Sofia

Well...being blessed with wonderful weather, and a snowstorm on my heels...I made good time. I've decided to name the bus "Sofia", which means wisdom in Greek. She seemed to know the way, and teach me a few lessons along that path. Met up with Sagebrush and his lovely wife at a truckstop in Wyoming for a late evening cup of joe (hot chocolate for me)...I can say that JD has a voice like chocolate and lisa has the eyes and demeanor of a doe deer. I could have stayed longer and visited, but the road beckoned and I had kept them up past their bedtime. I'm certain that JD can spin tales that would be absolutely mesmerising with that voice of his. A human talking book. That night I slept fairly comfortably in Sofia...even though the temp was one degree above zero F when I awoke. Headed on to Thermopolis for a soak in the hot springs, a steam bath, a sauna and a bit more of a soak...followed by an ice cold shower. I was wide awake. Four hours to cross the Big Horn Mountains at 10,000 foot Powder River Pass...and a storm on my tail. I stopped as I began my climb up the mountain...left the engine running, but needed to pee in an out of the way place. I locked the door behind me for some reason, leaving both sets of keys, my cell phone and my wallet securely locked in the bus. German engineering taught me how difficult it was to break into the bus, without busting a window. A couple of oil riggers stopped and helped out with various tools, but none of us could get in. Using their cell phone we called a locksmith in Worland...with no answer. Called a mechanic who said he'd be out in an hour or so. An hour passed with the engine running in the bus...I just had a sweatshirt on, but the temp was falling with the setting sun. The female rigger returned to offer me the warmth of her truck while we waited for the mechanic. I suggested we call the locksmith again. He answered and said he'd leave straight away. We phoned the mechanic to tell him not to bother coming out and he said he was still an hour or two away from making it there anyway. Little Bill, the locksmith, showed up...(one of Santa's elves moonlighting)....jovially pumping cuffs that you'd place around your arm to check your blood pressure...they forced the top of the door open just enough to get a hooked wire down inside and flick the latch up...voila! Yay Bill...Yay Rosie (the rigger)...Nice folks up in the mountains of Wyoming...I was off and made it across the pass to Buffalo in time to find a place to set Sofia up for the night.

Majik...

Our elderly cat, who died a couple of years ago, was very ill toward the end of her life and prone to seizures. A naturopathic vet gave us a flat magnet pad, which had a green side and a red side...I poo poo'd the idea, but when she'd seize, we'd place the appropriate color on her head and she would immediately end her seizure and be calm and relaxed. She was on the verge of death a couple of times...and the magnet restored her equilibrium. It is amazing, what we think we know...and what we don't really know at all. Crystal power, for example...true or false? Well, my photovoltaic panels are made from silicon crystals...and they power our home...so...what is real and what is imaginary? A lighter would have made you the most powerful person in a tribe...legends would be made of your fire making abilities...surely a person from the heavens.

In Wonderland

So often when I'm with you, our home (stead) appears like this to me.

Seasons Change

Propaganda

Some Christians think that Jesus was born in a howling blizzard beneath a pine tree covered with lights. That the Easter bunny was with Jesus when he was resurrected on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox and brought everyone eggs...that Jesus dressed up in his shroud of Turin after the autumn's harvest and fed the masses with carved pumpkins and candy. That the North American Indians taught Jesus how to plant a fish with corn seeds, squash and beans to make the holy trinity grow for the turkeys to eat. (Not that these last two 'holidays' have anything to do with Christianity...just adding to the irony) *** "Spirit of Spirit, if it be your will, give me over to immortal birth so that I may be born again - and the sacred spirit may breathe in me." (A Prayer to Mithras) Mithraism and Judaism merged and became Christianity. Yeshua or "Jesus", son of the Hebrew sky God, and Mithras, son of Ormuzd are both the same myth. The rituals of Christianity coincide with the earlier rituals of Mithraism, including the Eucharist and the Communion in great detail. The language used by Mithraism was the language used by Christians. Paul as the first "Christian" bears much of the responsibility for merging the two in his preaching and teaching, and also comes from Tarsus, a major Mithraist center. The idea of a sacrificed saviour is Mithraist, so is the symbolism of bulls, rams, sheep, the blood of a transformed saviour washing away sins and granting eternal life, the 7 sacraments, the banishing of an evil host from heaven, apocalyptic end of time when God/Ormuzd sends the wicked to hell and establishes peace. Roman Emperors, Mithraist then Christian, mixed the rituals and laws of both religions into one. Emperor Constantine established 25th of Dec, the birthdate of Mithras, to be the birthdate of Jesus too. The principal day of worship of the Jews, The Sabbath, was replaced by the Mithraistic Sun Day as the Christian holy day. The Catholic Church, based in Rome and founded on top of the most venerated Mithraist temple, wiped out all competing son-of-god religions within the Roman Empire, giving us modern literalist Christianity, which is a Paulist doctrine. *** Look, no matter what is Truth (with a capital T)...it isn't for us to know until we complete our journey. For now, while we're all existing on this planet...at least for the time of the (dare I say it?) Holiday Season...let's just be nice, wish each other well, keep our end clean, and pick up after ourselves. It's darned easy to do...smile and love. That was Yeshua's message, wasn't it? Happy Holidays...Season's Greetings... That covers everyone...so get over yourself.

We Share the Land

This past year, Shakespeare, my friend the barred owl, found a mate and fledged a 'parliament' of young. I was there when the young first took wing. This summer I was walking one of our forest trails and noticed I was following something. The wind was loud and strong, coming toward me from ahead. Long tail, black tip, tawny brown. Not a bobcat with that long tail, nor a lynx. Too small for a cougar....wait, that's it...it's an adolescent cougar kit. I paced it for 100 meters or so. I was twenty paces behind. As it turned past some brush, I slowed. I crept up and just as I came around the bend, there it was...looking up at me, perhaps 5 meters away. Full face to full face. Only for a moment, because it bolted away in a hurry. It was feasting on one of the beavers that had been damming our stream. Within a week I saw no sign of any beaver, nor have I since then.