3.20.14 Love: It Is Simply Love

I stood before this fruit tree, out on the frozen windy fields by The Connecticut..rows and rows of various types of fruit trees, the sun quietly melting the snow and ice just enough for some Spring melt. 

And as I stood, the skies wide and wild, the wind swept through the waters beneath all trees, reflecting the dead leaves above and below; the branches and trunk so stalwart and strong no matter the season. Ripples of waters. The complexity of the winter-tired leaves. 

The reflection of the true blue skies and enormous Cumulus clouds racing past overhead. Love: simply it is only love. 

3.18.14 Winter Slowly Receding : Full Moon On the Rise

Here our full moon comes....

.

As winter is slowly receding....

And what, pray tell, is this all about?

Ooohhh....homes. Baby Woodpeckers. Got it. 

3.16.14 Blue Skies

Blue skies shining at me
Nothing but blue skies do I see

3.17.14 Spring Is Doing What It Does Best

     Spring is doing what it does best; crawling closer, one shift at a time, all with of course the inevitable back-and- forth- 25• now, 9• in the night. 
     Birds chomping down at the feeders both to survive the cold and to be ready come morn to flirt and sweep about, choosing mates.
     Sometimes I wish we had Bower Birds here, so I could stealthily creep up and see what this Spring 'a fashions of luring female Bower Birds has got up into.
     But still, what with all the frisky, newly-untorpided chipmunks, the Eagle couples making a complete spectacle of themselves just about daily, overhead (!), the diving precariousness of Hawk mating ( that'll get you ... Uh... High) and the warming squishiness of the just yesterday frozen earth, mounds of snow receding, replaced by daily melt...
      That turns into rivers of ice to navigate the next day.
      It is LIGHT outside later!!
      The tree's buds slowly making their own way to those eventual delicate new leaves .
       Amethyst Brook today awash with melt- repeat after me -"Hello great water table for this summer!".
      I do like change.
      And the nights even seem brighter, frozen cold and dark and clear

 with a zillion suns far away, 

more than you can ever hope to dream.

3.17.14 Bower Birds. Cousins of Ours

Bower Birds. Cousins of ours. 

He makes makest the bestest nest he can .

 Do they get more creative or adventurous with age? 

Are there seasonal trends?

 Will will will she like all the hard work

 that went into planning and execution? 

Whew.

 Oh... Here comes a female. 

Act casual. Lean back. Smile. Be easy .

 Well? Well? What does she think?????

 Oh hurray!! Here we go!!!

 Babies!!!

  

  

3.18.14 The March Forest Floor

3.21.14 Enriching Our LIves With Locally Created Art - Lenore Grubinger, Painter extraordinaire

Enriching Our Lives: Passing Down Timeless Heirlooms of Locally Created Art
I was thinking over how , in the past , even people without significant incomes seemed determined to save up for locally created art, as objects of both decoration and pleasure ; as valuable heirlooms intended to be passed down from one person to another through time.
And it surprises me that now we seem so intent upon ensuring the purchase of fashionable clothing, the next iPad, or yet another enjoyable dinner out.
Instead of investing in both the artist and the artwork produced in our time and in our towns. Much of which is extraordinarily affordable.
With places like Michael's and Marshall's full of frames containing non-art, I sometimes fear that our entire population will slowly receive no art history education, no time for creating art in our schools, no Liberal Arts college education - because everyone thinks that if they major in business, they have the greatest possibility of having the best jobs, (point taken , but statistically inaccurate) the most money and the most things to own.
And maybe, like Socrates long ago lamenting the poor manners of the young, I too am finding myself cantankerous, after a life filled with the depth and breadth of an attendance at a high school of the arts, and a remarkable Liberal Arts college education.
We find ourselves in this age of cookie-cutter pseudo art, where even artistic expression by children and young people is viewed dismissively as invalid cute expressions, versus anything valuable,
I find myself wanting to remind people of the pleasure of finding $30 to purchase an inspiring beautiful watercolor, to bring home , place in just the right spot, and begin the intriguing process of living with one another.
Or the deep delight of slowly paying off a $200 piece of art such as the one below, by Lenore Grubinger. Reflecting her summer days and nights by a wooded pond, replete with its sounds and smells, it's wildlife and sunrises-all that experience imbued in a beautiful work of art.
Which will grace my walls in my life for as long as I live, and then will be handed down to my children and their children or others, with pleasure and appreciation.
Talk about an investment. What an experience! To take part in being the caretaker of a creation, and experience the deep loveliness of knowing that it will live many many many places, far longer than we will.
I myself have paintings my grandmother bought from her artist friends - small oil paintings of the White Mountains, and gardens. Over 100 years old, these are heirlooms,to be relished for years to come.
I also have a small collection of fine photographs bartered or purchased from local photographers, much of it already given to my children.
When my older son was married in Maui, I had to be talked out of trying to safely lug an enormous framed photograph to and from, that was their wedding gift- which he and his bride-to-be had chosen from the work of a local photographer, and that I saved for with excitement over the previous year.
I already have my eye on a distant friend's painting and another work of art, as there are many momentous times in your kid's life , and the special gift of a piece of art need not be relegated solely to the overly revered event of marriage.
Local Fine Art is a precious thing, and I hope we as a population remember that, even when money is tight, saving for some greatly appreciated creation changes your days and your nights.
I love that so many local painters and potters understand this wise yearning, and so create small affordable paintings and pots that can come blossom in our lives.
A most gorgeous small painting , with a carefully selected Mat and frame, can be placed in just the right place in home or office, to have tea with, or feel the day come to an end in the company of.
Experience crushing anguish with its comfort and complexity ,or spend a quiet morning moment discovering the new way it's colors transform as light shifts through a nearby window.
All of this fills and enriches our daily lives. In a way that, like reading aloud and other ventures, is becoming all but forgotten.
A large or small piece of art we are inexplicably drawn to becomes a presence in our lives. much like the manner in which we come to know a person or beloved meadow or night sky.
Please pay no heed to our current culture . Let me prod our collective memory to remind us -of our capacity to own, live contentedly with, and then pass along irreplaceable creations.

3.14.14 Beautiful March Storm

Beautiful March storm - everyone preparing for

 something big and monumental; 

and then it breezes through like some small cold wind. 

That is , 14° this morning, 

the pup outside completely delighted 

with the falling snow-going nuts. 

The birds voracious with the suet and birdseed. 

The skies just astoundingly beautiful 

as the snow comes down

 in tiny springlike particles.

3.21.14 It's The Beauty That Stops Me

We do have blossoms -
Red tulips in the kitchen
Begonia semperflorens with its profusion of
orange at bedside leaning into the window all winter long 
now in glorious
bloom

The towering Begonia
semperflorens cultorum exploding vast clusters ; pink
flowers that jettison across
rooms ; bright confetti as they
ripen ; all inside peering
out

And out of doors on this
March 21st? An equanimical
36• chills bare feet ; in pajamas I
step onto earth to tie dogs as the
broad winded sweep of Spring's
early morning clouds rangle
pink and burnished deep blue
overhead

And at this moment I also have that
pause that impatience - the awareness of seasonal living when youknow there's a change finally coming and
soon

Yet, what if it were like this
all year long? This
cold and icy rain back and
forth in great variations the
inconsistency keeping you
ever on your
toes?

Incomprehensible ramifications of
snow and weather -so that
we too , like the Finns , would have 180 words for snow and
not long after certainly
1,000 words for
Reindeer

3.17.14 Some Days Are Simply So Hard You Wonder

With Gratitude to D.C. 
Sometimes a day really takes the cake. The cake of all cakes. Some days are simply so hard you wonder if you will keep breathing and walking your way through the part that is so unrelenting. 
We sometimes have a life where we bump into these times. We sometimes have a life where the unrelenting bit is a frequent flyer. AND some of us have great great challenges that most people forget about or don't know about.



Tremendous pain. Possibly life shortening conditions . Necessary isolation. Exhaustion. So much more. 
And no matter what the deal is in your own life, sometimes we feel so unable to bear the weight. We feel so all alone.
The bearing of it and want wish hoping for something a bit more manageable transforms into forgetting the power- of consciously letting go and sitting back and just accepting the physical or emotional pain or health condition or fear or anger or frustration or sense of injustice or difficulty physically going places when surrounded by those who go anywhere anytime without realizing it is a gift, pain or no pain, to be able to do that .
I had one of those times today. Where so much just seemed to bash into the day like a messy noisy zillion car pileup. 



Where I was so frustrated. I was trying so hard . I was researching and trying and struggling and reaching and hoping and despite my best initiative and hopeful intentions, in the midst of all all that trying and working and hoping, I really forgot all about the most important part.
Which is to be. To BE with whatever is happening . To take time out, consciously, to make a point if it; and walk or watch or breathe or sit or lay down and spend time just Being with it all.
To sit there and feel the physical and emotional and how life now is not what you planned and to just settle deep down into the WHOLE DEAL and say Yes.
Yes this is happening. Pause. Feel it.
Yes I didn't plan this. Pause. Feel. 
Yes I'm feeling so heartbroken and sick of it and scared about the future. Pause. Feel. 





And there we go... We slowly settle back down into where we belonged all along -deep in our selves.
Today someone I have known for years answered me while I was lost. And they gave me a list. That they kept adding to. Of all the all the things they have learned to gather to themselves , over the years, when these times happen.
It was a brilliant list. It was a loving list. A wise list. They said that by giving it to me , they were putting it all down for themselves !
But I didn't see the bright wise reassuring reminding list til I got home later and recharged my phone . And boom , like the very best thing that could ever pop out a real and delicious and good for you cake, there it was . The Big Gift. But first....
My phone was dead , my client nowhere to be found, my office problematic, my health difficult , my car towed, my husband driven home, more and more things bumping into each other as they fell like a long line of dominoes.... Boom boom boom boom boom. 

And so I took off for the woods with my dog-which I have done my whole life. 
Since I was tiny I took to the woods. When I was little, I knew the trees sang to me.


 They sang and soothed me and told me it would get better and they were always always there. 
So we tromped across the broad conservation field next door that soon will be a no- go because of no snow and therefore ticks .
We entered the forest and crossed the whispering spring far down in the ravine.
And we somehow kept on going. 

The rain sang in the woods, dropping into the swift running waters and splattering upon pale gold Beech leaves and crooned all about us like a chorus.



. 


The edge of the ridge I hadn't managed to walk to for years came upon us, and we stopped to gaze far down bow at the Connecticut River outwaters, teeming with luxuriant life in all seasons.
We came upon Coyote holes dug for meals , and little rodent openings used to scurry out and grab some seeds. 

We tromped by trees with snow receding from  beautiful roots as Spring approaches.

. 


We trudged by an aged dead tree with so many woodpecker holes: dust to dust.
And then we followed the stream back, kinda wishing for an airlift, but with all the confusing overwhelm drained from all that struggle through the snow. All that breathing. Of fresh fresh forest air. 



We became aware . Peaceful. Present. Tired . Ached. Back in body. Back in the moment. In the actual real life. The difficult and the lovely. The whole big package.
The rain turned to snow as the sky darkened , the pup one year old today, following and watching carefully on a happy nutso wow Whatta Whatta walk today!
Back up the hill, with little breathers- gazing at the elegant lined cloud formations .

Snow falling all around, that immutable forest and field sound as each flake lands. 

Tipping your head way back and closing your eyes and feeling them gentlestly settle on your skin .
Opening your eyes to watch the hypnotic wonder of them floating down toward you in an endless weightless dance. 




Turning toward the house , lights shining. Creatures waiting, slowly heading back on home.
Not even suspecting that there will be waiting a long gift list . From afar. Of wise loving learned- from- such- hard-times wisdom, delivered . Just perfect. On, it turns out, just another perfect living day

3.18.14 Enclosed

Enclosed by a stand of Pines. 

What could be better?

3.19.14 In Your Most Frail Gesture

in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me
e.e. cummings

3.20.14 Vernal Equinox

Vernal Equinox-

 balance of night and day. 

Endings and beginnings,

 as the earth continues to turn 

and all things slowly awaken

3.4.14 An Intelligent Dietary Plan to Reset Your Health and Catch Up With Your Health Challenges

Happy March! So, just in case you're thinking either 1. I feel like crap, or 2. Oh, I am dreading allergy season, or , 3. I am sick of getting sick! , or, most of all - 4. I have some serious health challenges that really impact my life andfuture , or, 5. I truly want to live a long time, feeling great and strong ....I wanted to share this link that essentially provides Dr. Mark Hyman's Ultra Simple Diet book, an excellent resource for a healing, intelligently detoxing 7-21 day diet., with equally intelligent follow-up continuing-to-heal-yourself guidelines, if you have significant health concerns, or don't WANT to have significant health concerns.

I've had the experience of eating Macrobiotically for 3 years, long ago ( a powerfully healing diet) and for 3 years The Seventh Day Adventist Diet, another intelligent healing diet.

Recently I looked into seeing Dr. Hyman, or the remarkable Dr. Aviva Romm, at the UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA. I understand why they are no insurance. And their work is brilliant and hands down capable of much. You simply have to save up and up and up , unless you are independently wealthy . To me, the costs make perfect sense. The tests they run are intelligent and make sense. Their work involves Functional Medicine and is Naturopathic, with an intricate understanding of toxicity, healing, and lab test use. 

After I looked at the prices , I went and dug out my Ultra Simple Diet by Dr. Hyman and , after a re- perusal, someone nice I know went out and got all the stuff I needed to begin, this week, which I have. In the book is a shopping list for one week for one person. The guy thinks of everything.

I think he put his book online because all he really wants is for people to learn and gain health . His website has a new structure, to try to make his work more accessible, with meals and a coach and all . Good ideas.

He does seem to like grains, which don't fit for many , but acknowledges meat later on, which, despite my own opinions and being a vegetarian who would benefit from meat, makes sense from my observations of clients with Blood-Type Diet considerations. ( That O's and B's do need meat, though if you check out the research of Peter D'Adamo of The Blood Type Diet, or get the pretty cool app for your phone ($3.99) you learn that actually even if genetically you do fine with dairy , it's not milk for SURE, it's small bits of CERTAIN dairy, and the meat is hardly ever beef and chicken-at all. Check it out if you want.
Because every wise health idea and system acknowledges inflammation, blood sugar, and detoxing toxins well.

The cornerstones of The Ultra Simple Diet are an UltraBroth ( always a powerful, nutrient dense, easy peasy to assimilate , warm tool), an Ultra Shake ( good idea) an Ultra Bath ( yup. Essential, to suck all that crap out of your skin, giving your eliminative organs a much needed break) and food guidelines. These vegetables , this kind of fish or tofu or fruits just...so.

The link is essentially the book.

Human made stuff - chemicals, pesticides , etc., are very complex structures that WE ARE NOT GENETICALLY ABLE to beak down into tiny pieces and send out if our bodies.

And the sending out necessitates a clear well moving stream of our eliminative systems able and working well. Which generally they are not.

So, an intelligent cleansing or diet needs to CREATE a well moving stream AND the capacity to both break down ... and get OUT of the body....many lousy things.

You have a rest from common allergens or things that slow the well moving stream. Eggs, sugar, dairy, meat, grains ( except brown rice, if it fits fir you , and his choice of a rice based smoothie, which you could alter).


http://drhyman.com/downloads/UltraSimpleCompanion.pdf