Horizons Magazine

More about Andrea

FEBRUARY 2003
"Dead" brother finds me 37 years later; I welcome new people to love;
 caring about the process; working at home in leopard pajamas;
an introduction to my kitties!

Hello and welcome to the February 2003 issue of Horizons Magazine. Love is in the air!
And not just because Valentine's Day is coming up. I've been seeing evidence of Love
all around me for months as the Chinese Tallow trees drop their leaves, showering little
gold hearts all over my property. Whenever I see a heart-shaped leaf, I think, as the
song says, "Love is either in your heart or on its way."

I got a great gift this year. An older brother, who I thought died in Vietnam, contacted me via email just after Christmas and we've resumed communication after 37 years. This was pretty amazing to me, especially since I thought I was the only one left. I know that all things are possible and I know that we create our own reality, but it never occurred to me that I could resurrect family members! I call many of my male friends brothers since that's how I think of them, but to have a "real" one of my own again is a really neat thing. I always welcome it when I find new people I can love. Especially if they're long distance and very low maintenance *hehe* So now we're taking the time to know each other again and I'm looking forward to the unfolding. And boy, is there ever a book in the making now...

It's great to have a new man in my life, and it's really great that, with this man, I won't hafta worry "where is this relationship going"" or "how is this going to unfold"" or "is he the one"" Gone are the cares of "will he like my cooking"" or "does he like my shape"" None of these things matter! Plus, I get the new man WITHOUT having to get his laundry. He comes complete with loving wife of 32 years, sons, daughters, grandkids, I've struck the jackpot!

I mentioned recently how important it is to have someone care about your process, to have someone to share progress notes with along the Path. While I don't know all his views yet - we're taking tiny steps! - my brother is interested in philosophy and religion and is familiar with the Edgar Cayce writings. We've been spending time in the early evenings chatting with each other via the internet. We fell easily and quickly into the old camaraderie. We both realize that while we're glad to have found each other, we may not meet often, since he lives in South Carolina and I'm in Florida. We don't feel the immediate need to see each other in person, either. Personal connection has so little to do with physical proximity. I've never been a sentimental person and never felt the need to gather with kinfolk for holidays and reunions. Even so, it's nice to have another brother on the Path, especially a true to life, blood brother!

It's sundown as I sit to write this, a chilly 55 degrees out there as the sky blazes from orange to pink. I'm on the 3rd day of the worst headcold I've ever had, throat so sore that my hourly barking is a vibrant experience. I have the usual arsenal of hot honey teas, vitamins and Emergence fizzy packets, and for 3 days I've eaten nothing but hot & sour soup from First Wok, who thankfully delivers.

I've started out the new year paradoxically feeling physically wretched, yet emotionally inspired and uplifted, and infused with new love. I realize how lucky I am to be able to live in a state where tourists pay to visit. I realize how lucky I am to be able to get my work done while sitting in leopard pajamas drinking hot cocoa with marshmallows while 2 kitties nap at my feet. I am grateful that I've never been so sick that I wasn't able to care for myself and go to work and get the job done. I'm grateful for true friends who look out for me. I'm grateful for having a good hair day even when I feel so icky!

I'm grateful when almost an hour has passed by and I haven't coughed... I'm grateful that though the coughing kept me up last night, I figured I was awake enough to get on the computer a few times and do a little bit more final layout. I'm grateful for friends who create magic, sacred gardens in their yard for me to walk along and enjoy as I'm recovering from my cold. I'm continually grateful that - whenever something "bad" happens to me, it's never all that bad! I have always considered myself very lucky. Even the kitties all rally around me when I'm sick, as if to hold the high watch for me.

Ah, lemme introduce you to my posse. There's Little Kitty , the 17 year old elder, a beautiful slim marmalade with white tips and tail. About 7 pounds, he purrs very loud, he comes and sits with me, purring at top volume, when I chant. I call him " L " for short. I acquired L on Halloween night as he was trying to break into the dumpster outside The Strawberry Mansion (great restaurant!) in historic downtown Melbourne. I got him some clam chowder and he gobbled it right down. I figured it'd be cheaper to feed him at home, so home with me he went.

Then there's Cosmo The Cyber Cat , who is my little buffalo. He's about 6 years old and husky - 12 pounds of solid muscle and fuzz. His fur is strange, it's white from the root to halfway up the hairshaft, and then black to the tips. When he runs and the wind parts his fur, it looks like he has stripes. He is always getting pine tar and pine needles and leaves and sticks stuck in his long fur, and he is also the master of ticks during the season. He likes to jump into my lap when I'm on the computer, just a few minutes for a quick cuddle and rub, then he's off into the woods again. I got Cosmo from Debby Jeffries , and my friend Joanne Priaulx got his sister. It's hard to believe they are from the same litter, I got the huskiest one and she got the most delicate one (the 'underdog" I called her. Sorry, Jo!)

Shakti is my 4 year old tortoiseshell with a black splash splitting her little face in two. She is very fluffy with long silky fur and she usually stays inside. Right now she has pine tar stuck to the top of her head and her fur is spiked up there, so she kinds looks like Billy Idol today. She must have been hanging around Cosmo. Shakti I found when I walked into Earth Visions Bookstore and she was there and owner Maryann Benson said I could have her.

Yin Yang is my sleek, shorthaired black and white 3 year old kitty with a bad attitude. She is a real brat, very territorial, she just came in the kitty window one day and started eating and sleeping on my empty guest bed, so I took her to the vet for shots and spaying. She used to be very sweet and complacent, then she was missing once for 2 days and I found her dehydrated and disoriented and legs immobile behind the jacuzzi. She spent the next 5 days in intensive care with no one knowing the cause of her being unable to walk. I'd visit her each day and hold her on my lap and give her reiki and therapeutic touch. On the 6th day she stood up and the vet told me I could take her home. Since that time, her personality really changed and now she's like the cat in Pet Semetary . She's found a new bed on the dash of my van in the garage when I leave the windows in it open. I learned this as I heard the bell going off in the garage telling me she'd stepped on the headlight switch as she was climbing onto the dash. Graceful she's not.

Finally there's Izzy who's my Maine Coon baby, 3 years old, about 30 lbs, 28 inches long with a 16 inch tail, he's like Baby Huey. He's a classic brown patch tabby and doesn't realize he's 2 and 3 times the size of the other kitties. Yin Yang , 8 lbs, is the only one who smacks and hisses when he sniffs her, the others just stand rooted and wait for the monster kitty to pass. Right now he's giving himself a bath as he sits in my giant rocker, and he has his right ear turned inside out and he looks ridiculous. His ears are more than twice the size of my other kitties' ears and the fur in them sticks out long and thick. He's quite a sight, and he always has a befuddled expression on his face. "What? Me worry"" I got Izzy right after my car accident in September 2000 . He was quite the slasher and biter for a day or two until I figured out how and when he wanted to be held. He's a big baby and will sleep across your lap for hours at a time, and will let you carry him around from room to room or in the yard. If you can lift him, plus he's reeeeaaaally long. He gets this purring/chirping/breathing sound going and it's comically loud and hilarious.

Our day starts about 4:00 am with feeding the kitties, followed by meditation and yoga. After a good stretch I may jump in the hot tub, which feels particularly good when I've got a headcold, like now. Then a quick shower and into the office to check email and begin organizing the day. Sometimes it's 11:00 a.m. before I look up at the clock, and sometimes it's 4:30 p.m., sometimes it's midnight. My schedule is apt to change with every phone call. I've always got lots of articles and art waiting to be downloaded for consideration. I've always got calls to return. I've always got new stores calling, asking for the magazine. There's always a dozen things that need doing. It feels a lot less like work to me when I can look across my desk and see Cosmo sprawled upside down on my mail, demanding a belly rub. He has his priorities in order. And I'm all for anything that makes "work' feel a little less like work.

How many ways can you think of to bring fun and lightness to your work or your work environment?  How many ways can you think to "reframe" your work experience so that it becomes enjoyable to you?  I'd like to hear from you on this. You can email me at Andreahugs@aol.com. Enjoy our issue this month. Hari Om.