Give Peace a Chance

Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
(C'mon)
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters,
Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis, and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye byes
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
(Let me tell you now)
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation,
Integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance
Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary,
Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper,
Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna
Hare Hare Krishna
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance




( Posting from the Sunshine Coast of Australia where we are celebrating the Bowles wedding and NYE 2009! So many other things to post and I really wanted to do a full post Christmas day before my travels but our power was out from 10 p.m. Christmas Eve until 2 p.m. the following day and I've been on the road ever since. Best times ever, more later, Good Bye 2009, Cheers! 2010! )

Imagine

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

All You Need is Love

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game
It's easy.
There's nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you
in time - It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
There's nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
All you need is love (all together now)
All you need is love (everybody)
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

Vermont 'Cow Power'

I am home for Thanksgiving in Vermont and yesterday we visited Westminster Farm a dairy farm which is now also a farm methane power plant. The methane plant project was recently completed and now that it is online it produces about 250 kW per hour which is enough energy to power 250 average homes per day.





The Cow Power Process

Manure is collected in a giant digester, as seen above, and heated to approximately 101 degrees F to maintain bacteria that breaks down the waste into various product including methane gas. The methane is then transferred from the digester through a pipe which separates out the moisture and sends the gas along to fuel a diesel engine which in turn is connected to a generator that produces electrical power. The power is then fed to the electrical grid.

In the case of Westminster Farm the power is fed to Green Mountain Power (GMP) and customers have the choice to now purchase their power through GMP's Greener GMP plan which includes the farm methane plant as well as a landfill methane producer.

Below you can see the digester next to the building that houses both the diesel engine and the generator and in the background are power poles that are connected into the GMP power grid.

Closeup of some of the goings on in the digester.

Ayup, turning poop into power in Vermont.

Women and The World

Woman

Each one of you
are beautiful.
Each one of you
are strong.
Each one of you
are brave.

Each one of you
are kind.
Each one of you
are true.
Each one of you
are love.

Each one of you
are experience.
Each one of you
are knowledge.
Each one of you
are wise.

Each one of you
are real.
Each one of you
are special.
Each one of you
are unique.

You are Mother, daughter, sister, wife, lover, friend.
You are Woman.

Believe it!
Revel it!
Embrace it!

The preceding poem I wrote yesterday as part of an assignment for a women's wellness circle I've been attending with facilitators Midge Patzer and Melissa Boley. The assignment was to be completed for the last class of the course and we were asked to write about each of the women in our group. The poem was inspired by each woman individually but also by the group as a whole and by all of the other women who are a part of my life.

The image that I associated with the poem is a card, The World, from my Motherpeace tarot deck by Karen Vogel and Vicki Noble. I use tarot daily for inspiration and guidance. It's imagery works very well for me. As for the card, The World, I will try to explain it without getting into a huge explanation of tarot.

The tarot deck consists of seventy eight cards that are divided into two groups: the twenty two cards of the major arcana and the fifty six cards of the minor arcana. The fifty six cards of the minor are based on four series of suits containing fourteen cards; similar to a regular deck of playing cards and the twenty two cards of the major correspond to the connective paths of the Hebrew "Tree of Life" of which these paths are lines along which life develops. The World card, which also may be referred to as The Universe in other decks, is the final card of the major arcana and as such can be read as the final step or completion of a process.

As defined in the Motherpeace book of interpretation:

The Fool (the first card in the major arcana) has grown up into a woman of the world. Leading a spiral dance, she is followed by her circle of friends and family. She skips through a chain of peyote buttons and flowers. These sacred plants part to let her by. She's come a long way. It no longer matters to her how she looks or that her clothes are torn. She takes her place among the children of the earth.

The World is breaking free into a new cycle. The old is completed and many new things are now possible since she has done her work. She knows and loves herself and all her facets have come into harmony. She may feel expanded and omnipotent because a major cycle of her life is completed and a new doorway opens.

The Motherpeace tarot is the second deck that I am learning to read. The first deck I learned was the Thoth tarot, by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris, which was given to me by one of my closest and dearest friends. It was the deck that she learned from and it was given to her by her mother. In the Thoth deck the last card of the major arcana is The Universe.

As defined in the Crowley book of interpretation:

The Universe is the expression of the wholeness, in which the divine in its three aspects harmoniously connects with the earthly as an eye, virgin, and snake, through which the four cherubims are manifested. The number seven, the sum of the above, is an expression of a time boundary that is contained three times in the numerical value of the card 21. The card then stands for the goal that has been attained, for the climax of a development, and therefore in some cases for the goal in life itself and our place in this world, where we belong.

From the psychological perspective, the Universe personifies the waking consciousness and the self-regulating power of the creative self. This allows us to act socially within the surrounding of our community, and process emotionally the creative contractions of eternal transformation:

To experience the Self means that we are always conscious of our own identity. We then know that we can never be anything other than our Self, that we will never lose our Self, and that we can never be estranged from our Self. This is so, because we realize that the Self is indestructible, that it is always one and the same, that it cannot be dissolved or exchanged for something else. The Self enables us to remain the same under all circumstances of our life. ~ C.G. Jung

I am very thankful for all of the women that I know and that have touched my life. They have inspired and encouraged me but most of all they have loved me for who I am. Included are the women that I have found here in the virtual world who, although I have never met any of them, spark my creativity and boost my confidence almost daily. I enjoy randomly perusing blogs and I truly appreciate all of the visitors to my blog who leave words of appreciation and encouragement. Thank you all!

Still hanging on

Resisting the urge to rake leaves.
Camera play is much more fun.

Autumn Dreams

Autumn Dreams

I know the year is dying,
Soon the summer will be dead.
I can trace it in the flying
Of the black crows overhead;
I can hear it in the rustle
Of the dead leaves as I pass,
And the south wind's plaintive sighing
Through the dry and withered grass.

Ah, 'tis then I love to wander.
Wander idly and alone,
Listening to the solemn music
Of sweet nature's undertone;
Wrapt in thoughts I cannot utter,
Dreams my tongue cannot express,
Dreams that match the autumn's sadness
In their longing tenderness.

~ Mortimer Crane Brown

All photos in this post were taken yesterday as I wandered Route 20 between Arco and Carey.

The old dilapidated house is west of Arco and it sits behind a fence marked 'No Trespassing'. The house looks like it is constructed of very thin pieces of stacked slate and I really would like to get a closer look. It is a piece of art.

The car is east of Carey just sitting in a swampy field. It too is a piece of art although it changes quite regularly as different people tag it.

Both the house and the car I believe to be Route 20 icons.

As for the faded flowers I don't know what they are. Dog and I took a walk east of Craters of the Moon (Dog can't walk Craters of the Moon the rocks hurt his feet) and that's where the flowers were found. Yesterday, although blustery cold and grey was a fantastic fall day just right for wandering, by car and on foot, and for dreaming.

A Fall fade

Our Fall so far has been cold, hard, and lacking it's usual luster. The colors this year are very subtle with most of the aspen skipping any glorious display and instead just slowly fading to brown. So with photos of fabulous fall foliage lacking a few photos south of the valley in the middle of farm country on the way to Twin. It's still one of my favorite drives. You can see forever and when driving north you have a view of the mountains that never ceases to take my breath away. No mountains here though just some shots from the side of the road next to a now abandoned corn stand and some pretty busy looking power station equipment.

The power and the beauty of Mother Nature

Over the weekend we received our first snow here in the Wood River Valley with the majority of it dumping on Sunday night and Monday morning. And what a dump it was. The following is a photo from my backyard early Monday. My little house is hiding in there.

Unfortunately the snow was so wet and heavy and all our trees still had their leaves that there was a lot of tree limb loss throughout the valley. One of the trees in my backyard split right in half. Luckily it was the back half of the tree and not the front. Had it been the front it would have landed right on top of the house. It didn't even take out any part of the fence. Phew!








Just missed the fence.



























More in our local paper the Idaho Mountain Express.


The following two photos I took Sunday night as the snow was gently falling and I was excited to see it. (I was also trying to practice with the camera at night. Hence the weird photo of the chair.)




The first snow is always so special.

























Little did I know...

The only thing I've ever seen that comes close to the destruction of the trees over the weekend is the same type of destruction to trees due to an ice storm in Vermont in the 90s. I've never lived on either coast here in the U.S. or on the plains so I've never experienced a tornado or a hurricane. I can't imagine.

And although the loss of trees and the damage done to property is sad this world never ceases to amaze as I still find so much beauty in the snow and ice.

Simple Super Yum!

Millions of peaches, peaches for me,
Millions of peaches, peaches for me...

These peaches, however, did not come from a can...

Fresh, ripe Idaho peaches

I put together a fruit salad this weekend that turned out to be just fabulous and sooo simple I thought I would share. Typically, when I make a fruit salad it's pretty generic. I tend to use cantaloupe, melon, strawberries and grapes. This time though I thought I would try to be a little inventive with some help of course from Google.

I was going to a potluck where the main course was marinated grilled pork tenderloin so I let that be my starting point. And what doesn't go better with pork than peaches? Well, apples do too but since Idaho peaches are really just perfect right now that's what I went with.

And here it is:

5 peaches
1 pint strawberries
a couple handfuls of baby spinach
1 lime
a stem or two of cilantro

Cube the peaches, quarter the strawberries, toss together in a bowl (separate from the bowl the salad is to be served in). Squeeze the lime all over the peaches and strawberries, chop up the cilantro and sprinkle over fruit mixture and toss all over again. Line the bottom of the salad bowl with the spinach and dump the fruit on top.

Very simple and super yum! And...it presents great too!

I also created a lime cilantro vinaigrette which is where Google came in. I used the first recipe that popped up when I googled 'lime cilantro vinaigrette' which was courtesy of About.com in their home cooking section. I modified it slightly and it turned out to be the best dressing I've ever made. Following is the ingredient list that they provided with my modifications listed in parentheses.

Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1/8 cup white wine vinegar

1/2 cup cilantro leaves, no stems

1 Tablespoon honey

1 Tablespoon brown sugar (Nebraska Knoll Maple Snow, pure Vermont maple sugar, the only sugar I use)

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (medium grain sea salt)

1 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic

2-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (Sun Valley Spicy Sweet Mustard)

3/4 cup light olive oil (organic, extra virgin, expeller pressed, a little more aromatic)

About.com directs all ingredients to be mixed in a blender but I always make my dressings in a pint jar and shake, shake, shake, shake that boooty, allows for the textures and various colors to still shine on their own.

I did not add the dressing to the salad (you can completely skip the dressing if you want, the lime and cilantro alone are enough) but provided it on the side, along with some chopped pecans. Everybody loved the salad and the dressing and not only did they use the dressing for the salad but they also put it on the pork and used it for dipping their bread into. (All ingredients used were organic and the maple sugar is shipped regularly from Mom in Vermont.)

Mountain Mushrooms

Fall is fast upon us and the wild flowers are wilting.

It has been an amazingly wet summer though and the fungi are out in abundance; pink, purple, red, brown, black, striped, big and small, flat and fat, wrinkly and crinkly. They are all out there.

Makes me wish I knew my mycology. I never knew there were so many different varieties. My knowledge of any type of exotic mushroom is limited to picking morels for saute in the spring and purchasing portobellos for grilling in the summer.

A little garlic, a little butter...aahhhh for now, just a thought.
































































































More mushrooms here.

B is for baby

This weekend I attended a party which was in honor of two of my best friends' first child (party photos). He is due any moment and the following is in celebration of baby Theobald a.k.a. 'the bump' (great maternity photos taken by another friend of theirs, Kristin Cheatwood, Cheatwood Photography, Ketchum, Idaho).


B
is
for
baby

and bike and bat and ball

and boarding on Baldy (be it one board or two)

and the big, big, fish in the Big Wood

and bananas and bongos
and bubbles and butterflies

and burritos and beer

and Buddha

and books,
lots and lots of books

and lets not forget frisbee

big, brother 'Boose (the best mountain basset ever)

and

being
best of friends.

most this amazing

i thank You God for most this amazing
~ e e cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any - lifted from the no
of all nothing - human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

Boulder Mountains from Baker Lake access road

All creatures great and small

As the great wolf debate rages on in court today I am saddened by the thought that by tomorrow hundreds of thousands of hunters may converge on the packs that have now made Idaho their home.

I myself have yet to encounter a wolf in the 'wild' here although I spend almost every day out there; whether it be for work, pleasure or just obligation to dog I walk hundreds of miles and spend thousands of hours throughout south central Idaho many places of which the wolves call home. Someday I hope to encounter one or more here however I fear that if the wolf harvest does come to fruition I may never have the chance.

I don't know what the answer is in regards to humans and wolves coexisting in the same place. Our management of the wolves and their reintroduction into Idaho has gotten us where we are today and today there are many very angry people on both sides of the debate with I believe humans and wolves both suffering.

I wish I had a photograph or two of a wolf to share but since I don't I will substitute other various photos of numerous creatures that I have come across here in Idaho all of which have caused me to pause and be thankful. (The photograph of the moose was taken in Maine though but I couldn't leave it out as it is the most magnificent creature I myself have come across in the 'wild'.)











































































Saving the best for last. A coyote that dog and I ran into two weeks ago. A very fat and happy one. We ran into it as we were hiking into a stream bed for work and it took pause before it continued down the slope ahead of us. We saw it again a few hours later tracking us from above.

In closing an excerpt from A Sand County Almanac,

“Thinking Like a Mountain”, by Aldo Leopold

"We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed its way. We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast awash in white-water. When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail, we realized our error: it was a wolf. A half-dozen others, evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings...

In those days, we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf...When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable slide-rocks.

We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes–something known only to her and the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunter's paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view."