Happy Solstice!

Some acquaintances came down from the Phoenix area.  We knew they were heathens who had moved to Arizona, but hadn't met them yet.  They were being cautious and asked around first about if we were "normal" and "sane" kinds who could hold down jobs and not blame any and all trouble on mystical woo.  That's fine with us, since we're looking for the same kind of people as our friends.

We actually never got around to raising horns, but darn it, the day felt like a holiday.  We barbecued and made cherry pie with fresh cherries our new friends brought over.  Ivan and Lalat were complete lovebugs and everyone had a great time.

The summer is hitting the "are you having second thoughts?" part of the year.  Daytime temperatures are now around 109 degrees.  So...our air conditioning gave out.  We have a contract with the only AC company that will come out to where we are, and the AC needs replacing.  It's 20 years old or so, plus as I've said before, the previous homeowners were chain smokers.  Well, there goes the savings account, but that is what it was for.  We'll refill it again in due time.

(The Old Man is flowering.)

Four days until the Summer Solstice.  Sven is taking legal classes and I'm waiting for a background check through E-Qip before starting a federal job.  Nonetheless, we're getting by, although I did decide not to go to yoga for a couple of months to save a little of our cash.

As when I was in Coronado, I'm watching outside daily for the markers of seasonal change that belong to the desert.  For the past couple of months it's been cactus flower season, an example of which is above.  

Since May, we've been seeing a plethora of the local fauna coming out: rabbits, ground squirrels, lizards and roadrunners.  Oh, and the omnipresent quail have increased.  The monsoon season is a few weeks away since summer in Arizona is divided into "dry" and "wet" summers.  Observation continues.

We also finished our kitchen remodel.  Since hospitality is valued highly in heathenry, having a kitchen suitable for making lots of food and entertaining guests was mission-critical.  Our miserable little manufactured-home kitchen, which was furnished with RV cabinets of all things, is now full of floor-to-ceiling Ikea cabinets, granite countertops, and a central cooking island.  I found a copy of the Joy of Cooking for $7.95 on clearance and have already started to work with it.  It has recipes for just about every foodstuff out there, and if transforming every foodstuff out there isn't kitchen witchin', I don't know what is.

(More of the local flora on my property.)

Further to a reading done for me at Trothmoot in 2013, I've upped my ancestor devotion.  Currently I have an altar to my departed family in a corner of the bedroom.  After some thought while at Pantheacon, I've put one of those Indian-made Celtic tapestries up to make it private.  I am offering a small glass of water every morning and meditating there in front of items related to or owned by my forebears.  This seems to be producing results for me in the form of serendipitous knowledge and dreams.

I hope you all have a great Solstice, and plan to write about it soon!