Will you dance with me?

Dancing is like dreaming with your feet! Constanze

Saturday morning. The house is quiet. Ellie sleeps on 'her' bed. Since moving into this house she has taken over the guest room. I know I shouldn't let her -- but..... she's so sweet! She touches my heart so! I watch her sleeping. Sprawled across the bed, her body rising and falling gently with each breath and I don't have the heart to tell her to get off and sleep on her own bed on the floor.

Call me pushover! (But I don't care :)! )

It was a busy week. As Christmas approaches the shelter where I work becomes busy with the seasonality of welcome hands coming in to help out, and outstretched hands looking for a pair of socks, a bit of food, a hand up, a gentle touch.

It is the season.

Outside my office window, what little snow fell in early November has edged its way towards the sidewalk. Scant evidence remains of winters wonderland. Trees are bare. The blood red berries of a mountain ash stand out in stark relief amidst the evergreens and naked willows. A squirrel hops across the lawn in search of winter fodder.

All is well in my world.

Yesterday, we paid our last respects to Les, the artist of whom I wrote in early November. He was a man who lived and died, torn by the conflict of two worlds. White man and native. He struggled to find where he fit. He was struggling to stand tall. To step away from the debris of his past and claim the beauty of his life free of the anger, abuse and addictions that brought him down.

Yesterday, we laid him to rest. His body was interred beneath the soils of a city far from his home. He has found his final place to belong.

May his spirit journey freely to the world beyond. May his memory live on in the hearts of those he leaves behind.

In this world, he has left behind friends who loved him. Sons who do not yet know he has left this earthly plain. Family who have lost him forever. He left behind his memories. Some good. Some bad. He was a man of kind and caring ways. Laughter. Courage. In his desire to be 'a role model' he has taught us all how to live with dignity, no matter the circumstances of the world around us.

The ceremony was a gentle reminder to all of us to live this one wild and precious life as if today were our last. To celebrate each breath. To exalt in each moment. To fill every word and thought and gesture with love, peace and harmony. To create the life of our dreams in every stroke we paint upon the canvas of our lives.

The sky is blue today. Crystal clear. No tears from the angels. No thunderbolts from the gods.

The sky is clear. I am free to laugh, to cry, to smile. To sing and leap for joy. I am free to dance.

The question is: Will you dance today? Will you sing out loud? Leap for joy and live this one wild and precious life for all you're worth?