Thursday 31 December 2009

elsbeth & the blue moon


today is a blue moon because it is the second full moon in december.
today i heard on the radio about a 70 year old woman named elsbeth.

she has lived outside all month in cold england in a little shack.
she didnt want to go indoors from full moon to full moon.
she has a little fireplace and an alter in her shack.
she makes beads and wears them around her neck.

every night for the first 2 weeks, she would go outside
in the pitch black and plant a bead somewhere in the earth.
after the 14 days had passed, she began to search for the beads
in the ground. night after night. digging and looking.
finding new places of blackness in the night and
little white beads as the moon was waxing.
tomorrow she will go back inside the house ♥

update:
i found the BBC iplayer with the whole program!
if you are in in the UK you can listen *here*
(i wish the interviewer had been more into it..
i think we would have heard much more)


picture: we ♥ it

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh, that is so haunting, it makes me wonder so much why she did it? we will probably never know ♥

cloudgathererholdmedown said...

a blue moon indeed! the first in quite some years.
what a beautiful story. i was wishing the beads would grow into something beautiful, but then i came back to earth and figured they were just beads.

have a beautiful evening my feathered friend and i hope you make next year glorious
x

Emily's Moose - Karolina Kubikowska said...

I don't know how you find such amazing stories! I wish you a happy new year :)

dosie said...

That is one whacky old dame...Happy New Year Steph!

Unknown said...

blue moons always seem so magical ... Happy New Year :)

Linda said...

Oh we just walked under the blue moon. Thank you for telling us the story. Happy new year.

Shell said...

A truly magical story. Enjoy this New Year's Eve and the beautiful Blue Moon.

stephanie dosen said...

i wonder if she will wait until morning?

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year and bring us lots of blog posts and lots of music!!!

loucieee said...

eerie.

Jo Potter said...

Very magical... Did you see the moon last night on New Years Eve, with the golden halo?
xxxx

The Owl Diary said...

such an interesting story. thank you for sharing.
happy new year.
xx

Josephine Tale Peddler said...

That is such a strange tale. It would make a wonderful short story or dream. Happy New Year and many hoots to you. xx

nicole said...

I loved listening to this story. Thank you so much for sharing this. I found it so beautiful and inspiring.

I too thought it was a shame that the interviewer could never get over the "strangeness" of the project to really go beyond and ask more interesting questions.

Jesspurrr said...

How beautiful! She lives in the same place Sylvia Plath wrote about in "Watercolour of Grantchester Meadows"

Jess said...

It's MY blue moon! (Oh I know it's not really!) You see I had a very special birthday on that day and I'm still wallowing in the magic of it all. Happy new year!xx

PinkBow said...

oh wow this is so intriguing!

harps said...

ahh what an eccentric old lady!

. said...

What a magical tale... I've missed your blog so much!
xx