vegetarian

I've been a vegetarian for a long time, nearly my whole life. I always say it doesn't bother me when I'm with friends and they eat meat, but really... I just shut down, block it out.

Really it always seemed like cannibalism to me. Eating bodies of other living beings of this planet.

Plants seem different, I don't know why. They have spirits too. But it feels ok to eat plants. It just never felt ok to me to eat meat. Just saying. Carry on.

sharing Reiki

With one hand over my heart, and one hand over my solar plexus, I drop into a meditative state. I think about the person who requested that I send Reiki.

I send Reiki to strangers. They write to me through my fiverr site. They describe physical and emotional maladies. I meditate for them, I focus on Reiki, I am Reiki for them.

Sometimes I get intuitive messages. Sometimes I pass those on. Sometimes I offer nursing instructions. I find myself telling people to rest, drink herbal tea, apply ice or heat, or seek evaluation from a nurse practitioner. Mostly I tell people to drink herbal tea. Sometimes I suggest that they find a Reiki teacher in their area and take a class. I share Reiki. Every person feels different to me. I send several times a day for several days. I'm grateful for the opportunity to share Reiki.

mefk12 Reiki healing

vultures

Saw two turkey vultures today. This was right after I picked up my tax return paperwork and shortly after I spent a vigorous 30 minutes shoveling out my car with an ice scraper. I'd parked on an icy curb. The sun warmed the ice and the car sunk and then I couldn't get out. Stuck. Dug out around the tires with the trusty ice scraper.

The vulture was in the road, and I thought it was a turkey. I've never seen a turkey in the city before. I saw it on my way to my accountant, and it was still there when I came back. That's when I saw it was a vulture, not a turkey. I've never seen a vulture in the city either.

So I turned around to take a good look. It was eating a dead squirrel, fresh roadkill. A car came and the vulture hopped up onto the snowbank. Then it flapped it's black wings and swooped up to a rooftop. What big wings. That's when I saw the second vulture. It was up on the roof.

The last time I saw vultures was out west last May. I remember one morning at Mesa Verde. I drove up there in the dark and was there at the rim when the sun came up. As it got light, I saw black blobs in the Douglas firs. I thought they were plastic bags. It got lighter and I saw they were sleeping turkey vultures. About 20 of them, maybe more. One by one they rustled, flapped, resettled, hopped around, and swooped to a new branch. Douglas firs can grow to be 200-300 feet tall. The firs and vultures were just below me, between the ruins and me. I was the only person there. I just sat on the rock rim and watched the light, the vultures, and the ruins.

eye strain

Eye strain?

Close your eyes and rest. Several times a day, stop and cup your hands. Place them over your closed eyes. Breathe in health. 

Blink often. Try an herbal tincture from your local herbalist or health food store. Eyebright orally or in a compress. Cut back on screen time. Get enough sleep.

Self-Reiki. be well ~

4 corners

Acceded to peer requests and gave a talk at work yesterday. I talked about my travels around the 4 corners. I had PowerPoint slides of photos, stones, and a stack of books.

This is what I told them.

First I plan. That is some of the fun. I choose my flights, rent a car, and find little motels. TripAdvisor is great for finding motels. I make lists of museums, bookstores, restaurants, rock shops, and hikes. I research petroglyph and pictographs. I plan to drive about 4 hours/day. It takes me about 8 hours to do a 4-hour drive because I love to stop and explore. I plan days with my son and DIL.

I pack light. One carry-on whether it's one week or three.

I take the bus to Logan airport in Boston and fly to Salt Lake City, Denver, Albuquerque, or Phoenix. I rent a car and head to the first motel. I stop at a grocery store for jugs of water and bags of snacks.

Every morning I get up before dawn and head to a spectacular spot for sunrise. I hike til noon. I take lots of pictures. When it gets hot, early afternoon, I go to a museum, bookstore, thrift store, or a rock shop. Then I head back to the motel for a shower and a meal. I rinse my clothes in the shower. Some days I drive, stop to explore, and sleep in a new motel. Sometimes I stay at one motel for several days, as I explore the area. I get coffee from the motel lobby in the afternoon or evening, and stick it in the car for the morning. Sometimes the lobby has books to trade.

I like independent bookstores, and look for local biographies. I like farmer's markets, grocery stores, and botanical gardens. I don't like crowds; I despise tourists. I recognize the irony. I like wild animals: antelope, elk, horses, turkeys, vultures, hawks, coyotes, and rabbits. I like flowers, lakes, sunrises and sunsets, cacti, ruins, arches, and easy hikes. I like to look up the altitude and the humidity wherever I am. I like to be alone in nature. I like to chat with people I encounter. Narrow ledges, steep drop-offs, and narrow steep windy roads are scary.

So that's what I told them, as I showed them gorgeous photos of some of my favorite places: national parks, ruins, and petroglyphs of our 4 corners. Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Already planning my trip for this summer.