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Glimmers of Joy and Bliss

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What are glimmers?

Glimmers are small moments that spark joy or peace, which can help cue our nervous system to feel safe or calm. I’ve become fascinated with finding, paying attention to, and appreciating these small joys.

We all know what triggers are…those sensory reminders that cause painful memories or certain symptoms to resurface. If you experienced a traumatic event, you most likely remember certain sounds, smells, or sights related to that experience. but few people know about their opposite: glimmers.

Experts say this mindset shift can make a positive impact on our mental health. The term was first coined by Deb Dana, a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in complex trauma.

In her 2018 book, The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy, “glimmers” refers to small moments when our biology is in a place of connection or regulation, which cues our nervous system to feel safe or calm.

This isn’t about big, expansive experiences of joy or safety or connection. These are micro moments that begin to shape our system in very gentle ways.

🌟 Being in nature
🌟 Wrapping our bodies in a big blanket
🌟 Interaction with our furbabies
🌟 Gardening
🌟 Freshly baked bread
🌟 Sharing a smile with a stranger
🌟 Hearing your favorite song

Here are just a few of my small and simple joys:

🌠 The sound of two little voices calling “Grandmagrandmagrandma!”
🌠 Hearing a hawk or coyote
🌠 Finding a hawk or owl feather
🌠 My crow family
🌠 Noticing a beautiful flower or moon or sunset or sunrise
🌠 Smelling the ocean or coffee brewing first thing in the morning
🌠 My garden
🌠 Butterflies
🌠 Wind through the trees
🌠 Of course seashells, rocks, and beach glass!

What are your glimmers?

RIP Lolita

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Heaving mountain in the sea,
Whale, I heard you
Grieving.
Great whale crying for your life,
Crying for your kind…

Song of the Whale — Kit Wright

The last surviving orca of the infamous Penn Cove captures of 1970 is dead.

Lolita is dead. In my opinion, she was murdered; a long, slow, painful death.

When will humans stop abusing other living creatures for MONEY?

The blood is on your hands, Miami Seaquarium.

Earlier this year, the Seaquarium announced plans to return Lolita back to the the waters of the Pacific where she could spend her final days. The decision came after years of pressure from animal rights groups to allow the aging orca to spend her final days swimming freely in her natural habitat.

But months later, Lolita remained at the aquarium. The Dolphin Company, which owns
the Seaquarium,  said that the orca would be relocated sometime between October 2024 and April 2025. (NPR)

I can’t even verbalize how angry I am at the humans who did this to Lolita. She was so close to finally being reunited with her family and experiencing freedom.

What makes me even more outraged are the ignorant comments on the aquarium’s website, thanking them for “loving” this orca, and how beautiful it was to see her. IT WAS NOT BEAUTIFUL. It was a total and complete travesty. So very wrong.

Lolita (also known as Tokitae), the most famous orca in captivity, and the subject of a decades-long, global movement to retire her to a seaside sanctuary, has died at Miami Seaquarium. While reports of her deteriorating health have peppered the media over the last several months, this is no easy news to accept.

The Seaquarium stated that during the past two days, Lolita “…started exhibiting serious signs of discomfort.” The aquarium went on to say that while her medical team began treating her condition, “…she passed away Friday afternoon from what is believed to be a renal condition.”

“There is something inherently obscene about a magnificent creature such as Lolita dying in a concrete STADIUM. This is going to continue until people stop buying tickets. There is no other way.” ~ Ric O’Barry, Founder/Director of Dolphin Project

On August 8, 1970 at approximately four years old, Lolita was captured from the waters of Penn Cove, in the state of Washington. It was a violent capture, where five whales drowned, including four babies. This young member of the L pod of the Southern Resident killer whales was sold to Miami Seaquarium, a marine park located on Biscayne Bay, in Miami, Florida for $20,000 and in the following month, was shipped across the country to her new home.

Her “home” would be a concrete tank, known as the “Whale Bowl”. Another orca at the facility, Hugo, would eventually be moved into the tank alongside Lolita, where they performed their daily routines. For ten years, the two orcas shared the Seaquarium’s spotlight. Despite mating, no offspring was produced.
(Curated from dolphinproject.com)

While Lolita may never experience the freedom she deserved, her legacy will continue to inspire us to push for a world where animals are treated with compassion and respect. Her story will forever remind us of the urgent need to protect our oceans and the magnificent creatures that call them home.https://www.savelolita.org/

There isn’t one single word to describe the unspeakable wrongs that were done to Lolita for fifty years, but I can think of a few…repugnant, vile, abusive.

Lolita should be swimming with her family in Puget Sound. On behalf of the human race, I’m so very sorry.

The Calm Before The Storm

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Last night’s sunset…

I’ve been getting calls and texts from the insurance company about filing claims about (future) storm damage, SDGE is calling and texting alerts about storm preparations and being ready for the power to go out, so I guess Hurricane Hilary is SERIOUS about visiting my little beachy town.

An emergency preparedness spokesperson said that we should not underestimate the impact of this storm, and called it possibly “the worst we’ve seen”.

If his prediction is correct, this beautiful sunset is going to be replaced by lots of sky water and high winds.

It’s supposed to start raining in the afternoon, so I better focus on removing a few more windchimes before the real action kicks off on Sunday.

Hurricane Hilary is Coming!

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A West Coast hurricane?

Crazy, right?

But look at the graphic because we in SoCal are in the CONE!!!

That’s all anyone is talking about around here.

The storm’s path will bring it across the Baja California peninsula into the southwestern United States over the weekend and into Monday.

Regardless of Hilary’s exact track, we’ll be on the lookout for excessive rain, flash flooding, and high surf.

The National Weather Service has issued a Day 3 high risk of excessive rainfall, up to seven inches in the desert and about three inches here on the coast.

Hurricane Hilary grew rapidly to Category 4 strength off Mexico’s Pacific coast on Friday and could reach Southern California as the first tropical storm there in 84 years.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Hilary had sustained winds near 145 mph and was expected to continue its rapid intensification through Friday before starting to weaken.

It will nevertheless still be a hurricane when it approaches Mexico’s Baja California peninsula on Saturday night and will approach Southern California on Sunday as a tropical storm. It will potentially cause “significant and rare impacts” including extensive flooding.

However, if the hurricane tracks just a bit differently, it will cause more extensive and significant coastal damage. Winds are expected to be 50-ish mph with 70 mph gusts.

No tropical storm has made landfall in Southern California since Sept. 25, 1939, and reaching far into the past, the only known hurricane to make actual contact was near San Diego in 1858 with 73 mph winds.

I guess it’s time to batten down the hatches. I’ve been doing some prep out in the garden like removing umbrellas, wind chimes, and any deck furniture light enough to be blown around. Tomorrow I’ll clear out the ditch up on the hill that’s full of debris so it’ll flow if there’s any accumulated rain and not flood the backyard. I have plenty of candles if the power goes out and my cell is always charged.

Knowing me, I’ll want to go for a walk to the beach in the rain, but I’m also aware that’s not a great idea.

The one and only time I experienced a hurricane was about twenty years ago when I visited my son and DIL who were in school on the east coast. We huddled together when the power went out and the house was shaking off its foundation from the strong winds. The next morning we went for a walk and surveyed the damage; trees down, electrical wires dangling and sparking, and debris everywhere. After that, we drove to the beach to look at the surf. Another memorable event with those guys, that’s for sure!

Tropical Sky Colors

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Looking west from the deck, the vibrant sunset is reminiscent of my favorite passionfruit and mango shave ice.

Rain might actually fall in a couple of days from Tropical Storm Hilary, the reason for those beautiful clouds. A new weather forecast says it might turn into a hurricane which would definitely bring stronger winds along with sky water. We would only feel the remnants–Baja California would bear the brunt–but I’d be really happy for the rain!

The new moon, under 1% illuminated, turns skies dark tonight as we anticipate the second full moon at the end of August.

Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto

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Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto!
Does anybody know where this gigantic robot is located? I do…

The robot is from the Japanese animated film “Castle in the Sky” and is located somewhere in the PNW, but I’ll conceal the specific location.

(“Mr. Roboto” by Styx)

Lion’s Gate Portal Opening. Get Ready! 8/8/23

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I wrote this a couple years ago, but it still seems to have value, so I'm reposting with today's date...

I find value in curating information and education from a variety of people and sources–I’m not a disciple of one singular way of thinking; I believe there’s merit in many beliefs and perspectives. The following from Matt Kahn piqued my interest:

‘In celebration of the Lion’s Gate Portal on August 8th, please read or repeat the following activation:

“I call forth the energetic anchoring, wisdom and support of my spirit guides, Ascended Masters, Archangels, the enlightened elders of my ancestral lineage, my beloved relatives on the Other Side, and my spirit animals to hold immaculate space in each of the four sacred corners as I enter the Lion’s Gate Portal Activation.In accordance with the Akashic Records, I allow the Lion’s Gate to be activated, awakened, and opened as I enter through this portal into a parallel timeline of my next highest self. In stepping through this portal, may all healings I am ready to receive be completed, may all activations and crystalline DNA I am ready to embody be activated, and may all wisdom, life direction, and inspirations in serving the glory of a life purpose I don’t have to figure out ahead of time be realized, received, and revealed. In accordance with the Akashic Records, I allow all gifts of healing, activation, awakening, and transformation to be actualized into present moment time and anchored as my new zero point field, allowing this brand new reality that I welcome to be accepted by the subconscious mind and encoded into cellular memory as my new abiding state of reality.I accept this activation and each gift my words declare my readiness to receive that now integrates into the fabric of time at exactly the pace that serves my highest greatest good. I accept that each aspect of this Lion’s Gate Portal equally serves in the tipping point of humanity’s ascension, as I offer every person the exact amount of connection or space to work out the complexities and vulnerabilities of their journey. If and when, during this Lion’s Gate portal, or any time hereafter, I witness humanity purging emotional density while identifying with its individual or collective shadow, I can support the transmutation of the old dissolving paradigm by anchoring the light of my new reality as a space holder of Earth’s Ascension. As I utilize the sacred invitation and power of the Lion’s Gate Portal to step through interdimensional hyperspace and into a new parallel timeline of my next highest self in form, may I offer compassion, mercy, and kindness, whether up-close or at a distance, to anyone identifying with the very shadow being purged. May I witness the pain they have buried, as a chance to help bring their consciousness back into full awareness. I offer this awareness as a gift of loving service with no attachment to outcome for anyone or any situation in view.If and when the anchoring of light feels overwhelming, it merely acts as a sign reminding of the perfect moments to enact self-care. Knowing, from the depths of my soul’s wisdom, each choice to care for myself sends waves of consciousness throughout the Quantum Field to help others in supporting their own needs instead of judging themselves or fighting with others. In the name of bringing abiding peace to Earth, no matter how turbulent the waves of change ebb and flow, I accept the Lion’s Gate Portal Activation that completes the Soul Contracts and cuts the chords to all I am ready to move beyond — with the utmost gratitude to every circumstance, person, or outcome that has served my evolution.Thank you Akashic Records for making the Lion’s Gate Portal Activation complete. Thank you spirit guides, Ascended Masters, Archangels, the enlightened elders of my ancestral lineage, my beloved relatives on the Other Side, and my spirit animals for holding immaculate space in each of the four sacred corners and continuing to make your presence known as the light I shine, the breath I breathe, the wisdom I receive, the guidance I follow, and the truth I speak that is always anchored in the vibration of peace, unity, abundance, wholeness, and love.I hereby accept the completion of the Lion’s Gate Portal and allow all integrations to occur as swiftly, miraculously, and gently as it has always been meant to be. May all be blessed by the Lion’s Gate portal, no matter how any person or group interprets the incoming energies and healings entering our Earth. And so it is.”

All For Love,
Matt Kahn

PS — Please enjoy this potent activation as often as desired, especially on Sunday when the energies reach a peak capacity.

Monday Meme | FAFO

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https://ifunny.co/

Meine Wanderungen (My Wandering in Germany)

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Before there were the Angels 2.0, there was the brilliant original version. As I’ve often said, I wasn’t a helicopter mom, I was a drone mom, hovering ever so near…

During his junior year at university, my son signed up for a three-month program in Germany to perfect his language skills.

We discussed it and agreed the better idea would be to take the full year abroad to completely immerse himself in the language and culture. (And that’s totally NOT what a drone mom would do, by the way…)

He stayed in a dorm and went to the UCSD program partner at University of Goettingen.

I visited him for about a week in February of that year. We spent a lot of time walking and and took a couple train rides to the Harz region, including Goslar, a historic town in Lower Saxony, Germany,  known for its medieval old town and half-timbered houses. We took the Harzer Schmalspurbahnen, Germany’s famous narrow-gauge steam railway. (That’s another story.)

I brought back some of what that area is known for, a bewitching elixer called Harzgeist. It’s similar to Jagermeister, but more herby and spicy and incredibly delicious. I wish I had some now!

One day, my son said it would be fun to take a hike to visit a nearby castle. He assured me that it was about four hours round-trip, and I believed him because we could see the castle off in the distance.

Somehow we ended up walking through what looked to be a dense forest of mature pine trees. Were we lost? I’m still not sure. When we finally found our way back to the road, I looked up and saw, off in the distance, a sky full of ominous looking clouds.

“Hey, those look like snow clouds to me. How far are we from the castle?”

I asked the question because we had been walking non stop for a couple hours and we seemed to be no closer to the castle then when we first started out.

“It’s not far, let’s keep going.”

“Are you sure?”

With a sense of unease and foreboding, I had no choice but to follow his lead. Not only did I not know where I was, I couldn’t speak German at all, and my son was fluent.

A few minutes later, I insisted we stop and eat the lunch I had packed. I spotted a bench and we sat down.

I looked up and said, “I told you so” as the first giant snowflakes came down. It didn’t take long before the wind picked up and the fluffy snowflakes turned from a gentle dusting to a full on, blinding blizzard.

In just a few minutes, we were covered in snow. The bench was covered in snow, inches of the white stuff. I refused to walk any further to this non-existent mirage of a castle, and we headed back to Goettingen. We could barely see the road and I hesitatingly trusted my son that he knew where we were going.

I took a picture of us so we’d never forget, and every once in a while I’ll remind him of the time he should have listened to me when I told him there was an approaching storm.

By the way, that castle (can’t remember the name) was actually more than TWENTY MILES away, and there’s no way in the world we could have day hiked there. Later, my son laughingly told me he biked there and it was awesome…uh, thanks a LOT, Angel Boy!

the little moments

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I captured the final glimpse of the sunset with my son still out there surfing. Can life get any better? I think not. #grateful

And, one day
We shall look back and see
It was always those little moments
That mattered the most

(A little poem written by Athey Thompson)