Greetings

We watch the weather and comment about its ferocity or lack of it thereof. We put labels on it that pertain to what we want to do outside of our homes during that time or how comfortable we are living with what the Sacred Earth Mother hath given us.

This morning, I’m up early and waiting for the sky to lighten. My view is to the Southeast and the faintest light will start to peek from that direction soon. Yesterday, it was a pinkish orange and blue. The sun was evident, but hidden behind a few low clouds. Cold, just 5 degrees fahrenheit.

This morning, at this early hour before daylight, the longest period of darkness this year is punctuated by an outside temperature of 10 degrees. The high will be 19 with partly sunny skies and a light wind out of the North. There is snow covering the ground.

I sit here, inside, and can’t hear the furnace keeping the house at an even 68 degrees. It is efficient, as compared to the older energy sucking appliances of the past. My use of natural gas has lowered considerably since we installed the new furnace in 2010. I think I could go outside and start a fire in the back yard fire pit, but I don’t have the drive to do so. Yet if I were to act on this ‘feeling’, I certainly can see and imagine the warmth as I sat there staring into the flames.

Sure, there is the fireplace in the living room. That wouldn’t take getting dressed and would still emanate heat and sooth the soul with the gazing I would do. It would be a meeting place where any family members that were to hear it and desire to do so, would share it. I see a strong cup of coffee in my future as I sit there.

The rest of my day will be to make one more batch of Italian bakery to serve at our Christmas table. I will do some prepping for other dishes I will serve tomorrow when the family comes over en masse.

That’s how we do it here at Spadoville. A table full of food, seasonable delicacies, that we all share only at Christmas or other special occasions. These foods have meaning to our family gatherings and evoke special memories and feelings.

I love to cook for friends and family, be it Christmas or any other celebration. This year, I am remembering my Mother the most, how I used to help her prepare, especially in her later years when she had a harder time of wielding the heavy pots and pans around the kitchen. I want to make things that she provided when she was here with us. Baccala’, Aglio et olio pasta, crostoli and cannoli.

I’ll have my work cut out for me tomorrow morning as I cook. I’ll do the preparation today, chopping and making sure the large pots and pans are clean, all the ingredients are on hand and everything is ready to go.

After Christmas Eve, it’s all over. We’ll eat left overs and hope that someone comes over to eat some of the cookies, washed down with a cup or two of Steve’s great Smokey Double Dark Coffee. There are no guests expected Christmas Day, and we don’t have plans to go anywhere. Our daughters have plans of their own.

Anyway, that’s all that’s on my mind. I’m in a slump of sorts with telling stories, but I did want to check in and say to all of you, Merry Christmas.

Peace

Real Life Soldiers

Haiku My Heart

December 14, 2012

On Friday, we Remember Our Hearts and write poetic verse in Haiku. Many of relate to others in our once per week community of friends and show up with stories, photos, art and feelings and share with each other. The exercize is called Haiku My Heart and can be shared and viewed at Rebecca's recuerda mi corazon

Trees at attention

Soldiers obeying orders

Guarding scenic view

“The camera never does it justice”, one of us would say as the other snaps photograph after photograph of a place we wandered to during our travels. My iPhoto is full of scenery pictures from scenic views, like this one, from all over the United States. 

We take the scenic drive. Stop the car where we deem a safe place to park. Then the dance begins:

"I'll grab some water, you got the camera?" she'll say.

"Yep, I got it. Wait a minute, I'll need my glasses. Where did I put them?" I'll answer.

"Last time I saw them they were in that side pouch on the door." she'd suggest.

"Oh, that's right." Then I'd dig through two glass cases, a pair of sunglasses, a candy wrapper, a lid from a carry-out Americano and a couple of pair of readers, one with the broken bow that is useless but never gets thrown away.

The above photo, by the way, is at an overlook on the drive to the top of Mt. Lemmon near Tucson, AZ. We made the trek as an outing during our recent trip. As I write this, we are near Kansas City and on our way to the Chicago suburbs to visit friends and family until we return home by Monday.

Photos like these always makes me think of a slide show of vacation photos that a friend wants me to see. They would show up at the coffee shop with the dreaded envelope bulging full of photographs, or if I were to go to their home to visit, the slides would come out and with the room lights darkened, I’d view life through their eyes one frame at a time.

These days, all the pictures I take are loaded onto the computer. As I’m traveling now, I load them from the camera onto the iPhoto on my MacBook Air. When I get home, I’ll share them onto the big desktop. Hopefully, I can show the Grandkids where we’ve been. At least they will look at the photos as they are wonderfully trained at obedience and politeness.

So now I show just one of them to you, and write to catch your interest. Sorry, nothing of note except a beautiful place atop the Sacred Earth Mother overlooking more mountain tops and valleys that seem to have these tree soldiers standing guard.

They look tired and in disarray. Almost like they are at attention but slumping from their battle fatigue. Energy spent. Battle will ensue soon and they know it, but they will stand and protect until the death. Were they lucky to pull such a duty station, high atop the world? Or would they have been better off down below along the empty stream?

You don’t need my photograph to see these guardians protecting the soil. Sometimes they are not so tall and weathered. Crawl down on your hands and knees and look at the blades of grass on the plains, or small pieces of plant growth amongst the rocks and sand of the desert. They stand there too. On guard. Protecting.

Peace

Our Lady of Guadalupe

A Virgin a Day
12/12/12

Guadalupe made her presence in South Dakota at the Fatima Family Shrine in Alexandria

This seried started on December 1st. People from all over the world have submitted posts for twelve days in honor of the twelfth day of the month of December, which is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. You can see more images and read more stories at recuerda mi corazon

Small statue for home use


We have been traveling since November 30th. We did sit still in Tucson for a week, but we're back on the road as of last Monday and headed for a stop in Chicago before the last miles toward home. Hear tell they had over a foot of snow in River Falls. Sorry we missed it. There will be more throughout the Winter, so it's not like we'll miss all of the storms that bring the white stuff.

Tattood for life with Our Lady of Guadalupe (I wanted so bad to reach over and put the tag in its proper place, but didn't risk the intrusion on the space of this individual)

In the meantime, I have been keeping track of these 12 days of the Virgin Mary. I'm just going to share some photos I've taken over the past week or so that depict Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

A coloring book of images of many depictions of the Blessed Virgin that we bought while in Tucson, AZ

First page of the above mentioned coloring book (Might blow this up and post it as a coloring contest, what do you think?)

Guadalupe cut-out

An iron rendition of Guadalupe in a small church courtyard

Close-up of the above metalwork

Painted tiles depicting Our Lady of Guadalupe

On the wall at the entrance to the church at St. Xavier del Bac near Tucson

So you see, we notice her image. It follows us as we travel. I seek her out as it has become second nature to spot her image on most everything, especially in the American Southwest and Mexico. I'm still looking for that gear shift knob I mentioned last year.

I will celebrate this day by asking her spirit to travel with us for a safe journey.

Peace

Another Small Town Shrine

A Virgin a Day

December 10, 2012

Today is Day 10 of the 12 Days of “A Virgin a Day”. This series started on December 1st and will culminate with the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th. This is the third year that I have been a part of this wonderful project that was started by my friend Rebecca on her blog, recuerda mi corazon. Go there now and see the many blogs that are participating and telling stories about Mother Mary in her many forms of existence.

My story today is simple. While traveling to New Mexico by motorcycle last September, I passed through Arapahoe, Nebraska, a small town located on US Highway 34 and 6 in the South Central part of the state, West of Grand Island. I usually follow the smaller two-lane roads and finding a Shrine will always lead to a stop, if not to see the Shrine itself, but to get some rest where I can walk around a bit and stretch my legs.

Arapahoe is the home of another Our Lady of Fatima Shrine. The one I wrote about for Day 6, the Fatima Family Shrine that I recently passed by in Alexandria, SD, was another small town rest stop. Our Lady of Fatima seems to be very popular as my Google search looking for this one turned up that there are many such Shrines to Our Lady of Fatima throughout the world.

This one, in the small town of Arapahoe, population 1023, was to keep a promise made to God by a US Army Chaplin, Father Henry Denis, when he was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II. His promise was to build a Shrine if he were to survive the concentration camp and the war. 

His first parish was St. Germanus Catholic Church in Arapahoe, so that’s where he started to build the Shrine as promised. It was completed in 1958.

The Shrine sits on the grounds of the church and is neatly and compactly tucked away. It was a good place to stop and take a rest from riding that hot day. Temperatures were over 100 degrees. I remember sitting in the shade and sipping water before I rode off to the West. I took a few photos and had one of these 12 Virgin Days on my mind when I did.

We are still on the road. This morning, I am in Sedona, AZ. Traveling to Albuquerque today via Canyon de Chelly National Monument. 

Peace to All

Sacred Earth Mother

A Virgin a Day and Haiku My Heart

Virgin Business From:   Day 8 from 2010, Day 4 from 2011, Day 7 this year
A new Haiku for today, December 7, 2012

This A Virgin a Day is another Repost from years past. This one represents how I feel about our connectedness to the Sacred Mother Earth. I believe the natural earth is indeed the Mother of us all and nurtures, heals and allows us to live. There is a distinct connection between Mother Mary, Mother Earth and all of Womankind.

Our Lady of Guagalupe

A Virgin a Day is the title of this Meme Project. It is a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. It started on December first and will culminate on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is December 12th.Of course I continue to dedicate all of these posts to my Mother, Carmelina Rosa Caruso Spado. A memorial to her love and devotion to her family, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

To participate, see Rebecca’s recuerdo mi corazon blog. There, you will get more definition and instructions as well as see other’s submissions, which, If I may add, are quite fascinating, artistic, poetic and bold.

Haiku My Heart

Sacred Earth Mother

Connected to Mary's soul

We are related

A Virgin a Day and today's Haiku. Yes, Mother Earth. The Supreme Mother of all of us, but a virgin? Well, think of it this way. She renews herself constantly, always fresh and pure is the water that comes up in her springs, even after we pollute it with waste and chemicals, she purifies the water for our renewal. The water, the life blood, our life blood, the life blood of the Sacred Earth Mother. We do our best to pollute the water and the air, but the Earth Mother renews and allows us to breathe and drink.

We blemish her body with scars from war, mining, buildings, roads and general disregard. We heap trash onto and into her, but she contains and holds and renews for us. The soil regenerates for plant growth naturally. Ever see a place where nothing is growing? Even the rockiest and driest of all desert landscapes, or the icy netherlands of the coldest places, have life. One seed can sprout and grow a plant just as one was made into a Man God in the form of Jesus Christ from Mary’s womb. 

Mother Earth takes all of the suffering in the form of mankind’s waste and garbage, just as Mary is said to take mankind’s suffering, and gives us healing. One in the same.

In Northern Minnesota, they used to mine iron ore. There are huge abandoned open pit mines, not only there, but in many places on Earth. An example of the power of the Sacred Earth Mother is that these places, once scars and open wounds on Mother Earth, are tree covered beautiful places now that the mining has stopped, some with lakes teeming with fish, and habitat to protect other plant and animal species. Just as we heal from scars, just as we heal from what happens to us.

The womb of Mother Earth is everywhere. Life can and does spring forth. Try as we might to scar her, tread on her, soil her, deplete her, she rises and gives us more. There is always a place, the Sacred Earth Mother provides for us. Even the barren desert is shelter to some living organism Even the rocks and trees have spirits.

I can easily make a connection between The Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother Earth as one in the same. They both are Sacred. They both are the Mother of all things. One is the other, or at least epitomizes each other. 

The Blessed Virgin is steady, and has led mankind to God in her mission. She does this constantly and never fails in moving forward on that mission. Never faltering in her attempt to free mankind from bondage.

Mother Earth is the same. The sunrise is never late. Unbending intent, can be said, to show how the sun, moon and stars align in an unfaltering rhythm, day after day, year after year, millennium after millennium.

My presentation today, Day 8 of this Virgin Project, is Earth. Mother Earth. It’s part of the language. We say “Mother Earth”. She is known to most everyone by that moniker, just as Catholics and Non Catholics alike know who Our Blessed Virgin Mary is.

The Queen of Heaven is allowed to stand upon the Sacred Earth Mother

The blood, skin, bones and hair of mankind and animals, along with the plant life and decomposition make the soil. Mother Earth then, is all of us. The Universe is all of us. God is all of us, and makes no distinction. Cold makes everything cold, heat the same. Mother Earth will swallow you, whether in a box or as an ash, and we all will revert back for renewal.

The Mother of The Blessed Virgin is Mother Earth. I thank the Sacred Earth Mother for giving us so much, for giving us Mary, for giving us a Higher Power that we can see everyday in the heavens as stars at night, and the brightness of the sky in the day, for feeding us and taking away our thirst.

Think about it.

Peace

A Stop in South Dakota

A Virgin a Day

Day 6, December 6, 2012

A Virgin a Day has been going on since December 1st and will culminate with the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th. This is the third year that I have made contributions to this project. Since I’m on the road and have limited time and access to my files and the computer, I have not been able to participate every day, but I do have a post for Day 6.

Please check out other offerings of beautiful artwork and adoration of the Blessed Virgin Mother at Rebecca’s recuerda mi corazon blog.

I am in Tucson, Arizona and have been here all week. Mrs. Spadoman and I drove down here from Wisconsin. This  road trip is serving many purposes. A break for Mrs. Spadoman as she has been doing non-stop child care for our Grandchildren through the Summer and Fall and for me, since I have been strapped to the VA for most of the past few months recovering from a motorcycle accident. By the way, I still don't have any teeth.

We drove, so we could see the sights and enjoy some road time searching for lost diners and a decent cup of coffee. Amongst the things we look for are unique places to stop and stretch our legs from the long hours of getting 1800 miles in a short time. It might be a park or a small town museum. One of these places was the Fatima Family Shrine in Alexandria, South Dakota.

Personally, I love the artwork of the stained glass and the statues. Maybe it’s the idea of devotion and how people are unashamed to offer their images and ideas and share them with the public. Many of these Shrines are for the purpose of serving the people or an historic site or mission to inform.

These praying children looking on towards the Shrine seemed to intrigue me

This particular site is connected to a Catholic Church in this small town, not far, just 15 miles or so, from the famous Corn Palace of Mitchell, SD. We had seen the Corn Palace many times, but have never seen this Fatima Family Shrine before on our travels.

Our Lady of Fatima, the image of the Virgin Mother, as she appeared to shepherd children in the village of Fatima, Portugal in 1917,  has been around since 1208 AD in the same city as Our Lady of the Rosary. Read the historical account Here on Wikipedia. 

This Shrine is specifically for families, for their strength, existence and longevity. Statues in this simple but beautifully landscaped courtyard contain images of Jesus Christ along with other Saints, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Joseph and Michael the ArchAngel. The idea is that to have Peace, we must have strong devoted families that honor and worship the ideas that these Saints stand for.

I took some photos. I love the artwork. It always intrigues me that stained glass that sits exposed to the elements here in tornado and strong thunderstorm country never seem to get damaged by the forces of nature. I’m sure it happens, but I’ve never seen damage or have heard of it being reported when I visit these sights.

The Fatima Family Shrine sits on the property of Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church. You can read more about it HERE.

Peace

My friends. Time and equipment are making it hard for me to visit every contribution and comment on all of your beautiful "A Virgin a Day" posts. I am doing some browsing and seeing so many fantastic posts for this project. Please forgive me for not being as visible as I have in the past while we are on the road. I sincerely Thank You all for the attention you have paid to the Round Circle blog.

On the Road With Mary, Again

As we are on the road and traveling to the Southwestern USA from Wisconsin, I am not prepared to research and post new A Virgin a Day stories. This is a repost of one from Day 3, which was December 3rd, 2011.

A Virgin a Day is the title of this Meme Project. It is a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. It started on December first and will culminate on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is December 12th. Of course I continue to dedicate all of these posts to my Mother, Carmelina Rosa Caruso Spado. A memorial to her love and devotion to her family, and to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

To participate, see Rebecca’s recuerdo mi corazon blog. There, you will get more definition and instructions as well as see other’s submissions, which, If I may add, are quite fascinating, artistic, poetic and bold. 

A Virgin a Day

Day 3

I just returned from a quick trip out East to Washington DC. That's why there are no Virgin posts from Round Circle for Days 3,4,5 and 6. So, I continue this fabulous project with Day 7. I went alone and when I wasn’t listening to the radio or singing to myself, I was thinking about whatever popped into my head. I knew that I wanted to write stories to fill in the remaining six days of, what I consider to be a great project meme, A Virgin a Day. I was reading the comments on another person’s blog, and one made by a friend of mine. She referred to my posts as Encyclopedic. I guess the others were, to a degree, and so is this one. But hopefully, I’ve added some personal flair. Certainly don’t want to get a reputation.

It wasn’t only on this latest trip that I noticed the existence of Mary on the side of the road. Mary is everywhere. Statues in Catholic cemeteries standing guard over the graves of loved ones, or in a religious goods store that might have examples from the sublime postcard to the extravagant hand painted life size plaster rendering fit for a church. You'll find her In lawn and garden shops, and at roadside vendors who sell cement statues of everything from the aforementioned Mary to a giant elephant. When In New Mexico, the displays at every garden shop and gift store is Our Lady of Guadalupe with her colorful clothing and background fan of glory.

Cement lawn ornaments being sold at the side of the road

You can find small grottoes outfitted with Our Lady by the side of the road while in the Southwest. Up here in the Northland, not so much, but I did almost pass by the Dickeyville Grotto, located in a small town in the extreme Southwestern corner of the state, close to where US Highway 61 meets the Iowa border.

This is called The Dickeyville Grotto. It sits on the grounds of The Holy Ghost Church in Dickeyville, WI

This grotto was built by Father Matthias Wernerus during a time period between 1925 and 1930. A stone mason, he used all kinds of materials from all over the world. This passage, from their website, mentions the materials used:

It is a creation in stone, mortar and bright colored objects-collected materials from all over the world. These include colored glass, gems, antique heirlooms of pottery or porcelain, stalagmites and stalactites, sea shells, starfish, petrified sea urchins and fossils, and a variety of corals, amber glass, agate, quartz, ores, such as iron, copper and lead, fool's gold, rock crystals, onyx, amethyst and coal, petrified wood and moss.

Here is a close-up example of some of the stonework.

Click to enlarge any of the photos. In this example, you can see the colorful assortment of stones used at the Dickeyville site. Quite an undertaking when you consider the size of the entire area

The grotto of the Blessed Virgin is the frontal piece of this area, situated at the side of the Holy Ghost parish church. Here is a photo of Our Lady, inside the grotto, protected under glass.

The Virgin Mother under glass at Dickeyville

Other Virgins can be seen with a keen eye while traveling through rural areas on two lane roads or in towns and cities. The statues are everywhere. Some white plaster, some painted with her majesty wearing the robin’s egg blue robe. Some people build mini grottoes to hold her, like little houses, and some buy a grotto from a store that might specialize in such matters, like Lawn Ornaments and Fountains.com.  They also have a great selection of statues of Mary

Mary in a Bathtub is a way of life

And then there is Mary in a Bathtub. I’m not going to tell you that there isn’t some humor involved, but then again, this is serious Virgin Business. Ever since Mrs. Spadoman and I got married and started traveling, we have spotted these roadside Marys. We drive a lot of small two-lane roads across the United States. Here’s how it started for us:

“Mary.” Barb said, pointing her finger in the direction of a statue in someone’s front yard.

“What? Those are everywhere.” I’d say in a matter of fact response.

Five minutes later

“Mary, Oh, and another Mary, one in a bath tub", she’d exclaim.

“So, how many have you seen today” I ask.

“I have three, you don’t have any, you better start lookin’” she taunts.

“I’m not playing this game, those are all over the place.” I say sarcastically.

“You don’t have a choice, it’s a way of life, like seeing a VW bug, Oh look, Mary in a bath tub, I have four.”

You get the idea. We don’t go anywhere and not have this competition. VW beetle automobiles, signs where someone has used a “K” where a “C” should be used and Mary/Mary in a bath tub. We have used the phrase Naked Mary, to denote no bath tub or other grotto being used, and the yard statue stands “naked”.  Of course you don’t get credit for any Marys that are seen in a cemetery or at a church, those are public domain.

Here’s a photo of a simple Mary in a grotto at someone’s home close to where I live. 

A typical rural Wisconsin roadside Mary seen displayed in a home made grotto

The Catholic religious stores and garden centers that sell lawn art usually have a plastic “aura”, or bath tub-like enclosure, that can be used with your statue, like the one seen in the photo below, more info at THIS LINK.  

You can buy this one, along with a statue of Mary, online.

It takes quite an artistic talent and a lot of brute strength and determination to use an old claw foot cast iron 350 pound bath tub, but some do it, and some make the wooden structures themselves as well. Here’s an example of a tub model from Google Images.

That's a big bath tub!

So, that’s my Virgin today. The Blessed Virgin Mary, on display, at the side of the road, along with a way of life for spotting her. I can't help but wonder how many people's lives might be transformed by the site of these simple images of the Mother of God. For that matter, I wonder if anyone else has the way of life?

By the way, as I was writing this article, I asked Mrs. Spadoman where she thought we have seen the most. Her response? Upper Peninsula Michigan in Ironwood, Bessemer and Wakefield. The area seems to be loaded with them. She’s winning, I’m sure, but no one has an actual count.

Peace