Welcome to a World of Spiritual Harmony

As part of my left-brained life, I was in Canton, in northeast Ohio, last week, for the Ohio Community Development Corporations Association. It’s a statewide membership advocacy group for all the CDCs and many other organizations in the state.

Only 80,000 folk in Canton - but some of the most collaborative folk I’ve ever met. In this medium sized town, there are more than 50 neighborhood organizations. The Mayor gives a lot of credit for Canton’s survival and now growth to those neighborhoods and their creative partnerships.

I chose the downtown neighborhood tour, which was led by the City’s arts advocate and a Chamber of Commerce rep working closely with him. I love downtowns, so that was part of the reason for my choice. The other reason was that I found it hard to believe that a city of 80,000 even had an arts advocate, especially in this economic climate.

Turns out, they hired him because the city’s leadership had decided that the arts were the way to economic survival. Talk about innovative and creative and forward thinking! Robb started small, with a project to pay artists to paint the trash containers. Just 3 years later, they have First Friday events that draw 3,000 into the center city, very few vacant buildings, lots of art venues - and some of the best restaurants in the region.

The Chamber guy was talking about a particular storefront project that had been done very quickly. I questioned that, since it was part of the City of Canton’s plan, and cities have so many rules to follow that nothing happens quickly. Turns out, the Chamber liked the idea - and simply paid for it themselves, in partnership with the City. Wow!

Our next stop on the tour was even more impressive. A huge old vacant building has been rehabbed into the perfect venue for your wedding reception in Canton, with a first class restaurant coming, and a jazz club / restaurant already completed (owned by a former steel worker, whose job had gone away). It’s LEED certified, so it’s green - easy to breathe in there - and it’s owned by the Metropolitan Housing Authority! I am still unable to wrap my mind around that. Hard to imagine the Housing Authority, the City, the Chamber and arts advocates anywhere collaborating on any one of those pieces, let along the whole package, in any city that I know of.

These folks looked at the future, didn’t find much to like in what they saw, and changed. They found ways to work together. Small town mid-America - and pointing the way for the rest of us.

Zeynep, a Reiki Master from Turkey working at P&G, had a real calling over a year ago to gather the Reiki community here in Cincinnati. Her first step was to ask Victory of Light for a time during the festival last November to invite Reiki Masters to come together for a conversation. Out of that came a meeting at Panera’s community room in Hyde Park in January, followed by an all-day session at Grailville last March, attended by nearly 30 Masters.

And then, two weeks ago, we had our second gathering at Grailville, which included more Reiki Shares - which means we broke into small groups, and then everyone in the group was worked on in turn by everyone else in the group. In addition to that, we talked about what kinds of experience we have had, and our students have had, during Attunements - and lots of other conversations about doing and receiving Reiki. It was all good.

Here’s the website if you want to learn more about this group and about our next gathering, which will be in the spring: http://cincinnatireiki.ning.com

A fair number of international Reiki folk in the group, evidence that it is spreading around the planet.

We will also be doing an Intro to Reiki each month in different parts of town, through next September. The gathering will be at my house on Sunday, October 18, 4 to 6 p m. There will be listings on the website. And we’ll do an Intro to Reiki at the Victory of Light Fair, probably on Sunday the 22nd, during the afternoon. Please come - and send any of your friends who need to know more before they are really ready to learn how to heal themselves and others.

If you’re not a healer yet - just show up!

I, of course, love Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and everything they do. And I can pretty much guarantee you will love the current production of A Lion in Winter. The story of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, his queen, and the mother of his four sons (one of whom is already dead when the play opens), is a major look at family dysfunction. The plots, counter plots, lies and subterfuge are over the top. And then the King of France comes into the picture. And it all breaks loose.

It’s good to remember this is pretty much a true story. Makes today’s headlines look tame. Bruce Cromer and Sherman Fracher are great - everyone is actually great. Remember, too, that son Richard is known to us as Richard the Lion Hearted. Billy Chace, playing 16-year-old Prince John - the John who is such a great friend of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and enemy of Robin Hood, does a great whiny job.

My only very small quibble is that occasionally they all might try quiet menace rather than shouted threats. A great story, great cast. Glad James Goldman wrote it, since Shakespeare didn’t.

The US Open this year was a great tournament, running pretty much true to form until the last Friday, September 11. It began to rain, allowing no full matches on Friday, just a few on Saturday, more on Sunday. So that the women’s doubles final - winners Serena and Venus - were held early afternoon on Monday, and Roger Federer fell to Juan Martin Del Potro around 7 p m.

Everything was out of kilter. Kim Clijsters was winning her semi-final match against Serena when Serena imploded - deliberately destroying her racket and drawing a warning - and then exploded - physically threatening a small Asian woman line judge. Causing her to lose a point - which was match point! And then not really apologizing til 3 days later. If then.

And then came the men’s final. The unflappable Roger very calmly said s…, among other statements (no other swearing) to the umpire, while arguing about the amount of time needed to challenge. Roger played very well, but there was very little magic after the first 2 sets. Those sets were great - it looked like a runaway win for The Fed. And then the balance swung the other way.

Del Potro, one of the ‘tree’ players (so tall the ball comes from totally different angles), learned and grew over the summer, and became a better player than he had been. And probably the best of all the ‘trees’, most of whom are stiff and slow and non-creative. They have a serve and that’s about it.

Del Potro isn’t good enough, and won’t be, to win against Roger often. But when Roger’s serve deserted him, and so did the way his brain, eye and hand work together, Del Potro took it. I wasn’t even able to watch the awards ceremony. Simply fled from friend Diane’s to drive home. By the time I got there, there were reports of the trophy ceremony being a travesty. Del Potro’s lack of English caused the tournament and the network to shorten the presentation. A sad last act to a tournament that had lost its way.

I am so glad I was at our tournament again this year. It’s one of the 13 most important on the planet, and many of the folk there are not from our area. And - Roger Federer was at his very very best. What I said to friends later was that during the middle of the match, Roger played like an outstanding human tennis player. The rest of the time, he played way above that terrific level. And, as usual - he made it all look effortless.

Paul Daugherty did some great writing about it: “When Roger Federer play like this, the rest of men’s tennis wonders what’s the use. It’s like competing with Brad Pitt for the same woman or Barbra Streisand for the same note. No wonder Federer is tight with Tiger Woods. They’re two destroyers in the same navy. When skill and will collide, the alchemy is greatness.”

And Novak Djokovic, who had resoundingly beaten the fantastic Rafael Nadal the night before, said: “The closest I was about to get to the first place trophy was now.”, as he stood near the table where the trophies were placed during the presentation.

This was Roger at his sublime and awesome best. And, also as usual, he was comfortable, friendly, humble. A role model for the ages.

What a treat to be able to be watching and breathing the same air.

Noticed last week that the doe visiting the feeder had already started developing her winter coat. They are bright brown spring and summer. When fall begins, a heavier coat of grayed brown takes over. A psychic friend and I both feel that winter is likely to come early and strong - and then back off, for a fairly mild winter overall. But not so warm that the deer will be uncomfy in her coat. : >

I filled the hummer feeders for what is probably the last time - they often arrive pretty much on the dot of the first of May, and depart (the adult males first) the first of September. They’re still hanging around, and eating like crazy, for their thousands of miles journeys. I love hummingbirds - wonderful cheery folk. As they leave, I’ll get to make some new friends, as the migrators pass through. The white breasted nuthatch, which feeds upside down, is already back.

We’re going to put in more kale, and a fall crop of lettuce, and turn over the compost heap. Always great to be playing in the garden.

I love the fireworks at Riverfest - what a great way to end the summer, with most of the region down on the river on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, partying, shouting back and forth across the water, oohing and aahing at the show.

And I am always looking for a new spot to watch. Son Brian watched from the 7th Street viaduct this year - said it was great. I’ll remember that next year. I’d never watched from my own neighborhood til last year, when my friend Nancy had a political fundraising and all us members of the Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus showed up to work the crowd and watch the fireworks. She lives right across the street, so that was easy.

This year, I checked out all the little streets here in Walnut Hills that deadend on the cliffs over the river. The one that looked best to me was Ingleside. Salutaris would have been great, but was very overgrown. The others either weren’t public, or just didn’t get out far enough to get the view.

So about 8:15 yesterday, I walked up the hill to Ingleside, getting there earlier than I had planned - and a good thing I did! There were not many folk there at 8:30, and there were no parking places for blocks, from my house on up. I propped myself up on a no parking sign, and started conversations with the folk who had been there a while, with their folding chairs and all. Great mix of folk, lots of fun.

Tons of parties going on above us, in the highrise condos (not so high, actually - maybe 6 stories). One tree blocking part of the view, but I was well off to its left. A toddler, getting fussy waiting for the fireworks, was mesmerized once they began. People flocked in once it was nearly nine, but those of us in place held firm.

Excellent shouting across the river, excellent fireworks, excellent music. Some new and innovative displays off the bridges, where normally it’s firework waterfalls. Another great end-of-summer evening. Keep it up, Cincinnati!

Suddenly, late last fall, I couldn’t continue to charge $75 for readings and healings, and $125 for classes. I just couldn’t. So I went back to my old fees of $60 and $90. Eventually, I started calling it recession pricing.

I’ve stayed in touch psychically, spiritually, intuitively with this recesssion all along the way. Last fall, it was hard to know / feel when / where the bottom was. Then, as the Dow hovered around and below 8,000, I knew the bottom was somewhere around 7,500, that it wouldn’t go much lower. Now it’s clear we’re an inch or two up from the bottom, and that the bottom is much firmer than it was.

I figure I’ll know it’s really over the day I wake up and start charging $75 again. That’s the way it usually works for me. I look down and discover my feet on a new path, and realize I’ve made a decision my conscious mind didn’t know I’d made!

Through several quirky happenings today, I ended up headed to Pleasant Ridge over an hour too early. Not enough time to get back to the office or home to accomplish any of the tasks on my agendas.

So I said to Myself - ideas? And Indian mounds popped right into my brain. I had been meaning to visit the two mounds still existing near all of us for a long time, and hadn’t managed to put them on my schedule. So - today was perfect - full moon energy, the sweetest and freshest weather, and time!

I was closer to Kennedy Heights at that time, and so turned on to Bantry, up a couple of streets, turned right at the street with a treed hill in the middle (one side is Dante, don’t remember the name of the street on the other side - don’t know why there are two names - you’ll see what I mean). That first treed hill, funny shaped, is where the old water tower used to be. The next one, more regular in shape, is the old mound.

I didn’t know it was a mound the first time I walked on it - until I noticed the energy was pushing up. Normally, as I walk around (I expect this is true for all of us, if we pay attention), my energy is going out, down, into nature. I’ll do that intentionally if I need grounding. But, as I discovered that day years ago, mounds are sources of energy - they push up. Refreshing.

After a while, I asked the mound if it wanted to talk. Instantly a fun little breeze sprang up, made me laugh, and I felt laughter. Then tears for the beauty, gratitude followed by joy. That was what the mound wanted me to know. I touched each of the trees in the circle (most mounds have trees in a circle on top, even though in this culture that was unlikely to happen intentionally) in thanks.

Next stop - Indian Mound Avenue in Norwood, off Montgomery. Follow that along for a while, and then there’s an old beat up looking water tower behind the houses on the right, and a small sign that says Tower Park. Park on the street and walk in - and right there in front of you is the mound, a small one.

It all looks neglected, but energy-wise is still very much alive. I walked up and touched the tree, not quite in the center, that is the grandparent. No circle of trees here, but as I leaned in to touch another one on the mound, I noticed the poison ivy. My hands had gone (luckily!) to the clear space. I walked back to the Grand, and noticed a little poison ivy there. In yet another coincidence in this day, I had 2 bags of plastic bags in my trunk, to be recycled. So I got out a big bag, put my arm in it (as one would to clean up after a pup), and cleared out that poison ivy. Perfect to be able to do that tree a favor.

Aaahhhhh. What a great day!

p. s. And I still had time to stop and pick up a spinach and feta croissant at Pleasant Perk before my appointment : >