Holes!

Since August, 2014, holes have appeared in the southwest garden. It is grub territory there and I decided to remove the gardens, giving back the land to the animals who once and still...traverse it.  I have seen every forest animal imaginable here during the day and the night.

Each morning when I would hang up the bird feeder, I checked the point, the area where the holes are dug.  Each morning I fill the holes.  The same thing would occur a few days later.  I would go outside in the early morning discovering more holes.  Now, the holes were also found along the front of the house as well as the right side of the house.

The photo above was taken before forty of the large evergreens were removed.  It is much cleaner now; more light shines through the windows. The views are long range.

Today, I added some color to the point.  I may add a firepit.  But there is a strangeness here.

I was sitting on the peach Adirondack chair this afternoon soaking up some much needed sunshine and reading The Last Child In The Woods.  After texting a friend a few photos of this area, I placed one leg on each of the arms of the chairs to ensure a nice tan.  As I was reaching for something on the ground, I dropped my left foot.  Instantly, I felt an electric shock.  Looking around for a snake, bug or something to explain this sudden bolt of electricity, I found nothing.  After examining my left foot for ten minutes, I still found nothing.  Remember, there are holes all around the legs of the chairs.  I have not filled them in.

The curious thing about this area is that to the right and close to the front of the house the ground is cracked.  Cracked as though there were something holed underneath.  The only thing that has changed was the the paving was removed along the perimeter of this side, on the cliff edge, some three months ago.  The cracked ground appeared only this week. It does not seem to be affected by rain.

In the evening, it feels as though something is being constructed under the land.  The attic makes strange sounds, the walls do, too.  It has gone on since I returned home in January, 2014.  I do recall slight noises a few years before that but nothing to the degree that I am hearing now.

Even the last few nights, the noise awakened me several times.  Could it be a...

To Be Continued ~

BMP

Back in 2007, the earthen dam at Balsam Mountain Preserve burst open.  The dam, built in a short weekend was never given the permit for which it was designed.  Simply put, they built a much larger dam than what they were permitted for.

Originally, it was recommended that a $300,000 fine be assigned.  Apparently, Balsam Mountain Preserve's attorney negotiated a lesser amount.  Apparently that happened before during a certain administration's rule.  Enter a new administration and yet another administration.  Some how, the lesser fine didn't make the media.

It is also interesting to note that the chairman of the commissioners for the county in which this happened happens to work at that preserve.  Curious?  Hmmm.

Not one to point fingers, it is well nigh time to reveal this. For my part, I don't want to vote anymore. I am profoundly disappointed in all the candidates.

Being a good citizen means being involved.  Knowing the issues.  Standing up.  My pH on this is 7.  Middle of the road.  I am disgusted with both sides.

Off to watch the rain.

Take A Peek

Upon checking the Carolina wren nest today, flashlight in hand, I saw several bare little creatures.  I couldn't tell how many as it was just too dark outside.  I took this photo anyway.

Fiddling with my tripod and camera, I still couldn't get as close as the droid took me.  Both are blurry and grainy.  I am not sure why that happens, but I will google it again to see what to do.  I suspect it is a lighting thing.  Or maybe a camera adjustment thing.

Life is springing forth in so many ways in my life. We never know how things will pan out.  We can only open our hearts, do our best and share our love and compassion.

Home: Where My Heart Is

There is a small town just outside the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina.  It is near and dear to me for more reasons than I can say.  But there are things going on here that need to be addressed.

Somehow we have difficulty maintaining talented people in the county government.  We simply can not keep them.  One reason is because they are shut out.  Ignored.  Not invited to meetings.  The local boy network (local girls, too).  No different than Congress.  If you are threatening, you are out!

The other reason, and I am simplifying this, is because you are just too talented for this non-progressive community.  Locals matter more than talent.  Awful, but true.  Fortunately, not in every case.  Things go on here which aghast me regularly.

We lost a talented economist who was repeatedly left out of meetings, ignored and lied to.  We lost a planning director because elected government officials and a business manager and another department head didn't do their job.  Either!  They forget who is paying their salary.  The business manager is directed by a former commissioner and does their biddings.  Illegal? It should be.  This nitwit needs to be fired and brought up on charges.  It isn't politics - it IS criminal.

Another department head is a good ole boy.  Panders to whomever he likes.  He needs to be fired, too.

Enter the local commissioners.  Now they are considering paying $50,000 of taxpayer money to hire an auditor in the code enforcement area to evaluate the flow of work.  Excuse me while I vomit.  It is well nigh time they do their jobs.  All of them.

I cancelled my television subscription to a satellite company.  I go on Fb less and less.  Few people want to expose this.

And another thing.  The bridge connecting our two towns is rated a GRADE THREE.  Yet no one has the ***** to write about it.  Fear of losing business, classified ads, etc.  

I am so over this.  I will stay on my knoll where the view is beyond words.  I don't plan to ride on a bridge that is about to collapse.  I do not plan to re-elect any of these characters.  Unless I see some adult behavior.  Soon.

Off to enjoy my view.

Namaste Y'all

For the past few weeks, things have been up and down and all around.  I could feel the shift coming.  It was a good time to take a week and go to New England to visit my beautiful daughter.

There were lots of epiphanies, awakenings, knowings.   I felt the small earthquakes, several of them.  Felt discontent, joy, fresh, crisp morning air and walks with my daughter.

Often it is in the return home that things come to light.  The five Carolina wren eggs on my front porch have not hatched.  Yet.  Any day now.

This morning began with a call to Directv to see if they would alter the $35 a month increase for the same service I began with one year ago on the 20th.  They say I signed a two year contract.  I do not recall or see that anywhere in my notes the day I signed up with them.  I do recall the nasty, threatening, harassing sales person on the other end.  It was one long and unnecessary beat down the customer conversation.  I decided it was time to end this relationship and cancelled them altogether.  They sat I owe a $200 discontinuation fee.  I say see me in small claims court.  I will contact AARP about this. Even cancelling this company took 30 minutes.

My therapist provided a lovely massage, releasing, freeing, moving.  Then I took my friend out for her birthday lunch to her favorite restaurant in town.  It is always fun being with her.  Two friends for many years.  Sharing a lifetime of mysteries and fun.

I must admit to finding it difficult dealing with people who are not honorable or kind.  There are too many of them.  They raise my blood pressure to high levels.  I know I must walk the walk and truly wish them some since of honor.  Karma is an awful thing.  Laws of Physics and all.

It was/is a hard lesson to learn.  Listening to your gut and stay away from companies who do business in ways that do not honor your highest good.  My evenings will return to the peace I had one year ago.  I hesitated to contact these folks.  Next time, now...I listen louder.

namaste y'all

East Ridge, Where I Live

It is apparent I live in a preserve of my own doing. A 1.49 acre, one heavily forested 

preserve. Raccoons, crow, opossum, groundhog are digging nightly holes in the tiny yard, 

carpenter bees are boring holes into my porch ceiling, 5 Carolina wren eggs were laid in a 

nest on the porch by the front door, a chipmunk in the garage, a warbler who was sick and 

passed yesterday in front of me on the ground, now a rat stuck somewhere in the

garage. And this is just this week. I suppose they know it is safe here. Yes, I have checked 

my animal totems. Yowzer.


So I didn't catch the rat last night. Yes, it was a rat to my major disappointment.  In truth, I 

was majorly creeped out.  Majorly. Still, this is the mountains.  In the past I had two fox and 

their three kits on the ridge above me.  Year after year, before the saws and construction 

crews arrived, they would visit with me outside.  A safe distance.  All five of them.  I know I 

have mentioned this before.


Then there was the red wolf in August of 2011.  A bear on the side porch, raccoons in the 

birdfeeders taking one after another down.  A dead baby opossum in the backyard.  All in

all, I have felt honored they trusted me.  They know this is their safe haven.  Their grub 

feeding ground.  But not after tomorrow.  Assuming any rain holds off for twenty-four hours

Milky Spore will be put down.  


Soon it is off to visit my daughter in New Hampshire. It has been too long since I last saw 

her.  Since Christmas. The animals will have to fare well without me.


East Ridge, that is where I live. Thrive.  And love.  It doesn't get any better than this.  Cept 

of course, to see the rough Maine coast where another part of my heart lives.  Soon.

What's Happening Here

Doing the right thing.  We were all taught that, right?  Some of us lag behind a bit.  I hope they catch up.  I am really proud and happy about a few things.

People offering to help when help is clearly necessary.  Reporters standing up to government corruption and wrong doing.  A friend with whom I have been frustrated actually wants to hear and remedy my concern with them.  Organic milky spore.  Yep, grub control.

Returning home from errands this morning, I found yet another rodent in the garage.  Not a chipmunk this time, but a large mouse.  At least, I hope it is a mouse.  It appeared to run in from the outside.  Again.  I have no idea where it is.  And, I certainly do not wish to have it run across my hands when I am working on a project. That has happened in there with baby snakes.  No worries.

My garage is clean.  Well organized until a rodent jumps from thing to thing.

Here is what they say about a mouse coming into your life

Scrutiny, Detail Mouse medicine is both a great power and a great weakness. It is good to pay attention to all details, but bad to over-analyze every little thing. Mouse people can be fixated on methodology and appear to be nit-pickers. They will make the simplest task fraught with difficulty. Everything must be in order in a Mouse's house. Often, Mouse people are fearful of life. You should try to see the larger picture Even if you live in a small house in Los Angeles, you are also part of the Earth, galaxy and universe. If a Mouse totem has recently entered your life, ask yourself if you have neglected the trivial but necessary things in life. Have you become too focused on one or two activities and neglecting opportunities around you? Or are you trying to do too many things at the same time? Mouse medicine can show how to focus and how to attain the big things by working on the little things. http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/mouse.htm And of course, should this be a rat" Cunning rat of silent creeping, Friend of Ganesha, lord of might, Guide me through mazes by your foresight, For all good things are mine by right.   People with a Rat totem have a pronounced drive for success. Ask yourself if you are pushing too hard or to the contrary, if you are not pushing hard enough.  Rat also give their totem people a great ability to adapt to almost any environment. Rat shows you how to gain foresight in any coming situation to avoid problems. Rat people are cunning and shrewd, and can defend themselves aggressively when necessary. They can also be restless and nervous and need to be careful of these traits. The Hindu God of Overcoming Obstacles Ganesh uses a Rat as his steed.  For the Hindus, the Rat represents prudence and foresight. Which is the reason that you see rats leaving a ship before it sinks or scurrying out of a building before it collapses.  They know.... To the ancient Egyptians, Rats symbolized wisdom. Rat is the first sign of the Chinese Zodiac, symbolizing fertility and wealth. A white Rat is the companion of the Japanese god of happiness and a symbol of Daikoku, the god of prosperity. http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/rat.htm

Downloads

Another 'interesting' day.  The carpenter bee continues to bore holes in my porch ceiling.  The bee flew down by the ledge of ground and I noticed a bird there.  It's beak was facing down, breathing, tail moving slowly.  I provided shade for a few hours.  Then it passed.

Choked up by so many emotions today.  And then this video:

http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/Marianne-Williamson-on-Forgiveness-and-Divine-Compensation-Video

Oprah does it again. Marianne Williamson said it all.  I am appreciative as always.  Hope you enjoy this.

Something Good Is

An opossum, raccoon, another opossum, groundhog in broad daylight, a Carolina wren delivering an egg every morning and now a chipmunk in the garage.  I did ask to see in the forest.  Wish granted!

• 

Wowser.  Nearly three weeks of lessons. More even.  The marsupial, then raccoon, lost car keys down the toilet,  car won't run, grounded at home.  Today, the car came home!  So did a chipmunk.  I opened the garage for a second and closed it.

Opened it again to walk out and closed it.  Just went back in and saw things falling off each shelf.  And there it was!  One of my favorite rodents - the chipmunk.

What did the chipmunk have to say?  It took just a minute or two to scamper the little one out the door.  And then reflecting on Ted Andrews's book, Animal Speak. Every minute has a lesson if we pay attention.

Lunching with a new spiritual, metaphysical friend yesterday, was so revealing. The universe is sure sending bounty!

And then another reminder.  Kind of a private one and I will let that one go into the netherworld where it belongs.  Until...

..."Chipmunk spirit animal is a symbol that something good is on it's ways to you."

There has been lots of good.  Always.  Not always immediately apparent but in time, it shows itself.  Today has been relaxing, full of anxiety and now...peace.

And the wren:

Wren represents a new period of incoming energy, increased activity and heightened alertness in mental, physical, and emotional areas. 

Yup, something good is on it's way.  Am boy oh, boy.  Am I ready!

On Blessings

It is well nigh hard to smile in the face of adversity these days.  It has always been this way.  We get so caught up in our ego, the fragile sense of ourselves that we have, that we forget to see all the connections in nature, in people.  Even if the people or nature is behaving other than what we wish. This requires thinking our place in the universe.  Balancing the ego more.

For a very long time, I have thought about how I want to spend my days.  My friends know I have felt that I am in a holding zone, a bit down, but not depressed especially this past year.  It isn't so much about being down as it is about reflecting. That I am being given information about a new way to be.  I am more than open to this. It is time.

In talking with a dear friend recently, probably the one I share my deepest thoughts with, I talked about how I have been feeling inside.  My anxieties, my fears, my frustrations. My friend took a lot of time with me - hours.  This little conversation helped me immensely.  I felt validated, though I realize the real validation comes from within.  Connections are so powerful.

There is much joy in my life; I have caring friends.  I never once take any of this lightly and my gratitude to them is huge. This is how I want to spend my remaining days. I want to live more in nature, to care for it in a way I have not before.  Sure, I live in the woods, and I have about an acre and a half which is a dense forest.  Animals know they can come here and be safe.  Doing no harm is very important.  But I want to take it to the next step.

I have asked the universe to aid me with this.  Put people in front of me, draw me to them so I can do the work I am supposed to do.  I also want people to feel they are blessed by me.  Always.  I think they know.  They say they do.

The past eight months a critter has been digging large and not so large holes in the yard.  I believe now, though I have not seen it, that it must be a skunk.  The holes are a concern because I mow this area.  Knowing that I am the interloper, I have been thinking about how best to handle this.  Yes, handle the environment.  But it isn't the environment that must be managed.  It is me. It is quite another revelation as well as freeing.  Surrender.  And I like it!

The question becomes do I allow the land to just fill itself in?  There is a septic tank in the area so it must be cleared regularly, lest the roots damage the system.  My thoughts turn to just weed wacking it every so often and be done with it. I do not like the act of mowing.  Seems a major waste of time to grow grass.  Not to mention horrible for the environment.

If I get to build again, it will be a home that does little harm.  Less harm than this one.  Even though I was careful in its design, there are better technologies out there.  The universe will put me wherever it serves.

Meanwhile, I do hope you enjoy this TED X talk. It talks about the connections near and dear to my heart.  I hope you enjoy it.

https://www.ted.com/talks/louie_schwartzberg_nature_beauty_gratitude

Glenda

After completing one of those silly online quizzes to determine your former life I came up as a witch.  Glenda, the witch, of course.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

One of the questions asked was about being intuitive.  It asked about my earliest memory.  After chuckling about the 'witch' designation, I thought a while.  Growing up, my brother and I had a lot of physical freedom. We also had intellectual freedom, and scant emotional freedom.  My parents weren't too open with hearing 'how' we felt.  They simply wanted us to obey.

In the woods behind our cape cod home, I spent many long and delicious days beside the water's edge.  We didn't worry about our clothes getting dirty, or torn.  These things never mattered in our family home.  It mattered that we had experiences.

So at a young age, I was intuitive.  I didn't talk about it because it was my own little private experience and it didn't matter to me that it be shared.  I didn't care if anyone understood it for I was confident enough to be comfortable with it.

As I got older and was allowed to sit outside longer, I could often be found under our front yard maple tree.  I would sit legs crossed and sing a verse which I still sing outside to this day.  I sang it in my teens, childbirth, growing teenagers and on into now.  I won't share it here for it only has significance to me.  I sing it most nights before I sleep.

I also speak in tongues and have lifelong.  It happened when I was three.  Once I spoke it to someone a few years ago and they understood and spoke it back to me in English.  That is a whole other story about what is really going on.

Friends have asked me lately what I see going on.  This has nothing to do with being psychic, it does have to do with being connected.  I see warp speed revelations now.  Abruptness in people, distancing, fear, and a sense of urgency.  They are running and I want to slow them down.  But this is not my business; it is theirs.  I see the veils of secrecy slipping away, birds nesting anywhere they can, trusting in ways I have never seen them trust before.  Nature gets it.  Humans...well that is a whole other story.

Just this week someone sent me a note.  Tired of sponges, I decided to finally write them back:

"Downloads to (my) crystal ball'? Of course, that was said in jest. I hoped you were ready for phone conversations this winter.  But that is not my business; it is your process.  And, I mostly deal in things as they all.  Individual process and all. I saw a spark in you; you seemed curious and ready to go the distance, in fact you said you wanted to grow. You spoke of your past and talked about the distance between you and your former wife, and children.  I understand all of that as we all have our own process.   

For me, communication is everything.  Now that other technologies are available, if we don't step up to them, (using them wisely and not dependent on them) we are left behind.  That is said by someone who likes to keep it simple. At some point in human evolution, we won't need phones or the internet.  We will return to that time when we communicated telepathically.  

In short, revelations are at warp speed.  For me, it means time to slow it all down, go within as much as possible.  Those who are ready take the next step.  That is what I was telling you in my e-mails about (your) lack of availability, distancing. It is a self-protection kind of thing.  These are the times calling us to share our vulnerability, to surrender.  It is hard to keep this conversation going when you don't respond to what I say about that. 

Anyway, that is the revelation stuff.  It is a continuum, not an interruption.

I return to my own good company.  Happiness is on the mountain.  It is peaceful here, even with the nuisance raccoon.  And opossum.  It is a safe place.  A vulnerable place and I am more than okay with that. I am also okay with being a witch.  Especially on a silly quiz.  Especially when I am Glenda.

So Long, Dear Friend

Every once in a while, someone comes into your life who leaves a lasting imprint.  My neighbor, Jerry, was like that.

A furniture maker by hobby, he could do just about anything.  He was known in this area for helping anyone with a project.   I suspect some of that was due to his overwhelming generosity and kindness. Part was to get away from a nasty wife.

During a few times in my life, Jerry offered to help me with a few things.  He always asked if I needed help.  On a few occasions, he talked about his marriage.  It is always hard to hear about an unhappy marriage, especially if the unhappy person can't or won't leave.  Such was the case with his situation.

People ultimately have to find their way.  When Jerry's cancer returned, his wife did whatever she could to keep the neighbors out of any relationship they might have with this lovely man.  He sold his home on the ridge across from mine and moved his wife back to Detroit.  It wasn't any place where anyone could live.  He didn't like the two bedroom condo on the Detroit River.  I sent him photos of the house he built here.  I think he appreciated them, but was saddened not to be here to pass.

He changed my furnace and water filters while I was away in New Hampshire for eighteen months.  When I returned, he talked about his life.  Wanting more but having to settle.  The cancer was taking its toll.  There was too much toxicity in his body and I suspect it had a lot to do with the life he had chosen to live with her.  

Walking on.  It isn't easy. It is permanent.  Ultimately, you have to love yourself to want more.  You also learn to cultivate friendships with other single people.  Few coupled people have the courage to include a single person in their life.   Women worry about competition for their mate.  Sounds odd, doesn't it?  And sad.

I suspect Jerry's widow will have to learn to create a life for herself, too.  I wish her well and feel compassion for her misery.  Life, after all, is what you make it.

So long, dear friend.  And thank you.