Mabon 2011

The other night I had a fantastic end of summer "celebration" with my daughter...I even managed to take a few pictures to celebrate.  We have the privilege to live close to an abandoned amusement park...very cool in its own right, and even better that I had actually spent many a pleasant summer day there when I was a kid.  My daughter recently got into checking out abandoned amusement parks online...so i thought bringing her to Rocky Point would be a very cool adventure.  Not that we had to break in or anything, they've recently reopened a small section of the park complete with walking path that takes you on a fantastic stroll by the shore line. 

We wandered around and looked at old things, took pictures of what was left to compare with pictures from its heyday online and we collected rocks and seashells while we stuck our toes in the water and "frolicked" on the beach. It was a little sad to see what had become of the midway and the giant dinner hall and it seemed an appropriate symbolic good bye to summer, as it's now time to say good bye to the carefree days and long nights of summer. 

Later we drove to the light house and pretended we were being sneaky as we walked up the giant gates with the stop signs and homeland security signs to get a better look, and then ended our night sitting on a bench eating dough boys and cheese fries over looking the bay.  We both agreed that our summer now felt complete and our sense of well being was uplifted after spending that time together.  It's a wonderful memory that we'll both cherish.

Tonight I have a small ritual planned and then we'll bury our protective witch bottle at the end of the driveway...it seems it has finally stopped bubbling! Our feast was last Sunday, and in retrospect it was definitely a good idea since my husband has worked every night this week, and is working both tonight and tomorrow night...so our last meal as a whole family was a good one.  Tonight's meal will be somewhat suspect, as are most of them when its just the girls home alone...i always feel a little bad cooking a whole meal when the husband isn't there with us.

I feel like the whole week has been filled with little symbolisms...most of the plants have been brought inside, since the frost threatens here and there....not so much now, of course, its muggy and gross right now...but last week it was almost there! I've been doing fall cleaning and washing the thick blankets for our beds and the warmer jackets...I think one of the reasons I do like fall so much is the sense of getting ready to "winter in" makes me appreciate my home and what I have so much more. To think that there are people who aren't as  fortunate as I to have a place to winter in is a little heart breaking.  This is just one of the many things that I am thankful for, all which will be mentioned in my ritual tonight.  Its funny how many things you can come up with when you sit down and make a thankful list for yourself.

Summer reflections...

Summer’s almost gone and I’m a little sad….as much as I like fall, it also signals another year older for my daughter. She started 8^th grade this year and I think it was kind of a bummer of a summer for her a little bit.  We weren’t able to do much that would be considered exciting this year…my husband having been laid off for 8 months and things being tight. 

At the beginning of the summer, just when school finished, we took a trip to Salem, MA, for a weekend and in true pre-teen fashion, she bitched the entire time we were there and we were all miserable, and then lamented because she complained the whole time and didn’t appreciate it like she should have.  Sigh…but I’ve had numerous reports from other parents that this seems to happen a lot, with all of them.

It was also rough for her the rest of the time a little too….she spends her days with my mother, who has reached that point in her early 60s where she is just losing it and can make everyone around her bonkers and frustrated on a regular basis…combine that with a know it all pre-teen and it’s a recipe for disaster. The ride home each night was very draining, having to listen to all the things that went wrong in her day. Of course, she also learned to shoot pool, drive a gator tractor and was able to spend her days lounging by the pool…but she’s not of the age where these things count just yet.

Most of our summer nights were spent watching the reruns of Little House on the Prairie…not exciting by any means but I had hoped that some of the little life lessons they taught would rub off on her, and they might have…at least she enjoyed watching it and we were able to spend time together as a family. I also think it was hard for her to hear about all the other fun things her friends were doing…one friend seemed to go away every other weekend.

And to top it off, we never made it to the beach….this I’m sad about.  But I’m hoping to rectify it this week, before summer “officially” ends.  If she will let me…sometimes her anxiety doesn’t let me do things I’d like to do, because the thought of anything out of the ordinary sends her into a spiral that is easier to just void than try to push through. I’m going to try to take a ride down to the ocean the last night of summer.  My husband is working the evening shift, and we’ll be able to say good bye to the season.  I’m hoping she’ll understand the symbolism of my last ditch effort to get her to the beach…even if it’s not  exactly how she wanted it to be.

On a more positive note, we created ourselves a witch bottle this weekend and will be burying it (hopefully) this weekend…something strange did happen to it though and I have to see how that’s going to pan out. It was sitting on the counter, and when I looked at it the next day, the metal top (Ball canning jar) was dented up…when I took off the cover…it was bubbling LOL and I have no idea why….so it now sits on my porch in a cup, and I’m patiently waiting for it to stop bubbling…I assume it will eventually.  I am glad I hadn’t gotten around to sealing it up with wax just yet.  I guess this is just another example of how hearth and home witchery really can be exciting…you never know what you’re going to make explode in the kitchen! 

This week I need to get off my butt and plan out my Mabon ritual, decide what I’m making for dinner that night and pick up a bottle of celebratory mead. We had a mini-celebratory meal last night…I baked the good bread, cooked a chicken with the fixings and had some Octoberfest beer. I figured better to do it now while we’re all together, since I didn’t know just yet if my husband would be home Friday night. It’s a season of many feasts, I think anyway…so we might as well start early and make them most of it!

I’m taking part in the Practical  Magic Blog Party this weekend as well….I haven’t a clue if what I did is what’s expected, but I think it will be ok….I get to play the clueless novice blogger card if it’s not that great LOL Unfortunately, I can’t make midnight margaritas…heartburn and I’ve started to realize these days that tequila shortens my temper to such a short string that it’s just safer for everyone if I just avoid it all together.