Ali's Summer Vacation: Announcements, Guest Bloggers, New Features, O My!

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Hello, all of you lovely and beautiful readers out there! I hope your summers have been full of smooth sunlight, cool waters and copious green. I know mine sure has! And there's more to come, as I pack up and ready myself for a month-long hiatus from the blogosphere.

During the sweltering dog-days of August, I'll be traveling north to the rocky shoreline cliffs and wooded mountainsides of Acadia National Park in Maine, where I'll spend a week with my family and my partner Jeff, hiking, biking, swimming, reading, wining and dining. Soon after my return, I'll be off again, jet-setter that I am, on my first ever trip abroad to the emerald and mist-strewn coast of Northern Ireland, to attend a week-long retreat on Celtic Spirituality and Radical Activism, led by Gareth Higgins and Carl McColman.

But never fear! Though I'm taking the month of August off to do some sun-soaking and soul-searching, I've been working hard in the meantime to make sure readers here at Meadowsweet & Myrrh have plenty to keep them engaged and entertained.

First, I'm pleased to announce that Meadowsweet & Myrrh will be hosting the delicious presence of several guest bloggers over the next few weeks. Some of my favorite writers have agreed to share their words here in this cozy little place I call my interwebbed home — and while I'm bursting at the seams with excitement, I don't want to spoil the surprise by letting any names slip just yet! So be sure to stayed attuned and attending in the weeks to come; you're in for a real treat!

Also, I have been working on a few posts of my own, scheduled to post while I'm away on the road (or — yipes! — in the air). Among these is a new feature segment called "Keeping the Days," which will proffer images and photographs by yours truly (a la Wordless Wednesdays) in the spirit of the three Druidic elements — nwyfre, gwyar and calas — and the three realms — earth, sea and sky. I look forward to sharing with you some of what I'm sure will be many photographs from my travels, as well as cultivating a space of quiet contemplation here at Meadowsweet & Myrrh.

In addition, don't forget to keep an eye out for essays and posts of mine appearing on other websites. Over at Pantheon, the group blog for Patheos.com's Pagan Portal, I'll be contributing an essay entitled "Mana for Heaven: Bonewits' Polytheology & American Capitalism" to their upcoming Polytheology Week event. During the launch of the new Voices of Pagan Pacifism website on Lughnasadh, 1 August, look for my "Peace of the Three Realms: A Daily Meditation" among other amazing articles and essays. And of course, I'll be keeping up with the latest political ponderings at the Pagan+Politics blog along with our other stalwart writers.

And if that's not enough (you rapacious reader, you!), don't forget to check out Meadowsweet & Myrrh's Facebook page for quotes, updates, links to interesting articles, photos and great conversation! (You may have noticed a little FB button at the top of this post — hopefully this new feature will make it easier for you to share your favorite Meadowsweet posts with your friends and networks.) I won't be updating the Meadowsweet & Myrrh FB page daily while I'm on the road, so I'll be relying on all you fantastic fans to keep things lively and kicking until I get back.

Whew! Who knew vacation could be so much work?! Now that M&M is all taken care of, I think I'm ready for a bit of R&R!