Gardening In A New Way

On 2/22/14 I wrote, "Store extra seed, start growing vertical gardens indoors, invent new ways to grow herbs, veggies and fruits...." Well, you know how it goes: ask, and the Universe will find a way to deliver! I've seen two new choices to traditional veggie/herb gardening, and I'm sharing them here.

The first is a vertical wall with veggies and herbs planted within. Here's the picture: 

The second choice is to plant your seeds in the potting mix bags, which are placed on a stand (how-to is explained below). What I especially love about this idea is that they can be moved under shelter or indoors if inclement weather comes your way, and if it's just too damn hot where the sun is broiling those plants, move to a partial shady area. Just remember to buy organic potting mix, y'all!

Here's the second method:

This worked well for me for many years - it's a simple, weed-free way to grow lettuce, spinach and even radishes. Take a 2 cubic feet bag of potting soil (I used Miracle Grow), rumple it around quite a bit to loose the soil, poke quite a few holes in the back side for drainage, then lay the bag on a smooth surface that will allow drainage and not get too hot, and cut out the top, leaving about a 4 or 5 inch border all around. Lightly rake through the soil to even it out and loosen it even more, then carefully, and evenly sprinkle the seeds around. I put my salad green seeds in an old spice bottle with large shaker holes, added some cornmeal, shook it all up to mix well and sprinkled them out of it. I put the cornmeal in there to allow me to see that I had covered the soil evenly. If doing radish seeds or spinach, just make lines the depth mentioned on the seed pack, plant the seeds and cover appropriately. For salad greens I sprinkled a lite covering of soil over the cornmeal and seeds and then spray-misted to water them in. I put my bags on metal sawhorses and grates to make them waist level. This kept the bags off the hot concrete and I didn't have to bend over when cutting my salad. When harvesting, just use a pair of scissors and cut what you need - don't pull the plants out. Same goes for spinach - they will grow back almost magically overnight, and you can't tell where you cut. Spray mist the seeds and plantlings at first when watering, until they are established, then you can water more vigorously as the plants mature. You will probably need to water more often, since the depth of the bags are not as deep as a regular in-ground garden. I just kept mine moist, but not sopping wet.

More Visions, Less Time

As time goes on and my dreams/visions increase, I've been debating whether to record them or simply let them be. Since I'm typing this out now, I reckon recording won over my squeamishness, and I hope anyone who reads this will take a proactive, optimistic approach in coping with future events. In addition if you're a survivalist, I pity you, because I've been shown that you can't weather the coming years by yourself but need a community. "It takes a village." It's time to come together, y'all; we need to lay aside any past prejudices and embrace each other's unique human/humaneness so that we can all not only survive, but thrive. That said....

Violent Weather

NOTE: There's a reason I was a self-proclaimed Earthquake Whisperer for about a year or so when I felt just about every single earthquake happening in the world: we are in an earthquake era. Expect more - many more.

We're approaching Spring which always triggers storms in many parts of our country/world, and it's a normal seasonal happening that tornadoes and thunderstorms occur. What I've been shown lately, though, is that these storms in the coming years are going to be superstorms, that the hair-trigger weather is now our new normal. I've been shown devastation as far as the eye can see, crops and homes destroyed, people displaced, livestock sick and dying. Expect the tornadoes to be where you wouldn't have expected them to be: no more confined to Tornado Alley but instead wide-spread. If you can build a wind-proof shelter, I urge you to go ahead and do it, or at the very least encourage your community to have such a shelter. Store extra seed, start growing vertical gardens indoors, invent new ways to grow herbs, veggies and fruits, and do this as a community. As with any ecosystem, when one thrives, we all thrive, but if one fails, we all fail.

Global Warming

Yes it's real; seriously, if you believe the bullshit spouted by captains of industry and regurgitated by many of our elected officials that climate change is a hoax, you are in for a rude awakening. We just had the hottest January on record globally - see, warming isn't just US-centric, it's world-centric. We have a devastating drought occurring in the US in the West, and the jet stream has now gone so far out of its "normal" flow that polar air has been dipping down into the Eastern half. The UK is being flooded out. I warned y'all about this years ago when I dreamed we'd have flooding, drought, extreme heat, extreme cold - we had it just recently - and my husband and I purchased arctic-worthy outerwear in order to be prepared, thank goodness. As our world warms up, though, we'll see less and less coldness in the depths of winter, but those cold snaps are going to be freezing indeed. So be prepared!

If you garden or farm - and yes, you should - pay attention to your land and your weather. The old planting guides should be thrown out because you need to be planting at a different time now. I like to plant by the moon phases, as do many gardeners, and thank goodness it's easy to find out what the moon's current phase is. But in many parts of the US if you plant lettuces, broccoli, etc., you're going to find that unless you plant in February-March, you won't be harvesting your cool-weather veggies. Farming/gardening is a type of meditation: you look, listen and watch the watcher (yourself). I urge you all to meditate during growing season on soil conditions, weather, garden placement (need more shade for herbs), growing patterns, and so on. And for goodness' sake, be organic! Research and learn organic farming, seek out your local experts and learn from them. Big Ag is going to suffer devastating losses in the coming years because they have no desire to be sustainable but instead only care about the current growing season, subsidies and getting the maximum profits from current market commodities. In short, they don't care about being sustainable. If you can't grow your own food or if your community hasn't implemented a community garden (why not? Start one!), please buy from local organic, sustainable farms - you can find one nearest you by going to www.localharvest.org. Support your local farms, y'all! Ask if they have classes - most do, and you can learn everything about sustainable growing in order to start your own mini-farm or garden.

OIL

I was shown people who had oil dripping down their faces. What I interpret this to be is to expect many more oil spills, whether from pipelines or well accidents. So many in fact that this, too, is our new normal. Toxic water, toxic air, loss of ecosystems are all consequences of spills; form a community watch dog group to check pipelines in your community. Patrol often - the next spill may indeed happen in your own backyard.

SKIN DISORDERS

Yes, expect these, too, worldwide. Pay attention to those around you: are you seeing/hearing about more cases of rosacea, or small "bumps" on people's arms/legs? I was shown people everywhere with small lesions on exposed body parts; again these can be as small as a bout with rosacea (which is bacterial) or as large as psoriasis outbreaks can be. Here's one solution to treat these disorders: tea tree oil. There are many essential oils useful for treating bacterial/fungal/viral outbreaks on the skin, but tea tree is relatively inexpensive and the best. Mix a few drops tea tree oil into some coconut oil (or olive/jojoba/grapeseed), add aloe vera gel and a small amount of raw honey (I prefer buckwheat), add a little lavender or chamomile essential oil (it adds the benefit of taking out redness), and you have an instant skin balm.

So why are skin disorders going to be prevalent? Not only global warming - the sun is making us photosensitive - but pollution will be widespread which is what happens when you deregulate Clean Air & Water standards. Still believing industry's claim that Clean Air & Water is job-killing and too restrictive/expensive? STOP! It costs 7% of operating costs to retrofit a plant with pollution safe-guards. That's 7%, when we're talking about the biggest polluters making profits of billions of dollars. In other words, refitting a plant or outfitting a new plant with pollution safeguards costs them nothing. Yesterday there was an article detailing how Exxon's CEO has filed a lawsuit asking the court to halt fracking operations near his land in Texas. Exxon is the world's largest fracker, y'all, and while its CEO may be telling you that fracking is perfectly safe and a joyous thing for all to behold, in private he's suing to stop the process from happening to him. His main reason is that property values will plummet on his million dollar property caused because if you can't drink your water or breathe the air, your property has zero value. Stop supporting Big Energy and the politicians who do their bidding (yeah GOP, I'm talking to you!). Just...stop. All that money ain't gonna do nobody no good if they can't breathe or drink clean water. Period.

VIOLENCE

I have been shown scene after scene of violence and upheaval and war. Explosions and fire surround us all. I've been seeing these images for quite a while and haven't wanted to record it because it's horrifying to me. I'm recording it now so that you'll be prepared. In the Spring before 9/11 I started having terrifying visions including one in which an airplane propeller went slicing through crowds of people running down streets in a large urban city. I was so frightened that in June of 2001 I researched Catholic saints and bought my husband and I saint medallions to carry in our wallets for protection. This is significant because my husband and I are atheists. But fear drove me back to my youth at a time when I felt helpless (the 1960s) and the coping mechanism I had back then was to wear multiple religious icons on a chain. I gotta say I love religious icons; although I no longer believe in what they represent to those in their respective religions, I find comfort and peace that at its heart, an icon is meant to give one joy in a time of stress, and stressed out is often how I am. So here we are in 2014, and I feel the same way now that I felt back in the Spring of 2001: a bit doomed. No religious icon-ordering for me this time, though; I'm much more aware of the universal energy and the value in being prepared. Plus, in all these years there is one universal truth from which none of us can escape: Everything just is. We have dark, we have light, sometimes one is more prevalent than the other, and it just is. The cycle changes from one to the other and combines them both: it is what it is and no use wailing about how unfair it all is. Because, actually, it's very fair: each balances the other - yin and yang. What isn't fair is that we've let the corporate world determine our course of history. The upheavals? All prompted and paid-for/started-by/manipulated-by/for-the-benefit-of big industry. The Ukraine: the people want to align with Europe instead of Russia; who benefits most? Corporate world. Venezuela: A civil war with one issue at the heart: Venezuelan oil. Who benefits most? Big Energy. Afghanistan: minerals and oils. Anywhere in the Middle East: Big Energy. The rest of the world: US Interests, meaning US Big Business.

So what can we do? Again, stop supporting big businesses. They can't have any influence or power or money if no one buys their goods and their propaganda. Make your own meals, shop local, recycle, etc. Especially don't buy anything made in China! Those are all products made with jobs that used to be here in the US; why on earth do we want to purchase anything that we used to make ourselves? Some companies have announced they're coming back to the US - wonderful! But for the rest of the companies who won't and aren't, screw you. We need jobs, we need a living wage. If you still believe Big Business company line that living wages kill jobs and industry, stop it. These businesses that spend millions of dollars lobbying and advertising and buying your local politicians are making billions in profit. Their CEOS make millions of dollars a year, and I'm wondering why on earth we aren't demanding to know why they're worth millions a year but their employees are worth only $14,000 a year each. And that's on top of billions in profits - billions! So the shareholders win, the top management wins, and the employees get nada, not even a living wage. So the consequences of this are that people suffer, the economy suffers, the ecosystems suffer, but the 1% thrive. And thrive from polluting our air and water, and making work hazardous as well as poverty-driven, and don't even get me started on healthcare. Yes, now most of us are insured, but what no one's talking about is that even with insurance, healthcare is too expensive for most of us to afford. That means I pay my deductible, I'm still expected to pay 20% of remaining costs, and I can't afford that. So I don't. If I have an emergency, I don't treat it as an emergency but rather hope I can see my doctor during normal office hours in order to avoid ER costs. It means my condition may deteriorate rather rapidly in the intervening hours I have to wait, but wait I will. Because I cannot afford to be bankrupt over medical bills caused by a greedy, for-profit healthcare industry made up of insurance companies, big pharma and the doctors who own them. Here's the solution: employ all-body wellness. Do everything you're able to do now to avoid medical costs in the future. Eat whole foods; cook at home from fresh or frozen produce; use whole fats such as olive oils, coconut oil, butter (but only from organic cows); eat meat that's been humanely and sustainably raised. Expensive? Yes, but you can find many deals in your local supermarket AND on your local farms. It's well worth it and actually may save your life in the long run.

Holistic and homeopathic medicine is not a quick-fix or cure for anything. It takes a while to build up your immunity, and once your immunity is in full gear, you must maintain it. But it's so very, very worth it! It's taken me years to find out what my husband and I need for our well-being, and I'm learning new changes I must make for myself all the time. It's called life on a continuing education basis :D. Live well, and live smartly, y'all! If you eat a Twinkie and feel like crap afterwards, learn from that. Learn that there are other flours with which to bake besides wheat: coconut, almond, arrowroot, rice, and so many others. Each has its own unique properties - experiment! Buy a small bag, look up recipes, learn! Buy some different spices, sprinkle on your meals, make your own combinations of goodness. Buy and/or grow fresh herbs, and incorporate those into your foods - herbs are medicinal! Learn which herbs will help you at that present time, and learn which herbs should be consumed on an ongoing basis (garlic, onion, basil, oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, etc.). Being healthy doesn't have to mean being deprived.

There's good news in all of this: in order to change and move forward, the past has to be left behind. Violence, war, pollution, insanity - all of these too shall pass. If you can find a cohesive community who will stand up for the rights of all within, you'll be just fine. Those who still remain in the past and fight so hard to return to the past will be disappointed and ostracized and left to fend for themselves. For the good of the community must come in one-mindedness, one-purpose, and in times of upheaval, the one is the all. The one is for all. The one is one ecosystem, equality and health of all living beings whether plant, animal or mineral.

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A New Year's Resolution, Autoimmune Disorders & My Biggest Fear

A New Year's Resolution: Every time I cook a meal or whip up a dessert that's especially yummy, I take a bite, look at my husband Jeff, make a sour face and proclaim, "OHMYGOD that's really, really bad. You might as well save yourself from trying it, and just let me take care of the rest of it." Sometimes I'm overly dramatic and pretend I'm gagging. And then I burst into laughter - that's when Jeff knows it's a hoax. So for 2014 I'm vowing to keep a straight face at least once and let Jeff think the food is actually disgusting. Which it isn't. Which leaves more for me... ha!

Autoimmune Disorders: I have psoriasis, and it's usually not uncontrolled because I eat healthily and make an organic scrub and body lotion that keeps it well under control. But a few weeks ago my feather mattress topper started to fail. Feathers were poking out of the top, through the sheet, and poking me wherever I laid. The result of all this poking is that I'm now in a full-blown psoriasis event - ugh. I have never experienced so many multiple lesions on so many different parts of my body, and I gotta say it's making me miserable! So we threw the mattress topper away but my body is still in crisis mode; it will probably take another month to get the situation under control and make my body think there aren't any foreign invaders to defend, and being an impatient person, this is my idea of Hell!

I'm sharing this experience so that those of you who also suffer from an autoimmune disorder can hopefully learn to look for triggers, especially if you have your disorder pretty well under control. I rarely use the word "cure" for any disease, disorder, whatever-ails-you because any one of our cells can go wonky at any given moment given the right (wrong?) environment, and having an autoimmune disorder means never being "cured." But we can certainly keep our disorders under control through a whole foods diet and using meditation as a stress-reliever and moving our muscles whether walking or strenuous exercise. But when the autoimmune triggers go into overdrive, we should become detectives and search for what set it off. In my case it was clearly the feathers - and one of my dogs has a bad habit of jumping on my bare legs to claw at me when she's hungry! - but nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes - not sweet potatoes, though - and so on) can also trigger autoimmune responses in many people. Petroleum products in skincare lotions - Vaseline is a petroleum product, for instance - trigger awful reactions in many of us who are autoimmune, as do certain medications. So think about what you may have eaten, or used ala personal products, or even what you may have worn since many fibers used in clothing are also petroleum based, stop eating/using/wearing that product, and see if your disorder becomes more manageable. The results won't be instant but will be well-worth the exclusion of your trigger!

My Biggest Fear: My biggest fear is not death. Since I've had the privilege of traveling to the Otherworld, I know death is not final but rather a beginning of yet another life-phase. Nope, my biggest fear is being homeless. I can't imagine not having adequate shelter or a clean bathroom complete with bath and shower, or a refrigerator, or heat or airconditioning, or a comfy bed, etc. So I've taken that fear and made a plan: if Jeff and I ever experience the horrendous fate of being homeless and completely poor, we'll take his last paycheck and buy a tent. Between the car and tent, we should be fine as far as shelter is concerned, and we'll park/pitch on unused land...somewhere. We haven't thought that part through :D. Jeff is quite concerned about our retirement years that are coming up quickly on us, but when I told him about my biggest fear and my thoughts concerning shelter, he actually has been much more calm about our future. I reckon I gave him a small measure of hope, as bleak as that may sound right now as I type this from my desktop computer in my nice, warm home with supper cooking on the stove.

So take your biggest fear and make a worse-case scenario plan. Embrace it, own it, hope to the universe that it never, ever happens but if it should, you'll have a backup plan. Hopefully the backup plan will alleviate any future concern - even just a little! - and you can live your life to its fullness without being constantly afraid of the next crisis. Because the next crisis is just around the corner - it's all part of life, and stress and worry are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, aren't they? How many times have you gone through a crisis and thought, "Survived another one - ha! Don't know why I was so worried about that...!" Take the fear, plan for it, hope it doesn't happen, place it in the back of your thoughts, and live a wonderful life!

And I have nothing but the best, most loving thoughts toward each of you reading this - let's make 2014 a year in which we've healed each other and our way-too-chaotic world~

Updates on Several Prophecies, Plus My Gift is Changing - Again!

Back in December 2009, before the Gulf oil spill, I had a dream of a leukemia clinic, complete with the name of the clinic - see http://gertieseesghosts.blogspot.com/2009/12/i-have-many-precognitive-visions-in.html- and when the Gulf spill happened, I warned everyone that they were now at risk for leukemia. I also said, after a vivid dream re the Gulf shortly after the spill, and before the oil hit the coastline, that "The Gulf is dead." I haven't touched any seafood caught from there, nor will I ever again. Sadly, all these prophecies came true. People! If you listen to nothing else I, and many other environmentalists, most of whom are scientists (I am not) say, be warned: you CANNOT keep defiling the earth for your own selfish gain without facing the consequences. It's an ages old karmic law: for every action, there is an opposite and equal reaction. If we have any chance to move forward as a country, as a continent, as a one-world ecosystem, we MUST find better alternatives, and find them yesterday. Heartbreaking and so very, very unnecessary. Article: http://news.yahoo.com/bps-widespread-human-health-crisis-193526160.html.

As I was researching my blog, I came upon a vivid dream of genocide from 2010. Now, I have to tell y'all that for years I was quite taken aback by my gift of prophecy, so much so that I seemed to have misinterpreted just about everything that I dreamed. Not misinterpreted so much as to the meaning of the dreams, but as to time-lines - it seems my prophecies are not just predicting near future events, but often several years into the future - and application to what all is happening in our world today. So, I just re-read this dream of genocide, and I realized that the guy leading people away was wearing "business casual clothes" which is a big tip off as to who he represented: Big Business. Think of what all Big Business is attempting to accomplish, especially through their paid-for GOP representatives in Congress: deregulating the EPA, deregulating food safety standards, deregulating worker safety (OSHA), pushing through GMOs, demanding more drilling/fracking/coal mining, in short they are demanding sacrificing our health and well-being so that they can make billions of dollars in short-term profits. They care not in the least for long-term sustainability and growth but instead are all for the short and nasty and lethal. Add to that our government's complicity as Big Brother, and, well, times are dire, indeed: http://gertieseesghosts.blogspot.com/2010/09/genocide.html.

In June 2013 I felt a large earthquake. I blogged about it (http://gertieseesghosts.blogspot.com/2013/06/earthquake-missing-persons-near-death.html) and forgot to update that. It turns out it wasn't an earthquake that I felt right then but instead volcanic activity became quite violent during that time period (http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/news/2013/june.html). If the earth's shaking, I obviously am unable to distinguish between earthquakes and volcanoes, although I guess geologically if a volcano erupts, it shakes the earth and can trigger earthquake activity.

And all of this brings me to my gift is changing, yet again! I'm having much less visions in the way of prophecy and much more holistic visions of plant medicines and well-being. I reckon my guides from the Otherworld feel as if they've given me (and therefore all of you) as much warning as they can, beginning way back in 2009: http://gertieseesghosts.blogspot.com/2009/04/i-had-another-vision-i-heard-words-show.html. Anything else is just repeating ad nauseum that which if you refuse to accept it, chances are you never will. And while that's a tragedy, those of us who are looking to change our world in a positive, much more eco-friendly way, will continue to forge ahead. As so often in the course of human history, we'll change the world, and you're more than welcome to come along for the ride, even if you have doubts! But I beg of you: please stop buying processed foods, anything made in China, supporting Big Ag - they treat their animals abysmally, feed them god-knows-what, and if the animals are unhealthy, you will be as well. Know your farmer! Purchase your food from known organic sources! Your body and mind will deeply appreciate it, and you'll be supporting your local community - always a win-win! Don't want to purchase organic fresh veggies because they spoil so quickly? Fine - buy the frozen organic veggies - my favorite brand is Columbia River Organics because the veggies and fruits come from the USA and I have never experienced freezer-burn using them, unlike many other frozen veggie and fruit producers. To cook: put a little bit of water in a saucepan, add the veggies, bring to a boil then simmer for a few minutes. As they're cooking, I like to add Celtic Grey Sea Salt and Cold Pressed Olive Oil to them - yummy! Short, simple, inexpensive; I think a package of their frozen vegetables are about $2.00. Your meat is going to cost more, and if you are gluten free, coconut flour and almond flour are expensive. But in all honesty, you only need a small amount of meat a day (if you're an omnivore), and the flour should only be consumed on occasion. I also buy a big container of organic coconut oil from Vitacost, which lasts for months, and I use organic coconut milk from Native Forest in my coffee and as a substitute for all things dairy. You can even make whipped cream from coconut milk: put an unopened can (which has no BPA, by the way, in Native Forest products) in the fridge, let harden overnight, then scoop out the solids the next day and whip up with a bit of vanilla extract and coconut sugar. Not only delicious, but a wonderful treat from time to time. Whole coconut milk DOES contain fat, so be careful in not overusing. I also buy the Native Forest light coconut milk - same ingredients, just watered down a bit, unlike low fat dairy products which have a slew of fillers thrown in but which are definitely unnecessary and often detrimental for a healthy life. The cost of one can is anywhere from $2.39 to $2.99 - check your local stores to see who has the best deal! And finally, I've replaced all soy products - who doesn't enjoy soy sauce from time to time? - with organic coconut aminos. I had never heard of this, was shopping one day at the grocery store, spotted it, bought it and brought it home and tried it. WOW - it is wonderful! And of all the coconut products I listed here, the only thing that tastes even remotely coconutty is the coconut oil. It can be used for everything from a skin moisturizer to frying to recipes that call for butter or shortening. I even use it to season my cast iron skillets - no mold forms, it seasons well, a small bit covers the whole pan. I happen to like the taste because it's not overwhelming when used as an ingredient in baking, however there is a very slight coconut flavor so if you aren't a fan of coconuts, you may be a bit taken aback. And fresh herbs for seasoning food or for general health can be frozen in a flash! Just rinse, let air dry, then pack tightly in a freezer bag or shred into ice trays with water, and you'll have fresh herbs all winter long. My favorite seasonings for everything I cook are garlic (either raw or granulated), onion (same thing), turmeric, thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, marjoram, and a pinch of dried mustard when I want a little heat. I also love fresh cilantro on salads and in bean soups, and use kale in smoothies. I guess the whole point of this particular post is that you don't have to sacrifice flavor while using organics. You don't even have to sacrifice your pocketbook: if you think about it, organics don't really cost that much more, you don't have to worry if what you're ingesting is chemically-laden, many organics can be frozen or stored safely for future use. If you bake or crave processed food, make your own! Cooking doesn't have to be a chore - it can be fun trying out different herbs, different combinations of foods, and so on. And quick - one meal can be prepared quickly.

My gift is also changing in that I'm now zooming into people. As in metaphysically becoming a part of them. I haven't blogged about it because I'm unsure why I'm evolving (or changing) this way. I'm already an empath and have been much of my life, but this zoomin' in (it's the only way I know to describe it) is on a whole other level. Very disturbing, very revealing, and no, I do NOT take over that person's body; I do, however, experience exactly what they're feeling and thinking and seeing at that moment. I've been doing this in dreamtime for many years - thus all my "becoming" a murder victim, finding missing persons, etc. - but experiencing it while wide awake and just strolling through, say, a mall or a crowd of people or at the grocery store, is on a level unimagined by me. If I ever get a sense into why I'm doing this now, or what it means I'll be able to divine in the future, I'll definitely blog about it. But for a now, a mystery, as life often is.

Mistakes: Owning Up to the Past or You Ain't Ready for Enlightenment Until You Do

The news lately has been full of mea culpas, with a slight twist: "Yeah, I did it but so did everyone else." Look, I'm definitely not the moral authority or even anywhere near reaching an enlightened state (but I'm working on it!), but I have learned one thing from all my travels to the Otherworlds: Life Is A Lesson. All actions are karmic. The purpose of each action that you take is to ensure that you gain some sort of knowledge from that action and that you grow as an individual and as a much-valued figure for your community/ecosystem. The only way to become a more empathetic person - and with empathy comes Oneness - is to own up to what you did and not blame anyone else for your mistakes. Oh, yeah, there may have been others involved in aiding and abetting your transgressions against other beings, but you must be responsible for your own actions. So with that in mind, I'm writing a little note to certain people/institutions who have lately been in the news:

Paula Deen: Paula, I'm sure you're a nice woman as many of your friends and acquaintances have stated, and you may have grown up surrounded by racists and just couldn't/can't help yourself sometimes by becoming one yourself. But I grew up in that same era, and would never have dreamed of using the n-word back then, and today don't even think of a person in terms of race. Maybe you aren't as evolved yet, but with all your dealings with successful people of color (Oprah, Jesse Jackson, etc.), I can't imagine why you aren't color-blind, too. No excuse, Miss Belle, none. You wailed that you were innocent! Innocent! And you hate "liars and thieves" who have spread these malicious stories about you because of jealousy and trying to take your empire. Huh. I don't know 'bout those guys, but I actually read your deposition, and gurrrrrrllllll, you admitted that you are a racist. You were as a child, and you are as an adult - you're on record, on tape, on camera, admitting same, only apparently you still fail to grasp that. So, Paula, until you admit to yourself (and to whomever else you care about) that you are responsible for your own actions, the possibility that you could have turned this whole debacle around as a valuable learning tool for anyone who still may be using ugly words without realizing the impact on others, and you'll be eaten alive by the repercussions for a long, long time.

NSA, IRS, etc.: So, Mr. Snowden (and others) outed y'all. Wow - electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens, spying on other countries whether allied or foes, trampling all over our right to privacy - all things many of us either suspected or knew but couldn't quite prove. Now it's been proven, and what do you do? You turn the tables to proclaim Mr. Snowden a traitor and enemy #1. You just blame the whole sorry outing on Snowden - it's called "misdirection." Same with the IRS and all the other government agencies who are caught in unethical conduct: everybody just loves to point fingers at everyone else. Well, until you admit your actions are what's bugging (pun intended) all of us, you, too, will fail to become the (I think) necessary institution that you were designed to be, you'll be vilified by the very people who are paying your salaries, and our little world - of which you all are a part! - will be that much drearier.

Congress and All Politicians: So y'all authorized the NSA to spy on all of us, and then, just as with the NSA, you, too, claimed foul and misdirected everyone straight to Snowden who, again, is now a traitor and enemy of the U.S. Hmmm, where was that outrage when Cheney et al. outed Valerie Plame? Seems to me those were traitorous actions that severely hurt vital assets in other countries, all because Dick Cheney didn't like Ms. Plame's husband's criticisms of Bush policy (note: Scooter Libby served a few months in prison for this, but I never heard anyone wanting his head or execution as they do with Snowden). As to all politicians, when you harm your constituents by passing, or failing to pass, certain laws, you claim it was the other guy who's to blame. When you're caught with your pants down, involved in scandal or ethics violations or illegal activities, same thing. "Those right wing haters are after me" or "The left wing is out to take over and ruin our homeland." Well, guess what? Until you each accept your actions as your own, you will not grow as a chosen representative into a "great statesman" and your constituents will lose any possibility of being represented in a fair and equitable manner.

Corporations: Oy vey. We are a capitalistic society. We all accept this, we just want you to act responsibly. Nothing wrong with making a good living, but how 'bout making that a good, decent living? Your actions have polluted our air and water and precious earth, you've poisoned all of us at one point or another, you make insane profits while many of us starve. And you blame it all on shareholders, employees, banking, consumers - you name it, you blame it. Here's an idea: why not turn that blame game right back onto yourselves. Karma's a bitch, Mr. Bigshot: your present day actions are causing distressing reactions all around you, and before you know it, you, too, will be unable to eat most of the available food, and the air and water you need for survival will be harming you as well. Take responsibility for your company's policies and quit bombarding the airways with heartwarming commercials making it seem as if you're the good guy and the rest of us are evil. We ain't the problem: you are. Since it seems as if you all can't quite admit your failings, I'm using my dollars to support local craftsmen and/or companies who have proven they care about their customers and the Earth and its denizens.

Religious Leaders: "God made me do it." "The Devil made me do it." "Atheists want us to suffer and become non-existent." Wow, so many outside influences over you who are supposedly in tune with the Oneness. I can assure you that nobody made you do anything except you. You decided to have an affair, you decided to bilk your congregation out of millions of hard-earned money, you decided to ostracize and alienate certain segments of our population, you preached ad nauseum about about moral obligations while ignoring or vilifying everyone else. So instead of blaming god and satan and gay marriage and extreme weather, how 'bout you just admit your actions caused attendance to suffer or people to stop using your religion as a crutch? I wish all religious leaders would wake up every morning with these words on their mind: Love and Acceptance. That's the lesson to be learned here.

The rest of us: The blame game and lack of taking responsibility doesn't stop with the above. We're each guilty of this, aren't we? Here's an idea: admit when you've screwed up. Just admit it. It's actually really, really freeing. And after you admit it, own/embrace it. Just own it and learn from it and use the next opportunity to prove to yourself that you have learned and are growing as a person and that your life can be better!

Earthquake, Missing Persons, Near Death Experience

Last night I "felt" a large earthquake. I buried my head in my hands, asked Jeff if he felt it, he said no, and I said, "Oh god we're going to have an earthquake - a large one!" As so often happens, I don't know the geographical location of the coming quake, but I have a feeling that it will be in a populous area. During meditation today I'll try to find out where it may hit and will update if I get a clue....
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From time to time people ask me to locate a person or pet who is missing. (I always do this for free - I use my gift for anyone in need! - and that's why I just added a Donate button right above the Share It button at the top of the blog posts; if you feel what I post helps you or moves you in any way, please donate! I truly appreciate it.) I'll be honest: I dread these requests because if I connect with the person or pet it means he or she is in the Otherworld, and the resulting visions are often horrifying and extremely heartbreaking. Then, to top it off, I relay what I see almost robotically, so when I look back at what I've written, I feel as if I'm describing things clinically and coldly. I can promise y'all that I am not emotionless when I connect, but I reckon it's a self-preservation thingy when I describe it seemingly emotionless - ugh. Anyway, if they're alive, I can't connect, and often even if they've already passed on I can't connect - apparently it depends on whether or not their energy is strong enough to contact me. On April 15 a friend asked me to try to connect with her missing friend Terri. Here's what I told her: "Here are the images I just downloaded: a black male, wearing a white knit (almost crochet-like) top appeared out of the shadows and entered her car. When the picture was taken at the red light, I believe he was already in the car. I'm unsure whether she was strangled or had her head beaten in, but I saw both of those things happen to her. I don't think she was raped. Her body was thrown into a canal? Is there a canal near New Orleans? But her body got stuck/wedged under a barge. Her car I could have sworn had already been found at an airport parking lot, but when I went through the news articles, they all state it's still missing. I'm just about positive her car is in an airport parking lot or some other mass transit lot, although which airport/which state I have no idea (unless it's been towed by now). I believe the man who killed her is a New Orleans local OR knew her, however he may have relocated OR gone back to wherever he's from (thus the airport)."

Terri's body was found yesterday submerged in her car in a bayou where it has been for three months. I don't know if the case of death can be determined at this late stage, but obviously if she drowned, it means she was still alive when going into the water. Now here comes the freaky part, so bear with me, please: I said her body was stuck under a barge. What I actually saw was Terri's body underneath metal which I assumed was a barge, because barges are in canals. I asked my husband, who's from New Orleans, if the bayou in which her body was found looked like a canal. I'm not from New Orleans and have zero idea what a bayou looks like to Louisiana natives. He said yes, the bayou could be considered a canal - "It's a bayou! Of course it looks similar" was his reply. I told him that I had said that her car was at an airport so obviously I was wrong about that, and he said that there's a small airport right next to the bayou in which her body was found, so technically her car was at the airport. As to her body being submerged/dragged under by a barge, as I stated above I saw her body trapped under metal. Her body was trapped and submerged by metal, only it was her car and not a barge. As to her death not being accidental but a murder? My husband said anyone who is from New Orleans would find it almost impossible to go into that particular bayou accidentally. Of all the things I saw when I connected with Terri, her murderer is still fresh in my mind. If her death is ruled accidental, I will still think her murderer got away with killing her. The reason I'm telling y'all about this is because when you ask a sensitive to locate a missing person/pet or connect with your loved one who has passed, unless the sensitive can draw pictures for you (I'm really going to have to do that, then scan it into the computer and send to the inquiring person), often the information will be misinterpreted. I mean, when I said her car was at the airport, I had no idea there was an airport next to the bayou. If you're familiar with the area in which the missing person/pet lived, you need to think outside the box many times in trying to decipher the visual clues that the loved one projects. Since Terri was from the area in which she disappeared, her projections to me were in how she thought someone could find her body.
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I had a jaw infection in which an oral surgeon had to cut into my jaw to clean out the infection - this was done under general anesthesia. I woke up from the operation excited, elated and giddy - forget the pain and mouth stuffed full of gauze, I felt great! I had gone to the Otherworld during my medically induced coma, but there was a twist this time: as I was in the Otherworld I suddenly realized that I had crossed over and thought, "Wow, it's true! All my visits to the Otherworld are true ; passing over is exactly like I've been shown. It's the same as I've already and always experienced it. Wow!" After I was somewhat coherent, the oral surgeon told me that I had quit breathing during the surgery for  more than a minute. I smiled, shrugged my shoulders, and mumbled through gauze, "No Big Deal!" He and his staff gave me a puzzled look, but I was still elated - I knew right then that I had, indeed, gone through a Near Death Experience, and that what I had experienced was what I had known and experienced for several years now. There was no tunnel, no bright light - I experienced that back in 1996 the first time I had a NDE and traveled to the Otherworld. Nope, this time I just was over there and continued my work in that world (I would love to explain more, but I simply can't - I don't have the language to describe what I see when I go over there nor what happens over there. Which is probably why since time memorial gurus/shaman/prophets have all said, "It's not ours to know").

Tragedies

My heart is broken for the victims of the Boston Marathon and their families and friends and for the people of Boston, whose joyous celebration of Yankee tenacity was so sorely put to the test. And tested though they were, it was life-affirming to see everyone rush to the blast sites instead of away. Many people acted heroically to ensure the victims were not only aided but were not alone in their moment of despair; they came together as a true community of kindred souls proving that empathy and compassion and love are of the utmost importance during times such as this.

So what can we all do to act in a proactive way instead of a reactive way? We have many more tragedies in front of us in the coming years, y'all, both natural disasters and manmade disasters. As I've said time and again, we must come together as a community (as we saw in Boston yesterday). Here are some suggestions:

1) Donate blood, today and in the future. Help keep our blood supplies full and ready to use.

2) Pack an emergency kit in your car and at your home. Along with bandages, keep some duct tape on hand - it will cover a wound and keep bacteria out, plus it can staunch the flow of blood. It's obviously not sterile, but it's a whole lot better than leaving a wound open and festering. Pack a small bottle of witch hazel: this will clean and sanitize open wounds. Pack a little honey (raw buckwheat is preferred, but whatever you have on hand will do): it's antibacterial, antifungal, antiseptic and keeps wounds moist while smothering bacteria. Pack a small bottle of lavender and tea tree essential oils - a few drops of each in the witch hazel doubles the antiseptic effect. A small pair of scissors will come in handy, as will any clean cloths. Advil, aspirin, NSAIDs are also a good idea and anything else that you feel will be beneficial. Every six months or so replace the NSAIDs, honey, essential oils and witch hazel to ensure optimum freshness.

3) Learn First Aid. This is vital!

4) Learn CPR - again, vital!

5) If you're traveling, find out where emergency rooms and urgent care centers are in the areas in which you'll be. That thunderstorm you spot in the distance can become a tornado in the blink of an eye, and cell phone coverage may be nonexistent when you want to call for help.

6) Keep a blanket in your car at all times. Shock victims especially need to be kept warm since their blood pressure and body temperature often dip precariously low.

7) If emergency responders are on scene, ask what you can do to help: direct traffic, hold a victim's hand, help lift a victim onto transport. If the responders tell you to back up, back up! Let them do their jobs; after all they train rigorously for emergencies.

8) Keep calm. I know this sounds way simplified, and when you're in the midst of an emergency, it's a pretty difficult task. However, get your mind set on helping others, and start using that brain of yours for solutions. Once you get over the initial shock and horror, spring into action! Place your focus totally on helping instead of blaming - it matters not one iota who did what because the damage is done, and it's time to think of the victims' welfare. Let the police sort through who dunnit - your job in that moment at time is to help the victim(s)!

9) Project love at the scene. That loving energy will now be zooming around instead of sheer terror and horror. The dark can only be vanquished by the light, so as you help your fellow souls, go ahead and project love and empathy and compassion. The victims will feel it, it gives them hope, and it helps dispel the dark if only for a moment at a time. But those moments are precious, y'all! Project the love.

MUST READ - 2 Seers, 1 Vision

On February 8, 2013, I wrote the following on this blog: "So, I know you're asking, "but why do you think it's too late?" And the short answer is that we are entering an Earth cycle change. This is a cycle that happens every so often, but now it has a curve ball thrown into the mix: our precious Earth can't defend and repair itself against the onslaught of extreme weather that is happening now and is to be when she is already weakened, damaged and poisoned. It would be the same thing if you were to have cancer and then catch a cold: your immune system can't fight off those little bitty cold bacteria that any other person could handle with no problem. We're entering an age of great change, great upheaval, and that flows directly into:

A Celestial Event: My Navajo grandfather visited me several months ago (and continues to visit intermittently) and told me to "look to the night sky." As a note re my grandfather for those unfamiliar with him: he first visited me back in 2006 and was a Navajo medicine man in his life on Earth. We speak in the Navajo language (which I have to write down phonetically when I awaken and then translate using the Navajo Code Talkers website). He's shown me many future events, some of which have since occurred, and is my primary guide in the Otherworld. I'm uncertain whether or not he was actually my grandfather in a past life, but it seems as if he was since that's the sort of loving, familial relationship we have in dreamtime. Anyway, he told me to keep watching the night sky, that a great "celestial event" will occur that will give me proof that the new time is beginning. Now, unlike many seers and New Agers who think we are entering into a time of enlightenment, I disagree completely. There are millions of people right here in the U.S. who cling desperately to their present way of being and refuse to change, adapt or even consider the possibility that great harm is being done to them at the same time that great harm is happening to Mother Earth and Grandmother Ocean and all their inhabitants. Our hatred, fear and loathing toward our fellow man and all other beings is palpable. Go to any conservative website, read the comments, and you'll get a good idea of what I'm talking about. Grandfather told me: This hatred must stop. This hatred toward all, including ourselves, must end. We cannot survive while harboring so much hate and greed. We cannot survive while killing Mother Earth and Grandmother Ocean. We cannot survive massive greed to pervert Mother's gifts of minerals for our own selfish ends. Mother and Grandmother need healing. Mother and Grandmother are crying for help, and their tears are like salt in the wound of a gangrenous sore called humanity. It's imperative that we become a community again, y'all! I am not saying that I was shown the end of the world; quite the contrary, the world will not end in the near future. But our present way of living will end. We will see fire, drought and flooding (more earthquakes! larger storms!) unlike any we have seen in the past, and it will affect millions of people. We will see coastlines going under water, and a shift in population centers. We must come together as a community to help each other through the Earth changes: neighbor helping neighbor. We must insist that Congress strengthen and pass new environmental protection laws. We must stop the reckless use of throw-away objects that we never even gave a second thought to in the past. And first and foremost we must prevent further toxicity of our land, water and air. Mother and Grandmother need to heal; we cannot survive in future time unless they heal, it really is just that simple."

So fast forward from February 8 when I wrote the above to last night. I received an e-mail last night from the seer John Hogue. John is often called the Modern Day Nostradamus and has been featured on The History Channel and numerous radio shows. His visions are (I think) about 90% accurate, and he fully admits when he's wrong. Not only that, but he has 100% correctly predicted the presidential winners for several decades now. The reason I'm going on and on about John is that several months ago I felt compelled to sign up for his periodic newsletter. He's politically savvy, satirically brilliant (some would say "snarky"!), and I keep wondering what took me so long to "follow" his writings. Every year he publishes his predictions in the form of an e-book, and asks only for donations of $12.50 or more in order to receive any of his books. This is how he supports himself, and quite honestly, that's a freaking bargain when you consider how accurate he is and the outrageous fees other members of the metaphysical community are so fond of charging. He's been meditating for decades and receives his information from a guide(s). I've been meditating for "only" 8 years but also receive my information from a guide (no, it isn't the same one!). His prophecies are finely detailed; mine are much more generalities. In short I'm in awe of his connectiveness to the universal energy. Naturally the next question y'all may have: aren't you the tiniest bit jealous? I can honestly say I am not. Not one iota! Rather, I look at both of our visions as confirmation of each other. Y'all know I try to verify everything I've been told and shown, and if it can't be verified, I feel - even though the event may have happened unknown to us - that it makes my prediction less than accurate. I fully admit when I'm wrong, although I'm elated when it's dead-on, and I probably have a 90-something % success rate as well. Again, my visions are much more generalized, so that's not as impressive as John's success rate in my opinion. What I'm trying in such a laborious manner to say is pay attention to our visions!!! If you believe nothing else, if you think all of this is the biggest bunch of bullshit you'll ever see/hear/read, believe us. We had the same vision. This is HUGE in the connecting energies of the worlds. 

When I read last night what he had seen/been told in meditation, I wept, I had goose bumps, I wept some more. We have 18 months, y'all. 18 months to get our shit together and try to get along and stop torturing Mother Earth. I knew it would be in the near future, I just didn't realize how near. Oh, and this also means to leave your damn guns at home. We must come together as a community, not a bunch of shoot-em-up wild west jerkoffs. Your guns will probably be destroyed by Mother Nature, so when/if you make emergency preparations, factor the weapon out of your mind. If you come into your community meeting with guns strapped, you are now the problem; get it?

Here's what John wrote, and I've included his link right below that. It'll take you to what I've quoted from his e-mail, and there is a space to advance purchase his e-book on that page:

"Now at last I understand why this book of annual prophecies has been so often delayed. It has a greater vision to share. Far more significant than a journey through the 12 months of a year is another unit of time, beginning on the  first  day  of  May  2013 and ending in the final week of December 2014.

This book goes beyond 2013. It is about the most important 18 months humanity has ever had the opportunity to experience. It comprises the climax of Saturn’s karmic 28-year cycle – its passage through the sign of taxes, the portent of the bill coming due, presenting what future we wish to inherit. It is about what lies beyond the death-numbered year 13 of the 21st century.

In these 18 months the old way humanity has solved problems and defined itself must change. That in us which is preventing this transformation must be burned down by the fire of an awakening consciousness in each and every one of us, high and low, leaders and led. That fire must burn a new destiny into us, rendering our past-oriented and habitual ways of thinking and doing into ashes so that a new understanding and a new direction for humanity can arise phoenix-like and fly again.

This eBook will expand my Oracle’s gaze into events of 2013 and Beyond: all the way to the end of 2014 so it can foretell and enlighten you about an opening, an opportunity taken hold or wasted, for the current human globalizing civilization to either change course consciously or pass through an apocalypse of unconsciousness.

May 2013 to the end of December 2014 is the LAST CALL of destiny for human beings to set in motion fundamental reforms. This is our last chance to peacefully alter human destiny by redefining what it is to be human in all aspects of life: spiritual, emotional, economic, and political. It is our last chance to redefine and at last take up our role and responsibility to care for the only planet upon which we exist.

A temporal doorway the width of 18 months has opened. If humanity can start walking on the path of re-membering, becoming one, uniting, undivided, if all of us can set forth finding common ground and purpose, we take our civilization on the ascendant path of balance. If in these 18 months we can take the first step, we will find ourselves and our civilization already half way through the journey upon a new path into tomorrow where awaits a golden future. From a future path that is pathetic, we could stride along a new path of empathy, of harmony, co-prosperity, love and compassion. If we take this new path many of the horrors and catastrophes of the coming decades can be greatly reduced and our journey to a golden era of peace will be far shorter and less irrigated by blood and tears.

Yet if we let our stupidity rule the day and procrastinate; if we keep kicking our unsustainable core problems down the road of the next 18 months, we still might be reformed and reborn as a mature civilization someday, but at a devastating cost to all of us and to this beautiful planet, because the redefinition of humanity will not be empowered by us but empowered by the forceful consequences and momentum of our stupidity and unconsciousness.

If we continue on the path we are on, a good number of you reading these lines will not see the golden age that could come soon if right choices and actions are not embraced right now. Time is running out to stem the tide of economic collapse, resource wars, political elitism and gridlock. There is soon to come beyond the end of 2014 a general social breakdown of civilized society. There will be ignited a new wave of global fascism beyond 2014. Much of these tragedies, plagues and terrors will be the result of a planetary climate crisis that we not only deny is upon us but is hastened and strengthened by our own greed in the service of unconscious, coveting hands.

Saturn in astrology rules Reality.

Saturn reveals to us the extent to which we limit human potential by blindly sustaining our illusions and lies. Heed well and understand through this book of prophecies, how postponement in facing ourselves can postpone a golden age. This book will shine prophecy’s light upon what we need to encounter, what doesn’t work – what is stupidity hiding under the cloak of religion, economic systems, politics and other fossilized foolishness masquerading as hallowed traditions of the past. These cannot and will never carry us over this abyss of looming planetary crisis to prophecy’s promised golden future.

We have 18 months left in Saturn’s passage through the sign of engagement, death and resurrection. In this book are the signs of how we can waste this opportunity or grasp a golden dream and work together to make that future our reality."

http://www.hogueprophecy.com/predictions-for-2013-the-special-donator-edition/

Aging Right Along With Feng Shui Maggie

My long-coated chihuahua, Maggie, turns 15 years old tomorrow. She's healthy, vibrant and still leaps into the air around my legs as I stand at the kitchen counter preparing her (and our other two dogs') breakfast and dinner. But her age is evident in so many other ways, and I'm finding that for the first time in being a dog mom to several really old pets in the past I'm totally understanding what she's going through and I'm totally fascinated that I totally understand her!

We've been calling Maggie "Feng Shui Maggie" for the last year or so when we switched to a mobile groomer who is of Asian descent. Maggie's hair is comparable to a Papillion's and is hysterically mussed up when she awakens from a nap or from a good night's sleep. Our new groomer didn't find it as cute as we did, and said "She needs balance. She's out of balance." So he clipped her hair in what can only be described as The Feng Shui Way. Here's a picture of her taken earlier in 2012 - before she started being feng shuied - right after she woke up from a nap:

And here's Feng Shui Maggie as she looks today:

Ain't no doubt - she IS perfectly balanced now, although not nearly as hysterically cute as she was before. But as I look at her, and continue to book future appointments with the same groomer, I'm reminded that not everything that is in harmony and balance needs to necessarily be hysterically cute. Rather, it's much more important to be endearing and enduring and life-affirming than just plain old cute.

Maggie is probably 90% blind, and her hearing is greatly diminished. She most likely only sees light and shadows and hears only loud noises, with everything else a muffled drone. She has cataracts, and I do, too. Although my vision isn't as impaired as hers, I have problems with seeing at night, double vision and general, all around blending of objects. I might have to stare at something for several seconds in order to delineate its boundaries and then comprehend what that object actually is - Maggie no longer tries to understand what the object is but instead relies on me (and to a lesser extent, Jeff) to keep her protected from the object.

Our backyard has a large area between the storage shed and the fence to a neighbor's yard; the fence is virtually non-existent in that area because the neighbor's tree grew so large that it overlapped the boundary line. Previous homeowners have piled gardening debris (unused pots, etc. - we recycle ours!) to form a sort of barrier between the yards. It wasn't enough to keep our three dogs from straying from our yard, so we plugged up part of the area with an unused white child's gate. It's weatherproof, durable and although aesthetically kind of tacky, okay, it's really tacky, it does the trick. Several nights ago Maggie went outside, did her business and instead of walking back toward where I was standing by the deck waiting to carry her inside (she's no longer willing to climb stairs), she went running right to the child gate. Huh? Then I realized it's short, wide and white (a LOT like me - ha!) and was patiently standing there waiting for her to finish (again - a LOT like me!). In the past I would have thought she was suffering from doggie dementia or Alzheimer's, but now that I, too, have vision problems, I understood her confusion. Here's a picture of the tree, shed and gate from where Maggie had "finished her business":

On many occasions after Maggie has finished (obviously she likes to use the back of the yard as her personal bathroom space) she has headed straight to the now fallow, and still filled with last year's herbal debris, herb garden. So, I started to look at the garden from her view; again, I totally understood: one of the herbs that needs to be cleaned out before Spring is a clump of echinacea - it's tall for a plant but still short enough to be me, and it's wide and light-colored (like me!). Here's the fallow herb garden as it looks right now from her view:

She won't climb steps anymore because she misjudges the depth and height of each step, and that probably causes her to suffer a little bit of vertigo. I have vertigo, as well, and steps are a huge problem for me, except more from a total height situation: it makes me panic-stricken and dizzy and wobbly to be up high. As long as steps or a staircase is enclosed, I'm good to go, but if it's an open stairway, fuggetaboutit, I just can't do it. Again, I totally understand why she's frightened of the stairs. And snow and ice? She's afraid she'll slip and fall - I am too when I walk outside during winter; I take baby steps, testing each area in which I walk in order to prevent my falling. If Maggie slips, chances are that she won't be hurt, but she will become disoriented. I have osteoporosis, so if I fall, chances are that I'll have a serious injury. But I get her reluctance and hesitation and worry and fear.

I'm thankful and grateful that after half a century (including my childhood) of pet ownership that I have precious Maggie with whom to age alongside. It's been fascinating, eye-opening, heartwarming, heartbreaking and hysterically funny, often all at the same time. So happy birthday, Feng Shui Mags, happy birthday! May you continue to show me how to age gracefully and with dignity and laughter and a joy for life, and how deep, true love is truly the only thing that matters. Well, that and being balanced ala feng shui :D.

High Pitched Tone

I was outside and heard, very faintly, a high-pitched tone. Right when I started thinking, "I wonder if Jeff has something in the microwave," the dogs in my neighborhood all started howling. Have no idea what it means, if anything, but I'll be watching the news to see if any earth changes or astronomical events have been happening. The reason why I'm even noting this is because of my tendency to not record what I hear, only to discover later that some type of event happened at that exact moment (or within days), so better to be safe than sorry. Oh, and no, Jeff wasn't even near the kitchen!