The Oculatum

So, this year Astrid attends the Montessori preschool mon/tues afternoons from 12:30 to 3:30. This is the first time in 16 years that I have had a window of consistant "free" time. I love being a mama (especially of wee ones) and dedicated myself to their early years...I am still dedicated to them once they get older...only, things change...dedication turns into being a dependable ride for the most part. Anyhow, back to the "free" time thing...I vowed not to do housework during that window of time (a neverending task that must be repeated anyway) and I started meeting kid-free friends for coffee and perusing the thrift stores.

I am an admitted thrift store junkie. I have always loved treasure hunting. Possibly because I had an active imagination as a child. I can remember a day from my childhood quite clearly...we were on St. Josephs Island just outside my home town of Sault Ste Marie. I don't remember why we had stopped, I think there may have been a wild apple tree my mom wanted to forage...but on the property was an abandoned house. I was aching to go in and explore....my imagination was running rampant with the possibilities of the treasures left behind. I'm not talking gold and silver and jewels....the treaure would be the odds and ends...the pieces of the past that would reveil something about the story the people that had once lived there. But I wasn't allowed anywhere near the old house. I will always wonder.

I also loved playing in my grandparents basement as a child. It was an old house and had been my grandfather's house which he was rumered to have purchased from him for $1.00. The basement was cool and damp and the walls were stone or perhaps concrete. Grandpa had his tools down there and there were things we not suppose to get into. It had a low ceiling and we were watchful for spiders. i remember their old ringer washing mashine....

And then there was the basement of my other grandparents house...we weren't invited to play down there. But, one day, I was a bit older...in fact I think I was a young adult with a child of my own and was home for a visit...and the door was open to the basement. I asked if i could see what was down there and my uncle obliged. It was full of stuff. Not neat and organized like my other grandparents basement but II was sure there were treasures there. I emerged from the basement with an old bean pot....grandpa said it was his grams...which means it is my great, great grams and that he remembered it sitting atop the stove when he was a kid. It sits on my counter today with my wooden spoons and other utensils tucked into it. It has a small chip around the lip...but...my grandpa remembered it sitting atop my great, great grams stove.

And so, recently I noticed on mondays that it is "pick your discount" day at the Salvation Army thrift stores!!! Hooray! They have a little basket waiting under the counter and after they've rung in your purchase...half price items included...you dip your hand into the basket and pull out a little folded piece of paper that when opened gives you a discount of anywhere between 10%,15%,20%,or 25%. I have been pretty lucky so far getting a good discount.

So, what I found yesterday may interest you. It is a little book I almost didn't buy because I didn't need it....
But, I bought it and it is so cool. It is called the Oculatum and apparently it is a book compiled of wisdom collected after a great fire in the city of London the year 1666. Originally passed down through word of mouth, The Oculatum became a collection of wisdom that might be read in time of need. It has no beginning, no end, no middle. It may be opened from the front or the back, the reader decides which is the top or bottom of the page.

Instructions : It is suggested that the four-line phrase that comes into view be read six times,
silently or in voice. Repeat this action three times during the day...The following day the process is repeated for the next page and so on for a six day period. It is of ne consequence for the reader to remember, understand, or comprehend the phrase; it matters only that it be read. For it should be upon the completion of the sixth day that the reader may discover a greater sense of focus and awareness. Any decisions to be made can now be acted upon. If the reader desires, the process may be repeated in the same section or in any other as described above.

The Oculatum : may offer clarity, strength, and awareness for the attentive reader in his or her daily life.

EVERY VOYAGE
HAS BOTH
THE TEMPEST
AND THE CALM


So, this is the phrase you must say six times today...write it on a piece of paper....tuck it into your pocket.......three times right now, again around noon, and thrice at bedtime.