Superlatives

Do you ever find in your writing that you use the same adjectives over and over? I use terrific, wonderful, fantastic, lovely, and beautiful in most posts and comments. Why? Well, they're easy for one, and I'm too lazy to get the thesaurus and be more creative. So I'm going to turn over a new leaf and try writing without using the same 'ole, same 'ole. How about:

Instead of terrific, I use - excellent, blue-ribbon, dazzling, first-rate, fabulous, breathtaking, sensational, or the informal - awesome, bang-up, mean. ( ex: That was a mean post, I hope you continue to write in such a blue-ribbon manner.)

Well, that might not be the best example of using new superlatives, but you get my point. I need to break out of my rut when using descriptive words. So keep your eye out, and don't be surprised if you break out laughing at some of my new words. I'm just stretching my vocabulary!

Guinea Pigs Eating Watermelon

NOTHING LIKE A COLD PIECE OF WATERMELON ON A HOT DAY!

Difficult Childhoods

Lately I have been reading some blog posts that made me think about psychic energy and difficult childhoods. These particular bloggers, while humans searching for what matters along with the rest of us, also seem to be "tuned in" for a lack of a better phrase. Very sensitive to consciousness, energy, spirituality. Linda Pendelton did a post about psychic spies and remote viewing the other day. And one of the original participants in the CIA program, Joseph McMoneagle, commented that many of the psychic viewers were children of child abuse. Which of course makes sense. Children in dangerous situations need to use their instincts in order to survive, be it physically and/or mentally. These individuals, now grown, could be psychically "charged" in a way that makes them highly sensitive.

This sensitivity is good and bad for these individuals. The good is that they tune in first to all the changes going on in our world and often understand esoteric trains of thought very easily. The bad is that they are very sensitive to everything going on. They have fewer "filters." With the problems in the world, stresses at home and work, the tendency for depression and other anxiety disorders are more common.

Nde's, or near-death-experiences, often have participants returning to their bodies after resuscitation with stories of being told they have a mission to accomplish. That it wasn't their time, and no matter how hard their lives seem to be, they have not finished what they set out to do. Many return to lives spent passionately pursuing different lifestyles. Often seeing things very differently, than before the NDE.

Over the last several months I have watched some blogs go from the depths of despair, to people who seem to be much happier, and very connected to their lives in a fresh way. Much like the NDE experience, they are starting to lead very different lives. Their blogs are artistic, their voices sure and strong. They are talking about what excites them - and we are listening and following and learning in a synergistic manner.

So where am I going with this?

Well, I'm not sure. But I'm studying it. It may be what Trish MacGregor said in my comments section yesterday - we are a group of people who are meant to meet. The blogosphere is creating the venue. We are drawn to each other through intention. Whether to help each other through dark times, or to learn, or to be the first to celebrate good things that happen. To support each other. Maybe we are here to help each other "awaken" to a new way of seeing the world and all the characters in it. An NDE minus the dying part. Without all the pretense, without all the trappings of modern society, just us and the people we connect with.

What do you think?

Where did you go?

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html

So at least two of my blogging friends have disappeared. Rain - where did you go? Reggie Girl - where did you go? It's so strange how we get attached to people we have never met. When they disappear we get worried, and then we just miss them. Hope both of you are okay, and are just taking a break. I have to admit, blogging does take up some time. Someone asked the other day how I can keep up with so many blogs, and the answer is unfortunately I can't read all the ones I want to every day, but try to catch up at least a few times a week. The ones on the sidebar is just a fraction of the ones I follow. I can't help it - there is just so many good writers out there. You people are interesting!

What about you? Are you new at blogging and just building your blog list or have you been at it awhile and find yourself with not enough time to read all that you would like to?

Kayaking

We are thinking of purchasing a kayak. Can anyone recommend a brand? We are considering a tandem, then next summer buying a single, so maybe we can train Lucy to go along. Any suggestions, or dire warnings?

Our Vacationing Politicians

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html

I don't know about you, but I don't think our politicians have earned a vacation. I think they need to stay right where they are and work on fixing our health care system, or the myriad other issues begging their attention. There is plenty to occupy their time, and I for one, will not be voting for one single incumbent unless they quit bickering and get something accomplished. If they think by putting it off, that somehow we will forget just why they were sent to Washington, they have another think coming. I believe a little overtime is in order here.

Do you think they've earned a vacation?

P.S. I just found this petition that you can sign just by clicking:

Hi,

The Senate just announced they'll take a month-long vacation before voting on health care reform. Unbelievable.

Republicans think that by demanding delays, they can kill reform--and too many conservative Democrats are playing into their hands.

But Americans can't afford to wait: while the Senate is on vacation, over 400,000 people could lose their health coverage.

I signed a petition urging Congress to vote on health care before leaving for August vacation. Can you join me at the link below?

http://pol.moveon.org/dontgo/

Thanks!

Gifted, But Human

This is very well done - stay with it to the end. It's worth a moment of your time.

Four Limitless Qualities

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html

Some of us spend our lives cultivating our resentments and addictions and desires. We spend so much time on these cravings that we end up becoming them. We remain in a viscous cycle of want, need, and resentment when things don't go exactly our way. How to break this cycle? Well, one way that has been done for centuries with the Buddhist tradition is the "Four Limitless Qualities." The practice is to aspire to loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. They are as follows:

May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.

May we be free from suffering and the root of suffering.

May we not be separated from the great happiness devoid of suffering.

May we dwell in the great equanimity free from passion, aggression, and prejudice.

The bodhichitta practices are ways to sow the seeds of well-being, not only for ourselves, but for others. I am not trying to negate anyone's religion. I think this is a way of thinking, less a religious practice. But like all things, it takes practice in learning to want for others as you do yourself. It often starts with training our mind to jump the tracks, so to speak, and learn a new language of thought. The mind/brain loves to stay in it's ruts. It likes same. Which of course, keeps us in the same patterns that also make us miserable. Here then, is one way to consider throwing off the shackles that bind, and begin to heal our hearts and start serving our souls.

In these practices, we start with ourselves and those we love the most. We express the wish that we enjoy happiness and the root of happiness. Next we include someone we love. Using the thought that they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness. Then we extend it to a widening circle of friends and relationships. Begin where the aspirations feel genuine, where we already feel love, compassion, joy and equanimity. Then we move on to the neutral people in our life, and eventually to people we don't like. Remember this is a practice! It is intended as a workout to expand the heart beyond it's current capabilities. Then move on to the next one on suffering, and so on.

Expect resistance. We are learning to open our hearts and move closer to our fears. Aspiration practices have the power to loosen up useless habits and melt our fixations and defenses. We are learning to be steadfast. By acknowledging love, compassion, joy and equanimity that we feel now, and nurturing them through this practice, they will strengthen on their own.

Happiness is being free of anger, resentment, guilt, greed, envy, the list goes on. It is through our thoughts that our reality is constantly forming. Learning to train our thinking is fundamental to creating the kind of world we want.

Cerulean Sky

I took this picture on a hike the other day. Can you see the sliver of moon? But what struck me was the color of the sky. We were at about 8,500 feet, so I don't know if that had anything to do with the color, but I can't remember ever seeing the sky that color of blue during the day.

Thinking Communal?

We have been playing with the idea of a commune. Yes, a commune. No this isn't 1969. Yes, I think it plays in 2009. Well, actually a few years from now, but in the not too distant future I think it isn't going to sound as far fetched as it does right now.

My youngest is talking about doing a commune with friends. Then I read an article in the New York Times that looked at a subdivision that actually encircles a working farm and operates more as a collective. The idea is to raise what you eat, in a sustainable, localized manner. But then I started thinking - why not take this concept a step further and combine other resources - such as cars, trucks, gardening equipment, workout rooms, pools, picnic areas, barns, corrals, pastures, along with a giant organic farm area, orchard, and a hothouse for winter growing?

Each owner would have their own property for their house, so they could sell it if that is what they needed, or chose to do. The community part would be owned by everyone with homeowner "dues", such as we pay our condo association to maintain common grounds. Of course, I see this like-minded group of people also sharing in most of the "grounds" duties, as they would be the type of people that would want, and like, that lifestyle.

In this dream I live near my two children, with the grandchildren's play area in the center of the three houses. Our house is small. If we are living near our children, we only need a small house. Small, green, and conducive to living in long after we would normally be shipped off to a retirement home.

I came from a big German family that actually lived this way in Sacramento. I grew up running over acres of land owned by our family, with my great-grandmother living in her own home, in the middle of several of her children's homes. Gardens were big, canning was communal, children were safe and free to roam. I would go from house to house asking what they were having for dinner before deciding who would have the honor of feeding me that night.

So I am keeping my eye open for land in Oregon and Washington. It's beautiful, often partly wooded, fairly inexpensive, and close to big urban areas. You never know, by the time this dream is even remotely realized, our children may want to live near us. Or maybe someone else will.

What do you think?

Sushi Rice Salad

I had to share my favorite summer salad taken from Cooking Light. I have made this several times to rave reviews. The original salad calls for regular rice vinegar, but I like the seasoned rice vinegar much better. I have tried it with the nori as a garnish, but I personally prefer the salad without the nori. It pairs well with seared tuna or soy-glazed salmon, and has all the flavors of a cucumber roll.

Yield: 7 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Ingredients:

* Rice:

* 2 cups uncooked sushi rice

* 2 cups water

* 1 teaspoon kosher salt

*

Dressing:

* 1/2 cup seasoned rice vinegar

* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

* 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

* 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

* 1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

* 1 garlic clove, minced

* 1/4 to 3/4 teaspoon prepared wasabi (Japanese horseradish; optional)

*

Remaining ingredients:

* 1 cup (2-inch) julienne-cut peeled English cucumber

* 1/4 cup minced red onion

* 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

* 1 sheet nori (seaweed), cut into 2-inch julienne strips

Preparation

To prepare rice, rinse rice thoroughly in a sieve. Drain well. Bring 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan; add rice and salt. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat; uncover and cool to room temperature.

To prepare dressing, combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through garlic) in a small bowl. Add wasabi, if desired. Combine cooled rice, dressing, cucumber, onion, and sesame seeds in a large bowl. Sprinkle evenly with nori.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

256 (15% from fat)

Fat:

4.3g (sat 0.5g,mono 2g,poly 1.5g)

Protein:

4.2g

Carbohydrate:

46.7g

Fiber:

2g

Cholesterol:

0.0mg

Iron:

4.4mg

Sodium:

346mg

Calcium:

9mg

Marie Simmons, Cooking Light, MARCH 2002

Budweiser Clydesdale Circus

This is cute!

Drawn by Intention?

I just started reading The Intention Experiment by Lynne McTaggart. This is an amazing book. Suggested by more than one of you, it's clear that you are way ahead of me on this topic. Or is it that we are drawn to each other based on intention? Anyway...

I've already mentioned in an earlier post that I have one foot in science and one in spirit. This has always been the way for me. And this book brings science, especially quantum physics, and spirit together seamlessly. I've just started the book, but wanted to share one amazing experiment:

"Animals themselves proved capable of acts of effective intention. In one ingenious study by Rene' Peoc'h of the Foundation ODIER in Nantes, France, a robotic "mother hen," constructed from a movable random-event generator, was "imprinted" on a group of baby chicks soon after birth. The robot was placed outside the chicks' cage, where it moved around freely, as its path was tracked and recorded. Eventually, it was clear that the robot was moving toward the chicks two and a half times more often than it would ordinarily; the "inferred intention" of the chicks - their desire to be close to their mother - appeared to affect the robot, drawing it closer to the cage. Over eighty similar studies, in which a lighted candle was placed on a movable REG, baby chicks kept in the dark, finding the light comforting, managed to influence the robot to spend more time than normal in the vicinity of their cages."

This is fascinating! This means animals may have an ability to affect their world. If the chicks tiny brains can do this, can you imagine what ours can do? Luckily we have scientists all over the world working on consciousness and intention.

We know through quantum physics that at the subatomic level all matter is made of the same "stuff", from rocks to humans. What's more, they've discovered that subatomic matter appears to be involved in a continual exchange of information, causing it to change and refine.

So if animals can manipulate their world through intention, and they now think all things are connected - um, here's a thought - should we be eating them?

Just saying.

Gearing Up

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html

I can feel personal change in the air. My husband is antsy. He wants to get up and get moving in the morning. Usually to hike, run, bike, or run errands. A sure sign he wants to go back to work. I, on the other hand, kind of like him home to be my buddy. We have never had such a long stint at not having our whole world revolve around his job. Now I get to call the shots on things involving time that I never used to have as much input. When he works, he works really hard, and any time off needs to revolve around what he would like to do with it. It is usually only two days a week, so I have always had everything done by the weekend, on my part at least, so that time is his to choose. This has evolved over almost 29 years of marriage. Entrenched, you might say.

Now he makes my breakfast and we decide whether to go to the movies, hike, read, do the housework together, (gasp!). I don't think that has happened since we were first married and lived in a tiny apartment. We both had jobs that paid about the same, at the same company. I left to care for babies, and over the years his job changed from a nine to five to one that was at least twelve hours a day. And now I can tell he is anxious to get back. He's rested. He's been off over a year and now he's bored. He's read a mountain of books and housework is just not cutting it, I guess.

Like so many people who have outstanding resumes in this economy, the job search has been ongoing but not fruitful. We have been really lucky, moving to what once was a vacation home. Others have lost their homes, and their lives. While we have been secure, the insecurity in this country has affected us all. We look at things differently. We are aware that some people may never find work, in their field, again. That life's meaning needs to come from elsewhere in our lives. And this lesson we have learned: Don't love a job - it will not love you back. This was something my husband's first boss told him thirty years ago, and he has found those words of wisdom to be pearls. A job is a place you go to earn money to live. It deserves your undivided attention while you're there, but it doesn't deserve to rule your world. It doesn't deserve to define you. You are so much more than a job - any job, even one that rocks your boat. Remember to feed the other parts of your life. They are just as important as what you do to earn a living and will still be there for you if something happens to your business or job title.

So we wait on two possibilities. We may be able to stay here, or we move far away to a state I have never even visited. Or maybe they both fall through. That's the reality of life in America. No guarantees.

Nurturing Nature

(a bit hazy as there was a nearby fire)

I've decided it's nurturing to be out in nature. It's like our mother wrapping her arms around us and giving us a big hug. We just returned from one of our hikes in the mountains, and I'm exhausted. We went about five miles at around 8,900 feet. I just may have overdone on this one - a bit more tired than the last time. But new boots helped, and the scenery was spectacular. Other than on a few occasions looking over my shoulder for mountain lions, we had the mountains pretty much to ourselves.

I really think we need to go outside as often as possible to really understand what it means to save our environment. We simply cannot have the same sense of our mother earth if we are continually inside, and never experience the earth in it's raw form. Even walking through a park will give a different perspective. And actually getting out where there is no one around is extremely rewarding. You begin to see the grandiosity of it all. How important it is to pass on to future generations. How imperative it is that we act, in every decision we make, to make sure those decisions have as negative an impact as possible, for all life forms, including our earth.

Have you been outside lately? What did you experience?

A Test

Today is going to be a test of all the things I've been studying. I'm struggling not to go "postal" on my contractor. You may remember the Bad Ju Ju Closet. It started out to be only a three day project. Now we are into week four and the room remains torn up, the closet not even close to being finished, and soon we will have company that will need to sleep in that room. The contractor took part of the shelves to be redone two weeks ago, and then went on vacation! Yep, and without even a phone call. I left a message with him yesterday that all we wanted was the name of the cabinet maker so we could get the rest of the shelves, and find someone to finish the job. No response.

So now I need to use all the tools I have learned to put some space between my anger and fear, stop the storyline, meditate, visualize the outcome needed, and breathe....

I know this has been sent to me to help me learn what it is I need to learn. I know this to be true. The Universe provides the necessary tools to help in our spiritual progression. That's what this is all about. Ghaaaaaa

I'll let you know how I do.

Party Pack

For those of you new to my blog, we moved from the city in which I was born and raised (Reno, NV), and lived for 50 years, (OMG 50?), to Portland OR for 2.5 years and then 2 years in the Twin Cities. For all of my life I can remember wanting to move and live somewhere else other than where I was born. Before we moved to Portland we bought a place at Lake Tahoe, about 25 minutes from Reno, and kept it while living elsewhere. So we always had one foot back in my home state.

One of the things I noticed when I moved to these other areas was how hard it was to establish new friendships. In fact what I noticed was that friendships, real friendships, require time and energy. Or they need to have some kind of history in order to be meaningful. Otherwise they are acquaintances. We no longer attend school functions, so friendships were not formed while sitting on bleachers for hours watching our children play soccer, or dance recitals, or school functions and carpools. We met our neighbors, but because of lifestage differences, the friendships were warm but not conducive to being very close. We found that our true friendships remained back in Nevada, where we had left our history.

Which brings me to last night. We were invited to a very old friend's home to welcome back their son who has been deployed with the Navy. To say we had fun is an understatement. There is something about toasts in your honor, great big meaningful hugs, and a "party pack". A party pack is a pack of very thin Capri cigarettes that my friends and I would occasionally indulge, after several glasses of wine, since our children were tiny and easily ditched for ten minutes. They were carefully hidden in the recesses of our shelves in the garage of our home of 16 years. Which was right behind the home of said friends, and right next door to other neighbors who had children the same age. We raised our children together, spent hours and hours talking, laughing, drinking boxed wine, trading coupons, cooking huge potluck dinners, and occasionally disappearing for a cig (gasp!) Women only.

So last night was all about reminiscing. One conversation was about my children being fifth-generation native Nevadans, and that Bruno, a little bar owner in Gerlach, Nevada, known far and wide as the "voice of Nevada" to anyone attending Burning Man, is actually a fraud, having only moved here in the 1950's. My father's family moved there in the 1800's. Who else would care about that story? No one outside of a small circle of long-time Nevadans, believe me!

Little did I know I am known far and wide for my wonderful cooking! Who knew? Of course I did do a lot of cooking in those days as I had children to feed and I took great pride in showing my love for everyone with food. I had no idea I would be remembered for it. And there, carefully tucked underneath the coffee table on the deck of their home, hidden from view, was a thin pack of Capri cigs...

I guess there is no place like home.

BLOGGER WOES

Just a heads up- I've tried to leave comments on all of your blogs that have left comments on mine, and several have been eaten by Blogger - repeatedly! If you are not getting comments lately - it could be a glitch with your blog. Ghahaaaaa!

Mountain Day

click to enlarge

We have started hiking again, now that we've had so much free time. Today we started at about 7,300 ft and hiked about 3.5 miles. This area is about 30 miles from Lake Tahoe in the Carson Pass area, not far from Kirkwood Ski Resort. I now need a few tylenol, but can't wait to go again.

Lucy loved being off the leash and ran the entire time. She went about three times further than we did.

On the way home I snapped a picture of our beautiful Emerald Bay at Lake Tahoe. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Death with Dignity

http://www.terragalleria.com/index.html

I read this article today on dying with dignity. It was about a center for Catholic Nuns, who are surrounded by fellow nuns and priests, choosing to die without much medical intervention. A topic whose time has come as baby-boomers enter their senior years. It is fraught with misunderstanding and potholes. Not the least of which is the fear of "killing old people", and not providing health care based on age. But the fact is that millions of very old people are put through tortuous tests and procedures at the end of life, without any alternative. We simply have not thought through the medicalization of the dying process. It is a huge drain on our health care system, and the results are always the same. No one is going to get out alive.

So what to do?

Well, for one, we need to educate ourselves on what a "good death" would look like. Hospice is a wonderful program, but I think what is needed is more information before we get to the end stages of life. Maybe we need to look at it from a life-span perspective. A part of life, just as important as the mid-life or child-bearing age. Actually train people, as part of a curriculum, to be care-providers for only this stage of life. We have full course studies on early childhood, maybe we could do the same with end-of-life issues. Maybe we could provide beautiful centers, complete with music, outdoor areas, large windows to look at beautiful landscapes, massage, acupuncture, spiritual advisers, entertainment, intellectual stimulation, and most of all understanding of the process of dying. Taking away all the procedures and medications, not used for pain control, should free up money for these centers. We also need to keep people home when we can. Let them be surrounded by what they know and the people they love. Dying doesn't have to be the fearful, painful process it has become. It can be a time to celebrate a life well-lived. We just need to learn how to do it.

The SS Office

We were prepared to spend the whole afternoon in the Social Security Office today. But ended up pleasantly surprised! Can it be that some of our bureaucracies are starting to run like businesses? With the client in mind? Could it be that having really angry people always in their faces, after waiting in endless lines, only to be told they didn't have the right paperwork, wasn't working? After all, people are a little crazy right now - you never know when one will come in with guns blazing. At any rate, it wasn't an awful experience, and we were out of there in an hour. The people working were very pleasant, and efficient. Yay!

It seems a bit silly that I need to have a physical copy of my social security card in order to get a driver's license in the state I was born in, and have only been away from for five years. It wasn't enough that I had the number, I needed to show the card. As if you couldn't just have one made, if that was your intention. Plenty of forgers out there. Unless, and I will know when it comes in the mail, it now has some kind of holographic number or sign that proves it isn't a fake. Now I'm curious. The last time I had a SS card I was about fifteen and it was a piece of card-stock. When was the last time you had to show your SS card?

Hate Bombs

The hate bombs are back. I talked about them here. It seems some friends and relatives think it is okay to send really nasty, mean-spirited, ugly "forwards" from some really sick individual working on spreading as much fear and animosity as possible. Why do people feel the need to do that? Do they really think that "just forwarding it" doesn't have the same impact? As if they are not responsible for it, after all they didn't write it - only forwarding on someone else's work?

Yesterday I received an e-mail regarding Obama's mother that was so vile, I have not discussed it with anyone until now. I refused to give it any energy. This from my cousin, that I have loved, admired, and looked up to, all of my life. This was the third hate bomb from him in a week. I no longer feel the same way about him. I feel sorry that he has reached the age he has with such negative energy eating him from the inside out.

I can't change my friends that feel this way, and I can't change my relatives that feel this way. I can only work on me. I'm a big enough project as it is. But slowly, I'm backing off from people that are part of the problem, the ones fighting any and all solutions. The ones forwarding these e-mails despite knowing I don't share their opinions. The hate-pushers. I'm putting space between us. I'm moving on.

Things Grow in Unexpected Places

I was thinking today that we really need to focus our energy on what we want to see happen in our lives. We need to think about what we want. We need to plan it in our mind. Then on paper. Maybe then on a website, blog, book, or journal. In others words put it out there. We need to be clear about it's intention. Yet we need to be flexible in accepting what the universe offers up.

We need to be the creators of our lives.

Because things grow in unexpected places. Just give them a chance.

Global Consciousness?

pic courtesy of Global One website

Have you ever had feelings of sadness, anxiousness, depression but really didn't have any reason to be feeling that way? I started noticing several years ago that feelings such as these would often correspond to something going on in the world, but not necessarily in my life. Friends would say their families were feeling depressed, yet there wasn't an easy explanation for why they were feeling that way. So it wasn't just me, or my family. Then I started noticing these bouts of sadness would often correspond to something terrible happening in the world, unknown to me at the time. I started saying things like, "I feel terrible, something bad must be happening somewhere." Needless to say, I would often get the "queer eye" for statements such as that.

Recently I came across The Global Consciousness Project website, through Princeton University, making me think I'm not so crazy after all. Did you know there are "eggs", generators actually, distributed throughout the world, that are monitoring consciousness during different events?

"Global Consciousness Project, also called the EEG Project, is an international, multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists ad others. We collect data continuously from a global networked of physical random number generators located in 65 host sits around the world. The archive contains more than 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second.

Our purpose is to examine subtle correlations that may reflect the presence and activity of consciousness in the world. We predict structure in what should be random data, associated with major global events when millions of us share intentions and emotions. The GCP/EEG network shows small but meaningful differences from expectation.

This suggests that large scale group consciousness has effects in the physical world. We need to know about this, and learn to use our full capacities for creative movement toward a conscious future."

Have you ever noticed this correlation in your life?

Bud's Ice Cream

I have been known to take one bite of something and declare it "not worth the calories." Since stretching calories is my current passion, deserts are not on the daily menu. But we found a little jewel in a tiny ice cream place right across from the Lake. It sells the most incredible ice cream I have ever tasted! Once a week, and we count the days, we treat ourselves to one of the worlds best ice cream cones, sitting in their grassy little yard, in creamy bliss.

Of course, I had to pass it on to you. It's called Bud's Ice Cream and was rated one of the best ice creams by Time. It started out as an ice cream parlor in San Francisco, is sold all over California, and my only disappointment is that it is now produced out of Bangkok, and not just a few hundred miles away in The City. (Which makes one wonder - they ship the ingredients all the way to Bangkok and then get the frozen stuff back???)

It's slogan is "nothing but the best ingredients, and too much."

Americans love ice cream on a hot day - so Happy Birthday, America! This cookie-dough ice cream cone is for you.

Have a great weekend , everyone!

Edgar Cayce (Part II)

Much has been written on this interesting man, so I will keep this post just to a few of his actual prophecies. The one thing that he referred to over and over was man's free will. He felt nothing was etched in stone, that could not be changed by going in a different direction. He was a deeply religious man, and remained so throughout his lifetime. Here then, are seven prophecies that came true, and seven that have yet to materialize. You can decide for yourself what to believe or what not to believe. This is merely food for thought.

SEVEN PROPHECIES THAT CAME TRUE

1. Stock Market Crash of 1929 (reading was in 1925)
2. WWII (reading was in 1935)
3. Shifting of the earth's poles (reading in 1936) - (See Nova's program entitled "Magnetic Storm")
4. Convergence of Communications Companies (reading in 1929) - (mergers have occurred)
5. There was a Community of People Called the Essenes (reading in 1942) - Texts attributed to the then little-known sect called the "Essenes" discovered with the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947.
6. Blood as a Diagnostic Tool (reading in 1927) - Once considered the stuff of science fiction.
7. La Nina and El Nino Effect (reading in 1926) - A connection between temperature of deep water currents and weather.

SEVEN FUTURE PROPHECIES

1. Will our lifespans of human beings be extended? (reading in 1926) Cayce saw human beings living far beyond what we are living now - which is an extension way beyond what people were living during his lifetime. Some have interpreted his readings as people dying when they were ready to move on.
2. WWIII - (reading in 1941) - Conflict in the Persian Gulf - Cayce talked about "strife in Libya, Egypt, Ankara, Syria through the straits above Australia, in the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf". With all that is going on in the Middle East, would anyone be surprised?
   
3. Will we discover the design for a self-fueling perpetual-motion machine? (reading 1928) Yes, "once started, it would be kept in motion by created energy of it's own source". Could this be something that emerges from the Green Revolution?
   
4. A new field of science will be developed based on a psychic/spiritual phenomenon. (reading 1939) One suggestion was that this might be based on Near Death Experiences, or NDE's.
5. China will become a Christian nation - (reading 1943) It is felt Cayce based this on Gnostic Christianity, (different from traditional or modern Christianity). "Personal applications of the spiritual would become paramount to the Chinese people." Now that religion is no longer outlawed in China, who knows? He also saw the height of civilization moving from the West to China.
   
6. Will the Three Halls of Records be discovered? (reading 1932) "According to the readings the people of Atlantis became aware that their civilization was about to be destroyed. As a result they hid identical records of Atlantean civilization in Bimini, Egypt, and the Yucatan." It is these records that will be discovered.
   
7. Is a new "root race" evolving? (reading 1942) Edgar Cayce information suggests that our consciousness has expanded and evolved over time, discussed throughout the Bible. He felt the "next great evolution would be tied to a new 'fifth root race', and would come about through personal soul development in order to resonate to that new evolutionary occurrence - New Age - a new understanding of humanity's relationship to God."

So there you have it. An extremely condensed version of the great Edgar Cayce, using different sources. I swapped out the prophesy on the return of Jesus Christ, because it was just too long, but you can read about it here. It all sounds pretty far out, but then I guess some of those that have come to pass also sounded pretty impossible when he did the readings. Many books have been written about him. One that I liked was "There Is A River" by Thomas Sugrue. The Edgar Cayce Association for Research and Enlightenment, or A.R.E., is located in Virginia Beach, VA.

Edgar Cayce (Part I)

This is going to be a two-part post on Edgar Cayce, as there is just so much information about him that I can't possibly cover it, even in two parts. But if you are unfamiliar with the name, he was a psychic and medical clairvoyant born in 1877 and died in 1945. During his lifetime he gave thousands of readings, and remained the humble person born on a Kentucky farm, where his psychic abilities grew in childhood. Despite the opportunity to make millions, even in his day, he charged only what he needed to live on, and then only when he was so bombarded with pleas for readings that he could no longer work. Many tried desperately to reveal him as a fraud - and despite a concerted effort - no one was every able to unveil him to be anything other than an extremely gifted psychic.

He was often referred to as the "Sleeping Prophet" and the "Father of Holistic Medicine". He had the weird ability to memorize a book by sleeping on it! But mostly he just wanted to help people, especially children. Most readings dealt with holistic health and treatment of illnesses, although much of what he talked about are only now household terms. Words such as meditation, auras, soul mates, holistic health, spiritual growth and the more esoteric Akashic Records. By lying down (with his head facing north), his hands folded, he would be able to place his mind into "universal consciousness", also known as "super consciousness." (The History Channel did a program on him entitled The Other Nostradamus.) He had five main categories that he did readings on:

1. Health related info
2. Philosophy and Reincarnation
3. Dreams and dream interpretation
4. ESP and Psychic Phenomenon
5. Spiritual Growth, Meditation, & Prayer

He also had seven prophecies that came true, and seven yet to come. Tomorrow we will explore these remarkable peeks into the past and the future.