Favorite Bedtime Picture Books

November 6, 2011 at 6:27 am (Pagan Parenting)
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These are a few of my favorites to read to my lil’ preschooler before bed. He has a bit of a short attention span- bedtime is about the only time he’ll let me read to him. These stories are big on pictures, few on words, and brimming with magic.

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger
I recommend anything by Barbara Berger. Her books are so beautifully illustrated. This story follows Grandfather Twilight along in his evening ritual of journeying to the ocean to put the moon in the sky, then back home again and going to bed.

Midnight Farm by Reeve Lindberg
This is simple narrative in which a mother takes a night-time walk with her son to see all the animals of their farm. The wording is beautiful and rhythmic. I think this is my son’s favorite.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
This one has been around quite a while and I have to admit, it wasn’t instant an favorite with me; I think I just didn’t like the colors used. But my little boy loves it, and I guess it’s kind of grown on me. He likes the rhyming words of brush, hush, mush and repeats them when the story is read. The story has a kind of magical and comforting lulling quality.

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson
The words are few and mystical, so simple and so profound. The artwork really grabs you; scratchboard black and white with touches of gold. This wondrous and comforting book is sure to become a classic.

The Sandman by Ralph J. Fletcher
If there’s ever been a better story of the Sandman, I’d like to hear it. This miniature sized sandman (whose name is Tor) makes his sleep inducing sand from dragon scales. Kids love pointing out all the little details of the Sandman’s miniature world; a ladle for a bathtub, a thread spool table, postage stamp wall art, etc.

Rise the Moon by Eileen Spinelli
This one is another beautiful picture book that’s perfect for bedtime. It has a dreamlike quality. It’s more of a lullaby than a story, and shows the magical effect the moon has on different people and animals around the world.

Stormy Weather by Debi Gliori
Beautiful rhyming story of animal mothers lovingly putting their babes to bed. The words are so loving, it almost makes me tear up! The pictures are as beautiful and the story. You’ll want to linger on each page to absorb the details of the watercolor and ink illustrations.
It’s my favorite of the bedtime stories I read to my son.

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Campfire Cooking

July 14, 2010 at 6:05 am (Food)
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Although I am not so fond of sleeping on the ground/ in a tent, I do love cooking over a campfire.  It’s my favorite part of camping.  So much so, that I would seriously consider “camping” only long enough to cook over a fire, then going home for bed.  Here are some of my favorite campfire cooking ideas:

Corn in the husk: place un-husked corn  in the hot coals of the fire.  When the outside is singed pretty good, it should be ready to peel back the husk and eat.  It doesn’t take long.  The corn is done, it should be crisp-tender, not mushy or overly chewy.  Corn cooked this way is some of the best I’ve ever eaten.

Coal baked potatoes:  these take the most patience of all my campfire favorites, but they are so good.  Place potatoes in the hot coals and leave them there a long time, turning occasionally.  You can also try burying them with some hot coals or campfire-heated rocks.  Remember to bring potato toppings!

Place raw in-the-shell peanuts on the rocks lining the campfire.  They will roast fast.

Hobo dinners:  these are individual meals wrapped in aluminum foil and placed in the hot coals of a campfire until done.  I like to include in each packet; one frozen hash brown, seasoned meat/sausage, and shredded cheese.  My kids really loved these when we made them a few years back.

The best way to roast a marshmallow is to pierce it through the middle with a green sharpened stick, and hold it close to the glowing coals of the fire, not over the fire itself.  If you hold it over the fire itself, it will more likely catch fire than roast properly.  The ideal roasted marshmallow is golden all over, not blackened.
And of coarse, the best way to eat a roasted marshmallow is in a smore, sandwiched between chocolate and graham crackers.

And speaking of marshmallows, everything is so much better when cooked on a stick, don’t you think?  Hot dogs, of course, but also shish kabobs and bacon (pierce one end, wrap it around the stick, the pierce the other securely on the stick). 

You can make a foil frying pan with a forked branch and some aluminum foil.

Egg in a basket: cut a hole in the center of a piece of bread with a biscuit cutter or glass.  Fry an egg inside the bread- you’re cooking an egg and toast in one.  A similar dish is to fry bacon in a circle shape until its almost done, then cook an egg or two in the middle of it.

The last time I went camping, I cooked a big pot of chili over the fire.  We had picked up a bunch of individual bags of corn chips on the way there.  We opened these up down the back seam and spooned our chili directly into the our corn chip bags to eat.  So much fun!

There are a lot of other fun campfire foods that I’ve wanted to try, like baking inside an orange half, using a toastite to make campfire sandwiches and pies -gotta get me one of those someday, and also a campfire popcorn cooker.  For lots more fun camping ideas, check out Roughing It Easy: A Unique Ideabook for Camping and Cooking by Dian Thomas.

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A Simple Way of Ritual

March 24, 2010 at 6:40 am (folkways, Holidays, Pagan Parenting, spirituality)
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For a while I’ve been sharing with you now and again about my thoughts on Celtic Paganism, my process of sorting out the traditions and coming to my own conclusions. And it has been quite a process. At times I feel like I’ve been going around in circles. There has been a lot of changes and growth taking place in the Celtic Reconstructionist community since I first learned of it circa 2000 or 2001. There are many groups that have hived off of CR that no longer want to be associated with the name Reconstructionist. (I guess the name implies that the culture is dead and lost- not entirely true, no not at all…some say “revivalist” may be a better term…) I’ve been reading about many of these traditions, trying to figure out which one is the best match for what I believe (and perhaps even more importantly, the kind of rituals I want to do). I guess I’ve been trying to find a label for myself, and a community within that label. I’ve been asking questions on CR message boards and the conversations that have resulted from that has been very helpful. Many of these Celtic/Gaelic polytheistic groups have websites that I have been exploring.

One things I look for is if they have rituals or ritual outlines posted on their site. Seeing what their rituals are like is the main way that I can tell if I’m going to be on the same wavelength with them. I really like the rituals I’ve seen on Gaol Naofa’s website  (their name means “sacred kinship or affinity”.) They consider themselves Gaelic Polytheists. I really admire the simplicity and authenticity of their rituals. They are close to the style of CR ritual I was using about a decade ago. I plan on using the Gaol Naofa website for guidance and inspiration, but I don’t really expect to find or establish a group like them locally. At least not anytime soon. (But I’ll write more on the whole Celtic community dilemma later, perhaps.) My focus for now is my family, building family traditions and having family rituals.

What do I want to get out of a ritual? What is the purpose, and what do I want to hand down to my children? For seasonal ritual- the ones celebrating the Celtic feast days, I want to celebrate and commemorate! I want to feel that deeper connection to the deities, ancestors, and nature spirits. Looking back to all the rituals I’ve taken part in, I remember one ritual act that symbolizes that connection the most; offering- tossing an offering cake into the fire. Simple words of prayer, simple acts of offering, feasting with loved ones, following the ancient customs- these are my ingredients! Imagine if you will, a picnic table at a park with a barbeque grill. With that setting in mind, here is my outline:

~We start with a Three Realms blessing.

~A sacred fire is lit.

~We call to call to the Three (gods, nature spirits, and ancestors- ADF calls them the “Kindred Three”) and also call the names of specific deities/spirits we are honoring for that particular ritual. We make small offerings of oats or bread into the fire for each.

~Here we state the purpose of the ritual.

~Now we make more offerings- this is considered the main offering- a portion of our ritual feast.

~Next is a time for personal prayers or any seasonal customs that this may be a good time for.

~We make toasts and libations as a gesture of our gratitude and commence with our feast!

And when we are ready to put our fire, pack up our picnic basket and head home, we sing;

“As it was, as it is, as it evermore shall be”.

♥♥♥

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