Flidaisairmid's Grove

Time is limited, and I may not get to make any more because of it. But at least I got to make 4 yesterday afternoon. It was because the straw picture reminded me so much of this I had to make a few or go insane !

Next art project to try- a straw marquetry covered egg.

Something confuses me. Why do so many who believe that the earth is a living thing act as if the only way it can become ill and need aid is on the physical plane ?If we are not removed from nature and we have a spirit, why do so many believe that we are the only manifestations of creation that does ? Why will so many seek out and use things of the earth because they are believed to be sacred but yet give nothing in return for the favor ?

Our earth is in trouble, and not just in the physical sense. While we make moves to lower our carbon footprint on the planet we do NOTHING to feed the soul of the earth, and it shows. At one time people would go to the sacred , healing spots on the earth and regularly receive cures. Now they have become tourist spots where people go, take souvenirs and leave behind trash and footprints. No one goes to these places with the intention to give the earth itself aid, care and feeding. Do we so completely doubt the sacredness of our own creation that we honestly believe that we can do no benefit ?

Man, animal and plant needs the earth to survive. But same is true for the earth- it needs us to survive. Just as man needs help from the sacred spirit of the earth to live and grow and heal, earth also needs the sacred spirit of man. We act as the conduit at times, and the fuel at others.All things work together in partnership, and that partnership carries over to the realm of spirit.

Offer sincere prayers for the earth you walk on, no matter where you are. While the whole of the earth is sacred, as we are sacred, certain portions have more specified functions. Healing places are perhaps the hands of the planet.

Does not surprise me, but rather amuses me. Wonder how my husband, the ordained Roman Catholic Deacon , is going to react to this. If you are a Deacon it is your oathbound duty to follow the dictates of the Bishop and the Magesterium. ( Brat in me is giggling here- we have fun debating these technicalities)
http://www.usccb.org/dpp/Evaluation_Guidelines_finaltext_2009-03.pdf

Quote- "For a Catholic to believe in Reiki therapy presents insoluble problems."

AND
"Since Reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific
evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care
facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the Church, such as Catholic chaplains, to
promote or to provide support for Reiki therapy."

The brat in me is going to be very interested to see just how this plays out in our own home.Interested and highly amused to say the least

Come and get it ! This is the breakfast of choice around here , and one that son and i eat every day. It helps him to lose weight ( 3 pounds this week), but makes me gain( up 1.2 lbs this week). The more meatless i eat, the more weight I gain. Stimulating.



What we have here is 1/2 cup of a mix of rolled oats, rolled rye and rolled barley flakes cooked with 1 cup water , 1/3 cup of solid packed pumpkin , 1 tsp blackstrap molasses and 1 tsp cinnamon. Top this with 1 tsp olive oil, 2 T ground flax seed, 1 Tbs wheat bran, 1 T goji berries, 1 T crasins, 1 T seed nut mix( sliced almonds, raw sunflower seeds and raw pepitas), 1 T coconut and 1 T peanut butter. All together it makes a wonderful nutritious bowl that is fun to mess with and yummy to eat. On the side we have a carton of Yo Plus digestive yogert( I have not figured out how to get the extra probiotics and high fiber in my homemade mix yet, so i buy this), water and coffee with instant milk for creamer.

Some of the trees and shrubs here are finally starting to bud. Always happens here in the lunar cycle that Easter falls in.

Locust tree buds


Honeysuckle buds ( not the Japanese fragrant variety)


Wild Cherry Tree buds

A thought came to me this morning

In the physical world, you can see the earth, the fire , the water but with the air you can only see it's affects.

In a human you can see the earth( skin, bones, muscle, hair), the water (blood , lymph, tears) the evidence of air and sometimes air itself( when breath hits cold air and condenses) but fire in the form of harmonic resonance with all things you cannot.It takes a special kind of "tuning in" to see this.

So could this make man the Air of Fire, or the Fire of Air ?

And both fire and air are male. Does this explain man's need to go forth and dominate the world around ?

Over the last few days, I have noticed a subtle but perceptible change in the earth energies during my morning meditation exercises. It is not an unusual occurrence and it coincide with the solstice and equinox points of the calendar year, but this year it seems to resonate slightly stronger. I have wondered if it is simply a locally based phenomenon, or perceptible to others at different points on the globe. Odd as it sounds, it can be something that is limited locally, due to the slight variations in the earth’s magnetic field from time to time. Truth be told the revolution and rotational patterns of the earth are not perfect sphere shapes, but instead slightly smashed ovals that bulge in slightly different ways from season to season. Another point of interest to me is that this shift does not appear to be echoed in the water energies of my location. Considering the amount of precipitation we have experienced in the past season, this is odd. Normally, the earth energies have a compatible harmonic resonance with those of water, but at this time it is almost as if the magnetic energy of earth is on a strong crescendo- as if the magnetic field was trying to reach out and touch someone. It is very different from the energies of the rising sap that accompany this time. Or perhaps it is just that , but in a stronger variety than has been seen in this area for more than 50 years. Are we going to see a bumper crop year for the local medicinal plants as a result? Will it be a bumper crop year for acorns? Time will tell. I am simply uncertain of how to interpret this change in the telluric current. My gut tells me it is not a bad thing, but does not indicate in what ways it is positive. I do know that I am getting really eager for the weather to be warm enough to walk barefoot on the land in order to get a better feel of this energy.

New piece of exercise equipment. Skip using it for basketball, but instead place at one end of house and a basket at the other. Now take one ball at a time and transfer to the basket at the other end of the house. Once there, return balls one at a time to the original device. Repeat often.

Then add breakfast

Dear 13 yr old self

You think you know, but you don't. Forever, to your understanding , is just a word. Commitment is another. While you may intellectually know their meanings, you do not know the possible consequences, and will not for many years to come. Life as you know it now will not even be a shadow of how it will be. See those people over there who you seem to gaze at through a window and wish you could be them ? That is how it will be, so hold tight. Just how well can you keep the commitments you make now when you are living that other life ?

You are going to be sidetracked in ways you only dreamed of. You will have others in your life then that you are just as passionate about as you are ideals now. You will find a whole new meaning of worth, but you will still have the commitments standing that you are about to agree to. While they will be content if you put them aside for a time, ,there will come a day when they decide that they have waited long enough, and they will demand your attention.

Sincerely,
yourself at 50

My dear, darling son

It is completely unnecessary to inform me, every five minutes, that your 17th birthday is on Saturday. Trust me. I know. Both your father and I were there , and still are. Though admittedly i was totally unconscious at the moment of your birth, your father assures me that it was you that was pulled out of my body, kicking and screaming. When I regained consciousness and saw you for the first time, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were indeed mine. It was either you or my own father shrunk and younger, but we were connected in a very meaningful way. Not only were both your father and I there, but for 10 years before your birth we worked hard to bring you into existence. Someone convinced us that having children would make life complete, and we wanted to join in on that experiment. We discovered that having children means your life often involves a lot more gear as well as being fuller. You will discover the same at some point in your life. At least you better- I want grandchildren someday !

But let us return to your birthday. You do not want to drive, and for that I and the general public are grateful for. I have seen how you operate with video games. Consequentially this means I have not had to even entertain any thoughts of getting you a car. Your desires are for video games. Lots of them. And watching one upcoming show. You decided that this would be how we should celebrate 6 weeks ago, and have reminded me of this fact every 5 minutes since then. In your defense, I am old and I do forget things, but your actions would indicate that I have end stage Alzheimer's or something. I do not. While I am your grandmother's granddaughter, I am not her.

You are a great kid, but you are beginning to GRATE on my nerves big time. Same with your father. We are old, getting tired, and you are making us want to run away for a night at the Sybaris. Not for the exciting sexual possibilities, but rather to have a chance to do naked cannonballs in the pool just to watch the splashing. AND to spend two hours without hearing about what game you desire for the millionth time.I know your birthday is Saturday ( see, I mentioned it twice in one post because I do remember), and I am thrilled that you are in my life. But at the moment you are on the verge of driving me totally insane.

Your tired mom

Dear Oral B ,
If you must use movie characters to promote your product, would it not be better to use the cast of Twilight instead of High School Musical ? Think about it.

Sincerely,
a confused Mom

long, but informative. With homeschooling, the whole world is your classroom

I need a secretary and a wife !!!!!

it's not housework...it is sport training !

Equinox has come and gone, and once more it amuses me to see how life shifts in time with the eight great festivals , no matter if they are marked in conscious thought or not. They simply are.

We have a new resident woodpecker on the complex. Odd in the fact that in this area they tend to limit their territory to the woods. I have decided that he must be of the bohemian intellect to have set up digs here in the suburbs. He has chosen an ash tree for it's digs, and it will be interesting to watch it's behaviors this year.

The spring peepers are back, and mutually decided to start their chorus on Saturday. Most likely it began days earlier, but they came to my attention on that day as we passed a lonely grove of poplars and scrub willow next to the railroad tracks. That night I heard more of their kin from the retention pond in the next complex. The little green herons also appear to be back. Spring has indeed sprung.

With the turn of the wheel comes an increase in healing crisis for many it seems. The distance reiki work requests have increased and many others seem to be dealing with bouts of bugs and ailments as well.I have noticed that at the times of the equinoxes the body does seem to be challenged by several factors. Yet another sign that we are not far removed from nature as we would like to believe.

I got to see High School Musical 666- er Twilight last night( inside joke). The pacific northwest with it's rainy climate seems to be the perfect place for a "family" who needs to avoid the sun to choose to settle. What I really want to know is why did the native tribe claim that lake as sacred ground ? And the references to all of these vampire type legends and beings world wide was lost as to the importance in the script. Kind of a big bit of unnecessary info.Unless it is a plot hint to future sequels as to Bella's true identity. She herself is not fully human perhaps. I have no read the books myself, so I am not sure. I just pick up on plot line clues. I can understand why it is all the rage amongst some. Amongst others, it can prove to be a little too close to art imitating life it seems for other reasons- think Edward as opposed to Bella.

Off to the salt mines !

easy to make, cool to do, fun to play with, but after about a week it stinks to high heavens. I think we have made a ton of this stuff.

explain this - some science geek person , please ???

One of my all time favorite songs set to some wonderful images. My son hears this song and goes nuts for some reason

Today the sun moves into Aries, and crosses the Equator as far as angle. It is Spring Equinox, and the day when light and dark are in perfect balance. I look around me and ask if I am living a life in balance

I still struggle with my weight, but have come to embrace that I am doing this for more than a low number on a scale. I am changing my relationship to food and exercise from one of mindless movement due to economic factors to one of support and nurture.

I am surrounded by groups of people who have become very argumentative or destructive. Rather than devote time and energy to their battles, I choose to devote my energies to the practices I am trained in to help those in need.Light begets light, and manifestation follows after intention. So rather than allowing myself to be brought down, I travel upward.

I have made no eggs this year.Rather than do a large number of them for my own symbolic intentions, I am considering making them to give as gifts for my family members. Trick is, after these are made I will have to blow them out lest they rot or get broken in transit. Then how should I form display stands for each ? Once again rather than focusing within, turning the energy outward to expand.

I give up worry about the future. The world I was led to believe would be a reality when I was a child is nothing like the reality of the world i live in as an adult. Things I was trained to do have disappeared, and in their place is a new set of realities that no one knew would be , let alone how to solve. Such as cell phones, and the fact that alarm bells, telephone ringing bells, door bells and warning systems have all become beeps that are pretty indistinguishable from each other. Meaning if something chirps, drop everything you are doing to figure out if you are supposed to wind your ass or put out your phone. Nothing in my education prepared me for this reality( you were taught to memorize actual phone numbers and spell full words rather than hit a number on speed dial and text message ). The very same things will be true for my son. Rather than worry that he is not a bastion to the info of yore, I will celebrate the fact that he knows how to learn, does so quickly, and has little fear of embracing anything new. He will be fine.I will wander around the mall like a confused old lady who thinks debit cards have a weird energy and kisses the ground in thanks that she has her PIN number securely memorized. No one has decided we need a speed dial button for that one yet.

I see God as an even bigger reality than I did three years ago, and have come to see pagan rituals and practices in the same fashion as Christian ones. Both limit the reality , ability and power. Religion itself is a stumbling block to union with the Divinity.

I sense that a corner has been turned, and I wonder if things can ever go back. Nothing stays static for certain, but some changes are not the most productive. There is suddenly a grand canyon of distance where there was simply a small line in the sand. Is this simply the destructive phase of the growth cycle ( yes this is so- before you plant you must till the soil to remove the existing growth), or is this the fork in the road ? Has there come an uncovering of the root of the most serious problem at hand- and if so can this be fixed without a serious and intelligent mediator ?

May this day of balance bring me the wisdom to discern what I must.