He did call the guy about the house design, and he didn't know the status of it and said he would check into it and call us the following day......and we didn't hear from him either. I warned Woodchuck that this is what it is going to be like when we start moving forward more with building. Honestly, it is not a process I am looking forward to. With these two guys not getting back to us, and the issues we had with the guy we hired a few years ago to clear the space for the house and put in the ingress/egress access to the watershed.....yeah, that can make this exciting step in life feel shitty real quick. Woodchuck is really good about staying up on people though, it's one of his annoying specialties that gets results 😂

The mushies are now in their 2nd stage. No longer cute, puffy tops, but wide, flat and more colorful. I THINK these might be Meadow Mushrooms, but I'm not sure.

A quick trip to the library also yielded a view of a Mayfly! These insects are beneficial to the aquatic eco-systems! 

Don't forget to check out Dixon's page! Don't forget to check out my new shoppe! The Etsy shoppe is down to 14 listings and I will be letting them expire and hopefully completely transitioning over to the Big Cartel site by the end of the year, if all goes as planned. If not, I will keep the Etsy shoppe for old listings and only debut the new items on the new site. Those things will be determine by YOU! If you don't want art, the art disappears. Simple as that. The Mushies art drop will be happening soon in August in the Big Cartel shoppe, so follow us on FB to see when it is live! www.facebook.com/offorestandheather  www.offorestandheather.bigcartel.com   www.offorestandheather.etsy.com shop.dixonsviolin.com

When you blame the full moon

 It was going to be a bit of a different week for me, as the co-worker who opens was going on vacation on Wednesday and Thursday and that left it up to me to open the bakery. Wednesday went fantastic! Thursday was a shit show from the get go and I had to call the cops on my first customer of the day. From there, the downward spiral continued and I ended up in my bosses office on Friday crying, Saturday didn't go much better, and Sunday found me getting my head bit off by him for doing a job duty but not at the time he wanted it done. How do I sell donuts without donuts in the case. I ask? While his daughter stands at the register texting right in front of the customers and nothing gets said to her. Woodchuck also started crap with me via text while I was at work. This does not align with my purpose, my needs, and how I want to be surrounded in peace. Why do people not realize that we have the power to make the world we want, but it's not going to happen when people feed the dysfunction and what they don't want. It has taken me so long to become the person I am, one that fights against falling or being pushed down into holes each day, one who wants to feed and spread love, positivity and light, and I am getting buried each day by just the opposite. As usual, I am holding on longer than is best for my mental health, but I can't leave until I have another job lined up and I am hoping that things get better in the meantime. 

What is life like as an empath? As someone who cannot be around negativity for long periods of time or handle being blindsided by it when I am kind? If you can imagine a tornado around me, a personal one at that. As it swirls, parts of me are being tossed out, but instead of the tornado being a negative force, mine is positive. The parts of me that are flung are my love, joy, kindness, etc. But when those parts are flung out, it leaves an opening in the tornado for a short time, and when there are holes in my aura, things make it in. Things that make me feel icky, things that bring me down, hurt me, things that are not my fault yet that make me suffer until I can build that tornado up again and close the holes. 

I can feel things just walking into a room, I can see the things that nobody else does, I can love in a way that most cannot, I can see both sides of a situation, I continually make things easier for others (or try to at least) while I am torn apart along the way. I don't ask for thanks, I don't ask for anything other than the basics of being safe and not to be taken advantage of. It's a battle I continually fight and always feel like I am losing at. How do I live in this world, how do I participate in a society where I am having a hard time finding others like myself. I need a safe place to land and a posse of positivity because friends, I am damn tired. It may be unrealistic of me in the standards of current society to want peace in my life, a safe haven, days filled with positivity and love, but if it's true that we create our own reality then it should not be out of my reach. It may not be important to others, but it's a GD prerequisite of my daily life moving forth. So mote it be )O(

Woodchuck and I made a trip to the land after work on the day that I had to call the cops on the customer, thinking that it would make me feel better. He worked on sealing the concrete floor in the barn, and I was sticking nearby and clearing invasives along the side of the driveway. Most of this had been done within the past couple of the years, but has grown back and the neighbor moved a small pull- along trailer and that opened up new spaces for me to get to. 

I was immediately overwhelmed. Such a small speck in the Universe fighting against such large forces and feeling like I am doing it all alone. Going back to the same spaces over and over again and circling and chasing my own tail, But this is important, so I jumped in and started working on a large patch of bittersweet that is choking out our ditch along the property line and grabbing hold of a Poplar. I did what I could and moved on to find more honeysuckle, autumn olive, multi-flora rose, and something that I haven't seen elsewhere out there yet.....burning bush.

And just stood there and cried. The place that has been my source of peace and healing is getting overrun with crap and I'm struggling to fight it and keep it under control. I take breaks, I cry, but then I jump right back in and keep going. It has always been me against the world and I am a moonchild, a Keeper of Light, carrier of my ancestors love and knowledge and at the end of the day that is most important and wins over all of the bullshit that humans keep slinging around at each other and all of the inhabitants of the blue marble we are all on.

I still honor the Full Moons and all of the chaos we feel under them. I see the beauty, I see the magick, I see the greater plan. Tear me down along the way, I will only be rebuilt stronger. Darkness will not overtake the Light that we bring and a balance needs to be found in so many areas of the world. Love will find you, it will find me, we will heal and we will carry on the battle. I will stand beside Darkness because it does not scare me, it only motivates me to create the shadows that Light brings when it shines on. )O(