As We Know It

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2626412/NASA-spots-worrisome-Antarctic-ice-sheet-melt.html

The day that has long been foretold is now upon us; the harmful change to our natural world, as it has existed for millennium, has begun, and will move swiftly towards us all. We have artificially warmed our world to such a degree that we have destroyed one of the last great wild spaces on our planet; one of our polar ice caps.

It is with a heavy heart that I also write to inform you that our race has sealed the death warrant for millions of species and fellow inhabitants on this planet. No longer can the powers that be, (who reaped the earth for gain and profit, with the intention of passing on their sins to someone else to figure it out and clean it up), hide behind their profits, lawyers, paid government officials, and corporate-sponsored specious reasoning. 

As dire as this expected news is for us, I also found a bright spot amid all my depressed thoughts, while fretting about the impending changes that have been irreversibly set in motion. Those who counted on thriving under the cover of dark will now be exposed to the light. No longer can someone "accuse" someone of "making up" Global Warming under the guise of some weirdly vague hippy, meddler, do-gooder type of argument, nor can the evil forces of the world point the finger at a scientist for falsely "twisting" the facts (and why someone would do that is still open to debate, because it was never a real question to begin with), because that part of our world is gone now too; the wrong with the right.

It is not whether have you enough information to move forward, because many, many others before me have told you the story of our planet's sickness long before it flashed onto your screen in a brief one minute spot during the evening news, but this: what will you do today, and from now on, to make the changes needed to save our planet and the species that still have a chance of making it out alive from this worldly mess? 

If your spot on the globe is coming under water (and for sea-level dwellers and coastal inhabitants, it most certainly will be, with the expected 4-12 feet of melt water that's expected to hit the planet soon), it should not be about me, (and people like me), who know the problems and have the answers, but rather this: how will you and your children and grandchildren and elderly, along with the sick and the vulnerable in our population, survive under the new climate? Because it isn't me, or people like me, you have to fear. 

It is yourselves. 

Good luck out there,
Your Sister in Christ

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/antarctica-ice-sheet-disintegrating-n103731

Historic Hudson Valley Houses

Forsythias and  national frat houses.

We have a dearth of lovely, old Victorians and early American farmhouses here in the lower Hudson Valley, each a unique beauty in its' own right, appearing with different faces throughout the year as the seasons change. A beautiful foundation to a house is like a woman with great bone structure; still a beauty, whether under a covering of winter snow or decorated with bright florals. Here's my springtime stock from earlier in the season, of locals looking good. Enjoy!

Arched arbor and white fence.

White Colonial with large trees.

Bright sunshiney day!

Grow with Totoro!

I love this time of year, when trees, shrubs, bushes, lawns, everything, burst out energetically into showy flowers and tender new shoots overnight; the scent of rich, wet soil releasing it's moisture and ozone into the warmer air, as the morning sun quickly evaporates the dew. 

Master Artist Miyazaki has the captured magic of the growing season with My Neighbor Totoro (http://mariedoucette.blogspot.com/2012/01/hayao-miyazaki.html). Who better to do so than artists who come from a culture where big, beautiful, ancient trees are venerated and marked as special? As they should be. 

What would happen if you let yourself care about all life on the planet as sacred and special, not just a few, select humans? What would that look like to you? How would it change they way you feel, think, and act? What would you do differently? Interesting questions to ponder, brought to us in a flawless gem of a movie about the awesome power and beauty of nature. Enjoy it now, because it's "Totoroing" outside!

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mavxy01V5F1qbsjqno2_r1_250.gif

Health and Wellness Today

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

I've found some really good things lately that I want to share with you. The first has been practically miraculous for someone like me who has inherited digestive flora and fauna that are less effective than most, and it comes in one handy little pill that I take every morning as part of my routine: the probiotic supplement. I watched my little brother struggle with horribly painful constipation and bloating gas as a baby boy, a trait he shares with me, my dad, and others in my direct family line, so we knew it was genetic without being told, though science does back up congenital conditions nowadays. We used to think problems like that were something you had to deal with, like a bad dinner guest: eat, drink, suffer from painful gas that isn't relieved, ever. I can't explain to you the relief one little pill full of healthy, happy bacteria has done for my digestive tract, which lacks the proper blend of enzymes and bacteria needed for the breakdown of food necessary for optimal elimination from our bodies, except that I haven't felt this good in years.

Regularity has always escaped me, and it's caused me enormous embarrassment all my life. I'm so glad to finally find relief for a problem that's been so hard to solve and elusive in a cure. It's not just the elimination of painful bloating, constipation, with loud, bubbly, gassy poor digestion, either: the amount of productive waste I see every morning in the bowl (haha! sorry) has become a normal routine that I can count on, and in life, that's a pretty rare thing. Take it, and be free of worrying about it for the rest of the day. Crossing a problem like this off your list is such a big blessing for people with digestive problems. No more painful cures that are worse than the condition, and believe me, I tried them all: coffee, cigarettes, laxatives, prunes, fiber pills....all with really pronounced, painful, and uncomfortable side effects. No more! It's over. Welcome to the happy land of advanced medicine through the introduction of beneficial bacteria! I learned about "The Cure" by accident: I was broke, starving, and getting freebie samples sent to me because I can't afford health care, yet. A sample size of Align came to me in the mail and the very next day, I was cured. I know! Huge discovery. Dr. Oz is giving away some probiotic supplements today at 3 pm. Please, partake: http://www.doctoroz.com/digestive-advantage-giveaway.

The next item of my list is free trade, organic, and non-GMO source certified coconut oil, (which I've written about briefly with cooking), because the other big problem on my genetic list is eczema, and I have one of the hardest kinds to fix: that on the hand, because we use our hands so much. My doctor also hates any cream or gel that has steroids in it (for obvious health reasons), so she only had one type of transparent, thick salve that I slathered on, which then lost efficacy with the next eczema breakout. It healed it temporarily, then it came back as bad as ever. Genetically speaking, my hands lack the proper amount of lipids needed for sealing in moisture beneath the epidermis, and there is no cure for it. Unlike the scaly, dry patches I get on my arms and the top of my legs, the hand kind is particularly nasty. Little bubbles of trapped moisture form with a dark dot in the center, and just like an infant, I scratch at them in my sleep without me being aware that I am, and like a baby, I tried sleeping with little gloves on: no such luck as a long-term treatment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coconut_oil

Once the little bubbles burst, tiny, itchy scabs form, leaving red marks that take weeks to heel, so I start the elusive hunt for a cure all over again, with expensive trips to the drugstore and a rotating cast of lotions, potions, creams, and bathing salts. I've had limited, short term success with colloidal oatmeal lotions and Epsom salt baths (salts that I also use for soaking out the aches and pains from exercise and weather in a hot tub), but recently I've tried applying coconut oil at night, and I've so far been waking up with less dry patches and an improvement in my hands. I don't know if it's a cure, but it's a worth a shot, especially since I'd rather have natural oils soaking into my skin than one that's laden with potentially toxic chemicals. Because coconut oil has such a low melting point, it immediately softens from it's solid, white state, liquefying upon contact with the skin with a slight warming in your hands, so it's very easy to apply. I repeat it often throughout the day to my neck, arms, and hands: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ways-coconut-oil-everyday-life/story?id=23521681#3. Like with any good, healthy choice you make, please consult with your doctor to get the best results.

Good luck, and good health to you!

Springs' Time to Shine

For today, a few select scenes of the early blooms and buds from the lower Hudson Valley region.

Violets and vines and bushes and dandelions.

Sidewalk garland made of dandelion, with a side of wood violet.

Forsythia branch on the front porch.

Hudson Valley Spring, 2014

Forsythia and Magnolia in bloom, Pearl River, NY.

Reel Life: A Sensei's Vampire Senses

In order to become a master of the arts, one must succumb to it wholly and completely. Where there is great love, there can be no half way. Once an art has chosen you, you must follow where it takes you, dedicated to the end. That's the price of great passion; utter devotion, and the sublimation of the self in search of the attainment of mastery. Many a sensei has often said that "in the pursuit of perfection, we attain excellence", and so it goes for the artist in their search. We hone our senses to their human heights, hoping to achieve greatness, and in doing so, we may attain immortality, or what passes for it in our human world, limited as that is by our perceptions.


 
I submit to you for your perusal two such examples of artistry and devotion in cinema, "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" and "Frostbitten": one, the story of a lifelong chef in his noble quest for mastery with his chosen elements through the Art of Sushi, and the other a perfect show about the joys of a well-done horror movie; there's camp, humor, fun, gore, suspense, and irony. Sometimes, there isn't an obvious harmony between the movies I select, but the cognitive dissonance of what appears to be a random selection, that then stitches itself into a matched set before my very eyes, forming connections by what feels to be of its' own will, but is indeed of my making. Everyday magic is the ability of the best human minds to stretch out to reach the edge of it's vast limits through the daily discipline of practice. In doing so, the master vaults way past the average person in abilities, attaining powers of craft that allude the individual incapable of such acts of constancy.  Look, and see.