NATURE TRAILS: Morning and Moon-set

Nature rarely announces her third act...you know, the one where all the characters come together, the plot closes and the play makes complete sense; you're even happy to have paid the outrageous last-minute ticket costs.  Such was this rare morning between 5:30 and 6:30.

I always 'greet' the moon - before I plug in the coffeepot.  Just a little routine I have - keeps me in tune with the outside world...the one that really counts. Kinda like kneeling in the garden dirt, about mid August, surrounded by the sound of a few honeybees, birds chattering in the chicken yard - scrambling for the left-over chicken morsels from a dozen over-fed, happy chickens.  The soothing, pervasive musky odors of aged working compost and energized dirt in which my veggies are also feeding.  I believe I feel better for having sunk my fingers into the dark dirt and behind a weed root.  Truth is, I think the electronics of the Universe run through me, steadying the polarities of the stresses gained during the previous days spent dealing with the man-made world in which I attempt to function. "The Force be with you..." comes to mind. These "forces" hold the Universe together...it works for me!  But I digress, back to this morning's rare moment...

Of course, I dared not let my sleepy best friend enjoy the rest of his warm, quiet rest; of course, he 'decided' to join me in my Nature fizz!

First, the eastern sky lightened and a pale pink/purple tinge dusted the bottoms of the few lingering clouds on the horizon.

 On the other horizon, a sleepy full moon began its descent; the synchronicity was palpable! A finely tuned Natural rhythm, chanting a mantra heard only in our racing heartbeats.

 

At one point, our fingers lost feeling; holding a metal camera in 30 degree temps with a breeze...is challenging.  But the saga had a strong hold and we persevered.

 Then - THE moment occurred - the brilliant red ball broke over the horizon;

Seven minutes later, the moon disappeared for another day...


IN MEMORY OF BOOBIE/POOH BEAR, November, 2013. 

May NATURE prevail through your eternity.

 

NATURE TRAILS: moments at Home

"NATURE IS NOT A PLACE TO VISIT: IT IS HOME."
 Gary Snyder

Found this poignant quote today, it touched deeply.  We forget that Nature was here - long before we were, that she rules this planet, as a tough and Loving guardian. We can count on her!  We can indeed, rest in her all-knowing plan, be who we can be at any moment, with her guiding light, warmth, understanding that is obvious in every aspect of her kingdom.

• Watch the peaceful butterfly as it flits from flower to stem - in complete faith that whether it lives another day or not - it truly is - the moment it enjoys.
• The Pelican glides up and down, circles and dives in its constant faith that Nature will provide its food. No stress, no worries as it travels through graceful, powerful flight, using every muscle, every moment.
• The ants move determinedly, quickly, carrying greater loads through their day that we ever could.  Their tasks are centered, full-focused as they create their little worlds.  Their entire being gobbles up their every movement, their every moment, oblivious to the constant peril they face in a world of giants.  Have you ever noticed an ant sitting still on a grain of sand, stressing over lunch, death or large soled tennis shoes?! Their every movement, every effort, is completed - in their moment of given time.
• Our babies trust in Nature as they sleep their worry-free nights, trusting that Nature will provide. They smile and giggle through their moments, adding joy, excitement, new faith to our moments.

Nature gives repetitive morning sunshine throughout her realm, brings new energy for planet-wide hope and warmth, dreams and possibilities.  Her fading colors at dusk, leave us with beauty and design with which to tide us over through her sometimes, long nites. Her weather permitting, moonlight guides us through our darkness, our dreams, our pondering.

Sit in the moonlight this week and ponder the millions of moments we enjoy.  Learn increased determination and focus from the ants in your life.  Revel in the smile of a baby.  Find peace in the flight of a butterfly. Gain a sense of freedom in the flight of a Pelican.

Be at peace with the glorious moments we have this day. 

ONE MORE TIME

One more time...to laugh and play,

One more time for rays and soft rain...

One more time to hug and smile,

One more time for thought, and pain.

One more chance as a freedom soldier,

One more season with rake in hand; 

One more moment for heart to heart,

One more time to take a stand...

One more moon for pondering light,

One more drive down hiway lanes..

One more time to look and learn,

One more time...while time remains...

NATURE prevails...

FORD TRAILS UPDATE: Corporate dismissal

Three weeks of life now separate me from my fire event of 10/2/2013.  And life really does...go on; nothing stops the 'life-train' from its destination, wherever that may be.

But I want to state some facts here, for the record, about my interactions with FORD Motor Company.  After contacting FORD 3 times, I was informed that my "case" was now in the legal department and that the legal department was the only department that could deal with me - AND - that the legal department ONLY deals with their customers through snail or e-mail, that I could no longer handle this "claim" in any other manner!

I contacted my attorney.  He advised me that FORD is famous for out gunning and out waiting people with my similar problems, and that it would be in my best interest, to let go of my desire to have FORD reimburse me for any part of my loss. It appears they were NOT very interested in ascertaining the cause of the fire which - in my opinion, might possibly save someone else's life.

Also, for the record, we decided - as a direct result of this 'big corp' behavior, to not even consider replacing our vehicle with another FORD product.  They lost - forever, our business; in this case, approximately $20,000.  In a few days, we pick up a 2014 Jeep Patriot.  Had FORD been smart enough to assist me - in some manner, we most likely would have replaced our Ranger with another similar product. It seems to me that FORD must have so much money at their disposal, that our measly $$'s were inconsequential.

For the public record, anything posted herein is MY PERSONAL OPINION, of which I assume I still have a right to express under the Constitution of my United States of America.

GEICO, our insurance company - on the other hand, has been SUPER!  Their customer service was and is - immediate, complete, forthcoming, caring and just about everything one might desire from an insurance company! My personal items payment arrived within a week of the incident and the vehicle payment process is almost  complete.  It most likely would already be here, had I not delayed it with additional requests and paperwork processes. For anyone interested in vehicle coverage - particularly if you are military related, GEICO is a pleasure to deal with .  Their company truly understands "customer service".

As always, NATURE prevails...

FIRE IN THE HOLE! Ford Trails

You haven’t lived “surreal” till you step over flames as you exit your vehicle and then - proceed to watch it entertain flames of varying levels for an hour or so, turning – not so slowly – into a crispy-critter of different textures, colors and oh-so-horrific odors (probably cyanide, among other chemicals, attesting to my clogged respiratory, head-achy and irritated breathing for several days).…

So was my day, Wednesday, October 2^nd, 2013.

Going to a friend’s house to sew – can be an exhilarating experience! I was about a mile from this house when our cute, pretty – did I mention…well-maintained…2002 Ford Ranger, lost power.  It coasted for about 3 or 4 minutes then…directly under my seat I clearly heard…

-’clunk’

-“POOF” (EVERY HUMAN INNATELY UNDERSTANDS POOF!!)

-immediate smoke rising outside my windshield in front of the steering wheel.

As anyone recalls who has experienced a traumatic moment, time immediately splits into two factions which – somehow, work in perfect sync. It took about 3.5 hours to turn the key off as I stared at the ‘forever’ steering wheel.  Then, another 4 hours to un-belt myself.  This ‘slow time’ feels like a dream, a slo-mo of unreal, oh-so-safe cocoon-time. All through this probably 2 seconds of real-time, a constant screaming can be OVER-heard in the background, very similar to…”WHY are you NOT at least 1 mile AWAY from here yet???!!!”(Four letter words removed!) But I digress…

I stepped over the flames coming from under the cab, jumped away from the truck (into the other lane of traffic, I later recalled, WITHOUT LOOKING!), only to see the cab on fire as well as two car lengths of flaming road behind the truck

 This ‘innate’ human fear of fire again kicked in and I can assure you –that at 66 years of age – I can STILL outrun any track team member – ANYWHERE on this planet! 

….Looked back once – “STILL ON FIRE!”  Ran some more, knowing that absolutely – at any second, I would feel the blast that would emanate from our – now, ball of roaring fire! Adrenaline is so over-reactive!

At some point a car stopped and called 911. The next hour or so was spent chattering with any/all of the emergency personnel attending to our used-to-be cute little truck, as the 472.5 MACRO grams of adrenaline hijacked my body...for several hours.

All nervous joking aside, life goes on.  That ‘circle of life’ so poignantly reverberated throughout the soundtrack from “The Lion King” video, recently posted on this blog, continues.  By the next day, the event was fading and though the traumatic memory haunts me, and will for a long time, the reality of the actual event 'cools'. 

We’ve contacted FORD, have a 'claim #', and still await their response.  My communication to them included:

-         Request for them to ascertain the cause of this outrageous occurrence to a well-maintained, excellent running vehicle with under 140,000 miles on its odometer.

-         payment for the remainder of my personal items loss of $700; (total was $900 of which our insurance paid $200).

-         some sort of additional compensation to be discussed…

As I mentioned, thus far, there is NO response from FORD. We have always been "FORD people', jokingly entertaining all the old sayings from childhood: "Found on road dead",  "Fix or repair daily", etc. And truthfully, we would care to entertain a new FORD replacement. (So far, a SUBARU Outback is on 'the list').  But without a cause for the fire, using another FORD vehicle would leave me haunted with the possibility of this happening to ANY Ford product, regardless of age and/or condition.

This fire should NEVER have occurred.  Our RANGER was well-maintained, regularly oiled about every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, kept washed; in general, was the ‘apple’ of my DH’s eye.  WAS...being the operative term!

 

We await a response from FORD Motor Company.

All you folks with 2002 FORD Rangers…might want to check under the cab to ascertain that all connections to the gas tank are in tight, working order!

NATURE prevails...

Hunger Trails: Feed your Mitochondria

This video is a powerhouse of nutritional information and learning.  It seems the old adage of..."You are what you eat", may be more fact than fiction.

Also, through my nutritional wanderings, I found this next video, which gave me insight into my own elevated liver enzymes. I will now watch closely to the types of sugars I intake, since I use a lot of fruit juice instead of whole fruits.

As always...especially in food, Nature prevails.

TRAILS OF LOVE

Two special people in our life, celebrate their first year together this weekend.  The Love they share is warm all over them, as well as over anyone blessed enough to be in their midst. As we watched their wedding video, we laughed and cried as scene after scene reflected the sheer joy and depth of their feelings for each other, one year ago - this weekend.

Do we know what Love is? Humankind attempts to describe this indescribable power that can heal diseases, create societies, raise children and bond people beyond life and death.

Love is expressed in songs, poems, novels, letters, cards, gifts, etc. Love even has its own holiday which we celebrate every February 14th.

With all its venues, my favorite expression of Love is through song.  Music touches everyone in a myriad of ways; in me, it floods every sensory perception - sometimes at the same moment.

As I searched the internet for the perfect song for this couple, each one I found had a slightly different meaning, each broadening the meaning of Love as the search continued.  John Denver, through his song, "For You", says it all - as no one else can.  

I dedicate the beauty, meaning, joy, profoundness and sheer 'fullness' of Love and all it's potential, opportunity and comfort, to Lindsay and Jon.  May both your lives be increasingly enriched as the years pass; may you continue to fill each other with your combined special Love...forever.



Nature...prevails.

Old Barns and Old People

As I age - and I watch the people around me do the same, moments of despair and regret can creep by if I am not at constant attention.  Yet when sentiments such as those in this video cross my path, it broadens my view, gives me a deeper more meaningful view of my life, as well as adding beauty and importance to the rest of the aging planet around me. 

As always, Nature prevails.