Dumping

I no longer post on my Carol For Peace blog and I don't (usually) pontificate on political issues (too much) on this blog. But I've got things to say and they aren't going away.

I keep wondering why the health care "debates" are occurring now. Why now? They take up so much time in our media, I am concerned that this issue is a smokescreen for other things. I wonder what that would be. I am totally of the mind that our health care in the U.S. sucks big time, so I'm for big time changes. But what was it that made this big now? And why all of the focus when...

...we are sinking in debt
...people are losing their jobs like crazy
...our country is KILLING people in other countries
...our soldiers are dying in the "war on terror" that cannot be won (See icausualties to find out how more and more soldiers are dying in Afghanistan - and these numbers are a drop in the bucket against the numbers of Afghan citizens that are dying.)
...we're messing up our own nests in so many ways I don't have the time to put them down here
... I could go on, but I won't

Why does anyone give attention to people who act like violent children at "town hall meetings"? Why does anyone give attention to talking heads whose focus is to rile people up with whatever blather they can come up with? It must be a powerful feeling to know that you can spew some kind of untrue hatred out into the world and people will believe it and act on it while you sit back and watch.

I don't even watch television, and still, stuff like this gets onto my radar.

I'm not sounding very peaceful, am I?

I'm okay with sitting with these observations and questions. I can't control the media and I have no power over the actions of others.

To lighten things up and to give some perspective on life, since there is way more going on than the the circus of the political arena, here's a photo of a butterfly (or moth or whatever it is) that had a thing for Mr. Carol For Peace's shoe while we were in Glacier Park.



Ahhhhh... it's the little things...

Fire and Rain

Driving and hiking in different parts of Glacier Park, we came upon a lot of places where fire had changed the landscape. In 2003, about 6 different fires burned a total of about 146,000 acres (13%) of Glacier National Park. These fires followed the driest summer ever recorded.

You can see the burned trees not only in the foreground, but also going up the next mountain.

A burned forest has a certain eeriness and beauty to it.

I love the contrast of the new growth against the dead trees.

This view from near the top of Logan Pass makes my eyes roll back and forth. I can imagine a marble rolling from side to side on its way down.
See that stream way down there at the bottom of the valley?

Driving up Logan Pass is probably a challenge for flat-landers. Okay, I'll admit it - even I, the Brave Carol of Colorado, had a hard time looking down at some points. The highest point of the pass is only a little over 6,600 feet (2,012 meters) high - compared to passes in Colorado that are over 10,000 feet (3,048 meters), but the road is very narrow and the drop off is

straight

down

with

no

guardrail

much of the time.

St. Mary Falls
There are waterfalls and water drips and lakes full of water and rushing streams and water frozen into glaciers and snowy banks all over that park. There is an abundance of water everywhere.

Lake McDonald
This lake, created by the movement of a glacier, is about 10 miles long and 472 feet deep. I took this photo while lying flat on my belly on a dock because I wanted to show how clear the water is.

"We need wilderness because we are wild animals. Every man needs a place where he can go to go crazy in peace. Every Boy Scout troop deserves a forest to get lost, miserable, and starving in. Even the maddest murderer of the sweetest wife should get a chance for a run to the sanctuary of the hills. If only for the sport of it. For the terror, freedom, and delerium..."
- Edward Abbey, from The Journey Home

Montana Adventures, Day One

The evening after we arrived in the Kalispell/Columbia Falls area, we drove through a real downpour. As the rain let up, we were blessed with a gorgeous full rainbow that appeared right in front of the mountains. The bright colors contrasted amazingly with the dark blue background of the mountains. What a wonderful welcome to Montana!

And we didn't have our cameras with us.

We rushed back to get them, but of course, the rainbow didn't wait for us. So we explored the area a little and came upon some horses wearing coats!

The only thing more amazing than a rainbow is seeing three horses in coats, right?

When the handsomely dressed four-legged creatures saw us, they ran to us ecstatically, as though we were long-lost friends. I KNOW their happiness had nothing to do with a wish for food but had EVERYTHING to do with their utter joy at seeing us! ;-)

One was so happy to see Mr. Carol For Peace that he tried to give him a big kiss (notice how Mr. CFP resisted as he is totally dedicated to his wife.)

Out of sheer frustration, Mr. Horse decided to just chew on a post. Looking at those teeth, I'm thinking that Mr. CFP was smart in resisting a close encounter.

Yes, It's Good To Be Back Home Again

Having just spent 8 days in Glacier National Park, it's nice to be home - especially to see my son and dog. Oh, and to have my own PILLOW again. I love my pillow! But I tell you... I'd give up my pillow in a second if I could have more time hiking in the beauty of Montana (I'd have to take my son and dog with me, though.)

Did you know that the park is also called Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park because, in 1932, Glacier National Park in Montana, U.S. and Waterton Park in Alberta, Canada were joined together to become the world's first international peace park? Pretty cool, eh? Maybe we can create a big peace park between us and Mexico now???

I have a few photos that came out alright. Below are a couple photos of mountain goats, taken on the trail that leads to Hidden Lake. I swear the baby goat knew it was cute so it posed sweetly for us.








Below you can see Hidden Lake. We did hike all the way down to it, but I like this photo from above the best.




Fact: In 1850, Glacier Park had 150 glaciers. Today there are 26.

"To borrow a phrase from a well-known pop musician, this could become be the Park Formerly Known as Glacier." - Al Gore

Here I Go A-wandering & Wondering

We watched the movie, Flow, the other night. It's about water. It's about the fact that we don't think that water is a human right, but instead it is seen by corporations as a resource for their profits.

We got our insurance payment for what the adjuster decided we deserve for the damage done to our house in the recent hail storm. Insurance companies are a challenge for me. From years of dealing with them in my massage practice and from this experience, I have absolutely no respect for them. We sure do get to play some silly games.

Yesterday, I felt so in love (I do today, too). Even the tree outside my window that looks all haggard from a night of hail beating was radiant to me. I felt the free, spaciousness of being in the moment and knowing it's all perfect. Then I called a neighbor and then a friend... The phone calls ended up being all about them and problems that I have heard about for years. Come on! Lighten up, guys! There's a beautiful tree outside your window!

This diet that is even more limiting than my usual limited diet is not bad at all. I am so amazed. For about 25 years of my life, I was a committed chocoholic. I haven't had chocolate for over a year and I don't miss it at all. I eat no sugar and I don't even think about it. I sit at a restaurant with Mr. Carol For Peace and our friends while they all eat fake ice cream and chocolate and apple crisp and I can barely make myself believe that it's food. The lack of tomatoes in our house is not even an issue. Some of us on this planet have so many choices of food that, even cutting out a lot of stuff, there is still so much available.

It's Saturday and we women will be out in our black for another day of vigiling. We are Women in Black (It says so on our banner). We wear black as a sign of mourning for the deaths done by war and other types of violence. Last week, a young man had a fun time yelling at us for the color of our clothes. He said that if we are for peace, we shouldn't be wearing black; what are we doing, going to a funeral? He wanted to know who organized the group, who called and told everyone to wear the same thing? There are always really nice people who acknowledge us. Then there are those who communicate their feelings in obscene ways. At least this guy was somewhat entertaining. Somewhat...

A couple of weeks ago,the people of a nearby Mexican restaurant brought us big cups of ice water, two huge bags of chips and some containers of salsa. Last week, we decided to have a Women in Black lunch at that restaurant. Before we left, the waitress stocked us up with gigantic take-out cups of ice water, more chips and more salsa, just in case we got hungry while standing. Is that not one of the sweetest things?

So many stories and adventures.

And I wonder... In this wild and crazy life, how can anyone ever say that they are bored?

Who Would Have Known?

Who would have known that the destruction from the hail storm would be one of the best things that could happen to me?

Yesterday I went to a different type of health practitioner, a woman that I have heard about for years, for a gut problem that I have had my whole life. Yes, Larry, I have already exhausted mainstream medical wisdom on this. ;-) I was tested for food and yeast and bacteria and stuff, and we found that I was sensitive to a number of things. One group of foods that my body doesn't like is the nightshade family. As in tomatoes, peppers, eggplants.

Not all people agree that nightshades can cause problems, but many believe that they affect us adversely. Here's a little blip I found in a search on nightshades:

A particular group of substances in these foods, called alkaloids, can impact nerve-muscle function and digestive function in animals and humans, and may also be able to compromise joint function.

I LOVE tomatoes. I love them so much that I only eat them when they come out of my garden, because any tomato that has been picked somewhere else and sent here just is not the same animal. THOSE are NOT tomatoes, but only some very distant relatives. So, this time of year, I love to indulge in fresh tomatoes grown in my backyard and I freeze all extras for use in soups during the rest of the year.

This year, there are no backyard tomatoes, thank you hailstorm.


Thus, no temptation for me to eat those little buggers that I love but who don't love me.

Now isn't that just convenient???'

For me, anyway. (Sorry, Mr. Carol For Peace, that you get to go without tomatoes, also...)

If I Weren't Married To A Computer Geek

I wouldn't have a computer. I mean it! How are ordinary people supposed to know that, in order to be able to open their gmail account and in order to read a blog, you have to know some seemingly random DNS numbers and be able to change them whenever things stop working? Change some meaningless (to me) numbers pulled out of a hat and, abracadabra, it all works.

So here I am on a Sunday morning with a smoothly operating system - thanks to Mr. Carol For Peace.

Caution: randomness ahead.

In my dream early this morning, I saw the husband of a friend of mine and he was emaciated from cancer. I noticed that he actually looked more handsome that way. There were also times in the dream where my dog, Buddha, was at the other end of a long leash that I was holding and he was flying like a helium balloon. That was kind of fun. At some point I realized that I, too, was emaciated from cancer. I was sick and I was singing with a few other people. I remember hearing my voice. It was a sweet voice and I enjoyed hearing it, even though none of us knew the words to the song that we were singing. Then I spoke with my friend's husband -the man with the cancer - and I told him that I didn’t know if I was going to live or die from this but either direction was going to be beautiful. It honestly didn't seem to matter which way it went. Both options appeared to be about the same and equally beautiful.

When I woke up, I had a hard time trying to remember what my current body is like - that it's not emaciated. My view of my body had changed and it took awhile before I got back to my usual view of things.

I'm never sure that I truly see this body as it is, anyway. I went through some eating disorder stuff for a few years in my late teens/early twenties and I don't know if I have ever been able to see the size my of body the same way that others do. I think that I may be skinnier than I think I am. I have always had a hard time allowing myself to gain weight, and losing weight, even when unnecessary, seems to be a badge of honor. It's all tied up in stories and control and, well more control. And since control is such an illusion, there's not much fun in it.

I love what Ram Dass says in a CD set I have been listening to. We see that we are aging and we think that there's a problem with that. It's like the leaves on the trees are turning orange and reds and we say there's a problem???

We all love the fall colors, as long as the colors are those of the trees, but our culture abhors the fall colors of aging humans. I want to let my leaves turn and drop and collect in a thick pile on the ground and then I want to dance in them.

Speaking of fall... as August comes in and we are on the downhill part of summer, working ourselves toward fall, it's springtime in some parts of my yard. A month ago, we had thick beds of ground cover here and there, until, almost three weeks ago, the hail made leaf soup. And now, new little shoots are coming up. They look like early springtime.

Life is amazing. And it's not what I thought it was.

That's a good thing.

Guess Who Just Called!?!

Nick. The friend I just posted about earlier today called me a few minutes ago! Happy, Happy!

It wasn't Nick's health that made him go away; it was AT&T! Oy. Oy.

Nick still doesn't have internet service or phone service and he won't for another week and a half, if what AT&T says is true. Weird. Meanwhile, Nick is cut off from relationship with his friends all over the world, so please send him good mojo.

Whew!

To Nick, Wherever You Are

Sometimes Saintly Nick
(who I would link to, but for some reason, I'm not being allowed to right now)

I don't remember the first time I visited your blog. What I do know is that I hadn't been visiting too long before it was time for me to have shoulder surgery. I was a little scared of going under the anesthetic for surgery and the pain and therapy that would follow. You contacted me through my blog and sent me good wishes. Then you wrote a post about my upcoming surgery and asked people to pray for me. That was so dear that I opened myself up to a friendship with you that has been growing over the last year plus.

You have been my faithful, caring friend who I could count on for a comment on my blog and for our regular email conversations.

On July 30th, our dear Ms Kitty died. After Kitty left this world, I sent you a short email to let you know I would reply to your email later because I was sad and not in the mood to write. You replied:

Carol,

OK. I hurt for you -- and myself.

Love and more.

Nick & Alex

I haven't heard from you since.

You haven't blogged since that day. You haven't posted on Facebook since that day. You haven't answered my email or phone calls.

I don't know where you are. Are you sick? Have you left this world?

I don't know where Ms Kitty is, either, but I at least know what happened to her body.

Wherever you are, may you be at peace. May you know the love that surrounds you and is you. May all of the kindness that came through you to others be returned to you in any way that you need.

I miss Ms Kitty. I miss you. And still, all of the love that was ever here is still here. I have learned that it doesn't go away, no matter what.

I hope to hear from you again, Nick. Peace and Love to you.

70.8% of the Earth

A short while back, Mr. Carol For Peace signed up for some schmantzy thing that would initiate payment straight from our bank to our water company. Little did he know that our bank only paid one bill and never paid another. Not knowing all of this, I came home today to find a note on our door telling us that our water was turned off. When Mr. Carol For Peace went to the water company to make things right, they told him the charge for turning the water back on would be $50. He told them we were a "victim of coicumstance" (as Bugs would say) and they waived the charge.



And I wonder...

...if someone barely has the means to pay their water bill, and they happen to fall behind on their payments so their water is shut off, do they then have to give up eating in order to come up with the extra $50 needed to get their water turned back on?

It would seem that water would be a basic human right. In some countries this is true, but the U.S., along with Canada, China, and other nations have refused to recognize water as a human right.

In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference.
- Rachel Carson