October 9, 2015 - Today There Is Enough

The sheep have gotten so fat from the summer, from an abundance of food, from never having to think or worry about lack.  That’s part of being a sheep, I suppose.  Lack is never an idea that crosses a sheep’s mind.  Will there be enough?  Will I have enough to eat?  How much is enough?  These questions are never asked.  They are never supposed or planned for.

There is no worry of lack.

It is enough that today there is enough.  Tomorrow will take care of itself, and if there is not enough tomorrow when we get there, it will be today by then.  And today there is enough.  Abundance is always assumed.

How many problems and crises could we avoid worrying about if we were to think like the sheep?  A full 95% of our perceived difficulties would slip away, and the remaining 5% could be tackled with strength and courage instead of exhaustion and fear.

October 8, 2015 - The Stone In The Woods

It’s like a massive stone table or workstation of solid rock, weighing several thousand pounds--and that’s just the part which is aboveground.  This is courtesy of the last Ice Age.  To give you an idea of the size, the tree behind it is quite large but looks tiny by comparison (see photo below).  This is one huge slab of stone.

A massive boulder in the woods.

Surely a race of giants stood around it at one point, diligently working away at their tasks.  One was a cobbler, another a smith, and still another a carpenter.  There was plenty of room for all.  The indentation on the back in the right was for the baker and his doughs so that they couldn’t get away from him.

Or at night when no one else is around, a race of wood elves materializes and uses this as a dining table.  Around this table are gleaming walls that make up a huge dance hall, and around that a whole castle is built with many rooms and secret passageways that hide all manner of private meetings.  By day it is a forest with many deer paths and gnarled trees.  By night it transforms into an entire town.

Then, too, it could be Ra’s boat, Mesektet, stored here daily until sunset when he requires it to sail into the Underworld.  He has not hidden it as well as he should have, though I doubt anyone would have the audacity to chastise him.  If I could figure out how to steer it, I could sail it myself, commandeering the helm and heading off into the sunset.  And who could blame me?  Should I be penalized for Ra’s carelessness?

Oh, the things one finds in the woods . . .

The tree behind Mesektet, which holds a very large bat house.

October 7, 2015 - Romancing The Sun

It might not seem like much to most people, but for someone like me, this was a great day.  I’m talking about the sun, of course.  I cannot go into the sun for longer than a few seconds during the warm weather without getting burned and becoming very ill.  It’s just too strong for me and the angle is too high and I am too fair.  But now that the weather is changing and the temperatures are in the 40s and 50s, I can enjoy the sun again.

A secret rendezvous with the Sun.

I find a sun patch and I lift my face and I close my eyes.  Then I stay very still.  No one is ever around in the woods, so no one sees me.  I can feel the sun on my skin, and now it feels so nice and warm!  It is like a beautiful kiss.  Through my closed eyes, I can “see” brilliance.  It “looks” like dazzling diamonds.  The magic of the sunlight seeps through my closed lids, and it always makes me smile.  All around me the woods are quiet, except for the ordinary creatures that live there, and they don’t care about a secret sun worshipper.

I am a cold-weather, cold-climate, northern person and I cannot bear the sun at its zenith.  The colder the temperature, the more sun I can handle.  I love it for the same reason everyone else does:  It elevates my mood.  It brings joy to me.  It makes me smile.  Soon, when the angle of the sun gets even lower, I will be able to go directly into it for long periods of time.  I always look forward to this.

It’s a secret romance I have with the Sun King, but I keep it hidden from the Lord of Winter.

October 6, 2015 - Finite Energy

For all practical purposes, the sun has an infinite amount of energy.  Each day, however, we have a finite amount of energy to spend, and once it’s spent, it’s spent.  We can’t ever get it back.  So it’s important to know how and where we are spending our energy in order to make the most of what we are given.

I believe that human energy is a powerful thing--much more powerful than most people know.  I mean this in the literal sense:  The human battery pack is very potent.  However, it has its limits.  Once we’ve reached the limit, we have to recharge, which takes place at night when we sleep.  A good portion of that recharging depends on what we have eaten.  Our bodies transform the energy from our food into energy that we can use.  It is at our disposal to freely use as we see fit.

The infinite energy of the sun.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of energy siphons out there that are always on the look out for more human energy.  Some of the normal ones are simply work in its various forms.  We spend energy doing our work to accomplish tasks that we (hopefully) want to accomplish.  This is a more or less fair exchange.  But there is another way that our energy can be siphoned from us, and for all practical purposes, this way is invisible.  As such, we often do not notice it.  We only feel its effects afterward and are often baffled by our exhaustion.

And it’s so subtle and insidious, too.  Often it comes in the guise of friendship and caring.  I’m talking about an emotional siphon here.  Make no mistake about it:  The emotions provide a direct conduit to our energy source.  Becoming emotional causes us to directly engage our power, and once engaged, if we are not paying attention, it can be siphoned.  It’s a little easier to see it with negative emotions, such as anger, but it is not so easy to see it with positive emotions, such as sympathy.

How many times have you felt perfectly fine and gone on to a social network or a “news” outlet only to find yourself feeling agitated, angry, or just plain exhausted in a very short time?  Here’s an example:  You watch one of those “feel good” videos about someone who learned a lesson the hard way and lost a loved one, but at least now he realizes what he had.  You become very emotional.  You can’t help it.  It’s a good story, it’s well told, and you start to cry.  Deep inside you start to wonder about the things and the people that you have lost in the past, about your own hard lessons, about what you could have done, about what you should have done.  And sure enough, you start to feel tired.

Then you go on to a news article about a criminal who finally got caught and is being sent to jail.  You are outraged when you hear of his crimes!  You are horrified, but you can’t seem to stop reading or listening to the video.  You pronounce judgment on him.  You cry for the victims and their families.  You voice your opinion in the comments.  Most importantly, your fear level goes through the roof as you think about such horrible crimes being done to you.  You may even start to think of ways you can change your own surroundings so you won’t fall victim to such crimes.  And sure enough, you start to feel even more tired.

And on and on it goes.  What you might not have noticed in the posts and the videos and the chats is the background.  Often this background is pushing a certain lifestyle or an idea or a belief.  Sometimes it’s not a visible background but a reinforcement of certain societal rules.  It could even be a simple “herd” mentality.  And your emotions are feeding it.  You are directly being targeted, and the marksman has hit the bullseye.

So what’s going on here?  What do I mean?  I am not suggesting that you become a stoic and never display or experience your feelings again.  But I am suggesting that you be careful how you engage your energy and where you spend it.  If an advertiser or a builder of social structure can engage your emotions and rile you up, he has you.  He can then use those emotions for many things.  He can get you to buy something or donate money to something.  He can get you to uphold unwritten and unspoken social constructs (some of which you may not even be conscious of).  He can use your energy and add it to the energy of all the other people he has siphoned, and with that he can get even more victims onboard.  He can use the energy to lead society in any direction he wants.

The past cannot be changed, and the future is just a concept.  All we have is the present, and each day we have a certain amount of energy to spend on our present lives.  The more of it we unwittingly give to someone else or to a corporation or to a cause, the less we have to construct our present lives and thereby improve our future possibilities.  If we are being drained by certain social conventions, certain morals, certain events that are deliberately constructed to display only the viewpoint of the siphoner, we have no energy left for ourselves and our own life.

Again, I am not suggesting that you become a stoic.  Sometimes becoming emotional is necessary.  However, there are always at least two sides to a story, and often more than that.  There are always alternative views and ideas, but if we are constantly being steered via our emotions into a direction that someone else wants for us, then we never get to see the other side of the story.

So be careful about how you spend your energy.  Don’t just give it away.  Be discerning.  If you see that energy drain coming your way, head it off at the pass.  Turn it off, switch it off, close it down, shut it out.  Then go and do something worthwhile for yourself.

October 5, 2015 - Turkey Mushroom

The turkey mushroom (Trametes versicolor) is not edible, at least not by humans, but it is certainly pretty.  It sort of reminds you of a turkey proudly displaying his feathers, hence the name.  While it may not be edible, some herbalists prescribe this very hard and leathery mushroom as an “anti-cancer” treatment.  The American Cancer Society says there’s no evidence to support that claim, but they do acknowledge that the turkey mushroom contains PSK (polysaccharide-K), which they do acknowledge has anti-cancer properties.

The turkey mushroom (Trametes versicolor).

A simple Google search will show you the many studies out there on PSK and how it can reduce some cancers and the chance of recurrence.  You’ll also find that the turkey mushroom is rich in beta-glucans, which are known for their ability to enhance and activate the immune system.  They also help the body to maintain an ideal cholesterol level.  You may have heard of the famous beta-glucans in oats, the “heart friendly” cereal.

I see them everywhere when I walk through the woods.  I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything we need--everything!--is out there in nature somewhere, waiting for us to notice it.  I am also convinced that we are led to the things we need if we walk with an open mind and are willing to learn.  So, like the Reishi mushrooms I took last July and tinctured, I will also take some of these turkey mushrooms and tincture them as well.  I’d be a fool to turn away a gift.

[This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended as culinary advice.  If you are not intimately familiar with mushrooms, err on the side of caution and do not collect or eat them.  This article is also not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any ailment.  If you need medical advice, seek a physician.]

October 4, 2015 - A Message

The tree ears go up and up in a spiral pattern, reaching for the heavens and eavesdropping on the angels.  I wait patiently below for a secret message, while they take their time in relaying the words from above.  Surely today they will confer heavenly wisdom.  So I sit and rest against the trunk and drink some water and wait.  And I grow sleepy, sitting in the woods and waiting.  I close my eyes for just a moment.

Waiting for the message.

That’s when the woods come alive.  They have forgotten I am here.  I have been very quiet for a long time, not moving, not talking.  My eyes are closed, but I can feel the squirrels run by so close to my feet, grabbing acorns and stuffing them in their hidden caches.  The deer come by, walking boldly because they think they are alone.  They follow their usual path, stopping to nibble on choice greenery, even though they are quite fat now.  The rut will be upon them in a few weeks, and the anxious anticipation is palpable.  The birds, the porcupines, the skunks, and all the others hurry by on their way to November.

The air is one of a pace that has been quickened, food being stored, caches being checked and rechecked.  There is so much to do now, and the message is to hurry back to my own home now!  Don’t you know November is on its way?  Haven’t you heard?  There’s no time to tarry now, no time for naps!  The simple days of summer are over.

Waking from having nodded off, surely for just one second, I am disappointed that I have received no message from the tree ears.  Heaven has snubbed me, but suddenly it seems very unimportant because I have this terrible urge to run home and store nuts while I still can.  After all, November is on its way.

October 3, 2015 - I'm Almost Gone

I’m almost gone now.  Height and stately beauty left decades ago; I can’t remember how many now, but it’s not important.  I’m not sure why it ever was.  The birds of prey have long since left their perches within my boughs.  The frogs and bats and squirrels have left for a better home, too, and rightly so.  Even most of the insects have finished with me.  For a long time I stood as a grim reminder to others of what’s to come, but that’s gone now, too.

Almost not here.

I watch the world as it watches me dissolve.  Usually it is too busy, though, so I just enjoy the process of un-becoming.  I don’t miss the leaves that were my hair because this beautiful moss grows upon me now.  My insides have softened and poured out, and the mushrooms have borrowed those parts.  In return, they dance for me in the moonlight, their little umbrellas twirling around and around me.  Those roots I sent so deeply within the Earth a long time ago have gone back from whence they came.  I can’t remember why I thought they were so important back then, but I wish them well in their journey.

I have almost completed myself.  I am at the best part.  A few more rains and snows and seasons, and I will finish the crumbling.  Then the last of me will drift off along the forest floor and into the winds, and I will finally be free.

October 2, 2015 - Trust In The End

The last couple of days have been in the 40s temperature-wise, which I think is just perfect.  Here up on Bradbury Mountain, the red barn welcomes in the fall.  They’ll have pumpkins and gourds and jams for sale there, and many others things to tempt as well.  All around the area now, the trees are really starting to change.  We have a bit to go yet before we reach the peak, and with the bad weather coming, I just hope all the leaves won’t be blown off before they do their final show.  I do so enjoy a good finale.

Marching toward the end.

This is the time of year I like best.  The decaying leaves (as odd as it sounds) perfume the air deliciously.  I wonder why that is.  Most people I know love the smell of the leaves decaying.  If we think about it logically, it means they have died and are decomposing.  So why do we love it so much?  Perhaps our senses are not as fooled by this “death” as our feeble minds are.  We have been conditioned to think of the end as being such a terrible thing, and while I’d like to wait as long as possible before I reach my own, it’s somehow oddly comforting to know that my eyes and ears and nose are delighted with the end that is going on all around me.

It’s a common theme in my writing--the idea that death is just a doorway, that’s it’s just another phase, and that rebirth is always just around the corner.  There are many cultures, philosophies, and religions that have dealt with this issue in an attempt to bring ease and relief to followers.  In the end, we all seem to agree that somehow there is a new beginning somewhere.  I don’t trifle myself with the particulars of this belief or that.  It is enough for me to simply watch the trees and the animals and trust in the whispered promises they have given me.

October 1, 2015 - The Immortal Tree

The yellow and orange were there all along, but they were invisible to us.  The green color produced by the chlorophyll through photosynthesis was hiding the other colors from our eyes.  But they were there.  They were waiting to be noticed.

The immortal tree.

Then the days got shorter, and the tree sensed that it was time.  The photosynthesis stopped because of the change in light.  The chlorophyll disappeared, and the yellow and orange that were hidden for so very long came screaming out.  That’s when we say, “The leaves are starting to turn.”  And turn, they do.  Then any glucose that was left in the leaves is turned into a brilliant red (and sometimes even purple!) color by the sun and the cooler night temperatures.

Suddenly the tree is awash in brilliant red, yellow, and orange, most of which was there all along.  It makes you wonder how many other things in nature are hiding from us.  How many other things could be revealed if only we could “see” the proper way or take a small veil away?

Finally, comes the brown color.  That is from any wastes left within the leaves.  The leaves then die, having fed the tree through photosynthesis all summer long.  The tree will go to sleep now and survive the winter on its hoarded supply of energy.  If no one rakes them up, the leaves will decompose and place the very minerals the tree favors most right back into the soil all around it.  In future years, the roots will pull these very same minerals right back into the tree again in a never ending cycle.  Clearly, trees are immortal.