SUSPENSION

Good Morning! We just got over a few day cold snap where temperatures were substantially below normal. It was down to 28F yesterday Morning. I didn't see much frost damage. The newly leafing out black walnut showed some damage at the tips.

I have been struggling with an idea these last few days. I have decided to suspend regular blogging for the time being. That means no more Monday, Wednesday and Friday blogging. I will write as the inspiration demands. I don't know how often that will be.

There is no single reason. We are very busy this time of year; but, I have blogged through busy times before. I have been repeating myself lately; but, I don't mind doing that.

I am ambivalent about it, but.................... I think it is time to take a vacation from regular blogging. 

The collapse of our institutions, as we have known them, continues as expected. It seems slow, but it isn't. In retrospect, it will seem like it happened suddenly. As long as the media is controlled we don't see much that is happening.

We need to hold in our minds the world we want. Dream large.

I will be happy to answer any questions or comment on any issues. Don't hesitate to ask.

I will probably be writing sooner than later. Keep your light shining, you great Beings of Light. That is all of you!

Love and Peace,  Gregg

OUT OF THE BRAMBLES

 

I feel like I am slowly emerging from a dark tunnel. Readers may remember I wrote a blog, a year or so ago, about following our path. We either walk smoothly along our path, following the light or we are off the path, sometimes in brambles and treading over rocks, sometimes it feels like we are being pulled along by a leash. In either way we get there; whether we call it Unity, Love, God etc. The individual way we describe and label these events and goals matters little. We are growing. We can't but evolve.

We learn the easy way or the hard way. Either way, we learn. I have been off the trail lately and going through the brambles. I don't want to pull anymore thorns from my feet or spit out anymore grit.

Why do we do that. It seems so simple; be loving in all situations. All situations; no exceptions. Honor everyone. Honor all relationships.

Why can't I {we} do this? Why do we find it difficult? It seems most difficult in the most familiar relationships. Why?

We have all been crippled in one way or another. We were born and then we learned from imperfect people, just like us, how to relate. We have sore places. We have hidden hurt places. We have scars. We have hidden fears. We do our best to survive and cover over these hurts, etc. with our defensive masks. We get along just fine until a new person or situation presents a challenge. Somehow, they reach through our mask and press a button. We react in some old way-suddenly the wound is fresh- the button pusher gets to experience our rage, tears, contempt, fear, tantrum, or whatever is elicited.

Sometimes we find ourselves in familiar relationships, pushing each others buttons. We pick people who will help us grow. Rather than see this as a misfortune, we can see it as an opportunity to grow.

It is discouraging. We all what to live in peace. We don't want discord. But we do want to grow.

The light is intensifying on the Earth. It is pulling us up. In the process we need to give up all these blocks, both big and little, we have to intimacy and loving relationships. The need to grow is getting stronger and stronger, we will either stay on our path and follow the Light or we will feel like something is pulling us through the brambles.

As I sit here it seems like it would be easy, to surrender to love, at any moment. Yet I know, my internal warts, may cause me to bristle, if a certain person says something to me in the wrong way. Ick...isn't that awful? How do we heal these places that we have hidden inside us? The bad news is, that crap will keep happening until we do. The good news is, that the crap will keep happening until we do. Yes, be grateful for the crap because it gives us intent to overcome the problem and points in the direction we must look.

Let us do ourselves a favor. Let us be honest about how we don't love ourselves. Let us resolve to love ourselves, right now, flaws and all! Let us take a few moments everyday, and imagine ourselves basking in the Love of The Universe. Let the love fill every corpuscle of our mind and body.

Lets make it easier on ourselves, when we accidentally [or purposely] press another's buttons, let's forgive ourselves immediately. Let us forgive those who push our buttons immediately. We can avoid mutual button pushing. In our darkest moments we can remember the Light. In our darkest moments we can remember we are Love.

Ahhhhh........my feet are feeling for the path. Oh.......... I want to surrender to Love.

Love and Peace, Gregg

A DAY IN MAY

 

On this day in 1914 my Mother was born. Her birthday ushered in Spring more than any holiday. She was a Spring time woman. She was a person of the Earth. She loved to garden. She loved flowers. She loved all the creatures of the Earth, including the creepy, crawly things that may inhabit a garden. She was a wonderfully rich woman; very intelligent, extremely well read, opinionated, very tolerant of peoples foibles, [except for intolerance]; paradoxically, she could not tolerate intolerance in others.

Like all people, who walk the Earth, she had great virtues and, of course, some faults. None of her short comings impinged upon me. I never questioned the fact, that she loved me, without measure. One does not see fault in someone who loves you unconditionally. She was not a Mother who possessed. She expected her children to grow up and leave; but she did attract, like a magnet. Her children did love to visit. She was stimulating and fun to be around.

Both of my parents died in their sleep. I feel very fortunate. When my Mother died, it was very clear, she wanted to go. She suffered from emphysema and her last years were a struggle. I did not feel her death separated us. I can talk to her and feel her presence. Love knows no separation or end.

Yesterday I was in a funk. Noah spotted a sheep that got caught in a fence and died. I couldn't believe it. All Winter long, I counted my sheep every day. The Sun didn't go down, without my knowing, all my sheep were accounted for. After the grass greened up, I didn't have any concern of them getting out and I didn't make a point of counting them everyday. This sheep, a yearling ram, attempted to jump over the fence and caught his hind foot and fell backwards, twisting his foot in the wire, there was no way he could pull his leg out. I have had sheep caught in the fence before, usually their head, I can always hear them baaing and I go to the rescue. I don't know why I didn't hear him. He tried to jump over the fence, in a low spot, that the deer have been using. There is well traveled deer trail approaching the fence. One of the reasons I felt bad was because this border fence, is a very old fence, that predated our living here. It has been repaired and added to, but has many questionable spots, where tree branches have fallen on it. I have meant to prop up the weak spots but haven't gotten to it. Sheep, unlike goats, will stay in any fence as long as they are convinced they can't get out. They are happy to go out a left open gate, but they don't look for places, they can squeeze through or jump over, once they are acclimated to their space. If I had goats in that pasture, they would have been on our porch, and peering through the window, in five minutes.

Well the experience caused me to question whether I should be raising sheep at my age. It is obvious I need help in simple things, like patrolling the fence lines, and removing fallen branches and propping up sagging wire. I am not done mulling over possibilities. I am sure I will keep trucking on.

I will talk to my Mom, maybe she will have some advice.

Yes, ALL IS WELL.

Love and Peace, Gregg

MUSINGS

I got my lawn cleaned up, more or less, and mowed more than half of my two acre lawn. We have many trees, which I planted, and some of our yard is becoming quite wooded. I planted soft maples[6?], sugar maples[10], iron wood[2], a red pine, oaks[3], several apple trees [ornamental crab and fruit bearing] and a few other trees I can't remember while I am sitting here. When we moved in forty-one years ago, there was nothing in the yard but one ornamental crab, a dying mountain ash, a sprinkling of Siberian elms, an American elm, a majestic red elm and some aging box elders. The box elders were the dominant tree around the house.

The box elders were way past their prime and the last one survived until about 25 years ago. The majestic red elm, also called slippery elm, fell victim to Dutch elm disease. The American elm was still youthful 41 years ago. I would estimate its age at 40 when we moved in. It stands in a prominent place in our backyard and dominates the area where we often sit outside. It is very near our outside fireplace.

In the 15 years after we moved in, Dutch elm disease ravaged the country side. Our pastures were populated by three kinds of native elms, many of them huge, they all died. It was clear to me. That the American elm, standing in our back yard, would soon be a victim. I planted a red pine and sugar maple close up, nearly under the overhanging branches and planted three other sugar maples nearby. I was planning for the future.

I waited for the future to come. I studied that elm tree, trying to figure out how I would cut it down and remove it when it died. I watched it with a critical eye, year after year. It still stands there, doubled in size and shading the trees, I planted to replace it. I bless it and wish it a long life and I like the little mini-forest that I created when I thought it was going to die. Perhaps it is one of those rare elms that is immune to the disease, or perhaps it is because Jamie pounded in a few zinc coated nail every year. She reasoned that, if the disease is a fungus that clogs up the water bearing function of the cambium layer, then Zinc coated nails may help it. Zinc is a natural fungicide. Whatever the reason, we are blessed with a beautiful American elm in our backyard.

As I sit here, I recall the other trees in our yard. The two oaks and the quaking aspens that volunteered. I, also, planted other pines, spruce, and firs. And a few odd things like a catalpa. I got to quit this train of thought, now I am seeing a cherry tree and a pear tree. I should take an inventory.

We have three crab apples and several other apples that are blooming right now. The crab apples are amazing this year. They are packed with blooms and the colors are vibrant. There are several gorgeous specimens in our neighborhood and it is worth taking a drive to see them.

I was noticing yesterday, that all the trees in our yard seem to be fruiting copiously, especially the elm, maples and birch [oh yeah, we have birch too]. Perhaps, that portends a fruitful year.

Jamie is getting the garden in, little by little. I am not much help. She has potatoes and cole crops in. I can't get down on my knees anymore. It is difficult to plant standing up. I suppose I could plant onions standing up. I plant my amaryllis and gladiolas every year.

On one hand I don't mind getting old. When I sit here I feel like I could be twenty five. I don't know I am old, until I stand up and move the body. What bothers me, the most, are little tasks that were once routine, I now find daunting. I have to walk along the pasture fence and estimate how long a roll of fence is. I bought several rolls years ago and I didn't use two of them. I now want to use them to join our two pastures together. I can't remember how long they are. I think 350 feet. I need to go out and measure a length of the existing fence. A simple fun excursion. Yet, yet it is not like it was just a few years ago. Oh well, aging of the body is one thing we need to accept if we are going to live to a ripe old age on this planet. Most aspects of growing old are fine. I don't want to be younger. Perhaps, I just need to get out there and do it. This Winter was more sedentary than usual. I need to stir the stumps.

Well, this has been an atypical blog.

I do love my life.

ALL IS WELL. 

Love and Peace, Gregg

A GREAT DAY

What an amazing day on Planet Earth! It is already 77.5 F at 11:AM. It is supposed to get to 87 today. Then it drops back to 67 tomorrow for the high. Meteorology is a fascinating study. I am not sure I understand how this can happen. I get it, when it is explained to me, but I am always somewhat amazed with the weather events as they happen. One could say, I am, in awe of the universe, both micro-and macro-cosmic.

I feel really up today. I hope it means good things are happening all over the world. They are here. The trees are leafing out. The bloodroots and violets are blooming. The trillium are just beginning to show. The lilacs are heavily budded. The flowering currants have been in bloom for a week. All in all, a beautiful day in Spring.

It seems that the consciousness of human kind is rising very fast. Each individual is going to have their own take on this according to their perception, at the moment. As the vibration increases overall, individuals are pushed to grow, stuck places in our psyche are exposed. Memories, painful events arise to be dealt, with once and for all. Suppressed pain, denied feelings, press for expression. We need to look at things again and forgive ourselves and others.

We all have a trash bucket of feelings hidden away somewhere. Denied feelings, feelings that were too overwhelming to deal with, at the time, and things we just couldn't acknowledge. Part of giving up the past and living in the present, is emptying this trash bucket. We don't have to make an effort to empty the bucket, it is doing so of its own, as we stretch to grow. We just need to be willing to feel the feelings. We don't need to comment on them, evaluate them or even wonder what they are about. We just need to feel them. If people or events occur, that need forgiveness, give it. It is not helpful to try to understand what these feelings are about; attempts at understanding can delay their leaving. Forgive, forgive, and forgive some more.

It is helpful to understand, that we all are unconditional love at our core, for we are all part of Source. We have taken on layers of facade that hide us from recognition. We have falsely learned that being Love is dangerous and we insulate ourselves with various self-protective devises. We are ridding ourselves of our disguises. We are coming out into the open.

When someone disregards, or hurts us, in any way, it is their defense mechanisms at play. It has nothing to do with us. If we can realize, that if we were in their shoes, and lived their life path, we may be no different, in whatever momentary expression that occurred, forgiveness is easy and natural.

We will slip a lot. Sometimes, both of us are struggling with our craziness, fire works can happen. If we practice remembering that forgiveness is always possible, our relations will get smoother and smoother.

We will discover, that dropping our mask, is not scary. We will find it very rewarding. We will feel love from directions we did not expect. Eventually, we will see, we had it backward. Being vulnerable is not dangerous, it is strength.

Love, celebrate, sing, dance, give honor to the Earth and life.

Happy Friday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

NO BLOG

We have a marvelous cleaning lady that comes every other Thursday to shovel out the place. Well it is not quite that bad, but we do track in a lot of drek in two weeks.

She is having a big garage sale tomorrow and needed to change her schedule. She will be here in about one-half hour. It is remotely possible that I may blog this afternoon; but doubtful, I will probably pick up sticks in the yard, or better yet, loll in the Sun.

I will be here Friday.

Love and Peace,  Gregg

A MARVELOUS DAY ON PLANET EARTH

The Sun is shining brightly! The weather forecast for the next week is promising. This is my week for getting the yard cleaned up. The grass will be long by the end of the week. Several of my neighbors have already mowed their lawns.

I have been reading about time being an illusion. I had an interesting experience this Morning. I was sitting in my chair doing the Sunday crossword puzzle. At some point, I looked at the clock and it was 7:45. I generally let the chickens out about 8:30 this time of year. I thought, “I will work on this puzzle until it is time to let the chickens out.” I kept working on the puzzle, and glancing at the clock occasionally, and noting that it wasn't 8 O'clock yet. I was amazed that I seemed to be whipping through this puzzle so fast. It didn't seem to me, I could finish, it before the time to let the chickens out. When I did finish, I was on my way to brag to Jamie how fast I did the Sunday puzzle, when it occurred to me, the clock was stopped. I checked the other clocks, it was 9 O'clock. I don't know how I did this. Every time I looked at the clock it had to say the same time. Yet, I was only looking for it, not to be 8:30. It didn't register that the hands didn't move.

Since I am In my 82^nd year on planet Earth, I probably shouldn't share such lunacies; but I have had marvelous ones when I was twenty, forty and sixty too.

I am noticing age, though, I was walking through the yard yesterday, contemplating the clean-up that was due. What would have seemed routine a few years ago, appeared overwhelming. Perhaps, it was just my mind space yesterday. It has never been a good thing for me, to contemplate how big the mountain is, it has always worked to just get the shovel and start working.

Of course, there is an other hand, bodies do age and I certainly can feel the limitation, generally I accept it. One goes slow and steady and doesn’t get hung up on the time.

Well, it is Naked Gardening Day. It is only 60F here. A little too chilly for me. I was going to research it and find out if the day was created for a lark or if it does have a tradition. In some other Western Countries, nudity, on your own property, is your business and if people don't like it they can avert their eyes. I had friends, stationed in Germany, who told me they saw folks working around their yards nude. I am sure the attitude varied from Country to Country and city to town. I minored in anthropology and I know many societies did not associate nakedness with lewdness. Where did we get the strange idea that nakedness was impure or lewd? I know it predates Christianity; but Christianity really put the stamp on it. It seems, we in the U.S. are more rigid than any European Country.

I don't want to make further comment on our economic system, until I can see more clearly. Things have changed. It appears that precious metal prices can no longer be suppressed; but is this temporary; I don't know. In a couple weeks things will be more clear.

We can just, “Go along as we started out just looking for things to sing about”, that is a phrase from a song my Mother loved to sing. It goes on to say “ where a goat steps elegantly through the dew and down where a bean row grew.” Then there is a line that says, “Maybe I don't sing pretty, sometimes I hope I do, but if folks disapprove, one of us will have to move, because I can't stop singing until I am through” I loved that song and I loved my Mother.

Keep loving and singing and have a marvelous day!

Love and Peace, Gregg

P.S. I think the opening line of the song is, "As I went out I saw a bird on a bush, it swelled its throat and spoke a proud and in the end a brook joined in real loud, as I was going along,"