Mohawks and head banging - Mother Nature's heavy metal style.

Part of my morning routine is cleaning the cats' litter boxes. Being the 'greenie' that I am, I use a brand of litter called Swheat Scoop Natural Wheat Litter. It's clay and chemical free, and that's most excellent. I like it, cats like it, and the birds like it. Win-win!

But, I digress ...

Anyway, I stepped out the front door to fling the scooped stuff into the woods (bio-degradable wheat - you can even flush this stuff!) and heard a familiar, rapid bap-bap-bap-bap-bap-bap sound somewhere in the trees. The best description of this sound I can give you is try to imagine the sound of someone banging a tack hammer on a 2x4 in an empty room in really fast bursts of banging.

Mr. and Mrs. Pileated Woodpecker were here for a visit. This is the bird good ol' Woody Woodpecker was modeled after. The sight of them never fails to impress the heck out of me. These birds are big, 'bout the size of a crow. In North America, the only other birds (of this species) close in size is the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, which, sadly, are so rare they may now be extinct.

This pair, as is typical for a mated pair claiming territory, hang around my house all year. I'm not sure what their range is. Sometimes I may not see them for a couple of weeks or more. Other times, they seem to think my little acre is the best spot in the neighborhood. On occasion, like this morning, I only see one of them. Today, it was the misses. I can tell her from the male because he has red on his chin and she doesn't. I call her Lucille. His name is Theodore. I was pleased that Lucille flew over to a tree very near me, flapped her wings a bit and held a posed with her head looking back over her shoulder at me, as if to make certain I was taking proper notice of just how lovely she is. Yes, Lucille, you're a 'looker' all right.

I remember the first time I saw them. Scared the bee-jee-bees out of me! Early summer, beautiful day. I was sitting on my front steps enjoying the sunshine when I heard what sounded like something large running through the woods to my right, about 150 yards from where I was sitting. My first thought was big dog. I like dogs, but ya' just never know, on initial introduction, if the dog is going to like you back.

I looked over in that direction, but didn't see anything. The sound stopped. With me looking that way, I heard it again. It stopped. Again. Stopped. Again. Stopped. Now I'm gettin' a bit spooked. I'm thinkin' there is some freaky big animal tramping all through the leaves, basically right beside me and I can't see it. Y'all, that's not a particularly pleasant feelin'. I heard it again. Then movement, about 15-20 feet up a tree, caught my eye. Something big and black flashed among the leaves. It zipped around the trunk of the tree. To my surprise, I saw a second flash of black go around the tree right after the first one. What the???

I'm sure the expression on my face was one of total comic disbelief as I watch these two large birds chase each other all around, up and down, that oak tree. They were behaving exactly like squirrels. Because they were mostly hidden behind all the leaves, for a few minutes I thought they were two crows who had completely lost their minds. I thought that right up until the minute those birds took flight, huge wing span with loud swooshing noise, and aimed themselves like missiles straight in my direction. At about 15 feet from me they banked a hard right, parked themselves on another tree, and resumed their squirrel-like chasing game.

It was then I realized just what kind of birds they were. Pileated woodpeckers. Big, beautiful black birds with white and black facial stripes and that extraordinary, fire engine red mohawk hair-do. I was speechless. I had never seen one 'in person', only pictures. I didn't know they were native to this area. I thought, though I have no idea why, they lived some place like the north west - maybe northern California or Washington state.

I was amazed. I watched them for probably two hours before they flew off to squirrel-dance somewhere else. I just couldn't get over how big and beautiful they were - and that they were in my yard! Wow. Just Wow.

Naturally, I did a little research on the internet to find out more about them. But I also did some research on what they mean as Animal Guides. I knew such a visit had to be a message and I wanted to understand what it meant to me personally. This is what I learned about Woodpecker Medicine ...

There are about 180 species of woodpeckers in the world. Most spend their entire lives in trees. Woodpeckers are climbers. They climb by propping their stiff pointed tail feathers against a support while shifting its leg hold. With its body close to the trunk or branch and its head bobbing, the bird hitches upwards, back down spiraling and nimbly darts sideways at incredible speeds. Because of their speed predators have difficulty catching them.

Their flight patterns are unique. Woodpeckers fly up, coast down then fly upwards again. Those with this totem often find that their path in life will not always conform to society's standards and that their personal unique rhythm needs to be honored. Woodpeckers teach us to honor our personal truth and move through life with perseverance and inner strength. By staying grounded in our pursuits our goals can be obtained.

Woodpeckers are opportunists. They know when to fly out from a perch to catch insects in the air or on the ground. Their barbed tongues and strong chiseled beaks symbolize life lessons associated with discernment and proper use of speech for those with this totem. 

In spring the loud calls of woodpeckers often augmented by drumming on hollow wood are the sounds of males holding territories. Woodpeckers defend their territory aggressively. Those with this medicine need to be in control of their personal environment and will not tolerate others trying to change it. Although personal space is very important for woodpecker medicine people, control issues can sometimes be a problem and flexibility needs to be learned.

The woodpecker is known as the Earths drummer. Drumming is the heartbeat of mother earth and is associated with shamanism and the ability to move into other dimensions at will. For those with this totem the woodpecker represents self discovery. As they peck into and through trees and dead wood, hidden layers of ones psyche are revealed. Those with this medicine are good analysts and have strong mental capabilities. They make excellent psychiatrists and psychologists. Woodpeckers are active birds so caution is advised to maintain balance when reviewing any situation or issue. Too much analyzing can result in procrastination.

The woodpecker is able to find food hidden under layers of bark and wood and teaches us to dig deeply to find truth and deceptions. Woodpecker energy is associated with prophecy and the ability to see deeper than surface lies.

Woodpecker speaks of not being hard-headed because they are able to use their beak to peck at trees. Woodpecker is telling us that even if something seems difficult to do, not to give up. To do what works, even if it is unconventional. To set your own pace, your own rhythm.

People born under the woodpecker sign need safety and security and are often wary because of their extreme sensitivity to their surroundings. This totem is the power of rhythm and determination; stimulates new rhythms. 

Woodpecker folks are able to "ride the flow of life" and to receive in silence. They are gentle, sensitive and dreamy folks who tend to both absorb and reflect things around them. They are here to learn more independence and stability.

So it seems, the animals are talking to me these days and I really need to pay attention and act on the lessons. Hopefully, some of this also holds meaning for you as well.

Namaste', y'all ...

Carol

The best laid schemes o' mice and ... cats ...

This little guy (girl?) started off my Saturday morning. Well, technically, being awakened at 7:00 AM to the sound of scratching and growling was the start of the adventure. I know the sounds for exactly what they are because I've had many a mouse adventure in my house. 

I live out in the boon-docks and a mouse in the house in the winter months is not an out of the ordinary occurrence. This one at least had the decency to get the party started at a reasonable hour. Several years ago I had a mouse adventure at 3:00AM which ended with me standing out in my back yard, stark naked and freezing, with a mouse in a jar and a really pissed off, fat orange cat named Creature glaring at me through the window as if I had just single-handedly destroyed the world as we knew it. Ain't life grand?

Anyway, the growling I woke up to this morning was Zipper, the Mouse Warrior ...

The scratching was Tuck, the Guardian of the Realm ...

When it comes to mouse visitors, these boys are on it like white on rice. As a rule, Tuck has an incredibly sensitive nose for smelling a mouse in the house. But, well, he's not so fast on the catching part. Zipper, on the other hand, is like greased lightening on the catch, but not so much on the ball in realizing the mouse is even in the house - at least not until Tuck flushes the poor thing out into the open and starts the chase. These two would probably fair okay as tag-team wrestlers.

I have two large paintings propped against the wall in the bedroom that I haven't found places to hang yet. Now, where the mouse first came in from I don't know. What I do know is his wee self was squeezed in between these two paintings and the cats had him surrounded. Zip on one end, growling. Tuck on the other, poking his paw between the frames and scratching the glass. "Caught between rock and a hard place" probably doesn't even begin to describe what that poor mouse was thinking.

Unlike a lot of people, mice don't freak me out. I don't jump up in a chair and wail like a lunatic when confronted with a mouse situation. Nor do I start swinging a broom at everything. I stay pretty calm. Actually, I had pet mice when I was a kid. The difference between the pet mice and a wild mouse is the proclivity of the latter to bite when scared, caught or handled. Mice = okay. Bite = not okay. I think it could go without saying this mouse visitor was scared. Given that, I threw on my sweatpants, sweatshirt, and boots. Something about being bitten on the toes does give me a slight case of the willies.

Next is to get a wide-mouthed Mason jar for catching. I've learned from numerous past experiences this is the best. The hardest part is keeping the cats at bay long enough to get the mouse into the jar. I've had to pry a mouse from cat jaws on more than one occasion and I don't like that. Thing is, I don't want the mouse to get hurt. It's bad enough that I have to take it outside into the cold, it being scared as all get-out, and set it out in the woods away from the house. I always think about how that would make me feel if I were the mouse .... cold, lost, deathly afraid and all alone. It just sucks. Of course, even though I do, the mouse doesn't realize the alternative is a Hell of a lot worse.

When I set that mouse out this morning onto a pile of logs beside my driveway he did an amazing thing ... he ran forward like a flash to the next log, but then suddenly stopped and looked at me. Sat perfectly still, turned his little head and looked right at me. All I could do was look back at that cute little face and feel honored.

All right, that might sounds nuts to some people, but to others, they know exactly what I mean. Mouse is one of the creatures in my personal Animal Totem Guides. Animals share this Earth with us, playing their parts in the grand design of life. Provided they aren't invaded, destroyed, and abused by the human population of the planet, they live in harmony with the environment. We humans have evolved to live in a manner that I believe is in utter dis-harmony with our environment. When we stop and see with both our hearts as well as our eyes, the animals can teach us much deeply valuable wisdom for living a life of harmony.

In the Native American culture the humble mouse 'medicine' teaches lessons hundreds of times its size. This is a brief synopsis of that medicine ...

 Mouse medicine is both a great power
and a great weakness.
It is good to pay attention to all details,
but bad to over-analyze every little thing.

Mouse people can be fixated on methodology and appear to be nit-pickers.
They will make the simplest task fraught with difficulty.
Everything must be in order in a Mouse's house.

Often, Mouse people are fearful of life.
You should try to see the larger picture
Even if you live in a small house in Los Angeles,
you are also part of the Earth, galaxy and universe.

If a Mouse totem has recently entered your life,
ask yourself if you have neglected the trivial but necessary things in life.
Have you become too focused on one or two activities
and neglecting opportunities around you?
Or are you trying to do too many things at the same time?

Mouse medicine can show how to focus
and how to attain the big things by working on the little things.

*********************************

So what I take from this morning's mouse adventure is that I have a job of needing to refocus my life. I have indeed been too consumed with a few things that I need to re-prioritize in importance to be able to give my best to them. I am indeed trying to do too many things at once, and getting very little productive work done on any of them because I've been too scattered. I've also been too analytical about some other things that I would be better served to just hand over in faith to a higher power to deal with.

Yep, tiny visitor really got my attention. Thanks Little Mouse!

Namaste', y'all ...

Carol

The Christmas Countdown ...

I was sitting at my desk today and glanced over at my calendar.  I can't believe it ... 18 days until Christmas. Scary. Where has the year gone? I had a big ol' long list of stuff to do during 2010 and I'm about half-way down the list. I don't think I can get it all done in 18 days. Nope, not a snowball's chance in H.E.double-hockey-sticks. Good thing I'm okay with that.

One of the things on my '10 To Do list was buy myself a present from The Frog Store. This is what I wanted ...

Sterling Silver Adjustable Frog Ring

I think it's awesome, really wanted it, and have absolutely no clue why I've not bought it yet. Sometimes I think it's because I'm overly practical. I'm not a woman who wears a lot of jewelry - although I do have some really nice stuff in my jewelry box. Most of it has been gifted to me by the husband and by some wonderful friends. So, I guess I'll move this To Do purchase over to the 2011 list.

Speaking of lists and the upcoming Christmas holiday ... if you have a frog lover on your list to buy for, hop over to The Frog Store and check them out. Crazy variety of froggy stuff!

Of course, you could also hop over to our CafePress store and get an awesome skinfood sweatshirt, tote bag, t-shirt or other really nice gift for yourself (or friend/family member) and get your frog on for the holidays! A nice and green 1 ounce container of the original skinfood makes an impressive stocking stuffer, too. I'm just sayin'.

Namaste', y'all ...
Carol

At 7:00am in the morning I got it.

My husband has been home for two weeks. He left at 3:15am this morning. Originally scheduled for vacation the week after Thanksgiving, it worked out that he got the extra days before the holiday as well. Won't be grand on the pocketbook, but he really needed the time off. And, much to our happiness, we managed to get a very large project 98% completed with that extra time. We built a brand new, custom to my specifications, computer desk! Still need a filing cabinet, but that will be taken care of soon and I can certainly live with the wait. 

As pleased as I am with my new work area, I have to admit the construction zone that became my house for two weeks almost made me nuts. Yet, the worst part, was not the mess of having stuff sitting all over the place. The hard part was being without my computer until this past Saturday night. That, folks, was bordering insanity. You don't realize how used to a piece of electronics you can get until you don't have it. It's really not a happy place to be.

One of the things the husband and I did while he was home was Black Friday shopping. He discovered what Black Friday was all about last year. Scary thing, that. Needless to say, he'd been surfing the net for Black Friday sales ... spent several weeks plotting his game plan for that day. He needed a new drill. We needed a paper shredder. And during his internet pre-shopping, he discovered some pretty awesome sales for things we didn't "need" but would like to have. One of those was a new camera. Okay, some back story ...

The husband and I both love photography. I had a Minolta X-370 I had bought in my early days in college for graphics, and he had a Nikon F3HP he had purchased overseas while serving in the Marine Corp. Both cameras had lots of extras, both were dearly loved. As most people know, traditional photography is now a dinosaur in this age of digital cameras. We understood this. 

We even own a small Nikon CoolPix 7600 which we bought several years ago for taking photos of my art to make it easier to put images on my website. It ain't all that great, only 7.1 megapixel, but it served it's purpose. But for "real" photography, we both found it pretty lacking. Still, our beloved 35mm's languished on the shelf in our closet, snug in their protective cases, pitiful and mostly unused for the past eight or nine years. It became harder and harder to find good film, get decent prints, etc. We finally bit the bullet and sold them on ebay this past year.

Discounting the small Nikon, that left us pretty much camera-less. It has never sat well with either of us, not being able to indulge our love of taking pictures. Hence the husband's itchiness for Black Friday and the possibility of changing our camera-less state of existence. We were in Asheville at the butt-crack of dawn (4:00am) on Black Friday, raiding the tool department at Sears for his new drill (and yes, some other great toys, too!) and then wheeled it a short zip down the road to Best Buy, where we became the proud new parents of a Cannon Rebel T2i. Sweet, sweet deal.  

Yes, I played with the camera later that afternoon while the husband worked on the computer construction zone. He, very graciously, allowed me a couple of hours indulgence. He's such a nice guy.

Now, I confess that I've always been a photography snob. Such a bad attitude toward digital because I know the mechanics of traditional, old fashioned photography/printing very well. The difference in quality was just far too much for my old-school expectations. But then, my experience with digital cameras was limited, nothing over 9.9 MP. I seriously disliked the cameras delays when set at their higher resolutions, limited abilities to override settings, their stinkin' built-in flashes, limited macro (close up) abilities, and most of all, camera shake (out of focus images). I'm sure most of y'all know what I'm talking about.

This new Cannon has fully automatic settings, but fully manual as well - Nice! Shoots at 18.0 MP - Sweet! Two impressive lenses, a 18-55mm and a 55-250mm zoom - both with Image Stabilizer technology - No.More.Blur.! I feel like I need to put about seven hundred bazillion exclamation points after that last sentence. But aside from all it's lovely features and functions (which will take me several days to figure out), it has a bonus feature I never considered until just this morning. 

Digital photography is actually very GREEN. And y'all should know by now how much I'm about earthy-crunchy, eco-friendly green stuff.

I'm guessing the reason this photo-greeness never occurred to me is because I was too busy being snobbish. Shame on me, I got it.

But when I woke up this morning it was like an miniature epiphany. Traditional photography is a zone of incredibly hazardous stuff. Miles of film and the chemicals to make it, process it, not to mention the wasted film from photos that turned out bad. All the trees cut down and used for pricey and more chemical laden paper for prints. Tons more trees used for all those photo albums with their pages sleeved in plastic. From beginning to end, the journey for one traditionally printed photograph is a toxic, earth destroying nightmare.

Going digital cuts out staggering amounts of all of that. No film - just a memory card that doesn't need developing, and is reusable as well as recyclable. Don't like the photo, erase it! Print only if you want to. Instead, store all your photos on your computer or online photo album services like Flickr or PhotoBucket. Share them with family and friends through email (or on a blog!). No, it's not perfect. There are still chemicals and plastics involved, but it's a huge and significant improvement in the world of photography. With the evolution of digital cameras, even the quality of the photos are so vastly improved I'm totally, truly impressed.

Love our new camera!

 Weeds

Mums

Glasses

Tuck Butt

Namaste', y'all ...

Carol

One More Bite?!!?

            Really? You want me to eat one more bite.???.Can't you see I'm nearly comatose?
                                             Just leave me alone and let me sleep!!!!


Seriously folks - hope you had just enough of everything for the Thanksgiving holiday - love, appreciation, sumptuous food, rest...and a peaceful Monday.  Peggy

Serious business.

Just so y'all don't think I sit around doing nothin' but writing up these blog posts, I felt it my obligation to show you that sometimes I do serious work, too. This photo was taken by skinfood Founder & CEO, Peggy Rowe, at our most recent board meeting in Hilton Head Island, SC ...

Pictured clockwise around table: Carlita, the red-eyed tree frog and representative for Skinfood Works, Inc., Carol S. Martinez, Creative Director, and Captain Jack Sparrow, Ocicat and user of the original skinfood.

One person's trash is another person's art - literally.

I'm an artist, so I spend time surfin' the 'net, looking at work by other artists. I love it. I love looking at what others have created from paint, canvas, glue, paper, metal, clay, cloth, whatever, and the kitchen sink. Like many other artists, it inspires me, intimidates me, and leaves me in awe more times than not. I love stumbling upon beautiful work made from non-traditional mediums. It's a level of creativity and originality that deeply moves me. 

In one of my recent strolls through the world wide web of visual delights most graciously provided by a world of artists I happened on the work of Nancy Martini, Eco Artist. Now, when you combine art + eco friendly, it's most certainly an A+ in my book. I particularly admired this piece ... 

    Be Thankful

   From the Collection: Lessons from the Dinner Table

Nancy calls her work "Upcycled Art". This collection explores societal relationships and environmental issues. Each piece is made form 95% reclaimed materials. Trash to art. We have way too much trash in this world but not nearly enough art ... not by a long shot.

In Nancy's words from an interview on her blog ...  

Nancy M: "Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials or products of better quality or higher environmental value. After being very frustrated by the amount of trash that Americans create, I realized that many of the materials in my recycle bin could be upcycled. I collected everyday food containers (soda bottles, plastic bags, plastic bottles, foil pie trays, etc.) and sorted them into jars of like objects. I didn't know what to do with them at first. I just stared at the huge piles collecting in my kitchen and thought a lot."

"In American we represent 5% of the world's population, however, we create 30% of the world's trash. If we were to fill a football stadium from the bottom to the top that is how much trash Americans create every day. I keep the image of 365 football stadiums in my mind all the time. I think upcycling is one of the ways that we can reduce our trash. Recycling should be considered as a last option before the trash bin. Recycling allows us to buy whatever we want and as much as we want because we can recycle it. Art is only one way to upcycle materials. All businesses could help the environment by rethinking the items in their recycle bin and seek opportunities to upcycle."


Nancy Martini's work impressed me. It 'speaks' to me in it's simplicity. It's elegant. It makes me want to go running into my own studio and paint and create from daylight 'til dark. I hope you wander over and visit her site, too. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I also hope it sparks you to thinking about what you have around your own house you can upcycle, recycle, or reuse.

Namaste', y'all ...
Carol

Getting your grateful on ...

There are several blogs out there in the blog-o-sphere that I enjoy reading with my morning cup(s) of coffee. Today, one of them really peaked my interest in that the posting was for a Gratitude Challenge. I think we often forget, in these crazy busy lives we live, to stop and give up some gratitude. I think it's an important thing to do ... it can really give you a nice shot of feel-good in the middle of all that aforementioned crazy.

So here's the deal ...

Make an alphabetical list of the things you are grateful for. It's okay if you have extra items for your letters - that just means you got lots of little blessings goin' on!

Here's my list:

A = avocados, apple cobbler, air, acrylic paints, animals
B = bed, books, beaches, blackberries, blueberries, butterflies, blogs
C = coffee, computers, cats, canvases (for painting), cast iron skillets, cornbread
D = deer, doughnuts, dogs
E = ecosystem, energy, electricity
F = family, friends, food, flowers, frogs
G = gardens, green living, green
H = husband, home, health food store, heating
I = iPod, ice cubes, ink, internet
J = jokes, jam, jelly
K = knitting, kaleidoscopes
L = lakes, lemons, ladybugs
M = mountains, music, movies
N = nature, needles (sewing and knitting), neighbors (mine are great!)
O = oceans, oxygen
P = pancakes, pillows, plumbing, paper, pencils, paint brushes, peaches, purple
Q = quilts
R = rain, Ravelry.com (knitting and crochet website), refrigerators, raspberries, rivers
S = sparkles, sunshine, strawberries, socks, sweaters, scarves, skinfood
T = trees, tea, tomatoes, tangerines
U = umbrellas, universe
V = vegetables, veganism
W = windows, water, watercolor paints
X = Xantus hummbingbird
Y = yarn stores, yarn, yellow
Z = Zen, zippers

What's your list?

Namaste, y'all ...
Carol

Oysters and crafts and really big frogs ...

Festival time again! Yep, yep, yep ... the fun never ends! Remember Fredrico? Well, we got his cousin Carlita to come over and hang out with Peggy on the beach the other day. You know all the guys were checking out her long legs!

Carlita is going to stay with us until she gets a new place to live - and that could be with YOU!, provided you come see her at the Skinfood Works booth at the Hilton Head Oyster Festival this coming weekend and register to win this totally awesome red eyed tree frog ... and, of course, check out the original skinfood while you're there!

Hilton Head Oyster Festival at Shelter Cove Community Park, November 13-14, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Oysters and shrimp, beer and wine, live music, a kid’s zone, Holiday Craft Show and Silent Auction, NFL and college games on TV and more. Sponsored by South Carolina Bank & Trust and the Island Rec. Center. (843) 681-7273 or islandreccenter.org.

Play it again, Sam ...

In a recent internet search for a headboard for our bedroom I came across these two interesting things ... and you're right, they have nothing to do with headboards. I just thought they were very creative ways of recycling and wanted to share them with you.

Table made of magazines! at Natural Buy

Ottoman tub! at REcreate

Namaste, y'all ...
Carol

It all started with a pretty, white rock..

My story begins last March when the trees were still bare and the grass was still cold from the winter's chill. I had taken my babies Piper and Buddy (cocker spaniel and jack russel terrier) out to do their business. We strolled down to the edge of the property where my back yard then turns into the wooded abyss, now keep in mind I do live in town, in city limits and only a stone's throw from Main St so wooded may be a bit strong- let's say lots of trees and some brush.

 Ok, back to the story, my little darlings had done their business and as I was calling for them to come play, I noticed a bright flash of white and at first I thought it was an early spring flower but it wasn't it was a rock and so I tried to wedge it out of the ground but this little sucker was not moving. So, I did what anyone would do, got on my hands and knees and started to dig in the clay and dirt because now, I just wanted the rock and nothing was going to stop me not even the onset of rain and it did start to rain and the more it rain the harder I tried until finally it popped out of the ground as if something was underneath it and was pushing it to the top of the surface. Well I was just tickled and ready to go in with my treasure and then I noticed another flash of white to the right of me and then to the left and in front of me and essentially all around me. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen, the more it rained the more these white rocks were blooming as if the rain was pushing them to the surface so that I could see them and rescue all of them.

My eyes could not believe what I was seeing, I ran Piper and Buddy back to the house and called for my husband, Scott to come look at the blooming of the rocks. He came outside and walked with me in the rain to the back yard and the more we dug in the mud and clay, the more white flashes we saw. But the beauty of it was not that my yard contained hundreds of white rocks but hundreds of snow quartz, a truly amazing site to see. They came in all sizes, from bite-size to loaf-bread size, and I even have some that ended up being the size of a laptop. It was a few hours of digging in the rain when my long suffering husband turned to me and said, "We're going to do what with these?" and I really didn't have an answer just yet because all I knew was I had a field of quartz and that had to good, right?

I spoke to many people over the next few weeks about my wonderful find and most of them said that the quartz was an indicator of gold and since McDowell County was once known for it's "Gold Rush" (http://www.mcdowellnc.org/video_gallery/) and veins of gold have been discovered running right through the city and the many mines spread all over the county have been mined for over a hundred years or more, I took this to mean that there is gold in these hills of mine. Ok well a very small hill and more like a downward slope but anyway I have the prospect of gold but I think I was and still am more fascinated with the prospect of having quartz in them hills.

Quartz has many qualities, it draws energy and holds energy and all my little "rocks" have made a protective boarder around my home, they have outlined my flower garden and they have brought so many creatures to my property that sometimes I feel like I live in Wild Kingdom. Keep in mind, I live in town and I mean downtown but with that being said, here are just a few animals that call "me casa su casa"....
We have the lovely red bird or cardinal- now that is not that unusual you would say but when you have on average 10 to 15 of these things hanging out, it freaks you out.

We have had a family of silver foxes.....

Screech Owls...

Red Foxes..

And did I mention the Mountain Lions?

Now the above pictures are not those from my property obviously and we are trying desperately to get the cameras up and the night vision rolling because when you have seen what we have seen, you kinda have to ask, "why?"  why here?, why our property? and all I can say is,  I blame it on the little white rock!

Blessings,

Rena Harp

OOPS!!! Missed my turn! !#{/?X#?!!//!!!

    I missed my turn on the way to check out a friend’s new restaurant a few days ago.

    Could’ve simply turned around and gone back, but the closest turnaround just happened to be the entrance to a preserve I’d been hoping to check out for months. Not in a hurry, I decided to take advantage of my ‘mistake’ and walk the small preserve, Audubon-Newhall, here on Hilton Head Island.
    Here’s what I discovered:
    Easy trails through a forest of long-needle pines, live oaks, saw palmettos and ferns are lined with a plethora of indigenous plants, shrubs and trees with well-placed placards identifying each: Witch Hazel, Red Buckeye, Sweetgrass, Chickasaw Plum, Coral Bean (Cherokee Bean), Inkberry, Narrow-leaf Silkgrass, Bald Cypress, Southern Red Cedar, French Mulberry, Fetterbush, Dog Fennel, Elephant’s Foot, Rusty Lyonia (a critically imperiled plant according to the sign), Wax Myrtle, Savannah Holly and on and on and on. How wonderful!!!

                                                         CYPRESS KNEES
    I was delighted!
    For more than 50 years I lived in the Appalachian Mountains and am familiar with the wide-range of plants found throughout her peaks and valleys. The mountains are part of my heart (you can take the girl out of the mountains but you can’t take the mountains out of the girl!), but when my youngest daughter asked me to come live in Hilton Head last year, I took the opportunity to be closer to her and explore a new land(sea)scape.
    But after getting settled, I was shocked to discover how little I knew about the local flora. In one way or another, plants have been a constant in my life. Being surrounded with plants I couldn’t call by name was more startling and uncomfortable for me than being around the many strangers that come by the thousands to discover the charm of Hilton Head. So I was definitely overjoyed with all the signs and explanations along the trails at the preserve…the chance to learn my surroundings…a living classroom…yippee-Yay!!

    In the middle of Audubon-Newhall Preserve (www.hiltonheadaudubon.org) is a small pond,

one of the preserves’ three distinct wetlands. The pond is absolutely exploding with life - lily pads, reeds and grasses intermingling with the trees and shrubs lining the shore…frogs, bees, dragonflies, turtles and toads filling every nook and cranny…a veritable nursery for aquatic insects, fish and reptiles.

    After walking some of the trails and around the pond for a while - taking pictures of plants and anything that moved - I finally put the camera down and sat on the wooden deck overlooking the pond, settling into the rhythm of this oasis. The richly-scented air…red cedar and pine combined with the amazing smell of Georgia Mint…cleansed me with every breath I inhaled. I was complete; thinking of nothing, longing for nothing, aware only of the air and water, the warmth of the sun on my face and feet…lost somewhere wonderful, outside my never-ending stream of thoughts and feelings.
   I was filled with awe at my newly discovered treasure and gratitude for all creation, all of life, and thankful for Caroline Newhall (and those like her) who had the foresight 45 years ago to preserve these 50 acres so I could be here this minute, in the bosom of creation.

    Just as I had thoughts of leaving, a baby gator (more of a toddler perhaps) came around the shrubs drooping in the pond, swimming right in front of me. At first, I thought he might eat the fish I’d been watching, but by their actions it was obvious that neither the turtle in front of him, nor the fish underneath and around him, felt threatened…perhaps they knew he wasn’t hungry…???

      In Native American tradition, this ancient creature represents primal energies, the forces of creation and destruction rolled into one, which can only happen with utmost balance. In the eco-system at Audubon Newhall, one can experience this alpha and omega firsthand. Even after such a brief visit, I felt calm, refreshed and (well, yes) balanced – as I do every time I allow myself to get lost in the natural world.
    This is what it’s all about (for me) – enjoying and preserving the Earth and all her vast array of life forms…balancing the human presence here with respect and consideration for all life - living in peace and harmony. I can’t imagine the loss of even one of the species of creation I saw this day…not one. 
    I made it to my friend’s restaurant, a lot more at peace and a little later than planned – which turned out to be perfect timing (imagine that!). I ate an awesome fried green tomato sandwich and reconnected with good friends. It was an excellent afternoon, made all the better because I missed my turn.
   In gratitude…Peggy

A lesson in friendship, taught by a fly.

Every year, summer and fall, for the past several years I've been visited almost daily by some very friendly critters, a.k.a., the 'Good News Bee'. Sometimes the whole GNB family comes over and hangs out. We sit in the sun, chat, drink sweet tea, watch Junior practice his hovering technique, and have a great time. 

I remember the first time I met one of these handsome fellows. It scared the beejeebees out of me. He was big, buzzing like a chain saw, and was intent on getting up close and into my personal space. Now, y'all, I'm a believer in co-existing with other critters. They have as much right to be here as I do. I just don't like 'em to get all up in my face. Keep your distance and it's all good. This particular guy obviously was not aware of the personal space rule.

I was sitting on my back steps, soaking up some sunshine, just chillin'. This ginormous bee came flying out of nowhere, made a crazy fly-by pass, zoomed around the end of the house, braked hard, and then zoomed back toward me again. Like I was some unexpected curiosity who had mysteriously appeared and needed to be investigated. He buzzed right up to me, maybe 10 inches from my face, and hovered. Eye ball to eye ball. 

My instinctual reaction was to swat him away. Then I thought that that might not be such a good idea. He was, after all, a really big bee. I know all too well that swattin' a bee can make them rather cranky. I figured from the size of him that he'd have an attitude to match, with a stinger at least twice that big. So I leaned back and told him to get out of my face. 

He backed up.

I'm positive the look on my face was priceless. I'm also positive he laughed at me.

But, I think his curiosity was four times his size. As if he couldn't control himself, he buzzed a few inches forward in my direction again. He did this crazy side-to-side, up-and-down hover trick, moving somewhat like a hummingbird. I repeated, "Get out of my face, mister." Again, he moved backward. I said, "Oh, funny man, aren't ya'?" Buzz. Up. Down. Left. Right. Then he flew off, zoomed around the car, checked out a tail light, and zoomed back at me, circling my head several times. He ended this demonstration of superior flight skills with another up-down-left-right finale in front of my face.

I told him, "Buster, if you're gonna' hang with me you gotta' stop this gettin' in my face thing. You're freakin' me out." I pointed to the step and said, "Sit down."

He did.

I was flabbergasted.

He sat there, preening. I sat there, stunned, watching him. 

After a few seconds he turns in my direction, levitates about half an inch, then sat back down. I swear to God it looked like he cocked his head up at me with a "Well, what now?" look. "Um, hello. I'm Carol. What's you're name?", I asked. Okay, odd, talking to a bee. I didn't know what else to do. He didn't move. "It's some foreign thing I can't pronounce, isn't it?" He levitated. "I'll just call you Bob. Is that okay?" He walked a little closer. "You live around here?" He lifted off and flew around the house. I guessed my conversation skills weren't inadequate.

For about a week this social bee-man would come buzz, hover, zig-zag a bit, and sit with me on the steps if I was outside. I named him Bob. We discovered we communicated better if I didn't ask questions. Instead, I just told him stuff. I told him about the book I was reading - he seemed to enjoy sitting on the pages. I told him about the painting I was working on, and how frustrated I was that I couldn't get a particular color right. I told him I was behind on my housework because all I wanted to do was stay in my studio and work. I told him about good things going on, some bad things going on, and that I wished I had the space to plant a garden. I told him all kinds of stuff. He just buzzed, hovered, sat and listened.

One Saturday afternoon, my husband was home off of a road trip and he and I were outside. I was watching him wash the car. Bob showed up. Naturally, I said, "Hi, Bob!" The husband gave me a look over the hood of the car. "Bob? Who's Bob?" I pointed at Bob, who was hovering all around me. "Him," I said, "That's Bob. We're friends. He sits with me on the steps and we talk." 

"He's been buzzing all around me while I've been washing the car." the husband said. "Yeah," I replied, "He's a curious sort. He's just checking you out, trying to see if you're friendly." Bob seemed to be excited that day. Zooming around, flying to the end of the house and back again. Hovering back and forth between me sitting on the steps and my husband beside the car.

"He sits down when I tell him to." I said. "No way!" the husband exclaimed. "Uh huh." I say back at him. I watched as the husband dropped his sponge back into the wash bucket and rinsed off the suds. When he finished rinsing he came and sat beside me on the step. Bob was doing his up-down-left-right thing all around us. Of course, Bob also had to investigate the husband's personal space boundaries.

"Okay, Bob, that's enough. You need to sit." He did. "Now say a proper 'hello' to my husband." Bob levitated, hovered around for a second or two, then landed on my husband's outstretched hand. The husband was speechless. Bob even sat perfectly still and patiently allowed my husband to pet him a couple of times. Then, he sort of wiggled his butt, lifted himself up and zoomed off. The husband was impressed. Really impressed. "Told ya' so." I smirked. "Bob's my bee friend."

The husband asked me what kind of bee Bob was and I told him that Bob is commonly called a "Good News Bee". Some time later we Goggled the 'good news bee' and discovered that they are actually a bee mimic. They are referred to as 'good news bees' because of the habit of hovering in front of a person and 'giving  them the news'. It is said to be good luck to get one to land on your finger. In Latin, it is Milesia viriniensis. In layman's lingo, it's a Yellowjacket Hover Fly. They look like a yellowjacket on steroids, but they don't sting. They feed on nectar and pollen from plants like Queen Anne's Lace.

I consider myself fortunate to have lots of Queen Anne's Lace around my house! I also consider myself pretty fortunate to have met Bob, a most interesting creature, that summer. He taught me the importance of not passing judgment on another creature or person before I know all the facts. He taught me it's important to be patient and listen, even when what the other person is saying sounds like a lot of gibberish to me. He taught me that it's okay if sometimes a friend flies off on another path for awhile - that it is more important to enjoy the time you are together because those moments, even if they are short, are truly precious. And Bob taught me that although somethings makes you happy, sometimes sharing that thing or experience with someone you care about is even better. Thanks, Bob.

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol

Great balls of sunshine, polished chrome, and buckets of lemonade, too!

To be such a small thing, the humble lemon is a powerhouse. I must confess that one of my favorite things about lemons is their beautiful color. Artist = Color = Love. A bowl of lemons on my kitchen counter is like sunshine, even in the coldest days of winter. Second on list of reasons to like lemons is their ability to multi-task. They may have actually invented the word.

Sure, most people think of lemons as the main ingredient in lemonade. Nothing wrong with a tall, cold glass of sweet-sour deliciousness. I make it for my husband all the time. He thinks I’m being a nice wife, slicing lemons and stirring up a pitcher full for his drinking pleasure. What he doesn’t know, and I don’t bother to tell him, is I have ulterior motives. Lemonade is good for him.

The husband is a truck driver. This means, for two weeks at a time he’s out there on the road, cruising the interstate highways in a big ol’ truck. To look at him, you wouldn’t guess he’s a truck driver. He’s skinny. No truck-driver belly on my guy. He’s got a physique better suited to rodeo riding than truck driving. (And he’s from Texas!) Despite his small frame, he’s in that truck, sitting on his small butt, 14 hours a day. It’s hard on a body, even a small one. He’s 48 years old and has had kidney stones four times. Not a good thing.

Of course, it didn’t help that the husband was a Coke-aholic when I got him back in January 2000. Used to be a iced tea-aholic but his doctor made him stop drinking it because of the urinary tract problems it caused him. As if Coke was any better! I used to be a Coke-aholic, too. So I knew the dangers hidden in those bottles of fizz. Most of the tales about Coke dissolving nails and distributors of Coke using it to clean engines is urban legend. (Check out Snopes.com when you hear stuff like that.) Although, Coke will put a serious shine on an old penny.

Now, what I’m talking about is the fact there is nothing, absolutely nothing, nutritious about Coke. Published versions say it contains sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, cocoa extract, lime extract, vanilla and glycerin. The original version had a higher content of cocaine from the cocoa leaves than today’s current version. Not only is it nutritionally useless, it swells your stomach, giving you the sensation of being full. This kills your appetite, as well as fills you up with more soda than food when you do eat a meal. Hard on your system.

I will never forget the day I told the husband he needed to stop drinking all that Coke and drink water. His words,  “No way! I ain’t drinkin’ no stinkin’ buncha’ water!” Today, nearly 10 years later, the husband usually only drinks Coke with a meal, and then only about a ½ cup full. He takes cases of water on the road with him. At home, he likes lemonade and I am more than happy to fix it for him.

Lemons are effective diuretics which help the body eliminate excess fluids. Beside cleansing the body of toxins and bad bacteria, the natural diuretics in the juice of lemons help prevent a host of problems associated with water retention, such as glaucoma, edema (swelling), high blood pressure and bloating. They are also effective in combating urinary tract infections and bladder disorders, as well as conditions associated with a high uric acid concentration, such as arthritis and rheumatism.

Wait, there’s more.

Although the lemon is often thought of as acidic, it is very effective in curing many digestion problems when mixed with hot water, including biliousness, nausea, heartburn, disorders of the lower intestines like constipation and worm infestations. It is even known to relieve hiccups. Lemon juice, when taken regularly in the morning, acts as a tonic to the liver and stimulates it to produce bile making it ready to digest the day's food. It is also thought to help dissolve gallstones. Because of its high vitamin C content, it is thought to help prevent and treat many infections, hasten wound healing and temper down high fever. Lemon juice also relieves symptoms of asthma, tonsillitis and sore throat. When lemon is mixed with coffee, it is thought to help treat malaria. This concoction is also effective for headaches.

Lemons help remove warts, relieve rough hands and sore feet, soothe poison ivy, disinfect cuts and scrapes, soften dry elbows, treats dandruff, freshens your breath, treats acne, cleans and whitens your nails, lighten age spots, highlights your hair, calms your nerves or gives you a pick-me-up when you need it.

That’s just a few health benefits. This is where a lemons’ multi-tasking comes in.

Around the house, lemons can be used for removing stains, neutralize cat box odors, clean tarnished brass and polish chrome, brighten dull aluminum, freshen the fridge, sanitize and deodorize cutting boards, keep insects out of the house, clean your microwave, deodorize your garbage disposal, bleach delicate fabrics and whiten whites, boost laundry detergent, rid clothes of mildew, used in dishwashing they are a mild de-greaser, get rid of rust, get rid of hard water spots, clean your drain – especially if you have a septic system, and a lot more.

What about with food? 

Oh yes, lemons keep potatoes and other fruits and vegetables from turning brown, keeps rice from sticking,  make soggy lettuce crisp and …

There is lemon sorbet, lemon pound cake, lemon icing, lemon- thyme asparagus, sautéed green beans with lemon, lemon butter, lemon anise bread, lemon salsa, lemon wild rice risotto, lemon vinaigrette, lemon gum drops, lemon tarts, lemon cookies, lemon sour cream sauce, mushrooms with lemon sauce, lemon drop martini, lemon chicken, lemon-dill grilled fish, lemon-garlic potatoes, lemon-poppy seed muffins, lemon-pepper chicken or fish, lemon-blueberry-walnut bread, lemon-berry trifle, lemon basmati rice, chocolate-lemon cream bars, lemon-zucchini bread, raspberry-lemon smoothie, lemon-shrimp linguini, lemon-dill cucumber salad, almond-lemon cake, baked lemon-basil pasta, lemon meringue pie, and of course, lemonade. Hundreds of ways to eat (or drink) a lovely, sunny yellow lemon.

Impressive for something that fits in the palm of your hand, isn’t it?

Namaste, y’all …

Carol

I would not eat my cats.

Nor use their body parts for clothing, medicine, or hair care products.

 This is Zipper. He's a little different.

 This is Tuck. He just wants to be kissed on the head.

I love my cats. In fact, I love animals of all kinds. Okay, yeah, spiders and snakes creep me out. I might not like them as much as my cats, but I still wouldn’t eat them. I respect their place and honor their purpose in the scheme of things.

Truth is, I probably like animals better than I like people. They are what they are. Not a game-playin’ bone in their bodies – even the ones that don’t have bones. They do their thing, live their lives, and balance out our world on more levels than you can shake a stick at. Even a tiny little phytoplankton is worthy of immense respect.

When I think back to my many years as a meat-eater, I am deeply ashamed. True, I was taught, as millions of others are taught, meat eating was a vital part of a humans’ diet. Must have protein from meat to grow big and strong. What I wasn’t taught, again, as millions of others aren’t taught, what the true impact of that belief system really is.

It all started back on March 19, 2004 with an article about a cow. A ‘downed’ cow. I stumbled across it online. Don’t remember how I got to it. Doesn’t even matter. What I do remember, with gut wrenching clarity, was the effect reading that article had on me. I was barely half-way through reading when I had to stop. Not because it wasn’t interesting, it was. Not because it was poorly written, it was eloquent. I stopped because I simply couldn’t see the computer screen anymore. My eyes were so full of tears, pouring out and down my face like an eyeball-sized version of Niagara Falls.

The article was entitled, “This Story Will Change Your Life”. It did. It changed my life. That is the day I became a vegetarian. I printed that story out and put it on my refrigerator. It is still there. Every time I look at the picture of that cow, I still have a strong urge to sit right down in the middle of my kitchen floor and cry. To think I played any part, no matter how misguided and ignorantly done, in the suffering of that cow – or others like it – breaks my heart. It is even difficult to write this and not stop, hang my head, and shed a bucket full of tears. It is deep, deep sorrow and regret.

As difficult as it was to research and educate myself on the realities behind the meat industry I still did it. I had read some of the most horrifying, brutal, and inhuman stories and facts about how that seemingly innocent cheeseburger or crispy fried chicken leg ends up on a plate. I have lost loved ones, lived through mental and physical abuse, have suffered depression to the point of attempting suicide. None of those things has been as torturous to my soul as learning about the cruelty we humans inflict on the creatures of this earth – all in the name of a great pair of shoes, soft skin, or laundry detergent. We are monsters, and sad to say, most people don’t even realize it. What could be worse? Those who know it and don’t care. I will never understand them. Not even if I live a thousand lifetimes.

Becoming vegetarian wasn’t too difficult. I thought, okay, I’ll just stop eating meat. Ta-Da! Problem solved. Unfortunately, it turn out not to be so simple. Sure, lots of stuff out there for vegetarians to eat. Way more than lettuce and carrot sticks. It was discovering the choice to not eat meat did not stop other kinds of animal cruelty. Far from it.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’re bound to be aware by now I’m all about research. The more you know, the more thoroughly informed you are, the more able you are to make intelligent decisions about yourself, your life and how you choose to live. Learning about vegetarianism led me on a direct path to veganism. The two are very, very different. There’s a dozen and ten different types of vegetarians. Some still eat dairy products. Some eat fish but no red meat. Some eat eggs but won’t eat the chicken. Some just eat fruit. On and on. Vegan, by definition, is No Animal Products. None. And it’s not limited to just your food. It’s everything. Every.Single.Thing.

Out there in the world, every single day, animals are beaten, abused, kept in cages or chained. We call it the Circus. They are force fed hormones, suffer mutilations, contained in such small places they can’t even move, often for their entire lives. We use them for food. They are tortured, burned, blinded with chemicals, dissected alive for medical experimentation and so-called science. In my eyes, the abuse they suffer, just so someone can label a bottle of shampoo or dish detergent as “Safe For Human Use”, is an act against nature and all that is holy.

Veganism is also about saying No, I won’t be a party to such atrocities against animals. They have as much right to a life well lived as I do. I won’t spend my dollars for creature comforts at the expense of another creatures’ life. Sadly, it’s not always easy to do. We have been so blinded to what goes on behind a company’s doors. We no longer question how all those products get on the shelves at the store, we just demand they be there, for our instant gratification and convenience. Products which seem so far removed from even the remote possibility of any form of animal cruelty will surprise you. Someone, please tell me why white sugar refineries use animal charcoal filters?

Here’s a website, SourceWatch. Look it up for yourselves. If it doesn’t make you sick, you don’t have a heart.

Yes, I’ve also heard and read the arguments for the use of animals, whether for testing or human consumption. 99% of my own friends eat meat. My husband eats meat. And they all use products which contain animal ingredients or were (and still are) developed through animal testing. My friends are still my friends. My husband is still my husband – and I have to make him cheeseburgers and buy his brand of shampoo for him when I go shopping. As I said, it isn’t easy begin vegan in a non-vegan world.

But it’s the choice I have made.

I pray, some day, a lot of other people will make the same choice as well.

Namaste, y'all ...

Carol