Current mood: pensive
Current weather: warm, clear
Current listening: Hecate's Wheel

I'm late again, or barely in time, depending on your timezone. So sue me.

So Beltane has come to the northern hemisphere. Oh, yes, spring has definitely sprung here, and sumer is icumin in. The trees are in full bloom and the full heat of summer is definitely encroaching. The wheel has turned and life is here in full force, in all its glory.

It may seem odd to some, but I tend to get depressed in the summer. Maybe it's the heat. Still, it always gets me thinking that another cycle of life is passing, and, well, it just makes me feel old. (Really, I'm not as old as I sometimes make myself out to be, chonologically at least, but I feel ancient. It has been suggested to me that my being an old soul has a lot to do with it.)

Still, I do appreciate the changing of the season in all its glory, including summer. We are all part of the great circle of life, however we perceive it or interact with it. So I learn to appreciate seeing life in its summer mode. Besides I like butterflies as much as the next person.

What rises, however, must fall, and as usual I remind most of my readers that the seasons are opposed in opposite hemispheres, and the southern hemisphere is now moving from summer into winter. So many children of the north seem to need reminding of that so much of the time. Opposite Beltane is Samhain, with life withdrawing. It may seem odd to some children of the north that anyone honors the time of death and decay in certain parts of the world during the time when they are accustomed to acknowledging life and abundance, but as I said, the seasons are opposed. In opposing each other, really, they also sort of mirror each other. Life and death are inexorably intertwined, as one leads to another, as renewal comes from old death.

Perhaps this is another reason for my feeling old beyond my years. I perceive the connection, and I am acutely aware that life is finite and limited, and that that is what makes it all the more precious. Live while you can, and learn to appreciate its expressions.

- DL

Happy Four Twenty Day, everyone!
Four Twenty!
- DL

Current mood: pensive
Current weather: cloudy, warm
Current listening: Hecate's Wheel

Time flies. The winter, it seems, passed too quickly. The northern hemisphere is now coming into the light. The exact moment of the equinox was about twelve hours ago, as I write this entry. Part (but only part) of the reason that I am at my best in the dark cycle is that the best times of my life occured during the winter. I still will assert, though, that the natural tendency to withdraw brings out the best in people, certainly the best in me, as it tends to bring out a tendency to contemplate the deeper things, and to share some insights thus gained.

Life is definitely returning, though. All the signs of spring are here. Animals, plants, everything, waking up and returning to life. Coming out into the light, likewise, can be translated into bringing the wisdom gained from the winter retreat out into the open.

In the southern hemisphere the light is declining as the autumnal season sets in. It is time for the outward direction of energy to be turned back in as Nature rests for the winter. Nature mirrors nature, and light and shadow balance. Retreat and repose are a natural thing, as life cycles back upon itself. The shadow defines the light as much as the light the shadow.

Whatever your seasonal situation is, the equinox is the balance of the two, that point of transition of one to the other. Now is when the miracles happen, as the light and shadow combine in synergy. Now is the time to direct your thoughts to the universe. If you are in the spring hemisphere, you can plant the seeds to manifest wishes for things to come into your life. If you are in the autumnal hemisphere, it is time to release old useless or harmful infulences, so that they may be transmuted over the winter into good life in spring.

Wherever you are, enjoy life. The passing of the seasons serves to remind us all that life is finite and fragile and therefore all the more precious.

Light and dark blessings to all,
- DL

Current mood: pensive
Current weather: cool, clear
Current listening: Spiral Dance

A few hundred thousand years ago, the human race arose in Africa. Who'd a' thunk that what at first appeared to be just another tool-wielding species would turn out to become such a potent presence on the planet?

Humanity spead from its African cradle, into Europe and Asia and other parts of the world, seeking new ground, seeking expansion, seeking whatever. Different cultures arose. Different religions arose. Different ways of life.

The early humans learned to apply themselves and their knowledge. A Neolithic Revolution arose, paving the way from more nomadic to more sedentary societies. Agriculture arose, and humanity learned to track the cycles of nature, for planting and reaping. Primitive observatories were built for the tracking of the sun to mark the seasons.

The early humans sought also to learn of the living things around them--the habits and habitats of the animals, the usefulness of plants, the properties of the very elements themselves.

And so humanity continued to learn. What was slow started to accelerate--through the stone age, bronze age, the iron age, and so on. It took four thousand years humanity to double its knowledge, then it took two thousand years, then one thousand, then five hundred--and then fifty and then ten. Think about that. Human knowledge continues to increase at an exponental rate, some say every ten years, some say even every 18 months in some areas.

Some of the fruits of all this understanding--or the application thereof--have been less than beneficial to say the least. Knowledge there is, an but it can at times be a savage, lacking insight, foresight or understanding. Every passing decade seems to bring civilization closer to the brink of destruction. It is a scary time in the history of the world. On the other things, many good things have also come about.

Think on this: Medical science has eradicated many diseases that once plagued the world, and developed useful treatments at least for many others. Economic science has brought previously unimagined wealth. Various technologies have made the day to day tasks of work and toil easier, and has eliminated many altogether at least in the first world. As a result there is more time for leisure, and also more time for--learning, improving oneself on a personal level. The world today is healthier, wealthier, idler and smarter than generations past--but is the world any happier? It seem that there can still be something lacking, even in paradise.

Think also on this: None of your ancestors died chidless. Not your parents, not your grandparents, not your great-grandparents, and so on and on, back to the first humans (if you are human), back to the first hominins, back to the first hominids, the first primates, the first mammals, the first vertebrates, the first animals, the first eukaryotes--and whatever levels of taxonomy that I have left out--all have survived to produce offspring, or else you would not exist! It does not matter if you have children of your own, or even plan to have any. In fact, more power to you, I daresay, if you do not play to have any. It is an overcrowded world. You exist.

You are a child of your world, and of your universe. You live in an evolving civilization, that has risen from its roots, its knowledge developing faster than its wisdom, putting the civilization in jeopardy of its own destruction, but unquestionably sprialing upward, aspiring toward something. Will higher enlightenment come, or will humanity squander three billion years of tenuous evolution on the objects of its greed and the justifications of its territoriality and dominionism? The time to choose its destiny is now.

- DL

Current mood: pensive
Current weather: cold, clear
Current listening: Spiral Dance

Winter is coming to an end in this hemisphere. Or so at least one would think. It tends to hang on a bit here, or rather, it tends to make its comeback just when everyone thinks spring has sprung for good. Mama can be sneaky that way.

I've mentioned numerous times that winter tends to be my favorite season, the time when I feel at my best. I still feel that way. Yeah, I gripe about the cold as much as any other person, but, really, I'm still a cold weather person. I still hold that the dark cycle tends to bring out the best in people. It is the time of reatreat, and with that comes introspection and meditation, and, subsequently insight. We come into the light cycle older but wiser.

Winter is cold (at most latitudes). Winter is dark. In the cold and dark life rests. Then it is renewed. I acknowledge that, and even as the time of inward-turned consciousness passes (though introspection can be practiced anytime when one has the time), so life itself emerges from its rest.

Opposite Imbolc (or Imbolg) is Lunas(s)a(dh), in which the summer is passing. Life is at its peak, and is about to begin its descent into retreat and repose. This is the time when one ponders the finity of life even when the cycle at least feels young. If life is fleeting, however, then youth by definition is even more fleeting. As Mabon and (especially) Samhain approach, one ponders one's own mortality.

As for me, I intend to die young as late as possible.

Just as all that rises must fall, all that falls will rise. Life is thus ever renewed.

Light and dark blessings to all.
- DL

Hm, well. Again I'm not satisfied with a recent blog entry. Of course, I'm never fully sastisfied, but this one was a bit hastily written.

It was my usual pessimistic rant, but even pessimistic rants can be better written than that. If anything I needed to expand on a few things. I might start with these.

War in general: >40 conflicts currently ongoing.

No, I can't name these off the top of my head. I probably can't name the majority of them. (Okay, I can't name the majority of them, so sue me.)

Occupy movement: epic fail.

Okay, sticky wicket here. I was likely misunderstood. By epic fail I meant an epic failure to maintain itself, having been brought to its knees after half a year. *sigh*

I need to start to put more thought into my writing. Most of my blog entries are written with not much advance planning, which can be, I think, a good thing. It makes for more spontaneity. I just need to give myself a little more time to put my thoughts together sometimes.

I hope future writings will be a little better thought out.

- DL

Current mood: pensive
Current weather: clear, damncold -3°C windchill -8°C
Current listening: Hecate's Wheel

No, it's not about doomsday. It's a followup on my recent blog entry "Doomsday" regarding the alleged Mayan doomsday.

Okay, as I said, there was no such prophecy from the Mayans auguring the end of the world on the December solstice of 2012. It's merely the end of the cycle. The whole issue of the world ending came from a misinterpretation (or rather, a misunderstanding) of a time of upheaval and instability--in other words, that the end of the Long Count cycle would occur during a time of upheaval. This much turned out to be true, considering the political atmosphere of the world as it currently is.

Apparently, that the end of the cycle happened to coincide with such an event as a solstice is just that, a coincidence, a matter of interesting timing; the last Long Count cycle began in August 3114 BCE.

Look, folks, any time of transition will tend to be a time of instability, and we are in a time of transition in a number of cosmologies. In Hindu cosmology we are at the end of the Yuga, specifically the Yuga of Kali. Of course, you probably already know about the the astrological Age of Aquarius, based on the precession of the equinoxes, though the date of transition varies widely depending on who's doing the counting. I seem to recall reading years ago about the end of the fifth age of the world (Mercury) and the coming of the sixth age (Moon), but can't recall the details of this; perhaps a more knowledgeable person might refresh my education on this.

The bottom line is that we are at the beginning of an era, at least according to the Mayan system. This is a new cycle of the world. Is the world ready to move forward? It depends on the mindsets of all individuals, and the readiness to improve the world in any way humanly possible. The world is poised yet on the verge of destruction--but also, if enough people are willing, on the threshold of enlightenment. This depends on the actions of all persons. How will you vote?

- DL

Current mood: mixed
Current weather: cold, clear
Current listening: Michelle Mays

So, another year as passed, and another year has started.

2012 was, well, not the best.

Afganistan war: still ongoing.
Iraq war: US withdrawal (in December 2011 actually), but insurgency continues in the aftermath.
War in general: >40 conflicts currently ongoing.
School shootings (and other shooting rampages): numerous.
Occupy movement: epic fail.
Global economic crisis: escalating.

On the other hand, we have a fresh start in 2013. Celebrating the new year (of any calendar) is almost a sacrament. It acknowledges that the world has actually survived another year, something which itself seems all the more miraculous with each passing year. You are alive, I am alive. Granted, as most regular visitors to this blog know, I have very little (read: no) faith in humanity. On the other hand and by the same token, everyone can contribute a little to making a better world, just one little thing at a time. Here I give again my challenge to prove me wrong in my pessimism. Show me that there is enough good in humanity as a whole to make a real, lasting difference. Will 2013 be a better year than 2012? The world, the whole world, decides that. Everyone gets a vote. How will you cast yours?

Blessings,
- DL

Current mood: pensively amused
Current listening: Hecate's Wheel
Current weather: clear, getting cold

Um. Okay. So, is anyone disappointed in the Mayan doomsday? Yes the whole rigamarole was based on the Mayan calendar, but the end of the Mayan Long Count cycle did not signify the end of the world, any more than the end of a 630 year Druidid era, or the 60-year cycle of the Chinese calendar, or for that matter the 400-year cycle of the Gregorian calendar (the last of which ended at the end of Gregorian year 2000), mean the end of the world.

Yes, there was a prophecy that foretold that the end of the cycle would be a time of upheaval and turmoil. This was misinterpreted. What was meant was that the end would be in a time of upheaval and turmoil, not that it would be the cause of it.

We live in a world of chaos, a world potentially in transition. The world survives yet. What will come in the new era? I am not exactly known for my optimism, as some of my postings in this blog show. On the other hand, I realize and understand that actions contribute to the future of society. What we have as our guide is free will. Do your part for the greater good.

- DL

Current mood: introspective
Current weather: cool, clear
Current listening: Soundclick's Aythis

I have mentioned that I tend to be at my best in the winter, in the cold and dark. I have mentioned also, I am sure, that it is because of a tendency toward deeper thinking during the dark cycle. I still believe it to be true. In the winter, when life has receded from the world, and nature is in a resting mode, or mostly so, this is when the deep thoughts about the big questions of life come most easily. Some of these thoughts tend to be about the frailty of life. Surviving the winter is one of life's oldest and most primal concerns, after all, at least in a seasonal climate.

Concern with endings stems in part from Samhain, the time most concerned with endings, and in the winter we are most aware that life itself is finite. Mortality is on everyone's mind in the winter, and at the winter solstice, at Yule or Alban Arthuan or whatever you call it, the ending's promise of a new beginning starts to be fulfilled, as the sun itself is resurrected.

Winter is also when the simpler things in life are most enjoyed, simply because awareness of mortality is more acute.

As usual, I acknowledge that the Southern Hemisphere is in summer now, where the light is at its peak. Some of us here in the north need to be reminded of that. This means the light in the southern realm is about to sink, into the depths of their coming winter, months from now. Those of us in the Northern Hemisphere and those of us in the Southern Hemisphere, mutually across the equator, experience the turning of the Wheel of the Year from mutually across its axle, as it were.

Whichever side of the world you're on, do enjoy life. Life is finite, and that make it all the more precious. Enjoy the little things. Kiss your spouse. Walk a dog. Play with a cat. Hug your children (this is all important). Take a walk in the park. Have a friendly chat across the fence with your neighbor. Curl up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate and a good book. Whatever. Just do something simple and enjoyable, and know that with every ending comes a beginning. This it the most sacred promise of all.
- DL

Hey, it looks like my Soundclick hit counter just passed 50,000.

I never really thought that I could get into this blogging thing, but, well, I found that I had more to say than I thought I had.

Yeah, I know I haven't had as much to say as I have previously. This is likely to change, though.

Thank you all for your support.

- DL

Well now. I seem to have written a bit of a rant, or at least I seem to have gotten a bit more wordy than usual. I don't know if this is a good or a bad thing. It could have been worse, I suppose. It was long (for me) but at least it wasn't rambly.

There seem to be parts where I was in a bit of a rush. "Contrary to common" in the fourth paragraph should be "contrary to common belief", but you probably figured this out.

Something that I should point out, however, is that even with the preoccupation with the end of life that I admitted to having acquired, it should not be assumed that the entry was not a call for help. I'm not suicidal, I simply have acquired some morbid preoccupations lately.

The end of life does fascinate me, though, as does the concept of reincarnation, which I mentioned specifically, with connection to my Pagan religion. I should note here that by appearances not all of the old-world pagan traditions specifically included belief in reincarnation, though some did. On the other hand, belief in an afterlife seemed universal; I invite any person more knowledgeable in religious history than I to correct me if I'm wrong. I still count myself a believer, for now.

The cycle of life and death has become an integral part of my philosophy of life. Old things are swept away to make way for the new. Nothing lasts forever. I myself will perish from this earth, perhaps soon, perhaps in fifty years. Mundane science, at least, asserts that the earth and even the universe will come to an end.

I should add furthermore that as much as I obsess over the future, I obsess over the past as well, particularly my personal past. Sometimes past times in my life feel like different lifetimes altogether. Maybe in a way they are.

I guess I'm right about one thing. I'm at my best during the dark cycle. At least I'm able to express myself, even if the thoughts are a bit morbid.

Thanks for putting up with me again.

Blessings,
- DL

Current mood: world-weary
Current weather: warm, clear
Current listening: Spiral Dance

Yeah, world-weary. Again. More on that anon.

We have Samhain coming up in this hemisphere; this is the time when winter is definitely coming, and the world is sinking into the dark cycle. In the southern hemisphere, it is the time of Beltane, or the arrival of the summer cycle of light. Yes, I do typically acknowledge the state of the cycle in the southern realm, as regular readers of this blog have noted, I think my friends in the south will forgive me if I concentrate more than usual on the northern outlook.

Of course, regular visitors also have no doubt noticed that I have not written much on other subject lately. Even my political rants have dried up for the most part. *sigh*

Anywho. Contrary to common, there was no deity of any old European pantheon by the name of Samhain. It is simply the name of the occasion. The name means simply 'end of summer'. Samhain is also the new year in the old European traditions. The summer has ended, the leaves are falling or have fallen, the harvest has been brought in, and the world prepares for the coming winter, a time of rest in preparation for the rebound of the coming spring. The winter can also be a time of hardship if the harvest comes up short.

It's also about endings, and this can include the end of mortal life. Furthermore, it's a time of looking back (European Pagan New Year, remember), and so we honor the ancestors, and any departed loved ones. Here comes the salient point, and I've made mention of this before. Death, as the end of a lifetime, is something that has been on my mind a lot. It has become something of an obsession, I daresay, though one that I don't discuss much in terraspace. There was a time, once, when I was young(er), when I felt more or less invincible. Nowadays, I wonder how much time I really have. Life is fleeting, and with each passing season I feel more that there is just not enough time anymore. With the light declining and Ancestor Night itself approaching, I find myself more and more trying to imagine how it is to be in the last moment of one's life, in preparation for some well-earned rest, and, perhaps, for the next life.

Next life. Do you believe in reincarnation? Like most Pagans, I do believe, though I am not always so sure, which is why I go on. Life is sacred, and a blessing to be cherished, as long as there is something to make it worthwhile.

I am, as I have said, at my best in winter. It is, as I have said, a time of spiritual and intellectual deepening, a time when even as life withdraws, we withdraw into ourselves in personal introspection. It may seem ironic to most of my readers, but this only makes me feel all the more alive; many if not most of my best insights come during the cold and dark months.

And death really does bring life. Not just literal death, but the figurative death of sweeping away the old in preparation of the new. The opposite spoke from Samhain on the wheel is Beltane, the time when life has sprung into rebirth and is flourishing amd thriving. For every ending there is a beginning, or so the old wisdom goes. Death and birth are opposite faces of the same coin.

Thank you for putting up with another rant.

Be you in light or in darkness, light and dark blessings to you,
-DL

Current mood: world-weary
Current weather: clear
Current listening: Hecate's Wheel

Hey, I'm actually (slightly) early this time. Go me.

The exact moment of the equinox, for the record, is Saturday at 14:49 UTC.

It seems that the summer is lingering here, but still I feel the fading of the light. Especially with the sun setting earlier I feel the winter approaching--with its longer nights, which suits me fine, as I'm nocturnal. As I've said, I feel for the winter in other ways as well, as a time of rest and retreat. On the other hand I am a bit of an introvert, so there's the parallel there as well.

However you consider it, though, the summer is drawing to a close here in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, and what has risen will begin to fall. In the polar and subpolar Northern Hemisphere it has fallen or almost fallen--but I'm not that far north by a long shot. Still, life retreats, and those of us who follow the cycles closely enough develop a feel for those cycles, and retreat with the life; it's not as though we die with the weeds or the harvest crops, or shed a layer like deciduous trees. If anything, we add layers, burrowing into retreats like hibernating animals. Okay, so maybe some of us take after the migratory critters and flee to warmer climes, but I think even then the autumnal thoughts, the awareness of the endings of things, still are there to some extent, unless, maybe, one changes hemispheres twice a year so as to be in eternal summer.

Yes, summer, or rather spring, across the equator in the southern realm, and life returning. Either way, the world is heading toward balance--a balance of the light and dark, with each side mirroring the other. The time of balance is a time of magic. Feel it.

- DL

Current mood: Outraged
Current weather: Clear
Current listening: Hecate's Wheel

This is a rant, albeit a shortish one.

Okay, I've been wondering for a while what to write about in this blog, when I came across this article: Young Persons Called to Private Grand Jury for Owning Books.

WTF? WT effing F? So help me, I am more terrified of my government every day. When a government that claims to support and promote freedom rousts peaceful people from their homes on feeble, justification, there is just something wrong with the world.

The truth is that I have never had much faith in humany (read: any faith at all in humanity). The world has had the potential to create paradise on earth since the start of the industrial revolution. On the other hand, with that power came the potential to create efficient totalitarian states. The world seems to have leaned toward the latter option.

There is no justice. There is only luck, and persons on the wrong or right end of it.

- DL

Current weather: warm, humid, unsettled
Current mood: tired :b (yes, I've been tired a lot lately, so sue me)
Current listening: Aythis

So, summer is drawing to a close. Contrasting to the time around the solstice, it has been a relatively mild summer for the last few weeks. Also wet, though the rain has been welcome for the most part (at least by me), after a long shortage of rain, though the humidity has a wee bit high.

I love the summer rain, though. It refreshes the land--and it refreshes me. I really do feel a connetion to the land, and feel its responses. It's one of a number of reasons that I follow a Pagan path. It allows for this, and encourages it.

The summer is passing in this hemisphere, though, and autumnal harvest time is nigh. Farewell to the glory of summer, and on, soon to embrace the imminent darkness, as the year progresses, in the relentless march of time. What has waxed will wane, and eventually give way to a new cycle, as reflected in the Imbolc time (winter to spring) that is relevant now in the souther hemisphere (most children of the north need constant reminding that the seasons are opposed on opposite sides of the equator of this beautiful planet). Life goes in cycles, and for that reason remains new. 'Tis a good thing.

Blessings to you and yours,
- DL

Current mood: tired
Current weather: warm, humid
Current listening: Inkubus Sukkubus

It looks like another solstice has passed. It has been brutally hot, but hopefully relief is forthcoming, in the form of rain; it has been a wee bit too dry this year as well.

I actually enjoy the summer rain. It is refreshing, and a fine break from the summer heat.

The cycle is now waning in this hemisphere, though, and the life that is now flourishing will itself wane and fade as winter inexorably approaches. Across the equator, in the southern hemisphere, it is the opposite, the winter solstice just past, and life promising to return. It is as though life flows back and forth across the eternal spring or summer of the equatorial realm, as the years cycle from solstice to solstice.

There is always new growth, in life, and, hopefully, in you. Life flows, and so should you in life. Life may be finite, but that doesn't mean that anyone should ever stop growing. Love life, as it is its own miracle.

- DL

Current mood: tired :b
Current weather: warm, clear
Current listening: Inkubus Sukkubus

Okay, I'm late. Again. So sue me. Again. There's not much blood in this stone. :b

It seems more like the height of summer here, as hot as it has been lately. Still, as the light continues to wax, the trees are in full bloom here, in colors that make it look more autumnal that springlike or summery. Still, the cycle is progressing, and this means that we will see summer here soon. It also means that I will be at less than my best for the next few months. I'm backward that way. :b I still acknowledge all the seasons, though, as I do live in a seasonal climate--"All that falls will rise again", and what has fallen has definitely risen.

As usual, I acknowledge (and in so doing remind other of the north) that the seasons are opposed in the southern hemisphere, thus my reference to Samhain in the title of this entry. Think of it as riding diametrically opposite on the carousel.

I know that this is a sort of cobbled-together entry. I've had a lot on my mind lately. So sue me. :b

Light and dark blessings to all.
- DL

Current mood: pensive
Current weather: clear and cool, snowlevel ~2100m
Current listening: Inkubus Sukkubus

Once again, I'm late. So sue me.

'Tis a fine spring evening here, though we had a bit of inclement weather a couple days ago, and by inclement I mean downright chaotic. I'm not expecting the warm weather to last, though. We get wintery cold snaps as late as late April here.

On the other hand, we get summery heatwaves as early as about the same time, and as warm as it has been in recent weeks, I'm beginning to dread the coming summer. It's liable to be downright oppressive. Of course, I hope I'm wrong in that speculation.

As it is, though, life is recovering from the winter, as we pass through the transition from the dark into the light. "All that falls will rise again." From the cold and dark comes new (or renewed) life here in the north, while in the southern realm, now falling into the autumnal season, life is retreating, preparing for its wintery rest, to spring again in the southern, well, spring. The equinox is a time of balance on many levels.

All existence seeks equilibrium. A balanced universe is a healthy universe.

Okay, that sounded corny. But I'll hold to it.

Blessings to you, whatever your season or climate.
- DL

Current mood: pensive
Current weather: cool, clear
Current listening: Inkubus Sukkubus

It looks like we're getting an early spring here. On the other hand, looks can deceive--it's going to get cold again I'm all too sure--it was clear enough to cast shadows this morning. On the other hand, the signs of spring are here, what with flowers springing up here and there. Mayhap said flowers are a bit too eager to get started, though--the weather can be unpredictable this time of year here.

The light is increasing in this hemisphere, though, as winter segues into spring. The light has returned, and spring will spring in earnest soon enough. Life is recovering, and will continue to recover. Meanwhile, in the Southern realm the light is receeding (Lammas/Lughnasadh) and fall will fall as summer segues into autumn there. I always point out that the seasons are opposed in opposite hemispheres of this planet, as all too many people seem to overlook that, especially here in the north where the great majority of the planet's human population resides.

Mind, as I have said many times, I don't get spring fever. I'm at best in the cold and dark cycle of the year. I do acknowledge the cycles of nature, though, and feel a close affinity with these cycles. What has fallen will rise. Nature triumphs.

-- DL