Dogs, Wildfires and Train Wrecks

First I want to share the rest of the story on Little Rojo! Tuesday morning Animal Control called as someone had come in looking for a dog matching his description. My heart sank but I talked to the lady and told her how to get here. My brother and I were not impressed with her--and the dog did not respond to her at all! Turns out she was a neighbor supposedly caring for the dog for sick friends and he had escaped Thursday night. (But she didn't go to Animal Control until Tuesday??) When we said we would need to be reimbursed for the vet stuff we had done on Monday she got a little huffy and said she'd send a relative over to get him--and I guess pay us. We were disturbed and dreading some possible confrontation. But fear not, the Doggie Deity was still in charge. Mid afternoon an older couple drove up. The man was a brother of the old owner. He told us both the brother and his live-in lady friend were alcoholics and the dog had often been neglected but not abused (thus his matted mess of a coat!) and that they were both very ill now and not likely to be able to live at home for a long time if ever. He and his wife could not take the dog and were mainly concerned he had a good home. Charlie, my brother, showed him the papers from the vet and he nodded, smiling. "Don't worry. He is your dog now. We're just happy someone is going to love and care for him."  It was almost a let down but we were so relieved! So now he has a pretty blue collar and his rabies and city tags jingle as he trots around and our K9 kids number four. Here is another picture I took of him Tuesday evening.

The next topic is not so happy. I am sure if you watch the news you have heard about the terrible wildfire raging on the western side of Colorado Springs. I am shocked and horrified but the Springs has been a disaster waiting to happen  for a long time. Way too many costly homes built high on the wooded slopes in very steep terrain, no clearing of brush and trees and overgrowth that has not seen fire for many years. I still hurt though as I read the evacuations from areas I know and that were very beautiful etc. I lived at Falcon east of town from November 1973 to August 1977 and then in the north central part of the city from April 2009 until October 2011 so I am familiar with the region. I weep now for those being driven from their homes, those who have already lost all, and the weary firefighters battling this hungry, dangerous and unpredictable dragon that consumes all in its path. I pray the summer rains start soon and are plentiful but gentle over the burn-scarred areas where the next disaster will be flash floods. Ruidoso, NM is bracing for this and people downstream along the Gila Wilderness, especially the western side. This is a year of tragedy.

And yet another and different tragedy as well. I am a life long rail-fan and both grandfathers were railroaders as was my brother. He was out where the wheel meets the steel for a number of years in the maintenance side and then a union official representing those workers. At one time he or at least his men would have been over in the Oklahoma panhandle clearing up the mess left by the head-on crash of two freight trains a few days ago. Three crewmen lost their lives, burned in the crumpled remains of the locomotives at the point of impact. Someone or maybe more than one really messed up there. A dispatcher may have erred and either a signal malfunctioned or was not seen so that two trains, going at highway speeds met and crashed. It is even worse than a highway disaster because no evasive action is possible--the train must stay on the track until it hits an immovable object and then things go everywhere and instead of the hundreds of pounds a semi truck may be carrying, it is hundreds of tons behind the locomotives... The carnage is almost beyond imagination. The fire was fierce and the debris a mountain. I sympathize with the families of the dead crew members and the first responders who had to deal with the fire and horror and now the railroad employees who have to get the tracks clear so the trains can run again. Train traffic through here--Alamogordo--has been down to almost none since that wreck on Sunday as this line goes on to the crash location. That shows how serious it was. Although not a transcontinental main line, the route through here is normally busy with 15-25 or more trains a day. Not one west/south bound (having come through the wreck zone) and only a few the other way.

Somber things, and not fun to ponder but then life is pretty serious these days for most of us. I promise a lighter post next time but just had to comment on the events in the recent news, especially those that have caught my attention. I will not add politics to the mix; no "D" there and you really do not want to get me started!! All I can say is please do vote in November, whatever your persuasion may be, because our lives will be impacted by the outcome as they are with each major election.

When the Doggie Deity Takes Charge

It had been my intention today to tell my story of Rico and Belle but there was a divine intervention!
Friends may know that I believe there is a Higher Power I call the Doggie Deity. S/he is in charge of the canine world and their interaction with people, especially coming when they are needed or wanted, or when they are in need, steering them to the best port in the storm. It has happened too many times for me to doubt! To wit, let me tell you about Friday afternoon.

I'm a curious sort, something I probably enhanced by my years with a man who had been in law enforcement much of his life and was the sort who never met a stranger. He always watched what was happening in the neighborhood. I've been watching work done on a recently sold house catty-corner across the street, a hitching-along city effort at replacing water lines in this area and a few other comings and goings this summer. So midday Friday I was sitting on the sofa in front of the big picture window in the living room and observed a little critter I took to be a ratty looking cat furtively slipping around, under cars and into shady spots across the street and down the one our house faces. I did think it odd though, as I had never seen a brown cat...

A bit later I was out on the car port getting ready to hang my new quilt over a line I had rigged so as to do the 'tying through' operation where I use a big needle and yarn to secure the layers by a stitch through and then tying a square knot. All at once there was a small animal underfoot and I saw it was indeed a dog, not a cat but close to kitty-size. Its fur was felted and tangled with burrs and I could see no collar or tag. I got it some water. Then I picked it up briefly and the belly was so matted I figured it for a female who had recently been nursing pups and was caked with dry milk and crud. It went next door then and played with the kids for a bit but I heard their dad say, "No, one dog is enough." (They got a small female a few months ago; her name is Bella and she looks like a mix of pug, maybe dachshund and ???) so pretty soon the little dog returned.

Now my brother came out and began to interact with the dog. He went to work trying to get some of the fur cleaned up and we discovered it was a male and neutered. He was very friendly and pretty patient about being combed, trimmed and groomed. I was concerned but after a bit we decided he was healthy and our three big dogs were going nuts about it so we finally slipped him into the back yard with them. They all scampered around the yard, sniffing and excited but no hostilities. It was late afternoon now and past time to call Animal Control. If he stayed out all night, he could become coyote food or meet some other bad end. By then he was already integrating himself into our family and wiggling into our hearts! I'd said he could stay in the laundry room but that never happened!

I am really  not a huge fan of little dogs and a few very badly behaved and obnoxious little mutts that some roommates and acquaintances had did not help.I have referred at times disparagingly to "Barking Rats" and "Barking Dust Mops" which I think are self-explanatory, but I do love dogs in general and this little dog is different. Not sure of his ancestry but my wild and uneducated guess is --maybe--long haired dachshund and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel??? He is rusty red with drooping ears, a fine muzzle, large bright eyes, a long thin tail and short somewhat bandy legs--he toes out big-time in front.

Today I did call Animal Control but no such dog had been reported as lost. He's going to our vet this afternoon to be checked and get shots--which likely he does not need--a heart worm check and all the regular vet stuff and shortly we will get a city license for him. Right now he is Rojito or Little Red; what he will finally end up being named is uncertain but it looks like he has found a home. He loves to cuddle, sleeps on brother Charlie's bed, and is not intimidated by the bigger dogs--an Aussie Shepherd, a Blue Heeler and a Heeler-Corgi mix-- but is polite to them. He knows treats such as the 'soft beefy sticks"' (puperoni type treats) and takes a tidbit very daintily. Yes, our dogs are spoiled and do get a bit of nibbles when we are eating!! So Rojito fits right in. I am sure he has been loved and pampered much of his life; how he came to be astray and bedraggled I have no idea. Wish he could tell us his story. If an owner comes forward, we will surrender him, of course, but I'd be rather sad already. That's how quickly he has left little paw prints on a soft heart. So the Doggie Deity knew what s/he was doing, as always!

And you'll hear about Rico and Belle another day....

Are writers especially creative?

Of course I write, something I have done since childhood with varying levels of skill and success. It took me a long time but I do have novels, shorter fiction and poetry all published, and not self-published or by a so-called 'vanity press.' (Although I do not scorn either as unworthy or a bad way to publish!) I even sell a book now and then. But that is not the only creative endeavor to call me over the years. Various art and craft projects have kept me busy for most of my life when I was not writing or engaged in outdoor work or activity.. As a child I drew and colored a lot and then got started making paper dolls. At one time I hoped to become a fashion designer and the paper dolls were more for that than just to "play with" although I did play with my own some as well as a lot of commercial ones. Clothes and jewelry fascinated me from very early times. Yes, I make jewelry, too, and at one time sewed a lot of my wardrobe but today I am going to focus more on the two dimensional art forms.

Recently I gathered a whole collection of 'art' that I had done starting about age twelve. It was amusing to see my skills develop from very childish cartoony work to some things I still feel were pretty darn good! I drew some good horses and did some portraits in pencil and colored pencil, working from photos and memory. I put them all in page protectors into a 3-ring binder except for the large ones that would not fit.  Here is one, perhaps not the best but not bad, of a friend/mentor and hero of mine from long ago.(One section of my poetry book, Walking Down My Shadows is devoted to him.)  I haven't scanned or photographed most of them, That may come later, at least with a few of the best pieces. If and when I may share..


Since I lived in Arizona the greater part of my life, I grew very familiar with the many Native American tribes and their distinctive art work, especially the weaving of the Navajo, the silver work of the Navajo, Zuni and Hopi and the beautiful pottery and basketry of all tribes. Not too long after I got about my second computer--with a color monitor!--I started playing with the "Paint" program. Then I realized a few of the designs I created reminded me of Navajo weaving. From there on I got more and more into this and created some that I think are pretty cool. Some have even been used on my Gwynn Morgan websites. That is kind of fitting since Gwynn's first novel, Powerful Medicine,  featured Native American lead characters and all had a definite southwestern ambiance.

The one on the left was one of my very early designs, not as neat or symmetrical as those I produced later. To the right is a better one! I probably have 75 or more saved and use them at times in stationery and promo materials. It's still fun and I do a few now and then although not as avidly as I did at one time. Yes, it is tedious, working pixel at a time to clean up the jaggies and make things balanced and even but relaxing in an odd way! It takes a steady hand though and with worsening arthritis I am not as deft as I was at one time. 


I like the colors found in many Navajo rugs--they were initially all natural dyes although now they use both commercial yarn as well as that spun from their own wool and commercial dyes. That changes the character of the creations a lot but much traditional work is still done. I own one, which my late mother-in-law got in trade for some bobby pins back in WW II era when metal was hard to come by and the Navajo woman wanted some pins to help keep her hair up! Scandalous, almost like Manhattan for beads, no? 

I find that a lot of my writer friends have other creative hobbies and interests. Some quilt, some paint, some sew, some do hand made greeting cards and other arty things. I like to keep my hands busy and rarely just sit. There will be a tray of beads, a piece of plastic canvas with yarn or a piece of paper and a pencil at hand almost all the time. I've adapted some of my 'rug' designs to plastic canvas and have used them on tissue boxes, a board to hang my many earrings--most that I made--and other projects. Here is the earring board before I loaded it up! It is a whole larger size sheet of plastic canvas stapled to a strip of molding and hung with a cord thru small screw eyes on the molding. The colors in it and a matching tissue box cover were chosen to match a quilt made for me by a dear friend and the curtains I made when I lucked onto some matching fabric, at WalMart of all places!


I have done several pieces of fiction where a main character is an artist of some kind. A short paranormal novel, He Comes With the Dark and a novella length contemporary story, Paint a New Scene come to mind. They are both Deirdre O'Dare work and explicit in parts--just to warn you! (Gwynn writes the milder PG-13 level romance and Deirdre can get pretty X-rated in case you did not know!) That's why I always used two pseudonyms. A reader will know what to expect from each.

Dads

That's another "D" word... And of course today is Father's Day. I read once a little statement that any man can be a biological father but it takes a special one to be a real dad. That is certainly true. My late husband was a good dad, often too lenient, especially with his only daughter, but remembered by his kids in many special and unique ways. I had two grandfathers who left me a good strong legacy because they were both of sterling character and greatly admired in their industry--railroading--and very admirable men. My father-in-law was another such man.

The picture at the right is my parents when they were dating--Dad was about thirty at the time and a good looking man, dark reddish brown hair, hazel eyes and a typically Irish way with a contagious sly grin, a wicked sense of humor and charm galore. He swept my somewhat shy and naive mom right off her feet! They wed two months after meeting and were together for over forty six years until his death in a traffic accident.

I had a rocky relationship with my dad. I was the first born and the only girl and he had tendencies to be a control freak--that was a bad recipe since we were both hard-headed and very determined Taurus people! Dad had a very hard time letting me go and grow into my own person. From my early teens on, there was constant conflict as he ceased to be my top hero and I turned attention to others, most of whom he found unworthy! He and my husband were like two dogs with a juicy bone--me!--over whom they could never do anything but conflict. That was hard at times but I was grateful Jim, my husband, was a strong man and able to back me in standing up to be my own person. I did not have much confidence or self-esteem and he helped me build them. Was he a father figure to me? Yes, in some ways. Until after his death, I had never seriously dated or had a relationship with anyone younger than me and most were considerably older. The 'shrinks' would have a field day with that I am sure!

But today, from the perspective of over twenty years since dad's death, I can look back and forgive the hurts he dealt me and recognize that a great deal of who and what I am today is totally his doing. He was my first hero, my teacher for five years of grade school, and a towering example, both good and bad. I was his top hand and partner for several  years and shared a lot of adventures since my brothers arrived eight and sixteen years after me! Those experiences were rare treasures that few have enjoyed. The photo at left is one of Dad's,  taken on such a trek, probably deer hunting. I was about fifteen and the little mule was named  ":Beano" since he was speckled like a pinto bean.

Dad, too, was a writer and also a photographer. Although he tried his hand at fiction, that did not go well so he turned when I was small to writing for the men's outdoor sports magazines such as Field and Stream, Sports Afield etc. and photo-illustrating most of his work. He even had a piece or two and a few photos in Arizona Highways magazine which set a standard for excellence in scenic photography in its day.  He was a very charismatic and outgoing person and drew "characters" into his life, and of course the family's, like a magnet. I got to sit and listen to many visitors who were tag ends of the old wild west, some amazing and incredible people! Many of them left a lasting mark on me and certainly color my fiction. I formed from these early images an ideal of what a "real man" should be that I hold to this day. From that start, he went on to write some diatribes about conservation and might be called an environmentalist before that became a common word. He probably influenced some like Edward Abbey who came along later.

So today I can say thanks, Dad, and really mean it. He never got a book published and I have had several, so I am slowly compiling into an anthology and lightly editing a bunch of stories and articles that either were not published or came out so long ago they are back in the public domain with rights reverted. I will probably self-publish it and it will not likely make a fortune but there will be a book out there with Charles M. "Chuck" Morgan on the cover and his sassy. humorous and sometimes wild tales will be available to readers. That will be my tribute and gift to him.

Besides the literary legacy, he left three kids, one now gone, who have each accomplished some significant things and used his legacy in individual ways. One brother worked for the railroad in maintenance and then became a union official, fighting for the rights and interests of the workers he represented. One became an attorney and used his flair for writing in legal work, only to die from an aneurysm at far too young an age (forty-six). I helped raise three step kids and became a multi-published  fiction and poetry writer. Although I am not an extreme environmentalist, I do espouse conservation and stewardship of the earth and its resources and appreciate that part of his legacy as well.

Thank you, Dad. May you enjoy the well earned rest until we meet again as friends in some future time and place. Go in peace and harmony, of which you found little in your most recent life, whether by choice or chance I cannot presently say..

Joy and sorrow--that's life.

I finally got into Chrome and from there into Blogspot and I can do pictures again! Whee. Made my day!!
Yet the topic that comes to mind is not a joyful one for today.I think I will talk about forest fires; they are on my mind right now. They have been a bane of my existence for many years. I was about twelve when a 'controlled burn' got away and took out much of Mingus Mountain on the west side of Arizona's Verde Valley which was my youthful stomping ground. My family and I had many favorite spots where we hunted, rode horses, cut fire wood and fence material and explored old mines and other interesting spots. To see much of this go up in smoke made a lasting impression. Ever since then I have had a fear and fierce dislike of wildfires.

Here is a very old picture of me and my favorite mare, Tina, who I got as a yearling for my birthday, again the twelfth one. She was a mix of Arabian and Thoroughbred or so I was always led to believe. She was tall when full grown and certainly looked more Thoroughbred than anything else. She was fast, sure footed and for a long time the love of my life! In the background is part of Mingus, a part that did not burn that we called "The North Point." A trail went up and onto the semi-level top of the mountain there, but its not visible in this shot.

This is a later picture, probably while I was dating my future husband. It was taken on a hike in the Huachuca Mountains, an area decimated by fire last year as more favorite country was destroyed. That fire actually threatened the town of Sierra Vista and did destroy some landmarks and history in the valley there.

The story has been repeated too many times. Now a huge fire is raging in the Gila Wilderness near where I lived for a short while in the little town of Hurley, south and east of Silver City in Grant County, NM. I used that area as background for a few stories in the last couple of years. Now nearly 300,000 acres of rough and wild beauty has been burned out. Closer to my current home, the Little Bear fire has destroyed a number of homes and summer cabins, part of the Ski Apache resort and threatened both Capitan and Ruidoso, towns where friends now live. I think it is more or less under control now and evacuees are being allowed to go back but the 35,000 acres will be barren and raw for a long time.

Some attribute the worsening fires recently to climate change, and I cannot dispute that. There were two huge and horrible ones which took out much of the White Mountain area in Arizona in 2002 and 2011 and are probably the largest in recorded history at about 400,000 and 500,500 acres and there have been several very devastating fires in Colorado the last few years too. I won't argue with those who espouse it but am not a total believer in the man-caused global warming doctrine. I am sure the situation is much bigger and more complex than merely the fact we are burning fossil fuels and --maybe--increasing the carbon level in the atmosphere. Climate has fluctuated greatly for millennia--since long before we were here! And I expect it will continue to do so as long as the earth endures but I do agree we need to be better stewards of our world and take care of the treasures we have here. But part of that to me is suppressing fires! I know it is expensive and dangerous but there has to be a better way than what has been happening! I certainly pray for answers and improvements to come. I can almost hear the trees scream as they burn and certainly ache for the woodland creatures driven from their homes, injured or even killed as they flee. This is a true tragedy, even without the frequent loss of human life and property.

Pictures for recent posts

The Eye in the Sky:

Sadie

Almost Butch's friend Dog. Not really Dog but a good likeness of the Border Collie Breed

A Special Tribute in Verse

Across the Rainbow Bridge...

At the foot of the bridge they met

For the last journey they would share

Partners even in this final travail

So right that together they came to be there.

The first steps were painful and slow

But each stride grew more sure and free

As the pains and the cares fell away

For soon such would no longer be.

The dog's drooping tail slowly rose

To the proud banner he used to fly;

The man's shoulders lifted as age peeled away

And he held his head proud and high.

Side by side they mounted the arch

Paused at the crest for one last

Lingering glance at the world left behind

But they both knew that time was now past.

Down now to the bright fields below

Where waiting to greet, row on row--

So many dear friends gone before

All well loved ones that they used to know.

Underfoot the grass sweet and green,

Overhead the sky bright and blue

The dogs can all frolic and play

While the people old friendships renew.

With a cup of coffee in hand

And dogs all sprawled at his side--

My hero and friends wait for me,

Until with them again I abide.

         (c) GMW Nov 2003

Butch and Sadie--and a sad miracle

I thought I had introduced Butch who came to us after Alanna but it looks like the 'net ate that post. Okay here we go. After we lost Alanna we were dogless for the better part of three years. We were just hurting too much at first and then had to wait a bit. I got to where I was carrying treats in my pockets for dogs in theh neighborhood and even putting out scraps for a young female coyote who was in the area--which I know is very bad and foolish but she was cute and did remind me of Alanna when we first got her. But the dog diety always puts the right one in your path at the right time. (Fitting to introduce Butch when the puppy of the day is a Brittany!)

Butch was the total opposite of Mickey, not a rascal but a little old man. We had a friend in the VFW who lost his wife and got a dog for company. I think John must have had a dog as a kid that he called "Butch" for that was the moniker the poor little guy was stuck with and he was sooo not a "Butch" but that's okay. When John was getting ready to move and go into assisted living he begged us to take Butch, so of course we did. Another red and white Brit', he was Jim's dog at first but later bonded with me as male dogs often will choose a female. This was after we got Sadie who was Jim's from day one.

I don't have a picture of Butch scanned in but he was a handsome guy, very typical red and white Britany--the pup of the day today could be his baby picture. LOL. He did not know how to play as he had taken 80+ John for a role model and was always a gentlemanly little old Kentucky Colonel type! But he did love to run, and a Border Collie of a neighbor and he would have great fun playing tag games. The BC was named Dog so Butch and Dog had a good friendship. We got Butch in 1993 and then in 1996, Sadie came to us, another 'rescue' situation.

Sadie belonged to a young couple who were friends of my daughter Jennifer. Stephanie and Jenn had been roommates at Cochise College and became close. They were in each  other's weddings etc. Her parents had ties to Bisbee so Jim knew their family. They got Sadie (half Lab and probably half Setter or Spaniel) as a pup and put her in with two older dogs--and fed them all out of one bowl. Sadie got shortchanged! Then since she got little attention or training she tore up their newly landscaped back yard and was threatened with a death sentence by (another) John who was "mr stephanie". Stephanie begged Jennifer to take Sadie and she did, but Jenn and her kids had a female dog called Shadow as I recall and the two did not get along but one evening we babysat the kids and took Butch along. He and Sadie bonded at once. So for the rest of Butch's life, he had a loving companion. Sadie became Jim's dog and Butch mine.

We laughed about Sadie's 'bad hair days' as she had a long silky coat that really blew in the wind. Trim her and she looked 100% Lab but she was blessed with a lovely wavy coat.  She was black but gradually got white rings around her eyes and white along her muzzle which made a striking contrast. Jim joked that was her lipstick and eye shadow.

Butch and Sadie both loved to go and to be outdoors so they went on lots of hikes and expeditions with us. Butch had a fear of heights and would not look out the SUV window if we were on a mountain road which we always thought was cute. Time flew by as time will and as we eased into the new century, age began to catch up with Butch. He was about three when we got him so was now over ten. He no longer ran and he began to get a bit grumpy. He'd slip on the vinyl floor and I had to coax him to eat. It is so hard to watch when they begin to go downhill but it is inevitable. Sadly their life spans are way too short

And now comes the sad part but also a near-miraculous unfolding of events. Early November 2003, we watched a lunar eclipse with the big 'scope and that night Jim began to get sick. After hours of intense back and stomach pain I took him to the ER. They did not find out anything and we came home very late only to find poor little Butch on the floor, exhausted and confused. He had gotten down and been unable to get up,  struggled almost to death and probably also had a stroke. I was devastated but also had a clearly very ill husband to deal with who had to come first. I made Butch as comfortable as I could with a pad under him and water in reach for the rest of the night. Next morning Jim collapsed in the bathroom and I barely got him up and back to bed. I called our eldest son Malcolm to come over from Bisbee, at my wits' end.

Later that morning I took Jim to his doctor but despite the fact he collapsed again in the parking lot and the nurses came out with a wheel chair to take him in, he was again sent home. "It's probably the flu," the doctor said, even though he knew Jim's history of diabetes and angina etc. If I had seen that adoctor again for the next several months I would have torn him apart with my bare hands; I felt that angry and betrayed.

Then Malcolm carried Butch to the car for me for his final ride, and stayed with his dad while I was gone. I held my little buddy while he drifted away, telling him I would see him again. Then we came home where he'd be laid to rest with Alanna in the yard. Malcolm and his stepson Cory had dug the hole that day.

When I got home, the EMTs were at the house. Malcolm came out and tried to break it to me gently but broke down weeping. He had called 911 and done CPR until they arrived, but his dad was gone--massive heart attack per the autopsy. So as it happened, he and Butch passed over within a few minutes of each other and I pictured them walking across the Rainbow Bridge together, hale and whole again. While it was brutal to lose them both at once, it always seemed right to me. They were okay now and I will see them again in time.

Sadie spent a week or more searching the house and yard. She could not understand how and why her beloved master and her adored canine companion had both vanished from her life. She was with me for another three years and three days but her heart was broken the whole time. I got Rico --you'll meet him shortly--to keep her company but it was not the same for her.

I wanted to include a couple of pictures but they are not working so I'll maybe do them another time. I've got to get this one up today!

Sky Watchers Annonymous?

I am fascinated by the sky and everything in it. I can watch clouds for hours, love sunsets and sunrises, wish I could fly--preferably like a bird without mechanical contraptions--and am both an amateur astronomy and a semi-serious believer in astrology. Now the latter might seem like a contradiction but I do not see it that way.

I own a good quality telescope, older but still a fine instrument. It is an 8" Celestron, built on the Smith-Cassegrain model which means it is compact for its power. I have enjoyed watching lunar eclipses, finding planets and looking at the stars as they wheel their way across the night sky. I love the summer sky as many constellations are old friends. My late husband and I spent many pleasant hours lying in the yard on an old tarp and just looking at the sky--counting satellites passing by, seeing meteors and a time or two northern lights--once in Marysville, CA where no one else apparently noticed the red and green auroral display that night! I used to take Astronomy magazine; let it go because it is pretty pricey but miss it.

Yet I really do believe in astrology--not the daily horoscope in the newspaper kind but the serious plotting and finding where all the celestial bodies were when one was born and how they relate now and such. A dear friend is very expert in this and has given me a lot of guidance. But the thing is,I do think there is a real scientific basis for some of this. Let me elucidate!

First every object in the sky gives off energy, right? Even those like our moon and the planets which are relatively inert compared to the sun (which is a smaller star) and the other blazing orbs. The gravity and electromagnetic forces from each object as they go through their orbit and approach and depart from alignments and proximities may not be measured but I expect with the right instrumentation they could be. So why would the patterns at the moment of conception and then at one's birth, when the protective envelope of our mother's body no longer shields us fail to influence us in many subtle and even overt ways? That is where I see the validity in astrology. The simple sun sign doesn't mean a lot although I do see familiar traits in some other Taurus people, for example. But the whole complex pattern--that is where we find clues to who and what we are! I think in time this will be accepted by most scientific people.

Right now a lot is happening in the sky. We just had the solar eclipse, very visible here in New Mexico and a lunar one to happen with the full moon--two such events in one moon cycle is unusual. Venus will cross in front of the sun--between earth and the sun--on Tuesday and various alignments and patterns among the planets are taking plaec as well. I can feel a certain tension and charge of energies from all this. Am I nuts? Who knows! But I can enjoy observing the spectacles and also trying to gain some insights and guidance from what these events might portend or evoke.

I will leave you with this "eye in the sky" image that has been going around on the 'net for some time with a variety of captions. It alsways raises questions in my mind and I start asking why and what and who and when. I see something very powerful and sacred in the sky and this exemplifies that sense. Note: picture ix hanging things up so will try again to post it later. This is now old news anyway!

Troubles!

I've got three partial blog posts sitting in drafts and am having the dickens of a time getting them completed and posted! I am now trying to figure out how Google Chrome works because IE is definitely not playing nice with Blogspot! If push comes to shove I may move to Wordpress --more learning curves. This old dawg is having trouble with the new tricks. I will do my best to get a couple of posts up today but if I cannot, please be patient with me! I am quite impatient enough for all of us right now!! Send me good energies please!