snow in the summer

Snowflakes. http://www.snowcrystals.com/

No two alike...it's really true. SO blogs lead to blogs and more blogs branch off of those blogs and this one came from Salmon Cabin today. It's all about Gratefulness and if you click on the Salmon Cabin http://www.salmoncabin.com/ blog link and then click on her link to the Gratefulness website and from there click on the http://www.gratefulness.org/p/uniqueness.cfm and with their permission, I am showing this picture to you.

We and snowflakes are all indeed very unique. We all bring ourselves to each other in myriad ways. I have mostly tried to bring Love and honesty, but alot of the time, folks just don't understand. But I am a gift. If you have been lucky enough to have shared some time with me on this planet, you too have had that gift. I have received gifts from you.

I can only be me.

The picture won't download. Click on the link. Just do it. Trust me. They are beautiful.

Yes, I am feeling all alone today. Abandoned.

But not really as I heard from a wonderful person from Germany that came into the hostel several times over the past 3 years. Tonight I am grateful for that email. Thank You, Claudia.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/science/earth/12suburb.html?_r=3&th&emc=th

that link will show you about some folks in Germany giving up their cars!!!

If you have the time to spend a little on the Gratefulness website...click on features *(such as this link above) and then click on Grateful News....enough inspiration to pull any of us out of a rut.

Changes

http://planetaryapothecary.com/2009/08/leoaquarius-full-moon-lunar-eclipse/


Check out this website introduced to me today by Salmon Cabin. I have been doing alot of thinking/researching about the gift of plant medicines over the past several years but especially so the past few days. Here is what Stephanie of Planetary Apothecary writes about this full moon still with us:

August 5, 2009: Leo /Aquarius Full Moon Lunar Eclipse (exact at 5:55 pm PDT)
Today’s Full Moon marks the final of this season’s three eclipses (the others occurred on July 7 and July 21). Even if we can’t see an eclipse in the sky where we live, these celestial events are renowned for being very powerful in the way in which they can impact our lives.
A Full Moon Lunar Eclipse signifies a period when things come to fruition. It portends an auspicious time to let go of something that is outworn, whether it be a possession, a habit, a limiting belief, or a relationship that doesn’t serve your highest good. Additionally, eclipses provide a great opportunity for outward manifestation with life-changing events—sometimes expected, sometimes not—often happening around this time.
As this is the last of the season’s eclipses, a situation that was catalyzed at the beginning of last month may reach a level of closure or completion. Use the energies carried within the marriage of Leo and Aquarius—an ability to perceive the unique gifts and qualities that you embody—to help you close one chapter of your life so that another one, which will more gracefully align with your heart’s desires, can emerge.
During a Leo/Aquarius Full Moon, issues involving individuals and their relationship to the collective become the center of attention. If you are involved in any groups or associations, you may perceive a heightened sense of tension as the organization strives to accommodate the needs of its members along with its own overarching identity and goals. Yet, if outstanding issues are worked upon, there can be great breakthroughs in group dynamics and team building.
This month’s Full Moon falls at 14 degrees of Leo (Sun) and Aquarius (Moon). While everyone experiences the energies of a Full Moon, if you have planets or pivotal points (i.e., Ascendant/Descendant or Nadir/Midheaven) around this degree in Leo, Aquarius, or the other fixed signs—Taurus and Scorpio—it may impact you more intensely. Also, take note of the house in your personal astrology chart that the eclipse falls in as it represents an arena of your life that will hold special import over the next 6 months.
Full Moon Lunar Eclipse Apothecary Suggestions
Leo is associated with the heart, spine, and hair while Aquarius is associated with the calves, ankles, peripheral circulatory system, and the body’s bionergetics. Pay extra attention to these areas of the body around the time of this Full Moon.
Listen to world music: As Leo is the sign of the creative arts, and Aquarius the sign of humanity’s collective vision, listening to music from other countries is a relaxation practice that aligns with the energy of this Full Moon. Whether it be Jamaican ska, Portuguese fado, Senegalese mbalax, or any international genre, music can bring great joy and help us open up our heart.
Quaking Grass flower essence: Quaking Grass is a wonderful remedy to help inspire harmonious group dynamics. It helps individuals maintain a sense of balanced self when in a collective and yet see themselves as a part of something much larger than just themselves. While the essence can be taken by an individual, it can also be used it as a room spray (mix a few drops into a water-filled mister bottle) as a way to foster a more productive, as well as heartfelt, group process. (Flower essences are made from flower-infused water and work energetically to restore emotional and mental balance. You can find them in natural food stores or holistic pharmacies.)



Also more along the lines of Sound and Vibrational Healing which I too think will be a primary healing tool for all in the immediate future check out the work of Donna Carey (Thanks again KB)
of the Kairos Institute http://www.acutonics.com/
Both of these (and Salmon Cabin, again) are very inspiring websites and give me hope for healing this place where we all live.

Georgia Again

"Nobody sees a flower ,
really-it is so small-we haven't time,
and to see takes time,
like to have a good friend
takes time".Georgia O'Keeffe

Leaf Prints 7/26/09

I have been doing alot of leaf prints again lately. I just love the way they look after watercolors are added. Today I went with my Dad walking on a different part of the Olentangy River Trail.
A few weeks ago we had walked on the section between 3rd and 5th. Today we walked south from 3rd to what seemed like almost downtown. I found some chicory,purple loosestrife and teasel to scan with a big Catalpa leaf in the background. I also picked some Red Oak leaves and came back home and did some more leaf prints and watercolored them today.

Common Ground

Today I am feeling extra extra homesick for the Bay Area, Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean.
One of the things that I really miss about being around those parts in addition to my beautiful friend-the Pacific Ocean , farmers market paradise and my acupuncture/sound healing treatments (and Bay Area music in all its forms) is being able to pick up a copy of the most amazing, inspiring magazine ever,
Common Ground.
It's based in San Francisco and it's just plain cutting edge about everything I truly care about.
I had a stack of them at the Lighthouse that I had collected for over three years and had to leave them behind because they wouldn't fit (with alot of other stuff) into my pickup truck. CG is the only magazine I have ever collected like that besides my all time favorite "The Mother Earth News".
You can read it online at www.commongroundmag.com but I can't right now because I happen to be on a really old computer at my Mom's house (Thanks Mom!) and it just won't load the digital version. Hmm, I'm gonna hafta mosey over to the library...Check it out. Tres inspiring.

I was able to click on some of the archive articles in Common Ground and one froma few years ago that I somehow missed led me to an amazing website http://www.soundhealingcenter.com/ wow! Wow! is all I can say now, at this moment.

Now not only do I need to build a strawbale/cob sound healing chamber (see previous blog and Joseph Rael's book "Being and Vibration") but now I also want to go back to school (So Be It) to be a certified "Sound Healer". Thanks to Katie Briggs, countless groups that I have sang and chanted with and through my own playing of drums, rattles, bells and my harmonica....I have had it up front and personal...and it works.

More Inspiration from Lloyd Kahn's Blog

Click on this for some cool pictures of a Dome Building Company in Vancouver, B.C.
http://www.cwdg.ca

Sufi Wisdom

"Breath is a link through which one individual is connected with another individual, and space does not make a difference once connection of breath is established.
The communication will be sure and clear, if only the wire is tied to sympathetic hearts. There is much that is common to the science of electricity and the science of breath. The day is not very far off when science and mysticism both will meet on the same ground in the realization of the electricity which is hidden in the breath".
~Hazrat Inayat Khan~