Queried by Candace…

1. How did you get interested in paganism?
I’m fairly certain I was born a Pagan. My mother tried to raise me in the Episcopal church, of which I enjoyed the high ritual (the incense, candles, chanting and statuary) the most. But when I was around 10 years old, I lost my faith in “God.” Things were so bad for me at home that I found it hard to believe in an all-loving omnipotent Christian deity. Throughout middle and high school, though, I never gave up searching for “Him.” I attended an Episcopal private school through 8th grade and went to various friends’ church youth groups in my quest to find something good to believe in again. Nothing stuck. I didn’t understand what they were all running around sharing. It felt to me like they shared a secret that nobody would tell me. So I started reading Tarot and burning candles and incense and meditating on my own, privately in my room, almost daily. This went on for years but I never put a name to it. I had a sticker on my car in high school that read “Born Again Pagan” although I never quite understood what it meant. Until I got married. It was on our Honeymoon in Maui, four years ago, that I discovered Pele and the doors to the pantheon on deities blew off the hinges! After that, I allowed myself to explore said pantheon and belief systems. I devoured several books on paganism and found myself exclaiming to Honey as I read them, “HEY! THESE PEOPLE BELIEVE WHAT I BELIEVE!!! I AM NOT ALONE!” And, as they say, the rest is history!

2. How do you feel about becoming a motorcycle mama?
Ooooo Weee! It’s FUN! I rode over 200 miles with my dad and Honey on Sunday and loved it!!!! It was scary at times and I only had two almost-crashes (and I didn’t actually drop the bike on its side until we got to our driveway at 7pm!) but mostly it was fun! Riding a motorcycle is a lot of work. There is a lot to think about almost constantly: looking several feet in front of you to anticipate what you may encounter in the road, paying attention to cars and bikes and people in intersections and on the side of the road, turning your signals on and then remembering to turn them off again, using your arms to add extra visibility to signal you are turning, staying in the right gear, using both brakes equally so as not to lock up the front tire and go flying over the handlebars…not to mention the elements! The wind almost blew me into oncoming traffic once on Sunday! But it’s all really worth it. To feel that freedom that feels almost like flying, gliding like a bird, outside in nature. OMG the smells I encountered as we rode through the foothills up to Fort Collins and back were amazing! Springtime is the BEST time for smelling the mountain air! I could go on and on about this subject but I think you get the point by now.

3. You and Honey win a vacation to anywhere in the world. Where do you go?
Anywhere? Well then, this is going to be a long trip so get ready! I’d start in Scotland and try to restrain myself from running off with every man with a thick, sexy Scottish accent! Then it’d be off to Italy to learn to speak Italian and seek out all of Honey’s Illuminati relics and sites. Next would be the south of France for some relaxation and wine on the beach. Then to Paris to visit some friends and show Honey what I saw when I was 17. Then turn West and stop by India, Nepal, preferrably, to pay homage to Ganesha, Kali and the like. Then Disney World and Sea World and finally, the last two weeks on the beaches of Maui. Ahhh….what fun it would be!

4. What’s your earliest memory?
When I turned three my parents got me a playhouse set thingy that was a big tree and building from Sesame Street. It opened up and there were little rooms/compartments in it, a couple of windows and a rubber tire swing hanging from the tree. I distinctly remember getting this for my birthday and playing with it all day long.

5. If you could attend one concert by any artist(s), living or dead, who would you see?
If I could see Sarah McLachlan and Dave Mathews (and Band) perform together in an intimate setting like Dave and Tim did at Luther college, I would be ecstatic! And if the Beatles could climb themselves off of their Sgt. Pepper’s album and play one set with them, I would mostly die.

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