Health in Body, Mind, and Spirit

Chapter 8  Health in Body, Mind, and Spirit

If we take good care of ourselves in body, mind, and spirit we can have a much more healthy and enjoyable life.  When we feel good and healthy we are much more able to contribute positively to our world.  Developing a positive attitude attracts other’s to us and lifts others in our presence. If you want to have impact in the world be someone that is motivated to make things better through positive interaction with others and taking action on a daily basis.  If we are strong soldiers of spiritual enlightenment, we can fight the darkness and negativity that is everywhere in the world and dispel it from our own and other’s lives through our positive and productive actions.  In order to be healthy in body mind and spirit, here are some things to remember:  

Body

Lots of water

Eat healthy natural foods with a good fiber source -4 small meals a day, avoid food after 7:00 p.m.

Have a vigorous workout at least 5 times a week for 10 to 20 minutes

Take some time to de-stress in whatever form you enjoy

Mind

Read things that uplift and stimulate in a positive way - Many of the classics are amazing  The self help section is also great

Meditate daily for ten minutes or more

Have stimulating conversations where you learn to listen as well as respond 

If things aren't going well and you need support, seek counseling

Spirit

Create and spend time nurturing, non toxic relationships

Have a spiritual connection with a higher power/prayer.  Make prayer and connection to a higher power a part of your life throughout the day.

Enjoy the beauty of nature

Create a safe, healthy, and non-cluttered environment in your home where your soul can be happy to reside.

Have an attitude of gratitude - focus on the good things in life and be grateful for what you have 

Have a purpose, or stimulating work that energizes rather than depletes
Get out of yourself and go out and do something for others. It's surprising how your spirits will lift in connecting and helping others.

  This country complains about all it's problems and ills. If the needy and the greedy stepped up to the plate and both did their part to contribute in a positive, honest way this country would be in alot better shape. Alot of people love themselves in this country but seem to fail to love their neighbor as theirself.  Greed is a problem. If they loved their neighbor as their selves, they would give their excess to those in need instead of indulging in their own material gratification.

        Need is a problem.  Some people make a living off of being needy instead of being honest and doing their best to make a contribution. . Not being responsible with life by choosing to take drugs or being  irresponsible with sex is not loving the self. Irresponsiblity should not be rewarded.   

       If both parties did their personal  best through personal responsiblity to make this country and society a better place, what kind of a country and society might we have?

     One of the most refreshing things I have learned in my personal journey was about "clearing clutter".  Clutter doesn't necessarily mean junk around the house, it can also mean clutter in the mind and  body.

     People that are pack rats have unfulfilled needs that they try to fill with gathering a lot of stuff  around them.  No matter how much stuff they have, they keep collecting more.  You've probably watched some of those reality shows about people that can't stop hoarding.  To help them an outside person comes in and tells them that they must get rid of anything they haven't used in a year except if it is valuable, beautiful or has an important significance in their life.  They tell them that they can't have more than twenty things in each room. All the stuff is trying to fill an emotional need that never gets filled. They must address what that need is and deal with it in order to stop hoarding stuff which includes good counseling.

     Some people try to protect themself through food.  Food becomes their drug of choice and they eat when they feel something is missing or as a substitute for love and attention. After a while they have a lot of padding on their bodies.  That  excess they think is protecting them is really hurting them. Any kind of eating disorder is some unfullfilled need.  Usually a lack of love for the self or from others. By becoming aware of this they can learn to ask for the real love they need as well as learn to love the self which means only eating food to enhance health.

     Other people carry a lot of clutter and issues around in their mind.  They harbor and obsess about something that has upset them in the past and they never really get rid of it. Their issues haunt them in their lives and in their relationships.  Only by releasing the issues to the past and  forgetting and forgiving  are they able to move on and have healthy and productive lives and relationships in the present

     When I studied Feng Shui I learned about how important order and cleanliness was in a house and how clutter hanging around can clutter up everyone that lives in the home.  One of the most important areas to clean was the basement because that is clutter at the foundation of things. The motto was anything that wasn't useful or beautiful could be discarded.

Try dejunking in every aspect of your life be it home, body, or mind. You might find it very refreshing and rejuvenating!

The Case For Women

                                                                The Case for Women

                Women are intelligent, wise, intuitive, productive, and the birth vehicle for the human race.  The world and it’s people would not exist without mothers.  Women have been continually put in the category of second position behind men throughout history.  Only in countries that are well educated  do women have  some respect and the opportunity they deserve to excel and be an equal in the work place.  Even there, there are great disparities in equality for women. 

                Women have to suffer  abuse, neglect, and  an imprisoned life far too often even today. There are groups and societies that like to keep women down. Some Muslim countries do horrendous things to their women. They treat them like a possession and an object by making them wear burkas and hide their faces from society. They make them have to be in harems and kill them or imprison them  if they try to express freedom in any way.   Polygamy and harems  treat women as sex objects and baby machines without the basic human rights that should be afforded to all human beings.
                The United States is not much better than Muslim countries in the way they treat many of the women.  Instead of hiding them by covering them up so other men won't lust after them, they turn women into sex objects in the U.S. and exploit their sexuality. The supposed "Ideal" woman is one that is modeled after "Barbie" which many of the little girls play with. She has big  breasts, a tiny waist and  and very long legs.  Women in America think they need to model themselves after this image and go to all sorts of extremes to stay young and look sexy. They spend fortunes on facelifts, tummy tucks, breast implants and all sorts of other plastic surgeries to try to fit the perfect image of the "Beautiful American Woman".  Many women buy in to it. Some blatantly refuse, and other's that can't relate to that image become athletic and masculine because they like that image better. Women every where need to rethink their image.  What do they really want to represent to the world?  Yes, they are a woman. Yes, they can procreate children.  Yes, they are beautiful but beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, and personalities. There is something very wrong with the "Beautiful Image" that is forced on women in the U.S. today. A woman's image should be determined by each individual woman.
                 Another way women agree to be second class citizens to men is when they change their name when they change their marital status. This in a way forces women to lose their own identity and have to become the appendage of a man through the name change.  Many Native American Tribes used to pass the name down through the women.  This makes more sense because the woman is the one that has given a new child life through her life's blood and her womb.  If a man had to change his name to a woman's when he became married I wonder how long that tradition or law would last?.  Women should maintain their own identity.  If  they choose to add the man's name they should also  keep their own or even create a new name that feels good or right to them.  This way they can maintain their own identity.

                The only way oppression, discrimination, and forcing women to be subservient baby machines will stop, is if women refuse to participate.  They can help stop it by organizing and taking action against the cruelty and subservience that men have bullied them into for so long. Women must use their intelligence to figure out a way to enjoy true freedom from oppressive and inhumane circumstances.  Other women in positions of freedom and opportunity need to help those oppressed  women in any way they can.              

                A book I was reading recently was about a woman in a polygamist cult in Colorado City in the United States,  who dared to defy the “Prophet” by secretly fleeing from the society. She had to go in to hiding so they wouldn’t find her and kidnap her and make her go back to the cult where she would be shunned and punished by other’s in the cult.  It is hard to believe that these things go on today but they do. The book explained how they systematically brainwash the children in the society through their schools and doctrines.  If the members in the cult ask any questions they are chastised with the threat that they are “apostates” which in their societies’ teachings is  defying and rebelling against God.  They keep the women, down by  marrying them off  to old men in arranged marriages, and keeping them pregnant and in fear from a young age.  They don’t allow them to watch TV or read books that aren’t approved by the society.  They teach them that the outside world is corrupt and evil and that they shouldn’t have any part of it.  They keep their families in hiding and imprisoned so they won’t learn about the world outside their cult.

                Throughout history men have contrived a God or (Allah) in their own image so that they can do whatever they want to do and then claim God told them to do it. They don’t create man in God’s image but God in man’s image.  It’s frightening to see how they can manipulate things so they can be perfectly justified in their immoral and cruel behaviors against women.    The saddest part of this is that women have such little self esteem after being treated like a heard of cattle for so long, that they allow it and refuse to stand up against it. There is something seriously wrong with this picture.  Women are so used to being abused that they don’t understand that they could actually have something better in their lives.

                The more education and freedom women can experience, the more powerful and fulfilling their lives will be. They must strip off the masks of oppression and do what ever they can to assert themselves as equals demanding  equality in every aspect of their lives.  Recently  I viewed an educational biography about  a woman, Martha Hughes Cannon,  who grew up in an early Utah Mormon colony. She was very intelligent and was one of the first women to be accepted into medical school and become a doctor.  She somehow bought into the idea that polygamy was an inspired revelation and that she would receive a higher degree of glory in the next life if she became the wife of a polygamist.  She had a very unsatisfying  relationship with her husband who had four other wives and she rarely saw him. She had to give up her practice twice and flee to England and  San Francisco because  her husband would be prosecuted  for polygamy and thrown in jail if they could prove that he fathered her children under polygamy.  It’s hard to believe that intelligent women would actually buy into and accept  polygamy which innately makes them second class citizens and subservient to men.  Polygamy is definitely not an inspired revelation.  It is a way to satisfy a man’s lust and get away with it because the man says God told him it was a way to become like God.  Under that reasoning and assumption god would actually be a male chauvinist pig like they are.  I would not be able to worship a god like that.  It is a god made up by men.  

                Recently women have come out on reality shows trying to shed light on polygamy and make it a perfectly acceptable way to live and suggest that the women living under it are “happy”.  In watching a few episodes I found them far from happy. The man seemed like an immature child that they all doted on and encouraged his immoral actions.  I think it is partly because they don’t have good enough self esteem to believe they could have their  very own husband. The commandment that states “Thou shalt not commit adultery”  though they try to justify and say it doesn’t apply to them, does apply to them.  Their adulterous and immoral ways are a sin. They need to quit trying to justify their sinful ways by saying God told them it was alright.

                There are so many confused women today who put up with far more than they should in the workplace and in their homes.  It’s time for women to demand their rightful equal place in society and rise up and get out of any cult, religion, or organization that keeps them down. Women are bright, and can offer a lot to the world and need the opportunity to do so in whatever walk of life they wish. 

We Must Take Personal Responsibility for our Choices - No Cop outs, No Excuses, and No Blaming Others

Chapter 3   We Are Responsible For Our Choices

We are all responsible for our personal  choices, no cop outs, no excuses, no blaming anyone else.  We have become a society that likes to blame everyone else for what has gone wrong rather than taking personal responsibility for our choices and the direction we have taken in our lives.  Instead of supporting our teacher’s when they tell parents about a problem the student might be having, a parent wants to blame the school or the teacher. Rather than take personal responsibility for what they need to do to help their children, they want to shift the blame.  Parents use drugs and create unstable homes for their children and then wonder why their child might have an ADD or ADHD problem.  Drugs and alcohol and unstable homes can have a direct effect on children’s behavior and performance in school.  Yet parents don’t want to have to admit how irresponsible they have been with their lives and how it has affected their children.  Parents must learn to take responsibility as parents for what they are doing to their children.

 A teacher I taught with for many years used to live in Azurbazan under the Soviet Union  government.  She told me that one big thing she noticed in teaching in the United States that was very different than the Soviet Union, was the lack of support for teachers when teacher’s spoke about a child’s weak areas.  She told me that parents in the Soviet Union were always very supportive of teacher’s when they told of a child’s problems and went right to the student and asked him why he wasn’t doing the things he needed to do  in school.   They had utmost respect for the teacher’s and the educations system. She was really surprised when she started teaching in American schools the  lack of support for teachers, the education system and teacher’s  efforts to educate and help the students.  She was surprised how seldom they wanted to take responsibility for their child’s problems as well.

We have become a society that blames others, whines, makes excuses, and expects other’s to take responsibility for our lives and the choices we have made way too often.  Time and time again too many people in the U.S.  blame other’s for their poor choices in unwanted pregnancies, drug addictions, dropping out of school, and turning to a life of crime.  Other’s did not make those choices. Each individual that decided to have unprotected sex at an age when they shouldn’t have children, or made the decision to try drugs even though the school and other’s had told them what a dead end street drugs were, or decided to be a criminal and steal and break laws which caused problems in their lives, or decided  to  kill or hurt others  through belonging to gangs and participating in gang activities.

All of society pays when people refuse to take responsibility for their lives and their choices.  We need to
ask ourselves if it is really the healthy part of societies responsibility to take care of people who have made poor choices with their lives?  The answer is a resounding no! It is time for people to wake up and take  responsibility for poor choices and not expect other’s to clean up the mess of their irresponsible choices. 

 To be continued......................................

Good and Evil

Chapter Two  Good and  Evil

      Throughout time there has always been good verses evil.  Good things lifted people, helped people, and had a good result.  Evil things hurt people, destroyed people, and had a bad result.  This force of good against evil is shown in many movies where good triumps over evil.  The super heroes win over the bad guys.  Often the conflict is very intense and it doesn’t look like the good guys or heroes will triumph but in the end they reign over evil.  In recent films and movies, however, sometimes the evil wins and the good does not triumph.  Many films today try to confuse audiences  and make evil good and good evil.  There also seems to be a recurrent theme of focusing on the dark side of humanity and life thorughout much of the film.  Film today has definitely become less uplifting.  It makes people lose faith in humanity and the goodness in humanity.

     I have wondered why film today wants to dwell on the dark side of humanity. One conclusion I have come up with is that the film producers themselves are dark with dark and disturbing agendas that they want to push on the public.  The evil influence they create in film seeks to destroy morale in humanity.  This dark energy wants humanity to lose freedom and hope of a better day and force the dark ideas on us.  By giving the dark side of life so much press, humanity who feeds on it becomes darker and darker as a society. This is the plan so that evil can rule over good.  It is subtle, slow, and insidious in how it tries to take over people’s lives but it succeeds too often.  Another sad but true fact is that darkness and evil sells. People have become addicted to the dark side and don’t mind parting with money to feed their dark addiction.  Many greedy film producers only care about the almighty buck, not what it may be doing to bring down society.

     We can see how the darkness rules in much of the television programming as well.  Programs focus on the dark side of humanity that preys on  and victimizes innocent people.  It gives those that are already choosing evil in their lives other ideas to victimize and hurt others.  Programmers feed the public these ideas without conscience.  They don’t care if it hurts society as a whole or causes crime and heartache to increase.  Many of the premises in programs today focus on loose or no morals and making that okay as well.  It needs to stop for society to become a more healthy one. Society has to stop watching these kinds of  programs and demand more uplifting programming showing morals and good character.   If those dark programs don’t get viewers, bottom line is that they will dissappear. Comsumers do have a voice but that voice has to demand good not evil!

To be continued…….

Defending God

Chapter 1  Defending God

                God, Eloheim, Alpha and Omega, The Goddess, The Great Spirit, The Source, Chi, The Universe, A Higher Power, Yoweh, The Divine,The Godhead, Buddha,  Krishna, Jehovah,  A Power greater than Ourself, Om,  Allah, Father in Heaven, Mother In Heaven, Shiva, The Creator, are some of the names given to represent a great power that many on the earth plane use to describe the mysterious energy that permeates life.   Many  humans seem to sense that we have always existed and that something out there that we don’t truly understand, is the reason we are here on earth.  Because we don’t really understand this mysterious force, some  today have decided that it is just a figment of man’s  imagination and something he has created to explain things he/she doesn’t understand.

                When we come into the earth plane as babies we don’t really have a set of instructions as to where we came from or why we are here.  It  is our challenge and job to figure these things out as we progress through this life experience.  At birth, a veil is drawn over our eyes that can only be lifted through faith and prayer to help us understand the mysteries of life and our purpose on this planet.  Today we see a society that is trying to say God does not exist and only fools believe in that fictitious character.  Many in today's world don’t  understand the concept of faith nor do they want to. They can only go with the things they see with the naked eye and that can be proven with facts.    

                There is some good reason for the disenchantment with God.   The world societies have waged most of their wars over the ideas of who’s the right god and which belief system is correct.  It has been a hard task for many in the world to accept the idea of “live and let live” and freedom of religion.  For some reason many humans like to try to force their dogma and doctrines on others and say “This is the way to believe!”  Cults have been created that have been very destructive to the members of the cult. Their leader has convinced them them that he is the master, the truth, and the way.  Some have even enacted mass suicide at the instruction of their leader  (the cult leader Jim Jones)  Many are easily manipulated and lead away by powerful leaders. We see an example of this in World War II when many were hypnotized by Hitler and committed mass genocide of other races and people.  Hitler claimed that  a perfect society needed to be created and his job was to decide who should be in that society. He decided “The Pure Arian” race would be the ideal society. The pathetic thing was in researching Hitler’s background they found Jewish ancestry.

                 Man has created God in his own image instead of the other way around. Many men have created a God so that they could do whatever they want to do and then say, “God revealed this to me.”  There  are very good reasons for people to be disenchanted with the idea of God.  Some feel  God is an angry, jealous, and vengeful person and have a hard time relating to that kind of diety.  It is understandable.  Yet, too often humans blame God for the sins that man has committed. Or they say, “If there is a God, he wouldn’t have let this happen.”  There is an important fallacy in that thinking.  That fallacy is that God can control everything.  In truth God probably can control everything but on this earth plane there is the law of  free will.  God generally does not intervene in man’s free will.  If a man commits a sin, that is on his shoulders not God’s.  The earth experience is a place to refine the soul through good choices and right living.  Unfortunately many on the earth plane make bad choices and create wrong living which results in negative happenings.  Some of the major occurances on the planet have been created by natural causes.  Some people believe God had something to do with those natural causes and perhaps God did.  There are evil things ,however, that were totally created by man and man must take responsibility for those things and not blame God for them.   

                Throughout history there has been records written down of the power of God and of miraculous happenings  attributed to Him. The bible contains many of these stories. Today miracles still occur but some in the human race do not want to give miracles credence or attention in the past or in the present.  They prefer to feel blindly through this life experience trying to sort out life’s meaning without any direction.  God has given us direction through writings but today people say those things don’t apply. They claim that they were written very long ago in a very different time. True they were written long ago, but the truths they taught are universal and will not change with the history of time.  Some of the things in the bible don’t apply and were distortions and were not universal truth.  Other’s will stand the test of time and will apply no matter what time we are in history.

                Straying away from the ten commandments given in the Old Testament will only create a society devoid of morals and ethics.  Those commandments were given for a reason and as a moral set of instructions to help us have a healthy and happy world. By throwing those commandments away we can see the havoc it has created in our society today everywhere.  We really need to get back to those grass roots directions, TheTen Commandments. When society abides by those commandments, society does a much better job creating order versus a world of chaos. Most of our laws are derived from the Ten Commandments.  They still apply today.  Society needs to realize this and apply those old teachings. Society today needs them more than ever.

                Rather than throw away God, the bible, and all it’s important teachings it is important today to open our spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear the truths and guidance that God wants for us on this earthly journey.  It takes some searching, some prayer, and some internal work.  If any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of god, that gives to all liberally. Ask in faith and it will be given to you. Spiritual work is necessary to seek and find the truth of God’s teachings in our lives. When we atune ourselves to God’s direction and word, we are able to hear and be prompted by His spirit whispering the truth of these things in our hearts and minds. An important test of God’s work is the result.  If it has a good result and does not hurt others, it comes from God.  If it has a bad result, and hurts others, it is not from God.     

                God hears our prayers today. Try praying every day and see how God answers prayers and how your life will begin to change for the better through faith in God and through prayer. Time and time again I have been helped through faith in God and prayer and so have many others who will also attest to God answering prayers.

               We are not alone on this earth plane. God has given each of us a guardian angel and at times gives us other guides and direction as we move through life. Sometimes these directions come through people we meet in our everyday lives that help us or listen and guide us. Sometimes we find this direction in reading uplifting and spiritual books. Sometimes this guidance comes through prayer and sometimes through meditation.  If we become in tune with these spiritual directions, we are not alone on our life journey and it can have much more meaning and purpose for us.   

Cats are Cool

                                                                Cats are Cool

      When I first discovered these furry little creatures  when I was about four, I became immediately connected and entranced.  I  could never get enough of kitties.  I was always trying to sneak them into bed to sleep with me. Somehow their softness and little kitten purring would make me drift sweetly off to sleep.  I was heartbroken when the little black kitten I had chosen in an all white litter died either from a Tom or from something else soon after he was born.  From then on I think I always had a weakness for black cats. I settled for a white kitten that I called Snowflake.  I grew a fondness for white cats too. When my kittens would disappear as they did sometimes when I was young, I was so heartbroken that I wrote a letter to all cats and kittens.  I still have it in an early scrapbook.  The letter says;

Dear Cats and Kittens,

We are gathered today to find the lost kitten.  We all must try.

Thank you,

Me

       When I was six or seven , playing house in my little play house was a lot of fun but I liked to have my cat with me in the play house.  My cat wasn’t very good about sticking around so I decided to put her in the oven of the  little wooden stove my dad had made for my playhouse.  I got distracted and went off to play forgetting that I had put her in the oven. The next day I called and called for her but she didn’t come.  I still hadn’t remembered  where   I had put her  and became very upset and starting looking all over the neighborhood for her.  I  went around  knocking on all the neighbors doors to see if they had seen her.  One neighbor said that a white cat had shown up at her house and brought me the cat.  It looked like my cat but when I petted her and held her close, she didn’t smell like my cat. I have noticed that all cats smell differently and I prefer cats that smell a certain way.  I knew it wasn’t her but took her home anyway thinking I might become attached to her.  About a week later  I was playing in my play house and opened the door to my little stove and my cat weakly sauntered out.  I was so glad to see her but was very  upset that I had forgotten that I had put her in the oven.  It was a miracle that she was still alive. Cats are pretty strong and resilient I have found since then.         

     When I was young,  I also had another color of cat I liked and that was a calico.  The Calicos were always short hairs. I read once that if you had a Calico they were considered the luckiest of cats.  I had several  Calicos and we named them Figaro I,  Figaro II, and Figaro III.  Then I kind of evolved into liking long haired cats.  One of my first long haired cats was a black tortoiseshell.  She was the funniest cat.  We called her Calicocoa because she kind of looked like cocoa.  She was a cat clown and  was always full of antics and fun.  She liked to surprise people that came to visit.  She would hide in the oak grove and as they came up the stone steps, she would run out and jump in the air spread eagle in front of them and then scamper away. I know she scared a few  guests.   I guess that’s why they  sometimes call them  them “Guard Cats”.

       Another one of my favorite cats was Sylvan.  She was a longhaired silver cat and she was elegant.  She was a little mysterious but always loving.  Other long haired cats growing up were Mr President, a huge long haired white cat and Ebony and Ivory.  I played the piano and sometimes my cats enjoyed playing cat tunes too. That’s how they got their names.  Ivory was a lovely cream colored  long hair and ebony was a black cat, her fur as shiny and black as coal. 

       After I was married I always needed to have a cat or two.  One of my favorite first cats after I was married was Cozy Kitchen.  She was a black longhaired tortoise shell.  She was so pretty and friendly  as a kitten that one day a child picked her up on the way to school and took her to school with her.  I started searching for her and couldn’t find her.  A few days later I found her down by the school.  Cozy Kitchen was always getting in trouble.  She used up seven of her nine lives in the first four years of  her life.  She liked cars and one day we didn’t realize she was on top of the car when we left.  As we turned the corner she went flying off.  We luckily saw her then and took her home but she had a lot of the fur scraped off her back.  Cozy always drooled a lot when I would pet her. I guess it was an instinct when mother cats groom their babies it stimulates their salivary glands.  One day she disappeared.  I called and called for her but she didn’t come. I knew something bad had happened to her.  After she didn’t come home for a week I kind of gave up on her coming home but I was pretty sad.  Two weeks later there she was by the back sliding door mewing.  She looked pretty rough like she been through something horrific. Her nose was split and I could feel a couple of ribs that felt broked.  There was a big lab behind our house that cruised the field.  I wondered if he had gotten her and when she was hurt she had crawled into a pipe or something to try to mend.  I nurtured her and nursed  her and soon she was as good as new.  She did seem to have a problem of wandering off and getting lost though.

To be continued with more cat adventures……………………….

Martha Williamson: Life After 'Touched by an Angel'

Martha Williamson: Life After 'Touched by an Angel'

You've Got to Have Faith

* Author's note:  Some of these pieces are works in progress and I am continually editing and updating them.  I am still looking for input on this topic.



  You've got to have faith the faith the faith. You've got to have faith! (As the song goes)" Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. " With faith all things are possible". I can't tell you how many times my faith has manifested in beauty, prayers answered, and miracles. Faith precedes the miracle." I'd like to share a  few of these experiences. Hopefully it will help you understand and have faith that there is a loving and caring God and that angels are all around us to aid and help when needed.  There are animal angels. They are angels that look after animals. I have had my animals, horses, dogs, and cats healed many times through prayer.  One time I had a a beautiful long-haired black cat I called McCavity. He came home and his beautiful black tail was sagging along the ground and he couldn't lift it.  We watched it hoping his tail would improve and he would start lifting it.  After a few days, the tail was still drooping and  we knew we needed to take him to the vet.  The vet took an Xray and showed us that his tail was broken. He recommended that we have his tail amputated because he said if he didn't amputate it, the tail could get gangrene and it could kill our cat.  We felt bad and didn't want to have to take off his tail.  We told the vet we would take him home and think about it. We actually took our cat home and prayed about it and asked God and the cat angels to heal our cat.  A day or two later our cat came in and he lifted his tail a little. I was so happy to see some movement in the tail.  A few days later he came in and the tail lifted high in the air. This is just one example of many times where prayers were answered concerning our animals.
      We have also had our prayers answered many times when we have been in trouble of one sort or another.  One time we were driving across the desert in Utah and hauling a boat. We were out in the middle of nowhere and the gas gauge on our  van suddenly went from a quarter of a tank to empty. When we realized we were going to run out of gas I told everyone in the van to call in the angels.  We all started silently praying. Our van ran out of gas but it kept moving and it felt like something was pushing us along.  We kept going like this for several miles until we came to an exit. The van hadn't had any gas now for a while. We all thought it was a little eerie that we just kept moving but we also all felt the faith of knowing angels are there to assist us when needed. We drove down the exit and the van  kept moving. It  moved up a slight hill and then stopped right in front of a gas pump!  I said , "Okay, now everyone say thanks!" We all breathed a sigh of relief and said a thank you in our hearts.
      I often feel angels around me protecting me and listening to problems and prompting me to take certain action or guide me in some way. They have kept me company on long journeys when I had to stay awake and drive at night.  It's like I can feel their presence sitting next to me in the car keeping me awake.

More stories about angelic help to come...........

The Insidious Impostor

                                       
   The couple had chosen Friday the 13th as their wedding day.  They told others when they seemed surprised, that they weren't very superstitious and the groom had happened to be born on the 13th so he thought it was a good day.  Some people do think that 13 is a lucky number but I wondered when they chose that date if they weren't tempting fate.
   It rained all day on the day of the wedding, thick clouds with different shades of gray that looked like giant mushrooms covered the sky.   Though there is a superstition that rain on the day of a wedding means good luck to a couple, everyone was praying or hoping that the sky would clear off for the ceremony because it was an outdoor venue.
   I was one of the ones praying knowing that God and angels can have a lot of impact on life and that God and the angels had helped me out through the clouds and sunshine of my life many times.  I began my chant and affirmation that often worked on weather conditions.  "Clouds be gone.  Sun shine on".
       Thick heavy rains were falling and dark clouds hung over the sky like a shroud at 3:00 p.m..  The wedding festivities were to start at 5:00. The weather wasn't looking promising.  At about 4:00 the rains began to stop and the sun started peaking through the clouds.  The chant was working! Tension began at home though  just as we were planning to leave.  Our son was in the military and they had called him to report at the last minute.  He called and told us that the only way he could make it to the wedding was if he wore his fatigues.  I told my husband to call and see if he wanted us to bring him a change of clothes.  I knew the bride might not appreciate it. This was to be her perfectly well planned and beautiful day and army clothes weren't part of the expected attire.
       At 6:00 when we arrived at Log Haven Inn, just a few misty clouds clung to the mountains that were just beginning to turn their pallet to fall.  There were just enough powder puff clouds to make the sky look arty against the soft blue. I shared a prayer of gratitude for answering prayers to make their wedding day a beautiful one.  The angels always like to be thanked!
      When we walked through the door of the inn, the bride's father (my sister's ex-husband) barely acknowledged us.  His mind was on other things. It was a bit off putting  but understandable yet we both wondered if he had been drinking.  The inn looked inviting with lights on the trunks of trees and the vases and flowers accenting the tables and the wedding alter. The mood was elegant and accentuated by the touches of nature but there was one thing that was spoiling the atmosphere. There was one guest that had been invited that was very counter-productive to the whole affair. That guest had been cunning and baffling and destroyed marriages and people's lives and yet family members still invited that guest because they thought it was  necessary and he wore the disguise of a friend. That turncoat friend was a companion at many gatherings even though he frequently brought heartache and sadness to everyone.  The guest was that great impostor "Alcohol."
    Several at the wedding party were alcoholics though some were in denial about it. Some of  those in denial began drinking as soon as cocktail hour began at 5:00. It was hard to tell if the father of the bride, who was an alcoholic, had been drinking. He seemed subdued and nervous. The father of the groom who was also an alcoholic was ,however, too sick to travel and was unable to attend the wedding.  In his early sixties he was bedridden and suffering from dementia caused by his years of abusing alcohol.  Yet the bride and the groom still insisted on alcohol being a welcome guest at their wedding.  Writing on the wall?
     The  moon began to glow as dusk approached.  It was a  half moon and looked like a Yin Yang sign.   It was a realistic moon for the ups and downs of marriage which were sure to come. There was a subtle but present underlying tension as the wedding progressed.  All were trying to create a joyful day for the bride and groom though serious issues lie at the root of many of the family relationships and many of those issues were alcohol related.  The wedding was "looking good" on the outside but not "looking good" on the inside. The ever present influence of that insidious destroyer was always a reminder of what had eroded so many of the family relationships. The families were pretty good at sweeping all of their problems under the rug and pretending they didn't exist, especially tonight. Keep welcoming that great impostor tonight!
     The ceremony was sweet with a planting ceremony representing their life together. Both grandmother's and then mothers added soil to the plant and then the couple added soil and water to make the plant grow. I couldn't help but wonder how much alcohol would also be added to the plant and if the symbolic plant at their wedding would thrive or die under alcohol's onslaught. Not a good omen.
    The non drinkers including myself  left early not wanting to be a part of the wedding when things could get crazier with the addition of drunks on the loose. As I drove down the windy canyon and saw some  police cars lined up on one curve,  I wondered who was the designated driver for some of the couples that were still there and it made me nervous.  Some of those couple's were my grandchildren's parents. I felt sad thinking that though several of  my children had alcoholics in their families and my husband was a recovering alcoholic, five of the six children invited that treacherous traitor into their lives. I had warned them time and time again to the evils of alcohol and two of the children had been in alcohol related car accidents or received drunk driving charges, yet they still hadn't gotten the wake up call that alcohol wasn't their friend. That deceptor is so cunning and so baffling and such a good disguise artist. So many are always fooled by him.
     There was one very important guest that hadn't been invited to the event.  That important person was a power greater than all of them and could have healed and helped them all with their masked and distracted lives. That important person was God.  There was no mention of God or a higher being whatsoever.  The only guest that reigned supreme at the event was that great deceiver and devil in a bottle.

Hippies Verses Hipsters

                                                   
      The new "crunchy" generation in a neighborhood in Salt Lake City known as the "Sugarhood" could have been a throwback to Haight Ashbury in the sixties in many ways. It seems the hippies kids or "hipsters" are alive and well. Being a person from the sixties, I couldn't help but notice the similarities and the differences. There are a lot more choosing the vegetarian route today. The "Whole Foods" store I was in that's near a college, focuses on a lot of natural and vegetarian items.  I was sitting at a table having a Belgian chocolate mousse for lunch.  A young slender man with a tall cream colored turban and a bright colored satchel on his back came out and sat at a table to eat his lunch alone. He was eating a big bunch of  fresh spinach directly from the plastic container. He had some habenero sauce but I don't know what he was putting it on and was drinking a can of coconut juice. At another table there were two boys that were sitting together. One looked like he could have come right out of the sixties with long scraggly hair.  The other one had sunglasses on the back of his head and short cropped hair. They were drinking fresh lemonade sweetened with agave nectar and eating their vegetarian sandwiches. A doctor that looks like he is from India came in in his hospital greens and sat down at a table alone.  In between eating he texts. Most people having lunch aren't talking even if they are sitting with others but they are texting. Occasionally they might show something on their smart phones to someone else. That was another big difference I noticed.  People aren't really talking to each other today. Of the seven tables occupied on the patio only one in seven was actually having a conversation and that was between texts. The turbaned man was the only one without a phone.There was a young man with a beard that had a bright lime green case on his smart phone that matched the bright green trim on his athletic shoes that was texting.  A mother in a black tank was eating with her five year old daughter who wore a light blue sundress.  They weren't talking. An older woman came in with what appeared to be her grandson of about ten. It was refreshing to see that they were actually talking. She was a pretty hip grandmother though drinking her Oolong tea.  Most of the other's sitting alone were texting.  An older man came in and sat down. He dropped his cell phone on the cement and exclaimed, "Jesus F'ing Christ on the F'ing Cross!"  Others ignored him. That's another thing. There doesn't seem to be much respect for deity these days. Taking God's name in vain isn't considered a swear word anymore, neither is the "F" word.  After a while the man pulled out a cigarette and started smoking.  The smoke circulated around the patio and many chose to leave at that point. Smoking really isn't cool in the U.S. today which contrasted greatly with Nice in France when I was there recently. The smoke in the outdoor cafes was very irritating and annoying. All the young people smoked including very young people and no one seemed to notice or mind.
    Another thing that is different with the hipsters is that there are a lot more tattoos today. A girl in front of me standing in line has permanent tattoos of different kinds of butterflies all down her right shoulder and back. There were many throughout the store sporting tattoos as well, some more tattoos than others.  The population has doubled in the last forty years from three billion to six and a half billion.  Maybe more people seem to need to have a way to stand out in the crowd. I saw a girl walking around the store that had purple marks all over one arm.  I thought they were tattoos at first but looking closer realized it was a birthmark.  It seems strange that so many are choosing to put permanent marks all over themselves. The process is painful yet it seems to be such an important trend that they are willing to suffer masochistic behavior to be a part of that trend. That's different than the sixties as well.
     As I watched people, most of them seemed polite and tolerant of each other. I couldn't really tell though if they were happy.  I wouldn't say I sensed a lot of joy among those at the Whole Foods store that day.  Some on the health supplement aisle were diligently studying the contents in bottles and potions.  Another woman at the meat counter was inquiring about how the Farmed Samon were being Farmed.  People seem to be much more worried and aware of what they are putting in their bodies today.  The Age of Information has definitely become the "TMI" generation.  It's made them all a little paranoid.
     One thing I find really sad about the  hipsters though is that there doesn't seem to be anything that's considered "sacred" anymore.  It all seems to be about the "head" and not much about the "heart". Spirituality amongst this new generation seems to be way on the back burner. Atheism seems to be the new thinking.  Religion is out. I find it disturbing in many ways.  It begs these questions. What if any morals does this generation have?  What do they consider right and wrong?  Was that the hippies intention for their children?
Some things to think about.

Beauty is in the Heart

Accepted for publication in "Sage Woman"


       What makes someone beautiful is the light in their eyes and the depth of their souls.  It emanates from their heart and shines through any outer disguise.  Sometimes being blessed with outward beauty can be a curse because  that is all people look at instead of searching deeper to see who a person really is.  There are all kinds of beauty in the world. Some people are ugly both inside and outside. Some people are beautiful both inside and out.  I have known people that are beautiful on the outside but do such ugly acts that they become ugly people.  Others I have known were very homely people but their warmth and kindness have erased any outward appearance and they have become truly beautiful.
     When I was in college, I met a girl from a small country town.  She had crooked teeth and was rather homely. She spoke with a country hick accent and pronounced words differently than I had ever heard others speak them. Her clothes were out of date and had a funny old fashioned style to them.  I thought she was really odd and yet she was always very friendly and outgoing.  After a while I got so I enjoyed her more and more.  We started working together in Sunday School with young children and became good friends.
     It is true that often people become beautiful as we get to know them.  She found out that I was really hoping to finish college because I had only a couple of quarters left but I had a new baby and couldn't afford a sitter.  She told me she wanted to help me and to bring my son over when I needed to go to class. I offered to pay her but she said no, that she wanted to do this for me.  It was such a kind and unselfish act.  Though we have lost touch, she is still a beautiful person in my eyes.  A beauty that has lasted through time.
      Once I was vacationing at a resort in Idaho, I noticed a young attractive couple having fun, laughing and cuddling in the hot tub.  I remember thinking how in love they seemed. I moved my lounge chair to a different angle to catch the sun rays better.  It was then I noticed that the other half of the man's face was disfigured.  with a dark purple birthmark.  It had some skin hanging down in an unnatural way. His girlfriend was oblivious to it, kissing and hugging him like she wasn't even aware of his birthmark.  It inspired me to look beyond the outer shell of a person and move into their soul. .
     One night I met a man in a dance club. He was very handsome but I noticed he had some scars on one side of his face.  I asked him what had happened and he told me he had been hit by a car when he was fifteen.  He didn't know that I was very depressed that night. I was  in deep despair and feeling suicidal.  I had been through a difficult divorce and had fallen in love with a man who was married but had told me he was unhappy and was leaving her.   As time went on I realized he was playing us both along as well as a couple of other women. It completely broke my heart being betrayed by two men, him and my ex-husband and I was wary of ever trusting a man again.  I didn't trust this man, yet something about his scars made me feel close to him.  We were both scarred in a certain way. It inspired a poem.

                                 Crippled
              We're both crippled you and I
              We both suffered the tragedy of terrible accidents
              We see on your face what cruel fate dealt you
               Such a handsome face to be marred by a sudden wrong move
               My face is beautiful
               I show no scars
               But the wounds around my heart
               No one would want to look upon
 
     Over time we fell in love and I eventually married this man.  He had a kindness, sensitivity, and sense of humor that erased any scars in my eyes. Sometimes beauty has to be stripped of it's disguises to find the real thing, like a diamond in the rough.  Beauty is also often like a rosebud and it has to open up so we can look deep inside to see its true beauty.

Prisoner

    -People create their own prisons. Many seem to be blind to the fact that their jail cell is of their own making and don't know how to dissolve the bars. That's how it was with Tara.   She couldn't see the dungeon she had created for herself-
     Tara's picture on facebook was a profile in black and white of  her eye with a tear falling from it. The picture spoke a thousand words. On her blog she put some pictures of couples that were in love.  She seemed to like the idea of being in love but not for herself. She excluded herself from being a happy couple.
     She said she liked being alone so she didn't have to cook for anyone, clean for anyone, or live up to anyone else's expectations. She could simply do whatever she wanted to do.  There was a freedom in that but it was a lonely freedom.
      Her narcissistic tendencies were her worst enemy. She become so absorbed in her own loneliness she began to like it.  She was a perfectionist and had dated men but no one fit the "Perfect" bill. Anyone who was imperfect didn't cut it for long.
      There were traits she liked about different men but she always found a flaw that she couldn't abide and she would have to be done with them or they would be done with her because she was so critical of them. She was a cameleon and would always mirror the traits she liked in that particular man. She liked one man's sensitivity and poetic style but he was bald and too religious and she had to be done with him because she was an atheist.  She liked the rustic mountain man with all of his tall tales and  adventures but didn't like that he was a pathological liar, fat, and snored. Sometimes men took advantage of her  sympathetic nature. One man who had had brain damage in an accident, she took in for a while until he robbed her bank account when she wasn't looking.  Another one took her on escapes to places around the world but he was a true escape artist and didn't know how to commit.  There was the musician who composed sexy love songs but the sexy songs were to any woman he found attractive. He was a philanderer and couldn't be loyal.  Another one was a complete narcissist and she really liked him because he was as wrapped up in himself as she was in herself. He was into making his body a perfect specimen for the world to see. He worked out, and took supplements and drugs to try to manipulate himself into "Superman".  Each of the men had some perfect traits that she loved  but none were perfect in every way so love eventually turned into rejection.
       So she was lonely and lived her life talking to atheists and liberal strangers on Facebook and making them her new best friends on Facebook only. She was a true prisoner of her own making.

I Am

                                                                  I Am

 I am from pioneers
                     Spiritual seekers longing for freedom to worship and speak their truth
                     Nomads moving from place to place until they found a safe haven
 I am from thinkers and writers
                     Speaking about equality
                     Teaching about life
                      Founding schools and towns
                      Planning gardens and buildings
 I am from farmers
                      Checking heads of stalks in seas of golden grain
                      Gardens and gardeners
                      Planting pansy borders, forget me not fillers,water soaked Hydrangeas                    
I am from animals
                      Purring kitten nests and black siberian long hairs
                      Horses galloping through pastures
                      Manes weaving strands of sunlight
                      Birds lifting me with their wings and song
I am from God and Heaven
                      My soul unique and like no other
                      Inspired by God and the beauty of this world
                      Here as a fellow traveler experiencing the great walk of life

I have been thinking of starting a series of books following four sisters through the different trials and experiences in their lives.  I thought I would either call the series. "The Gifted Sister's" series or The Fractured Flower Sisters.  What do you think?

Disappeared

Did you ever feel like you wanted to disappear or run away from your life?  That feeling inspired this short story.

Disappeared

            Rain stood on the lawn near the edge of the cliff.  She watched the Para-glider soar off the grass of the Ritz Carlton.  What would it feel like to fly like that, unbound by the earth?  She had a fear of heights but was intrigued with the thought of sailing like a wind-blown leaf lifted by the breeze.   She had been drifting around the country for a while now and kind of felt like a wind-blown leaf.   Now she had landed in Laguna. 

            She had changed her name from Rain Song.  Not too many people had a name like that.  She wondered how her mother could ever have come up with that name.  Her mom was a kind of a hippy so that was probably the explanation.  She really kind of liked her name but knew it was too unusual to use for a while.  Her new name was Ashton, “Ashton Anderson the Blues Singer”.  She picked that name because she had spent part of her childhood in Ashton, Idaho while her dad did dry-farming.

            One thing Rain could do really well was sing.  Her first job was at a bar in Green River Wyoming.  She knew how to sing the blues being well acquainted with the blues through different times in her life, the present being one of them.

“Well, I never felt more like singing the blues, cus I never thought that I’d ever lose your love dear.  Oh why’d you do me this way,” she wailed.

 The people in the bar usually liked her singing and between what the bar owner gave her and her tips, she was able to make a meager existence for a while living at a cheap hotel.   She didn’t let people get to know her very well.  She didn’t want any attachments right now.  All she wanted was freedom and safety.

Her next job was in Rapid City, South Dakota.  That’s where she started writing songs.  The place she started singing, was called the “Blue Moon Café”.  She liked singing in the Café better than a bar because she didn’t have to put up with obnoxious drunks trying to hit on her.  The first song she wrote was called, “It’s a Rainy Rainy Day”.   She tried it out on the guests.

“Oh it’s a rainy, rainy day at the Blue Moon Café, 

Things are lookin’ gray, since you went away

The juke box is singin a sad old song, and my hearts singin right along

The waitress keeps trying to make me smile, but I just want to sit here and cry for a while

Cus it’s a rainy rainy day at the Blue Moon Café, things are lookin gray. . . . . . . .  

Rain realized she was pretty good at writing songs about the blues and people seemed to like the songs she wrote too.  She put a few of them to music and found a recording studio in one of the small towns and created her own CD.  It made her feel good to know she had created her own music.

 The Midwest was kind of therapeutic for a while.  The people were down to earth and friendly. She liked their solid, salt of the earth attitude.  They were generous and had values, morals, and good Christian hearts.  It was refreshing.   She usually never stayed in any one place for more than a couple of months.   She wasn’t planning to put down any roots for a while.  She kind of liked traveling around the country and getting the flavor of different towns and different states.  Sometimes she wondered about her family and worried because she knew they were worrying about her, but she just couldn’t risk surfacing right now.  She knew her husband would find her and who knew if she would survive if he did.   Her husband had truly been a Jekyl and Hyde personality, silent and broody much of the time but then it was like living with a time bomb.  If she ever tried to engage him in conversation, she never knew what would set him off.   Suddenly he would blow up for no reason it seemed to Rain.  He would break anything around him when that happened and if she was near him, he might lash out at her.  When he had her pinned on the bed with his fist looming above her and let it go right into the headboard making a hole in it, she knew the time had come to make an escape.  She wondered how many other missing women were driven to run away and change identities to escape abuse.  That night she snuck out the window and jumped off the roof.  She ran past the tracks of the small Idaho town and on to the highway and started running and hitch-hiking to anywhere anyone would take her.

                                                *****

She wandered down the path to the beach from the Ritz Carlton.  She had had an interview to be the singer at the lounge.  She gave them her CD but she didn’t know if they were looking for her style of music.  The Ritz Carlton was an elegant and classy place.  She had never worked in anything this upscale before.   She thought it might be an interesting adventure to meet a different kind of people.    They had wanted her social security number to apply for the job and that complicated things.  Since she had been moving around, she’d always asked to be paid with cash and people didn’t seem to mind that but the Ritz Carlton was a very legitimate place and things had to be done according to the rules and regulations.  

When they called her a few days later and offered her the job she decided to take it.  She’d   been moving around for about a year now and wondered if it would be safe to start using her real name but decided to risk it.  She had sent her family some letters without return addresses occasionally from different parts of the country but had never left a return address.  The letters were brief telling them she loved and missed them and that she was okay but needed some time alone right now to find herself and what she really needed  out of life.  She told them that if her husband inquired about her, they didn’t know where she was.  It was true, they didn’t.   She asked them to please not have anyone come searching for her.  She would get in contact with them when she was ready.

            Rain liked it here in Laguna because it was by the ocean.   She had always wished to live near the ocean.  Growing up, her father took her and the family down to California every few years to see some relatives.  The first time she saw the ocean she was captivated.  She loved the smells, the feel of the sand, the sea shells, the seagulls, the salty damp spray and the sea breezes carrying messages through the wind of other places, other people, and other times.  Maybe it was her name but Rain loved to be around any kind of water.  She loved lakes, streams, rivers, ponds, and of course the rain.  There was something mighty and fierce yet tranquil and calming about water.

 There was something about Laguna that held her in its spell.    The cliffs and the water had almost a mystical feeling when she was at the water’s edge.  Maybe she would settle down here for a while. This was the first place she had felt like might be home.   She could never get enough of beach combing or just watching the waves roll in and out.  She liked to bring her notebook down to the beach and write songs or poetry.  The beach and water felt very healing to her. One day she wrote,

Oh Sea, take me away with you to another place, another time

Reach out with your great arms and hold me

As your tide draws back into itself take my bruised heart with you

Take away the loneliness, the heartache, the grief, I have heaped up inside my self

You have been my friend, my companion, and my great healer so often

Once again I come to you

Caress me with your motion,

Soothe me with your pounding surf

Wash me clean again.

            Sometimes when Rain was sitting and watching the waves, she would see a young man walking on the rocks out at the edge of the shore.  He had lots of black, curly hair and wore a green Khaki jacket and denim pants that had a few holes in them.  He was usually bare foot.  He would look out at the ocean and stare at it for long periods.  Sometimes he would sit on the rocks close to the edge of the water and the waves would crash up around him. Rain felt a kindred connection to him.  He seemed to be a loner like her but was drawn to the sea like she was.

One day Rain was walking along the edge of the water staring down at the little gifts the waves left behind.   She looked up just as someone was passing.   It was the young man on the rocks.  Their eyes met and a strange but strong feeling came over her.  His eyes were a deep aquamarine and drew her in like a magnet.  She had never seen eyes like that before.   He nodded and gave her a faint smile as he passed. 

After that, Rain noticed whenever she was at the water he was often there too.  She felt  strangely drawn to him and didn’t really understand why.  One day she decided to venture out on the rocks where he often was to explore things from his vantage point.  There were little tide pools with sea life living in them.  There were different colors of anemones and sea cucumbers in their own little biome.   She sat down to study them more closely.  Suddenly a shadow covered her and she looked up to see the young man standing behind her.

“Do you see anything interesting today?” he asked.

“These tide pools are really full of life aren’t they.” 

“Yes, it’s interesting how everything interacts with everything else.” 

“So many varied colors and shapes too,” said Rain. “I like the sounds of the water here too.  They can be calm yet fierce at the same time.” 

The young man was quiet and looked out across the water as he often did.

 “Have a nice day,” he said as he began working his way out further to the edge of the rocks.

As Rain got to know the Laguna beaches, she became familiar with some sea caves along the shore.  People could wander into them but had to be careful of the tides and only go at certain times so they didn’t get trapped.  She found a kind of fern and reed grotto and noticed it looked like someone had a make shift hut that was kind of hidden.  There were a lot of homeless people that made their living somehow on the beaches of California. The beach patrol tried to control it but they had their secret ways of surviving.  She wondered if that young man she saw alone all the time was one of them.

The patrons that came to the lounge at the Ritz Carlton were a different kind of people.  They were more impersonal.  They were well dressed and sophisticated. They met other men and other women to discuss business and pleasure. They rarely acknowledged Rain.  She was just kind of the background music.  It made her feel even more isolated and alone because they were so indifferent to her.    She had rented a small one bedroom studio in the center part of Laguna.  What she made at the Ritz barely covered her rent and overhead but somehow she squeaked by.  Living by the ocean made it all worth it. 

One day she was walking around the sea caves and ran into the strange young man again walking the other way.  He gave her a nod and a faint smile and she smiled back.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning, she smiled. 

“Great Day isn’t it!”

“Yes, it’s a beautiful today,” she agreed.

He turned and started walking with her.

“Mind if I join you on your walk?”

“No, please do, I could use some company.”

“Would you like to see one of my favorite spots for sea watching?”

“Sure,” she said.  She instinctively knew he was a safe and gentle soul.  She had watched him enough to know this about him.

She followed him up to a gentle sloping cliff.  There was a slight path through strategic places to reach the top.   When they reached the top, the view was breath taking.   The sea could be viewed for a hundred and eighty degrees. Sea gulls were catching wind currents, diving and soaring and calling to each other.

They sat quietly at the top of the cliff watching the birds.

Conversation didn’t seem needed between them as they enjoyed the beauty of the place.

Finally he looked at her his eyes drawing her in.

“Where do you come from?”  he smiled.  I know you’re not a local because I pretty much know all the locals.”

Rain’s eyes looked sad and faraway.  She didn’t answer.  

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.  It doesn’t really matter.  You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

She smiled, “Yes, this place seems more like a home, than most places I’ve been.”

“The ocean seems like home to me too,” he said.  I’m never quite as content and happy as I am here.  There’s a certain kind of companionship I feel here with the sea life, the waves and the birds.   They sat again in silence listening to the sea sounds and the gulls around them.

            “You know what?  I’ve seen you a lot but I don’t even know your name.  I’m Sky and you’re?”

            She laughed, “You’re not going to believe this, I’m Rain,” 

            He smiled, actually that works.  “Not fire and rain, but Sky and Rain. It makes a good combination.  We create clouds”.   They both laughed.

            “I like clouds a lot too.  I can always see different things in them.  I notice angels a lot in clouds.” 

Sky smiled again, “I know another secret place that not too many people know about.  Would you like to see it?”

“Okay, if it is as good as this place, I’ve got to see it.”

            They climbed back down and walked the beach for a while.  They spotted some sea lions playing on some rocks and then a group of dolphins spinning through the air and playing in the ocean.  Little Sand Pipers were playing tag with the waves.

            “The Sand Pipers are some of my favorite.  They know just when to walk to the edge of the water and when to hurry back as the wave comes in.  They are so amusing”.  

            “They are funny little birds,” Sky agreed.

            Then a steep cliff towered over the sand. 

“This is it.” Sky pointed to the top.

“Wow, that’s pretty high,” Rain said nervously.

  It was a more difficult climb up.  Sky reached down to help Rain climb a steeper part of the incline.  She felt a warmth and tenderness, yet strength as he grabbed her hand.   

When they reached the top of the cliff, Sky stood at the edge and opened his arms. “Isn’t it magnificent!”  Rain stood back from the edge.  Her legs felt like jelly.  “Please come back a little, you’re making me nervous.”   He stepped back.

            “I’m feeling a little queasy.    It’s beautiful but I don’t like to be right at the edge of cliffs.  I’m not sure if it is a fear of heights or a fear of falling. Actually I have had rapture of the heights before and felt like jumping.  Have you ever felt that?”

“No, I’ve never felt that but I could see why you would feel uneasy around the edge.”

He smiled and took her hand.  “Are you okay? “  She nodded. “Come with me, there’s still more to see.”   They climbed down on the other side of the cliff and there was a quiet enclosed beach between sharp cliffs.  The cliffs almost made a circle around the beach and there was a narrow slit between the rocks out to the ocean.   In the middle of the sand was a deep blue pool.   

“We’re here just at the right time.  When the tide comes up, we can’t be in here because it is dangerous.”  He walked to the pool, dropped his clothes, and dove in.   

Rain was a little shocked when he did that.

“Come on in!” he shouted.  “It’s a natural hot spring and the perfect temperature.”

His freedom and exuberance and the natural elements of the place made her want to join him but she was a bit shy. 

“Come on”, he said.  “I’ll turn my back if you want.”

Rain giggled shyly but decided to join him.  Everything felt so natural and right in this hidden place.

“Okay, turn your back.”   He turned his back and she took off her light shift  and slid into the water.  It was the perfect temperature, not too hot and not too cold.

She was amazed that she would be so free but it felt so natural and beautiful.  It just felt like the right thing to do.  They both swam and dove under the water playing and enjoying the water.   Then she realized that they didn’t even have towels and wondered how they would dry off.. 

Sky walked out on the beach and lay down on the sand on his stomach.  Rain decided to follow him.  They both laid there together and felt the sand and sun warming their backs and drying them.      

After a while Sky said, “It’s so perfect here I hate to leave but the tide is coming in so we better get going, it’s dangerous if we don’t.   You can dress first.  I’ll keep my eyes closed.” He smiled and closed his eyes.

Rain laughed and started dressing then walked towards the ocean.  Sky joined her a few minutes later.  “We can’t risk staying here any longer.  Come on.”  The waves were already licking the rocks around where they stood. 

            “This place is amazing.  We have definitely got to come back here again,” Rain said.

            “We will,” Sky agreed.

            She didn’t see Sky at the beach for a few days after that and she wondered where he had disappeared.  She watched the waves curl and crash and wondered what it would be like to be a sea creature and live in the water all the time.  She imagined and longed for it sometimes.  She often felt that she must have come from the sea.  She felt like she was an amphibian and had to spend at least some of her time by the water each day.  Rain was a Pisces and thought her astrological sign fit her well.  She wrote a poem called Pisces that day.

                                                            Pisces

                                                     I am drowning of air

                                          Suffocating from the sun’s fire

                                                     Cast on the beach

                                             Wounded

                                                 Weak 

                                        Gasping for water

                                         Aching for death

                                        Yet clinging to life

                        Throw me back to that cool deep abyss

                                    Where my heart can breathe

                                          And my soul can

                                                 exist  

 Just as she finished writing she saw Sky walking towards her.   The sun was in her eyes so she brought her hand up to cover them. 

            “Hi, where have you been?   I haven’t seen you for a few days.”

            “Oh, sometimes I go out on a fishing charter and help with the fishing.” 

            ‘Oh,” Rain answered.  That kind of explained how he might be making a living. Rain had wondered about that.

            “What are you writing?”  He sat down next to her.  They really didn’t know much about each other except that they were both beach hounds.

            “I just wrote a poem.  I like to write down by the water.”

            “Would you mind sharing it?” 

            “Okay,” Rain felt comfortable sharing her poetry with him.  He felt like a soul friend.

            After she read it to him he said, “I relate to that poem.  I’m a sea dweller at heart”

            She didn’t see him again for a few more days and then he mysteriously appeared again.

            “There you are,” Rain said.  “I miss you around here when I don’t see you.”

            “I miss it too.  Do you feel like going to the secret hot spring again?”

            “Yes!”  I’ve been thinking about it and how wonderful it was a lot.”

            “Can you go right now?”  Sky asked

            “Yes, I don’t have to work until tonight,”

            “Let’s go then.”

            “Sounds good.”

            When they reached the pool inside the cliffs he said, “Come here.  There’s something else I want to show you.  We didn’t have time the other day.”

            They wandered back towards the back of the cliff.  There was a crack between the rocks. 

            “This is an amazing sea cave. You won’t believe it.”

            “What about light?  Don’t we need flash lights?”

            “No, you’ll see,”

            When they entered the cave it was already kind of lit up.

             “Where is the light coming from?”Rain asked.

“Luminescent rocks, they glow in the dark.”

“That’s incredible.”  Rain said in amazement.   As they wandered further into the cave it became more and more fascinating.  Large crystals were growing in different parts of the cave.  The luminescent rocks glowed in different colors.  There was a powerful mystical feel to the cave.   There were some dripping sounds and it became darker as they went further into the cave.  Sky took her hand to help her along. Rain wondered how far they had come.

“We should probably go back now.  I’m not sure what the tide is doing.   It’s easy to lose track of time in here.  It really draws you in.”

They started heading back and it seemed like a long time before Rain saw a crack of light ahead.  She could hear the ocean waves crashing around the entrance of the cave. 

“We’ve got to hurry.”  Sky was almost dragging her now through the cave trying to get to the entrance.

When they reached the mouth of the cave water was crashing all around it.  The tide was rapidly coming in.

“We’re going to have to swim and swim hard so we don’t get dragged out by the undertow,”

Rain looked at Sky with frightened eyes as they dove into the water.  They were swimming hard but could not fight the incoming waves or the undertow.  It was taking them steadily out to sea.  Rain was becoming exhausted.  Sky tried to swim and carry her like a life guard would but the waves were too powerful.    After fighting the waves for several  hours Sky looked at Rain.    They couldn’t fight any longer and they both knew it.

“Are you ready to join the sea?”  He looked deeply into Rain’s eyes. 

Rain looked in to his eyes and nodded.

“When you go under take a big breath and you will become a sea creature,” he smiled.

He grabbed her hand.  They both closed their eyes and dove beneath the surface.     

Copyright  October 2013/  All rights reserved.