Another Limerick
Hillary's lost all her clout
It's time for her to drop out
So get over your trauma
Step aside for Obama
And go home to New York and pout
Anybody got one to share?
Hillary's lost all her clout
It's time for her to drop out
So get over your trauma
Step aside for Obama
And go home to New York and pout
Anybody got one to share?
It's another year of war
And I still don't know what it's for
What started as billions
Is turning to trillions
Can we afford to keep spending more?
It's another year of election
The economies lost it's direction
The republicans push
For another like Bush
There must be a better selection
It seems that every place I've lived in Chico I have had the barking dog curse. They are always next door or right behind me. I'm not talking about dogs that bark every now and then for a few minutes and then shut up, I'm talking about dogs that bark for hours at a time. I've oftened wondered what these dog owners would think, how tolerable would they be, if I went outside and started screaming "hey, hey, hey" as loud as I could? They'd call the cops on me in a heartbeat, and rightfully so. The thing is, even if I did that, I still wouldn't be as loud or wall piercing as their screaming canines. So why is one acceptable and the other is not?
I have complained to neighbors about their barking dogs in the past. Sometimes I have gotten results and often I have been ignored. I have never called animal control because I believe neighbors should be able to work out their differences without getting authorities involved. Maybe it was my own guilt over the noise I put my own neighbors thru back in the seventies when, in the ignorance of my youth, I used to have band practice in my living room, and we were loud. Maybe on some level I have felt it was my karma, later in life, to be on the receiving end of noise pollution. But then again, back in the seventies, we always got the cops called on us.
I turned Shaun Hannity on this afternoon as I was driving around, just to get my periodic dose of right wing....what's the right word here....stop and think....be nice....talk! Yea, right wing talk. Anyway there's a caller debating him about the Reverend Wright comments and Shaun is really taking Obama to task over things his former minister has said....we all know the story, right? When Shaun is finished ranting, the caller asks him what he feels about Rush Limbaugh and his "campaign chaos". Just to explain if you haven't heard.... Rush has been getting his brain dead ditto heads to vote for Hillary in the primaries in order to keep the primaries going right up to the end and hopefully have a democratic melt down at the end because of how close the two candidates will have been....typical Karl Rove right wing underhanded politics at it's worst.. So anyway, the caller asks Shaun his feelings about Rush doing this and Shauns reply was...." Rush is just practicing free speech." Oh, I see. And were supposed to take these guys serious? Shauns statement is so ridiculous on so many levels, I don't even feel like spelling it out.
I am bound and determined to keep my cool during this election. But when I hear stuff like this, it gets hard to keep quiet. I've just got to quit reading and listening to right wingers.
It's always a risk to try something new, propose a new idea, or suggest anything that goes against the status quo. But aren't we lucky that there have been folks throughout history who have done just that. They have always been the bold few among the masses who did not listen to smaller minds. These innovators, scientists, authors, artists, adventurers, explorers, inventors, musicians, philosophers, and new age thinkers were not swayed by the closed minded masses who did not have the capacity to understand their vision. Had it not been for those bold visionaries who were not swayed by ridicule and harassment, we would still be living in the dark ages.
And the thing is, even though we understand history and what many of these individuals (progressives) endured to enlighten and advance the world, we still continue to ridicule new ideas just because we don't understand them or because they threaten to change the established "truth" that we are comfortable with. As the saying goes, you can't put a 10 pound idea in a 5 pound brain. But isn't it funny how 5 pound brains eventually accept the results of the 10 pound ideas once they are proven or after the finished product has won mainstream acceptance. They have to accept them at this point or they would be the ones who stand outside of the mainstream or status quo and that is a place that closed minded thinkers are not comfortable being in.
It is a fact that when you approach a new idea, try out a new theory, or test a whole new way of doing something, you are going to be wrong sometimes, you make mistakes, you get lost, and you hit walls. A true visionary is never discouraged by failure, but rather encouraged to try a different approach. Sooner or later they get it right or sometimes their just plain wrong and they never figure it out. Sometimes they take an idea so far and then it's left to somebody else later on to carry it further. The 5 pound folks are always quick to jump on the failures of the visionaries with their "I told you so" mentality because they do not have the vision to see what possibilities lie behind the failures plus it is very important for them to be vindicated so they can continue to justify their own lack of vision and limited imagination.
Mainstream thinkers are victims of their own illusions. They say that they are open to progress and new ideas, and in a way, they are. Their illusion is this.... they do not realize that they are really only open to the progress and ideas that are within the perimeters of what already is mainstream acceptable i.e. advancements in cancer research, new types of televisions, new wireless technologies, etc. But when it comes to areas that require a philosophical or spiritual change of view, they draw the line, that is until the unthinkable becomes the thinkable. For example....40 years ago yoga, meditation, herbal nutrition, hypnotherapy, and chiropractic healing were considered new age boloney, but now that they have proven themselves, they are mainstream acceptable. So the question is, were the ones who pioneered these areas 40 years ago kooks because they were defined as kooks or was it the ones doing the defining who were in reality defining themselves as reality challenged, denigrating, play it safe, sightless simpletons who lacked imagination and vision. They walk among us still.
So before we ridicule things like quantum physics and string theory that postulates that there is nothing solid in the universe and that intelligence may be permeating the whole fabric of existence, or reincarnation, plant consciousness, water crystals, flying saucers, multi dimensions of reality, tree huggers, auras, the healing (as well as the destructive) power of harmonics and vibrations, animal intelligence, psychics healers, astral projection, plant fairies, or anything else that threatens our comfort zone of reality, it might do us some good to remember that there was a time when much of what is now known or accepted as truth was just as far out an idea as many of these things are today.
And here's the thing....a lot of new age and progressive ideas may, in time, prove to be a bunch of crap. But we don't know what we don't know, therefore we shouldn't be too quick to ridicule something just because it challenges our set beliefs. Just as the Greek mathematician Erotosthenes knew and was able to prove the earth was round over 2,200 years ago, there are those among us now, as there always was and always will be, who understand things that many of us believe to be absurd. That is, until the absurd becomes the acceptable, thanks to those who have the vision, fortitude, and courage to manifest the absurd into mainstream acceptable realities.
One last point....Timothy Leary was a visionary when he said 40 years ago that the whole world should get high on drugs, but his vision proved to be wrong. Al Gore has a vision about global warming. George Bush has a vision about Iraq. Visions need to stand the test of time. I may one day eat crow over my belief in global warming or my stance against the war in Iraq. I honestly hope I do. I want to be wrong about global warming and I want some good to come from the war in Iraq. My views of today, like anybody who has a view or a vision, may prove to be sightless and dimwitted in some areas, and visionary in others. I try to keep an open mind. However, I speak out vehemently against the war because George Bush's vision involves other people dying, not to protect our country, but to promote his own agenda which seems to change every few months. Visions and agendas cannot be justified when other people have to die for them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.
Dr. Masura Emoto, author of "The Hidden Messages in Water", has been experimenting with and photographing water crystals. He freezes water from different sources like lakes, ponds, rivers, as well as different types of drinking waters and then photographs the individual ice crystals. What he has found is that the purer the water, especially water from sources where it is in constant motion like a river or a stream, makes for more luminous and defined crystals than waters from stagnant sources or even chlorinated water. He has even experimented with applying different types of music as well as saying different phrases to a glass of water before freezing and photographing it. Water that has been exposed to classical music or to positive words like "love", "health", or "energy" make better crystals than water that has been cussed at or exposed to heavy metal music.
This has to be significant when you consider that our bodies are made up mostly of water. Our muscles are 75% water, our blood is 82% water, our lungs are 90% water, our brain is 76% water, and even our bones are 25% water. We all know that stress, emotions, and much of what is going on with us mentally affects how we feel physically. If water is changed by how we think or by being exposed to different types of vibrations, could it be that water is the connection between these things and our health?
Reading this book made me think about the ancient tradition of blessing water. I used to make fun of "Holy Water", or the idea that a priest could spout off a couple of Latin phrases over some water and somehow that made the water "holy". Now I'm wondering if there isn't some degree of truth to this ritual.
Dr. Batmanghelidj, who has been experimenting with the health benefits of water for years, has found that pain can oftened be cured just by drinking two glasses of water. He experimented with over 3,000 people and had positive results with every one of them. He believes that Unintentional Chronic Dehydration (UCD) contributes to and even produces pain and many degenerative diseases, which he says can be prevented and treated by increasing water intake on a daily basis. It sounds too simple, too easy to be true, but his contention is that the medical establishment suppresses this knowledge because there isn't any profits in it. That wouldn't surprise me. I also tend to trust his research because he isn't selling anything....not bottled water, not purifiers, nothing....he's just trying to get this information available to the public. Here's a link to his web site....WaterCure | The Miracles of Water to Cure Diseases
I never was one to carry a bottle of water around with me everywhere I went. However, after a bout with kidney stones a few years back, I can say that I take my water intake more seriously these days. And I can honestly say that since I have been drinking more water, I rarely get sick anymore.
Here's another testimony to the healing properties of water I would like to share with anybody who is open enough to try something new....About 20 years ago, during the summer, I had a flu/cold type of thing going on that I just couldn't shake. I'd get better for a while and then it would come back, it went on for weeks. One afternoon I went with some friends to Butte Creek for a dip. I remember how good it felt to just sit out in the creek and let the water run over my neck and back. I did this for about 30 minutes and when we left the creek I immediately noticed that my flu symptoms were gone....and they stayed gone. A few years later it happened again, a cold that just wouldn't leave. So remembering my last cure by sitting in a creek, I decided to try it again, only this time I went to Chico Creek because it was closer. I didn't care if the cure was psychosomatic or whatever, if it worked once, it might work again. Well guess what? It didn't work. A few days later I decided I would try going to Butte Creek instead because that was where I was cured the last time. And guess what? Instant cure again! 30 minutes sitting in the Butte Creek fixed me right up, knocked out the cold and fever. Of course this only works if your sick in the summer time. I think I would take sickness over sitting in the Butte Creek in the winter time.
So what is it about the Butte Creek? And why a creek? I know there is gold in the Butte Creek and there is not in Chico Creek. Could it be the minerals? Could it be the colloidal properties of the minerals that allow them to penetrate your skin because of their small size? I don't know, but I know that it has always worked for me. For the last month or so I've been dealing with a sore and swollen foot. I've had a blood test and x-rays and everything checks out OK. So this morning I decided to try the magic creek cure. This was my first day of soaking my foot in Butte Creek. I'm going to try soaking it everyday for a week and see if I get results....I'll keep you posted.
Italy has it's famous healing waters of Fatima. France has it's healing waters of Lourdes. I think we might have the same thing right here in Butte county. If anybody who reads this tries getting a healing in Butte Creek, I would very much like to hear about your results, if any. In the meantime....we should all develop a drinking habit!
It seems that as we age, we settle deeper into habit's we've been cultivating our whole life. For example: I never did care much for parties or going places where there were crowds. Now mind you, I am not a shy person and I don't have any phobia's about being in crowds, it's just that these kind of events bore me. And it seems that the older I get the more they bore me.
I thank my lucky stars every year when the Silver Dollar fair comes around that my kids are old enough that I don't have to go there any more. I also avoid new years eve parties, most parties, mixers, street fairs, parades, food fairs, craft shows, just about anything where I have to fight my way thru shoulder to shoulder crowds. Now I understand that many of these events are good for Chico, and I appreciate living in a community that supports them. I also appreciate my freedom of choice to avoid them.
I'll tell you what my thing is with parties. Nobody talks about anything important at parties. Small talk is boring. Have you ever noticed when there is a group of people, small or large, having a conversation, how the conversation cannot elevate any higher than the most dimwitted of the group? You can be having a great discussion about politics or religion and then some idiot who is bored with the conversation (or just isn't getting it) will quickly change it over to sports or their aunt Martha's medical condition? When that happens, everybody has to pay attention out of common courtesy and the more interesting conversation that was going on gets lost. Group conversations flow kind of like water, always seeking the lowest common ground.
The thing about large gatherings is my sensitivity to vibrations, or group consciousness. Everybody feels this, some more so than others. It's like walking the runway at the Silver Dollar Fair and feeling the "crankster trailer trash vibe". It's not everybody, but still, it gets overwhelming. I think a lot of it is from the people working the fairs. Side note....I've always found it amazing that we trust the safety of our children when they go on these rides to the toothless cranksters who are working the controls as well as having assembled the rides! But in all fairness, I have to say that maybe it's not that way at fairs anymore, it's been a lot of years since I've been to any....On the other hand, I've experienced many gatherings where you look around and think to yourself, "Now these are my kind of people." I've felt that at events like the farmers market on Saturday mornings, a Moody Blues concert in Sacramento, or sometimes even in a crowded coffee shop. I don't think I would feel that at the Silver Dollar Races, a monster truck show in Redding, or a rodeo in Red Bluff. Not that they are "bad" people in anyway, there's just a group consciousness there that does not resonate with me.
Even when you "resonate" with a crowd, there's still the fact that you have to put up with being in a crowd. And like I said, the older I get, the more I try to avoid the crowd experience. Am I getting too set in my ways? Maybe. I like to think of it more like....life is too short to waste it on experiences that don't do anything for me, or....the older I get, the more I know what I like and what I don't like and I don't want to waste my time on what I don't like. To me it's not about how many experiences I can have but rather refining my life's experiences. It's not about the quantity of people I'm around but rather being with quality people. And this also applies to music, food, games, movies, just about every aspect of life. Life is about change and the law of change says that as you loose something, you gain something. Indeed we loose a lot of things as we age, but hopefully the things we gain out weigh in value the things we loose.
Sugar and Kato were middle aged canines when their "human" parents got married and moved their two families into one household. It was Sugar who came into Kato's world, a large house on a hillside of oaks and trails that sloped down to Butte Creek. Kato, a large male Akito, was slow at first to accept Sugar, who was a smaller gentle female. The first day he did one of those non-biting loud vicious attacks that male dogs do to establish their dominance. But Sugar, being of the superior gender, wasn't phased. She probably had a plan (or I'm just demonstrating my own inability to understand women) because soon she had Kato showing her the ropes.
It didn't take long before the two became inseparable. With Butte Creek out their back door and acres of property to run on, they spent their days exploring and playing. Although they were best friends, Sugar let Kato know right from the start that her toys were off limits. She created a hiding spot for her toys inside a hallowed out tree on the property. Kato tried every now and then to get to them, but Sugar wouldn't allow it, it was the one rule she had with Kato.
It didn't too many years for time to start catching up with Sugar and Kato. Last July Kato, who was 13 at the time, suffered a stroke. His family found him on the floor, half conscious, with Sugar beside him, crying like a baby. They rushed him to the vet, but because of his age and the damage from the stroke, it was advised that Kato be put to sleep. The family brought him back home to bury him on the property.
Sugar knew what had happened and was still crying when they brought Kato home. They took him down the hill and buried him by the creek. The next morning Sugar was nowhere to be found. After walking the property and calling for her, they checked down by the creek and found her laying on the soft dirt where Kato had been buried the day before. She stayed there the rest of the day.
The next morning Sugar left the house early to go visit Kato, but she made a stop on the way. She retrieved one of her toys from the hallow where she had hid them from Kato and took it with her, where she gently dropped it on Kato's grave. She spent the rest of the day there and when she left that evening to go back to the house, she left the toy. This became a daily ritual and soon all of her toys were spread out on Kato's grave site. Sugar grieved this way for several weeks. By the end of the summer she wasn't going to the grave as often, but she never took her toys back home.
Recently Sugar got a new friend in her life. Cali is a sweet energetic female pup who was rescued from the shelter. Thanks to Cali, Sugar is running around again looking and acting much younger than her 14 years.
I just met Sugar and Cali last week when my company started painting their home, out along the Butte Creek. I was almost in tears as their "human" mother was telling me the story of Sugar grieving Kato and why she adopted Cali. I haven't made the trek down to the creek yet to see Kato's resting place, but since we will be working there for a week or two, I'm sure I will. The Mom tells me there's still a couple of balls lying on Kato's grave. The rest of the toys have been swept away by nature over the last several months.
This story reminds me of how human-like animals can be. They grieve, they feel emotions, and they can have long term memories. If we all understood animals better, if we were more aware of the connection we share with them, that life force we have in common, the force that lights all of us up, perhaps we would treat them better. Perhaps we would realize that they are not here only to serve man, but to share the earth with man. Perhaps we would take our responsibility to the environment more serious. And just maybe, in the not too distant future, we will live in a world where there are no rodeos, no circus animals, no zoos, no bullfights, no cock fights, no dog fights, no animal testing, and maybe even a lot less of them on our dinner plates. Maybe....but I'm not holding my breath.
OK, so I'm using Sugar's story here, in part, to promote my own agenda of animal rights, it's a writers prerogative. But getting back to Sugar....I find myself looking forward to going to the job everyday where I am met with a wagging tail and a furry little smile. No I'm not talking about Howard, my on the job supervisor, I'm talking about Sugar. She's a sweet old soul, and I'm serious, you can really see her smiling! I hope Sugar has many happy days left, running and playing in the summer sun with her new friend Cali, before she is laid to rest along side of Kato, down by the creek. If there's a doggy Heaven, and I know there is, Kato's probably waiting patiently for his friend. In time Kato, in time....right now Sugar's busy.... she has to find a new hallow to hide her new toys from that pesky Cali....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wondering what's for Dinner Tonight? Get new twists on family favorites at AOL Food.
My friend Laura Burghardt has started a wonderful and interesting blog site rich with stories and musings about Chico. She also writes about places to visit, interesting events coming up, tons of great real estate tips, and lots of practical information (like what you can do with your used coffee grounds). Her web site is www.chicolaurablog.com..... Laura is one of those true Chico gems. She loves Chico and it shows in her writings, she dedicates much of her time to various causes, she's one of those upbeat types (how do they do it?) who would do anything for a friend or someone in need and who always sees the best in everybody and everything, she's a great Mom (raised two boys on her own), and she is THE BEST and most knowledgeable real estate agent in the area....Check her out!