Garden Meditations

Being out in the garden these past couple months have been both healing and rejuvenating. Each of us has our own form of healing and meditation process. For me I love to have my hands in the soil and watching a seedling grow and produce flowers, fruits and vegetables. It is the richness of Mother Earth that gives me pause to give thanks. It is also the love of the soil that I gained from my Dad from years past, so on this Father's Day I remember the gardener in him. I wish he were still here to see the garden and the bee hives that are now thriving in the yard. It has also become my way of being one with Mother Nature and with myself.

As kids growing up in the country, after dinner we would be out in the garden pulling weeds as we each got a lesson on what was growing where and how to maintain a healthy productive garden. Of course there were deer running around the back yard looking to break into the garden for all the bounty that was growing. For most of the summer the dogs would sleep outside as a deterrent for all the wildlife who thought the garden was their private super market. Being out of school and still learning was great! I never thought the things I learned as a child would come in handy today.

With all that is going on on Mother Earth we are being lead back to a simpler time. A time where we were self sufficient. There is no longer any room for those who are seeking to be taken care of. We alone are the ones who will decide what we are to create in these upcoming times.

People seem to know there is a shift coming. Food, energy and gas prices are escalating, resources are running out or being destroyed by man. I actually kind of like going back to a simplier time in life. I just wish my body would cooperate! My mind says I can still do things of a 25 year old and the body says, not so much! But I keep trying.

In the days I spend hours in the garden I put on my Ipod and drift off into another time and place. A place where I can meditate and be one with this good earth. Pulling the weeds I pick up the dirt and smell the aroma of its body. It is soft and sweet, perfect for growing! She gives so much and we take it all with most of us not putting back. One day it will all catch up to us. maybe not in our life time but it will catch up with us as a species. Things have already started with all of the floods, all of the fire and the mass devastation on the planet. It is a time to get back to basics and realize what is really important, family, friends, animals and the abilty to breath freely.

So grab your sunglasses and go outside and just sit inside a garden or go to a plant nursery and just be with the life of the planet and hear the voices of the others we inhabit the earth with, for you see everything on earth does have a voice if we are willing to hear it. Tastte the sweetness of life in the fruits and veggies and give thanks!

Happy Trails!

Sherry

So Proud!

It is an incredibly windy day here in Maryland. The winds are howling with 50 to 60 mph wind gusts. Even the birds this morning had a hard time flying. They would try to fly the current but it was like watching a plane during turbulence. It looked like a very bumpy ride. My housemates always take their two dogs for a walk across the street in the corn field and down into the woods. My two older dogs really can't go that far anymore, one is completely blind and the other has really bad arthritis and there is no way I can carry a 75 pound dog back from a walk. Now my little on who is younger and much littler is a different story.

Tonight Kate, my housemate, was taking her two dogs for a walk and my little one Takla stood there and looked at her just begging to go with her. Kate said the magic word "OK" and she was off. Wind or no wind this little one was determined to "brave the elements" and go out with the two other big dogs. Because of the wind it was a shorter walk then normal but I could here them come back into the house and Takla came flying down the stairs with her eyes big like saucers and her tongue hanging out of her mouth. She was so excited, she just had to tell me how she did on her walk. she was so pleased with herself and I told her how proud I was of her being such the little trooper going out in that big wind! She danced around the room and went up to each of her sisters and I could see her just explaining to them how exciting it was. It brought a huge smile to my face to see her just beaming.

It is in these moments that I am grateful to be able to experience the true feeling of joy and wonderment from another being. Her pride and joy filled the room as she came down the stairs after her walk. It is a reminder that there are no ordinary moments in life! Thank you Takla for bringing me joy and laughter back from your walk today! I will cherish the memory.

Speaking the Truth

I just got done watching a video of Russell Means and found it very interesting so I thought I would share. He speaks the truth on all levels about where we are as a nation and how we got here. He talks of bring the original people here in the Americas and in the west. How the land and personal rights that were taken from the Indians. How the government promised to take care of them, etc. One line in the movie struck a chord with me. He said something to the effect of look at how well the government took care of the native Americans, that is how we can expect to be treated if we let the government continue on it's current path. If you get a chance watch it!

Happy Trails,
Sherry

Being in Your Presence

As I lay here tonight with you I am reminded of just how precious life is. You are so warm as we snuggle deep within the sheets. Your hair is soft. I lay my head upon your chest and listen to the rhythmic breathing. At once our breathing is in sync with one another, inhaling and exhaling the breath of life. In this moment in time we are both breathing the same sweet air together. Your breath is warm and smells a smell only a mother could love. I can hear your heartbeat and automatically begin to count them. I want to hear them forever. As I throw my arm around you, you move ever so slightly from your slumbered sleep. Cracking open just one eye to make sure I haven't left you and that you are really feeling me beside you. I whisper in your ear, "I am still here and will never leave you."

We have been through so much you and me. They could write volumes about our relationship, who knows maybe someday they will. I can almost see the images in your mind come to life as you lay sound asleep in our bed. I think of these as days and nights that I need to cling to to have my sanity remain with me. I can get consumed with he amount of emotions I am feeling right now. I didn't know one being could make me feel how you make me feel. I don't ever want to forget it.

The moonlight hits your face and I can see the peace that resides in your face. I question whether you are still here or not, but you must be because I feel the heat from your body. So many people will miss this type of connection. For what ever reason they will never the feel the love I have felt for you and the love you have felt for me. For that they have lost so much. If this was to be my only relationship that ever worked then I could not have picked a better partner! You are my heart and I know you feel the same way.

As I stroke you I feel you relax into that place where anything is possible. I wonder if you still remember those hiking trips we used to take or the time you were slipping and sliding all over the place running after this little baby bunny that you felt needed saving. I hope you have those good memories and replay them in your dreams. I know that I do. You are snoring now and I have to smile, it is one more thing that I will miss about you.

The cancer came too early for you my friend, my best friend! There will be no other like you for me again. As much as I know you are leaving me I find comfort in the remaining time I have to hold you in m arms. Not many people have what you and I have, the true unconditional love. I fell in love with you the first day I saw you. You were running like a wild man all over the place, a carefree spirit. You gave me all that I needed to make this life of mine and ours work. People may or may not understand it but I know you and I do and that is all hat matters. We will always be in love with each other.

So tomorrow is the day I say farewell to you my companion in life. Your journey will not be long. All your brothers and sisters wait for you. I will see you again when my turn comes, whenever that is. So I shall warm my body next to yours tonight for one last time before we part. I don't like that your life is so much shorter than mine, but then any amount of time would not be long enough time for me. Our love affair was one to be envied and looked at as to how it should be. Just being in your presence uplifted me everyday.

You have been the best dog I have ever had the privilege of sharing my life with. You shall always remain in my heart forever. until we meet again. I shall stay with you tomorrow as you cross over the bridge. My hand shall never leave your paw. For tonight though it is just about us and the state of just being.

Happy Trails,

Stranger Than Fiction

So it looks the mystery of the dead birds is solved in South Dakota. It was finally disclosed that the birds were poisoned to help control the population. Or so they say. I was watching the police woman who was doing the televised update, she looked relieved that it was only poison that brought the birds down. Of course it doesn't explain the other parts of the country who are experiencing the same thing. There have been suggestions that fire works killed all the birds in Arkansas. Funny we never see a mass bird die off every July fourth in every city in the nation. Obviously the federal government is testing something on these poor animals to see what it can do. Bio-warfare possibly?

Whatever the case is I find it very bizarre that once again we can not get a straight answer from the government. Now understand that I am not a conspiracy theorist but someone who sees the animals being sacrificed for humans to gain knowledge to kill other humans??? What!!! We do it everyday with vivisection or what it is most commonly called animal research. Visit the website about vivisection. http://vivisectioninfo.org/

Anyway got off on a tangent. I just wonder how much more we as humans can afford to look the other way on the other creatures that are dying because of the things we think we need? We need to live together as they too are just trying to survive the experience too.

Remember that old saying "be kind to animals"? Well it couldn't be more appropriate than now! We need to reevaluate what we think about animals. So check out the website and see how you can help the animals.

Happy Trails
Sherry

Who Are Earthlings?

When we hear the word "Earthling" in our minds we immediately think of human beings. The truth is all beings on planet earth are "Earthlings". Think about it, they too inhabit the earth. In the dictionary the word means inhabiting the earth; mortal.

There is a documentary that I watched recently that gave me pause to think about the true meaning of what an earthling was. Again being the self absorbed beings that we are we think the word only refers to humans. All animals are inhabitants of Mother Earth and therefore also to be considered earthlings. It was really after hearing the quote in the movie that I had an epiphany about the roles each of us play on the earth. The following is a quote from the movie that made me stop and think about what the message truly was in this documentary.

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals...we patronize them for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of them taking form so far beneath ourselves. And therein we err, we greatly err. For the animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complex then our they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth".
Henry Beston ~ Nature writer ~ from the book "The Outermost House"

I really felt the truth of this passage hit my heart. We judge so freely each other and those who are not like us, and as Beston says we greatly err when we do that. Their world is older and more complex than ours. We think we are a complex creature but we really are not, in fact we are very simple. We have lost those senses he talks about. Just as we have forgotten the language of the animals, telepathy. It is a language we have long forgotten. Animals on the other hand are in constant communication with everything! We as humans ask them to learn our language but fail to learn theirs in return. As hard as the film was to watch I did watch it to know and understand what is being done to animals in our name.

Think about any of the medicines you might be taking, you can thank an animal because more than likely that medicine was first tested on animals. They have given us food, clothing, shelter and stood by our side even after all of the atrocities committed against them. So think about them as a nation, a nation who has every right to be here just like us. Now don't get me wrong. I am not some PETA extremist. I am someone who views animals in a different way.

I see them as the beings who have it right. They are what we attain to be, spiritual beings having unconditional love for one another, connecting, communicating and honoring this place we call home, Mother Earth. Not all animals are living in this sense and I wonder how much of it has to do with our intrusion into their lives, taking not only their space on earth but also their bodies to do with them as we will.

I guess this has more to do with being grateful for all they give to us daily. We are not awake as a species and I can see that day coming to an end in the near future. Not doom and gloom but more of a reality check for all of us. There is a shift coming and the animals know it. More than likely they will be ready for it, I wonder if we will?

Happy Trails,
Sherry

Gifts of the Heart

We are gifted everyday with different presents. Some are more subtle than others. Today I was gifted with a look. I almost missed it being caught up in the business of everyday life. Busy getting everything done to start the week tomorrow. Checking emails, doing laundry, vacuuming and reviewing the schedule for the week. The dogs were busy trying to keep up with all that I was doing watching me running from room to room. I think I was starting to give Takla, my Lhasa, a headache so she headed upstairs to get some quiet. Maggie, my one Aussie, was busy working on a bone and Addison, my other Aussie, was lying on the bed half dozing off to sleep. Now Maggie I should tell you that is blind and Addison is deaf. Addison is starting to look her age but still has a lot of life left in her, Her eyes and nose bear the signs of aging with the white fur filling in a once black face. For some reason her eyes seem smaller to me now.

I had just gotten almost everything done and was getting ready to settle in to finish up some other writings I was doing and was gathering my things to move into the livingroom with my computer. I dimmed the lights down for Addison whose eyes were struggling to stay awake, it was in that moment she lifted her head and I could feel that heart connection hit my heart as our eyes met. In my rush to complete my tasks for the day I almost missed that special moment. She drew me to her with that look of love. She has been through so much with me, as has Maggie. They have seen me at my best and at my worst. They hold the secrets I have told them and love me unconditionally. It was in that moment with Addison that my heart melted and I laid down on the bed with her. I thanked her for her gift of love and told her that Mommy had picked her first and that made her even that much more special. She is the first dog that was all mine.

She laid her head back down and closed her eyes as I kissed her forehead. There was an ever so slight smile on her face as she drifted off into her dreamland. It is a precious memory that I had to share here. It made me think how many other moments have I missed with my girls. I have made a mental note to try and stay more present in the moment just as my dogs do, just as all animals do. Thank you Addison for the gift of love today, Mommy loves you very much. Don't miss those precious moments for these are the things life is made of not the lists or the endless things that seem important at the time. I promised each of them I would do better and hope that they would be proud of me because I have nothing but love for each one of them.

Happy Trails,
Sherry