The end of January

I just came through yet another round of the winter blues. I think the answer is to go out and find as real friend to talk to- it worked for me, thank God! :-)



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Unfinished business

Once again awake ling before the alarm, I fret about things that need to get done and I consider letting much of it go just for some peace. Being a single parent with worsening age and fibromyalgia insures that I will always have unfinished projects.
But for once I wish I could just get'r done and be done with the worry!


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Ssunday night comes with the promise of an early night and many Locale II dreams

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Life on a Saturday night

Life at home becomes a surreal event with all 3 of my students home for the weekend. I can't concentrate on anything requiring focus. Happy Saturday!
I hope I can wreak some discipline out of myself tomorrow. I'm going to have to play catchup!
)sigh(



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Life Today In My Corner

It's October 29, 2007, and it seems to me that the world is starting to really change.

Less than a year ago, the issue of global warming was still being debated, but seemingly overnight the news headlines have begun to reflect a world that is even grimmer than the science fiction writers or great thinkers could have ever imagined.

Two years ago it was New Orleans that got wiped out from the after effects of a super-hurricane, and last year a large area in Florida's Everglades burned.
Then last week, major areas of southern California burned down from out of control wildfires, triggered by record setting drought and high temperatures.

Although unverified, the now replaced Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, has apparently been indicted in France on torture charges related to secret U.S. prisons.
Meanwhile, there is a growing concern that Iran will be invaded by the U.S., in spite of Iran's growing nuclear capabilities and our own army's overstretched capabilities.

Along a different line, I read today that there have been no fruit crops at all in Scotland this year because the honeybee has been wiped out in many areas (either due to cell phone towers or a fungus, depending on the source).
Just as predicted by some futurists, there has also been serious talk about diverting precious Great Lakes water resources to the millions of people in the drought stricken areas of the U.S..
One can only wonder what the Great Lakes maps would look like were the freshwater lakes to get drained by thirsty farmers and citizens.

The number of homeless people in the United States on any given night is now around 750 thousand, while last weekend over 100 thousand people demonstrated in major cities across the country against the war and against the administration's policies. For some unknown reason no major news organizations have covered either phenomena so far.

However, there's been plenty of information about oil futures. The price of fuel oil and natural gas is set to jump a staggering 70 cents a gallon on the average over the coming winter, which makes the vision of my sleeping next to the woodstove with the dogs and cats more and more of a possibility this winter.

Anyway, to prepare for the major changes ahead, I have been struggling through a series of books written by an incredibly deep thinker, Gary Zukav, about the role of the personality with the soul and how to become 'multisensory beings'.

I'm fascinated with his beliefs, but puzzled by the level of introspective thought that is required to incorporate such skills into my daily life,. I still have to maintain a job and retain the ability to communicate orally with ordinary people, though I wish I could use psychic communication all the time.
Still, I keep thinking that I might need these types of skills someday soon, especially if the world keeps spinning out of control and there exists the threat of worldwide environmental catastrophes and communication blackouts.
In any case, thanks to his books, I've learned how to become more balanced emotionally, becoming aware of how extreme behavior (including panic) of any sort is costly to my whole energy system.
I think it's ironic that I'm studying how to ascend, yet I still can't rely on my addition or subtraction skills. I regularly make counting mistakes at work, and can't seem to hold numbers in my head long enough to even qualify for E-Harmony's dating site.

Luckily I have someone special in my life these days. In fact, thanks to my current boyfriend, who's Catholic background inspires him to toe the line in more ways than one, I've also largely gone from being a robust sexual being to an ethereal 'spiritual entity'.
I used to take a long shower in the evening to shave my legs and to smell good for my date, but now thanks to the lack of close contact, all I have to do is take a quick shower in the morning for work. I'm saving water and electricity to boot!

Meanwhile, every day dozens of logging trucks ship the remaining forests of the Upper Peninsula to out of state saw mills. No one asks if the forests are being replanted or why so much wood is being 'harvested' and shipped out, though the trucks continue to dot the roads across the three hundred mile wide expanse of the Michigan peninsula week after week.

Then, today a U.S. warship blew up two 'pirate' vessels that were loaded with stolen benzene near the Somalian coast. Apparently they 'didn't know' that the toxic material was on board and sources had no environmental impact studies or casualty figures yet. This story also got buried in the news for some reason.

Anyway, now that it's Fall, every night I run my wood stove, cranking unfiltered woodsmoke into the unprotected atmosphere, and it is still 100% legal.

My dog's hair has been falling out for months, her eyes tearing with allergies. From her sluggishness and heavy weight I have been speculating that she has developed a thyroid condition, though I can only guess where she got it from. (The water? The air? The ground? Her food?) (cartoon from cartoonstock.com)

My youngest son, who is newly 15, is questioning the necessity of going to school when the 'world is going to end' in 5 years anyway, and I almost agree with him.

But, thanks to the growing amount of information on the ever present internet, we don't have to remain ignorant. We can find nearly every song ever written and recorded and have access to most scientific, historical, and cultural information.
Add that to a wealth of medical and herbal info never before seen, and we're almost qualified to diagnose and treat most medical conditions. This is good because almost no one can afford to see a doctor anymore, much less afford to pay for the ensuing prescription medications.

Two of the most popular shows in America on Saturday night TV are 'Survivorman' and 'Man Versus Wild', where a sturdy outdoorsman teaches the audience how to survive all kinds of extreme weather conditions and in unfamiliar environments. I know one of my most important lessons watching that show was how to start a fire with only two sticks.

Meanwhile, the Arctic glaciers are apparently melting at such a rate that there are no correlating statistics to gauge how fast they will go or how much they will shrink.

Most climate scientists agree now that amount of meltwater is sure to raise the ocean levels quite a bit, as well as to dump millions of gallons of freshwater into the stalling thermalline circulation pump that churns through the oceans circling the globe.

But that story doesn't make the nightly newscasts, and for some reason there is no international coalition of countries working together to prepare for the inevitable 'little ice age' that a stalled circulation pump will bring to the northern latitudes of the Earth if the saltwater is diluted enough.

Still, most people my age are no longer talking about what to do when they 'retire' they are instead talking about where they're going to hunker down when 2012 comes and who they want to be with in the end. (image from: EndofTime2012.com)

Welcome Back

I've been working for 5 weeks in Marquette at a drycleaning place, and finally today the Internet has been restored to the company's computer, so I am finally able to write in my blog.

It's been a very challenging month and a week, but I continue to learn a lot, not only about my job, but about what keeps me motivated and how to keep going no matter what the challenge.

Ode to Animals

From the beautifully colored brown sparrow happily grabbing a seed in his beak, featured at the left, to the unmistakably sad and lonely eyes of my newest dog friend, Thompson, at the right, today's blog posting is in honor of the survival of all of the many species of animals in my life.

Some animals, like my friend's contented kitty with the unbreakable stare, to the left, have recovered from their earlier traumas and seemingly have it easy in this life.
The cat had been found several years ago, caught in a hay baler, and apparently barely escaped death. She hides from people most of the time, but I was able to snap this picture of her before she ran away again.

Others, like this feral cat spotted hungrily devouring a rotten tomato at my birdfeeder area, risk being seen to survive.

We've been trying to coax him in with tidbits and the standard "kitty kitty" talk, but so far he has stayed out of sight when we're outside.

Our resident groundhog, Mr. Groundy, at the left, made it through last winter, his hide still scarred from last fall's attack by our dog.

Rebounding from his war wounds, once again he has been seen in the evenings munching on sunflower seedlings and leftover birdseed.

We keep our dog much closer now, and everyone watches our for the wildlife when we're out in the yard.

We especially watch that our bevy of red squirrels doesn't become lunch for our already overfed cats either.

The adorable character to the right we named "Needles the Squirrel", for his pointy little nose. He and his squirrel buddies make short work of the sunflower seeds I put out in the window feeder every day, which keeps me busy refilling it for the other wildlife that come in to feed.

We've only let our cats out once or twice this Spring, and they ran back to the door each time, terrified of the many outdoor sounds and sights. Oh well!

We'd rather protect some of our other animal friends as well, like this fantastic bird to the left, Mr. Cardinal.

Everytime we see him at the birdfeeder area, the binoculars are grabbed and the camera readied. His coloration and features are so striking that I can't get enough of seeing him.

Once I saw a bluejay harassing him, but he has persisted and now appears to possibly have a nest somewhere nearby with Mrs. Cardinal, to the right.

She has been looking unusually plump these days, and may be about to lay a couple of eggs.

I think it's amazing how tenacious all of my animal friends are, and so today I honor their strength and courage.

They're all my heroes!