My first taste of Australia

Brisbane, AU

Story Bridge with city of Brisbane in the background

Around New Farm

Brisbane is located on the east coast of Australia. It is the state capital of Queensland and has a population of approximately 2 million. I flew in and out of Brisbane when I visited AU and I stayed in New Farm, an inner suburb, where my friends Dave and Mel were living while I was there. (They recently just moved to Queenstown, NZ.) My visit to the city was brief as we headed north to the Sunshine Coast for their wedding and then on to Tasmania but I wanted to post some photos of New Farm as I found it quite delightful and so very green and lush.

Walking around town there were creatures everywhere.

Lizards

and ibis too.

I also have to mention the kookaburras. I don't have any photos of them but when I first arrived in the city and we were just getting home to Dave and Mel's I was unpacking and I heard this noise...I thought somebody had a jungle track CD that they were playing but no it was the kookaburras just outside the window. Sweeeet.

Smile!

01.20.2010 or 20.01.2010

Anyway... we are 20 days into 2010 and I have yet to post. Although I recently just returned from a three week vacation in Australia so it is with good reason that it has been this long. Now though, I have so many different things that I want to post I don't even know where to begin. I guess the best place to begin is at the beginning.

How I spent my Christmas.

Christmas for me was a travel day. Day one of my vacation. Off to see two of my best friends get married on the beach of the Sunshine Coast of Australia on New Year's Eve under a full moon, a blue moon to boot. A trip I'd been waiting for a very long time.

I had allowed myself a 5 hour layover in LAX in case I didn't get out of our little valley due to snow. I made it out on time. The day was a good day to fly but we did lose power in the valley on Christmas eve at 10 p.m. and it was only partially back on by 2 p.m. when I left. Thanks go out to all of the Idaho Power employees who were working on Christmas eve and Christmas day in negative double digit temperatures trying to restore power to approximately 20,000 people.

Back to LAX. 5 hours people watching waiting for a plane.

A day I will never forget.

In the process of people watching I noticed a man in a wheelchair. He was doing laps around the room. Every time I caught eye of him he had already passed and all I saw was the back of his chair. Then at one point he paused before he passed completely by and the first thing I noticed was his smile. His smile.

SMILE!

That smile,

totally and completely infectious filling the whole damn room.

And then I noticed,

he had no arms and no legs.

And then I noticed,

his t-shirt said "Hugging Machine".

And then I noticed,

everyone else was staring at him too.

And he just smiled on.

SMILE!

He was then approached by a young guy, early 20s, covered in tats and facial piercings and he just walked up to him and gave him the biggest hug you ever saw. People started lining up and a great big hug fest commenced. I watched from my seat. One of the people that had lined up then came and sat next to me. Asked me if I knew Nick, the guy in the wheelchair. I didn't. He explained to me that he was born that way without any limbs. Originally from Australia and now living in L.A. He is an inspirational speaker. All of it was very inspiring. I particularly loved that the first person who approached him was the guy covered in tats and piercings.

The hug fest concluded. Nick then parked his wheelchair in front of me approximately 10 feet away. In profile. (I was in the bank of seats closest to the gate.) I was reading but every time I looked up I couldn't help but look at him. He knew it. I knew it. I couldn't help it. He just smiled away. And then he turned his chair to face me. (I think he does this a lot.) I then got up and got my hug.

I did write that proper. I got up and got my hug. Know that even though I was the one who got up and went over to Nick and wrapped my arms around him, he is the one who hugged me. Yes, hugging requires two, we were hugging one another, but he hugged me first. Putting all of this into words doesn't even come close to what actually happened but I did have to put it down into words that it did happen. (If you watch some video of him you can begin to understand.)

I took a journal with me on my trip (I am the worst at writing things down) and it turned out to be more of a calendar log with dates, times, places, people, plants, animals, food, stuff, I'm good at lists. None of the above made it into the journal nor did all sorts of other important happenings. I believe here will be where the bulk of the last three weeks will end up. I type faster than I write. It's neater too. And... I can post my photos.

Here are my Christmas lights

LAX, International Terminal, Gate 38

and an even brighter light


Nick Vujicic

More of Nick here and here

or just find him on YouTube

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!