I have spent the last week or so moving. There are still a few details to be wrapped up, tucked into their spots and put away, but for the most part, the house is livable. I blooded it the first day. Since I didn’t have any blood and no animal sacrifice to make, I used mead, which seemed appropriate when calling upon Odin. We have a big, wooded yard; nature is everywhere and it is far from quiet, as I’ve learned before. I still chuckle when I hear people talk about wanting “peace and quiet” because there is no such thing, especially in a state of nature. You’re just exchanging one set of sounds for another, the hum of interstate traffic for the endless singing of birds and insects. But given my druthers, I choose the sounds of nature every time its offered. There is something soothing about them as a backdrop, though I have to admit the hum of interstate traffic has an allure that dates back to my childhood, when we were traveling across country with my oft-transferred dad, lying in a motel bed somewhere, listening to the trucks on the highway. I remember when we finally settled down, yearning for that sound because I had become so used to it. Obviously we didn’t enjoy air conditioned motel rooms in those days, or I’d never have heard the sound at all, and I’m not likely to hear it again unless its a cool night.

I’ve chosen out a sacred spot in the back yard, but work on laying out a horgr will have to wait for the fall when the foliage begins to die. There is a dead tree lying across the center of the spot and some wild berries growing there. I’ll have to be careful what I take and what I leave. I need also to make an offering to the landvaettir, and the only important component in the house still missing is the stall, simply because I didn’t want the various parts of it jostled or broken and my back gave out before I could finish.

It’s a good feeling to be here, away from the busy apartment building with all its comings and goings and people tramping overhead, car doors, car alarms, people standing outside the door shouting and talking, and so forth. There are some loud sounds here occasionally too, like a trucking firm on the other side of the railroad tracks and people driving a car in serious need of a muffler down the road, but they are fleeting compared to what has been left behind. And as I said, I am now closer to nature, which is always a welcome thing.

I am going to try to relax a bit over the weekend and recover from the move. My back is very sore, of course and there are plenty of small things I can do around here that don’t involve heavy lifting. I am hoping for a peaceful, relaxing weekend.

Finally, from July 1 to July 4 I will be joining the Blogswarm Against Theocracy and posting about separation of church and state. It seems a common theme for me of late, but that’s because it’s an important one, a cause that needs support and a battle that must be fought. Even in the waning days of the Bush regime, the Christian Right is winning victories and eroding the defenses established by our Founding Fathers to prevent such a thing. I hope that other bloggers will join in, and that together our voices might be heard. The power of the blogosphere has already been asserted and it can be again if we speak together. Whatever our religion, none of us benefit from a theocracy.