CHANGE

What a difference a day makes. I had to get up and find a long sleeve shirt as I was a little chilly with the wind blowing in the North window. I could close the window, but I do like the fresh breeze. The first shirt I selected, seems to be my favorite, had damp cuffs which did not help with the chilliness. I haven't warn it for a week and it is damp! Wow I didn't know it was that humid. When it was over 90 F for six days one would think it would have dried out. It is supposed to get to 77 F today, quite a relief.

We are going to a Celebration of Life this afternoon. This friend of ours died a few weeks ago. It was very unexpected. He was close to my age and as far as I know quite healthy. He was a person I always wanted to know better. His passing was quite a surprise and a disturbance in the flow.

We expect things to continue as they have. We are reminded that change is constant. It is eternal and changing at the same time. I will leave exploration of that concept for another time.

In the last few years I have seen a lot of change due to the passing of folks I knew. Besides friends and acquaintances, I have lost two brothers, a sister in law, and my first wife and mother of my first four children. That is a lot of change.

I suppose that is typical for someone my age.

In the last few months I have gone through a series of physical experiences which reminded me, I might be next. I feel vibrantly alive today. I have no apprehension of death. I know we live forever. We are just visitors on this planet for a time, each with our special tasks to learn.

I think it is one of my tasks to learn to love every moment and give others hope that it is possible. I may not have been doing well lately, in fact I have been kind of a curmudgeon these last few days. I apologized to Jamie for it and she blamed it on the heat. Well that was part of it. If I had to do it all over again I may have turned on the air conditioner. That is a different story.

The biggest weight on me is the prospect of moving. The job seems almost insurmountable. I know I can do it. Other people do it. I know I have to do it. And when all is said and done, I know everything will work out perfectly. It always does.

I know with just a flip in my thinking I will look forward to moving with enthusiasm. I already do at times. Jamie is helpful because she is constantly preparing for the change.

Okay, I don't want to talk anymore about that. It is a small problem. There are bigger concerns in our world, like learning to love one another. I need to give my intent to love in every moment. I do!

Love and Peace, Gregg

ILLUSION

Another beautiful day on planet Earth. It is hard to believe it is going to be a scorcher today. The breeze is coming in from my North window and it is very pleasant. It even feels a little on the cool side. I will enjoy it while I can. We resist using our air conditioner because it cuts us off from the outside. We suffer a little in late afternoon and evening, but we generally think it is worth it. Our house stays cool until late afternoon. We do breakdown and use the air conditioning if it won't cool off at night.

I had a conversation the other day with a person who thought the use of 'illusion' could be dismissive. I have never thought about it that way. I can see how somebody might think that.

In some literature illusion is used to mean anything that is not eternal. In that view, the creative energy of all that is [God, if you will], is the only thing that is real. Everything else is transitory and therefore not 'real'.

In another view, the material universe is energy and what we see as real is how we interpret and form the energy. This view was held by some ancient Greeks as well as some modern physicists. We have reality as each individual interprets it plus a consensus reality. Each person, within their own bodies experiences the world with their five senses, sees something peculiar to them. In communication with others they form a consensus reality. The word illusion refers to how we shape the energy which makes up our universe.

The view I use most often is that we create either with love, which I see as our reality, or with our egos which is dreadful. A spiritual purist would say both are illusion, but the one created with love is obviously preferable to one created with separation, which is the ego.

I have never seen these formulations used dismissively. Perhaps I am dismissive of the world created by the ego.

In any case, illusion or not, this computer I am using is real to me. My aging body is too real much of the time. I think we take substance, energy in form, and create with it in all kinds of marvelous ways. We, along with Nature, are creating continuously. Creation is marvelous.

I don't get hung up on the idea that what I perceive is an illusion. It is going to be 'real' to me regardless. I like what Carlos Castaneda said, through Don Juan; I paraphrase. We must take everything around us absolutely seriously, meet every situation as if it is absolutely real, yet, knowing it is an illusion.

In order to take responsibility for our creation we must accept it as real. It is our life!

I don't think it is wise to get hung up on the philosophical truth of these ideas. We create and experience our lives with love or we don't.

Let's create with Love.

Have a great Memorial Day!

Love and Peace, Gregg

BEING IN THE MOMENT

It may be one of the most beautiful days on planet Earth I ever experienced. It is perhaps a little too warm outside at 82 F but it is perfect where I sit. There is a wonderful cool breeze coming in my North window. All is well.

We got an inch of rain Wednesday Night which has saved us from a drought. It was getting very dry. We had much electric activity last Night, there was much rumbling but no more rain. All is right for now but we are going to need more rain soon.

Hey, I shouldn't be apprehensive about the future but these scattered rain events remind me of droughty years we have had in the past. Of course, weather can turn on a dime in Minnesota. Think of it, two weeks ago, I was peering out the pantry window seeing if that snow pile melted yet.

I am trying to keep my mind in the moment. It is difficult. It is hard enough when we are meditating and our minds keep chattering away about past or future events, but it is doable. The rest of the time our minds are constantly being reminded of things we should be concerned about, whether past or future. Our egos like to stay in control and they use subtle and not so subtle fear, often disguised as legitimate concern; they can't stand it when we are just in the moment because they have no sway.

Of course, in the moment is where love is. Lately I have been renewing my intent to be loving whenever I am experiencing something else. I could just as well have the objective of always being in the moment. It is the same place. I am not doing real well. Several times a day I have to pause momentarily and remind myself I am loved unconditionally and I could be treating myself that way as well. Isn't it arrogant to assume we are unlovable when an unconditionally loving universe tells us otherwise?

We are learning the more we practice being in the moment the less we hear the siren song of the ego. We know that if we take care of everything this day the future takes care of itself. We have had that admonition handed down to us for centuries and it is a tenet of all major religion. Yet, it is so easy to be seduced by fear about a future we have no control over. We are constantly missing the love, peace and joy of the moment. We don't want to do that anymore.

We know this life is our creation. We create by extending the moments with our thoughts and feelings. What do we want to extend, the petty thoughts of our egos, or the feelings of paradise that we can glimpse when we are in the moment?

On a day like this, sitting in the North Room at my computer, feeling a gentle cool breeze blowing in from the window, every once in awhile getting the scent of lilacs, I turn my head I see a lush pasture with sheep grazing; it is easy for me to imagine paradise. Thoughts of anything else are far away. We have these moments where it seems like paradise will stretch out in front of us forever. Then in an instant we can be transported to hell by a fear thought. We can learn to train ourselves to cut off the effect of a fear thought and return to the moment just as effectively.

To effectively deal with fear thoughts, it is very helpful to realize fear is not real. Fear is what creates the illusion we see as reality. Oh it seems real enough! It is reinforced by forces of the dark who would like to keep us fearful. However, fear has no power of its own. It is only the absence of love. Where love reigns, fear cannot exist.

Love is reality. Love is the only thing that exists. As we practice being in the moment we will experience the truth of this. We can create paradise for ourselves by being loving every moment.

Sure we will backtrack a lot. We will get our noses bloody. But we will renew our intent, every five minutes if necessary, we will walk out in to the light. Light and Love are reality. Darkness is a sham.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYBODY! CELEBRATE!

Love and Peace, Gregg

THE BIG CHANGE

Summer has certainly arrived, our outside thermometer reads 76.6 F and it is only 10:10 AM. It is on the Northside of the house but it might get some reflected heat. Our house was built to face a now non-existent road, so it is not square on the compass. The Northside is really canted somewhat Northeast. When the Sun begins to rise in its most Northerly spot on the horizon our thermometer ceases to be accurate, especially in the Mornings. More information than you were interested in I am sure.

Jamie and I celebrated our 45^th Wedding Anniversary last Night. It was good. I may have celebrated a little too much.

We have a hose that runs a hundred yards out to where I water the sheep. It has been laying in the same place for over twenty years. It has become buried under the grass for most of its length. I don't have to concern myself with it when I mow the lawn except where it arises to meet the outlet. A couple days ago when I mowed the lawn I ran over a spot where the hose was lifted up and I cut it. After twenty years of going over the hose I cut it!? To add insult to injury the hose is too brittle to repair with a repair kit. I will have to replace it.

I don't have to replace it, the sheep can now roam all three sections of the pasture and I can water them at another place where I have a hose. Decisions, decisions. If I thought we were going to stay here I would replace it as I may occasionally want to close off that section of the pasture and then I would need it.

One of us brings up moving about every ten minutes, it is constantly on our minds. Jamie is busy disposing of stuff she collected for over 40 years. She is always doing a building or art project and there are many collections of stuff associated with them.

For me it is giving up all my dreams and ideas of this place. I never thought I would ever leave here. Earlier today I thought about how I always saw this place as a refuge in case of a financial or other disaster. We could feed all our kids and grandkids plus a passel of friends from this little farm. It is amazing how productive twenty acres can be if the purpose is just food production.

I think the decision to move is a good one. I have not wavered but part of the decision is processing all the ideas I had, especially the unrealized ones. Well, I am in my 84^th year, it is a time for writing and contemplation. I will grow out of the past and into the future like a butterfly emerging from their chrysalis [is it okay to compare my aged self with a butterfly? Some may suggest a burrowing insect as more appropriate]. Hey! I must have wings that need stretching. The world beckons. Who knows what lies ahead!

I do love it all! Have a great Wednesday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

A LITTLE MELANCHOLY

The clock strikes eleven and I begin. I don't know what to write. That is particularly true this Morning.

It is cloudy today. It was gorgeous yesterday. I got most of my lawn mowed Saturday and Sunday. I found the first wood tick of the Season crawling on me. We don't have too many ticks in the yard I think the chickens keep them down.

We sat out on the deck yesterday afternoon observing an assortment of birds visit the bird bath and admiring nature's splendor. The thought of moving is never far from our minds. The idea that we would leave this place of paradise seems preposterous. Yet we seem to be going in that direction.

It became clear to me only a couple weeks ago that I no longer had the will or ability, or both, to keep this homestead up. I never thought I would consider leaving. I thought I could reduce the workload by decreasing the size of the lawn and have only a few perennial gardens. But even perennial gardens need tending. I can't get down on my hands and knees anymore. If I could I would not be able to get up.

Fences need upkeep, right now there is a place where a tree fell over the fence and the sheep could get out. They found the place once this Winter, I got them in again and they have forgotten it for now, but it is only time when they will find it again. It is a huge old box elder. It would have been duck soup to chain saw it up a few years ago but now it seems daunting. Last year I had a lad I would hire for tasks like that but he is not available this year. And so it goes.

Where we live the land converts, to our climates version of a jungle, very fast. One of the main weeding jobs in the flower gardens is removing the tree seedlings that pop up. At this moment there are several that didn't get removed last year. The second year they are hard to pull up, the third year they need to be dug up.

Part of me is willing and even looking forward to moving and giving up the care and responsibility of a homestead. Today, I feel melancholy. I know I will appreciate the change. We have lived here 43 years and not once in that time have I been able to get up in the Morning and think I don't have to go out today. I can't imagine what it would be like to peer out the window in my robe admiring the weather.

I will be enthusiastic about the move. Even now, I am enthusiastic in moments, sometimes long moments. Today I am reflective. But I accept the path life brings me to and I know it will be good.

I know it is all good.

Happy Monday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

ON THE JOURNEY

Every Morning, except Saturday [my non-ritual day] I do some spiritual exercises. I try not to let them become rote, although that is difficult. They mostly have to do with affirmations of our place on this Earth and our awakening. I will be in the bathroom looking in the mirror reciting in my mind or talking in a low voice.

I was doing them this Morning and as happened a couple times lately, Jamie interrupted me. She was just wondering where I was. It irritated me and I answered brusquely. Here I am, attempting to be on a high spiritual plane, talking to God and the Universe and that is how I react.

It reminds me of a story that Nietzsche told. This seeker went to the mountains and studied with Masters and sought the light. After many years he felt he achieved enlightenment. He decided it was time to descend into the world of regular folks. He journeyed down the mountain and entered a marketplace. Someone jostled him in the crowd. It irritated him.

When I was done with my affirmations, I found Jamie and asked her what she wanted. She said, “I just wanted to know where you were.” I replied, “I was in the marketplace.”

Yes, our achievement of a higher place is measured by how considerate and kindly we are to each other not by fancy words or lofty sounding practices.

Enlightenment, or being in the light, means love flows from us all the time. However, just because we see the goal is still in front of us is not reason to be discouraged. We are works in progress and we are like Nietzsche's character.

When we find ourselves being less than we want to be, it is important not to judge ourselves. Our condemnation of ourselves only puts another barrier between us and our goal. All that we need to do is remind ourselves of our original intent to be loving in all situations. We know at our core we are loving human beings. It is only a learned facade or shell that separates us from our true being. Our goal is waking up to who we really are, that is enlightenment.

At some point in our lives we make the intent to be loving in all situations. We are now on the journey. We may have to remind ourselves every day or a hundred times a day to re-affirm our intent. We will make it. Love cannot fail.

Happy Friday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

WILL WE MOVE

Another Summery day on planet earth. It will easily get to the 80s F today. The trees are leafing out. Wild flowers are blooming. I saw bloodroot and trillium on my drive yesterday. The forsythia are magnificent this year and so are the flowering currants [Jamie calls them clove currants because they smell like cloves].

The shearer was going to come yesterday. Our sheep are not trained to come for a rattling bucket of corn. I have one that will respond and sometimes the rest will follow her. In years past, on shearing day, I go out the night before or in the morning before dawn and lock them in the barn. That has worked for thirty years or so. Last year I went out several times at night and they were not in the barn. I was lucky I caught them going into the barn in the morning before the shearer came.

Monday, late afternoon I didn't see them in the pasture, so I went out, the barn was empty. I went out at dusk, again at 9:30, again at 11:30. No luck. I awoke at 5:20 AM yesterday morning and was sure they would be in the barn. They were not. I spied them way down in the corner of the pasture. I went out several more times but they never came close enough to try the corn trick.

I took ten or eleven trips to the barn. It is a hundred yards one way. That is a lot of walking for an old codger. I need the exercise though, it was good for me.

We are questioning if we want to do this anymore. Jamie is struggling with a mood disorder and almost chronic nausea. She is constantly researching and tries various vitamins etc. to help heal her brain. Her latest brain scan shows no further damage to her hippocampus so her problem does not seem to be Alzheimers. Her doctor agrees that the brain damage is the result of sleep apnea, but the medical profession has no solution. Jamie's research would indicate that the damage is reversible. She is willing to try anything. We have been on a roller coaster. Sometimes it appears to be getting better, then a nosedive occurs.

We have been considering moving closer to some of our children and perhaps a different environment would be helpful. We are in the process of talking things over with a Real Estate Agent. He was here last week and will come again next week. We will see. Jamie needs to be sure that a move would be helpful. She struggles with memory and that can be exacerbated by a new environment. We will take it slow and ask for guidance. I am sure we will make the right decision.

It would be a big change for me. I expected to live here until I left this planet. I planted almost all the trees and shrubs in our yard, at least fifty trees. Some are now huge. When we moved here there were mostly aging and dieing box elders in the yard. There was an American Elm approximately forty year old. It was the center piece of our back yard and still is. However, at the time we were at the apex of the Dutch Elm disease. Our pastures were loaded with three varieties of elm. They all died within a few years. I expected that Elm to die and I planted several Sugar Maples to take its place.

Jamie reasoned that since Dutch Elm was a fungal disease and zinc was a fungicide, she would drive in several zinc coated nails into the tree. She did that for a few years. Every elm tree in our neighborhood died except for that one. It is now over eighty and more glorious than it has ever been. It is scattering seeds on our deck at this very moment.

Yes! I have a great attachment to this place but I am ready for a new adventure. If we stayed here I would need a handyman to do work that I am now reluctant to engage in. We had a huge old box elder fall over the fence, crushing it, and land on the lawn. It is a chainsaw project that I may not want to undertake. We had great winds this last Winter and Fall and there are several trees down in the West pasture. They would make wonderful firewood. Somebody needs to convert them.

This last Winter was the Winter from hell. At my age I would like a day when I could just look out the window to enjoy the weather. Going out three or four times a day to take care of animals was no fun this past Winter. Most of the time the paths were so slippery I had to take my life in my hands.

It is hard to remember the Winter now. I have almost nothing to do but water the animals [with a hose] and gather eggs. It is a joy going out in the Morning to let the chickens out and close them up at Night. The lawn mowing season is upon us and I have yet to pick up the sticks.

I may have to bow to my age but I hate to put it in print. I don't want to fix it in stone. I am hoping for rejuvenation.

I do love every moment of this process and have no regrets.

Love and Peace, Gregg

WAR MONGERING

Wow! It is 73.7 F and it is not yet 10:30. This is the warmest Morning so far this season. It is cool in the house. Our furnace went kaput last week and the repair man can't come out until the 22^nd. I am sure glad the furnace waited until now to do it. I hope it is something simple. We have a geo-thermal heat pump, there are not that many shops that repair them. The last couple Mornings I fired up the living room wood stove. I won't be doing that today.

I am still missing my little dog. She held down the corner of my bed so the sheet wouldn't pull out. It is not the same. The sheet gets all tangled up at Night. Ever since Jamie's bout with sleep apnea she has been sleeping on a reclining chair right beside the bed so the dog and I had the big bed to ourselves.

Also, since she has been gone the chickens have been making pest of themselves by coming up on the front porch. They did it once in a while before, usually on a rainy day, but now they have been doing it in the Sunshine. I don't remember her chasing chickens off the porch. She was more afraid of them than vice versa. Maybe the chickens are just coming up to see where she has gone.

Dogs sure have a powerful place in our lives. I will be expecting to see her around every corner for a while yet. I only had to give a dog away once before. A year or so after Donna and I got divorced, she decided to move out of the house and leave it for me. With the house came a dog. I was in private practice putting in many hours a week and I didn't want a dog home alone all the time. I gave the dog to a gentleman who wanted to train him as a bird dog. I didn't find out until 45 years later that one of my children had a strong attachment to the dog. It is amazing that I could have been so wrapped up in my own drama that I didn't realize that. Life on Planet Earth.

I have many dog stories and perhaps I will bring one up now and again.

It really looks like hell out there in the world, doesn't it? Every time one turns on the TV we are invaded by a geo-political situation that makes no sense. The war mongers are cranking up their calls for the destruction of another Middle Eastern country. Haven't we done enough? There are a certain number of people who go along and accept the propaganda and the demonizing of other countries without question. I don't judge them. It is sad. We should be able to accept the words of authority figures. Unfortunately we can't. They have led us into one destructive war after another for over a hundred years.

I rejoice that I see folks giving up the need for authority figures. I see folks thinking for themselves and questioning the idea of solving problems through violence. We learned that we don't need to do it in our personal lives, why should it be required in our geo-political lives? We have realized that violence is unnecessary and those that propose it, do it for schemes of their own. The lust for money and power are at the base of these shenanigans.

Yes, folks are waking up big time! We don't want the craziness anymore. We know it serves no good purpose. It may seem too difficult to resist the pressure from the military/industrial complex, they have been running things for a long time, but we can and we will. The only power there is, is the power we have as individuals. No group, whether we call them 'the bankers' 'the cabal' 'the deep state' or 'the industrial/military complex' has any power but what we have given them.

Be careful who you give your power to. Avoid belief. Avoid group think. Those waking up now outnumber the going alongers. We are creating a future based on love. When we choose love with every decision we don't give energy to the dark forces. The forces of darkness are squealing in agony, they want a war to save them. We won't give them one. We will give them peace, we will give them love. We will forgive them. We will no longer be in their yoke. We will be led by the light.

Happy Monday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

A DOG

My mind has been going in several directions this Morning. I will not write about the crazy world, not yet. I could write a tribute to my Mother. It would have been her 104 birthday today. She was an amazing woman. I have written about her before and will again. The blog that has been running through my mind is about dogs. If I recorded all of it, it would be a very long blog.

When I miss writing a blog someone usually asks me, “How come?” Nobody did, when I didn't write Wednesday. In there lies a story. I was going to write Wednesday Morning but Jamie wanted me to drive her to her physical therapy [dealing with the aftermath of a dislocated shoulder] then we had an appointment in the afternoon at the Tri-County Humane Society, in St Cloud. That is the story of one dog.

Xena or Zena, we spelled it both ways came to us via our dog groomer, who knew we lost Rosie some months earlier. We were warned that Xena may have some issues because she had a somewhat traumatic background. Her previous owners were elderly and the wife had Alzheimer and the dog did not relate to her. Xena was bonded to the husband who took her everywhere in his truck. He died and his wife was placed in a rest home. The dog was with a relative who could not keep her.

At first we felt we were very fortunate to have such a wonderful pet. She was very much like Rosie being ½ Yorkie and ½ Poodle. For the the first few weeks she spent most of her time sitting in my lap, especially if we had company. My lap was her refuge. She gradually included others in her life and there was a time when she was a “normal” dog. She did the usual things like beg for food if I was having a snack, being alert to the opening of the refrigerator etc.

Her first out of character behavior happened several months after we got her. I would often have breakfast in the living room and she loved to lick my plate. One day she wouldn't do it. It was obvious she wanted to. She acted like she thought I didn't want her to. I thought maybe she was responding to some hand signals she knew from before. I tried everything I knew but I couldn't correct her notion that she shouldn't be licking a plate in the living room.

By gradual steps she pulled back from my physical presence, if I was in the house. In the last year she would not be in the living room with me, she spent all her time in what we call the back or West room where Jamie likes to sit at her computer. Yet she loved to go outside with me. I went out a minimum of four times a day doing chores. She loved being with me. She would often be at the door when I just thought of going out. She was strongly bonded to me. Why was she afraid to be in the living room with me? Several times I fetched her from the West room and held her in my lap in the living room. She would be nervous at first but would eventually relax. There wasn't any carry over. She would go in the living room when I wasn't there, so it wasn't the living room itself.

In the meantime, she would not bond with Jamie. She would never completely trust Jamie and would sometimes snap at her when she reached to pat her on the head.

Yes, and she had some annoying habits like pooping in the North room where I now sit. That isn't a deal breaker, I have picked up a lot of dog poop in my life. We had to keep the bathroom door closed as she preferred going in there. She was only an occasional in-door pooper but we could never figure out why.

We have had her for 2 ½ years, in the last year or so she spent most of the time in the west room with Jamie or by herself only coming out with me to do chores. Paradoxically she loves people, especially young people and children.

The decision to find a home for her where she would be more comfortable emerged over time.

She was happy about taking the trip to St Cloud and excited when we arrived at the Humane Center, it was as if she knew something. Three young women made a fuss over her and one said she knew somebody who would want to adopt her. The experience with the center was very positive. The staff were folks who loved what they did. It made a difficult situation easier.

We shared with them the whole story and recommended that she not be placed with older folks. They seemed to understand and said they have run into situations like this before.

When I went to bed on Wednesday Night I had a few tears thinking of Xena being caged for the Night. Thursday Morning, Naomi messaged me with the information that Xena has already been re-homed and she may not even have had to stay one night in a cage.

I have pangs once in awhile. I was picking up her favorite bones in the yard this Morning and experienced some sadness. I miss her when I go out to do the chores. It is a good thing, however, for her and for us.

The thoughts that were running through my mind were excerpts from many dog stories, it would be a very long blog. I might just venture in to that area another time.

In my 83 years on Planet Earth I have only been dog-less a few years. Dogs, no matter how big or small, take up a big space in our lives.

Happy Friday!

Love and Peace, Gregg

A MONDAY MORNING

It is over 75 F and it is not yet 11: AM. Summer? I just looked to see if the snow pile was gone on Northside of the house, I could see a tiny patch of ice about the size of my hand. There is another patch of ice under some last year's vegetation in one of the flower gardens, both should be gone by tonight.

We had a busy weekend. Naomi and Elijah visited Saturday. We had barbecued ribs and potato salad. Excellent! We had a great visit and a very good spirit raiser for Jamie. Noah visited yesterday and stayed the Night. He is still here. Also, a great spirit raiser.

I didn't get enough sleep though. I spend about an hour on my computer every Night before I go to bed, reading various things and I check our bank account if I used the debit card. I mentioned this to Noah. He was busy loading stuff in his car and going in and out of the house. When I was ready to go to bed. Noah was still outside. I looked. I figured he went for a walk. I didn't go to bed until 1:30 AM. The porch light shines in our bedroom window. I may have slept a little, but when I awoke at 2:30 the porch light was still on.

Unfortunately, my mind started working, wasn't too bad yet, but when 3 AM rolled around my thoughts got more extreme and sleep was hopeless. At some point I got up and was going to go down stairs, I noticed the light was on downstairs and I called to Noah. He was downstairs. I don't know how long he had been home. The porch light was still on.

Of course he thought I would go to bed, pop to sleep and how long he was gone would not be an issue. I certainly may have, but I didn't. We don't quit being parents do we?

We have had a series of remarkably spectacular days. Saturday we were able to open the French doors separating our living room from our screen porch. That really marks the changing Seasons! We had dinner on our screen porch the last two days. Our screen porch opens to our deck and in good weather we flow back and forth depending on the heat and the bugs. Which reminds me to appreciate the outside before Ms. Mosquito arrives. Hopefully the bug days will hold off for a few weeks.

Jamie did my dishes yesterday and she is doing them today. What is going on here? I told her it was my job but she ignores me. Well I do appreciate it as I could use a nap after I have a little brunch.

Perhaps Wednesday I will return to one of my customary topics. But, who knows?

Have a great Monday. It is magnificent here!

Love and Peace, Gregg

P.S. Noah states that he returned from his walk about 1:30. He must have have been coming in while I was tucking myself in. All that angst about nothing and isn't it usually. Porch lights don't tell the whole story.

HAPPY FRIDAY

HAPPY FRIDAY! Our snow is almost entirely gone. I just peeked out the laundry room window to see a small pile about the size of an overturned bushel basket still to melt. It was a huge pile. It is under a spot where two roof surfaces come together forming a valley and it is on the North side.

The spasms are no longer occurring in my back and neck. There are still sore places and my neck is recovering faster than my back. Yesterday, I was at Aldi's and I spotted a credit card someone had dropped, I bent down to pick it up, ouch that was a mistake. If I am careful and don't do things like that I should be fully recovered in a few days.

I am not able to attend to this blog. I have a sheep missing from my little flock. I noticed one of my elderly wethers looking mopey the last two days. He was kept because of his long beautiful fleece. I don't know how old he is. We got him fully grown about seven years ago [could be ten]. I wouldn't be surprised if he expired. I need to go look for him.

We, also, need to go to town as Jamie needs to pick a prescription. And I need to catch up on some chores.

Happy Friday everyone! Celebrate the coming of the light!

Love and Peace, Gregg

AGING

Well it is a couple minutes after eleven and I am just poking at the key board. I don't know what to write. The house is empty except for myself. Jamie is in town and the dog is outside. I like being alone but it is a rare event.

Well maybe I will tell you about a little physical struggle I had the last few days. On Monday Morning when I was reaching for my shoes I got a little twinge in my back. It spasmed painfully throughout the Morning and subsided to be replaced by a spasm on one side of my neck which was very painful and limited the use of my left arm. I searched my mind and could think of no unusual or strenuous activity in the last couple days. Jamie asked me if I slipped and caught myself. No, in fact for the first time all Winter I probably didn't.

The back twinge didn't come back that afternoon but the neck pain was severe and I had to sleep on my back and keep my head still. The following Morning [yesterday] When I reached for my shoes again I had the back twinge. This time it continued to develop and became very disabling. I was able to do my chores slowly and carefully. The neck did not bother me at that time. It occurred to me to try a heating pad. It was magic. It took a couple of hours but the pain melted away. But then the neck twinge returned. What is this? Two days in a row I have back spasms in the Morning and neck spasms in the afternoon. What gives with this is, is there a connection? The neck pain was so annoying I employed a collar, nurse Jamie had laying around, that kept my neck immobile. It helped but didn't completely ease and I again had to sleep on my back being careful not to move my head.

I remembered that the back twinge occurred two days in a row when I reached for my shoes so I put my shoes and socks on my bed table figuring I could avoid the back issue. When I awoke this Morning I got my socks from the table when I crossed my legs to put one on a painful spasm occurred. So it wasn't just picking the shoes off the floor. It was crippling, but soon after I came down stairs I applied the heating pad and after an hour, I dared to walk around. Not too bad. As of this writing the neck spasm hasn't returned. I am aware of a little pain when I turn my head to the left. Cross your fingers, I hope both of these conditions will begin to heal.

I am almost normal, I walk funny to avoid pain. I walk like an 83 year old man. Wait a minute, I am an 83 year old man. I mean I walk like a 103 year old man. After all 83 isn't old. I have just grown up recently. In fact I can point to people who say I still haven't grown up.

Well aging is fun. I normally don't mind. Are these experiences age related? I suppose. I have had both neck and back spasms over the years, but both at once, wow, that was unusual and having one in the Morning and the other in the Afternoon, that was freaky.

I love this old body! It rarely lets me down. It helps me realize how fortunate I am. I am fortunate indeed!

Well I might report that despite splendid weather we still have a couple piles of snow left. We didn't get the rain that folks to the south of us received or it may have been all gone.

Whatever we may do, we must continue loving our life and blessing all around. Look for the Light! It is increasing. Eyes are opening! Minds are clearing. Love is infectious!

Love and Peace, Gregg