The Birds! Monday Morning Check-In Post

How Are YOU??!!

Great Blue Heron on the banks of the Des Plaines River

I watched it take flight against the backdrop of the mountains, a great blue heron, a being that takes my breath away every time I see one. It was the end of April, we’d be leaving Ojai in a week, and I thought it was probably the last one I’d see for a long time.

One of the first things I noticed here on Oakley Street in Chicago was the birdsong. In the morning it fills the air and then calms down to quieter chirps and trills during the afternoon. The trees here are glorious. There is green as far as the eye can see down many a neighborhood block in the city and once out of it, the green sits against the backdrop of the blue sky stretching into an endless expanse of color and life.

The dry patches on our elbows no longer exist, my hair is softer than it’s been in years, and the pads on the dogs’ feet are silky and smooth. Living with moisture in the air is something we have not done since leaving the redwoods of Northern California seventeen years ago.

We took a quick trip to Libertyville on Saturday so the pooches could play at the dog area in Independence Grove Forest Preserve. We met up with a two-year-old lab named Finn and his mom along the trail and he integrated himself into our pack. We wandered down a side trail and into a marshy area along the Des Plaines River that runs through the park, and I saw a giant flapping of wings as a great blue heron took off from our side of the riverbank and landed on the other. I squealed with delight as I pointed him out to Jon who said, “Yeah, they are here too.”

Zoey, Teddy, and Sookie with Finn (furry blob in the water)

It’s not that I did not enjoy nature when we last lived in Illinois, it’s that I did not appreciate it and all of its gifts as much back then as I do now after living in its more magnified midst in the redwoods, the beach, and the Ojai Valley. Returning here with this deepened love of the natural world, I see magic in it in ways I never did before right here in the city.

I was writing in my office the other day when a birdcall pulled me from what I was doing and made me investigate. He sat outside our kitchen window, a gorgeous cardinal, the official Illinois state bird, calling me to him.

I’ve worked for a couple of weeks here and love being in this space doing what I do in the serene energy. The rest of the world always recedes a bit as I connect with my clients and the beings who exist in other realms and this seems to happen even more so in this room, a room that once housed one of my favorite people on Earth as she grew from a child to a teen.

My schedule currently has holes where typically appointments would sit, and I have to keep reminding myself that although I have done this for twenty-six years, in some ways I am starting anew. Again. It’s always a bit anxiety-inducing for me when I am not as booked up as I could be, and I always kick myself later on down the road for not relishing the time to myself as much as I could have when I am once again back working at full tilt. I am trying to do this differently this time and instead, have as much fun as I can, and summer in Chicago is fun. There are free festivals and concerts and other things to do almost every day.

We saw our dear friend Amy on Friday who drove down from her home an hour away and spent the day playing and eating with us. It was Amy who fed me vegetarian food and introduced me to the concept of channeling one night twenty-eight years ago in her apartment in Rogers Park, just a few blocks from where Jon and I now live. Amy, who I first met when we worked together at Victoria’s Secret thirty-five years ago.

All six of us, humans and dogs, ended her visit after eating at Penelope’s Vegan Taqueria hanging out in my office as we pulled out my Mystical Cats Tarot deck. Amy also has a cat tarot deck. We seem to have bought them right around the same time, each of us after the physical loss of our cats. While sitting there I was thinking about my room, which I still have not furnished other than an office chair and a desk, the bed remains, and Amy blurts out, “Yeah, the bed, you could keep it in here or not.”

Our telepathic connection is still as strong as ever.

We also filled her in on all of my Ojai City Council doings which started to slowly light my fire again when it comes to getting involved in politics. I am waiting for the signal, whatever it is. I’ll know it when it happens.

Speaking of fires, there are two wildfires I am aware of right now impacting the areas near where we lived both in Ojai and in Guerneville. While neither place has fires happening directly in them, the smoke and air quality are affected. There also was a small vegetation fire on the East end of Ojai that was quickly knocked down. I still have the Watch Duty app on my phone so I can stay apprised about what is happening there.

I am also watching a new political issue brewing in Ojai and it’s pissing me off. The city council applied for and received a grant to fund housing for their growing unhoused community. The council voted 5-0 last week to buy a piece of land right on Main Street to build a tiny home community for the group of beings that have been living on City Hall Campus in tents for more than two years. Estimation is the project will be finished in 6 months. Already two citizens with the support of others have banded together to try to oppose this. They would prefer a less local location for our unhoused, a less in-your-face location for the businesses and tourists. They are trying to get a referendum on the ballot and if successful this will stall the project, delaying those who are some of the most vulnerable in their community from receiving the support they need.

Fuck that shit!

Yesterday, Jon and I celebrated Father’s Day by eating vegan Chicago-style hot dogs and fries at Chicago Not Dogs and a huge slice of vegan cake from Pie, Pie My Darling at X Market, a vegan food hall and grocery store. We continue to eat our way across the city. It’s a good thing I have been walking the dogs much more.

Pride Cake from Pie, Pie My Darling

I am super excited about our Solstice event this Thursday at 12:00pm Central Time on Zoom. Details and registration are here.

We have also scheduled our next Reiki I Class for Saturday, July 13th starting at 10:00am Central. This will be a full-day class on Zoom. Details and registration for this class are here.

How are You??!! Please let me know in the comment section of this article.

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