Become a vessel for the universe

This piece comes from the amazing Herman Hesse (author of Siddhartha and the Glass Bead Game), in this short paragraph he talks about Abraxas and its relationship with us. For those who don’t know what Abraxas is, it comes from Gnostic writings and in Gnostic writings the spelling represents the 7 classic planets (the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) – in other words it is not an actual god but the word represents the universe and its power.

Contemplate the fire, contemplate the clouds, and when omens appear and voices begin to sound to your soul, abandon yourself to them without wondering beforehand whether it seems convenient or good to do so. If you hesitate, you will spoil your own being, you will become little more than the bourgeois façade which encloses you, and you will become a fossil. Our god is named Abraxas, and he is both the god and the devil at the same time. You will find in him both the world of light and of shadows. Abraxas is not opposed to any of your thoughts nor to any of your dreams, but he will abandon you if you become normal and unapproachable. He will abandon you and look for another vessel in which to cook his thoughts.

- Hermann Hesse

Abandon yourself to omens, clouds, fire. Become a vessel for the universe, in which it can cook its thoughts.

Smooth Skating

 We have had the weirdest winter.

Over-all pretty mild.

Barely any snow, in fact, the only show around right now

is the stuff left in frozen piles from the plow.

 The Lakes did freeze early on.

But the ice has been weird and transitional.

I keep checking.

 It rained night before last, seems like all night long.

It was so warm, it rained way up high....Ugh!

But Jim checked the ice (he lives on Savage Lake)

and look at this!

He called me immediately!

 I mostly leave my skate bag in the car at all times,

Just in case!

It is SO difficult to be at work and not out playing on the ice!

As you can see,

I will be delayed getting home every evening

till the weather turns!

Hoping for a clear, cold Friday!

Root and Rise

This is from a blog that I follow. A blog I find inspirational.
The author gave permission to share.
Look at my sidebar and check out "The Hermitage" if
you are interested in the story behind this grafik.
And use this yourself! Be inspiration!

Day 2 2012

 Each day is a gift,

we unwrap it with delight.

 The sun is shining so Natassia and I headed for the Lake.

The report was that the ice was poor for skating,

but fine for other pursuits.

 We walked and talked and jumped and laughed.

The ice sang to us.

The Lake, she sang loud to us.

Natassia had never been on the ice when it was performing.

She was stunned, and frightened at times and awed.

There was cracking and singing, and shining, it was wonderful!

Newbies

 This year we have a few brand new ski patrollers,

so we did a bit of tobaggon training late in the day

to break them in.

It was great fun, and they did really well, naturals!

It is always great to have fresh enthusiasm on the mountain!

Happy New Year!

 I started my new year at one of my favorite places:

Turner Mountain!

I took this shot while I was sitting my shift in the top shack.

gorgeous day! Those are the Canadian Rockies in the way back!

Gorgeous smiley skiers all day too!

Troy Tree

 This time of year, this is what greets me each morning as I arrive at work.

 I can see it from the top of the hill before I drop into Troy (2+ miles out)

the lights winking at me, then it looks small.

 This is right near where I park.

They line all the light poles in town right now.

There are trees and bells and wreaths too.

My fotos do not do justice.

The entire town is well decorated,

I so appreciate all the effort people make to

create this festive atmosphere in our little town!