WINTER RETREATS

 

I apologize to those looking for a Friday blog. I had every intention of writing something, although, I knew it might be brief. We had seventeen, for the Thanksgiving feast, and there were mounds of dishes to do. Besides, I got up before I had my full compliment of sleep. I felt great when I first plunged my hands in the dish water but by afternoon I was dragging.

We had a great time; despite all the heaviness in the world, we were able to set it aside and celebrate love. And we did. We were love. Besides the craziness in the world at large, we had a painful family event to process. The Mother of my first four children was diagnosed with ALS or at least an ALS type of disease. She is a great women and a loving mother. Although, marriage failures are not simply explained, it suffices to say, we were married, before we were grown-up enough, to know what marriage is about. I suppose one could say, “Well, that is most of us.” Yet, there are differences. We did not have that, magical falling in love experience, to get us through the rough times. Well, I don't want to go into it too deeply. I loved her and still love her; we were never in-love. We were married for fifteen years. I have never thought of our marriage as a failure. That is intellectually, I didn't see it as a failure, emotionally, that is a different story. And a long story. I could write a book.

Enough of that. For what ever reason, we might have had the greatest Thanksgiving I have ever experienced. I felt love from everyone and loved everyone. What a great family we have. We missed Naomi, Greg and Elijah. Naomi is a nurse and she had to work. They must have been with us in spirit.

Another thing to be thankful for, Jamie [my current wife- the one who I have been married to for forty-three years] is very hopeful that she has found the remedy for a malady that has been plaguing her for these last few years. This is thanks to our beautiful son-in-law Joel. I will report on this more fully in a month or so.

Winter is disappearing! It rained during the night and most of our snow is gone. It will probably be a brief interlude, that is okay, we will enjoy it. We have thirty-four chickens [broilers] that need to be in the freezer.

I talked about butchering before. I have teetered on the edge of vegetarianism most of my life. I don't like killing flies, I don't like trapping mice. I, also, don't like flies tickling me or mouse turds in the silverware drawer. I like eating meat. I, also, feel the life, of all, is sacred. Butchering an animal is a sacred trust. I don't like buying meat, because I don't know if the animal lived a happy life and had a dignified death. We have chicken heaven for our birds, and when it comes to the end, they are here one moment, and released to the universe the next.

When we are dealing with that many chickens, it is nice if the plucking and cleaning can be done outside. It is going to be too cool for that, even if it stays mild. We will have to do much of it inside. At least, I won't have to wade through the snow for the initial butchering.

The secret to life is 'Love is everything'. We need to love everything we do. We are love. On this planet, everything consumes everything else, to live. We live off each other, whether we are bacteria or elephants we depend on other life. Should we draw the line between animal and vegetable? Is one less alive than the other? Isn't that just our perception? What is our true nature? We are so separated from Nature, we can't answer the question. All that I have figured out, so far, is that all our decisions, should be the most loving we can make.

Live in the moment, without guilt or fear, let love, and only love, guide all decisions.

Love and Peace, Gregg