Our Waters, our bodies, our Mother

Good Morning!

This intention of focusing on the Sacred Water and making this exploration publicly visible brings many things to the foreground. I am searching to represent the templates of spaces that are living in harmonious relationship with our Mother Earth and the Bodies of Water that flow in and outside of her. I am honoring the intimate prayers of communities and individuals to open more hearts and give more access to our internal waters while profoundly connecting with all waters. I am also giving voice to the many peoples who are fighting to protect our waters in a time where social media is the space that truly represents the people while, unfortunately, the mainstream is being censored.

I was able to spend some time connecting in the Yaqui pueblos in Sonora, Mexico. Here is a video of interviews I made with a couple of the women surrounding the waters and sustainable living.

This is not a unique story of sadness for the people and for the waters. These stories are all over the world. On the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota a call has been made for international community support to fight against tunnels for oil being run under the waters. It is an embarrassment how the US government is handling this. But it has also been a great demonstration of people coming together from all nations to speak up for Sacred Waters!  Yesterday we sang, we prayed, we united.

Many Blessings,

Tahila

Tiny House Building through a Texas Winter of RAIN pt 1

Rain and more Rain in Austin these weeks giving me time to write about our Tiny House building these past months.

In leu of floor plans, John and I's first steps were to build a teeny Tiny house made of cardboard. Our first construction had little movable parts including a tiny Tahila with her arms outstretched.

I made lists of what I wanted, felt were my "need to have's", in my space. Windows prominently fill the wall space. I like to sit on the floor so floor space for seating is important and space for stretching, turning and dancing. We decided the wall could fold down for a work table or as needed. That meant space for movement :)

Out on the farm the ducks all came around to watch us as the sun came up and the day began.















We strive to keep wood from going to the dump and the following days were spent taking apart pallets (labeled HT, meaning not chemically treated).

And removed many many many nails
Baby Chicks were born and I went to sleep and woke listening to them peep peeping.



The oak pile grew and grew from the older pallets and the planing began. Our days of sunshine ended a day into this process and then the remaining time we spent in sleet. Texas weather has been abnormal this year and unpredictable.
                             

John

Rodney

Me

It was all worth it for the beauty we found as the layers pealed away.

These will be placed carefully on the Trailer bed to become my floor!

Miami Dolphin spring break 2003

Strange I try to write our story. Just for me to have. A love story yet I find the words, I have so come to play with, are lacking on this one. Maybe its not over. So here is one I wrote...maybe not love but timing and location and something else …
The diversity of love by a woman with a bad memory…

Spring break filled with saying goodbye. The woman, core backbone of our family is on Hospis in the condo. The man, who didn’t show tenderness, sitting in deep emotion and processing with my mother by his side and me over her bed. I am loving, confused and photographing our angel.

A friend has come for me…to spend a few days on the beach and at her moms. Next door to Celine Dions and then to South Beach…to be some proper Spring Break…meet up with a crew of her friends at the hotel..and find myself alone one phone call. Sorting plans to get picked up and head back to the condo and airport.

I walked and the clouds moved. Grandmother there saying goodbye, saying hello, as they splash in the pool. I wander to the beach. Feel the water as I wade in, the pressure so much and I lay back to float. The rain has started to come down softly and I close my eyes as I allow all the water to wash over me. All the warm water, my tears washed into the sea and I am flying. Heavy and light and lifted out of the water, I am in the arms of a man. As I open my eyes I watch concern turn to a smile and he asks if im alright. I nod, he is not placing me down but I am still at peace and he does some introduction, Miami pro football player. He asks if he can support me. I can’t remember more. I close my eyes again, in my state of collapse the support brings grounding in some stability. I am laying back with the rain falling and breathing. Time passes slowly. Still with the water everywhere in motion, freeing me. I lifted my head and rolled back into the water and stood facing the quite stranger that needed no explanation. A soft small kiss of rainfall shared and I turned towards the beach and walked. Towards the people, to await my ride, to join the family, to take our flight …and to her say never goodbye.

swimming in the sea

If my memory serves me, which it rarely does, I will try to recall this embedded ultimate emotional time in the sea. ACS British Virgin Islands Trip. What a crew. Autumn, Davida and Sophie snorkeling, Dalie and I declined. We wanted so much to explore the rock formations, code for we were terrified of everything in the ocean so to explore something else we went.

Crawling through the rocks in the shallow puddles for lots of time and distance. Beautiful. Around a corner we turned and one of us, can’t remember who, fell off the side. And the other followed, I believe out of eternal support for the other one. Right out in the ocean, nowhere near shore we discovered when swimming out from the rocks up high that blocked our view.

It followed with a bit of panic. Taking turns jumping on each other’s backs while the other swam…until a small boat passed and picked us…just in time to look down at the octopus directly below us. My ultimate fear….

part 2: a whole new world

All of my dreams have been filled with underwater traversing and motion of corrals expressing the current. On the second day of two we dove deeper then I had been. 30 feet of relaxing buoyancy. Coasting the coral and bottom in the pull we danced with the fish in. Feeling a rhythm of breathing and peacefully smiling with content in the newness of what I saw. A fun group to dive with blaring rock music as we coasted after resurfacing for a few minutes until a fin was spotted. To my surprise we all put the snorkels on to jump in the water next to the shark. A whale shark got us back in the water. my back drop landed me at her eyes. And I swam with her at a fraction of her speed while she passed, little fish glowing bellow her tummy and I swam with the others to a point and then boarded. A bit of fear swimming with something of the enormity and power. I did not know that people will dive for 15 years and never see one. I would have swam harder to keep up if I had known. But my moment is memorable.

It started years ago when living in Prague my desire to Scuba Dive. A fear so strong of the dark unknown made me want to go into it. In coming to South Africa I decided that the two things I must do was taste a particular bottle of wine coming very highly recommended to me and get trained to Scuba Dive. I didn't know Sadwona Bay is ranked one of the top places in the world or how I would end where I wanted to be...deep in the water. This weekend after some previous studies and diving. I was free and wet.

And I recommend it!!!


If your in SA go to ScubaDoo diving. They are amazing! make even me tranquil breathing where air comes from a cylinder on your back