Thinking Positive

Spring will not be stopped no matter how hard winter dominates. Sixty degrees today and the ground is still well covered with snow. Did manage to sit out in the sun reading for a few minutes this morning until Janis arrived with the girls. Haven't seen them since their sleep over a couple weeks ago when we painted for the first time.

Today filled quickly with shopping, coloring, undressing and dressing tiny princesses, shampooing Marshmellow and Sheepy-Sheepy in the washing machine with a blow-dry and style in the dryer, planting pumpkin and watermelon seeds to take home, and collective composing at the piano.

Winter has dragged on some this year. Some with sickness, not in this house, but a couple friends fighting cancer, a couple more with serious surgeries, and many in need of encouragement. Even I finally gave into taking pain medication for a bad knee that knocks me off my feet by the end of an eight hour work day.

The tree and limb clean up from last December's ice storm will take all year. We plan to grow vegetables in a series of Earth Boxes this season. Hopefully by fall raised beds will take the place of downed trees and be readied for 2010 planting. My order is out for blueberry bushes (not wild blues) and a couple other flowering bushes to attract pollinating insects.

The time changes tonight so it's back to driving to work in the dark, but not for long.

Spring will arrive soon. No doubt. Bring it on.

Self-Sufficient

Just a little humor floating around in email...

What's Your Plan?

"It was a clear day when the non-instrument rated commercial pilot named Mark left Billings, Montana, in his Beechcraft Debonair. However, the weather along his route through the mountains was not good and was forecast to get worse. When the briefer says twice that VFR flight is not recommended, Mark's response is that the sooner he leaves the better, and that he can 'get a long way down there and then take another look.'"

Jay Hopkins, in an article entitled Responding to Reality published in the March 2009 issue of FLYING magazine, quotes and comments on Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why written by Laurence Gonzales.

"Gonzales says that one of the biggest problems that get people into trouble in survival situations is that they do not face reality. They want to believe they can still proceed according to their plan, and this blocks an accurate assessment of their real situation."

"Gonzales points out that in our complex, technological world we have come to depend on a problem-solving strategy that 'often gives us a illusory sense of control that fails us in moments of crisis.'"

LESSON: "Plan the flight and fly the plan. But don't fall in love with the plan. Be open to a changing world and let go of the plan when necessary so that you can make a new plan." Laurence Gonzales

The He/She Other

Merging into traffic requires cooperation with that unknown driver element. You know, does the he/she driving the other vehicle appreciate the smooth rhythmic flow of traffic, or, will the he/she anticipate your intention to change lanes and block your every effort? As I exited the interstate into the left lane, other vehicles were entering the exit into the right lane. About a quarter mile ahead on the right was the Mall entrance. Apparently ALL the traffic needed to make that right turn including me. Today's he/she other driver realized before I did that my merging into the right lane would be difficult unless someone let me in. So the he/she other stuck to my right rear blind spot like super-glue. Frustrated, knowing that I needed to be in the right lane and that the he/she other wouldn't let me in, I looked straight ahead to find myself alone in the left lane. Well, I stepped on the gas. Passed every car (about 15 cars) in the right lane. Changed lanes. Turned right into the Mall entrance. And asked myself, "What just happened?"

The path everyone was travelling, the path I thought I needed to take, turned out to be unnecessary. By not pressing to conform to the known path, I discovered another - the one that opened before me - like an open door.

LESSON: Don't insist on your own understanding. You may miss the open door right in front of you.

Who Do You Trust?

This post contains a portion of an article reviewing, How the Rich Are Destroying the Planet, by Herve Kempf (available in English on Amazon.com) followed by comments from my spiritual advisor.

How the Rich Are Destroying the Planet: A Review
By Leslie Thatcher
Truthout Review, Mar 15, 2007 http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_4533.cfm

"The first stage in Kempf's argument is to adduce the irrefutable evidence of an accelerating ecological catastrophe as humanity's use of the planet's resources overshoots the Earth's carrying capacity:

While, according to one researcher Kempf cites, humanity's resource use was at 50 percent of the Earth's biocapacity in 1950, by 2003, it had reached 120 percent - consuming resources faster than the Earth can reproduce them.

Foretastes of the ultimate catastrophe are suggested by avian flu worries, the destruction of New Orleans by the combined impact of Hurricane Katrina and infrastructure failures before and after the storm, and by increased mortality associated with the 2003 heat wave in Europe.

Each environmental "problem" is linked to all the others; their synergy and imbrication propel us "in the direction of unstoppable destruction" and preclude any idea of separate crises, "solvable independently of one another." Why, Kempf asks, when the situation is so clear and alarming, does it remain so stubbornly intractable to change? He concludes that "if nothing happens even though we're entering an ecological crisis of historic gravity, it's because those who have power in the world want it to be this way."

....

"In spite of a distinct coolness of tone and a controlled reliance on statistics and citation, Kempf's depiction of "The Powerful of This World" echoes Old Testament prophetic outrage.

He quotes Peter Drucker on the destructiveness of unbridled executive compensation, St. Augustine on government ("If there is no justice, what are kingdoms, but vast systems of robbery?"), "Forbes, "The Economist,' and the "Financial Times" to create a portrait of a predatory, self-perpetuating elite that has become wealthy "not through success in production, but through constant redistribution of collective wealth" (think Halliburton or Blackwater senior executives and shareholders) and that lives "... separated from the plebians.

They are not aware of how the poor and wage-earners live; they don't know and don't want to know." No sense of the public good or civic virtue moves "this predatory and greedy controlling class, wasting its rents, misusing its power, (it) congeals as an obstacle on the way. It bears no proposal, is animated by no ideal, delivers no promise ... is blind to the explosive power of obvious injustice. And blind to the poisoning of the biosphere that growth in material wealth provokes, a poisoning that means a degradation of the conditions for human life...."

....

Since the collapse of the former USSR, it appears that capitalism no longer needs democracy - so antithetical to the oligarchy's objectives. Terrorism is the latest alibi to tighten security, criminalize dissent, expand surveillance and imprison the poor. "The hyper-rich will attempt to maintain their excessive advantages by force as they did after Hurricane Katrina, when armed forces were sent - not to help the drowning poor - but to hunt down looters. "An ironic twist of history could even be an authoritarian government's use of ecological necessity as a pretext to persuade the people to accept a restriction of freedoms - without, however, touching [socioeconomic] inequality."
-----------------------------------------

The following are the accompanying comments from our spiritual advisor received in the email dated April 1, 2007:

"Those of you who have been following what I have written on this subject will remember that I have said, very explicitly, that from the light given to us by the Holy Spirit, that this is exactly the course that will be followed. The collapse of the earth, (witness the destruction of the honey bees), its inability to support life, the loss of drinking water, the death of the oceans, the increasingly wild weather as a result of Global Warming, and the desperate confrontation between China and its allies with the American Empire will all lead to the rise from the oligarchy of a Strong Man.

A desperate race will look for salvation in the power of the oligarchy and its great central figure, the coming Antichrist. This new savior will indeed be "anti" or "in place of" the Christ who has already saved mankind, if indeed the salvation would be seized upon.

You will remember that the rise from among the oligarchy of a Strong Man was the process that completed the destruction of the Roman Republic, and led to its complete imperialization and absolute power in the hands of emperors who wished and claimed to be God.

This will all happen again now in The Final Cycle. Let the reader understand.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the power of the Heavenly Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you."

LESSON: Choose to trust "the Christ who has already saved mankind, if indeed the salvation would be seized upon."

What you hear about finances make you angry?

The following is quoted from Feb. 4, 2009 posting on THE MARKET TICKER by Karl Denniger in an article entitled TO OBAMA: Confidence Levels Critical.
"We have no real way to know because "the truth" keeps changing.
That's the root of the problem when you get down to it, and now this has gone beyond "Wall Street" and speculators who are either shorting or buying these stocks - it is seeping into the consciousness of Americans, who apparently are deciding they'd like some physical cash in their hands - whether that's rational or not.
See, we have a problem in this country. We want to keep believing that it was all a mistake that led us into this mess. That there really wasn't systemic fraud and intentional, willful blindness up and down the line."

One of my coworkers attended a funeral recently for an elderly man she had met through her church. About a year ago the man's wife died. Sad and alone the new widower welcomed a young stranger into his life. The younger man told his hard luck story to the older man who was sympathetic. Having no children of his own, the older loaned the younger money. Offered him a place to live. Eventually lost most of his money. And died alone. The young man moved on and could not be prosecuted because the older man had willingly "shared" what he had.

LESSON: Trust is meant for the trustworthy. Be trustworthy. It is a gift to those who depend on you.

Winter Inspires the Poets

As the snow makes itself at home and the birds and squirrels gather 'round our front yard feeders, a couple friends shared emails with me. Now I share with you.

A WINTER POEM

It's winter in New England
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love New England
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave New England
I'm frozen to the ground!

Speaking of Minnesota (Minnesota gets its cold air from Canada and New England gets its cold air from Minnesota), a group of young guys from south of Brainerd came to my door offering to cut down the tree hanging onto my roof. "Minnesota you say? Yes, I'll hire you." They worked like crazy and ended up at the neighbor's house also cutting up a huge White Pine that scraped the siding off the end of his home as it crashed to the ground. All this was a result of the ice storm in December. Following is an ice storm poem written by an unknown emailist. Thanks Carol.

Our Nightmare Before Christmas

Twas two weeks before Christmas and all through the town
it rained and it froze and the trees all fell down.
The wires that were strung on utility poles
snapped like a twig and the houses all froze.

We got our selves nestled all snug in our bed
while visions of warmer days danced in our head,
and me in my thermals and Pa in his cap
stayed huddled together for a bone chilling nap.

The moon on the ice made a crystalline glow
and we thought to ourselves, just how long can this go?
When what to our wondering eyes did appear
but our son with some coffee and donuts and cheer.

We could see our white breath in the darkness above
and deep under the covers I searched for my love.
His feet, they were frozen and so was his head ---
made me think to myself that he just might be dead.

The days passed so slowly, we must be insane
as we waited and wondered and called out by name
"On Thursday, on Friday, on Saturday (s !)
on Sunday, on Monday, on Tuesday (please quit!)
on Wednesday, and Thursday and Friday (oh dread!)
the kerosene fumes must have gone to our head.

To add to the pleasure of winter's delight
two snowstorms came by - 18 inches of white.
The snowing and blowing made things bad to worse
and we prayed to the heavens our pipes wouldn't burst.

Pa's eyes now were sunken, his expression --- not merry,
his cheeks had a pallor, his nose like a cherry.
The odd little smile on his face wasn't fun
and he often was mumbling "go get my gun".

Then a rap on the door, and the fireman said,
"Are you sick, are you sane, and is anyone dead?
There's a shelter, there's warmth, you can come if you're able,
we have showers and kindness and food on the table" ---
and we looked at each other and thought --- "what the heck?"
yeah ... eleven days later you FINALLY check!

On night number twelve we heard the faint roar
of a convoy of trucks and we ran to the door.
To the top of the poles, to the stretch of the cable ---
please bring us your power just as fast as you' re able!

They spoke not a word, but went straight to their work
and the power came on with a hum and a jerk.
They heard us exclaim, as they drove out of sight ---
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
WE HAVE HEAT! WE HAVE LIGHT!