Turning

 

Cottonwood leaves turning golden
along the Santa Fe River Trail.

“It’s a challenging time—

but also an exciting time 

as the forces of change gather strength, 

and the veil thins 

between the world of the seen and the unseen!  

 This is the time to ground, 

to weave the webs of resilience 

that keep us connected to our loved ones—

those who are alive 

and those who are on the other side of the veil—

to commit to defending our democracy, 

to claim our power 

and raise our voices!”  STARHAWK 10/17/20

As we look around us may we “celebrate what’s right with the world”. And may we all notice the turning of seasons so enthusiastically demonstrated by the leaves changing from all shades of Summer greens to a myriad of Fall colors. Here are a few pictures taken in my garden just a week ago or so.

Hargrande Apricot tree leaves

Saint Theresa red grape vine 
with the morning sun shining
through the turning leaves.

Big Bluestem (Andropogon gerardii)
native to the tall grass prairies

Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana)

Woods’ Rose (Rosa woodsii)

One fourth cord of Pinon Pine firewood
from EcoFirewood 
now covered to be kept dry
and ready for burning in our fireplace.

This picture below was taken around noon this Tuesday past from our door to the backyard. At this time of the year we are usually enjoying our midday meal and/ or our evening meal outside at this glass topped table we inherited from Dwight's granny.

“Early winter storms in New Mexico 

are a mixed blessing, 

reminding us of the storms in our country

and the storms in our world. 

Storms bring moisture to our parched land 

in the high desert southwest, 

and they clear the air 

of the heavy smoke 

from the terrible fires north and west of us.” 

UPAYA Institute and Zen Center (10/27/20)

As we await Halloween, All Saints' Day and the 2020 election results, may we celebrate what's right with world and 

Grief

 Condor perched atop of the bluff of the

Colorado River running through the Grand Canyon.

I for one am experiencing enormous grief about the human caused climate catastrophe. The wildfires in California has disrupted the condors habitat leaving 9 adults missing. These magnificent birds are now fewer.

The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus) 

is a New world vulture, 

the largest North American land bird. 

This condor became extinct in the wild in 1987 

(all remaining wild individuals were captured), 

but the species has since been reintroduced to 

northern Arizona and southern Utah 

(including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), 

the coastal mountains of central and southern California, 

and northern Baja California. 

Although other fossil members are known, 

it is the only surviving member of the genus Gymnogyps. 

The species is listed by the IUCN* as critically endangered.

May 2, 2019 by Dr. Roger Lederer

in Ornithology: The Science of Birds

*International Union for Conservation of Nature 

 

Millions of birds, and a disproportional number of swallows, have been found dead. Bird experts are puzzled and working on figuring out what happened. The most recent explanation is that the migratory birds in California were forced to leave before they readied their bodies for the lengthy flight South. Then the cold snap happened in the Southwest as they were flying through so no insects were available hence birds were literally dropping from starvation. Their carcasses were mere skeletons.

 

                                                              Tree Swallow sitting on a barbwire fence

                                                               near the Point Reyes National Seashore, California.

Earth mother, star mother,

you who are called by 

a thousand names,

May all remember

we are cells in your body

and dance together.

You are the grain

and the loaf

That sustains us each day, 

And as you are patient

with our struggles to learn

So shall we be patient

with our struggles to learn

So shall we be patient

with ourselves and each other.

We are radiant light

and sacred dark

- the balance -

You are the embrace that heartens

And the freedom beyond fear.

Within you we are born

we grow, live, and die -

You bring us around the circle 

to rebirth,

Within us you dance

Forever.

STARHAWK

Focusing on balance as we deal with all the emotions swirling around and in each of us, may we breathe deeply and have a wonderfully releasing

Guest Post

I am pleased to present a guest post from our fellow China traveler and skilled "Chi Master" who teaches in the Bay Area. May this "New Recipe" be a chosen option for many of us during these turbulent times. 

                                                      Desert Four O’Clock (Mirabilis multiflora)

“Mother Earth is Cooking Up a New Recipe!”

(You’re Gonna “LOVE” It)

Friday 09/18/20

(9 a.m.) I’ve experimented with this practice before and it proved beneficial.  Whenever I can… I provide the opportunity for the Body/Mind to experience the “Nurturing Yin State of Being,” by Staying in Bed for an Hour or so, consciously observing what it feels like to Relax into a relative State Free from Pain... and bathing in Serotonin, Dopamine and Endorphins.  

When you think about it, for the sake of Moderation and Relative Balance… how often in a day do we actually provide this experience for the Body/Mind?

When do we ever make a Deposit, into our Bank of Yin?  Because we live in a Yang Based Society, we tend to favor more Yang expressions, than Yin.  So where’s the Moderation and Balance in that?

The Cycle of Life is like a Pendulum.  It Swings in Both Yin AND Yang Directions!  Where we tend to throw things off, is because our Pendulum is Held in a Yin, OR Yang direction, rather than Swinging in both Yin, AND Yang directions.

In the training stage, I used to have to Hold Acu-Points to relieve Chi Congestion and trigger the Happy Hormones.  But after years of daily practice, the Body has been trained to maintain a New Norm... relatively free from the old discomfort of Chi Congestion.  

You see... if we don’t show the Body a New Way of Being... it will carry on in the same Old Way for a Lifetime!  To Earn the benefits for your Body/Mind, you’ve got to personally “Blaze Your Own Trail,” by Exploring.  Without Exploring, there’s no way of Discovering Better Ways of Doing and Being!  

“Happiness is a State of Being!”

We are Happiest, when Chi is Flowing Well... and Uncomfortable, to the point of Illness and Pain, when it’s not!  Holding Points and Stretching, promotes Chi Circulation... hence Feeling Better, because Chi is Moving and not Stuck!  

Lack of Exercise, Stressful Thoughts, Poor Posture, Poor Sleeping and Poor Eating Habits can disturb or interrupt Chi Flow and cause all kinds of Mental, Emotional and Physical Health Challenges.  

A current example is from the Stay At Home, Shelter in Place syndrome.  Most people are addicted to Yang Activities and have never been taught how to manage the habitual behavior expressed from an Excess Yang condition… to the point they’re Out of Control... and like a Firecracker or Pressure Cooker that can’t let off it’s steam, will naturally Explode!  

That’s what’s happening to people who can’t manage the Yang expression of Rage... hence all the Violence and Hostility.  

If you knew that the nature of a “Major Energetic Transition,” (Mom’s New Recipe), consists of Spicy Yang Fiery Chi and is meant to Stir Up the Pot… you’d stand a better chance of Managing the build up of Excess Yang and compensate with just the right amount of Yin to maintain Sanity and Control over Violent or Hostile Expressions.  

On the other side of the coin, you may be suffering from Worrying or excess Fear.  Whether it’s excess or deficient Yin or Yang... These are both indications of Imbalanced Chi.  

Some of us can afford to Let Off some Steam... while others may actually need to place a Flame underneath their butt!  Whatever method you need... consider using the method Gracefully, by being Mindful of others, as well as yourself.  

Those who are only familiar with Yang methods, may or may not get the job done… let alone succeed gracefully as those who are capable and familiar with expressing a method in relative Yin Ways.  

You see... a characteristic of Yin is “Consideration,” which is not a Yang Trait.  Yang will simply Act or Do, without considering any Consequence or Efficiency.  Yang will just take Action, while Yin would consider How to achieve a favorable result or outcome!  

This is why it’s best to be capable of Both Yin AND Yang beneficial traits.  It’s All About “Team Work!”  That’s the message Nature has been putting out, in the form of a Pandemic... suggesting, “This is what you guys need to learn!”  

As you can see... what so many people are demonstrating, is contrary to her message.  “Mother Earth is cooking up a New Energetic Recipe,” and if we don’t like it, we don’t hafta eat it… or maybe we can just leave this party.  But where ya’gonna go?  Mom’s Energetic Recipe affects the entire Planet! 

There’s a New Sheriff in town...

and there’s gonna be some Changes!

The ability of Accepting or Embracing Change, is a Yin Virtue.  Regardless of personal style… we’re all faced with a Major Energetic Transition, that will eventually settle into a dominant vibration of Love, Peace and relative Harmony.

These are the main ingredients for “MOM’s New Recipe!”

Peace and Good Health... Namaste,

 

Autumnal Equinox

At the present onset of Fall, aka Autumn, there is a chill in the air; the days are becoming shorter with the nighttime darkness extending. Hopefully each and every one of us is observing and connecting with this seasonal cycle. By participating in this way we assist in grounding ourselves and pulling away from the fear floating above each and every one of us.

“The coronavirus pandemic, 

together with recurring natural phenomena 

brought on by climate change 

[aka Climate Catastrophe], 

is sharply altering our sense of the seasons.”

Paul Elie in The New Yorker

Apache Plume (Fallugia paradoxa) 
in the New Mexico evening sunlight

"Our shared biology unites all life on Earth. 

The coronavirus pandemic made evident 

that protecting ourselves also protects others. 

This applies directly to climate and sustainability: 

preparing your country, city, and company 

for the future is essential for you, 

while also beneficial for everybody else."

The Living Planet Report 2020

This Autumnal Equinox occurs amidst the dramatic collision with the Climate Catastrophe demonstrated by how the Western part of the United States from Tijuana, Mexico, to Vancouver, British Columbia is in flames. In the Southeast slow moving hurricanes are plummeting the countryside.

And this Autumnal Equinox is also happening during the most important Presidential campaign in the history of our country. On one hand, Trump wants us to revert to the early 1950's when patriarchy ruled. His perspective is the worst of television: a reality show in which the solution to the wildfires is "forest management".  "Science does not know, just wait it's going to cool", Trump told officials in California during a meeting there.

"As raging wildfires burn vast swaths of the West Coast, 

and as the molasses-slow Hurricane Sally pounds the Gulf Coast, 

scientists say we are witnessing, again, 

the role of climate change in exacerbating natural disasters."

New York Times morning brief on 09/16, 2020

This sculpture was created during the 2016 elections 

by a friend in Northern California working with clay 

at the same studio Dwight did his sculptures.

On the other hand, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want to heal our country and move forward in dealing with racial injustice and the climate catastrophe. And their joint focus is on restoring democracy to the United States. If elected their challenge to heal and lead will be fraught with challenges heretofore not dealt with openly.

"The most effective way to transform 

societal priorities and public policies 

is to change the balance of power, 

not change 

the minds of those who hold power.

. . . When government is responsive to — 

and, frankly, fearful of — 

the people who most bear 

the brunt of inequality and injustice, 

then better 

priorities, practices, and policies follow." 

Susan Sandler

So in light of Sandler's words VOTE. VOTE early and by mail if at all possible then follow up to be sure your ballot has been received so it can be counted. 

As we each struggle with the global upheaval and remember we are all in this together, may we

    

Wacky

To cherish what remains of the Earth 

and to foster its renewal 

is our only legitimate hope of survival.

Wendell Berry

Winter in a nano second. The temperatures have been hot, hot, hot here in Santa Fe, NM, in the 90s. Overnight the temperature plummeted into the 30s as a Canadian air mass moved into New Mexico.

Morning scene from dining room 

looking out to the back yard.

Just yesterday I was admiring the blossoms on the Desert Willow. I do not

remember seeing flowers at this time of the year. Other Desert Willows about the neighborhood are also blooming. Seems the weather is not the only wacky happening.

Predictions for snow in Santa Fe have been the highlight of the weather news for a number of days. With that in mind yesterday I picked all the ripe tomatoes and those almost ripe; otherwise the garden has been left to the elements. Covering all the vegetation just seems a way too big of a project this late in the season. I have just developed a sense of allowing . . . whatever the climate crisis delivers is what it is.

We recently had air conditioning installed along with a new furnace and HEPA air filter. All of the original ducts have been well vacuumed out. So we are now set to BE comfortable in our small pueblo style 1950's Stamm home in spite of the weather conditions outside. The week after the AC was up and operating it was hot, hot, hot outside. Now Arctic air has arrived and temperatures have plummeted. If we old people can figure out the complicated digital thermostat we will be all set.

As we all prepare ourselves for wacky: wacky politics, wacky weather, wacky animal and plant behavior, wacky people and just general wacky-ness, may we

Sunflowers

IDEA OF THE DAY: GARDEN YOUR WORRIES AWAY

The pandemic has been a boon to home gardening. The mental and physical benefits of the activity are well known: longer lives, lower levels of depression, and exposure to vitamin D. “Gardening reduces stress,” Huma Yasin has written in The Times.

Contact with nature can also provide philosophical comfort, The New Yorker’s Rebecca Mead argues: “Many people, when faced with their own mortality or that of their loved ones, become more attuned to the natural world. This is evidence not just of a garden’s power to distract and inspire but of its power to console.”

And for some marginalized communities, gardening grants agency over food insecurity and a lack of healthy options. “Possibilities, solutions, freedom — that’s what I’m growing,” a Los Angeles gardener and activist told The Wall Street Journal. “That’s what the gardens represent.”

04:43 AM, August 21,2020; The New York Times "The Morning" 

To me sunflowers are the epitome of happy flowers brightening my garden. They seem so cheery with their bright yellow petals. The variety below, which I cut weekly to adorn our dining room table is literally overflowing with bright yellow pollen onto the table cloth covering our dining table. This flower below was cut from a circle of sunflowers planted in our front yard. The birds absolutely love the seeds once they have ripened so it is spectacular to watch the variety of birds eating their fill.

Hopi Black Dye Sunflower
Traditionally Hopi people have used Hopi Black Dye sunflowers
to make a dye for cotton, wool and basketry.
Colors derived include maroon-red, deep maroon, dark purple,
deep lavender, medium blue and black dye.

This Summer has been extraordinarily hot and dry. Very little monsoon rain for the entire region with most of New Mexico remarkably below the average rain fall. It is amazing to me that rains frequently fall in the higher elevations with only virga on the "flat lands". 

And now we are blanketed with wildfire smoke, mostly from Colorado but also from a fire zero % contained near the Santa Fe Ski Basin. The past two days we have been unable to see the mountains to the East because the smoke is so thick.

Pueblo Indians' Winter Squash.

But amidst this unpleasantness, which mostly keeps us all inside with the windows shut, I am still harvesting food to eat from our backyard. The tomatoes are finally ripening and the first carrot seeds planted are maturing . . . delish!! The corn is done producing but it was fabulous eating my fill of corn on the cobb! The Wild Garden lettuce mix continues to be succulent and enjoyed daily in salads or sandwiches. BLTs this time of the year are "to die for" as the saying goes.

"There is a great comfort in growing your own food.

Your are close to the soil.

You use the basic elements - 

water, sunlight, earth, air, and plants -

for your work, 

your sustenance,

and your pleasure.

You nurture your garden from seeding to mature plants,

tending,

pruning, 

weeding.

Year after year, you see cycles come and go,

from sprouting to harvest to withering, to seed again.

You eat your plants to live

You don't mind and they don't mind.

Some day, you will fall back to this earth,

back into the sun-baked dirt,

you will become food for the plants.

It's the way of life,

and it's all very agreeable."

                                 Deng Ming-Dao

And before the wildfire smoke moved in, Shasta spends her mornings outside in the backyard.

Here she is napping in Big Bluestem grass
which is one of the grasses growing
in the tall grass prairies.
"This and Little Bluestem are the grasses
that fattened up cattle of the Old West,"
Gail Haggard, the owner of
Plants of the Southwest.

As we all deal with the pandemic, and of course the drama of national politics, may we lighten ourselves with a good belly

Abundance

At this time half way between the Summer Solstice and the Fall Equinox abundance is evident. Our red grape vines are heavy with clusters of almost ready to eat seedless red grapes. The tomato plants hold a plethora of tomatoes beginning to ripen. The corn stalks provide juicy ears of corn for lunch almost daily. The Summer squash plants are laden with delicious zucchini and yellow crooked necks. The mini melons will soon be ripe for my enjoyment. Carrots, lettuce, kohlrabi offer veggies for almost every meal.

Saint Theresa (red) grape

August 1, known as Lammas Day or Lughnasadh, is celebrated in England, Scotland, Wales and other countries in the Northern Hemisphere. It is a time when grains are harvested from which bread is made and shared in celebration of the abundance of grains.

And a few days later, August 03, 2020, we will have the occasion to view the full moon. This full moon also marks the peak of Summer. The day light will be shortening with the night time beginning to lengthen. The astrological alignments provide us all with opportunities for change and awareness. 

There is an existential threat to all life on Planet Earth created by humans and their insatiable consumptive greed. 

"The modern conservative is engaged

in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy;

that is,

the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."

John Kenneth Galbraith

And the Black Lives Matter movement is front and center with sports figures using their platform to keep it there. The restart of the pared down basketball season played in the Bubble of Disney World was marked by all of the first four teams linking arms and kneeling for the national anthem to protest how police go about their duties. It is time for we humans to rein in our greed, drop the white supremacy mentality, and BE more compassionate with ourselves and each other. As we social distance and wear masks to protect all of our community members from the deadly virus, let us each find our way individually and collectively to "live with this virus". 

Our glass top table inherited from Dwight's Granny 
serves as a wonderful place to share
an evening meal with friends or
afternoon tea with a soon to be fast friend.

The grape arbor is a lovely backdrop
for our abundant vegetables.

As we open ourselves to the opportunity for change and awareness, may we