Roots

Hello there~
The concept of ancestral roots is an important one in our transnational time. My ancestors are British, Scottish, and Irish, with someone German somewhere along the way as well. Here I am, in the land of my ancestral history. People know that I am Irish by the way I look and they often comment that my surname, McClure, is a good Scottish name. It doesn't feel like a homecoming though. I find English people to be rather snivelly and uncurious, and the fight to keep a positive outlook in the damp cold darkness is a daily act of courage. As important as the reclaiming of heritage is to so many people, there is never a true going back. I am descended from the ones who left. They left for a reason, they wanted freedom, more choices, adventure; they took risks. These reasons for leaving are imprinted in my DNA just as my eye color and the shape of my features are. I cannot claim an ancestral race as the basis for my being at all...What I can claim is the resonance of time and place. I am of the Californians, the North Carolinians, and maybe if I live here long enough I will be of the English as well. I am not sure I want to be, and that is the beauty of the new body in the new millennium. We choose who we become relative to time and place, we put ourselves where we want to be imprinted, we leave an imprint there. We are human first and foremost, delineated only as we wish to be. Do we have any roots at all? Must we assert our differences with such adamance? The world wide web of the heart is at hand. :)

In harmony~

Isabella

Isabella, you're as lovely as your name

Isabella, you're like sunshine in the rain

Though you're dressed in fur you wear an air of queenly grace

Everyone can feel the purring in your love embrace

Isabella, if you give your heart a chance

it will lead you to a kingdom of rodents

There you'll catch the birds and lay in the tall grass all day

Everybody that you love will be there just to play...

I love my cat. We had to leave her behind for 6 months due to the fear of the British people that rabies may creep into the island. (They are a very fearful and morbid people in many respects, which I have chosen not to focus on much, choosing instead to laugh when I can, which is also a very British thing to do...) At any rate, she has had to change homes now and we are far away and cannot bring her back until mid January. So I ask you to sing her song for her. I made it up to the tune of Cinderella several years ago, and I often sing it to her. I hope that it will give her peace and reassurance.

Love to all,

Poem

Hello Dear Friends~
I am moving through all these changes like water, and sometimes it is muddy water, I am not always happy... The permanence of our move is finally sinking in, and so I sink into my skin. I am processing the death of the season, my dear friend, the way life was just a year ago. Our home in Durham has sold. The sky is beautiful: bare branches reaching snakelike to the heavens, gulls and swallows dot the pink and purple evenings, darkness comes so early that the light is powerful even its pastel hues. On the train recently I wrote this poem.

I see in myself a strong and steely
reserve
forming
How else can I hold the grandeur
and the grit of London?
The country people of Cambridge?
Jack Frost... A Dying Sea? I wonder
am I here to do the analysis
am I the one to analyse?
My knowing is only through my arts
through a body of crystal.

Peace Be with You....Peace Be

Religous Education

Among the many differences here, church and state are not separate. The official religion is Anglican, or Church of England. A sordid story in and of it itself, one of the many King Henrys dissolved the existing church because it would not grant him a fourth divorce, and instated the Church of England to do his will. Several bible variations lie in the book corner of each classroom, and the children have 15 minutes of religious education everyday, in every school in "the kingdom". The vicar and bishop often come in to give the lessons, and it is quite a big deal. Before your American sensibilities get offended though, it is different. The owd pagan ways never left the church here! A prominent part of the education is singing songs and preparing for festivals. For my children's harvest festival, the entire school walked to their affiliated church. (This church has been here since the Saxon period and there is a cemetery for Saxon warriors along the front walk.) The children brought fruits and vegetables and decorated the entire place, laying them at the altars, windows, doorways, and on tables. They brought food for the poor, performed a play about how a turnip grows, and said a prayer for the wind, rain, and soil who bring us our food. Then the entire school broke into songs with such enthusiasm that I cried. The lyrics...Cauliflowers fluffy and cabbages green, the broad beans are laying in their blankety bed.
Joy, Tears, Life!

Peace to our Friends

When a beautiful life passes beyond our planet the stars shine brighter, the wind speaks more clearly, the music of our hearts hurts with beauty. They move on, to learn and dream and be reborn in a multitude of ways. We remember them, and keep their presence alive on the earth in this way. May love follow our dear friend Kevin Brock on his new journey. Joy in Sorrow,

Click on the big play button to hear this song, that I have been singing since Sunday when I found the news of Kevin's passing...
http://view.playlist.com/additem/2577700
The song will not be added to any of your digital files or webpages by playing it.

Our (big) backyard

Hail storms, trick or treating, and using the clothesline (the wind dries them, certainly not the sun). Our spinach does not mind the hail one bit, neither do the roses, and I guess, neither do we. I just wear the same pair of warm pants every day in a row:) Peace.

Homeschoolin' Nanny

Hello,
It is with great anticipation that I write today, pleased with the nation for stepping out and believing their voices could be heard, could have an impact. The tides are indeed rolling. As I have been discussing this with my children, (everyone here is talking to them about it because they are American), we have come upon some valuable conclusions. First, if Barack Obama is the president then Michelle must be the queen. This means their daughters are princesses. And, what do these princesses do when their parents are so busy deciding important things and working hard? We bet they have to be very quiet all the time. They probably go out of a secret gate to go to the park, so that no one will see them. And they most likely have a nanny, but instead of going to after school care, their nanny is the coolest ever, and she homeschooles them:) And, if only one princess gets to become queen when she is older, then the other will help and be the cook. Because cooks are very important, they get to be with these cool girls every single day, and it is the best way to help when people are busy doing hard work....
All my love,