Memorial Day. Remembering those who lost their lives in battle. Yes Black lives matter.

Memorial Day is about remembering those who served in the armed forces and lost their lives during a battle.  Over the years the lines have blurred and we have taken to remembering all of our loved ones who have passed on.

But during these turbulent times, with all the racism and other nastiness going on, I wish to honor in particular my 3 times great grandfather Denton Adams and his brother, my 4 times great Uncle Jasper Adams.

So back in the late 1600's my 7 times great grandmother, Mary Adams came to St Mary's county Maryland as an indentured servant.  She had fled Ireland and it's memories of famine, pestilence, and the death of her parents and siblings.  Her contract as an indentured servant was bought by a William Calvert.  Upon arrival she soon met in her household, a slave, Adam.  With the permission of her "owner", she married Adam.  She was "allowed", in her free time to take in washing to make a bit of money.  Adam too was allowed to do odd jobs here and there and over the years they managed to save enough money for Mary to buy Adam's freedom, and the freedom of their children that had been born in slavery.  Upon obtaining their freedom, they took Mary's last name of Adams.  Mary and Adam would go on to have a large family.  Mary's 3 times great grandson Denton would be my ancestor. 

In 1828 grandfather Denton was born.  In 1832 his brother Jasper was born.  In 1851 Denton married Nancy Wilson.  She too was a mulatto.  They ended up moving to Ohio.  When hostilities broke out between the North and South they were living in Ohio and had started a family.  By the time Grandfather Denton enlisted in the Union Army in 1862, they had Arabella, Lafayette, and my 2 times great grandmother, Laura.  Apparently grandfather and Jasper were very light skinned as they are both listed as white on their enlistment records.  In Sept. 1862 Grandfather joined the Ohio Infantry, and Uncle Jasper enlisted in Oct of 1862.

In 1863 Uncle Jasper was wounded and taken prisoner by Confederate forces.  He was held at Andersonville Prison Camp in Georgia.  In May 1864 Grandfather Denton was wounded at the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia and taken prisoner.  He too was sent to Andersonville Prison Camp.  I can't even imagine the horror that they faced.  Here they were, 2 black men, at the worst prison camp of the Confederacy, prisoners of forces that saw Black men as nothing more than animals.  In Oct of 1864 Grandfather died. His brother Jasper also died. 

So let's fast forward to 2006.  I had started research on the Black side of my family.  I hit a brick wall.  My cousin Jan had generously shared with me records and her research.  We had found where Grandfather Denton and Uncle Jasper had enlisted.  We had found records of the family applying for their pensions.  But when did Grandfather die?  We had found record of Uncle Jasper and knew that he was now lying in a marked grave at Arlington, but where was Grandfather?   I contacted various agencies and dug in.  Finally, and to my horror I found out that Grandfather had died and they didn't know which grave at Andersonville had been his. To say that I was upset is to put it mildly.  So he is in Arlington, but his grave is unknown.  My being upset soon turned to anger.  To this very day, as I write this I am still livid over the callousness of it all. 

Yes Grandfather, I honor you and Uncle Jasper.  2 Black men who gave their lives to preserve a nation that not only in life, but even in death treated you with disdain and oppression.  Grandfather, you and Uncle Jasper gave your lives, that I one of your descendants could live in freedom, and the irony of it is, your descendants didn't even know what you did.  Your descendants living as members of the white race, didn't know of your bravery and sacrifice.  Rest in peace Grandfather, because this Granddaughter honors you and Uncle Jasper.  Black lives DO matter, always!

The adventures of the various Wildlife in my yard.

So as some of you know we feed the birds, and make friends with the rest of the wild critters that roam here in my little village.  We have all kinds of birds, there are a couple of groundhogs, some possums, and a couple of squirrels in particular that show up regularly for snacks.  There are some wild ducks, and some bunnies roaming around but we don't see them as often.

Momma Dove and all of her children from the past 4 years show up all the time.  She has lots of grandkids and great grandkids and so on by now so we have quite a few Doves that show up daily.  Momma herself shows up for a chat now and then besides her snack time visits.  She pecks on the window, or goes on the telephone wire and lets me know she has come to chat.

We have a Red Headed Woodpecker that decided to show up, plus the usual assortment of Wrens, Sparrows, Robins, Catbirds, Blackbirds (those are Storm's pals), Cardinals, Blue Jays, Blackbirds, Grackles, and an Oriole now and then.  So I put my plants out on the porch.  Including my 2 foot Norfolk Island Pine.  Now instead of taking his bulbs from Yule off, I left them on.  Big mistake.  Apparently the birds, and I am going to blame the Blue Jays in particular for this, saw the decorations and thought they were goodies.  They ripped them off the tree, they were on the porch, in the yard, and in the other planters.  They also ripped branches off of the poor tree trying to get the decorations.  So now my poor tree is injured.  But if that wasn't bad enough, they saw the red blooms on my geraniums and proceeded to snip them off!  So the birds got scolded, and the Jays in particular.

The one Robin has a nest in the Mulberry tree and she has a pitched battle daily with the one Jay who insists that he can too fly on the branch where her nest is.  As long as he stays on the branches below the nest she leaves him alone.  But he likes to push his luck, and the next thing you know, the fight starts.  In the hedges next to the Mulberry is a Cardinal and her nest.  Of course the Jay pushes his luck there too.  So the Robin and the Cardinals have been fighting with the Blue Jays.  Apparently they are allies.

To add to the fun, there is a Squirrel that runs down the telephone wires, and drops to the tree and comes on the porch.  The other day hubby went out on the porch and what did he see, but the squirrel with his head stuck in the coffee can lid where hubby keeps the bird feed.  Apparently Squacky chewed a large hole in the lid, stuck his head in, and got stuck.  There he was, feet kicking in the air, and tail waving!  Hubby got the lid off, which loosened his head.  He saw hubby, and thought it was a put up job to catch him.  He started telling hubby off, he was so angry he fell off the porch and took off.  I heard hubby laughing away and he soon came in the house and told me of Squacky's adventure.

As for the bunnies, for whatever reason, Storm hates bunnies.  He barks at them and has a fit every time one ventures in the yard.  But considering they were in my flower patch, and I saw them eyeing up my garden, I am agreeing with Storm that they are up to no good, right along with that groundhog!   I told Storm to tell them if they got in the garden that I would trap them and ship them off miles away.  And he was told to tell them that he was allowed to chase them also. 

The neighbor told me that we have a couple of deer that are visiting also.  So I am guessing word has gotten out about the garden.  For living in a small village, I sure have a lot of wildlife.

I have a couple of nests of Bumble Bees and Honey Bee's who I welcome.  I have told them we mean them no harm and appreciate their hard work.  I reminded them that the house and the porch are off limits.  Hopefully they will pollinate the garden and flowers. 

So as late spring heads towards summer, we enjoy the antics of our wildlife friends.

A spell for the Garden.

It's that time of year.  Planting gardens, be they flower or vegetable, or even container planting or a single tree.  Yes we have spells for that.


You will need:

A bit of cider vinegar or wine vinegar or some wine for a libation
Agate of some sort.

Now if if it is a garden plot you will need 1 agate per plot and 1 libation per plot.  If planting trees or plants in the yard each one will need a bit of libation and 1 agate per plant.  Same goes for container planting.

Pour into the earth a bit of libation.  And say:

Oh Earth Mother I offer unto you this libation to allow this soil to be fertile and produce growth. 

Place the agate in the soil and say:

Guardian spirits, nature spirits, and elementals of the earth please accept this offering and offer your protection to this ( name it, such as tree, plant, seed)
Help this plant to grow.  Allow this soil to nurturing and growth to occur.  Let this ( name it) produce (again name it, example if tomato plant say tomatoes)
As I will it, so it is.

Now step back and picture in your mind what you are wanting to accomplish.  For example if it is a tree picture a tall, beautiful tree, if it is a garden, picture a garden over flowing with veggies and fruit.  If flowers picture a beautiful blossoming plant.

When ever you go to water, visualize again. 

I'm the crazy one?

All my life I have had people tell me that I am crazy or evil because I say I am a Witch and worship the Goddess.  Crazy they say because you think you can cause things to happen by doing spells.  Evil because I don't believe in the Christian concept of God, or for that matter in the Jewish or Islamic version. 

Yes I have had people who are trying to convert me to Christianity tell me these things flat out to my face once they realize the conversion isn't working.  Well I have a message to all of you.

I think you are hypocrites.  You are telling me that you believe in Jesus, that you love Jesus and that you follow his teachings.

I'm not seeing this from you all.  I see you hating other races, "Blacks are lazy", "Blacks are criminals" and so on.  That doesn't sound very Christian to me.  No immigrants!!  Yet Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan.  Nope you certainly aren't following that.

You tell me you cry tears for aborted fetuses, that you are pro life.  Yet all I see from you is a desire to control a woman and her reproductive choices.  You certainly aren't worried about these "babies"once they're born.  You don't care if they have shelter or food.  You don't seem very pro life at all.  Anti life is more like it.

I see Ministers and Pastors demeaning women and claiming it's because God said so.  I also see these same religious leaders committing adultery, pushing drugs, molesting children, and living in mansions.  Following Jesus's teachings are they?

I see you supporting a man who illegitimately is President of the United States.  He is a racist, a bigot, has had numerous affairs, is illegally lining his pockets, has his equally greedy, ignorant offspring in the government and he is dismantling this nation.  But you say it's fake news, or he is repentant.  No he's not.  And I don't think any of this is very Christian of you.

I see you supporting the Republicans who are helping to destroy this nation.  They hate the poor, and are stuffing their pockets with money as they take away our rights.  They don't seem very Christian to me, and I don't think you agreeing with these policies is very Christian of you.

In fact I don't think you are following Jesus.  You all scream about Satan and the Anti-Christ, but it appears to me that you all are following them.  You seem to embrace hate and murder.  You seem to enjoy it and hug it to you.

So no, I don't think I am going to go to the Hell you keep telling me I am headed for.  I don't think I am the crazy one here.  I think you all are, and I think you are hypocrites to boot.  If this is what Jesus and Christianity is about, I am so glad I am a Witch!!

Happy Mother's Day. A salute to all women and to those who helped mold me.

Mother's Day a celebration of mothers and all that they do.  Not everyone can be a mother.  Motherhood is just not giving birth to a child, but cherishing and nurturing it also.  Mothers give of themselves. They put the wants of their offspring ahead of their own.

I am lucky to have come from a mostly strong line of women.  I have had plenty of strong women in my life to look up to.  Talented, giving, loving and courageous.  I have always felt I had big shoes to fill.

From my birth mother Ruby I learned a lot of hard lessons fairly young, and continued to learn them up till the time of her death last year.  From her I learned what type of woman I did not wish to be.  I also learned what type of mother I did not wish to emulate.

From her mother, my Grandmother Goldie that adopted me and raised me, I learned a lot of lessons.  I heard stories of family and I learned to nurture my creativity.  Mom was an excellent housekeeper and cook.  Talented in many directions. From her I learned the importance of doing the job right the first time.  Plus many other lessons.

On my paternal side of the family I never really got to know my birth father's mother, my Grandmother Louise.  Grandmother I am told was a strong, vibrant woman.  I am quite pleased that I resemble her in many ways.

I often mourn the fact that I missed out on the nurturing of my paternal side of the family.  Lots of strong role models to look up to.  Aunt Rose, Aunt Betty, and Uncle Joe's wife, my Aunt Anne, whom I was lucky enough to get to know the last few years of her life.  Grandma's sisters, Aunt Mary, Aunt Caroline, Aunt Anne, Aunt Eleanor Alice (whom I am named after) all strong, courageous ladies.  I have learned stories of Great Grandmother Maryann who was brave, courageous and strong.

From my Mom I heard stories of her mother, Grandmother Cassie and Great Grandmother Laura.  She told me stories of her mother-in-law, Great Grandmother Lizzie.  Plus I had Aunt Maggie, Aunt Sylvia, Aunt Pearl, Aunt Eva, Aunt Martha, Aunt Ruth, and lots of other strong female role models.

Dave's wife, Karen who baked me a cake in the flavor I liked one birthday when I was a tween and had me a little cookout, Bill's wife Janette who helped teach me to drive and made me deviled eggs when Dad died, because she knew I liked them.  These ladies were my birth mother's sisters-in-laws.  But from them I also learned lessons.

Grandma Cora who loved me dearly.  I learned a lot of lessons from her.  My step dad's grandmother, Grandma Casseday who always gave me those little caramels with the white filling.  His sister, Aunt Norma who had tea parties with me.

All these women have taught me things rather they knew it or not.

Happy Mother's Day to all of them, and to all of you.

To my LGBT readers and friends.

To my LGBT friends and readers

I want you to know that I think all of you are wonderful.  Some of my very best friends have belonged to the LGBT community.  In fact Mark, my editor who has since passed to the Summerland was Gay.  He was a wonderful, loving, vibrant, intelligent person.  I miss him every day.  In his passing the world lost a bright light.

You aren't sick, or horrible, or sinners or nasty or any of these other names you get called.  I truly believe that you are special.  You know long before the Patriarchy took over those who were LGBT were considered to be a living representative on earth of the Goddess and God.  You all were the bridge between deity and human kind.  I still believe you are.

Many Native American tribes revered those whom they called "Two Spirits".  They were considered special, luck and holy. 

I know that the hateful names that are hurled at you hurt.  But they aren't true.  If any one is a sinner, or sick or nasty, it is those who are mean and hateful towards you.  Please realize that there are many who welcome you just as you are.  The Witch/Wiccan/Pagan communities for the most part are welcoming.to you.  I know that I stand with arms wide open welcoming you in the name of the Goddess and God to the fold. 

Please reach out to those of us who stand with you and welcome you.  We need your light to shine brightly in the world.  I know that many of you are hurt and confused, and it is no wonder with all the nastiness some supposed Religious people spout.  But there are Spiritual paths and even some Christian paths that would not only welcome you but would love to have you join their path. 

We need your light, your brilliance and sensitivity in these dark times.  Standing together we can change things for the better for all of us.  We need your voices to blend with ours in harmony, we need your search for truth to help us find our own. 

Remember you ARE the chosen of Deity to be the bridge between them and human kind.