Spring Fever

Jayne, over at Jayne Says posted a fabulous post today... Check it out.

I found this picture while surfing Blogger... I didn't get the link to the blog, unfortunately... It was basically a way farther right-winged point of view than mine, but I kinda thought this picture was "hillary-ous" anyway...
And if that made you mad, then here is one for those of you who are more liberal than me...
(I would have just posted the pics here, but I am too sick to want to mess with resizing them...)

Rick woke up sick today... Got him half way to work, and after stopping for the third time for him to puke, I just turned around and took him home.... He's been sleeping since.
I bought more Vitamin C and Echinacea last night... Seems the whole houseful of people is sick... Isaiah isn't bad, but Lauren has had this stuff for weeks... I just hope I don't get the same stuff Rick has... I HATE being sick to my stomach!! I usually get sicker than anyone, and Rick NEVER gets sick... I don't think I have seen him this sick since Christmas 1999.
Anyway...
Been really busy working on my new altar, and getting ready to put together a Hecate shrine. My room really needs the energy of live plants, and they will go on that shrine. My mom has a spider plant with lots of "babies" on it, and spider plants absorb negativity, so they will be good in here... I want to get a couple of violets, too, they promote spirituality, plus my grandma always had them in her house.
When my grandma died, she had lots of pretty houseplants that no one cared about, and since they wouldn't let me go in the house alone (afraid I was going to steal something important??) and they didn't want to "bother" with the plants, even though I kept telling them all they had to do was give them to me, they let them all die... *sigh* I miss her... She was the only one in my world that didn't think what I thought was important to be trivial... There has only been one other person in my life that made me feel that safe... And he is gone too(not dead, although for all the contact we have he may as well be) ...
Seems that the Powers of the Universe don't want me to feel safe... Something about having to always watch my own back, being ready for anything, and never quite being able to relax... Wish I would just learn whatever it is I have to learn here and go on...

(Again with the sudden topic change) I can already see the days getting longer... The sunrise was noticeably earlier today... Can't wait for spring! I have most of my small garden planned out, and can't wait to start seeds, and plant seedlings, and work out in the yard! I don't think we will be back in our house until late summer, (we are going to re-sheetrock the whole house, and try to get our friend the electrician to rewire it, plus flooring needs replaced in several rooms) so I will just have a small garden here, maybe just large planters, I don't know, but I will enjoy it anyway... Can't wait to go fishing, and camping... There is beauty to every season, and I am enjoying every little bit of snow we get and the coziness of curling up in the evenings and doing needlework, or reading a good book, but I can't wait to get outside!!

Chit Chat

I know that I am constantly adding and rearranging my sidebar ~~> and I also know that most people don't pay much attention to sidebars. I just wanted to call your attention to something I added this morning, a little thing that says "smoke-free for 109 days!"(Or, if you read this tomorrow, "110" days, etc...lol) That is a counter that is adding up all the days since I quit smoking.... And with everything that has happened to me in those 109 days, I am very proud of myself for not smoking!!

We didn't have the extended family get together yet, so our Christmas was really nice. No big meal for me to have to cook, I just made big deep pans of lasagna, tossed salad, and garlic bread.
I got up on Christmas Eve and Isaiah had gotten up, went into the kitchen, and got milk and cookies to put out for Santa... It was so cute!

New Year's Day is the day we have to go to my sister's house. My sister and I get along great if it is just the two of us, but my mother treats me like a red-headed step child in the presence of the "golden child". That and the fact that my brother-in-law is the undersheriff, and Rick is just oilfield trash (never mind the fact that Rick makes more than the BIL does!!) makes me feel like crap by the time we are going home. I just have to remember Eleanor Roosevelt's words: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." Maybe a protection spell against psychic vampires?

After fighting germs for weeks, I have succombed (yet again) to the nasty upper respiritory thing. I am really working to keep it from settling in my lungs, though, I don't need bronchitis again, especially when I have no insurance! Echinacea, vit. C, zinc... Not to mention using an Airbourne-like suppliment, lots of water, and trying to get lots of rest... I should be fine in a few days... Mom and the kids have all had this for weeks.

I bought myself a really great home study package on Chakra Balancing that I am enjoying going through...I absolutely love the One Spirit Book Club! Anyway, maybe I will have something more stimulating to talk about later...lol

Thanks Jas.....

1. What is your favorite holiday movie? I absolutely love "The Holiday Inn"... Bing Crosby... White Christmas... Could it get any better than that?(I really believe that my last life was in the 1940s... That era just blows me away... feels like home...)

The kid in me, however, loves"Year without a Santa Claus", with the step-brothers, Heat Miser and Snow Miser (pictured above)

2. What is your favorite holiday song (Title and Artist)? Bing Crosby... White Christmas... Although I have a great version of "Little Drummer Boy" by Ray Charles that I love too...

3. What’s the best holiday gift you were ever given and why? Maybe my new bike when I was 9. It was a gold-yellow color, had a sparkly banana seat with big neon colored daisies on it, and a white wicker basket with plastic flowers on the front. That basket didn't get much use, but the bike was great for jumping the stairs at the end of the block...

4. Do you have a special someone to kiss at the stroke of midnight on New Years? My best friend, Rick... Althought I almost never stay away for midnight on New Year's... It just never seemed like that big of a deal to me...

5. What’s the name of your favorite reindeer? I don't know any reindeer... Although I really hate Rudolph... Goody-two-shoes you know... Hate those...

6. What’s your favorite holiday food? My Grandma's Plum Pudding. I haven't had it in probably 30 years, but I can still remember it... It was fabulous... The ingredients are so expensive around here that it would take me $50-$75 to make it now... One of these days I will...I also love Rick's special Christmas Salad he makes, and my mom's cranberry salad...

7. Present, or stocking stuffer? Present... It would be nice, just once, to have a present I didn't pick out myself... (This year I am getting a pepper mill, a coffee grinder, a hoodie sweater, and a pair of silver earrings... My mom is getting me a sun-shaped mirror for my wall) Actually, the exciting part of Christmas to me is watching people open what I got for them... Not telling people what I bought them is the hardest part of Christmas!

8. Snow day – Cuddle by the fire or hand me a snowball? Why does it have to be either/or?? Haven't you ever heard "Winter Wonderland"? A few hours of snowballs, snowmen, forts... Then stomping back into the house, having hot chocolate and homemade cookies, then when everyone else is settled for the night, curling up with hot buttered rum by the fire... *sigh*

9. What was your New Year’s resolution for this year? To not make any resolutions for the year, but to wake up every morning with a resolution for that day... If I try to think too far ahead, I always get discouraged...

10. Is there really a Santa Clause? A Santa 'Clause'? I guess it depends on what contract you are reading...
A Santa Claus? Yes, there is, and he lives in all of us. Santa Claus is a spirit who, if you are open to him, will fill you with the awe of Christmas, generosity, and love of others...

Brightest blessings on the Solstice...

("The Holly King" by jpc-artworks.com)

"Yule is usually celebrated on the actual Winter Solstice, which may vary by a few days, though it usually occurs on or around December 21st. It is a Lesser Sabbat in the modern Pagan calendar, one of the four quarter-days of the year, but a very important one. It is deeply rooted in the cycle of the year being the longest night and the shortest day, where the Goddess once again becomes the Great Mother and gives birth to the new Sun King. In a poetic sense it is on this the longest night of the winter, 'the dark night of our souls', that there springs the new spark of hope, the Sacred Fire, the Light of the World, the Coel Coeth. The God's birth is symbolized by the return of the Sun, as from Yule onwards the Sun's power is no longer in decline, but begins to return towards it's height at the Summer Solstice. Symbolically the God grows along with the Sun, growing as the Sun gains in power, staying above the horizon longer and warming the planet more each day.

This time of year is also the Christian Christmas celebrated on the 25th December (yes there is a Pagan relevance to this!). But why the 25th? It is clear that the New Testament does not provide the slightest indication of the date on which Christ was born. Early Christian tradition preserved no knowledge of one, and different writers made different guesses, most preferring dates in the spring. The first absolutely certain record which places it on 25th December is the calendar of Philocalus, produced in 354CE. The reason for the choice of this date was stated by a Christian writer, the Scriptor Syrus, in the late fourth century CE:

It was a custom of the Pagans to celebrate on the same 25 December the birthday of the Sun, at which they kindled lights in token of festivity. In these solemnities and revelries the Christians also took pat. Accordingly when the doctors of the Church perceived that the Christians had a leaning to this festival, they took counsel and resolved that the true Nativity should be solemnised on that day."

Read the rest of this article, HERE.

Yee Haw!

You know, when you are driving a 4 wheel drive pick up on the first thawing day after a good sized snow... There is something that draws you to try and find every muddy little-used road in the county.
They say that "it ain't a 4x4 if it ain't had mud on the roof of the cab".
Well, my truck is now and official 4x4...lol The only recognizable part of my truck would be the tracks of the windshield wipers on the windshield...
I couldn't help but go 4 wheeling this afternoon...
Someone once asked me what the appeal of going 4 wheelin' or "muddin'" was... I was at a loss for words. I really couldn't describe how fun it is to be sliding sideways down a dirt road (or field!) flinging mud and water in all directions... I know, it's just the redneck in me coming out, I guess...
I had Gretchen Wilson blaring out of the CD player, too...

Redneck Woman


Well, I ain't never been the Barbie doll type
No, I can't swig that sweet Champagne, I'd rather drink beer all night
In a tavern or in a honky tonk or on a four-wheel drive tailgate
I've got posters on my wall of Skynyrd, Kid and Strait
Some people look down on me, but I don't give a rip
I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip
'cause I'm a redneck woman
I ain't no high class broad
I'm just a product of my raising
I say, 'hey ya'll' and 'yee-haw'
And I keep my Christmas lights on
On my front porch all year long
And I know all the words to every Charlie Daniels song
So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country
Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me, hell yeah
Victoria's Secret, well their stuff's real nice
But I can buy the same damn thing on a Wal-Mart shelf half price
And still look sexy, just as sexy as those models on TV
I don't need no designer tag to make my man want me
Well, you might think I'm trashy, a little too hardcore
But in my neck of the woods I'm just the girl next door
I'm a redneck woman
I ain't no high class broad
I'm just a product of my raising
I say, 'hey y'all' and 'yee-haw'
And I keep my Christmas lights on
On my front porch all year long
And I know all the words to every Tanya Tucker song
So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country
Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me, hell yeah
I'm a redneck woman
I ain't no high class broad
I'm just a product of my raising
I say, 'hey y'all' and 'yee-haw'
And I keep my Christmas lights on
On my front porch all year long
And I know all the words to every ol' Bocephus song
So here's to all my sisters out there keeping it country
Let me get a big 'hell yeah' from the redneck girls like me, hell yeah
Hell yeah, hell yeah
Hell yeah
I said hell yeah!

Poetry

Someone asked me a while back if I had any of my poetry... I wrote this one about a year and a half ago... This is one I don't hate... I don't particularly like it either, but I don't hate it...lol

Exquisite Pain

Even when you are away,
Your love lights my life...
The sound of your voice warms me
like nothing else....
The thought of your touch
makes me smile....
There is nothing I would not do,
Nothing I would not endure for you..
You are my purpose in life...
You are my life...

and yet...
I live daily with the fear of losing you...
The fear that one day you will wake up,
frightened by what you have done,
guilt and duty dragging you away from me...
My exile looms like a shadow....

Only in secret lonely moments
in the middle of the night
do I dare to dream of a future with you...
The future that I long for is
an exquisite pain I allow myself.

I have told you that I am yours forever,
and I will be...
If and when you walk away,
All the love in my heart will go with you...
There will be nothing left
for anyone else...

Amethyst

Today in History...

On this day in 1843 Charles Dickens' "A Christmal Carol" was first published.

"Dickens was born in 1812 and attended school in Portsmouth. His father, a clerk in the navy pay office, was thrown into debtors' prison in 1824, and 12-year-old Charles was sent to work in a factory. The miserable treatment of children and the institution of the debtors' jail became topics of several of Dickens' novels."

Christmas wouldn't be the same without this story, and my favorite film version is "Scrooge", the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim. Yes, there are older versions, 1938, and a British version from 1935, (not to mention the one surviving silent version lsting 17 minutes from 1910), but that is my favorite one. A man with a name like Alastair Sim was just meant to be Scrooge, don't you think?


The first airplane flew December 17, 1903.

"Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight."

I have never been on an airplane, and I really don't think I ever will be. Some people were born to travel, and see the world, but I don't think that is in my "life path" this time around. Not that I wouldn't love to see Paris, and London, and Greece...Germany, and Cuba... Even Russia, but I just don't see it in my current future. I know those things are out there, and I see the pictures and hear the stories and can be satisfied with that, I do seem to be becoming a "homebody." A certain someone and I had big dreams about the places he wanted to show me, and places we would see together, but without him, that dream seems to have lost it's shine.

Happy Birthday

Today is the anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven's birth, in Bonn, Germany, 1770.

Most of the people I know never listen to classical music. I told someone once that it had so much power... and they looked at me very strangely... Have you ever listened to classical music on a great stereo system turned up loud? There is no music than can make me feel inside what I can feel with classical music... I love the blues, it has always been music I can feel,and not just hear, but it is not the same as the feeling I get with classical...Energy, and power...magic...
It is really undescribable.

If you think that you don't like classical, turn the radio to a classical station, turn it up, and listen with closed eyes and an open mind... You might be surprised.

(Edit: I listen to classical on a station out of Seattle, Wa. at king.org . I love this station!)

By the way...

In case you haven't noticed, I put a link to Matt's blog Empathy on my list... While I was over at his blog, I followed one of his links, and found My Life With Trees, which is another great read... Check them both out!
(3 posts already and it's only 9am... I gotta find something else to do!)

Is it Friday yet!?!

Woke up this morning with moonlight streaming across my face... Diana brushing my cheek...

It went downhill from there...

My mother telling me how dumb I am because I was going to let Isaiah wear jeans to school that have a little bit of paint on them... Nevermind that the 3 other pair of jeans that he owns were in the dryer... She pulled damp jeans out of the dryer and made him put them on... Guess it doesn't matter that it's freezing out, what matters is that no one sees the paint on Isaiah's jeans and thinks less of my mother for it... *sigh* She is so worried about what other people think, she makes everyone miserable (including herself) and none of those people she is so worried about even care about it....She won't listen to me, treats me like I am a mental case or something, like I have no brain what so ever just because mine doesn't think like hers...
I need to win the lottery or something...lol Calgon take me away!

I did win my case on the unemployment... The Kansas Department of Labor sent me a letter saying... "The evidence is insufficient to establish that the claimant's alleged actions were a violation of a duty or obligation reasonably owed the employer as a condition of employment."
HA! LOL....

Something to recharge your holiday spirit....

"...Pooh-Pooh to the Whos!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
"They're finding out now that no Christmas is coming!
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two...
"Then the Whos down in Who-ville will all cry BOO-HOO!

"That's a noise," grinned the Grinch,
"That I simply MUST hear!"
So he paused. And the Grinch put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.
It started low. Then it started to grow...

But the sound wasn't sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so!
But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down a Who-ville!
The Grinch popped his eyes!
The he shook!
What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Who down in Who-ville, the tall and the small, was singing!
Without any presents at all!
He hadn't stopeed Christmas from coming! IT CAME! Somehow or other
it came just the same.

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?"
"It came without ribbons! It came without tags!
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, until his puzzler was sore.
THEN the Grinch though of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.
"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

And what happened then...?
Well...in Who-ville they say
That the Grinch's small heart
Grew three sizes that day!
And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light
and he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!
And he...
HE HIMSELF...!
The Grinch carved the roast beast!"

Wednesday blahs...

Sitting in my room, in a favorite overstuffed rocking chair. The light fades and brightens, as clouds drift across the sun.

I am listening to National Public Radio online, and barely moving. Two large cardboard boxes sit at the foot of the bed, waiting to be gone through, organized, condensed. I just can't seem to do anything today. My needlework lays next to me, waiting to be finished, I can't seem to pick it up.

The woman on NPR news relates book titles, a list of good reads. Some of them sound very good, but I don't even move to write down the titles.
(edit: Please read the short story "A Christmas Memory" by Truman Capote... It is really good!)
So many things I want to get done, but all I have the energy to do is to go back to bed and cover my head while I sleep the day away. I am always so tired...

Stolen from Two Cents

You are the Moon card. Entering the Moon we enter
the intuitive and psychic realms. This is the
stuff dreams are made on. And like dreams the
imagery we find here may inspire us or torment
us. Understanding the moon requires looking
within. Our own bodily rhythms are echoed in
this luminary that circles the earth every
month and reflects the sun in its progress.
Listening to those rhythms may produce visions
and lead you towards insight. The Moon is a
force that has legends attached to it. It
carries with it both romance and insanity.
Moonlight reveals itself as an illusion and it
is only those willing to work with the force of
dreams that are able to withstand this
reflective light. Image from: Stevee Postman.
http://www.stevee.com/


Which Tarot Card Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Ho Hum...

Four days since my last post. Hmm. What to post about....

I have been spending my computer time working on that webpage. No content, really, yet, just getting the pages set up. That is the easy part.
Went Christmas shopping yesterday. How anyone can love shopping is beyond me. I get so sick of seeing people after just a few minutes! Found this really cool John Deere train that I would have loved to get for Isaiah, but it was $75. I don't think he needed it that bad. But he is like me, loves trains and John Deere tractors, and it would have gone great with his JD tractor collection. I settled for adding another tractor and some implements to his collection. And a Leap Frog to help him with his reading, and a new Sorry game, since my old one that he had been playing with is falling apart. (No, it's not that old, it just got wet once, and the cardboard backing is all warbled...lol) Amazingly enough, he really doesn't want much, and would be excited if we only got him one thing. I hope he is always as non-materialistic as he is right now. In fact, at Christmas time, he gets more excited handing out everyone else's presents and watching them open theirs than he does opening his own...lol
His teacher tells us that she has never seen a kid like him. If anyone gets hurt, Isaiah is the first to console them, and if there is a fight, he is the first "mediator" on the scene... And since he loves trees as much as I do, I call him my little "Peace, Love and Trees" guy... lol

Anyway....

I am sitting here looking at my wineglass full of paintbrushes that sits on my desk next to my Pepsi glass full of inkpens. Different colors, sizes and shapes. I have a few small tubes of paint left, and a couple of small canvases, but I can't seem to get any creativity flowing, just like I can't seem to get my writing started, either. I haven't written poetry in several years... Where does that creativity go? More importantly, how do I get it back?

Tagged!

The honorable miss Jayne has tagged me with this... Might take me a while to think about it... lol

Anyway, here are 10 random things about me:

1. I tend to like animals better than people.
2. I always root for the underdog.
3. I don't really like red meat.
4. I met Waylon Jennings once. I was named after one of his songs.
5. I love Sinatra. And Cross Canadian Ragweed. And The Orb. Wide range of musical likes.
6. I could be a hermit pretty easily, as long as I had my computer!(Wait, that's what I am now!)
7. I would like to go to truck driving school. Be a grain hauler. Or a dump truck/ heavy equipment operator.
8. People here in Hooterville consider me to be the resident Liberal feminist.
9. I once had a drunk guy hold a .357 to my head.
10. I won the "Poet of the Year" award at the JuCo where I took Creative Writing.

(You can wake up now, it's over! lol)

Stolen from Two Cents

Anyway, let's have a little fun. How well do you think you really know me? Here's what you do: Pick ONE from each pair that you think describes me the best & leave it in the comments. It would be great if you'd then copy and paste this in your own journal to see how your blog friends view you.On with the fun.....
* dominant or submissive
* logical or intuitive
* social or loner
* kinky or vanilla
* cute or sophisticated
* kitten or puppy
* warm flannel sheets or sleek satin
* leader or follower
* quiet or talkative
* spontaneous or planned
* football or chess
* hiking or golfing
* tequila or vodka
* top or bottom
* barefoot or shoes
* jeans or Dockers
* tender or rough
* aware or dreamy
* nerd or geek

December 7, 1941

(Picture taken of Pearl Harbor attack from a Japanese aircraft)

Interesting facts about Pearl Harbor at the Naval History Center site.

Some Survivors' personal rememberances of 12-7-41.

I have always felt a deep connection in my spirit with this time in history.

Interesting quiz

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 81% Idealist 75% Romanticist 56% Postmodernist 56% Fundamentalist 50% Existentialist 50% Materialist 38% Modernist 31% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Just another manic (?) Monday

Three weeks in a row there has not been a single "help wanted" ad in the paper.. I wish there was some sort of factory, or large store around here to get a job in... I applied in several places in the nearest larger town, but haven't heard anything back... *sigh* Guess taking care of my son right now is what I am meant to do... I have really been doing a lot more reading, about spiritual things, taking care of everyone's animals and doing things around the house. It's kind of nice, I guess, to just do what I want to do most of the day.
R went back to work today. You know, when I first started blogging, I used initials because there was quite a bit of stuff on my other blog that I didn't want anyone to know about...Didn't want people to figure out who I was... But I guess here I have nothing to hide... So I will just call him Rick from now on. Anyway, dropped him off at 5 this morning. He won't be back now until Friday. He called earlier and told me he left some paperwork here, so I have to drive the 30 miles again to take it to the office. *sigh*
I spent about 5 hours at my friend Rhonda's house this morning, she is getting ready to go to her daughter's house, who is having a c-section tomorrow morning. Can't wait to see the pictures of that new little boy. He is the one I have been embroidering the John Deere Tractor quilt blocks for.
I have my formal alter all decorated for Yule finally. Red cloth, holly berries, evergreen... In addition to the permanent fixtures. I still have to put up a tree. My son, Isaiah, loves to decorate (and redecorate) the tree. My mom has lots of pretty ornaments, but on my tree I put garlands of dried orange slices, cranberries, cinnamon sticks... Pine cones, dried flowers, handmade dough ornaments, white lights and cinnamon dough ornaments. Lots of suns, moons and stars. I also have a few little birds that wire to the branches so they look like they are sitting in the tree, and a few antique blown glass fruit ornaments. My mom tells me it doesn't look very Christmasy, I just tell her that's the point... LOL
Hooterville had it's Christmas parade last night... Most years it's really nice, but last night in addition to the usual fire trucks, and police cars, there were only 4 floats. There was a community get together afterwards... Of course I didn't go, I'm not much of a socializer in this town, but it was a nice thing.
I am working on putting together a website, just because I like doing it. Nothing earthshattering there, but I think it will at least be fun to work on. Links, things about me, different things I am learning in my spiritual readings. Maybe even a link for my online Book of Shadows. Who knows what I might put on it??

Yellowstone Bison

(Check out the full sized picture of this guy HERE - He's awesome!)

I thought you might be interested in this HSUS campaign to stop the slaughter of Yellowstone buffalo.The Yellowstone buffalo herd is the last genetically pure herd in America. And yet, these animals are hazed and killed if they stray from the confines of Yellowstone Park as they naturally forage for food during the winter and spring. The state and federal agencies responsible for this slaughter justify their actions as necessary to prevent the spread of brucellosis, even though there has never been a confirmed incidence of brucellosis transmission in the wild from bison to cattle. I hope you will contact your U.S. Representative and urge him or her to help stop this meaningless killing by co-sponsoring theYellowstone Buffalo Preservation Act. It only takes a minute.Here is the LINK:

For more info on the Yellowstone Bison, go HERE.

The bison population of Yellowstone National Park is one of the last remaining bison populations in the United States that does not contain bison-domestic cattle hybrids. The Yellowstone population is also the only continuously wild bison herd in the United States, descended from the 23 individuals who remained in the area after the near extirpation of bison by European settlers. These animals are truly among the last wild bison in the United States, and they are being slaughtered, at a cost of $2.6 million annually, due to exaggerated concerns about disease risks to a handful of cows.

I don't think I would have paid this bill...

WICCAN SAYS SHE GOT LECTURE, NOT BIRTH CONTROL PRESCRIPTION SHE WANTED

Amanda Blake believes in being prepared. So, when she turned 18 and started dating, she got the blessing of her father and went to get birth control pills even though she had no plans to have sexual relations with anyone. She didn’t count on seeing a doctor who she said gave her a lecture about morality and her religious beliefs and didn’t prescribe any kind of birth control for her.

Blake’s complaint is that during a Nov. 21 appointment with the doctor, she was not examined, and the doctor never gave her a prescription for birth control pills. She said the doctor questioned her for at least 20 minutes about her moral beliefs, career options and religion, and charged her $68 for the visit, which she paid. Amanda Blake, her dad, George Blake, and Amanda’s Wiccan pastor, Lady Rhiannon Dunham, believe that Amanda was discriminated against at least in part because of her Wiccan beliefs.

Read whole article, HERE

Question for the bookworms

There is a link over there -----> in my sidebar to a pagan store... There are so many great things on that website... Tons of stuff!
Anyway, I found this book that sounds interesting... I was just wondering if anyone had ever read it? REALLY reminded me of this entry from Jason's blog.

"COMING HOME"

Martia Nelson

"This is one of those books that will come to you when you are ready. It is a book about our birth right to be in touch with our true self. To be able to look to no other for anwsers that have always been there. To be able to have and more correctly to allow ourselves to have every desire. It is a book to help you see that you have always had your higher self/God within not more than a breath away. The book is just the start of endless information that will set you free. Free from your inner torments of critism, to know that you are the pure spirit that you came into this world. I would recommend this book for those who are tired of depending on others to for answers and peace of mind. I have spoken to Marsia Nelson (a session), she is warm and wonderful. She is very efficient and gets to the heart of the matter. She is therapy at warp-speed at a level of safety. "

Interesting viewpoint

"...You see, if you recognize the beauty in Gaia, you will see it in all her parts. And that includes her human parts. Hate humanity and its creations, and you hate Gaia herself. You also doubt her wisdom. Would she have given birth to clever evolved tool-users without reason? What reason do you have to think our actions are anything other than exactly what is required?
You point to endangered species and decry extinctions. And yet, we know from Gaia's past that these are sometimes required. None of the wondrous variety of life you see today would be here if, several thousand million years ago, a certain species had not evolved...."


I found this interesting essay, HERE.
If you have time to kill, check it out - what's your opinion on this person's viewpoint?

(I know, 2 entries today - I need to find something else to do! LOL)

Makin' the best of it

"An it harm none - Do what thou will."

It's the Wiccan Rede, but it is also how I am coming to terms with my life.

I had dreams, and there are so many things I would love to go and do. BUT - I have to consider what it would do to other people in my life. Especially my son. When I gave birth to him, it was like signing a contract - To take care of him as he grows, to always do what is best for him. Leaving him here to go have a real life or dragging him to new schools would not be what is best for him. I can't put my needs before his.

So, I will do whats best for him. I have to quit thinking about all the things I could have done with this life, and realize that this is what I am doing with it, and make the best of it, right? Ok. Settled. I just have to live in the minute, and quit thinking about what could have been, or what I could be doing, and concentrate on making this life fit me. Concentrate on the good points, you know?

1. I have a great son who I love and who loves me.
2. I don't have to work at a job I hate.
3. I have R, who although he isn't the love of my life is a good friend, and he loves me.
4. I have a roof over my head, food on the table.
5. Um... I had a wonderful love with my soulmate... Even though it was short, many people never get that at all... And I think we were together in past lives, and will be in future ones. (don't laugh at me!)
6. I am in fairly good health.

Surely there are more things... I just can't think of anything at the moment...

I just have to live for this moment, and not think of the past or the future... One day at a time, right? I'm gonna make it after all....