The Vigil continues to go forward with unexpected results. I will share some of this later on, when it’s less new, because it’s making my uncomfortable, and the fastest, easiest way to cure that discomfort is to talk about it in a public manner. Hooray! It is mostly uncomfortable because I’ve gone into this expecting it to be more like last year. So, in 2010 or 2009 I first had the idea for this holy observance, but I didn’t know what I wanted it to look like. (I’m pretty certain the idea came in 2010). In 2011, we were focused on Corbie and his back injury — he was on crate rest for a solid month, and you better believe Beth and I were spending all our time home with him, camped out in the bedroom, reading to him, talking, knitting, spinning, and just being there with our drugged-out-of-his-mind pooch. 2012 I marked the week by burying my grandfather. 2013 was the first one where it went at all like I thought it might, and it was one of those times when He pushed all sorts of boundaries. I experience moments when I know He is leaning heavily upon what my mortal brain can cope with, moments when I can’t help but think of Semele and Zeus, and I feel as though this is Poseidon, keeping that cautionary tale in mind and doing His level best to expand the amount of awareness of Him and what He is in my consciousness without making me go all explodey. It’s unsettling and glorious, and last year there was so very much of it. I thought, okay, awesome! I can count on this holy observance to fill that role of going deeper into His mysteries.
And now, this. Which is not going the way I expected it to, but maybe I should have expected something like this, considering o/Our history?
Not yet ready to talk about it. What I do want to talk about is the generosity of the gods, is His love, He and Pops, and the Others who are part of our tribe. Our forecast for the next week is pretty intense. I say that knowing that we experience a good 10 to 20 degree drop at night, so even if we do hover at the high 90s like they say we’re going to, it’ll get better at night. However, Corbie doesn’t tolerate the heat well. Already, this past week we had a few mid-90s days, and we spend them continually wetting him down, rubbing rubbing alchohol on his pads to wick away heat, giving him diluted juice (peach, mango, and orange blend thank you very much!) and giving him (vet approved) pedialyte pops. His walks have been kept to a minimum during the hottest parts of the day. Last year, he had heat stroke. He was caught up in seizure for a good hour, and in after-seizure hangover for five, so this is something we are pretty heavily on top of. When I saw the forecast, I realized that I was going to break down and buy an AC unit, with money I really don’t have. It was a week long spell of similar temps that brought him to seizure last year, and there was no way in hell that we were going back there. So, my plans for today were to go shopping around. My favoritest thing in the whole wide world.
Except in a rare example of giving in to her paranoia about turning things off before she leaves the house, Beth returned home to make sure the fan we leave on for Corbie was in fact left on. And she ran into our neighbor, and the subject of air conditioners came up, and she told him we were breaking down and buying one for next week. Lo and behold, didn’t he have a portable one that he wasn’t using, in his storage, and couldn’t we, in fact, use it, if it still worked? Yes, yes he did, yes we could, and yes, it does.
So instead of trying to figure out how to deal with vet bill (because he’s coughing a bit more, and I want to make sure it’s just summer stress and bad air, so they’ll be out this coming week) and pay utilities and afford to put $150-$200 into getting an AC unit (usually we opt to skip the utility bill and then take a season playing catch up), we now have an AC unit on loan, that is probably better than anything I could buy.
Am not looking forward to what this will do to the electric bill, but I figure, it’s better than more vet bills or worse, so it’s good.
I bring this back to Poseidon, to the gods, to the spirits of my tribe, because — things like this happen. And yes, one could say that it was just our neighbor being kind and generous, and the gods may have nothing to do with it at all. (One could, in fact, say “what gods?”) But I don’t see things that way. I don’t see things being so disconnected. Poseidon and Odin provide for us, so long as we are open to allowing Them to do so. I may not get that stipend that I (sort of) joke about, but I can’t say that He doesn’t provide, in other ways.
My dog is not going to have a heat stroke this coming week, and it’s because Poseidon and Odin are awesome.
Hail the gods.
Strip Me Back to the Bone 
Hail to your Gods (especially Poseidon)! And Hail to connections that are pushed or opened and Hail to the humans who do not resist it.
On a practical note, if it is an energy efficient A/C it will increase your electric bill, but maybe not as high as you are thinking. XXXfingersXXX
And. I love you.
(especially Poseidon, indeed!) I need to email you; look for it today at some point. 🙂 I don’t know how energy efficient this one is going to be –it’s not signed, so we’ll find out. Neech was terrified of it last night, though. We had to rearrange the bedroom quite a bit, and so now it’s sitting between the beds. He got the nerve up to go and look at it closer, freaked out, and came running for reassurance. Lots of head-butting before pointedly settling down with his back to it, curled up by my shoulder, and proceeding to groom the heck out of my arm. Not as scary as the first spinning wheel we brought home (my decidedly not a lap kitty clawed into my lap and stayed there for over an hour that day) but close . . . .
That’s seriously awesome of your neighbor. 🙂 We humans could not live *here* where I am without a/c. I can’t imagine how you handle such summer heat. I’m glad to hear you’re all going to have a more comfortable summer.
Hail to Poseidon and hail to Odin!
I know the electricity bill won’t look very nice, however you won’t have to deal with a hefty bill AND the purchase of an AC unit! Fantastic news 🙂 I hope that the vet visit proves most uneventful in terms of Corbie’s health.
Thank you! So do we! This poor boyo. I know he’s been getting better rest with the house cooler — happily snuggling under the covers and then sprawling to his heart’s content. (He is SUCH a boy). We’re hoping for, “No, everything sounds the same inside,” news from the vet, so, fingers crossed and prayers, please!
Ah, yes, the boys. Rest, however boyfully done, is always a good thing 😉
Fingers are crossed! And prayers will be said! Lots of good, healthy energies his way!