Looking In The Mirror

My Mother was born in the Congo,
My Father came from the Stars,
Together they built the pyramids.
From a dark hole I was born.
Divine hands raised me,
To the light of the night sky,
Now I shine in perfect light.
For a thousand years I sat alone,
Thinking-I cupped water in my hands,
No words I write are untrue.
I am old, and young, and middle aged.
All my sisters are Queens.
All my brothers are Kings.
I've been called a brat and a snot,

What care I what they think of me.

Cow Crap

Finding the answer to the mystery of yellow snow and ice.

Who's Been Munching On My MoJo?

Who's been munching on my mojo? I'm guessing some of my four legged friends likes sweetgrass, and that's ok, last week was really cold and snowy, so they must have stop by in the night for a nibble at my fencepost art work.

What Are Large Canvas Oil Paints Good For?

Had to nail the back door to the cabin closed because the wind kept blowing it open. Several weeks later when it started getting real cold, I nailed a blanket over the door frame. The problem with the front door was a little more tricky to handle. When you can see daylight all around the door jamb, you know ya got a draft problem. When the temperature drops to below zero degrees, and the cold creeps in like unwelcome ghosts, it's time to get creative and come up with a solution fast... can't nail the front door shut for obvious reasons. Well, maybe I could, but then I would have to crawl in and out a window...not real practical. 

So as the snow kept piling up outside, Sarah and me cuddled in front of the woodstove. I thought about crying for a moment or two, then it came to me, use an old painting canvas I had rolled up in the closet.

The good thing is, the painting though not finished (someday I'll get more paint), is rather bright with colour. My painting canvas helps cut down on icy drafts, and it warms my soul with memories of earler times.

Soap Foam in the River?

This summer I noticed pockets of what looked like dish water suds pile up in different places along the river bank. The photo is of yellowish tinted frozen foam.

December's Temperament

The blessings of winter are all around when fat flakes of snow are falling. In the quiet hush of early morning with a hot cup of fresh brewed coffee, or tea held in both hands, my window view to the outside world is delightful.
It is my pleasure to provide a banquet for my feathered friends. My yard is a peaceful heaven, my table set with the prosperous bounty of autumn's delights, saved for such occasions.

The Mystery of Parallel Worlds

A woman once ask me, "Do you see and hear things other people don't?" I answered, "Yes." Of course I would like people to believe me, and yet I don't care what most people think of me as much as I use to. Maybe because I enjoy writing science fiction and fantasy stories where magic and reality meet, some people think I just make up everything from my imagination. The truth is, I don't.
While driving back to my cabin one afternoon, I felt intune, it was a beautiful sunny day. A nondescript pickup truck passed me going in the opposite direction. For some reason I took a quick look in the rearview mirror and then pulled to a stop. "That's not possible" I said to myself, as I grabbed my camera and took a photo. I walked around noteing my tire tracks and my footprints left on the dirt road, then got back into my truck.
When I was a little girl, my Daddy taught me and my brother David to be a pretty good trackers. I have to laugh while writing this blog post, "Who's going believe me that while driving on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, someone in a pickup truck from a parallel world crossed my path and left no tracks?" I guess those people that know me might believe me, and that's enough to help maintain my sanity when such things happen in my life. I'm really glad to be able to experience such phenomenon, and yet, I'm glad to have a good sense of humor which keeps me in balance  By-the-way, my dog Sarah was with me, and she hasn't said a word about the incident, if she ever does, I'm in big trouble.

Winter Wonders

It is the smallest of things that can bring beauity to a cold winter's day: a warm kitchen, the smell of fresh baked bread mingled with the sweet gift of colourful flowering Dutch bulbs, the sound of a friends voice calling from a far away country just to say they miss you. It is in those moments that time stands still, and you know that all things are connected in the magic life has to give.
So when the window edges grow frosty with ice, and a blanket of deep snow covers the mountains and meadows for several months, my kitchen is always filled with the delightful wonders of Spring.

Playing the Game of Evony

Several months ago I started playing an internet computer game called Evony, and I must say, for a time it was quite addictive, comsuming much of my time. Because I do not read code, I can only guess as to how it works. Of the many ways to play the game, I have found the main feature is, monitors discretion. Like a telephone operator, a game monitor is an overseer with the power to help or hinder by changing the parameters of the game, with the goal being to get non-paying players to open an account in order by gaming coins.
Evony may be a ruse for gathering information on individuals as well as piggy backing internet access for other uses, of course, that is only my personal speculation.

Evidence

Guess we all know who wares the pants in Captain Aye's family.
An everyday american hero, a friend and neighbor, a family man dressed in casual attire, and yet ready to step-up-to-the-plate when need.
Read about the weekend exploites of this reluctant but extremely good looking caped crusader. Here

Elegant Sheep Moth

While visiting my friends Doug and June Olberding, Doug pointed to a most beautiful Lepidoptera (the insect order of butterflys and moths) sitting on a sun bleached fence rail in their garden. At first glance, I thought it was a butterfly because of the colour and shape. On looking closer, I noted the feather fan shaped antennae and slightly thicker and fuzzy body. Butterflys are mostly brightly coloured, have thin smooth body shapes with round knobs at the end of their antennae. Moths have a tendency to be dull in their colouration, not so for the elegant sheep moth.
The latin name Hemileuca eglanterina has a nice ring when spoken outloud. This moth looks very much like a brightly coloured butterfly with such dramatic eye catching colours, I was surprised that I had never seen the species before. The photo I found to go with this post really doesn't do eglanterina justice. Here
After my wonderful visit with my friends, both of whom are retired and yet remain busy in their fields of interest. I drove home to do some entomology (the study of bugs and insects) research of the area where I live in Washington State. The thrill of seeing such a beautiful creature named hemileuca eglanterina is truly a blessing, as is the blessing of having interesting friends like Doug and June Olberding.

A Chance To Live

I know... two more mouths to feed, but I gotta try my best to feed them, and if they live, I'll set them free...on the otherside of the river. :)

Their eyes are not open yet and they seem to sleep more than the baby blue birds I raised several years ago. The little guys even kinda churp. I don't know nothing about raisin' baby field mice.

The next day or two should tell me if they're going to make it. I sure hope so.

...spirit must have a sense of humor, the mouse on my computer started acting up while writing this post...

I'm gonna name them, Winking and Blinking, the Nodie Brothers from Miss Joey's Little Shop of Magic and Mystery. I have to ask myself if this nursing job will cast a shaddow my reputation as a cold hearted, knife toten, bad ass. Oh by-the-way, baby mice stink, so it's a good thing I have some material left from braiding sweetgrass.

Hairy Mygalomorphs/Grammostola rosa

My new furry friend is named Lollipop. He's a good boy and ate his meal for today, a juicy grasshopper. After sinking his fangs into his food, he tucked it under one of his front legs and held it like a lunch bag. I was so proud of my little guy.
Good job, good job,
Good job, good job,
You know you did a good job, good job, good job.

Some times people fear things they don't understand, or they may have beliefs that need adjusting just a tad.
It is true that my friend Lollipop has a mean looking set of fangs and knows how to use them, but he's really quite gentle.
Just in case tho, I think I'll offer him another grasshopper tomorrow. He's rather lively this evening...dancing the tarantella around the kitchen. That boy really knows how to shake-a-leg, or two, or four, or more.
If you're not afraid, check out the below website for some interesting facts on tarantula husbandry.
http://tarantulas.tropica.ru/en/node/570#Bite

American Forests on the Auction Block

I'm working on a story about the terrorism of foreign owned corporate and capitulating U.S. government workers who have been planning to spray poisons on healthy forests. Most people don't know just how much of our nation's forestland is in the hands of foreign owned multi layered corporate companies.
Getting the information out to the public on what they are planning is the first step in save our Nations Forests from money hungry loggers and ranchers who want more grassland to feed cows.
I may be a nobody when it comes to speaking out as to what I see and hear, but I have to try. The planned spraying of poisons on large tracks of our nation's public and private forests for whatever reasons, (weed control, insect control, etc.) should not be in the hands of foreign owned corporations whose motivation and interests are short and long term (logging and beef production) capital gains.

If our country is to survive the buying of U.S. American forest property by rich foreign interest groups and individuals whose only concerns are profit and greed, our elected officials in Olympia and Washington D.C. had better get on-the-ball and make some policy changes if they want their children and future generation of children to have the opportunity to drink clean water and walk in our Nation's Forests. A foreign managed tree farm is not a forest.

The Lilacs of April

After surviving my first winter of twenty-below-zero weather in the mountains of Arcadia, it was the lilacs of April that eased my sorrow. A wild and over-grown stand grew along the fence of an old miners cabin. Built on a hill top in the nineteen twenties, it was the cheapest property in town at the time.
Spring was slow in arriving. My will to stay alive grew as I watched the many months of snow and ice melt day-by-day. A young neighbor said the town reminded her of the movie, "Dawn of the Dead". Maybe she was correct and we were the only two people not among the living dead. I think my friend was sent to help me fight the gloom-and-doom of apathy with her youthful vitality, caring nature, and love of life.
Two years later I was still holding on. I lost the cabin and moved to a cheap trailer park where I was the only resident. With not much to do other than seek truth and knowledge, the library became my home-away-from-home. There I met a most unusual teacher clothed in velvet lilac, the captain of a ship. I fought with all that was in me to stay alive, each day looking for some small thing to be happy about, needing only the smallest of hope to hold on to. I know somebody has already written, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." and yet it was a time, when my world stood still.
What happened to me that spring is the stuff science fiction horror stories are made of. Now my focus is to keep what sanity that was left to me, and to be grateful for my strength of character to survive in this world. And yes, I will always love, the Lilacs of April.

Summer Rain Makers

Cool and Breezy,

That's my early Summer style.

Rain makers over head,

Bring it on...no worries,

I'm free.

Ancient mountain smiles,

With blanket of green,

Wild flowers at my feet.

Bring it on...ever changing,

I'm free.

High on nature's beauty,

Growing to touch the sky,

Bright rivers flow to the sea,

Retain, reflect, remember me,

I'm free.

Graceful from the gloom,

My destiny the gift,

Who I am, a treasure.

I'm freedom's heart and soul,

Waving from a lonely pole.

Corporate Carnival Companies

Competent competition to survive,

For the furture, smart saving,

Protect,

Sparing ground and grove.

Clean water must flow,

Wild row believable,

Trust achievable,

Wings above in prayer.

Wilderness in corporate snare,

Net a trap undercover,

Jaws of man's greedy hunger.

Stealing water, mining sand,

Covenat eye's on golden trees.

Chief muckety-muck with ball point pin,

Signing papers, stealing native land.

Lady Justice sword in hand,

Lifting blindfold to stop and think,

Mother's blood flowing down mountain sink.

The scales of life tip, "women join the fight".

Fewer have the time to live.

Kindercare, where is mother grizzly bear?

For her childern tears.

Many men knowing are sowing,

Seeds of poison discontent,

Regament of fallen leaves.

In outer space the jamming,

Thoughtful junk falling to Earth.

Native myth of slammin fish,

Way upstream to freedom's thirst.

http://www.seattlepi.com/specials/mining/27129_juniors13.shtml

http://www.seattlepi.com/specials/mining/27324_jewel14.shtml

Native brave hearts say, let them sport hunt all the want, sell them high-fee big game tags. The Sasquatch and supernatural angry spirits here don't take kindly to greedy big wigs. Let them walk in the borderland's sacred forest if they have the courage to look death in the face.

When the wind blows, their nights will be filled with fear. Killing for fun, money, and excitement has a cold shadowing tag that drips in red, sweet with revenge. Best to play it safe, learn to walk in peace, hunt and shoot with a camera.

http://www.natural-resources.wsu.edu/research/bear-center/

http://www.nwf.org/cats/catsWest.cfm

http://www.conservationnw.org/wildlife-habitat/canada-lynx

http://wdfw.wa.gov/recovery.htm

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004431717_websalmontreaty.html

http://wdfw.wa.gov/factshts/baldeagle.htm

Global Corporate Crimes/Leeching the U.S.

Name a country and fish, see what you find.







http://patagonia-under-siege.blogspot.com/2007/12/double-threat-of-cyanide-leach-mining.html
Baiting the local hook.
http://seattle.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2008/12/29/focus3.html
Just a little over-the-limit drain water... self regulatory... self testing (Testing dirty water for what? I would like to see that report.)
http://www.methowvalleynews.com/story.php?id=1450
Know the U.S. Law
http://www.epa.gov/EPA-WASTE/2005/October/Day-25/f21267.htm
SUMMARY: Section 120(c) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a Federal Agency Hazardous Waste Compliance Docket. The docket is to contain certain information about Federal facilities that manage hazardous waste or from which hazardous substances have been or may be released. (As defined by CERCLA section 101(22), a release is any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment.) CERCLA requires that the docket be updated every six months, as new facilities are reported to EPA by Federal agencies. The following list identifies the Federal facilities to be included in this twenty-first update of the docket and includes facilities not previously listed on the docket and reported to EPA since the last update of the docket, 69 FR 75951, December 20, 2004, which was current as of September 13, 2004. SARA, as amended by the Defense Authorization Act of 1997, specifies that, for each Federal facility that is included on the docket during an update, evaluation shall be completed in accordance with a reasonable schedule. Such site evaluation activities will help determine whether the Federal facility should be included on the National Priorities List (NPL) and will provide EPA and the public with valuable information about the facility. In addition to the list of additions to the docket, this notice includes a section that comprises revisions (that is, corrections and deletions) of the previous docket list. This update contains 3 additions and 12 deletions since the previous update, as well as numerous other corrections to the docket list. At the time of publication of this notice, the new total number of Federal facilities listed on the docket is 2,282.


Check the Aerial Map..."Fish Hachery Road"
http://iaspub.epa.gov/enviro/fii_query_dtl.disp_program_facility?pgm_sys_id_in=WAD988471967&pgm_sys_acrnm_in=RCRAINFO
Formerly owned by a Federal agency(U.S. Forest Service) and now privately owned.
Who sold what to whom?
http://www.epa.gov/EPA-WASTE/1995/April/Day-11/pr-1.html
As explained in the preamble to the original docket (53 F.R. 4280), the docket does not include the following categories of facilities (note, however, that any of these types of facilities may, when appropriate, be listed on the NPL): • Facilities formerly owned by a Federal agency and now privately owned will not be listed on the docket. However, facilities that are now owned by another Federal agency will remain on the docket and the responsibility for conducting PAs and SIs will rest with the current owner. • SQG that have never produced more than 1,000 kg of hazardous waste in any single month and that have not reported releases under CERCLA section 103 or other hazardous waste activities under RCRA section 3016 will not be listed on the docket. • Facilities that are solely transporters, as reported under RCRA section 3010, will not be listed on the docket.
The current millsite debate arises on the heels of a recent battle in the long war
over the 1872 Mining Law governing mining on federal lands, which has evolved into
a stalemate between the law's critics and supporters. Earlier this year, the Interior
Department's decision on millsite acreage led to the Administration's denial (March,
1999) of an operating plan for the Crown Jewel Mine in Washington on the grounds
that the plan exceeded the lode-claim to millsite ratio. Opponents of the mine also
feared that the site would leach chemicals. Congress subsequently enacted a law (the
1999 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, P.L. 106-31) to direct that
millsites and acreage for the Crown Jewel mining operation not be limited, that its
plan of operation be approved, and that other patent applications and plans of
operation for milling submitted prior to the law be given permits. (For more
information on the millsite debate and related issues, see CRS Report RL30310, The
Mining Law Millsite Debate.)
http://www.epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2004/April/Day-02/i7433.htm
How much was paid for what and to whom?
http://www.epa-echo.gov/echo/help_all_programs.html#facility_characteristics
Still fishing.
http://www.commodityonline.com/commodity-stocks/Hecla-Mining-sued-by-EPA-on-Water-Act-2009-05-31-18251-3-1.html
Who owns What, and Where?
Call it sand and gravel?
http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/fii_master.fii_retrieve?county_name=ferry&state_code=WA&all_programs=YES&program_search=1&report=1&page_no=1&output_sql_switch=TRUE&database_type=PCS
As a side note, first thy cut all the trees down, then they dig and leave a big mess and call it progress.

Memorial Day at the Track

Some of the Nation's political leaders put their heads together and decided that this year's Memorial Day Weekend festivities should include a Blast-from-the-Past event. A big "Thanks" to the National Guard for the used equipment donation.
Sad to say, President Obama was unable to attend because of security reasons. Press reporters ask the President if he had any comments. "I'm sure the event was real crowd pleaser. I plan to watch the taped video as soon as I get the chance" Obama looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after doing several laps in the White House pool. "We must remember that our Nation was built on Super Stock Car Racing and that has to change. The upcoming Tank Derby Days should be even more exciting. Small towns across the Country are wanting more bang for their money these days." Obama refused to comment on the rumor that his family and friends were scalping tickets. "Now is the time to hop to it, I've got work to do." he said with a toothy grin, "Have a happy holiday."

Fire Alarm/No Battries Required

Keeping up with the latest in innovative technology is high on my list of priorities.
My friend Willow has a rare sense of humor that never fails to make me laugh. When the clouds are gray as a passing sad mood. I never know what awaits me as I open one of her emails, and so, I thought I would share her fast-and-easy scientific fire alarm.
This device really works!
Although not currently approved by the Underwriters Laboratories for standard fire safety. We are hoping her new "hoppen poppen" fire alarm system will soon become more than just corny fad for the ultra rich.