Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing

New! Sales of Reiki Nurse benefit the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing. Click on this link: Reiki Nurse , or this one to learn more about the Center. Please consider a purchase or donation.

The money we raise supports free services for people with cancer. There are so many wonderful loving people on amazing life journeys associated with this magical place. They come to the Center for hugs, reiki, massage, sewing & knitting groups, information, and referrals. There is a lending library, there are cute hats and cozy blankets, and lots of angels.

This is a place of hope.

Click here to learn more about the Dempsey Challenge.

Click here, or on the book to help raise money for the Center. Profits from sales of Reiki Nurse from this site go to the Dempsey Center.

garden

Ready to garden, but the garden is not ready for me.

I have seeds, tubers, tools, and cabin fever. I want to dig in rich moist earth. I want to make straight rows with my hoe, drop in the seeds, and cover them over with just the right depth of dirt. I will trace reiki symbols over the rows.

I want to check the beds every day, in anticipation of sprouts.

Cucumber, zucchini, and pumpkin tendrils will curl over the edges of the raised beds. Carrots will dig in. Beans will flourish. I will leave bags of vegies on neighbors' steps.

Now all I need is some warmth. It's still temps in the teens here. Snow and ice cover the garden. I see tips of crocuses and daffodils, but the ground is still frozen, waiting. So I wait. I look at garden catalogs, marveling at the color.

Garden dreams.

Maine Whoopie Pie

1067 pounds!

The massive Whoopie Pie at the Maine Mall weighed in at 1067. In this corner, weighing over half a ton.... the Giant Maine Whoopie Pie...

You know how the filling is usually Crisco and sugar? Well I like the marshmallow fluff filling, or butter cream frosting. Or cream cheese.

As for the cake- chocolate. Oh pumpkin and spice are good, but chocolate is best.

Yum.

Medieval Birthday Party

So wow,

the party was so much fun. There were queens, Druids, assassins, fairies, monks, fortune tellers,  and a butterfly.  Kathi was a queen, dressed in gold and black, a dress she sewed herself.   There was a nearly naked man. He wore a leafy garland on his head and a big fig leaf you know where. Mary was a woodland nymph, or perhaps a spring sprite.

 Each room had a different theme. One room had a giant dragon swooping in from the ceiling and a sword in a stone. It was a real sword, of wood and metal, and Jeff made it. It was sunk into a stone fountain, with colored lights and mist. Another room had stone and golden walls. Another room was the forest, with green glowing lights, garlands, and trees. The butterfly was frequently seen here. 

The birthday man made a beautiful speech about the importance of family and friends. He said that relationships are the threads that make up the tapestry of life. Something like that. It was quite moving.

He requested pie rather than birthday cake. There were apple, blueberry, and cherry pies. I tried them all. Yum. Cherry was the best. 

Giant Massive Huge Whoopie Pie at the Maine Mall

Yup, today is the day. Reportedly over 1000 pounds. Am I there? Am I at the Maine Mall with a thousand shoppers and hundreds of Giant Whoopie fans?

I was so tempted. And so lazy.

Did you go?

Medieval Costume Party

That's right. That's where I'm headed this evening. Medieval Birthday Party.
Unicorns? Knights, fortune tellers, and princesses?
Will report later.

letter from Sendai

from a friend of a friend of a friend...


Subject: A letter from Sendai, Japan

Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,
First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.
Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.
During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.
Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."
Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.
We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not.
No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.
There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs.  All happening at the same time.  Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars.  No one out on the streets.  And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two stars, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains of Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.
And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful.  I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entrance way. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.
They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others.  Last night my friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.
Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.
Thank you again for your care and Love of me,
With Love in return, to you all,
Ann

yin

In the yin. The resting phase, gathering energy, reflecting and contemplating.

ethics

... life begins with quickening, and a woman has the right to determine her future. 

All we are saying...

is give peace a chance.

fixed, I think?

testing 123
test,
yes!

send reiki love to Japan

blog broken... can make titles but not posts :o(

Box of Lies

Read Box of Lies by Mark LaFlamme. 


Don't start this book if you have to go to work tomorrow. #1: You won't be able to put it down. You're going to have to read the whole thing. It's a page turner. #2: Once you finish it you're going to spend hours going over the plots and characters - so don't even try to get your normal sleep. Unless your normal sleep is full of nightmares. LaFlamme's images and characters will pop up over and over, scaring you again and again.

This book will smack you upside the head, squeeze your guts, and make you cough. You might vomit.

LaFlamme drags open a curtain, showing you the scary corners of your mind. He provides just enough science along with the phantasmagoric fantasies to truly scare you crapless. He opens up his heart too, offering up just enough soul to make this an honest read.

Thanks, I think, for another haunted apartment house of horrors. Condos of creepiness. Ghost ghetto of Lewiston, Maine. Yeah, thanks. 


click here to enter the haunted house, if you dare.....eeeeeeek

Maine's Giant Whoopie Pie

Heard an interview on the radio this morning. DJs interviewed the Issamax baker of the Giant Whoopie Pie. She said it will weight between 750 and 850 pounds. She's started to bake and assemble it. Said she started to put the cream frosting on the bottom portion, then froze it. She's worried that the weight of the top cake will squish out all the cream frosting. She thought freezing would help stabilize the Giant Whoopie.

She said the baking sheet weighs 100 pounds, and she put 200 pounds of batter on it for the top portion. Said there will be about 400 pounds of frosting. Used 200 pounds of eggs for the batter.

Tomorrow the Giant Whoopie will be transported to the Maine Mall for viewing and snacking. 

Meditation for Japan

Sadhana Meditation Center emailed me about a meditation for Japan, today at 11 am.

I'm on vacation, want to expand my horizons, and want to meditate more; so decided to go.

I was thinking it was 1/2 hour away, but once I got on the road I realized it's more like 35-45. I started to speed. Speeding to meditate: ironic.

I thought, I'm being so yang. Full of energy and purpose.

I pictured a big room full of people sitting on pillows, meditating intently. Or maybe they sat in pews? Would there be a talk first? A slideshow? Or would we meditate for a full hour? I pictured them closing &  locking the doors at 11. "Sorry, you're late! No admittance. Can't go in there. You'll disturb the serious meditators who arrived on time." I went a little faster.

Got there at 11:05. Place was dark, no one around.

Oh no! Wrong day? Wrong place, wrong time? I wandered down the hall and recognized two women from the Center.

"Right day," they told me. "Right time and place. You're the only one who showed up. Go ahead, turn on the lights, go in. Meditate. There's a yoga class at 12, you can do that too."

I went into the big bare room, spread out a yoga mat and a cushion. Got comfortable. Meditated. Thought, now I'm yin: potential energy. Thought, I came here to meditate with other people. To join and uplift our energy, to connect with like-minded people, yet I"m here alone. Ironic.

I let my thoughts drift. I focused on my posture and my breath.

45 minutes later the yoga teacher came in with two other women. We did yoga for an hour. Yang. We sent love energy to Japan: the land and the people. We reposed in corpse pose: yin.

Then I drove to the Old Port section of Portland. I went to the fancy hotel where my son Micah cooks. He grilled salmon for me, and placed it on a bed of spinach, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes. The salmon was crispy outside, like melted butter inside. This isn't on the menu, but he knows I like it so he makes it for me every time. There was a rim of zinfandel sauce dripping lazily down the plate.

Dessert was chocolate torte, covered with chocolate cream, garnished with a sliced strawberry, whipped cream, and a generous drizzle of chocolate sauce. The texture was rough and chunky, the flavor rich.

Afterwards we went to Whole Foods and bought coconut water, brazil nuts, grapefruit, cabbage, and sunflower seeds.We went to the library, to see the renovations. I admired the sculptures, huge windows, slate floor, and light fixtures like twisted origami. Took Micah home. Good day.

Please send love energy to Japan: the land, the people, the plants and animals. Thank you.

Whoopie Pie (R) v Blueberry Pie (D)

or lard v vegetable shortening....

It's the Great Whoopie Pie debate in the Maine Legislature.

Republicans proposed and are backing the Whoopie Pie, while Democrats are fighting for the Blueberry Pie. Legislators are arguing about antioxidants in blueberries and lard in Whoopies, obesity, diabetes, saturated fats, and agriculture.  They are debating the language: dessert or sweet treat?

Meanwhile our Republican governor is dismantling art panels depicting the history of labor in Maine. He said the panels make business leaders uncomfortable.

And that's Maine politics today.

cone head?

Going to a medieval costume party. What do I wear? A pointy hat with fabric coming out of the top? Burlap? Chain mail? Must google medieval fashions.

And then what? Sew something: no. Walmart medieval section: no. Thrift store, online, borrow from friend: no no no. Oh no. What to do?

Egads! Forthwith! I'll go as a time traveler from the future.

raw

Eating more raw food: grapefruit with brazil nuts and dried cranberries, cabbage with onion and cashews, sunflower seeds, broccoli dipped in humus. I stopped drinking coffee and wine 2 months ago, and have been drinking lots of water and green tea.

Guess I'm spring cleaning my insides.

spring hike

Fluff & I climbed a mountain: saw gorges dripping with meltwater and heard the rustling of oak leaves. We saw spring streams, boulders, and frozen ponds. We walked through mud and slush or hiked on foot-deep ice pack. I took pics, but none really captured the spirit of that beautiful place. I brought home a little parallelogram of milky quartz.

Happy Birth Day

Hello Wyatt, welcome to Gaia...
love you...

puddles

Eeek. New puddles in the basement.

I'm prepared with mop, bleach, fan, and ..... wet vac!

Puddles inside and snow outside. It's the first day of spring and we're getting 3-5 inches of wet snow. It's nice to be warm inside looking out at the big flakes.

Be confident!

When I ask patients what quality is most important in a nurse, most often they cite "confidence." "Teach your students to be confident," they tell me.


So that's what I tell my students. 


Their confidence must be based on knowledge and inner resources, since they don't have experience. They're learning, doing procedures on live people for the first time. I'm there to make sure they perform properly, and to cheer them on.


Patients are frequently uncomfortable and uneasy. They want their nurse to be calm, confident, capable, and compassionate.

Dalai Lama

When we wish and seek to help others, our attitude is more positive and relationships become easier. We are less afraid and have less anxiety. Otherwise we remain shy and hesitant, and feel the need to take a thousand precautions before we approach people. When our intentions are good, we have greater self-confidence and are stronger. This is how we learn to understand how precious and valuable kindness is. HHDL

just plain reiki... or a mix of modalities?

Should reiki be shared in it's purest form only? Or is it OK to mix with other modalities such as: sound, crystals, angel messages, aromatherapy, shamanism, etc. Are we offering reiki, or are we offering ourselves as practitioners? Reiki in it's simplest form, or our complex messy selves?


I go back and forth on this... for me, I guess it depends on the situation. I tend to stick with plain regular wonderful reiki when it's the recipient's first session, or when I'm in a hospital, or I'm teaching students. Then, if it's friends or family, or pets, in private practice, I work more freely... and am more likely to pull in my other interests. I love sound & crystals. 


As a nurse, I use a variety of modalities to help someone feel better. Same with reiki.


Nurses use voice, tone, medications, positioning, and instruction to help people. Same with reiki. I use my voice, energy, skills, and experience. I strive to be compassionate and calm.

sharing reiki

It's simple.

Isn't that one of the great things about reiki? We don't really do much, and the healing occurs. I mean, we have wisdom and experience, we set our intention to the highest good, we are compassionate and respectful, we focus on reiki symbols and place our hands... but beyond that, which seems so simple, beyond that, it's all spirit, or energy, or whatever reiki is.

What is it again? What is reiki?

Is it universal life force energy? God/Goddess blessings? Angel love? Is it touch prayer? What activates our own innate healing cascades to jump into action?

I don't know. It just works. People like it.

Reiki online

Can you learn reiki online? Type your credit card number and become a reiki master today?


One can learn the history of reiki online; as well as ethics, principles, and communication techniques. But human interaction is an important part of learning, practicing, and sharing reiki. Verbal communication, body language, and peaceful presence are all aspects of reiki practice. Some online is OK, but there has to be human interaction to truly learn and share reiki. 

yoga at the Sadhana Meditation Center

This is a picture of The Castle, site of Sadhana Meditation Center. I took a yoga class here this afternoon, met Sadhana's founder, Mr Ashok Nalamalapu, and ate yummy vegetarian Indian food.

It was my first time using yoga props. We sat on blankets, to slightly elevate and tip us forward. Some people used blocks in some positions. I didn't get to try those, as there weren't enough to go around. We used belts to stretch our legs. There weren't enough of those either, but one woman kindly gave me hers. I accepted it, thinking it was extra, wouldn't have taken it if I'd realized she was going without.

We did sun salutations and Warrior 2. We stretched and rolled. We did some kirtan.

Then out in the lobby I ate some fresh pineapple chunks, a vegie dumpling, and some couscous. I couldn't identify the grain, it wasn't wheat- oh! It could have been quinoa. It was served on tiny tender fresh spinach leaves. I chatted with Mr Nalamalapu, and told him about my yogi Arvind Zanje. I talked with some of the other people in the class also.

Then Fluffy and I went for a walk in the park across the street. The park was in the middle of a campus of old brick buildings. I could see the west end of Portland across the tidal flats.

Some children came running when they saw Fluffy. They surrounded her and patted her. It was a family of 6 children. The older ones were tall and thin, the younger ones plump and grinning. The girls' hair was arranged in tiny braids. They all wore brightly colored clothing and warm boots.

They patted Fluff, rubbed her belly, and scratched her ears. They threw sticks and balls for her. They had a soccer ball so we kicked it to each other as Fluff ran around barking and attacking the ball. She loves to play soccer. The smallest girl asked me plaintively, "Will you be here next time?" I said, "I hope so."

'Tis the gift to be simple

Reiki. It's so simple. Anyone can learn it, anyone can do it.

It's so simple that some people wonder if it's enough.

Some practitioners want flash, awe & amazement; so they add flimflam. They build rituals around the reiki. They smudge, dance, gesticulate, and wave magic wands. Smoke and mirrors, intended to impress? Developing and selling your personal reiki package? Or tools towards achieving greater understanding? Almost famous, or simply bringing who you are and all you can do to the reiki table?

We question our own motives, and we question others.

OK, I've done many of these things myself. I'm interested in several healing modalities, and I do like to combine them. I've smudged during house blessings. I'm interested in sound healing and crystals. I usually play soothing music during a reiki session. When I'm not in the hospital setting, I like to use tuning forks to clear blockages and crystals to magnify the energy. I have a crystal pendulum to check chakra energy flow. I like to combine techniques. But I question myself. Is it ego? Do I do this to impress?

Hmmm. I don't think so. Usually the recipient's eyes are closed when I use my crystals, so I'm not impressing anyone. I use crystals as tools to help my understanding of the individual's energy and to magnify the healthy energy. The tuning forks, well I attended a workshop on how to use them. Sound, frequency, vibration, and energy seem so connected to me. I'm intrigued by sound healing. I think sound can stimulate healing on a deep level. So I don't think I use sound to impress, inflate my ego, or gain a following.

I'm much more interested in teaching reiki, than I am in building a private practice. I encourage independence in my students. I don't want to charge people for reiki sessions, I want to teach them to do reiki for themselves and others. I like to spread the concept of reiki, of love & light. I like to add sparks to the souls of lightworkers. I see us as candles. I imagine a web of light all over the world, raising consciousness, rising to enlightenment.

I like to teach. I also like to share reiki, one on one: plain direct quiet reiki.

When I do reiki, I like it to be pure and simple. Just reiki. Dayenu. It's enough.

Spring into Yoga

Going to do yoga this afternoon. Work on channeling my energy up my chakras and into my Ka body.

I'm headed to the Sadhana Meditation Center for an afternoon of yoga. There's also a potluck supper and evening kirtan.

Today is the last day of winter, and the Super Moon. Woke up to see unexpected snow. Snowing hard, covering everything, a wet & heavy snow.

Yes, a good day to hop on the turnpike, do some yoga, and hang out with lightworkers.

Moon's so bright...

you gotta wear shades

Giant Whoopie Pie: Maine, the Whoopie Pie State

That's right, Coast Radio 93.1 and Wicked Whoopies are going to construct a giant whoopie pie.

It's expected to weigh over 500 pounds.

Why? Because of the whoopie competition with Pennsylvania.

Slices of the giant Whoopie will be sold to raise money-- proceeds will be used to send whoopie pies to Maine soldiers in the Middle-East.

Maine, the Whoopie Pie state.

Super Moon

Are you ready for the Super Moon tomorrow? Full moon at apogee, closest to Earth in 18 years.

Do you find it difficult to sleep during a full moon? Wake up and wander around the house in your jammies at 3 am, wondering why it's so bright? Do you squint out the window, dance around the yard, or howl? Prepare to squint, dance, and howl.

The moon is going to appear 10-15% larger. It's going to pull on the ocean, making bigger tides. It's going to pull  on your blood and lymph. The light is going to wake you up and make you dance on the fresh spring mud.

reiki is not massage

Reiki is not massage. I'm happy to see reiki featured in the WSJ, but would like to clarify the practice for those who may be confused. Recipients remain fully clothed, and relax in a comfortable position in  a chair or on a reiki table (similar to a massage table).  The reiki practitioner places his or her hands on or just above the  recipient's body. When I share reiki, I focus my intention on assisting the recipient to achieve the greatest good, or optimal level of health. Most people find reiki to be relaxing; most report enhanced feelings of well-being. 

bingo wings

Taught my students a new anatomical landmark today: bingo wings.

They'd never heard the term, and looked confused when I brought it up. We were talking about insulin injections. Most people with diabetes, who self-inject insulin, use sites on their thighs and abdomen. Scar tissue builds up at those sites, altering the absorption of the medication. When these people come to the hospital, and we inject insulin for them, we give those usual sites a rest. We inject in spots difficult for people to reach themselves: the upper outer arm, the fleshy part that droops a bit in older people (like me). Bingo wings.

Think I'll stop writing now and do some yoga. I'm thinking some asanas that will work my upper arms...inchworm: downward dog to upward dog and back, plank...

just for today

The news from Japan is all about bodies washing up on the beach, radioactive winds over Tokyo, financial markets failing, and a global shortage of silicon chips. The videos of the earthquake and tsunami are horrifying. The photos of grieving citizens heart-wrenching. Catastrophobia is rampant.

What can we do? We can donate to the Red Cross, send messages to our Japanese friends & family, and we can send reiki.

Japan is the homeland of modern reiki. Mikao Usui developed reiki symbols and techniques over a hundred years ago. Reiki practitioners believe we can send reiki energy through time and space. Just for today, let's send some reiki  love back to Japan.

nuclear meltdown

What a time of change in our world.

It's a good time to ground yourself. Drink lots of water, meditate, do yoga, and spend time outside. Listen to birds and feel the wind on your face.

It's a good time to do reiki on yourself and your loved ones. It's a great time to send reiki to the troubled parts of the Earth, and to Gaia herself. Keep your heart open to love and your crown open to light.

...more reviews...

A tantalizing and insightful glimpse into the worlds of nursing and alternative healing. Kendall has a natural storyteller's flair: her tales from the nursing front are at times somber, at others, hilarious. The author seems to examine her own inner workings as much as that of the profession that has consumed her life. An honest and open examination of a profession none of us care to know very personally but one that we will all need. Whether you've watched a loved one spend final days in the care of a medical professional or laid healing hands yourself, you will dig the voyeuristic view of the inside offered by Kendall's debut book. I was a fan by page two and will no doubt read the book again.

 - Mark LaFlamme. Author, crime reporter, and columnist.

http://marklaflamme.com

You have a beautiful way of describing one of the greatest professions in the world…makes me wish I could start a nursing career… you write so splendidly, unselfconsciously (difficult I know for an autobiography), with such humility, vividness and grace that it keeps me turning thru the stories faster and faster...they should make a movie...a sitcom...get copies out to wellness groups if you can, everyone in the medical world should read it. – Arthur L. Herman II, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, UWSP

Thanks so much for the reviews. They make a huge difference. If you've read Reiki Nurse, please write a review and post it here or on Amazon. I appreciate your time, thoughts, and efforts. Thank you, meredith

Reiki Nurse on Kindle Nation Daily

reviews

Here are some reviews of Reiki Nurse, Kindle Nation's eBook of the day.

Meredith's warm, caring nature and delightful sense of humor come through in each chapter. She opened my eyes to the world of Reiki in ways I didn't expect. Now I want to learn all I can about it. Meredith's students are blessed to have such an instructor in their midst.
I look forward to her next book. Brenda Hill, RN




When people choose to write honestly about their challenges and passions, there is always something to be learned in the reading. Since REIKI NURSE: My Life As a Nurse, and How Reiki Changed It is set largely in the rural county where I live, I was eager to read it.

Author Meredith Kendall begins her story with her casual decision to become a nurse. She had left Maine to be a beach bum in Hawaii, then came back to live in a cabin in 20 acres of Maine woods. She went to college to be a teacher but felt drawn to science...why not be a nurse? It's as good a way as any to be called to one's life's work.

Kendall's style is conversational and refreshingly random as she tells stories of her early nursing days. She provided home care to patients for fourteen years, driving 500 miles a week through the Maine forests. Her stories of the patients she cared for and the impact they had on her are fascinating snapshots of a nurse's life.

Leaving the home health field, she worked the night shift in a small hospital. During this time she began exploring the spiritual side of her work as a healer, and getting in touch with her personal energy sources. After reading a book on reiki, which she explains as an ancient tradition that channels healing energy from the universe, she began to study reiki.

Reiki is in use in many hospitals in the U.S. as an adjunct therapy; practitioners help patients to overcome the stress and pain of hospital treatment. Kendall instituted a reiki program at her hospital and then went on to lead a program at a larger hospital where she took a job in nursing education.

Many of the ideas presented in "Reiki Nurse" are not usually "dreamt of in our philosophy," but this immensely readable book will make you glad that modern medicine makes room for the spiritual aspect of healing--and that committed nurses like Kendall are there to lead the way.

Linda Bulger, Vine Voice Top 500 Reviewer




WOW... HOW AWESOME..I AM AN REGISTERED NURSE AND ATTUNED TO THE FIRST LEVEL OF REIKI AND THIS BOOK SPEAKS TO ME SO MUCH!! I LOVE IT..I GET SO EXCITED TO READ ABOUT REIKI AND THE FACT THAT MEREDITH IS AN REGISTERED NURSE JUST GETS ME THAT MUCH MORE EXCITED!! YOU CAN FEEL MEREDITH'S WARMTH AS YOU READ THIS BOOK.. HOPEFULLY SOMEDAY I WILL WRITE A BOOK ABOUT MY NURSING/REIKI EXPERINCES TOO!! I WILL BE PASSING THE WORD ON TO SEVERAL OTHERS!! MEREDITH-- YOU ROCK!! KEEP BEING YOU!! JUSTINA

stream of consciousness

So the stream in the basement this morning is a little longer, a little deeper.

I used too much bleach, and now the house smells like a swimming pool. Reminds me of staying at the YMCA in Grand Forks, ND. My grandfather was the maintenance man, and my grandparents lived in an apartment in the basement. I loved having the run of the place before it was open. There was a big swimming pool; my Grandpa took care of everything. Grandma grew hollyhocks out the back door.

I thought of them as I mopped up the bleachy grey water. I turned on a fan and a dehumidifier and lit the spicy candles. Looks like I'm going to spend the day mopping up my spring stream.

Kindle Nation

Good morning and happy Daylight Savings Time!

Here's a link to Kindle Nation, where Reiki Nurse is the eBook of the day! Cool! Click here: yes, right here.

pics

Same spot as misty walk; same view, different day. 

So sunny. Students were playing football and soccer. There were big snow piles around the field.

I saw a banana peel with a face on it.

And this. Not sure what it is.

down in the flood

Just checked the basement. The little stream is starting again.

It's above freezing and the snow banks are melting. The stream starts in the southwest corner; the land slopes upward on that side. It was a puddle a few hours ago, now a slow stream.

This time I'm ready. Yesterday I got everything up off the basement floor and went shopping. Wet vac to suck it up: check. Bleach to disinfect: check. Scented candles so my house doesn't smell like mud and bleach: check.

I poured a little bleach into the stream and mopped it up. I don't need it yet, and haven't taken it out of the box, but I've got a wet vac.  I got a 2.5 gallon Stinger from Home Depot. Only $19.99. I lit the candles; the house smells like spices and beeswax.

I thought about the tsunami in Japan as I mopped the basement floor. Sorry to make such a big deal out of a little stream in my basement when people are truly suffering. As soon as I'm done typing and mopping I'll send some reiki to Japan.

And Libya. Yemen, Egypt, sardines poisoned with neurotoxin... so much suffering in the world right now.

"Well that high tide's rising," as Bob Dylan sang. Back to my mop and vac.

misty walk

Send reiki to Japan

Hello reiki practitioners. Please join me in sending reiki to Japan.

Ground yourself. Take a deep breath.
Focus on the distance symbol and a group of beings: children, moms, dads, pets, plants, nurses, teachers, water... and send.

Send love and light.

Thank you Mikao Usui, Chujiro Hayashi, and all the other reiki teachers of Japan.

Love & light.

Cadbury Creme Eggs

Yes, it's that special time of year. Put away the dark-chocolate covered crystallized ginger and the giant espresso malted milk balls.

Cadbury Creme Eggs are here.
Happy Easter!

love train

Did reiki yesterday afternoon. Saw my energy as a subway train of light, coursing through the recipient's intestines, lighting  up each cell.

I went through fast, like a train in a pink tunnel. As I zipped by, cells and tissues opened with light, love, and life.

flood watch

Another adventure in home ownership: spring flooding.

After a long cold snowy winter we had 2 days of rain and temps in the 40s. This morning I checked the basement and found 2 tiny puddles. After work I went down to do laundry and found the floor mostly covered with water. Two big rugs were saturated. I could barely lift them, they were so heavy, but managed to drape them over a table.

I turned on a floor fan and a dehumidifier. An hour later I checked again. The rugs are mostly plastic, and drying. There was still water on the floor. I decided to mop.

Mopped up all the water and dumped it down the basement sink. Filthy water, with bits of insulation. Finished, satisfied, I looked around. More water on the floor. It's still coming in. Hmmm. Need a wet vac.

So I google wet vacs. They range in price from $7,700 for a burnisher/charger. Is that a wet vac? The CleanFreak auto floor scrubbing machine is only $3,283. Is that a wet vac? Ah, this one actually says wet vac and is a relative bargain at $2,900. Free shipping! I keep looking.

Hey! The cheapest one is $19.97 for a handheld model. It looks like a DustBuster. There are many models for less than $100. OK, wet vac. Suck it up. 

Whoopie Pies: Maine or Pennsylvania?

Have to weigh in on the whoopie pie controversy.

Who invented the whoopie pie? Pennsylvania Amish or enterprising Yankee? Who makes the better pie?

It isn't really a pie, you know. It's more like cake. Or a cookie. With frosting in the middle. It's 2 cakes with creamy frosting holding them together.

The standard is chocolate with white frosting, like a big Oreo. Then there are the variations: pumpkin with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with peanut butter, spice whoopie pies, strawberry, mocha, and on and on.

I don't know about Pennsylvania, but here in Maine you find whoopie pies anywhere food is sold. They're piled on the counter at the mom & pop corner store, at the farmer's market, the local bakery; even the big grocery stores sell them.

If you haven't tried one, now's the time. Find your favorite. Try making them: fun project with kids.

Slush Mountain

A crack in the back of winter: a creak in the streak of storms.

Spring might come. Ice Mountain, the enormous pile of frozen snow in my backyard, was more like Slush Mountain today.  A giant slushie: flavored with street salt, sand, and soot.

I put on snowshoes and clomped around the house, raking roofs for maybe the last time this winter. Maybe the snowstorms are over and we'll have rain instead. The rain will melt the mounds of ice and expose the sodden lawns and gardens. Maybe.

Or maybe we'll have another month of arctic air, sideways snow, and icicles. Maybe I'll be scooping fluffy snow and icy slurries until April.

At least we had today: slushie harbinger of spring.

Main St

Sitting on a sunny porch, imagining myself as an amethyst quartz crystal, full of light.

It's a heated porch with a wall of windows. There are heaps of pure white snow rolling down to the street, Main St. The sun is bright in my face. People are walking purposefully by, winter jackets and backpacks: huddled against the wind. College students with mittens and boots, businessmen going into the bank, and random people running into the coffee shop and post office. There goes a FedEx truck, now a logging truck, now cars with skis headed to Sugarloaf. Flags are flapping in the breeze. Water drips down icicles on the eaves. The sun is in my face and I'm a crystal.

Little Beards

Today is Little Beard Day. Maine women are supposed to put on a little beard at noon, to support environmental legislation and Mother Earth. Show our Governor what we'll look like with little beards.

Gov LePage has done it again, with his comments about BPA.

So today, put on a little beard to support environmental awareness. Drink lots of fresh water. Eat organic fruits and vegetables. If you're ordering seeds for the garden, buy heirloom or organic seeds.

Let's make today about Mother Earth.