Lake Zaca

This is really a continuation of the posts, part 1 and part 2, that I did in March before the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

http://athursdayschild.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/serious-trouble-will-bypass-you-part-1/

http://athursdayschild.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/serious-trouble-will-bypass-you-part-2/

Lake Zaca in California was our destination point, where we would meet with other volunteers of our group for a retreat type meeting.  Lake Zaca is located in Los Olivos, California.  It is a beautiful San Rafael mountain top retreat with a rich history: 
http://www.zacalakeretreat.com/

Apart from being pristinely natural and a serene departure from the hustle and bustle of normal everyday life, its claim to fame is also for location shoots for some quite famous movies such as “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” and “Friday the Thirteenth, Part 3.”

The Chumash Native American Tribe consider the lake a sacred place, and according to their legends, it is bottomless, with a passageway existing through the lake to Santa Cruz Island where the Chumash lived before coming to the mainland, with underwater caves containing oxygen and home to a civilization of “little people.” The lake does possess a strong energy current.

On our opening night get together we were told that we would be experiencing some after effects of the recent Japanese tsunami.  Considering it was a nice sunshiny day I kind of shrugged off that warning.  My husband and I hiked our next day there – a mild hike.  On the next day we were planning a more strenuous hike, but the rains came and came.  By the following day the rain became much stronger with gusting winds.

Let me interject here that the cabins were rustic to say the least, especially the one I was assigned to.  I took the top bunk partly out of kindness, but mostly because I was the last one to check in.  There were five women to a cabin in our case.  Upon seeing some of the other cabins we were rather disappointed in ours, but we were assured that we had the best cabin.  Ours was up on a hill, and had older plumbing.  Others closest to the lake had been updated with large bathrooms and walk in whirlpool showers.

Okay, at first I had shrugged off the tsunami aftermath warning and was now dubious about our accommodations.  You could put me in the category of “Oh, ye of little faith.”

The next morning we awoke to no electricity.  The temperatures had dropped, and being very cold natured I was freezing.  Due to our older plumbing we had enough hot water in our water heater for all five of us to have hot showers.  In the wee hours of the morning we drove in our rented van to pick up others for breakfast and found a tree limb had fell on someone else’s rental car.  No one was hurt.  We found that others were not so fortunate.  Many had stepped out of their bed onto wet carpet where water had seeped in the cabins, and there were no hot showers to be had due to the newer water on demand water heaters.

The wind got stronger.  Creeks rose, and new ones were created.  Two vehicles drifted away with luckily the drivers and passengers swimming out safely.  By the next day heavy equipment came to get everyone out, and everyone was able to make his or her planes on time.

I’m thankful that serious trouble was averted.  On the way to the airport, my husband and I stopped to eat at our favorite Chinese restaurant, and we both opened our fortune cookies to find the same fortune:  Serious trouble will bypass you.

Yoga & Yogananda

“God Talks With Arjuna – The Bhagavad Gita”  Paramahansa Yogananda

Chapter IV The Supreme Science of Knowing God, The Historical Basis and Esoteric Essence of Yoga

Verse 3 – I have this day informed thee about that same ancient yoga, for thou art My devotee and friend.  This sacred mystery (of yoga) is, indeed, the producer of supreme benefit (to manhood).

——————————————————————————————————————————————–

I wrote this in February of 2010:  Today has been a dream realized.  We visited SRF – Self Realization Fellowship, the international headquarters in Los Angeles.  I can’t describe the emotions.  There was an aura of love permeating the grounds.  We sat in the meditation room awaiting a guide.  Over the altar were pictures of Babajii, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteshwar, Jesus, Krishna, and Paramahamsa Yogananda.

A nun greeted us and gave us a personal tour, telling us a little about the history of the building and pointing out some of Yogananda’s personal possessions.  She took us to the meditation areas on the grounds.  The view was breathtaking.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

X-Files

Sometimes I feel like my life is one big x-file – that even our planet, maybe our universe is one gigantic x-file, of course with witty long scripted dialogue thrown in my Mulder.

Last night I was thinking how strange everything is, even my husband, not that he is strange in the sense you may be thinking.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m thankful we are together.

There are times when people in general to me seem strange, even those who are closest.  I think that is the seer or observer coming out in me, the one that sort of pops out making a suction cup sound and hovers above looking down seeing the absurdness of everything in general.  Or, in x-file fashion it just floats like a mist.  That really sounds more like a Star Trek episode.

The program X-Files was about the strange.  The older I get the more I see strange as the norm.

Do you ever look at your spouse and say who is this person?  Do you ever say who am I, and how did it get here?  And, the news, and the world of politics – won’t even go there – the strangest of the strange.

Talking Heads

Once in a Lifetime (1984)

Once In A Lifetime

And You May Find Yourself Living In A Shotgun Shack

And You May Find Yourself In Another Part Of The World

And You May Find Yourself Behind The Wheel Of A Large Automobile

And You May Find Yourself In A Beautiful House, With A Beautiful

Wife

And You May Ask Yourself-Well…How Did I Get Here?

W Through Pictures

A little over a year ago me assisting Best Man Chris at my daughter’s Wedding.

Winter came and Went (can’t emphasize Went enough)

Yet Winter can be Wondrous.

I’m thankful we had plenty of Wood to get us through the Winter, but grateful to finally get it off the porch.

Moving on to the Wonderful images Warm Weather provides.

From the stillness of Water surrounded by green foliage.

Water that flows.

Warm Wooded Treks

Walks in the Park

Wading in the ocean

The Versatile Blogger Award

I saved this for my “V” word in the A to Z Blogging Challenge.  Also, it gave me added time to find more bloggers out there for me to present the award to.  The limit is 15.  I’m sure I’ve yet to find many more fabulous bloggers.

Thanks so much to my new blogger friend, Marissa Colleen Mullins –
http://marissamullins.com/
- for the Versatile Blogger Award!

I gladly accept! And according to the rules – here are 7 Random facts about me plus my 15 nominations:

Seven Random Facts:

1. My most favorite time of the day is whenever my husband is home. (He just pulled into the driveway, so finish this later.)

2. I’m too addicted to chai lattes.

3. I like hanging out either in nature or at Starbucks, or at bookstores, or on the front porch swing.

4. I love finding great vegetarian or vegan restaurants.

5. I’m really a homebody.  After a couple of days of traveling I’m ready to come back home.

6.  I love eating our meals on the deck, and reading there.

7. I love porch swings.

Now, for my 15 nominees:

http://www.ThoughtTavern.com/

http://vasthayogi.wordpress.com/

http://indianknowledgesystemacademy.blogspot.com/

http://christainnewyork.com/

http://veganepicurean.blogspot.com/

http://vegandad.blogspot.com/

http://www.exploreyourspirit.com/blog/

http://julesandben.wordpress.com/

http://taochild.wordpress.com

http://lkramer14.wordpress.com/

http://tonishealthblog.wordpress.com/

http://mygratitudelife.wordpress.com/

http://braincaviar.wordpress.com/

Unity

We are all one.  We create divisions, but ultimately we are all one.  Every thought, every action is a ripple in the universe.

Humans expend a great deal of energy in setting up divisions between each other.  Nature works in harmony.  I truly believe nature is one of our biggest teachers.  We have been unconsciously and sometimes consciously destroying nature for the longest time.  Nature is made up of opposites that depend on each other as well as compliment each other.  Humans are opposites.  It is the unification of opposites that make up the world.

From Las Tzo:

When everyone in the world sees beauty, then ugly exists.

When everyone sees good, then bad exists.

Therefore:

What is and what is not create each other.

Difficult and easy complement each other.

Tall and short shape each other.

High and low rest on each other.

Voice and tone blend with each other.

First and last follow each other.

So, the sapient walks around doing nothing, and teaches without speaking.

All things appear, but he makes no claim on them.

He works for them without making them dependent.

He claims no honor for his deed.

Because he claims no honor, he will never be dishonored.

Buddha:  “He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.”

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
Psalm 133:1

I’m thankful that even as much as we destroy nature, nature ultimately prevails.  Its unity gives it the advantage.

Trails

In January of 2008, Chris and I hiked two trails at Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky.  A friend and I were supposed to hike Carter Caves today, but we got rained out. We hiked the Raven Bridge Trail, which is 0.7 miles in length, and the Three Bridges Trail which is 3.5 miles in length. We hiked the Three Bridges Trail over nine years ago on our first date.

The Raven Bridge Trail leaves from the vicinity of the lodge and golf course and connects to the Three Bridges Trail giving us an approximate hike of five miles. The Raven Bridge Trail is named after the Raven Bridge which is also adjacent to the Three Bridges Trail connection point. At this point we crossed paths with other hikers. Noticing our camera one of them offered to take our picture.

Being a chilly day, plus the fact I’m cold natured, I’m heavily layered. Below is a picture of this bridge approaching it from the The Bridges Trail, on our return trip back towards the lodge.  I made my hat, but lost it one day while out running errands.  Still have the scarf.  I never could find any yarn to match to make another hat.

You will notice the blue marks on the trees. I have to give Carter Caves an excellent rating on marking their trails – not the case on other hiking trails we’ve been on. The Raven Trail is marked in blue. The Three Bridges Trail is marked in red, and is often simply called the red trail. The trail is named after the three natural rock bridges which lay along the path. Attractions along the trail include Smokey Bridge (the park’s largest), Raven Bridge, Fern Bridge and numerous vistas of the lake. This trail can be accessed at several points including the lodge, the welcome center, the cabins and the campgrounds.

The park’s largest natural bridge is the Smokey Bridge. Chris explored the underneath side while I hiked above.

This picture doesn’t do justice to the steepness of the steps winding down between these two rock formations. At the bottom you hike beneath another natural bridge – Fern Bridge. Here we met other hikers who where from Cleveland, OH. They were warning us about the ice covered bridge.

We made it across by stepping on the moss-covered rock on the other side.

This is another part of Three Bridges Trail.

Some of the trail overlooks the lake. This is a popular stop for many hikers.

The above picture is what we call our spot. On that first date, Chris and I stopped here to rest and must have sit on this rock overlook (he closer to the edge than me) for over an hour and just talked. While he kept talking I just thought, he’s the one. I’m going to marry this man. The oven cleaning (another story – Why I Can’t Look at Oreos) came the following week.

The last time I hiked here this tree was fully intact.

This is one of the seven wooden footbridges along the trail.

A doe peeks through the trees at us.

I would recommend this trail for all you hiking enthusiasts. The Three Bridges Trail, inspite of some hilly spots it’s really not hard, and can be done at a liesurely pace in about two hours. Or take a picnic lunch and spend more time out in nature. Add another thirty minutes for the Raven Trail.

I’m thankful we have gotten to hike so much during our nine years together.

Happy Trails,

Chris and Jerri

Spa – Treat Yourself at Home

Castor Oil Google Images

On some days life requires spa treatment or just general detoxification.

I’m a big fan of Edgar Cayce and discovered castor oil packs some time back.  Edgar Cayce was known as the sleeping prophet, because while sleeping or more specifically in a trance he gave instructions for treating various elements of individuals for whom he was giving a reading. One of the most widely given treatments was the use of the castor oil pack.  The use of these packs resulted in amazing health recoveries for many people. In ancient times, castor oil was called the Palma Christi or the hand of Christ.

They have been an off and on habit of mine for years.  They really should be a weekly occurrence.  I had been doing them the traditional way by soaking wool muslin with cold pressed castor oil and covering with a heating pad and placing over my abdomen.  But, in hearing an interview with Dr. Norm Shealy on the Explore Your Spirit with Kala show I discovered a new way and possibly more beneficial way of administering castor oil via a castor oil bath.  In the interview he gave instructions of putting castor oil into a hot bath, swirling around, and soaking.  I took a twenty-minute whirlpool, my version of a spa treatment.  It’s important to be careful as when leaving the bath you could encounter a very slippery situation.  Here is a website with instructions: 
http://www.edgarcayce.org/are/blog.aspx?id=3574&blogid=445

I would also suggest listening to the interview as he really combined two aspects of the instructions above: 
http://www.exploreyourspirit.com/Media/shows8.shtml#SHEALY

Taken from this website:
http://newconnexion.net/articles/index.cfm/2006/11/Castor_Oil.html
“Castor oil is extremely good for a number of things, especially for the lymphatic system and eliminating toxins from the body.  It’s effective for many diverse types of pain, liver and gallbladder stimulation and cleansing, digestive problems, lacerations, skin disorders such as eczema or psoriasis, menopause symptoms, to boost the immune system, as an emollient and skin softener and much more.”

Tonight I followed up with another a hot Sesame oil massage.  In Ayurvedic tradition sesame oil has been used as a healing oil for thousands of years and is recommended in the Vedas as excellent for humans.   An excellent article explaining the proper use of this oil and its benefits is:
http://healing.about.com/od/massagestyles/a/abhyangamassage.htm

I’m thankful for my inexpensive home spa treatment.

Ramblings on Robots, Rulers, Rules and Regulations

Caprica Cylon from Google Images

I’ve always been fascinated by robots, not that I’m technically inclined in the least.  C3PO and R2D2 were my favorite characters in Star Wars as was Gort in “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”  I remember the first Superman show I watched, the black and white version made in the 1950’s, which had a robot in it, quite unsophisticated, but still something that intrigued me.  As television became more advanced, so would robots.  I would come to fantasize about Cylons, the later version.  Who wouldn’t want a gigantic metal contraption that said, “By your command?”  Even though I consider my husband Superman, he still can’t lift a lot of those heavy rocks out in the woods that I would love for building projects.

This morning I woke up thinking about all the rules and regulations we have, not just the ones that are handed down to us by those supposed higher authorities who know best, but also those we impose on ourselves.  Life can get so complicated as it is, without rules and regulations greatly oppressing individuality and the freedom to truly flow from the heart.

Rules and regulations can be written down as law, as well as obscured and hidden from sight.  The hidden ones can be the ones carrying the most force, the ones you don’t dare oppose.  Lao Tzo said, “The more artificial taboos and restrictions there are in the world, the more the people are impoverished…. The more that laws and regulations are given prominence, the more thieves and robbers there will be.”

I asked my husband this morning who the rulers of the world were.  He replied, “Vishnu.”  That’s not exactly what I meant though.  I said would you say that Monsanto, General Electric and the Roman Catholic Church were the rulers of the world?  And then there are the oil companies and pharmaceutical companies.  Corporations basically rule the world.  We may have what we call world leaders, but I feel they are wearing invisible straight jackets for the most part.

Possibly soon robots will be ruling the world.  Hopefully, it won’t come to the same scenario as in “Terminator.”  I write this using Word, which does a great deal of the work for me with the thesaurus and dictionary at my side and spell check.  With calculators everywhere I’m not sure I could add up numbers on my own anymore.  Everything we buy is coded and scanned with cards slid through.  There is no thinking process at all involved. We move along like the cogs in the wheel, or more organically or biologically like sheep.

There obviously was once or many times before us advanced civilizations.  We see the proof in the pyramids and at many other ancient sites.  Were these people(s) great thinkers and mathematicians?  They would have had to have been to have had such high development.  I see the Sphinx, which in my own observation appears to the be the head of an African woman, the Oprah of the day.  I see the resemblance myself.  Could we have come full circle?  How did these vast civilizations fall?  Could robots and corporations have been the culprit?  Thinking disappeared. Flowing from the heart disappeared.

Las Tzo continues, “The wisest course, then, is to keep the government simple and for it to take no action, for then the world “stabilizes itself.” As Lao-tzu put it, “Therefore the Sage says: I take no action yet the people transform themselves, I favor quiescence and the people right themselves, I take no action and the people enrich themselves….”

I’m thankful I still have some thought process left.

Queen of Something

Not the musical group.  Not Elizabeth.  I’m not royal, but I could call myself queen of something.  I’m the queen of one-dish meals.

I grew up where we had one of those large country kitchens, no dining room.  My mother basically cooked from morning until five.  There was no dishwasher, well other than me.  But I didn’t mind washing dishes.  Every pot, pan and plate was usually used.  The different dishes always filled the table and sometimes overlapped onto the snack bar.

Funny how things change when you have a home of your own.  My kitchen is small and compact.  There is a dishwasher.  My mother told me I’d never have enough water to run an actual automatic dishwasher.  We have cistern water.  But we have always managed.  There is a dining room.  The kitchen isn’t big enough for even the smallest table.  So, the dining room is the main eating room, except for warmer weather when we eat as many meals as possible out on the deck.

When I had my first job I bought my mother an automatic dishwasher for Mother’s Day.  Maybe I was trying to make her Queen of the Day.  Remember that show?  A housewife was given the honor of being made Queen for a Day, and would receive all kinds of appliances as gifts. She really didn’t use it that much though.

Perhaps the reason there is usually one serving dish on the table, is because of the compactness of the kitchen with limited counter space and that I grew up washing dishes.  Even if I use every burner on the stove plus possibly the oven, it all seems to go in one dish.  There are exceptions on same days.  Maybe also vegetarianism lends itself more to one-dish meals. Even with two items I still tend to shove (I mean present) everything into one dish as you will see in some of the pictures.

I’m thankful my husband doesn’t mind one-dish meals.  We’re having black bean chili tonight.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.