10-10-10

OK, this is Sunday and I need to remember this day because: At church the preacher reminded me the function and life of a church is both community and service as shown when Jesus washed feet and told desciples to do likewise.
I have painted a picture of that scene with Peter’s hand protesting.
Later I was driven to a Wilsall Salmon bake (fresh from Alaska). My part was to shred the carrots (from the garden which I had planted last spring) and cabbage (ditto) into a cole-slaw. “Watch your fingers!” cautioned a guest. I was using the four sided metal hand held shredder I had picked up at a thrift store to replace the flimsy flat one. I remembered a bit of trivia.
“Well, this item is made by Johnson and Johnson, and you know what else they make?” I didn’t have to tell them, for I got a lot of high fives from the toughest woodsman who commented, “I like a girl with a sense of humor.”
(If you don’t know then send me a query and I’ll tell you.)
It’s not easy not being a skiier and listening with interest to a roomful of pros recounting terrifying exploits on the slopes.

July 26, 2010: Water Ionizer!!Finally arrived.

I have wanted a water ionizer since I became acquainted with the Enagic $4,000 system about three years ago in Phoenix.  I saw the DVD about the hospital in Japan curing the man with diabetes.  I saw the demonstration of the pool ph tester drops showing most bottled water a nasty yellow acidic color.  But mostly I drank the ionized water starting at 8.5ph and climbing up to my standard 9.5ph.(that is not per hour but level of acidity versus alkalinity).

I have slowly saved, (except for the shoes I bought online) and finally saw on ebay a company that uses the very plates that are titanium with baked on platinum that Enagic uses.  It only has five plates that bring the ph up to 9.2, but I don’t need the extreme 11 ph that is for people with health problems.  The ad that got me was that they offered free filters for life.  Enagic has $80 filters that need to be replaced every 3,000 gallons.  When my $700 machine got here (plus $59 shipping) I plugged it in and saw the color changing LED screen had a count down on the filter starting at 6,000 gallons!

Well, if you are interested the company may still be offering them on ebay under water ionizers:  Fountain of Youth.  I’ll keep you posted how it is doing.  So far it has turned the tap water, which my son said was undrinkable by his discriminating taste, into pure clean filtered good tasting water that is not only alkaline, but has a nearly -300 ORP!  (Oxygen reduction potential to clear your body of floating free electrons that cause infection.)

I felt so good at 62 I went to Wilsall’s 100 year celebration and danced about 20 dances!  Yee-haw!

June 20, 2010: Father’s Day and Rodeo in Montana

I sent my son an e-card with a paypal transfer of funds of $5.  Super- Dad!  It seems even Las Vegas got hit pretty hard economically.

I got invited to go to a Montana rodeo!  My host had helped set up the pa system and bought me a hot dog.  We sat in the shade of the stands that were permanent while he pointed out the extra stands rolled in for the occasion.  While I looked at my program printed on each page with local advertisers, we talked about the parade through this small cowboy town of Wilsall. (Named after the developer’s kids, William and Sally.)  It has about 300 residents and they all know each other.  The parade’s theme was a celebration of the founding of the town 100 years ago.  Flatbed trucks sported wrapped boxes like birthday gifts and the dozen cupcakes were gals in puff fabric icing surrounding colorful cardboard cupcake cups and headgear of candles!  every other float or clown scattered candy to the parade watchers.  I got a pocket full of penny toffee.

We watched bareback bronc riding, calf roping, saddle broncs, barrel racing and bull riding. Meanwhile a big black cloud crept over us and suddenly let loose with a downpour.  The arena staff had brought their long yellow slickers,  but we were in our shirtsleeves.  The contestants had paid their ten dollars so they rode and roped through the rain.

Then it started to hail!  It started slow, but built up to a punishing windstorm pounding relentlessly for over five minutes.

Sudden lightning and instant thunder lit up the sky behind the speakers booth!  The base of the lightning flamed red as whatever it hit was consumed.  Someone had it on film and by evening it was on the TV News.  Four of the bull riders made a heroic show out of the gates in that mess, but none stayed on longer than a few seconds.  The last man did a ‘no-show’ and the bull was released without a rider.  I’ve got to hand it to the clown wearing short jeans and a bunch of bandanas waving in the wind from his belt, who kept at his post doing what was necessary to protect the fallen riders from hoof and horn.

My host asked me to stay in the stands while he ran home( We had walked the six blocks) to get parkas and a pro-stapler to protect the speaker gear overnight. (They were already protected with taped on black plastic bags.)

I had a lonely spell as the last person in the stands watching families pack up lawn chairs after tipping puddles of  water out of the seats, drenched quilts tossed in the back of pick ups, and one umbrella blown inside out. And sleeping babies protected by Father’s Day Dad’s cowboy hats and ponchos.

Finally all I could hear besides the driving rain was the sad mooing of the cattle as they were loaded in long trailers and driven slowly back to their owner’s ranches.

It was the most exciting cowgirl experience I could ever have hoped for at 62.  My first gosh-durn all-fired rodeo lit up with lightning, and celebrated with a thunder-clap!  Happy 100th, Wilsall!  Happy 60th, dear friend!

June 16, 2010: Women are from Venus, Men are from Jupiter!

I am a researcher.  My astrology chart says so.  Besides I notice that is what I really dig.  If I’m on a hot research project, I can even forget to eat!

I thought I was just an artist, but now I realize my art is part of my call to research…only in color and line.

What, you ask, is the heading about?  Well, I was researching on my old college chum’s Facebook site that he had a favorite site to an astrologer who uses the ancient astrology from India called Vedic Astrology.

I considered myself a Christian, but I don’t believe in shaking in my boots all afraid if I read something I will get devil-cooties.  If it has something to it it will go ‘ding’, and if it’s all hot air it will go ‘clunk’.

So when I was grabbing Neale D. Walsh’s  ‘Conversations with God’ off the library shelf, I looked up and saw, ‘The Only Astrology book you’ll ever Need’.  OK, it was not normal, but I saw they included a CD in the back to load into my computer and run anyone’s chart at the push of a button!  How could I resist seeing if the fellow I’m dating and I are a romantical match?  I took it home and have been taking notes ever since…for my sister, for my kids, even for my Mom who doesn’t count since her stroke.

Now this chart is using the Western style of 12 constellations of the Zodiac.  So when I saw Sam Geppi of Vedic Astrology was using a 27 fold zodiac I was intrigued.  I signed up for him to send free videos to my email, and one popped up entitled, ‘Women are from Venus, Men are from Jupiter.

Basically the female attributes are reflective, like the moon, that takes all the energy the sun gives and uses it to create life.  So even if a person is a man outwardly, he still may have the softness and wish to be supported and drawn higher characterized by the ‘feminine’.  We will call this Venus.  Venus may be thinking Mars is thrilling and intense, but she doesn’t want to make babies and settle down with him.  She wants a Jupiter who she respects for his higher morals and purpose.  She inwardly wants life to have meaningfulness and Jupiter has the best chance of that.  He is about stability, responsibility, and has enough money savvy to keep a family out of the welfare rolls.

It’s best if he is higher in consciousness, even in religious practices for no guy wants a sweet wife turn to a nag about, “Have you done your spiritual routine, yet, Honey?”  She doesn’t want to have to push either.  It’s important for her to resonate with his values adapting upwards, not having to adapt down!  Her Venus wants to resonate and support and connect with his higher value system so her moon can relax!

So he does readings which not only compare birth signs in Vedic systems of Characteristics and temperaments, but intermeshes them with Western propensities as well.  He is unique offering a three prong approach.  The third is a questionnaire of 36 questions.  you’d have to meet with your significant other on a full 20 points to have a successful relationship.

It is a lot to go through to get a guarantee.  I prefer looking at every person God puts in front of me as another wonderful aspect of His multifaceted personality.  A Gem of brilliant hue and polish that I may bask in with delight.  I can be philosophical if their opinions differ from mine.  They make perfect sense to their own minds given the worldview they currently hold.  I have the higher eagle eye that shadows are not permanent over the landscape.  Temporal means subject to change!

Christians love Jesus because Forgiveness cancels out condemnation…even consequences of Karma.  I feel the effects of His Sunlight on my Venus Mind now!

June 7, 2010: Inhabitat has cool Sustainable ideas

If you go on my Facebook you will see a link to Inhabitat.com.  It epitomizes creativity with a view to helping the planet. Or you can google inhabitat.com and ask for the articles to be sent to your email or Facebook.

I love green ideas because I like to think I am a helper and not a harming consciousness.  Plus it’s like I am in on the world’s think tank of new ideas for recycling and architecture and energy gadgets from solar and wind.  If you really think those are wild, see what the fashion designers are coming up with in green fashions!  How about wearing papyrus or organic bamboo!

Once in a while they have contests.  Green ideas anybody?

June 6, 2010: Tapping Love Vibes for Health, new experiences, a new relationship

It is Sunday.  I’d like to tell you to “Wake Up!”  I am blessing myself with the same advice.  I tap my head with my fingertips and say, “I choose to wake up.”  Then I tap my eyebrow and say, “I choose to really and deeply love myself.”  Next I tap the side of my eye and say, “I choose to forgive myself.”  Under the eye I tap and say, “And respect myself.”  Under my nose I tap and say, “I choose not to accept any abuse from my old programming.”  And as I tap under my armpit I tap and say, “I choose to be really happy today and enjoy every moment for ‘Now’ is all I have to choose.”

This is a quick fix.  I checked out the e businesses that offer information.  They say people want a quick fix.  Tapping your best choices into your body’s awareness is one of them.  You can tell your body you choose to be free of addictions like nicotine, or panic attacks, or obsessive overeating, or neediness in sex relationships.  Your body is just waiting to hear what you are telling it that you clearly choose.  Once it knows, gears go into motion to align with your firm choice.  (It isn’t fooled by whimsicalness.)

How do I know it works?  I chose to love myself and since tapping that I have had synchronous events pop up to take me on expansive adventures I had never known before.  I got the nerve to tell a group in a former residence I was no longer going to wait on their fixing a suspended driver’s license.  I got the nerve to get my new State’s driver’s license instead.  I got a passport, I got a cruise to the Bahamas!  I got a boyfriend who wants to travel with me.

Do you think I’m going to stop tapping Love vibes to myself?  Not on your life!

June 1, 2010: June is not Boring, June, June June

My sister wanted to sing from Carousel, “June is bustin’ out all over!” And made it through all those many words remembering more than I.  So she went to her long play record collection and found the track.  Soon the house was filled with music and our voices joining  in. (To be fair, I wear hearing aids and didn’t catch half of those quickly phrased words.)

I asked why I didn’t hear show tunes in any Idol contests on TV?  She said Susan Boyle’s “I have a dream” from Les Miserables is current while Carousel was thirty years ago.  I figure if it’s a good song it should qualify for any talent show.

I heard Warren Buffet was joined by his son on an instrumental in which Warren was playing a ukulele.  It was an old song.  So old that when he said, “All together, now,” nobody knew the words!

Is your life boring?  Is the song so old nobody can join in?  Has your doctor lost his bedside manners?  Well, I have a product for you.  It’s ‘No Shilly-Shally Shelley!’

I have wondered why the Lord allowed , (or led?) me to do this blog.  I am promoting myself, my consciousness, my thoughts, memories, and the poems they have congealed into.  I want to be of service to mankind, but Not Boring!

My sister says I have a lot of creative products to offer and another sister can put together a paypal linked website.  I saw how one blogger put together 1000 Awesome things into a book and it is selling well.

‘Pink Candy’ is an internet product for ladies needing to find  what their uniqueness is and make it into a product that can be marketed (with their help.)

My sister says ‘The One Minute Manager’ is only 40 pages long and has sold millions!  I told her it must be a cultural tell of the times that people want only an hour’s read.  We both agreed people have shorter attention spans and don’t want to be Bored.

When I was a preacher’s wife I felt the things of God to help humanity was a ministry to be offered freely.  We weren’t ordained by any denomination, so got few invitations to a pulpit.  My husband would go to a church meeting and bring his guitar.  If the Spirit moved the host to invite us up for a song, he would preface the song with a testimony.  We seldom got offerings, but we weren’t Boring! (Sometimes we got gas money if it looked like we were going to stick around.)

I am going to write a Birthday book with poems for each month!  Inquire here and I will tell you where it can be purchased.

May 31, 2010: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise at 62

I have learned so much from this personal challenge to write a blog a day throughout May.  I have met others who had joined the blogathon. And I would like to thank Michelle Rafter for the courage to put out the invitation.

I think I have discovered a voice inside that enjoys writing.  I need to organize my thoughts a bit, as one thought tends to jump-start another trend.

Bless you all who have encouraged me with your comments.  My heading is such a large umbrella and I do have a reservoir of memories.  M-wah! Kisses and Bessos to you all!

May 30,2010: Quiz: How likely to pray in public?

This quiz I found in a daily devotional which I read aloud to my Mom after breakfast.  I don’t consider her public.  There are printed prayers after each article about two sentences long.  It’s nice. It’s decent.  It makes one feel satisfaction at having touched bases with their spiritual obligation for the day.

On a level of 1 to 10 I’d give it a zero.

I consider myself of a reformed faith.  I reformed my own personal faith. That is I used to try hard to believe a set of doctrines, but saw others defending their side’s doctrines against someone else’s dogma getting into the role of ‘True Believer’ at the crusades.  I may have even entered some form of this while on duty passing out tracts at University Ave. in Palo Alto to students going to Stanford.  I was passing out information and wanted to give those students the opportunity to have a personal relationship with Jesus like I had.

You can only give what you have gotten for yourself.  Or a tract about someone else’s experience.

I enjoy praying out loud now that I have progressed past standardized formulas.  My Dad used to say at the dinner table, “We thank Thee, Lord, for these Thy bountiful Blessings and for the many opportunities to be Thy Dutiful Stewards, Amen.”  It’s a good prayer.  Basically Dad meant God gave us Life, a Savior who did His job, and Responsibilities with strength and smarts to do them.  Our job was to do our duty with as little whining as possible.  I loved my Dad.

Presbyterians are not supposed to get excited over their faith.  Prayers are to be written out ahead and edited to not give offence to anyone.  I see the congregational confession we are to read in unison printed in the bulletin.  It is not asking forgiveness as much for doing any dastardly deed, but for omitting charitable kindnesses expected of a good Christian.  Sloth and inattention, rather than greed and lust.  And it is printed just afterwards, “Friends, in Christ we are forgiven.”

I went to a Presbyterian college, but they let in a gal who was a wee bit radical.  She had sweetly invited me to her ‘P.T.’ – (prayer thing) in her dorm room.  We six  sat in a ring on the rug and held hands.  With eyes closed we began saying a personal prayer out-loud squeezing the next hand to pass it on.  I began to sweat!  My hands and tongue began to swell.  Finally the hand squeezed mine, I was ‘On’!  In desperation I opened my mouth, “Oh, Lord, I thank Thee for the opportunity to be here tonight.”

Do you have a story of when you switched from aimless token prayers to actual communicating with your Heavenly Father?  Since you can’t see Him in concrete flesh and blood in His full Glory, we are taught to close our eyes and so close out the world in respect to the ‘unseen’ world where God resides.  That is one teaching.

I had many years of another style of praying to God.  This teacher declared that not only the realm of the unseen belonged to God the Spirit, but the world of the ‘seen’ belonged to the Son without whom not a thing existed that did not come from His Glory Substance of Light, Fire and Smoke.

“Don’t close your eyes like Adam trying to hide from God behind your bushes of eyebrows!”  The preacher declared.  “You wouldn’t close your eyes on a friend in conversation!  You wouldn’t expect your teenager to come begging for the car keys head down and eyes closed!”  God is in Heaven and Jesus is in His Glory Cloud looking down at you.  Look up!  Pray as Jesus did, looking up!  The proof is in the results!  Jesus knew where to look when praying, He looked up!  Eyes open!”

This preacher really expanded my repertoire of praying styles and expectations.  “Why have a prayer line with a man laying hands on you?  You can, for it is in the Bible to come to the Elders for anointing with oil for the prayer of Faith to save the sick.  But the real Elder is Jesus who will lay His Glory hand on you and cure you from the inside out.  Who do you want to get the Glory?  Man or Jesus?”  We entered in group impartations for a greater focus to our faith and all performed activity- faith- releasers to ‘work our faith’.

Here I want to explain impartations and faith-releasers.  An impartation is when you are a carrier of a great gift and the final one who is supposed to receive this gift is in front of you.  The act of giving the gift is seen as you imparting it to them.

If the gift is unseen then how is the receiver to know when to believe they are getting it?  Something tangible has to be given as a signal.  That is called a faith-releaser.

For example, the woman with a hemorrhage made a proclamation to her mind that ‘When I touch the hem of His garment I shall be whole.”  The act of touching Jesus’ hem released her faith and the gift of healing was imparted from Jesus’ energy body to hers.  Jesus felt ‘Virtue’ leave him so He knew someone had touched Him with Faith.  Others touched, but had not released their faith with any declared expectation.  Notice she did not pray as such.

I don’t know about you, but I like results.  She knew the guy who had the goods and used a personal approach to get it.  There are plenty of printed prayers, but I like the one remembered by one author whose mother always got results with, “Hey, God!”

Did you know God has a sense of humor?  Really!

I tested God out once.  I was waiting for the next shift person in our community to bring my car so I could get to another care-giving job 10 miles away.  They were late and my staff supervisor said to call the lady and tell her I’d be late.  I was fuming with irritation and concern for my job.  Finally getting my car and joining early morning traffic, I decided to tell God how I felt.  I challenged Him to make me feel better, for I was sure all Joy had left the earth and there was none to be had.

Do you know that kind of personal connection was all it took.  Don’t let anybody tell you it takes a long time to recover from a ‘funk’.  As I drove in to the parking area of the complex, I saw two gals in a golf cart …one held aloft a bouquet of twelve bright yellow helium Happy face balloons.  They were all grinning at me!  Oh, my!  The giggle started in the pit of my stomach and grew into a busting out of laughter with tears in my eyes at the joke.
“You did it!  My God, You not only heard me, but you actually did it!”

Now I can thank God for opportunities with the rest of them, but I know of the opportunities and am really truly thankful.  Now I can shorten my once belabored prayers to a shorthand I know both God and I are privy to.

“Find-a-lujah” is to send Holy Spirit to search and bring a lost item to hand.

“Sweet-a-lujah” is to calm ruffled feelings.

“Translation-a-lujah” is to get where we are going even if the tank looks empty.

“Blue-sky-alujah” is a temporary halt in the storm.

“Fragrance- of Roses- alujah” is to get the aroma of Jesus to fill the room.

I pray “Wisdom-alujah” for the oil-spill to cease.

Perhaps that is one for “Miracle-a-lujah!”

There is an admonition in the Bible to ,”Pray without ceasing.”  I read that one’s heart beat can be dedicated to signal a continual prayer.  The author wanted his to say, “Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me.”  Maybe a Yogi would want his to say, “Om.”  Mine, I’ll just have it say, “Thank you Jesus, Halle-lujah!”

May 29, 2010: F.E.A.R. and a recipe for London Broil

I finally went to ‘copyblogger’ and began reading Catherine’s posts on how to be a better writer.  She has scads of links to subjects from how to get over writer’s block to how to get subscribers to your business blog.

The article I read says we are not reacting to ‘fear’ but to F.E.A.R.  The anachronism stands for False Evidence Appearing Real.  She also had pointers to write any gobbledygook and edit later.  She advised trying to explain your points to a houseplant.  I presume that is to hear yourself rather than get a response from the plant.

I want to be my own good news.  What I mean is that the internet uploads so much news we can immediately access where the best doctors are, what the best surgery techniques are, the latest gadget for making the world a better place, and my favorite, how to live on nothing!

I want to share my good news of my personal discoveries to making the world as better place.  Hmm.  Discoveries.

On our two-year tour of California campgrounds, my husband and I found:

1.California driftwood: This can be found at Novato State Beach and campground.  The tide sends up exquisite wave washed pieces.

2.Spanish moss:  Used for decorating; ample supply can be found on the road towards the coast out of Ferndale.  As the road climbs through a thick forest, look up into the trees!  They are covered with the fairy lace.

3.Four leaf clovers:  Perhaps you can order some online, but to see it in the wild, go to Oak lake campground and look at the grass about twenty yards from the lake.  There used to be patches of clovers and every one had four leaves!

3.Wild critters and rutting deer:  find these in the state park in the woods near Santa Rosa, Calif.  Just be sure to lock up your corn flakes box!  Raccoons had jumped up on the tarped back of our truck and easily made a hole in the box.  They did not scare off easily as though they knew they were protected.  ‘Cheeky varmints!’

Now as promised, my recipe from James Beard’s Cookbook:  London Broil is trimmed, then marinated in a platter with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper while making a tossed salad of torn greens, chopped celery,tomatoes and bell pepper.  Put pierced potatoes still in jackets in the microwave for 4.44 minutes.  (One for each person…time will vary.)  Place Steak in hot oiled skillet and fry 6 minutes on first side and 6 minutes on the other.  This will leave the center of the steak tenderly rare.  Optional is adding a splash of red wine to the pan during the last minute of each side.  Serve the salad with choice of dressing, the potatoes in their jackets with butter, or peeled and cubed in a serving bowl.  The secret to excellent London broil is to carve it in thin slanting slices across the grain.  The serving tray should have the slices arranged like fallen dominoes to be selected by the diner with a serving fork.