Why I Believe in Santa Claus
Why I Believe in Santa Claus Another reprint of a favorite memory! I have been thinking about Santa Claus, that jolly old Christmas saint of giving. To me he is as sparkly as Christmas lights, one of the few mysteries we participate in collectively. As a young child I remember being taken to the “real”… Read more »
Salvation Army Bell Ringer in front of Napa Post Office.
A Christmas Story: The Salvation Army and Paying It Forward Another of my favorite old memories I love to recount! This time of year I remember an experience I had many years ago as a teenager. My sister Judy, our Greek American Fields Service sister Charoula, and I were visiting our Uncle Rufus in Chicago…. Read more »
Televised Board of Supervisor Meeting from overflow room in lobby.
Jung and the Board of Supervisors Thoughts on what Carl Jung might have to offer Napa Valley The Napa County Board of Supervisors’ room was packed, standing room only, and the overflow rooms, overflowing. Police in uniform strutted back and forth in the hallways and guarded doorways. I overheard a county official tell one of… Read more »
Culinary Lavender and Wine Pairings: A Holiday Menu
Culinary Lavender and Wine Pairings: A Holiday Menu by Cristin McDonnell The holidays are a chance to take your regular menu and enhance it by cooking with a variety of herbs that you may not regularly use. This year I am taking our usual holiday menu and adding a taste of Provence by cooking with… Read more »
Abundant Life: A Christmas Story
Abundant Life: A Christmas Story This is another reprint of my favorite personal Christmas stories, those stories that remain in my heart this season. My departure from organized religion began when I realized “eternal life” was “abundant life”— spiritually abundant. At the moment of epiphany I was sitting on the stage near the altar of our… Read more »
Gaviota's recovery outfit which keeps her puncture wound clean.
Lavender Essential Oil and Goat Puncture Wounds Our Biodynamic organic lavender essential oil is being put to the test! In October Gaviota sustained a puncture wound that we did not discover until early November. By then, the four-inch puncture wound had festered. The vet put her on a course of penicillin, but the infection returned…. Read more »
Healthy,Delicious Butternut Squash Soup with Lavender and Sage
Butternut Squash Soup with Lavender and Sage By Cristin McDonnell This is a healthy fall/ winter dish. Part of what makes this recipe healthy are the benefit that comes from cooking with high quality culinary grade lavender. Ingredients: 1 tbsp dried lavender 6 sage leaves (or 2-3 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves picked) 3 lb butternut… Read more »
Mystery in Glastonbury at the chalice well gardens.
The Mystery of the Present and Play With the increasing darkness of the season, I reprint an older blog on Mystery. “Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein If it is important even for our survival on the planet to relearn re-entering the Mystery of the Present, what serves this end? This question… Read more »
Full Moon and Valley Oaks
Portal of Boredom and Consciousness One of the lingering images from The C. G. Jung Institute’s December 5 event (celebrating the upcoming multimedia performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Des Canyons aux Etoiles), was Deborah O’Grady’s full moon rising over a ridge to one movement of Messiaen’s symphonic piece. As we watched the white orb slip from… Read more »
Benefits of Using a Clay Diffuser
Benefits of Using Essential Oils in Clay Diffusers by Cristin McDonnell Using a soapstone or clay diffuser has many health benefits over using an electrical diffuser. Chemical air fresheners that plug-in to electrical circuits or that are sprayed are reported to have these four basic ingredients: formaldehyde, petroleum distillates, aerosol propellants, and p-dichlorobenzene. All four can… Read more »
© 2026 Patricia Damery.
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