Best Kept Sacred Secret
Posted Monday, Jun 29th, 2009 at 10:43pmI just got back from a trip to Ohio with Sage and Annie. I don't know what it is about Ohio, but part of me feels at home there - it's a quiet spiritual part of me that breathes a sigh of relief driving through the abundant Ohio corn fields and gazing at the dusk's smattering of fireflies. And those Ohio lightening storms can't be beat! I drove 1,100 miles around the state visiting old friends and special places. I find it very moving that people I haven't seen in 20+ years still remember me and seem to care for me. I know they are dear to me. Stella Burnes, who was part of the Soup Kitchen Community, invited me to her home and showed me her photo album that included a picture I took of her 25 years ago. She also had a wedding picture of Bud and I and baby pictures of Sage and Annie. What a miracle how dear we remain to each other.
Here are some highlights:
Meeting with a group of people who I worked with in the eighties to stop the testing production and deployment of nuclear weapons. Also Sister Alberta and Bea who worked with me at the Soup Kitchen:
Remember that these are some of the folks who won us Ohio in the 2008 elections!
Here is a dear friend who I worked with at the Friends of the Homeless Women's Shelter. She has drawing that I made for her 21 years ago still up in her bedroom! Her name is Sophronia Bozeman. Isn't that the greatest name?
Here's her daughter Angela who I also worked with:
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Right behind Angela's head is a drawing I made. It sits on their mantle.
Here is Stella who is recovering from a broken hip. Of all the people in the Community Kitchen community - she is the one who has stayed in touch:
Here is another dear friend, Erin Salva. We are god-related in some curious way because we are each the other's son's godmother. I was in Ohio to witness her son's wedding. In this picture she is in front of a garden she is growing exclusively for a food bank/pantry. Her soul is golden.
Here is the blessed couple, Karl and Dayna Salva (I never saw a couple more meant for each other - they dated since 8th grade!!!):
Erin took the kids and I to an authentic Amish Auction. Here's a picture I sneaked (I wasn't sure how picture taking would be received) You can see Sage glaring at me! They are auctioning off baked goods. I bid on and won - cinnamon rolls, a pie, pear butter, peach jam and cashew brittle! I paid $4 for a pie and someone else paid $5 for a live calf!
Here's a picture of Annie crawdad catching!
But let me get to my Best Kept Sacred Secret: the Serpent Mound. this place is holy, beautiful, mysterious and elegant. It is a 1/4 mile long mound in the shape of a serpent swallowing an egg. I both loved and was saddened by how little recognition it gets as a sacred sight. When the kids and I went it was offically closed but we snuck in and relished its power and beauty. The serpent's head faces the sunset at summer solstice and we were honored to be there a half a day after that. Believe it or not it is located on the raised middle of a meteor crater! Talk about power!
Here is the serpentine body and some of the head swallowing an egg shape:
Here is a picture of Sage and Annie so you can get a sense of the height of the mound:
Here is the egg shape:
Here is Annie dancing in the spiral tail:
Here is a ridiculous confluence of signage that somehow underscores the Serpent Mound's under appreciated holy status (Is this a bad thing?)
For more info on the Serpent Mound see:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serpent_Mound
I feel so grateful for this rich life and for these dear friends!