Faiza's Joy

Well, kids, this morning was special. Faiza called me to come and be with her while the ambulance brought Bill home. When I got there, she had Christmas music on, all the lights were on to cheer the place, she had ordered a massive bouquet of flowers, enough for three vases, "to welcome Bill home", and the house was singing with joy.

While we were waiting, I told her the story of the woman who died and came back to life, that I posted the other day, and Faiza said she had chills listening.

The sun came out to celebrate the day, and Faiza pronounced, "Now we will all have a happy Christmas. I prayed to God from my heart, and He heard me. My beloved Bill is coming home." Faiza's faith is so strong and her heart so pure, I know God answers her prayers.

Lara, his faithful Doberman, stood on the sofa, nose pointed out the window, watching for him.

When they arrived, my heart sank. They rolled Bill out on the stretcher and his face was yellow, and pale. He looked grim. He was not able to weight bear at all, transferring from stretcher to wheelchair, or from wheelchair to his special recliner. I was worried. He is a big man and Faiza is tiny, under five fet tall.

Right after they got him settled, hooked up his oxygen, and  left, Bill decided to go to the bathroom. He did manage to get up onto his walker and his tiny wife went right beside him, encouraging him, directing him to hold onto railings, helping him navigate. I fluttered alongside, moving tubes out of the way of their feet.  (Now they both have to be extra careful not to trip over the oxygen tubes that follow him wherever he goes.) He made it, and I let my breath back out again when he was safely back in his chair. I suggested to Faiza that he try to make these bathroom trips when the home support people are in the house - they come four times a day. He really is not steady on his feet and the effort exhausted him. But knowing that he had to, and with Faiza's strong will for him to be home and okay, he somehow managed the feat.

When it was all right for me to leave, Faiza told me, "Your presence here was a blessing. I so deeply appreciate your coming." I told her it was a privilege to be there for Bill's homecoming.

Faiza has such faith, she needs Bill to be home so much, that I hope, for both their sakes, that Bill will manage being at home (where he smiled for the first time in 21 days).I pray they have a happy Christmas together.

But as I drove away, I was pretty worried.

Beautiful Beyond Words

[photo by Gregory Colbert]

Kids, this morning my friend Ninotaziz over at http://poemsbyninotaziz.blogspot.com/
sent me a link to the most beautiful art work I have ever seen in my life, Gregory Colbert's Ashes and Snow, a series of film clips of dancers dancing with elephants, with a manatee and with leopards.

The visions are mesmerizing and literally stop your breath, with what is possible in this world. I had not heard of Gregory Colbert until now, and then suddenly I have come across him a few times. He was born in Toronto in 1960. Ashes and Snow is his exploration of the relationship possible between man and animals. It is breathtaking.

This morning's gift is beyond words - so much beauty, the senses are overwhelmed. I was left feeling filled with beauty and light. There is hope for mankind after all, when we can create so much beauty in place of all the darkness. The beasts know, with their ancient wisdom. They know how to live to the rhythm of the pulse of the Earth Mother. They are waiting for us to join them there, in harmony.

The dance with the elephants made me think of a beautiful little book that made me weep: Elephant Winter by Kim Echlon, about a young pregnant woman who winters in a barn with a herd of elephants, and comes to understand the sounds they make to communicate with each other.

It made me think of the man on the east coast of Vancouver Island, who immerses himself in the ocean and plays a home-made musical instrument that echoes over miles. When he plays, the orcas come, and they sometimes "jam" with him, repeating and even creating riffs on the notes he plays.

I thought of Luna, the orca who befriended the people of Telegraph Cove, up-Island, who visited with folks at the docks. And who died when she was slashed by the blades of a boat motor who must not have seen her in the bay.

If you click on this link, I promise you heart-stopping beauty and inspiration. What a gift this artist has given the world.

http://poemsbyninotaziz.blogspot.com/2010/12/inspirational-gregory-colbert.html

Winter Creatures

Some photos from Jon and Zenny down in the Okanagan. This is the Summerland area, outside Penticton. It is quite pretty, a small community along the lake. Look closely - see the small deer's head through the branches? She's lying down and not at all bothered by two humans crunching through the snow.

She is harder to see in this shot, partially covered by branches. Now she's standing and looking. So pretty.

A frozen vista.

I'm not sure if these are wild horses, or why they are wandering around loose.

Immediately, I start wanting to send bales of hay and some oats!

However, I've never seen wild horses this well-fed,

and certainly never this friendly! She's right

at the back of the car. Likely looking for a snack.

I hope they had apples - she hopes so too!

The herd awaits. I hope they are following a trail back to their barn. Last winter

a herd of horses were discovered in southern B.C. trapped in a snowy

area where they could not make their way out. They were starving. People from all over

went to the area and dug them a trench so they could travel out. Then they were taken to rescue places, fed and cared for and, ultimately, sent to adoptive homes.

Apparently the owner had turned them loose in an area where they had no food and no way to get out through the packed snow. Grrr.

However, as far as I know, no animals were injured during this photo shoot :)

Zenny, looking very cold. Okanagan winters are freezing.

I remember.

Jon, off trekking.

Stroke of Insight

[images from http://www.drjilltaylor.com/]

Kids, here is a totally interesting woman, brain scientist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. You have likely heard of her book, My Stroke of Insight, written about the massive stroke she suffered in 1996 when she was only 37 .  As it was happening, she realized that she had a rare opportunity, as a scientist, to observe and study the brain as it was suffering the trauma, and recovering, a journey that took her eight years. Her book has taken awards and is a very interesting read.

But what I found most moving and interesting was this film clip, sent to my inbox this morning by a friend. In this clip, Dr. Taylor very movingly describes what happened to the two hemispheres of her brain as the stroke was occuring.

She describes how our left brain says we are separate, while our right brain says we are all one. During her stroke, her left brain was wiped out completely, and she found herself in a euphoric place where she was one with everything. She experienced nirvana.  She says, "If I was still alive, and if I could reach nirvana, then everybody could. I pictured a world of beautiful beings who could purposefully choose to reach this state of nirvana and peace at any time. We can choose our right brains over our left brains.

"Who are we? We are the life force of the universe, with manual dexterity. We can choose how we want to be in the world. The more we choose peace, the more peace we spread into the world, and that is an idea I thought was worth spreading."

You can hear her speak in this short film clip:

http://ted.us1.list-manage.com/track/click?u=07487d1456302a286cf9c4ccc&id=1a75cd06f3&e=bac1e93099

A Word from Rumi

[image from houstonnuevavida.org]

Undressing

Learn the alchemy true human beings know.

The moment you accept what troubles

you've been given, the door will open.

Welcome difficulty, as a familiar comrade.

Joke with torment brought by the Friend.

Sorrows are the rags of old clothes

and jackets that serve to cover

and then are taken off.

That undressing,

and the naked body underneath,

is the sweetness that comes after grief.

—Rumi

Kindness as described by Mary Oliver

[image from edupic.net]

In the Storm

Some black ducks

were shrugged up

on the shore.

It was snowing

hard, from the east,

and the sea

was in disorder.

Then some sanderlings,

five inches long

with beaks like wire,

flew in,

snowflakes on their backs,

and settled

in a row

behind the ducks --

whose backs were also

covered with snow --

so close

they were all but touching,

they were all but under

the roof of the duck's tails,

so the wind, pretty much,

blew over them.

They stayed that way, motionless,

for maybe an hour,

then the sanderlings,

each a handful of feathers,

shifted, and were blown away

out over the water

which was still raging.

But, somehow,

they came back

and again the ducks,

like a feathered hedge,

let them

crouch there, and live.

If someone you didn't know

told you this,

as I am telling you this,

would you believe it?

Belief isn't always easy.

But this much I have learned --

if not enough else --

to live with my eyes open.

I know what everyone wants

is a miracle.

This wasn't a miracle.

Unless, of course, kindness --

as now and again

some rare person has suggested --

is a miracle.

As surely it is.

~ Mary Oliver ~



Being Caribou

[image from their website : Necessary Journeys]

Folks, here is an adventurous couple with an amazing story. In 2003, wildlife biologist Karsten Heuer and his wife environmentalist Leanne Allison traveled 1500 kms on foot  across the Arctic tundra, following  the caribou herd's migration to the calving grounds in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. The journey took them five months, and resulted in their book, Being Caribou and the National Film Board's film of the same name. In the film Bush Sr and Jr both respond to concern for the caribou, Bush Sr by angrily stating "I'll go jobs for the American people, they can go with the caribou!"

Sigh. Must it always be jobs versus the environment? Sustainable solutions, and clean sources of energy, can provide jobs and help, not harm the environment, were the Status Quo-lovers' brains able to compute this information.

(link to film clip is here, click on the Being Caribou clip:)

http://www.beingcaribou.com/necessaryjourneys/film.html

They made this journey in hopes of raising awareness of threats to the caribou's survival. They point out the "Wildlife Refuge" designation is a misnomer, as oil and gas interests now threaten the migratory patterns of these animals.  

Book and film document their encounters with Arctic weather, icy rivers, mosquitoes and a hungry grizzly. In the film, one experiences their everyday lives during the journey and the wonder of running with huge herds of migrating caribou. It looks rugged, but quite glorious, especially as enjoyed in one's comfy armchair, with a cup of tea at hand!

In 2007, after a brief rest in which their son, Zev, was born, they paddled, portaged and sailed across Canada, with now two year old Zev and their dog, Willow. This time they were in search of Canadian wildlife author, Farley Mowatt, (Never Cry Wolf and many other titles). They set off from their home in Canmore, Alberta, and made their way across the country to the far shores of Canada, arriving  at the author's home in Cape Breton. What an adventure!

The film of that journey is called Finding Farley and a clip can be viewed here:
 http://www.beingcaribou.com/necessaryjourneys/film.html

Born to the trekking life, little Zev apparently walked every one of the kilometres himself. Some people have trouble taking a two year old to Walmart!

This film took top prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

I love this young couple's spirit of adventure, their concern for the environment and their love of the land. Both of these clips show the beautiful natural world they traveled through and are well worth the look. What a beautiful land North America is, especially when you get out of the cities and into the wild and untouched places.

We are so lucky!