Inspire Me Mondays #7 - Peacefulness

Today it's up to you to create the peacefulness you long for............

Off to Arizona, be back Pumpkin Week!

I'm Too Sexy for My Fur....

Worship me.........................

Inspire Me Mondays #6 - Cookies for Shirley

I didn't think that I was feeling much inspired today about anything. My friend Shirley (with her husband Cliff above) passed away on Saturday. She hadn't been well for a while, and the last time I spoke with her, she could barely breath. But she never lost her sense of humor, her feisty kiss my a** attitude, her appetite for cookies and her love of gambling. Only person I ever knew that bet money on Survivor every season! I met her where I work, she was 57 then and had recently lost her youngest son to suicide. She needed to occupy her time and get back to living. We bonded almost immediately, we both had a wacky sense of humor, valued common sense, loved animals, had messed up Mothers and a 'bite me' attitude.

She lost her husband to cancer 4 years ago. She cared for him herself right up until the very end. I told her she had more strength than she could ever imagine and she told me later "I guess you were right". She had COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and I always knew when she was about to get pneumonia or sick and would her make go to the doctors, she'd come back from the doctor's saying 'You always know, even my doctor is impressed, what would I do without you'. I knew the last time I talked to her too, but I just couldn't bring myself to accept it.

Shirley's back home with her hubby of 50 years and her son, so I know she's very happy. She told me once that I reminded her of herself except that it took her a little longer to develop the bite me attitude. So I realized that with Shirley I got to actually see myself at her age. She showed me my future of shorts, and it's a message I take to heart. I was proud to be her friend and enjoyed every conversation, rehash of Hell's Kitchen and laugh we ever had together, not to mention the hundreds of cookies we ate. So Shirley inspires me once again today to live life with no regrets. She didn't want a do over on her life, and she lived every minute of it the best she could , crap and all. She did her way and so shall I.

So damn the torpedoes and bring on the Fudge Striped Keebler Cookies!
Till we meet again, Love yah Shirl.

Rock Week - Peace Rock

This beauty resides in the yard of my in-laws in Kingston, TN. As you wind your way up the driveway it is the first thing you see. My brother-in-law Nathan built this with his own 2 hands and his engineering degree, just like everything else on Hammonds Hill.

He has served in the Navy Reserves for over 40 years, did a year in Desert Storm and 4 years ago served in Iraq. Even though he is Navy, our troops were so strapped for Commanders he did his tour on the ground in charge of a troop of men so much younger (all in their 20's) than him that they nicknamed him "Grandpa". He just retired from the service this year at the age of 60.

He spent countless hours laying 8 layers of decorative stone into the ground and above to make sure his Freedom Flag and Navy Flag fly straight and high each day. This is his monument to Peace.

He is a small town guy with a big heart, broad shoulders, a wicked sense of humor, dirty hands and a fierce love of his country. He is the poster child for the American Dream. Came from close to nothing, got a job at the local power authority, bought a piece of land, built every structure on the land (the house is made from the trees he cut down), joined the service to give back and put himself thru college at the age of 40. He is in his own right, a rock. A rock that gives hope and helps keep the peace.

And we are grateful to the Peace Rocks that line this planet, human or otherwise.

Imagine all the people living life in Peace - John Lennon

Rock Week - Stone Tools

This is my fire pit, as pathetic as it looks, I've rebuilt it twice since we moved here. The ground keeps shifting, so the rocks keeping leaning. Oh, well, another redo next year.

I love a big bonfire, all glowing orange, red and yellow with little blue flames dancing around the inside. My husband says I must have been an pyromaniac in a previous life! More than likely I was burned at the stake, but no more fear of fire here, just enjoying it this time around. Without our wonderful friends the rocks, I'd be scorching up the lawn and the shed. I assume this is how our ancestors learned that containing the fire with rocks was a smart idea.

Rocks have helped us learn to control this helpful element, fire, what a nice gift. They've also helped us contain the water element too. Wow, what a useful, amazing tool the rock has become. Not to mention the actual 'tools' we've made from rocks. Discoveries we've made about our world and the people before us, we could go on and on. Makes you wonder, we'd probably be SOL without them. Interesting how we learned all these things from what some might call just a 'simple rock'. So as quiet and still as they are, we have still managed to gain great insight from them. Makes you think twice about calling them inanimate objects doesn't it?

Never under estimate the power or knowledge of a Rock and you might want to thank one the next time you trip over it in the Walmart parking lot instead of kicking it aside.

Thank you Rock Gods
(no offense to any musicians who think they are rock gods, with one exception to Bono)

p.s. Graciel has been fishing for rocks all week at Murder Creek, if anyone's interested in where it is and why it's called that, check out this link, it's a local legend here in NY.

http://artvoice.com/issues/v7n43/halloween/murder_creek

Rock Week - Sedona

Sedona Arizona, Rock Freaking Heaven!

These pictures are courtesy of my cousin Ryan and his wife from their vacation 2 years ago. I have been dying to go to Arizona ever since I first saw these rocks back when I was a kid. It's one of those places that you know you just have to get there no matter what. So finally this year on September 30th my cousin and I will be whisking ourselves off to the desert.

The rocks here are supposed have the most amazing energy fields and certain spots have what is known as Vortexes, places of immense energy fields. I have a friend who lived there for many years and has actually stood upon these Vortexes and witnessed the feelings vibrating thru your whole body. I've even heard from folks who don't 'believe' shall we say in such things, own up to the fact that yes, they felt 'something'. I'm sure we've all heard the stories, but I'll have plenty to share when I get back.

I can't wait to put my padded little paws on this hollowed ground and soak up the pure energy of Planet Earth in it's rawest form! Squeal like pig...happy, happy, joy, joy!!

What better way to ground yourself completely, what better way to actually become a piece of Mother Earth. Here, now and forever. Being a part of the planet insures your soul a stake in the future of this Blue Ball and your own existence on it.

Live, breath, touch and be the Earth!

Visit other Rock Freaks at Graciel's place.

Rock Week - Pyramid

This is my own personal Stonehenge. I set it up under my lilac trees when the trees were still skinny and short, now it's mired beneath the over grown tree and barely visible, unless you're looking for it. Not to mention we need a redo on the mulch!

I realized as I was taking this picture how the shape of the rock is a pyramid, which for some reason has escaped me until now. I love pyramids, always have, absolutely fascinated by how they were built, who built them and dear God how did they make those layers? So it's very fitting that my ' Pyramidhenge' is just that. A small little unassuming place of worship in my yard, to worship the wonderful things nature does for us and to invite any Nature Spirits that wish to join together and celebrate.

Foresting for rocks is healing, digging them up, trying to carry your bounty back home, the birds watching you fight the dry hardened earth for that rock you just have to have! Digging your heels and hands into Mother Earth on a quest for the ultimate rock, that's getting grounded, that's getting in touch with yourself and your planet.

Get yourself a bucket, a small spade, some sneakers and find yourself a bundle of rocks just screaming to be your own personal Stonehenge, Pyramid or monument. Get back in touch with the planet and her spirits.

Inspire Me Mondays #5 - Rock Week

The Guardians, that is what I like to call these 2 huge boulders that sit in front of my house. One on each side of the driveway. When we moved here they were sitting quietly in the grass, asleep and bored with their existence. I dug up the weeds and grass and displaced the many mice that had taken up residence there and adorned them with flowers and foliage to bring many a visitor to their sacred space. If these big boys were going to guard the way to my door, the least I could do was to make them feel welcome and a part of the land. They needed to have a purpose other than guardian. So now they serve as the local Bed and Breakfast for the usual flood of ants, spiders, butterflies, grasshoppers, birds, rabbit nests and of course the mice are back! Just about every creature/critter that passes thru my yard has stopped at The Guardian Inn.

These guys were dug up from this very land long ago when the first farm house was built here, I'm sure it took one strong farmer and horses to get them above ground and placed just right. So my thanks goes out to that long deceased farmer for providing me with The Guardians. Rocks are the stability, the glue that holds our big blue planet together, so some respect is long overdue for these fascinating achievements of nature.

Do rocks have a soul? I don't know, but I do believe they have an energy life force distinctly all their own. So don't be so quick to dismiss them. It's been proven that crystals, gemstones and other such rocks can heal, and in order to heal, you must first be able to feel.