WONDERFUL NEIGHBOURS

Recent books here in Vernon have been published about pioneer days. The best feedback I get from my blog are items I write about pioneer days.
I wrote this verse for the Golden Wedding celebration of:
ANNE AND CHARLIE CAREY

Let me tell you 'bout a friend I knew, Pushing ninety and still working too,
Chopping firewood from dead snag trees, Keeping forests safe and filling his need.
His sweet shy wife, early in the morn', Busy as a bee cooking up a storm.
Planting flowers and watching them grow, Weeding the garden, every row.

Time every day with others to share, Lending a hand and knowing they care.
A gate left open, some stock got out, Charlie took care of it, there's no doubt.
When my guests arrive he waves and shouts "See you got feeders, I'm sure they will thrive." Should a skunk or a weasel your chickens desire, His 22-trusty is ready to fire.

If flocks of starlings hove in your ken, He's ready with buckshot, just tell him when. They'll strip off your cherries quick as a wink, Testing each one fast as you think. One time a thief thought his house to rob, Stole Anne's poppyseed cake to finish the job. But neighbours nearby kept open sharp eyes, Called on the Mounties to go get their guy.

Pursuing them south to the border gate, The poppyseed cake sealed their fate.
Though his "good argument" stays close at hand, The guns of the Mounties still take the best stand. When I "scold them" for late nights dancing 'til two,
He just cheers for noticing that they made it through.

Late night moving traffic, a blizzard or storm, Still their early-rise habits bring an early-up morn. Hear the sound of his chain saw next morning bright,
After calling the square dance half of the night. Time for the wedge on a wide-angled log, But don't drop the axe, could get lost in a bog.

He takes aim at a pole, standing fast in the yard, The axe is implanted - it didn't seem hard. After years as a bush-boss it seems mighty clear, There's a lot of good knowing gone into those years. Early fall they present me with huckleberries blue, I'm surprised they are picking when the bears have been through.
"Just wear a small bell, pick your side of the patch, The bears won't molest you, They have their own catch." Good advice, sweet Anne, and thanks for the treat. Here, try out my cot squares, not as tasty but neat. Your blueberry muffins are topnotch I know, But to wild berry pataches, I fear I won't go.
Sixty years plus since Anne and Charles met, At sixteen a camp cook and to visit her set, A river he'd swim, leave his work clothes one side, O'er the stream Sunday clothes in a tree box would hide.
But one Sunday night, with the moon shining bright, Over waters, no working clothes showed in its light. The cattle had chewed them to bits by the stream, And the country's first streaker never ran out of steam.
We treasure their stories, Such fun to be with, Your friends and your family, both kin and kith. And always remaining in this neighbour's dream, Is you'll start your next century - right on this beam.

TOOLS

It's time to salute the one with the tools,
Always so welcome, always so cool,
A briefcase, a belt-swing, a brilliant mind,
All working together, Solutions to find.
For the needs of the body we find kitchen tools,
To nourish the body, All part of life's rules,
The tool of the mind to search inner life,
With thoughts to avoid the stresses and strife.

New visions take shape, With forgiveness and love,
Attuned to the songs of heaven's peace dove,
Trusting the heart, a great step to take,
The tool of decision, a great working mate.
Headlights give warning, Through the darkness of night,
A vision takes shape, With love's guiding light.

All growing together as parthways show change,
The way will be seen for our whole vision range.
Each challenge a lesson, like the man with his tools,
Who needs them as well as his learning from school.
Tools work with the lessons in each aspect of life,
Contentions - bad tools as well in political strife,
But using the tool - that great Golden Rule,
By doing to others, as you would wish done to you.

GROWING UP

At almost thirteen years of age, the yard stick recorded my height at almost five foot, eight inches. The nearest high school was 65 miles distant and our parents counted their savings to see if they could find funds to send their children to the city for high school. A pharmacist and his wife in Medicine Hat offered to keep me as a household helper and baby sitter while I attended high school. They were nice people to work for and their toddler, Joyce was a pleasant child. Mother had trained my older sister and I in household cleaning, baking bread, and following instructions. She worked hard to see that her daughters would have an easier life than had been her lot. The depression of 1929 was in full force with World War II looming on the horizon.

Ready to bounce into the big wide world, I asked my mother to tell me about the day I arrived on the scene to clarify what might lay ahead in life. After preliminary details she told me about that hot July day. Farm dinners were served at noon and presumably provided the energies for busy hours ahead with animals to feed, cows to milk, weeding and cultivating, summer fallowing fields, and monitoring the water flow in the dikes.

"You arrived on a Sunday," Mother said. "Church was in the school house in the morning. A United Church divinity student arrived every summer for his practicum, a neighbor played the organ, and other volunteers taught Sunday School behind a curtain at one side of of the one room school. It was good to get home and have the main meal over for the six of us. You would be child No. five. I let the wood stove die down and hoped to get a little rest. Too soon the distant sounds of jingling harness was heard and my sister's wagon with her brood turned in and unloaded her family for a Sunday visit with noisy play. Phones were not available in those days and the cousins looked forward to these get-togethers. Vegetable peelers sprang into action as the fire was stoked up to prepare another Dinner.

Fast food consisted of hurrying to the garden, digging potatoes, gathering lettuce and other vegetables. A jar of meat canned the previous winter would be the protein with boiled eggs in the salad. My aunt rattled on about the community news while Mother hinted about milking the cows and getting the chores done. Around 6 pm her sister finally directed her noisy children back into their wagon and left to do her own chores and Mother finally had a little privacy. I arrived an hour later. Air conditioning consisted of opening all the windows and doors and wishing for a little breeze. Mother had a busy day.

CAT PLAY

I am a cat - my part to play, to help us balance life,
It takes all kinds while here to show, The challenges of strife.
Ebony - my name you gave, I really chose it too.
Obama is my second name, It means, "Within, I do love you."

Back to the script - the scene unfolds, Lessons may be learned,
To be more selfish - just like me, Those other parts to earn.
An inner sense tells me that, Dogs don't really like me,
But I ignore their prejudice, And foolish tries to fight me.

I zip up trees and handy poles, And laugh at all their barking,
Find dining chairs for comfort, Or TV sets for parking.
And if my tail should hang below, And hide your screening view,
Do not disturb my slumber hour, I could run away from you.

Your residence is mine you know, But don't move anywhere,
Just feed me what and when I want, And brush me with great care.
I make no promises to you, If neighbours feed me better,
I'm out of here within a flash, I'm really no one's debtor.

So brush me, pet me, feed me well, I warn you, please take heed,
If its loyalty you're looking for, A dog is what you need.
So if you see yourself displayed, Within this little verse.
Choose the part you wish to play, Your lessons while on Earth.

BLESSINGS AT CHRISTMAS

Christmas giving and receiving reflected a new light in the life of Susan Lendvay, now Editor of Venture Inward, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. With her father and grandmother they had become penniless refugees in Vienna. As a child of five she had often wondered what became of the money that was placed in the offering basket at church. Her father had told her "It goes to God." But how did God get it was the unexplained answer.

Later they escaped from the Communist regime in their native Hungary. At Christmas time she became the recipient of a treasured package of children's books. But who had sent this gift? Later she learned that strangers from other countries had sent them. But why? When she was sent to a children's home in the Alps, and again was the recipient of a gift box containing letters written in a foreign language she was told that some kind people she did not know were sponsoring her care from faraway Holland. Although not understanding that it took money to house, feed and clothe all the children there, a sense of comfort and wonderment was felt. "Somebody cared about us and didn't ask anything in return except to know we were OK. This made a deep impression on me as a child," she wrote.

As an adult now living in Virginia Beach, she finally found out how God gets the money intended for Him and what He does with it. "Since all things come from God and all things belong to Him, the earth and the fullness thereof, it is up to us to share and pass on these gifts. With gratitude to use for our needs and share with others in need, a 'substance,' a physical manifestation of unseen forces, to be used in the world."

Through her writing, Susan Lendvay brings hope to the world, "making manifest God's love - we are our brother's keepers, our souls live forever, there is a loving God, available to each individual for personal guidance and help." Our care and concern for Mother Earth herself shows our appreciation. There are many ways of reducing the pollution of air, land and water that may seem small but gathered together each one brings new hope and life to us all.

WALKING IN THEIR SHOES

With the sounds of possible world depression on the lips of many commentators, it might be interesting to step into the shoes of one of those who walked though the years of two world wars and two depressions.

My parents gave each other the Christmas gift of marriage in 1915. A four day round trip to a justice of the peace required an overnight stay half way there. They travelled in a horse drawn wagon - the first night required an overnight stay and two rooms must be rented since they were not yet married. Stones were heated in the oven the night before and kept them warm on their journey. Eleven months later a son joined them in their twelve by fourteen clapboard dwelling. My mother's small shoes walked willingly and bravely through their fifty years of marriage as seven more children joined the family, supported with mixed farming. Her large fenced-off garden fed the family, with half a dozen cattle, chickens and mixed farming activities on their half section. Dikes were built to keep the spring run-off from the Cyprus Hills at bay. Mother traded eggs and butter for luxuries such as thread, coffee, cocoa and any items not produced in her garden. During one summer she noticed a herd of the neighbour's pigs raiding her garden. Ready to nurse their son who was eight months old, she hurried to clear out the pigs. My father was away at the time. In her rush of anger at possibly losing their winter's food supply she finally cleared them out and then finished nursing her baby. Her stress fed into the child's system and he became very ill. Later she learned from a doctor they could have lost him. With simple home grown foods none of their children had a tooth cavity or required glasses while still at home.

The next year brought a small but good wheat crop. It was important to get the grain to the Orion elevator before the rains came since no grainery was yet built on their farm. Father drove one grain wagon and Mother was at the reigns of the other team and both loads were deposited in the elevator. He took their toddler with him to cash the grain cheques at the post office, the closest bank was 65 miles distant in Medicine Hat. Their second child was due soon. Into the sixth mile of the l0 mile journey home, Mother sensed labour pains. She descended from the high grain box and tied her team to an abandoned shack that once had been home for a homesteader who had not been able to cope on those parched southern Alberta plains. She entered the dusty place knowing her husband was waiting in a line-up at the post office. He noticed her team being hurried up the one steep hill in view - very unusual. He, with their two year old toddler rushed back to their wagon and headed toward home on that rough trail that called itself a road. They found Mother's team tied at the homesteaders shack. During that hour's trip their second son had already arrived. "Rush over to Mrs. Cup's place and borrow some scissors to cut the chord," Mother ordered. Another two mile drive there and both returned but were too shaky to do it, so Mother completed the job herself. Both teams arrived home finally, and a friend, who knew a second child was expected in the fall had come early. No one locked their doors in those days. Mother had wrapped the baby in her undershirt and handed it to her, saying, "Here he is." and hurried to stoke the fire and heat water to bathe the baby and make supper. The friend thought it was a bag of rolled oats and tossed the bundle to the couch. The baby protested loudly but landed safely. The friend nearly fainted. In years ahead this son was always in hurry to get somewhere, and had many more safe landings with his plane that was part of his future work. Mother's very busy shoes pedaled her sewing machine through many flour sacks, as tea towels softened themselves and then were recycled into diapers. Underwear was made from new flour sacks. Soap (with a little lye from the store) was made from farm products. All eight of their children were born at home.

THE REAL YOU

The harmonious personality is one in which the unseen soul
flows easily through that part of itself that is in touch with the
physical life. It blends this essence through every physical
cell as it radiates through the whole body.

The soul recognizes all intentions and responds to them with
honesty and is felt through intuition. A cold heart may lay beneath
polished and pleasing words.

MOTHS HAVE PAST LIFE RECALL

Although the caterpillar goes throuigh an amazing metamorphosis to become a moth, passing through a stage where it completely dissolves into a soup while waiting for a total re-organization as a winged creature, the emerging moth has memories from its life as a creepy-crawly.

According to research conducted at Georgetown University and published in the journal PLoS One, when a caterpillar is trained to avoid a certain odor because of being shocked, it later avoids that same odor when it becomes a moth.

ISAAC NEWTON'S SECRET

In today's debate between science and religion, there seems to be no common ground. That is, there appears to be none to those unenlightened by history. Sir Isaac Newton, the man most often associated with the creation of science and its separation from religion, was secretly one of the founders of Freemasonry. In the book, "Isaac Newton's Freemasonry: The Alchemy of Science and Mysticism (Inner Traditions), Alain Bauer, the author, tells the tale of how this famous first scientist envisioned expressing spirituality through the scientific method. His science was rooted in the Hermetic tradition including alchemy. The origins of science were founded on a spiritual impulse to move beyond the constraints of institutional religion to express more universal spiritual truths.

BRAIN SCANS KNOW INTENTIONS

Brain researchers are helping to bring about just what the movie "Minority Report" envisioned: the ability to determine if you are about to commit a crime, even before you've realized it yourself! Research in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to watch brain activity on a real-time basis has advanced to the point that scanning can detect a person's intentions, according to a report of experiments conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Germany and reported in "The Guardian."

In this preliminary research, researchers showed subjects two numbers on a screen. Prior to the appearance of the numbers, the subject was asked to either add the two numbers together, or subtract the smaller from the larger. Just prior to the appearance of the numbers, the brain scan could detect, in a certain brain region, specific activity that allowed the reseearchers to predict which action, adding or subtracting, the subjects would pursue.

The results have caused a debate about the ethics of brain scans. Having developed scanning methods that detect lying versus truth-telling, this research may help detect potential terrorists. Or it could be abused. The researchers are now planning on learning how to tell the difference between an actual intention, which will be acted upon, and a mere passing thought that won't.

SPIRITUALITY LEADS MEGATRENDS

Spiritual principles seem to be gaining in public prominence and are becoming principles of leadership and good business. In the book "Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Hampton Roads), best selling author Patricia Aburdene lists the trends of the coming decade that will affect us all. The number one trend she identifies, which then influences all the others, is "The Power of Spirituality: From Personal to Organizational."

Her book spells out the innumerable ways in which we are interconnected and how the realization of that fact is affecting the way people do business. She shows how spiritual values such as integrity and trust create greater profits. The value of relationships, in business and in personal life, is emphasized. People express their faith in the way they behave at work and in the ideals set for the businesses they create. Capitalism gets a makeover to become a servant of spiritual principles.

VOLUNTEERING IN ARIZONA

When my husband and I retired we decided to do some volunteer work at a Phoenix, Arizona clinic. A fellow worker had told my husband about this non-profit clinic that practiced complimentary as well as allopathic medicine. The Clinic was looking for volunteers to help in the office and in the medical area. Perhaps we could find a solution for my husband's severe headaches that had plagued him for years. After the five day work week he often spent his Saturdays recovering from these headaches. We would later learn they were caused from inhaling fumes from the chemicals he worked with as a technician. I purchased a special reclining chair that friends thought would help relieve these knock-out headaches as he tried to relax by our large window. One Saturday our door bell rang and the seven year old boy from next door innocently asked, "Is Mr. Davis dead?"

At the Clinic I was assigned a desk with the necessary equipment to transcribe letters dictated by the husband and wife team, Drs. William A. McGarey, and his wife, Gladys Taylor McGarey, both medical doctors. Volunteering fingers spun out paper words dictated by these doctors. Both have authored books as well. My desk faced a window and I could watch the palm trees gently swaying in the Arizona's winters. A slender lady often strolled by my window glancing at a file in one hand, and nibbling on a crusty bagel with the other as she continued on to the treatment rooms. A little multi-tasking is needed at times. She is Dr. Gladys Taylor McGarey, daughter of missionaries who was born in India where her parents, both medical doctors, helped the needy. Now in her eighties she still writes a column for the magazine "Venture Inward" in Virginia Beach, Va., as well as being a consultant at her daughter's Scottsdale Holistic Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a child she recalls watching the women of India working in their gardens with kurpe and sickle to feed their families. These tools are used until so worn they are useful only as play tools in the hands of a child. "Use what you have on hand while you look for better tools." was always her mother's advice.

At the A.R.E. Clinic in Phoenix and the Scottsdale Holistic Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, many were willing to switch to an organic diet with fruits and vegetables making up to eighty per cent of their food intake, they were able to keep the body in an alkaline condition. Fish, chicken and wild meats are considered best for protein needs. The old fashioned castor oil pack was often suggested. It can be difficult to give up desserts but with diabetes on the rise it can be a matter of life or death. Avoiding sprays, chemicals and pollution was suggested. With regular physical exercise, encouraging thoughts for self as well as others, were among the common everyday tools to restore and maintain health of body and mind. Doing volunteer work taught us new ways to keep the body healthy. "Using that in hand while searching for better tools." like the good doctor advised.

EATING NO FRUITS CREATES PROBLEMS

Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is a commonly accepted formula for good health. On the other side of this equation, the consequences of not eating such healthy foods are becoming more clearly established.

Teenagers who eat the least fruit, for example, are much more likely to develop respiratory problems, such as asthma, wheezing, and chronic bronchitis, according to a study conducted by the Harvard University School of Medicine. Those teenagers who ate less than two servings of fruit a week were most likely to already manifest respiratory problems. The study involved over 2,000 teenagers and found this effect regarding fruits.

HEART HEALTHY DIET GOOD FOR PROSTATE

As baby-boomer men gain appreciation for the value of a healthy prostate gland, research indicates that the same low-fat diet that is good for the heart is also good at slowing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

According to research published at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and published in the American Journal oif Epidemiology, the risk of BPH was reduced 32 percent by eating four or morre servings of vegetables daily and l5 percent by making lean protein 20 percent of the daily calorie intake.

CONFORMITY

The jeweler in a small town noticed a man stopping each morning in front of his store, pulled a gold watch and set the time to his large clock in the store window. He did this every day. One day the jeweler was at the door and spoke to this man who always wore overalls. "I see you setting your watch by my big clock each morning. What do you do at the factory?' he asked. The man finished winding his watch, and replied. "I'm the timekeeper and every day at noon my job is to blow the big whistle which tells everyone in town that it is noon and time to quit for lunch."

The jeweler then said "That's odd. I've been setting that big clock in the window every day, by the noon whistle at the factory." Whether this story is true or not, it makes each of us realize that what others do, their conduct, and how to behave should be checked for generalizations.

Emerson once said "Insist on being yourself; never imitate. Your own
gift can present every moment with the cumulative force of a whole life's cultivation; but of the adopted talent of another you have only an extemporaneous half-possession.

GIVING IS A BETTER 'SECRET'

A new book, "The Moses Code" (Hay House), by James Twyman, proposes, echoing a theme in the Edgar Cayce material, that the true secret of manifestation comes from the soul level, and it is activated by the soul's true nature, which is giving, not getting.

After so much publicity and attention, the book "The Secret" has stimulated criticism because it is totally focused on the ego dream of "getting" all our desires fulfilled. It will be interesting to watch for further comparisons of these two books as studies proceed.

HEART SOUNDS

TUNING TO THE MUSIC OF THE HEART

Here are some words that came to me this morning, let me share this
heart tune with you. It is always available in any empty moment.

More than you have realized, You're loved more than you know,
It seeps through dark and sunshine, Through dreams and daylight grow,
Seeing with the heart's eyes - Its gentle quiet beat,
Moves throughout each cell to seal, Safely in soul's seat.

To cheer each passing moment as, The heart releases tones,
Of Caring, Love and Gratitude, Assures you're not alone.
A joyous prayer of thankfulness, Rises from its font,
Heart's music stealing silently, Life's problems to surmount.

HAPPY HEARTS ARE HEALTHY

While a low-fat diet may be heart-healthy, being happy favors the heart as well.

In a study conducted at the University College London, involving over 3,000 healthy adults, those adults who reported being happy had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their systems.

The study, published in the Amercan Journal of Epidemiology found that among women who reported happy moods, there was also significantly less inflammatory protein in their blood stream.

The study involved monitoring both mood and body chemistry as it fluctuated during the day, and uncovered an ongoing correlation between mood and body chemistry.

REMEMBRANCE DAY

From Flanders fields red poppies flash,
Their silent show speaks from the ash,
With undulating waves that flow,
Their sounds of silence tell of old,
Of wars that promised force brought change,
For life on Earth to rearrange.

To those who fell in lines of fire,
In death have joined this silent choir.
All so simple, yet profound,
Through change of thought - new life is found.
This hidden secret - thoughts bring power,
To demonstrate from modern towers.

Flashing from the heart to mind,
Translates with choice as speech refines.
That offers care with love for change,
And magnifies to rearrange.
Thoughts that prove from new in power,
Speak for the dead in fields of flowers.
From history's page, as thoughts renew,
New President, new change in view.

Young voices help to speed the race,
A change through internet of space,
Pictures flash, hearts choose to change,
Fingers tap - thoughts rearrange.
Rejecting hate through power of mind
Renewed through love - ALL peoples bind.

STRESS RELATED PROBLEMS REDUCED

Although psychology has tended to focus on the negative side of human nature, in recent years, positive psychology has received increasing attention. Past research has established that keeping mum about personal traumas can increase the stress associated with those events, while talking about them in a supportive atmosphere, or even writing about them in a private journal, has healing effects.

Is the same true for exceptionally positive experiences, such as mystical moments, near death experiences, and the like? Many folks who have these experiences keep mum for fear of how other folks would react.

To determine if sharing these exceptional experiences in a supportive atmosphere would have positive consequences, researchers at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology invited people who had had such experiences to participate in a special study project. These folks wrote an account of their experiences and participated in group discussions about them over a period of ten weeks.

According to the report published in the Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, the researchers evaluated the participants, before and after the program, on a variety of attributes and qualities. The results indicated that the opportunity to write about and discuss their experiences was beneficial, improving their sense of well being, of having purpose in life, and reducing complaints of stress-related problems.

THE HEART 'FEELS' THE FUTURE

The heart appears to respond precognitively to emotional events, and able to discern whether or not an arousing stimulus is about to impinge upon the heart's owner. In the research study responsible for this conclusion, conducted at the Heart-Math Institute by Dr. Rollin McCraty, subjects sat in front of a computer screen that presented pictures at a steady rate. Randomly, at unannounced moments, the computer would display a very arousing picture, either erotic or morbid. The participants had their brain activity (EEG), as well as their heart activity (EKG), recorded during the experiment.

The data from these recording instruments, according to a report published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, showed that the heart anticipated the arousing pictures by approximately five seconds. Amazingly, the brain also responded, but slightly after the heart, as if the brain were responding to the heart and not to the about-to-be-presented stimulus.

Besides implicating the heart in psychic perception or intuition, it also shows that perception generally is not the exclusive province of the brain.

THE ROBIN AND THE SPARROW, CHAPTER 10

"Our volunteers have been just fabulous," Ole observed in his sincere and silent way, "Together we have inspired the media people through our "thought letters," poetry and have even entered their nightly dreamscapes in living color so they could better understand the urgency of the situation. Now whoever wishes can fly with me to check the forests again this very dry August.

Soaring gracefully through the skies they observed another heavily forested mountainside of burnished trees. A gentle breeze scattered the frail needles from their bowed branches, forming a growing and dangerous layer of tinder-dry kindling. They noticed a camper at a rest area beside the road and hovered near. "This isn't the area we camped at last year, there's nothing here, let's move on - all aboard everyone!" said the driver, as he stepped on his discarded cigarette butt.

Ole's sharp ears detected a crackling sound. The children had just buckled their seat belts as their father drove away. At the speed of light, Ole swooped down followed by all his helpers in relays, deftly missing the startled driver's windshield. Checking his mirrors he saw a dangerous scene back at the rest stop. He handed the cell phone to his wife, "Call the fire department and tell them to check on a forest blaze, I should have taken more care to stamp out that cigarette butt, hang on, we'll try to outrun it - did you get through to the fire department? "It's not ringing, we must be out of range of the cell phone tower," she answered.

Sensing the camper driver got their message, Ole's group caught a quickening updraft that gave them top speed back to home base. The construction crew working at the towers paused as they listened to the strange sounds. All eyes turned skyward. To assure attention the birds dived at the crew as other family members joined in the "Sky Dance." They circled, then followed their director making a sharp "arrow-like" turn in the direction of the forest blaze and repeated the performance until the foreman of the crew took notice, reached for his cell phone and called the Fire Department. He ordered his crew to drop their tools, abandon the working site and prepare to assist the fire crews as truck sirens raced toward the smoking skies and planes roared overhead to drop fire-retardant chemicals. After considering the raging fast moving fire Ole suggested it would be wise for all birds to leave for their winter home immediately since the young are already excellent fliers while sending messages to humans in their efforts to save the trees. The parent birds who had lost their first hatching due to fragile shells from crop pesticides were told to tell their young to hitch brief rides from larger birds. Even swans and geese have been seen accepting smaller birds on their backs.

We may not hear from Ole and his helpers again until they return in the spring to their summer home for another nesting season. We hope their tree homes will still be there.

THE ROBIN AND THE SPARROW, CHAPTER 9

As the weeks rolled into summer, parent birds were busy giving flying lessons to their young. Inner knowledge told them that all the family must be prepared when cooler weather reminds of the necessity to be ready for the long flight to a warmer climate. During flying practice they were shown how to direct attention to the nuclear towers being prepared by diving at them whenever such work was in progress.. Those with strong enough beaks tapped holes in the earth, placing an ear to the ground to direct attention to the heat energy that could be captured there.

Small birds including the dazzling goldfinch flew in circles around the humans working on the projects. Some brought gifts and if a hand was extended they presented a ripe berry or nut in season. Filberts and walnuts were easily carried by the larger birds. When the flyers noticed they were being watched, they bowed and chirped a song. It was obvious the humans enjoyed these antics and no doubt thought of their message which could mean "Let's work together."

With a Hoo-hooo-hoo-hoo, Ole gathered his group together and commended them for their help and great cooperation. He told them that although many scientists had known for nearly half a dozen years that decomposing forests would add to all other pollution, it had not been accepted by powers in charge. Rulers may have feared the project might be costly, and not suitable for the timing of an upcoming election and thus lose their position and power.

Dr. Ole asked his helpers to continue to inspire humans magnetically to write articles and poetry to submit to their local representatives. Even the writings of children and their thoughts of love have created remarkable changes, he told them. If the general population held meetings to discuss Global warming with their members of parliament they would be more willing to support wind, water, sun and underground heat so they could in conscience vote for them again. He felt that those in charge of choosing news items, publishing through paper, radio, television and other electronic devices, truly wanted the situation to be known. Many e-mails from ordinary caring individuals are read on radio, TV, printed in letters to editors of local papers as well as to other countrywide and worldwide publications. He challenged all his helpers to inspire someone to write a poem, perhaps just a few lines, that speaks directly for the trees, the air and all life to help solve the problem faced by Mother Earth.

COMPOSERS DREAM IN MUSIC

Many composers have written about their sources of inspiration, including meditation, auditory visions, and other intuitional sources. A recent study indicates that dreams are also a frequent source of inspiration.

When composers were asked about hearing music in their dreams, in a study conducted at the University of Florence Sleep Lab and reported in Psychology Today, the results indicated that more than one-fourth of the dreams in which the composer heard music, it was unfamiliar music, not heard before by that composer.

The frequency with which a composer heard music in dreams was positively related to how young the composer was when first beginning the practice of music.

New ideas and inventions have also come to light in the mind of the dreamer. A familiar example is the invention of the sewing machine. In his dream he saw the spears of soldiers being held with the needle being threaded from the opposite end as his thinking had been.

TOUGH-GUY ATTITUDE PROMOTES HEALING

Although some macho attitudes have detrimental effects on health, such as suppression of emotion or feeling, or resistance to seeking help, some attitudes are actually helpful when it comes to recovering from trauma, according to a study conducted at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and published in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinity.

Researchers interviewed a group of middle-aged rural white men who had experienced traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. They found that men who focused on their careers, success, power, and competition reported better relations in their community. These same partricipants showed greater improvement a year after their hospitalization. The reserchers conclude that such men affirm, "Yeah, there are tough challenges, but nothing will stop me from reaching my goal."

MILK NEGATES BENEFITS OF TEA

According to German researchers seeking to understand the possible role of tea drinking in promoting a healthy heart, it was found that within tea is a chemical that induces the arteries to relax. The catechins in the tea produced this effect. When milk is added to the tea, the catechins were neutralized and without the same relaxing effect on the arteries. It was the caseins, a type of protein, in milk that neutralized the tea's important catechins. Comments from Britain noted that it was much more important to exercise regularly than to elininate milk from tea.

When I was volunteering at the non-profit A.R.E. Clinic in Phoenix during the winters, the doctors there also recommended that milk products not be added to coffee either.

PURPLE POINTS TO BRAIN POWER

According to a study conducted at the University of Glasgow and reported in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, red and purple juices, such as grape, cranberry, pomegranate, and blueberry have more of the health providing ingredients than the yellow juices, such as orange and pineapple.

Ever since scientists discovered that red wine has healthy antioxidants, there has been a great deal of research on the health value of fruit juices. The study found that whether the juice is fresh or prepared from concentrate does not affect the quantity or quality of those ingredients.

A related, longitudinal study found that drinking three glasses of juice weekly reduced the incidence of Alzheimer's by 75%. Diabetics are usually encouraged to consume fresh fruit to avoid any possible sugars that may have been added.

GRANDKID'S GAZETTE OCTOBER, 2008

October of 2008 brought an unusual event. Mommie spent a weekend away from home with some other parents to share ideas about scrapbooking. I know it was all for the good so later we could see and read about our early days. Even though Daddy was home and took good care of us, our house was so empty without her. Daddy arrived home after lunch and Mommie left with some other ladies, so I asked if we could go over to visit GiGi. But GiGi didn't know about Mommie being away and had walked downtown to do some errands. So only the answering machine was there. We went to the pet shop to look at the animals and left a message for GiGi to call us there on our cell phone.

GiGi had not returned home. Daddy said she was likely buying groceries. Come to think of it, she does have to eat meals somewhere and I don't recall ever seeing her eating with us at our table. So I guess she was busy buying groceries. So we went home and Daddy said he would call her in the evening and see if we could come in the morning. But it was lonely not having Mommie to tuck us in, and feel her loving arms around us, and the nice fragrance we always feel when she is near. Daddy gave us supper and our baths, tucked us in, put our baby sister in her crib and reminded us how she would be one whole year old on October 23rd.

We enjoy pressing the numbers at GiGi's condo and hear her welcoming voice saying, "Come right in." The big outside door opens like magic and we race down the hallway and soon happy arms embrace us. She always has pages and pencils placed on a little table just our size. We can draw anything we like. We both drew a picture of her and in the picture we are standing beside her. We both have big smiles on our faces and look quite a bit alike. GiGi loves to hold our baby sister who always has such a nice smile. Daddy walked around the corner and was out of sight for a few seconds. That pretty little smile of hers twisted itself instantly into an upside down one, while her voice neurons raced to help her cry "Emergency." Daddy came back and her bright smile spun right back. We three know we always want be near them both forever. The time went so fast but we had to leave GiGi since Mommie had arranged for us to have lunch with friends who had children our age to play with. As we left I told Daddy "I want to come to GiGi's house more often."

A MEDICAL DOCTOR'S EXPERIENCE

Was it a dream? A BANG, a crash, where am I now? Four days later doctors were standing over him. In the morgue he was being prepared for cremation when unmistakable signs of life appeared. He had been on his way to the airport but the secret police zeroed in. Here is an account of one of the events that he saw during those four days. He felt he was at a borderland observing another plane. More details can be found in his book "My Life After Dying" by Dr. George Ritchie, Jr., Hampton Roads Publishing Co., Virginia Beach, Va. 1991. Perhaps a poem will condense in a few words one of the events he viewed.

I watch a man approach the gate/ The Pearly Gates ahead? "That long dark tunnel frightened me/ When the nurse announced, 'He's dead.'/ Saint Peter said, "The choice is yours, Check each window here/ As on Earth, decisions count/ You've only shifted gears./ Look through each window, find your one/ Select your comfort zone/ The sum of what you've built on Earth/ Is where you'll feel at home."
I see my Grandma through this one/ A saintly lovely soul/ She seems to be a volunteer/ Helps others choose a goal./ She waves a welcome, "You're so young/ Come in, we'll work together/ So many need a helping hand/ Here we have great weather."/ 'Thanks Grandma, I'll still look around/ There's Grandpa waving too/ Bye now, other windows wait, I wanna see what's new.'
Gramps and Grandma, health restored/ Seem so happy now/ While helping others find their way/ Encouraging, showing how/ But I still want to get revenge/ Some others come to view/ That guy who killed me with that blow/ I'll show what I can do./ Through that window counting chips/ That cheat, I'll get him yet, Lucky that I found him soon/ I'll make him feel regrets./
He sees me now -- With deadly blows/ We battle through the night/ His form is there, but flesh is gone/ Our empty shadows fight/ I hear his swearing in my ear/ Yet my flesh ears are gone/ Buried with the rest of me/ The truth begins to dawn./ Those whispering words again I hear/ And sounds like angel wings/ Seems to offer choice to change/ And Grandma's voice still rings./ And so through time and endless years,/ If blame and hate remain/ For only he, within his soul/ Can make the choice to change.
Addendum: Dr. Richie did go to America and changed to became a minister.

TIME IS ACCELERATING

Did you ever get the feeling that time is speeding up, making you hurry faster and faster, feeling farther and farther behind?

Evidence that time is indeed speeding up, accelerating even, has been compiled by James Gleick in his book "Faster: The Acceleration of Just About Everything (Pantheon)." According to some interpretations of the Mayan calendar, as we approach the year 2012, the end date of their calendar, each successive cycle of time happens in half the amount of time (termed in other worlds perhaps) of the previous one.

Although not as metaphysically oriented as the interpreters of the Mayan calendar, the book discusses such accelerating realities as e-mail, caffeine, 23-hour news cycles, the microwave ovens, and cell phones, to name but a few of the items today's culture takes for granted but which makes our lives run even faster. Time is speeding up. This gives us a wonderful excuse for not being able to keep up with everything.