ITS EXCITING TO BE ALIVE

 

It is eleven already. It has been a slow leisurely Morning. I almost finished the Sunday crossword before I had to let the chickens out. This could be an eventful day. Our chicks may come and I may get my new glasses.

Let me tell you the saga about my glasses. I have metal rimmed glasses with bifocals. Sure I can get along without them. I passed my drivers test [barely] without them. I read a lot and I don't like, taking on and off, reading glasses. Anyway, a couple years ago, I finally got real prescription glasses, to the tune of about $400. Before I had them a few months, a lens kept popping out. I got the appropriate screw driver to keep them tightened up, but I couldn't keep up with the task and I lost a lens in the snow when I was out doing the chores. It cost me an arm and a leg to buy a new lens and it still loosened on a weekly basis. I did find the lens when the snow melted.

The Summer following, I was mowing the grass; I was going under a low branched pear tree, when a branch pulled my glasses off my face and broke the frame where it is attached to the bridge. Well, superglue was the answer to that problem. It worked fine, but every few months I would re-break them, doing something as simple as cleaning them. I last broke them a couple weeks ago. In the process of gluing them, I got more glue, stuck to my fingers, as I did on the break. Then I got it all over the lens. Well that is not the first time it happened, so I knew the answer to that too; acetone, it cleaned those lenses beautifully.

However, this time I cleaned them in the bathroom and rinsed the lenses in hot water. The glue turned snow white. So I have a white jagged line around ¼ of the right lens. It is not pretty.

Several months ago, Naomi told me I could get glasses online for much less than what I paid for these. However, I needed a more recent prescription. I finally accomplished that this Spring and this final debacle, with the glue, propelled us to order a new pair.

Life on this planet in unpredictable and it continues to bring us the unexpected. Mostly that is good. However, we are living in chaos right now, at least at a global level. There are many signs of the people emerging from the darkness, but that is difficult to see if we pay attention to the main stream media. I wrote a blog on equanimity awhile ago. I don't know what I had to say, but I know, it is more important than ever, to keep tuned to the peace that is our essential being.

Believe me, it is possible to remain peaceful when chaos surrounds us. The further the chaos is away from us the easier it is to stay out of it. Global chaos can be far away. Even national chaos can be ignored. Family and personal chaos is a different story. It is more difficult to deal with, when we feel impinged upon. However, we have all known people who have kept their equanimity through the most dreadful events. We have examples.

To repeat: it all has to with loving ourselves. When we really care for ourselves, we choose not to receive threatening or hurtful remarks or behavior. We know we are more than OKAY! We know that we are beloved beings of a Loving Universe. Another person in pain, no matter how great the pain or how close they are to us, need not throw us off our center. They attack out of their pain. We cannot help them by reacting to them. They need understanding, compassion, listening to; it rarely helps to try to interfere or help them during a painful outburst.

We can help them, however, by maintaining our own equanimity and, regardless of what we are experiencing at the time, we can see our fellow beings as perfect loving beings. The ability to see through a person's disguise, to the loving being they actually are, is a very healing activity.

The World needs our love. Let us not block it. We can let the love flow through. Everybody will be blessed.

We just got a couple packages from UPS. One looked like it could be glasses. Excitedly tore it open. It wasn't. I think they are coming by US mail, anyway. Even when we are 81 we can get excited by small things.

It is a beautiful day on planet Earth. My finger is getting better. It is time I commenced doing the dishes. I look forward to it.

Happy Monday! Have a marvelous week.

Love and Peace, Gregg

BATS IN THE BELFRY

We had a bat in the house last night. It was the first bat invasion in several years. Before we had a new roof put on and had some holes repaired around our chimney, we had frequent winged visitors; but that was over twenty years ago. I don't know how this little creature got in. However, it was causing consternation among some members of the family, so I set out to hunt it down. I used to use a tennis racket, I would just stun them and release them outside. I haven't used a tennis racket for what it was intended, in over forty years, and I don't know where it is. I tried a broom and an old hat [the soft one I gather eggs in]. I trapped the creature in the downstairs bathroom. I tried several times to whack it with the broom. Nothing. Finally he/she started landing on things and I tried to catch it in my hat. Twice, it landed on the window screen and I was able to cover it with my hat. If I had something stiff, like cardboard to slide between the hat and the screen it would have worked. As it was, I tried to squeeze the hat brim together trapping the bat inside. Twice it escaped just when I thought I had it.

Suddenly the bat was gone! I searched every inch of the bathroom. No bat. Then I became aware of an aperture between the bathroom and the laundry room; it is covered with a decorative grate, sawed out of wood by Jamie. It is at the ceiling level and has openings big enough to let a bat pass through. Its purpose is to help level temperatures between the two rooms, especially in Winter; however, it became the great bat escape.

We couldn't see the bat anywhere. Hours later, it emerged from the laundry room flying in that dipping, dodging pattern that bats have perfected. Three, four times it raced through the living room, then, it vanished again. Waited, with broom at the ready, no bat. Jamie went to bed, after a careful inspection of the room; she doesn't like the idea of a bat flying over head as she sleeps. I stayed up hoping to trap it on the screen porch. I thought, but I am not a bat, it would fly where it would be closest to the outside. Once it was on the screen porch I could close the inside doors, open the outside door and merely shoo it out. Good plan, but the creature did not appear again. I went to bed about 12:30. This Morning we searched the premises. No bat.

I hope we don't have to go through this again tonight!

Speaking about bats; how many times, when we get into an argument, do things quickly deteriorate into some version of who is the craziest? If we take notice, the argument is rarely focused on the thing or infraction that caused the initial concern. Someone feels impinged upon and then, suddenly somebody's feelings are hurt, and then it can become a competition over who can best insult the other person.

We are always convinced we are right, or we wouldn't be arguing. Who started it? Who won't quit? Who is the most despicable? Who is the most dishonorable? We can be coolly logical or passionately emotional, but the nut of the argument is, who is more wrong. In our conviction of our riotousness we can do much temporary damage to the relationship. Ego smashing, of this kind, can actually enrich a relationship, but there are much less painful ways to do it.

How, why, do we get caught up in these things? When we get to the place, where we know we are absolutely lovable, we won't react to someone else's comment, no matter how inflammatory or despicable. We will know they are in some pain. We will step away, knowing that at this moment, we can only have compassion for them.

Well, were not there yet, but we are getting there. We can imagine being that secure in ourselves. In the meantime, when we find ourselves, angrily arguing our riotousness, remember there is always a way to stop the escalation. We can always just quit. We don't have to have the last word. We can't end on a winning note. When we are arguing about whose the craziest- we are both nuts.

As we grow in appreciation of how loving and loved we are, these confrontations will become fewer and fewer and much attenuated. The solution, as always, is love. All the problems in the world originate from our lack of love of ourselves.

When we are loving ourselves, we don't attack. When we are loving ourselves, we don't take offense.

I repeat; it would be very benefiting to spend some time, every day, emerged in a vast, quiet place of loving energy. Try it. Sit back. Close your eyes. Imagine being embraced by a Universe of Love. Imagine love penetrating to the core of your being. Imagine the love from your core pouring out to greet the Love of the Universe. Yes, we are One with the Universe.

Love and Peace, Gregg

AND LIFE GOES ON

I awoke to wind driven rain slashing the side of the house. By the time I got out of bed, dressed and downstairs, the rain had slowed to a drizzle. We just got the forefront and the main part of the storm went North. This has been the pattern this year. Storms have gone a few miles North and a few miles South and we remain in a relatively dry pocket. Fortunately we have received enough rain to keep the crops in good shape. A couple weeks ago the corn and soy beans were looking bad and we got rain in the nick of time. The crops are just beginning to show the symptoms of dryness again; we are supposed to get more rain tonight and tomorrow.

For the first time, I was ready for the chicks. I cleaned out the shed. Got the extension cord hung up and the heat lamp in place. Cleaned and filled a waterer and went to town to purchase feed [chick-starter]. When we returned home Noah said, “The hatchery called and said they had a poor hatch and we won't get our chicks until next week.” Such is life! We ordered our chicks late this year because of the wedding. We just had too much to do. There are advantages to getting them late. There is less artificial heat required and they mature when the weather is cool which makes butchering more pleasant. However, everyday counts and we don't want to be butchering in a snow storm either. This is Minnesota, after all, Winter can arrive with November.

For those who are new readers, Noah is my number four Son. He has been living in California pursuing an acting career. He moved back to Minnesota several months ago and he is staying with us until he gets his acting career on track here. His Son Gregory, twelve, has been visiting us these last two weeks. He is going back to California on Friday. His cousin, Elijah, eight, [Naomi's Son] is staying here to take advantage of Gregory's visit. It has been a delightful having this youthful energy in our midst. Noah has been the main caregiver. Good thing. Grandparents are getting long of tooth.

These are difficult, horrible times to live through; or exciting and promising, depending on your perception. Most of us experience a little of each. The carnival show, of the main stream media, is seductive; but it should be avoided unless we can see it as a bad movie, that we can exit any time. Even then we must guard against being programmed and manipulated. Rarely are we seeing truth presented.

We need to keep our minds focused on the World Created by Love that is emerging through the haze of this illusion. We have been living in a world created by separation, an ego driven experience, we have had enough, we are ready to give up the illusion.

The old world has been maintained by our feelings of unworthiness. We have not believed we deserved any better. We were encouraged to believe we were unworthy, helpless and incompetent; therefore, we created a world to fit those attitudes. We are creators! We will make the world we perceive. We must accept who we are. We are Love. We are part of Source.

It is time, each one of us, were completely honest with ourselves and begin to give up all ideas of ourselves that are not loving. I know, it is easy to say, difficult to do. I find myself mucking around, on a daily basis, with negative thoughts. I deserve better! You deserve better! We deserve better! All these negative ideas came from programming designed to keep us from realizing who we are. It is impossible to rule over those who know they are Free; those who know they are part of Source, God, the Creative Force.

We need to experience, how much we are loved and cherished, by a perfectly loving universe, everyday. Several times a day we should remind ourselves that we are loved and loving beings. Pause-find your center- it is there. It is Love.

Love and Peace, Gregg

BABY CHICKS

We are getting 45 baby chicks sometime this week. 35 broilers and 10 straight run Americauna [they lay green, pink and blue eggs]. I hope to get at least five replacement hens plus another rooster. I need, at least, two roosters if I am going to have fertile eggs. I would have let some hens set this year if I could be sure most of the eggs would be fertile. I only had one rooster for about twenty hens. That ratio works out in some light breeds but not the ones I have. A ratio of one to twelve works out for us, with our odd assortment of heavy breeds.

No matter how many times one experiences it, it is very exciting to have the mail lady drive up with that box of chirping fuzz balls. We are never quite ready and we have to find an appropriate extension cord and suspend a light in the shed they will grow up in. Then we set up water and feed. As we take each one out of the box we dip their beak in the water, to familiarize them, and they are thirsty after their long trip. They may come today! I need to get things set up as soon as I am done with this blog.

I don't have any nuggets of wisdom today. The rest of this Summer is going to be nuts. If we can see everything without fear, we may find it amusing. It is already a carnival show and it will get more intense. None of the office seekers, seem to be aware, that the world economy is extremely fragile. There are rumors, that countries, including the United States, are preparing to issue new currencies based on precious metals. The age of fiat money is over. The banks have huge debts that cannot be repaid. The overall indebtedness has reached a point that is unmanageable and has been for at least a decade. The indebtedness is not due to normal operations; it was created by fraud and swindle, at the highest levels, in the government and banking community. The chickens are coming home to roost!

Speaking of chickens, I need to get the place ready for our new little peepers.

Keep centered. Keep loving. Know you are a cherished member of a loving universe.

It is all a bad movie. It will be over soon.

Love and Peace, Gregg

WE NEED TO BEGIN WITH OURSELVES

 

Good Morning! I am back to my Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. I don't see anything, looming in the future, to change that. We just got over a hot spell and it is now cool and beautiful. It is only 69F and it is already 10AM. Great! A very pleasant relief.

It was Jamie's birthday Wednesday. I forgot to mention it in my blog. I was preoccupied with relating the story of how I injured my finger. Jamie didn't want to go out to eat nor did she want to cook an elaborate birthday dinner. So I elected myself to be cook. I found some wild caught, coho salmon at Coborns in Mora. We had a delightful meal of pan fried salmon, rice, and cauliflower in a sauce [Jamie made]. It was a low key celebration, but it was great.

Since my injured finger, I haven't been doing the dishes. I told Jamie to get me a rubber glove and I will do them. She thinks I should wait until the healing takes a firm hold. We will see. It still looks awful, but it doesn't bother me much. I can type much better.

My lawn was mowed neatly for the wedding but it is already looking shaggy. It usually doesn't grow that fast this time of year. However, we were coming off a dry spell and the grass re-awoke from its dormancy. It is acting like Spring.

I had lots of things I wanted to talk about, none of them had to do with the state of the world. I don't want to put my energy into the craziness and divisiveness of the world. The old world is not going to collapse with a whimper. We are in for a wild ride. There will be much chaos. I doubt if either presidential candidate will make it to the White House. In the next week or so I will explain why I think that.

Although, there are enlightened leaders in the world, they are not powerful enough, or in the position, to cause a top-down change. Change is going to come from us. The waking up process is beginning at the bottom and rising. Leaders and politicians who are not awake to the rising tide will not make it. {Maybe, this cycle, definitely not the next} Us, you and me, must commit ourselves to look for the love in the world and refuse to give energy to what isn't. This is not to deny that the world is stark raving mad! The criminality and corruption of some of our leaders defies description. Yet, except for helping the blind to see, it doesn't help to focus on it.

We need to join, with the loving energy of the universe, in our everyday lives. Bring peace to our own selves. Let our bodies be used as communication devices for all that is love. Our power to spark hope and joy in another being is infinite. When we smile at someone in the grocery store, with genuine radiance, we may be kindling a flame of love in their heart that has been missing.

Every time we smile, every time we laugh, every time we sing, dance or play music with abandon, we raise the level of Love Energy in the World. It is that energy, that comes from us, you and me, that will change the world.

Anger, fear, war, violence etc. cannot exist in an atmosphere of love; and it won't. We the people, are waking up! We, by nurturing paradise in our own lives, are creating the energy to make the change that will affect the whole world. We are expanding the energy of love- it won't be stopped.

Don't look for higher-ups to bring change. They are to locked in to the crazy drama. Let us look to ourselves. We want peace- create it in our own lives.

Love, joy and peace, is our right, as members of this loving universe. Let us remember it throughout the day; everyday.

Love and Peace, Gregg

WHAT IS?

I didn't realize how blessed we were during the first half of the Summer. The mosquito population was negligible; and now, they are horrible. They appeared en masse about ten days ago. They abated the day of the wedding; I don't know if that was because of the pleas to Gaia or the herbal repellants that were, surreptitiously, sprayed around. The mosquitoes came back with a vengeance on Sunday.

We are going through another hot spell. It cooled off last night. It supposed to stay warm tonight, but the nights following it will be down in the fifties F.

I said I would tell the story about how I hurt my finger; well............... I am having second thoughts, but since I said I would, I will.

There was a lot of energy in the wedding preparation. It was a high energy event! I had a great deal of anticipation concerning the ceremony and my contribution [I always do]. The last words of the ceremony are, “Let the celebration begin.”

I, occasionally, like to relax in the evening with a small glass of gin. A very dry martini, one might say. I have a small glass that I fill solidly with ice. It doesn't hold more than an ounce of liquor. Over a few hours I can drink two maybe three.

I did the same thing after the wedding, only with the plastic glasses that were in use. I don't know how many I drank. Was it the energy? Did the glasses hold much more? I don't know. I was in engaged in very animated conversations and my mind was clear and sharp. Yet, when I got up, I found my body did not agree with my mind. My body was definitely in trouble. I fell, and as I fell, my finger went through the lace work of a metal chair [cast aluminum]. It apparently had sharp edges. It caused a quite deep, triangular, skin tear on the inside of my middle finger. If it wasn't Saturday night, near midnight, I would have obtained stitches. It doesn't hurt, but it looks awful. I may, yet, make a trip to the doctor.

Somebody asked me, “What do you believe, Gregg?” Just kidding; nobody asked me. I just want to talk about it. I think we should give up all the beliefs we borrowed from our upbringing and those we absorb from our culture. I think we need to see the world afresh. Our perception has been so distorted that we don't know what is.

We are collectively and individually creating our experience. What do we want to see? What beliefs are useful? We can sort through, and contemplate, all the teachings of the Great Ones. Which ideas seem right? What ideas seem to be true when contemplated in our hearts?

My starting points are: the Universe is benevolent; the energy of the Universe is Love; All is One; as parts [members] of the Universe, we are absolutely and unconditionally loved and we are absolutely free.

We are free to do anything, but when we act without consideration of our Oneness, we err and we draw some corrective experience to us. This is our doing, nobody or no entity, is doing it to us. Thus, we learn Love and Oneness.

God, Allah, Krishna, the Creative Force, The Great Spirit, Source, et al, are different names for the energy of the Universe. It is Unconditional Love. Our experience is our creation. Our choice.

Love and Peace, Gregg

AT OUR CENTER WE ARE PEACE

 

Wow! That was one great wedding! Yesterday, I was in full recovery mode. 99% of the cleanup was done yesterday; much by the bride and groom. We will gently get things back to normal, though we have two grand kids with us, that tend to keep things stirred up.

This is just a note to let people know I am still alive and will be back to my MWF schedule soon. I injured my finger in a silly accident, that I will discuss more fully, when it heals more and I can type easier. {Interestingly enough, I am making all kinds of mistakes with the hand that is not injured.}

This is really a time for us to a avoid the main stream media as much as possible. We are not sticking our heads in the sand by ignoring it. Much of it is outright prevarication and the rest is misleading. Continue to carry the light for those around you. Create paradise in your heart and spread the love to those next to you.

Peace, Love and Joy are our right. They exist inside us, even when we obscure them with our egoic struggles. Despite the war cries, violence, and chaos displayed in the MSM, humanity is on track towards awakening.

We all have some form of meditation, even if it is just closing the eyes for a couple minutes and seeking peace. We can help ourselves if we remember to do this several times a day. Think of it as keeping yourself centered in a peaceful place. The manipulative forces of the dark use fear, in all its forms, to stay in power. Without our cooperation they can do nothing.

Love is the only energy of the universe. It reigns on the Earth NOW.

We will get through these times that seem troubling. Hug the person next to you; tell them everything is OKAY!

Love and Peace, Gregg