Preparations continue

That's it for the grass.  We're now into planning where the telling tent will be put up, how much coffee we should buy, how many chairs should be rented.  Above all we're praying to the gods of whoever that the weather will be fine.

This is such a beautiful place and we always want everyone to see it at its best.  I realized as I was writing about cutting the grass that for Jennifer and me so much of what we do comes out of how we live here.  Last night I heard coyotes howling; there are geese on the sandspit not too far away; yesterday I saw a small snake swimming in the water and a monarch butterfly spreading its wings and lifting on the air.  I think monarch's ability to rise in this way (which is not quite like other butterflies) must have to do with the fact that they are migratory.  They need to be able to fly as efficiently as possible to cover all that distance to get to where they have to go.  Now is the best time of year to be seeing them.  They are at their brightest -- even brighter than the gold finches at the feeder and that's saying something.

In all this glory, I am cheerfully wrestling with the binding of Loki -- a story filled with bitterness, true evil and revenge.  Somehow it all seems to fit.  The important thing to know is that world is full of variousness; for every up there's a down; for every wonder a sorrow and a grief.  This Norse weekend means going on a journey through a vast swathe of humanity.  I'm doing my best to be ready for it in every way.