Reagan Family Christmas

Happy Holidays!

Here we are in the cloudy UK,
On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
When the sun comes up, to Manchester we go,
Then through the Lake lands and on to Glasgow.
At a cozy bed and breakfast we shall stay,
Run through Scotland; frolick and play.
Then southward to York, and onward to London
Where we'll conclude our trip with plenty ... fun-don.
Our adventure we will capture on film for sure,
And by the end of the trip we shall definitely be poor.
But until we've dropped all our pounds,
Keep an eye on the blogs as we continue our rounds.

Love from the Reagans :)

Now...the first pictures of our adventure in Bristol and Cardiff.


Let us introduce you to our best friend in the UK...Ms. Kensington...our GPS tour guide! (we'd be lost...literally...without her)


Here's the fancy, schmancy Mercedes we got upgraded to. Delays have their benefits! But it's a trip with dad driving on the right side of the car, and the wrong side of the road.


Bristol Ferris Wheel all lit up for Christmas Eve


Bristol City Center all aglow (and...a blur)


View of Bristol from Hotel Window


Heather and Patrick on the Balcony (brrrr!)


Us on a street in Cardiff


Tower on Cardiff Castle


Pretty Church in Cardiff


This rad looking building is the government of Wales!


View of Cardiff Bay with the Norwegian Church (the red building)


The only place open on Christmas day and it's got a 20 pence cover charge!!


With nothing open on Christmas day...we made our own fun!


Patrick made some friends.


Picking a nose...yes....Bored...no! :)

Winter Solstice and all things Magical

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and is occurring...well...right now. I don't really know much about the winter solstice, and what it means for our energy. I know people used to feast before a hibernation and conduct rituals to ensure the sun came back. And there are hundreds, if not thousands of ancient structures that were built simply to honor and track the cycles of the sun and moon - Stonehenge (which I get to see soon!!) is one of them.

It's funny how in our daily lives we are unaware of these things that happen every year, movements of planets that change our energy...work with us or against us. We just passed through the new moon too...a time to plant the seeds of intention...to begin to manifest what we want. Maybe the Winter Solstice is that time too...since it is always in the darkest times that the light shines the brightest.

I'm rambling...but mostly...I wanted to share the Winter Solstice with you. The recognition that whether we know it or not, the world will keep on turning, the sun will keep on shining and every 28 days, the moon will be made anew. And if we begin to pay attention to these cycles, maybe we'll feel more connected to the earth and to each other. And if there's one thing I've learned from living in a big city...it's the importance of connecting with the earth and with each other, because it's all to easy to get distracted and lost in the concrete jungle.

The solstice is officially at 00:22 (22 Dec) Greenwich mean time (i.e. My Time) which means that at 16:22 today (21 Dec) for all you west coasters - it'll be the solstice. If you get this before then...just take a moment to...well...do whatever you want...but take the moment anyway. And for those of you who are woo woo like me, you might like to know that as an angelic sign...22 means "Your deep conviction manifests miracles and wonderful new opportunities. Keep the faith!" A really good sign going into the new year.

I hope everyone has a happy, healthy and hug filled holiday season! Endulge...Rest...Rejuvenate...Give Hugs...Get Hugs...Tell people how you feel about them...Don't worry about presents or plans...just be...You deserve it :)

Lots of Love,
Heather

Fun solstice facts here: http://www.candlegrove.com/solstice.html. And the Daily OM for today is worth a read.


This is the statue of an angel on Brighton Beach...I got it at sunset...and loved it.


Pretty winter picture...I found it online at dreamstime and loved their spiral in it. Spirals are sacred. Spirals mean movement. Spirals are my life right now.


Frosty Trees (I didn't take this one...it's clip art...but it's appropriate.)


Moon...nuf said (I didn't take this one either...can't take the credit)


Skiers at Mammoth...wish I were there, but grateful I'm here.
What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. - Helen Keller

Color of the Month: Yellow!

This weekend was yet another busy weekend for me. On Saturday I went to my Jitsu grading (read: physically exhausting test!) and got my Yellow belt! (Yipee!) Really...that just means that higher grades can throw us around now cause we know how to land and we can start to learn how to throw people around in really cool ways. It's good fun and 9 of us graded so our club is getting good :)

Yesterday I ventured out with my friend Lynn to wander the city and we ended up at the Natural History Museum. It was really amazing because as you'll see in the pictures below...the building it's housed in is incredible! And then we tried to go to Harrod's, but alas, even the Christmas hours means it closes at 6pm on a Sunday. Not cool for those of us who want to shop later, very cool for employees because they can go home and be with their families on Sunday evenings...depends on your priorities.

Now...it's the last week of term so I have reading and two 5,000 word essays to write and I'm wondering where the last 3 months went. Time is flying by so quickly I feel like I now have less and less time to see and do everything I want. But...mom, dad and Patrick arrive in less than 2 weeks so I'll have plenty more pictures as we wander our way around the country and up into Scotland. A whirlwind trip of Great Britain! So stay tuned for that. In the meantime....pretty (really blurry-but-you-get-the-idea) pictures.


Here's the outside of the Museum at night with the little Christmas Village shops (yummy fudge!)


Natural History Museum Main Hall...speechless!


A view in the other direction.


Big Dinosaur Bones! Totally Rad!


This is a slice from a giant Sequoia from the Sierra Nevadas, CA (woo hoo!), otherwise called the "Big Tree" (how original). That tree was growing before the start of Islam...now that's old!


Here are Lynn and I in front of the Big Tree.


Here we snagged someone to take a picture of us so we could get more than half of our heads.


Tree and lights outside Harrods.

Internal Meanderings

I had a really fantastic day, in a very ordinary way, but in a way that makes me realize what I'm doing here in London. And I began to think that so far, this blog has focused on where I've been physically, not necessarily where I've been mentally. So what you have here is a recap of my day and simply what's on my mind because I had to tell someone...and better that it be all of you!

The early part of my day consisted mainly of reading about Christianity and Africa, attending a lecture on African American religion, discussing both of the above with other MA students in our seminar and then grocery shopping (a fun task for me because I like to eat!). That was all pretty much status quo. A regular day in the london life of Heather. My day began to take on some meaning at about 4:30pm when I attended a lecture on Technological novelty and temporality (don't worry...I didn't really know what I was going to learn about either). The talk, though interesting in its own right, was more interesting to me because of the context in which it was given...the woman, an anthropologist with a PhD who was employed by intel to do research. It's probably not anything new to some of you, nor actually to me, but it really struck me because it was the first time I really let myself think that I could completely combine my academic self with my professional self. I could be one in the same...be an academic from within a corporation. Utlize all this theory and rhetoric and research I'm doing to really effect change somewhere from the inside out. Really...I thought that was cool.

When the talk was over the day's theme of "Interconnectedness" continued because we all went to the pub (where so many outings and even innings end up in London). I by chance met a tutor who will be lecturing in one of my courses, the one I have to present for, and had some fantastically interesting chats with people from other programs whom I knew but not in the same way before. And as I sat there I was struck by the realization that for so long I've had this belief that you are who you need to be in whatever area of your life...student...employee...friend...etc. And I naively kept these parts of my world rather separate - thinking that to be a good student or employee...you do your work and go home. But here...you do your work, you talk about it...and then you go to the pub and you talk about it and everything else under the planet some more. There is no dividing line between the student Heather and the social Heather...but oddly enough I've never really tried to be both at the same time. It's an odd realization I know...and I could very well not be making any sense at all (it is about midnight here). But I just wanted to share that with everyone because what's going on with me mentally...is that I'm gaining a better understanding of who I am as a whole person. Because I can't be who I've been anymore, nor can I be who I will become. I can just be me and learn as I go how all the pieces of me fit together. In the words of Hugh Prather from a little book called Love and Courage that I read and re-read:

"Change is the return of something once known, something that will not be abandoned. I look down the line of my life and I see it surfacing again and again. I recognize it. I am that thing. I am being put back together."

I know this is an incredibly long blog and I thank you for being my journal for today...I just have one more thing which, arrived in my email from a friend today, and seeming fitting with my blog-o-logue...I'll share it with you:

Saint Theresa Prayer
May today there be peace within.
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing and dance.
It is there for each and every one of you .

And now...we return to our regularly scheduled programming...HEZ in LONDON!


I've decided this will be a random collection...so this is a boat on Brighton beach...Sail away!


The title of this picture is "I want one!". A wood carver sets up shop in this little cove just off the south bank of the Thames and sets out all his carvings, most of which are benches and the most beautiful rockers in different animal shapes. Oh to have dispensible income...I'd get 10.


This is a picture of my kitchen...just in case you were wondering. (Note the itty bitty refrigerator...for 5 people to share)


The Greenwich Clock...it really does tell time!! (uh...when the sun is out...)


This is...my head. I was trying to get my whole face...but...I'm a spaz and this is funnier :)