Florida's Pompano Beach

A few more photos of the recent trip to Florida.

Helps me relive it too. 

I'm just not a winter person! 

The sweet canal along a main strip in Ft. Lauderdale caught my eye. 

And wandering the neighborhood nearby where we parked, 

there were many gigantic, lush trees like this one. 

My father and Fairy Stepmother

rented a sweet little bungalow on Pompano Beach 

where I spent a good deal of time. 

We were literally just steps from the beach. 

They said the brush has grown up a bit since they were last here
but you can still see the water from the patio. 

And every morning

(when it was already 80 degrees)

I took a walk from the bungalow to the park along the beach.

The views were exquisite. 

Though I didn't get to see any nesting sea turtles

I was told it's a big deal here. 

The last morning I got up a little earlier to catch the sunrise

over the ocean. We're so used to seeing the sunSET over the water 

on the West Coast so I had to get a few photos. 

I could definitely use a little more beach time already!

A lovely full moon just before I left. 

Sigh. 

With the warmth, humidity and palms everywhere,

every time I stepped outside,

it felt like I was in another country. 

I didn't expect to love Florida but...

dreaming of when I can go back!

(All Photos Copyright: Kirsten Steen

Please do not reproduce)

Florida's The Breakers

I was lucky enough to do a little traveling this past month

thanks to my father and his wife 

whom I call

My Fairy Stepmother. 

Unlike some step-relationships,

this wonderful woman does everything in her power

to bring family together,

including hauling me clear across the US, 

from one coast to the other,

for a visit 

generously using her miles. 

They rented a little place on Pompano Beach 

for the month of October and invited me for a week.

And since we were having hardwood floors put in at my house,

and the place was filled with a thick layer of dust, fumes and noise, 

my sweetie thought it might be perfect timing. 

While they took me many places, 

one of those places I ogled and snapped photos of for an hour

was The Breakers in Palm Beach. 

Since I still have many family members and friends

not on Facebook or Instagram (where I upload most of my photos),

I thought I'd share. 

While I didn't see any of the actual guest rooms,

each room on the main level was an exquisite treat...

with exquisite views. 

This was only part of the wine offerings in one of the restaurants. 

There was another small locked room with most likely more of the higher end choices. 

According to someone who had been there recently,

this flower arrangement was a small one compared to the last. 

While the property was founded by an industry tycoon in the 1890's,

this hallway feels almost like Versaille. 

Each time a fire leveled the hotel in the early 1900's,

it was rebuilt more luxurious than before. 

After the 1925 fire,

it was redesigned by the very same designers of 

New York's Waldorf Astoria... 

And given a more European flavor

using the Villa Medici of Rome as a model. 

Similar to the Medici Gardens,

this courtyard is stunning. 

And this magnificent ballroom 

looks out on the gardens. 

This is the view just outside the famous bar. 

It's proximity being so close to the water,

this luxury hotel was named after the waves just outside its doors. 

Of course, a seat in the bar

calls for a little bubbly. 

While you can't see any of the fish,

you can see here by the coral 

that the counter is an aquarium. 

Hope you've enjoyed this little tour of The Breakers. 

Come back next time for more Florida fun photos! 

For more info and pics of The Breakers,

Click Here.

(All photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Novel Setting & Deep Breathing

It's been a rough week here in the US

with the hearings (don't even want to say his name) for the Supreme Court nominee,

 feelings of frustration and betrayal along party lines, fear and anxiety among women,

the list goes on and on. Emotions are high. Women are trying to stand together

and at the same time, I'm seeing some very reactive behavior. 

Me included. 

Anybody else wake up in the mornings with just a tad bit of anxiety?! 

Maybe even more than usual?!

Sometimes I wake with the feeling that I just can't do what's expected on this planet. 

And I don't have what you would call a high stress life,

especially after my injury put me out of work. 

But the feeling is still there, like I'm not meant for this place and have no idea

how to navigate what must be waded through.  

It feels like it's sometimes too much for my brain to comprehend. 

Luckily, it's my writing day

so I'm retreating into my novel

where many of those above feelings are still located 

but my job is only to help my characters navigate

and try to make the language work as smoothly as I can. 

The photo above is the Prior's Table Restaurant 

(within a 12th century Cistercian abbey in the French countryside 

called Abbaye des Vaux de Cerney) 

where my love interests meet and set up their first date. 

I'm in my final read through before sending out 

to my last round of readers. 

Wishing you a good week

and hoping whatever you are navigating 

is nothing but smooth sailing. 

Be sure to take deep breaths and 

hold someone's hand if needed! 

I'm here if you need me. 

For more photos and info on the Abbaye, 

Click Here

(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Life Tapestries

Missing Paris Day is finally back after a hiatus. 

And while I have this photo somewhere from an exhibit in Paris many years ago

(The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry series)

(I even bought the coasters in the gift shop and use them at home),

I had to borrow this image cause who knows where that photo is!?

Lately it feels like someone keeps punching holes in the fabric of my life,

my tapestries, 

you know those threads that we weave tightly together,

threads dipped and gilded, steeped in our beliefs, 

our safety nets, our security blankets wrapped around us?! 

I'd been asking for some changes to help me propel myself to the next level

but I wanted, you know, small changes with big benefits. 

And maybe, possibly even with some benefits I can see. 

Between my own health issues
(which one after another keep trying to scare me out of my mindset),

the very painful (for her) death of a close friend
and then the ensuing pain of loss for 30 years of friendship, 

loss of my career (due to said health issues and an injury) as well as my income,

and other minor but still painful punches,

my tapestry is starting to look like it's been carried around by a homeless person,

used to keep warm and maybe even slept under... 

on the streets ... since the Middle Ages. 

But we keep on plugging. And trying to find the beauty and the blessings. 

Cause that's what this life is about. That's how we survive.

And that's what she did.

And I know I'm not alone.
It's a freaking jungle out there.
And everyone, and their mother and grandmother and sister, has a story. 

This week I am so blessed to be at my writing retreat on the Oregon Coast

(even with having to hire someone to haul my week's worth of necessities

up all the stairs to the house and then more stairs to my room).

The sun came out for awhile yesterday so I took a break from my room, 

worked in a cafe in my favorite little beach town nearby 

and spent some time outdoors by the ocean. 

Now more than ever, 

it feels so important to cherish every moment,

the heartbreakingly beautiful ones, so starkly sad ones, 

the gut-wrenchingly (and gut-punchingly) powerful

and achingly exquisite ones. 

This may be one of my last few visits to my writing retreat 

that I've gone to twice a year for the last eight years

so I'm trying to look at it through those eyes. 

Everything is precious

here and in life. 

The beauty, the broken things. 

The words and ways we talk to each other, treat each other, 

the ways we make each other feel. 

Our tapestries already get so threadbare and worn

from uncaring, outside influences.

And from the giant holes some unseen force

decides we need to learn how to sew with our minds!

Take care of each other's fabric.

And cherish all the Feels. 

We still get to be here to feel them!
But only for so long.

(Lady and the Unicorn tapestry photo via Wiki)

(Beach photo copyright Kirsten Steen)

Mary Magdalene's Feast Day and... Beauty

On this day in Provence, in the South of France,

this reliquary, said to house part of the tibia 

and a lock of hair of Mary Magdalene,

is brought out and sent through the town in procession. 

And around the world, she is honored

as representing the Divine Feminine and its resurgence.

While there are probably countless definitions of this concept,

for me it is about bringing back balance,

with both masculine and feminine energies, 

to the patriarchal world and time we find ourselves in. 

It's about living within our power,

about empathy and understanding, forgiveness of others, 

about healing and the sacred of your own feminine energy. 

It's about High Priestess energy. 

(Visitor's notes to Mary Magdalene in her cave at La Baume)

And this weekend, on the eve of the Magdalene's Feast Day,

we also celebrated and honored another red-headed Marianne.

My friend of thirty years passed last week

and many of her friends gathered in her backyard garden, 

filled with the flowers, images, fairy lights and people that she loved,

to honor her, to feel her, speak of her,

to hold on and to let her go with love. 

She was/is a High Priestess of Beauty, 

creating it everywhere she turned,

from morning to night. 

And many of the things I mentioned about the Divine Feminine

are the things people spoke about my friend and honored her for. 

In one area of her decorated yard sat a table 

with a bouquet of beautiful pieces of paper 

and a canister of colored pencils. 

And from her pear tree, budding with fruit, hung colored ribbons. 

The tree, surrounded with bouquets of flowers, 

 became a Blessing Tree where many of us wrote wishes or blessings to her

and hung it from the tree's ribbons. 

Go in peace, Beauty! 

Your heart has filled us with such richness.

May you soar high and free

and tease us often with glimpses. 

I will miss you forever!  

Marianne 'Octavia Hunter' Galloway 

* 1/7/67- 7/15/18 *

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)

Holding Vigil

I'm holding vigil for a friend who is doing the hard work 

of making her way to the other side. 

This photo is taken from her altar when I stayed with her awhile back. 

I was supposed to see her today probably for the last time

and to sit with others who have loved her dearly 

to meditate, hold vigil and send her as much love 

as she might need to soar. 

But our time together was cancelled by her caregiver at the last moment. 

So I'm holding my own vigil. 

This photo perfectly fits how I'm feeling. 

I'm holding the beauty of her flame,

 her precious life, in my heart. 

If you're so moved, please say a prayer for her journey. 

Divine Feminine Oracle Cards

Another book bento, this time for the Divine Feminine Oracle Cards I just received

by the amazing Meggan Watterson and Hay House. 

A deck of magnificent cards of goddesses, saints and divine women figures

along with the booklet that describes each and their positive message. 

I picked the card of Brigid for my post today:

The Goddess of the Eternal Flame. 

Her message couldn't be more perfect for me right now. 

Brigid represents the flame, that light we carry deep within us

that never goes out though we might think and fear that it has. 

And the shift and healing that takes place 

after walking in the dark of a cold winter

for what feels like far too long. 

An internal light that reminds us that we do not walk alone

and the best is yet to come. 

She is the light of dawn

and hope and healing and growth of spring. 

And the reminder that the dark, the winter never lasts long

and that we are all sacred. 

***********

The Divine Feminine makes me think of Provence

and my trip to Mary Magdalene's cave, La Baume,

which was a magical journey for me. 

It makes me think of the balancing of the feminine and masculine energies

and the state of the world and its perilous imbalance right now. 

And of course I think of MM herself.

It also makes me think of my mother.

I didn't realize until writing this just now that, my mother,

who passed several years ago, is now part of my Divine Feminine frame of reference. 

Like all of us, while she was always a tiny part of the Divine Mind 

without really truly knowing or fully understanding that, 

(as is true for many),

she now has an even greater, stronger, more powerful connection 

to the Divine Feminine. 

And I think of the women I've known

who have recently lost husbands and beloveds

and the tribe of women who share the understanding of that kind of grief. 

Mary Magdalene shares in that company and tribe. 

That is some powerful company. 

So grateful for this gorgeous deck 

with its divine and uplifting messages. 

Thank you, Meggan Watterson!

(Artwork by Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman)

** Sidenote:
The tiny, barely-visible cross leaves at the bottom of the Bookbento
are the dried olive leaves from Mary Magdalene's cave
where I journeyed to in the South of France 3 years ago this month.
I took them off the floor where they had fallen from
the two small olive trees in pots on the lower level of the cave.
These are flanked by the medallions I bought in the abbaye gift shop:
one of MM and one of St. Michael. I submerged them in the pool of water
in the back of the cave so they would be imbued with what I would call Holy Water
after centuries of veneration to Mary Magdalene. 

(Photo copyright: Kirsten Steen)

French Mother's Day Chateau Bouquets

(Five Queens Room/Chenonceau)

Today is Mother's Day in France 

and these photos are from some of the chateaux

on a Mother's Day weekend some years ago.

They filled their ancient rooms with these exquisite flowers. 

My last Mother's Day post showed the exterior of one of the chateaux

(Azay le Rideau)

so I thought I'd show a few of the actual lovely arrangements. 

While the French Fete des Meres is always the last Sunday in May

(unless it coincides with Pentecost and then it's moved to the 1st Sunday in June),

I just learned that the Italian Mother's Day is the same as in the US,

2nd Sunday in May and is known as La Festa della Mamma.

In the UK, it was known as Mothering Sunday

and was originally tied to the Christian calendar

falling on the fourth Sunday of Lent,

usually late March or early April

when followers were given time off to return to their 'mother' church.

 Always something to learn while blogging!

I think this last basket of creamy white roses and Cala lilies is my favorite

with its view out the window to the water. 

Bonne Fete des Meres to les Mamans in France! 

(Photos copyright: Kirsten Steen)