I find myself once again on Monday with a whirlwind of a week behind me! It continues to amaze me just how many activities our diverse family can fit into just a few days…

Last Monday was pumpkin carving at our little homestead. Pumpkins had been piled on the porch for nearly two weeks awaiting the arrival of Ines, one of my dearest friends who hails from Berlin, Germany. I picked her up Sunday evening at the airport and Monday after some rest we began on the journey to carve pumpkins between school and Boy Scouts! Like so many opportunities that arise throughout the year, this is an activity that is always filled with fun, creativity, smiles ~ and of course snacks once we roast the pumpkin seeds!!! 

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Tuesday was our English tea at Camp G.R.I.T.S. and we had an absolutely lovely time. Since Ines is visiting from Berlin for a couple of weeks, we had 3 countries represented at our little ladies’ get together! Authentic English scones (Americans call these biscuits) with butter and jam, a variety of tea, and refined conversation gave way to a tour of the property for @cassidydawn and our dear Ines. For homeschooling purposes, this counted completely as a multi-cultural field trip! 

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<center>*We always keep a worldly selection of teas at home, so of course we threw some in a basket to bring and share! This assortment included teas from the United States, China, France, & Germany.*</center>

It was refreshing to be able to have cultural comparisons on a variety of topics, and I am confident that we all learned something new from each other! I also find it important to take time to honor women sharing together, which is something that seems to get lost in modern society. Somewhere along the way it has been misunderstood in the translation of politics to remember the sacred about men honoring the masculine, women honoring the feminine! I was going to write a whole post on this, but as you are realizing most of my days are filled with a plethora of activities and limit for time to write!

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If you would like to know more about Camp G.R.I.T.S. I wrote a post about their Air bnb that you can read here:
https://steemit.com/travel/@freemotherearth/camp-g-r-i-t-s-a-sustainable-choice-for-the-conscious-traveler

On Wednesday we helped to make tie-dye gifts for the families of incarcerated Americans. I did have time to write a post about that, you can read it here:
https://steemit.com/homeschooling/@freemotherearth/wednesday-field-trip-tie-dye-adventures

I believe it’s likely I will write about the American prison system at some point on here, but it’s very depressing to realize and understand the levels of insanity, harm, and absolute games that are played with the lives of many men and women in this country. It’s a booming business and unfortunately is a classic example of the rich taking advantage of the poor. But let’s save that for another day.

I also created my first challenge for you all, and I am offering up 15 steem as the first place prize. I am looking forward to reading soon about some of your adventures in the quest to write for this challenge post. Remember you have until November 10 to enter, and this challenge helps our sustainable networks grow!
https://steemit.com/steemchallenge/@freemotherearth/steemitchallenge-conscious-traveler-s-challenge

Thursday was Halloween, certainly an American holiday and one that reflects much of our society: a blend of many cultures into one. While trick-or-treating is a dying activity and has been for the past 20 years, our family finds a way to participate every year even if it’s not always the classic neighborhoods of suburbia. 

Gatlinburg, Tennessee is a tourist town and the main entrance to the GSMNP, so the shop owners have adopted Halloween trick-or-treating. Children of all ages in every costume you can imagine walk up one side of the street and down the other, stopping at most every store to trick or treat and add to their personal dragon’s hoard of candy. The weather was cold and rainy, so the turnout this year wasn’t quite as hectic as last year, but it was still busy and there was still many pounds of candy to be collected! 

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Friday was no exception to the flurry of activity. In the afternoon after school we drove over to our beloved pagan community to prepare for, and participate in an intimate handfasting for friends. After ten tumultuous and successful years together, they have decided to handfast in preparation for a “proper” wedding next year. While I don’t have pictures to share with you, picture this:
A loving couple gathers by the courtyard fire. A small group of friends and family circle round as the priest and priestess say a few words of love and encouragement. As the flames flicker light upon the faces present, the couple exchange vows they have written for themselves, and their hands are bound together with braided cords they each made for their handfasting. The two become one, the small crowd is filled with smiles and cheers, and the rest of the evening is taken with sharing in food, drink, comradery, and laughter. Blessed Be. 

While they may call it the “weekend”, there is nothing in our lives that slows down because the week is ending! Saturday was a rare evening of adults only company, but not just an ordinary day…
Rabbit (my partner), Ines and I made our way out of the Smoky Mountains and into the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina for a very special and intense show at the Asheville Music Hall in Asheville, North Carolina. The reason for the show and gathering of old friends was heavy, but the opportunity to find myself in a sea of memories and people was one I am extremely grateful to have taken. 
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I first met Aslan Walkon when I was just 19 years old and he and his wife at the time were 22, what seems like several lifetimes ago. Like so many of my fellow travelers, we have been in and out of contact for these past decades but the ties that bind remain constant as they are built in love. At this time, Aslan finds himself with life-threatening health issues. Our beautiful network that runs both in and out of the Rainbow Family of Living Light has been diligently working together to find ways to support Aslan and his immediate family through these difficult times. Saturday night was a reunion of multiple musicians onstage whose time playing together spans nearly 30 years worth of projects. There was a silent auction as well as a raffle of donated items and services, and proceeds from the evening were 100% for Aslan and his family. 
As I made my way throughout the evening, I found myself in a surreal reunion. Now that we are all in our 40’s and 50’s, our looks have changed a bit, our adventures have amassed, and our wisdoms have grown through hardships as well as blessings. We came together from truly around the globe at this show, as there were people who live internationally as well as within the United States.

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<center>*A stranger in a strange land; I am extremely acclamated to my rural living in the mountains. I found it strange to be surrounded by trees of such an odd shape!*</center>

And yet, in those long moments of hugs and soulful eye gazing, through sharing stories and reminiscing on times gone by, through laughter and tears ~ we are still connected, the many are yet one. The lesson remains the same ~ celebrate each other while we are alive. Give of your time, of your energy, of yourself to life and to the living. Share compliments, take time to honor one another while we are here together on Earth. No one truly knows what happens once we are gone (and I am not here to debate personal beliefs), but we do know that we have the now. 

Check out a video recording of Natural Healing from Saturday night's show on the link just below. Note that Aslan and his 13 year old son Justus are performing together for part of the set, which is a special rite of passage for any musician and his son! (Natural Healing is a roots/reggae group that was formed in the mid-1990's and played together for several years. Aslan was one of the founding members.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dZZTg_4A0g&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR12-XYMhNQZ8r37RBuxr3sM5M86wlpTx19pjZ4TWJ8mYCrroS0oERaGXGs
If you would like to donate to the cause, here is a link to the Gofundme that is being managed by two of Aslan's daughters. These donations have been vital in the challenges of health care and living expenses when someone is unable to work and needs extensive medical care. The United States is definitely not friendly in that regard for many of it's citizens.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/helping-Aslan-heal

All of these brief recounts bring us to Sunday … finally! After the drive home from Asheville, you might think Sunday would be without it’s activity. In my life, dull moments are rare and naps are a myth! While Sunday was serene and had many moments to reflect back upon the week, it still made itself known. In the evening as Ines was finishing preparing her infamous stuffed bell peppers for supper (you can’t get more authentic German food than a German in your kitchen cooking!!), a truck pulled into the driveway! We had a surprise visit from yet another long time friend, one I made at the extremely young age of 18 at the beginning of my time traveling the continental U.S. After months of phone silence and over a year since his last visit, “Hippie” Greg arrived just in time to eat. As always it was great to see him, and he helped with the assembly line on @cassidydawn’s latest grocery bag project for quite some time. As Hippie’s house is about 4 hours away, you can imagine our pleasant surprise to find him at the gate. Of course, after all these years we are accustomed to his “ghosting” in and out of our lives. Nothing changes, except the time. This is the beauty of true friends ~ and what I teach my children: If you love someone, they are in your heart always, and no amount of time or distance can truly separate you.

I hope you enjoyed reading my little synopsis of the highlights of the last 7 days in the life of Spring. The random activities that fill the spaces between "normal" work and play change like the wind and the experiences grow in every direction for all of us at this little homestead. It keeps us on our toes and active participants in this experiment we call life.
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<center>*The sign on our porch and the rule of our home, this old wooden slab with upcycled license plate art might be my most treasured possession*</center>