Thursday, December 30, 2010

reiki nurse



Here's a pic of the watercolor I did for the cover of the book, and the sky on that day. I thought I saw something in the cloud formation. The yellow dots represent the yellow orbs I saw on the Other Side.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

feliz navidad

Went to dinner. Waiters ran and danced around the restaurant. They shoved into each other and laughed. They carried out the steamy plates from the kitchen on their arms, padded with oven mitts, loaded from hand to chin. They were young and cheerful; they wore plain white t-shirts and black pants.

If you're from my family then you want to know what I ate. First let me tell you I went there with my friend Kathi, the reiki pracitioner. She also does readings, in case you're interested. She sees a lot. She has a wonderful reiki room in her big old house, and also lots of family and pets. Its a house full of love.

Anyway. I had cerviche. What's that? Well, in Mexico I saw it served in tall clear tumblers. Here it came on a platter. It's cold cooked fish and shrimp mixed with lime, cilantro, chunks of garlic, thin slices of hot peppers, and finely chopped tomatoes and onions. It was limey and spicey. Hot stuff!

Kathi had an enchilada. Or a burrito. Or maybe it was a flauta. We weren't sure, since it didn't seem to be what she'd ordered. It was good, I tried a bite. It was sauteed onions and peppers in a thick flour tortilla, topped with a creamy cheese sauce. She ordered the fried ice cream, and I tried that too. It wasn't what I imagined. I wondered: deep fried? A glob of ice cream inside a thick batter, dropped into a vat of hot oil? Or just plain ice cream tossed into a frying pan and served as liquid? I had no idea. This is what it was. Ever had a taco salad? Comes in a taco shaped into a bowl? Ok, like that. A sweet crispy edible bowl. Inside was vanilla ice cream layered with tiny bits of cinnamon pastry. The whole thing was topped with whipped cream and colorful sprinkles. Delish.

Kathi and I watched the lively waiters and talked about family life. It was strangely freezing in our booth, and I sat with my coat around my shoulder. Sinaloense polka music played loudly and the waiters wailed along with the bands. The food was good, wait staff great, and the place was packed. Next time maybe we'll sit in front of the fireplace. El mechon!

Monday, December 27, 2010

some of my fav pics of 2010



































Some of my favorite pics and moments from 2010. Isn't it all about family & friends?

dog


Alone? Did I say alone? I share space with a fab dog 
and many large plants. 

on being an island

Being alone has many advantages. One can make decisions independently, rather than by committee. One develops capabilities in unexpected areas, such as: window repair, flicking circuits, and shoveling snow. One may vacuum at 10 pm without experiencing concern about disturbing others. This last one is an advantage only if you are the vacuuming type.

Of course there are disadvantages too. There is the risk of descending into slobby slothfulness or soul-sucking loneliness. Never mind, today the focus is on the plus side. Never have to worry about hurting someone's feelings, or being selfish.  If no one talks, it is because there is no one else there. You can eat garlic.

Everything is just as you left it. If there's a mess, you made it, no question. So clean it up! Right now, or.... later, whenever you feel like it. Yes, so many advantages.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

sons for Christmas

My best Christmas present? My sons are coming for dinner tomorrow. Family time together: the best part of life.

Friday, December 17, 2010

Reiki Nurse for Christmas?

Reiki Nurse : amusing and uplifting stories about nursing and reiki. Caution: you will want to become a nurse. It's fun, rewarding, challenging. What could be cooler than being a reiki nurse? PS, see how Reiki Nurse is purple? It's a link, you can click on it. See? click here: click on this! Or this: My life as a nurse and how reiki changed it.

reiki... giving or witnessing?

We don't really give reiki, do we? As one of my students pointed out, so eloquently, we hold the space, we share the energy. We witness. We create a space/time moment of relaxation, and allow one's own healing to occur.

Christmas or Hanukkah?

I'm sitting in the parlor at my local assisted living facility. Just finished a yoga class in the Activity Room. Three students, 80-90 years old. We did stretches (asanas), balancing, breathing exercises (pranayama), and a meditation. Now the third graders are there, to interview the elders.

The House is all decorated for Christmas. I'm here in the parlor, sitting in a comfy Queen Ann's chair. There's a big tree in the corner, decorated with gold ribbon, sparkly balls, and white angels. There's a fireplace, with stockings hung from the mantle, a poinsettia on the hearth, and a large gold-framed mirror on the wall above. There's a piano beside me, couches and rocking chairs, and a couple of marble-topped tables. There are lace curtains on the window and a chandelier with glass prisms. Wooden columns are wrapped with leaves and berries.

The children are asking the elders, "Do you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah?" "What is your favorite Christmas carol?" "What was Christmas like when you were my age?"

Now the children are singing bits of songs, "Fa la la la la" and  "Deck the Halls" as they interview. It's a happy hubbub. Oh, now a formal program. The children are standing and about to sing, "The 12 Days of Christmas".

We wish you a merry Christmas.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

hello readers!

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Hello readers in USA, Canada, Russia, UK,  India,
Sweden, Australia, Brazil, 
Switzerland, and Germany!
Hello and thank you for reading
my blog. Aloha, Shalom, and Namaste.


house-sitting Earth

Dreamt I was house-sitting for a kindly old lady. Pesky relatives moved in, crowding me out. Realized the old lady was Mother Earth. I was house-sitting Earth.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

EarthChanges: Pleiades and Orion

Found this way cool blog: way cool blog
Kind of far out, but... me too.
A friend said he was drawn to Orion, so I did some research and found this blog. There is so much useful information, so many links. You've got Barbara Marciniak, Tom Kenyon, Pleaideans, Dracos, Sirians, and mulitdimensions. It's downright Earth-splitting news. So... check it out, read on!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

madworld

more stories about reiki and nursing

So I'm working on my next book, but I'm stuck. Can't seem to make myself finish it. Ok, I'm a little busy teaching, commuting, figuring out how to take care of a house.... and then there's the dog, friends & family, trying to walk and do yoga every day... Ok, so that doesn't leave a lot of time. But that's just an excuse, isn't it? 75,000 words, I've got. It needs some editing. So I printed it out; maybe paper will motivate me.

Weather report. It's mid-December in Maine. Everyone's got their Christmas lights up and their snowboards waxed. It's supposed to be snowing. But it's 50 degrees, and raining sideways. The wind is whistling around the corners of the house, rattling the windows. Thought it was going to rip the door out of my hand when I let the dog out. The temp has been rising all day. Strange weather.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Selenite & Pleiades

So drawn to Selenite lately.

Here I am every weekend hauling boxes from my ex-house to my suburban hunting camp, loathing the loads of stuff. Opening boxes and albums: breaking my heart, laughing and crying. Here I am wondering what to do with the photos, vases, and books. Too much stuff!

So what am I doing buying Selenite? Why am I suddenly drawn to this lustrous silky mineral? It looks like a white moonstone. Sometimes it's smooth, sometimes rugged; always luminous.

Stopped in to the Chickadee's Nest for my weekly psychic upload. Saw some Selenite. Julia said, "Of course! Selenite enables access to information from Pleiades. Meditate with it. You'll get some messages."

Well there you have it. Selenite: instant messaging to Pleiades.

Monday, December 6, 2010

exuberance


It was a dreary November. Now winter is coming. I don't know about snow removal. I've had a cold. The dog has had GI issues.

Yet I'm unexpectedly exuberant. I gave my last lecture of the semester today and felt high, energetic, expressive, beautiful, and well. I felt hope, confidence, and possibility. I felt like walking on thin ice, going out on a limb, and taking chances.

Yes, keep off the thin ice. But skate, fly, speak, or do whatever you need to do to express yourself. Be your best self: forgive, love, and breathe. It's all OK.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

going electronic... eBook on your iPad

That's right. Coming soon to an iPad near you... Reiki Nurse, the eBook! Just in time for Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. My wonderful publishers at BookLocker are converting paper to screen.

After moving 8 boxes of books into my new house this weekend, eBooks seem quite sensible. Books are heavy, they take up a lot of space, they get dusty and even moldy, and did I mention they take up a lot of space?

On the other hand, print books are wonderful. You can read at the beach. You can loan them to your friends. They make great gifts. You can curl up in a soft chair in front of the fireplace and turn pages for hours.

So which is it for you? Print or screen?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

some red berries



It's November, so much of the foliage is gone. We do have red berries and evergreens, and today temps in the 60s again. I sat on my deck in the sun after work.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

turkeys

Saw a flock of turkeys today. They were in a small tree right beside the sidewalk. A flock of them, maybe a dozen, in the tree, eating red berries. Made me think perhaps they were stuffing themselves with cranberries, the week before Thanksgiving. Of course cranberries usually grow in bogs, you'll say, but perhaps this was a hybrid high-bog berry tree. And maybe there was a gravy river down the road and mashed potato clouds. OK, really thinking about Thanksgiving dinner here. Back to the turkeys. They were glossy black and gray amongst the red berries. There were turkeys in the tree and some on the ground, and they flapped up and down from tree to ground.

Friday, November 12, 2010

is it really November in Maine?


My garden. There are still blooming mums and lettuce ready to pick. It was sunny and 62 F (16.6C) degrees today. The dog and I walked around Bates Campus for an hour, watching the light, the ducks, and the other dogs. We saw a 5 month-old Portuguese Water Dog, a giant yellow Lab, and a small white terrier. 

yoga

This is a picture of my yogi, Arvind Zanje. He is a super yoga teacher. He teaches yoga in Ahmedabad, India in the winter, and at the teen camp in the summer. He also teaches tennis and designs yoga rooms. So he's pretty amazing. 

I take yoga classes with Arvind in the summer. One year he said I was good enough to be a yoga teacher myself; he gave me a teacher's certificate. 

Today I taught my first class: here at the assisted living facility. There were 4 students: the 35-year-old Activities Director, two 85 year-olds, and one 89 year-old lady. It was one lady's birthday. It was their first yoga class. We did mountain, tree, cobbler, and staff asanas. We did child's pose and cat. We did twists and stretches.We will work towards downward dog and sun salutations. Five residents sat in a circle around us and watched. Mr M slept through the whole thing. 

Thank you, Arvind. Your teaching is spreading through the community. Namaste.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

newborn baby

Got to hold a baby today; Gaige was just 8 hours old when I held him. He slept in my arms; with his soft head, clear pink skin, and newborn snufflings. His mom said she felt the reiki I sent over the phone. Congratulations.

Friday, November 5, 2010

review by Mark LaFlamme


Esteemed author, columnist, and crime reporter Mark LaFlamme reviewed Reiki Nurse recently. LaFlamme is the author of The Pink Room, Dirt, Vegetation, Asterisk, and now: Box of Lies. 


Mark Laflamme rated Reiki Nurse 5 of 5 stars
An amazing book whether you're familiar with Reiki or if you're an outsider. An outstanding glimpse into the medical field, written with such flair you can smell the antiseptic. Kendall writes in a way that is both introspective and illuminating. If you think you know all about the medical field because you watch MASH or Scrubs, think again. Kendall writes of things that will send your eyebrows up to the top of your forehead. A highly recommended read.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

PastLifeSoul



Gotta tell you about my sister and her website.
https://sites.google.com/site/pastlifesoul/
My sister is freakin amazing.
She can look at you and read one of your past lives. She channels, talks to spirits, and she knows stuff. She can probably read you over the phone.

She's genius smart and an artist too.
She's my best friend. Please check out her site.
https://sites.google.com/site/pastlifesoul/

Oh, the pic of us? Farmer's Market near Sacramento May 2010. We bought pistachios and cherries.

lonely dog, again

OK, here she is: the lonely dog.
Came home today to find she'd chewed the beads off a pillow. It's a handmade pillow, with beads all around the outer edge. I got it at a Christmas craft fair last year. It's yellow and blue brocade, a wise man in the center, and beads all around.

Well, there used to be beads all around.

She's never done this before. She's 11 and I met her when she was 2 days old. She fit into the palm of my hand.

She moved to the city, to my new house, 2 months ago. Summer was OK, but now I go to work every day, for 10 hours or so. She told Jen, the animal whisperer, that she wants a cat.

Today when I came home from work the pillow was on the couch, 2 sides of beads chewed off. Beads were strewn all over the couch. It was a beady mess.  She didn't bark when I got home, or meet my eyes.

So, she's going crazy from loneliness? I leave the radio on for her.

I really REALLY don't want a cat. Cats are scary. They look at you and could start hissing at any moment. They could stick out their claws and jump at your face. They could chew on you. Cats are scary. Plus the whole icky litter box thing. Bad enough I have to carry a plastic bag when I take the dog for a walk.

So that's the dilemma. Crazy dog or get a cat? Animals to outnumber humans in my new house? Spend my free time picking up canine & feline feces? *sigh* Your opinion?

Got a spare cat?

Went to a talk last night at the local university. I imagined the speaker at the front of a huge darkened auditorium: an audience of eager young minds.

Nope. It was a smallish room. Bright fluorescent lights. Everyone seemed to know each other. They were all couples, in jeans or nice corduroys, with matching white hair and fleece jackets. They greeted each other enthusiastically. They spoke to each other in low voices about dinner and haircuts. There were a few students; they seemed to know the elders too.

I sat alone, at the back, in my embroidered purple top and scented oil: a loner hippie. It was my big exciting smart university event, except it turned out to be senior date night. Oh well.

The speaker arrived, flushed and excited, panicked over possibly being late and definitely desperately having parked on the sidewalk. She was passionate and eloquent. I was fascinated by  the depth of her knowledge. I appreciated hearing the latest info in my field.

She took questions. There were political nuances associated with her topic. The audience was a bit hostile, or am I too sensitive?

I spoke with the speaker and gave her my book.

So maybe it wasn't what I'd imagined. It was still a great night because I learned a lot.

Monday, November 1, 2010

reiki on Friday

Reiki Friday at the cancer center, yay! It's been a few weeks and I really miss it. I miss the warmth, the hugs, the people- - and most of all: the reiki energy. I love diving into that meditative state, hooking up with the symbols, and channeling energy. So Friday, in just a few days... reiki!

I'll be working with another practitioner, even better. Our energies will mingle and double. My consciousness will expand. Hopefully healthy energy will flow through all of us.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

dog & leaves

 We went for a walk today. It was 70 degrees F: sunny & gorgeous.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

lacrosse

I watched some lacrosse this weekend. The sun was beating down but the wind was cold. Fans were bundled in fleece and jeans.

Strange sport. I could not figure out the rules, even which way they were going or if there were a goal.

It seems to be a blend of football, soccer, wrestling, and acrobatics.

The ball is shaped like a kumquat: pointy at both ends. Who can catch that? If thrown, it bounces in serendipitous ways.

The teams travel together in bunches. They throw each other around, and happily pile atop one another.

Sometimes they fold each other up, and pummel an opponent into the soil. Some players wear nylon bonnets.

They lift smaller players, in order to catch the ball. All of sudden there is a pyramid of players; they go vertical.

Like soccer, lacrosse is played in the best season: fall. Autumn for you purists. The leaves are flaming yellow, cranberry red, or pumpkin orange. No bugs. Nice sun and blue sky. The grass is still green, what could be better? Ok, sometimes the wind is bitterly cold to our summer bodies. Hey, this would be a wonderfully warm day in February. We would love this day in February, so stop complaining. Put on a jacket. Not quite glove weather, but hey, it's coming.

Lacrosse. It's great. Lots of enthusiasm, positive energy, sun, and piles of athletes. What could be better?

dog seeking cat


Apparently, my dog is lonely. My friend Jen and her husband Chris came over today. Jen is an animal communicator. She told me that Fluff wants a cat. Not a dog. Fluffernutter said I would pay too much attention to another dog; she doesn't want a dog. She wants a cat. Not a rambunctious PIA kitten: an old cat.

Cats are OK, but I don't really like cats. They scare me a little. I think a lion must have chewed on me in a past life. And the litter box. Fluff, are you going to empty the litter box? No. I didn't think so. According to Jen, Fluff knows I wouldn't pay much attention to a cat: that's good in her opinion. But a cat would be a companion to her while I'm away at work all day, also good, in her opinion.

My sister Catherine said, "Ha! It's like a kid wanting a pony for Christmas". She said I don't have to get a cat for Fluff.

I mean, I don't want Fluff to be lonely. But I REALLY don't want a cat. You know, cats are nice. I like cats, in theory.  But the litter box. The whole, do you let them outside? thing. Cats are scary.

My dog wants a cat.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Canada!

Hello Canada. I love your country. I love your health care system and your accent. I know, you don't have an accent: we do.

I love your infrastructure: roads, parks, bridges, and fish hatcheries. I've never tried that dish with french fries, gravy, and cheese curds- - but it does sound good.

Quebec, and Quebec City are way cool. I love the Chateau Frontenac. I don't blame you for Benedict Arnold. Crepes are good. Vin aussi.

And don't forget Anne of Green Gables. I love that book. My dad read it to my sons when they were small. I read it to them too.

I've been to Quebec City and Montreal. I'd love to go to Nova Scotia and PEI. Canada!

thank you

to my readers in the US, Vietnam,
Canada

Russia

Australia

Belgium

South Korea

Ukraine

Hungary, and

Switzerland.

The Internet is amazing. What I write goes all over the
world. So I sit here at my favorite assisted living facility,
 typing on my blog, and I look around.

I look at the snoozing elders. They are 80 and 90
years old. Mr M is slumped into a soft chair,
newspaper tucked beside him. He reads it all
day, when awake. I wonder if he's ever used
a computer.

Some of the ladies ventured out into the
blasting cold wind, to walk at the gym.

I smell apples and soup. I hear the furnace, and the cook
clattering in the kitchen. The sun is shining through
the yellow leaves of the maples outside.