Category Archives: Serious Stuff

Thanksgiving Thoughts

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While we’re in the midst of plans to enjoy a feast with friends and family, I hope we don’t forget to honor, and with gratitude, recognize the Indigenous Peoples.

“Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.” Chief Seattle

“When you know who you are when your mission is clear, and you burn with the inner fire of unbreakable will; no cold can touch your heart; no deluge can dampen your purpose. You know that you are alive.” – Chief Seattle, Suquamish/Duwamish (1786-1866)

Chief Seattle (more correctly known as Seathl) was a Suquamish and Duwamish chief. A leading figure among his people, he pursued a path of accommodation to white settlers, The city of Seattle in Washington state, was named after him.

Photo of people and tents and quote credit to Chief Seattle and Native Red Cloud Maȟpíya Lúta~Hińhan Wakangli. Photo credit of Chief Seattle from Wiki

Strange Days | The Disappearing Object Phenomenon

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I bought some things that I subsequently needed to return which my son calls my “catch and release” program because I do it a lot.

This time, I was in a rush. I picked the wrong kind of noodles and the wrong kind of applesauce, and a pineapple I discovered was rotten and gross; also a first pair of jeans for Angel Girl 2.0 that were the wrong size.

I located the receipts and put them in safe place, or so I thought.

To backtrack, I never lose things and I also save EVERY receipt because I know that I MIGHT return whatever it is. I’m thrifty like that, so what happened next is significant.

I left early to shop cos it’s getting crowded for Thanksgiving. When I got in my car, I looked for the receipts and could only find one, but I KNOW I had saved both of them together.

I searched every inch of the car-nothing. I searched my purse-nothing. I looked in the outside trash (eww) -nothing. I went back in the house and couldn’t find it anywhere. I took a few deep breaths and decided to accept the reality that for once, I had somehow lost a receipt, but I’d still try to return the items and not be upset if that wasn’t possible.

In the grand scheme of life, this wasn’t anything to worry about. Mistakes happen.

I parked my car, walked around to the passenger side to collect my shopping bags and the items to be returned. There, on the seat, right next to the sad old pineapple, I spied the receipt.

WTF? Where did it come from? I had OCD thoroughly searched every single inch of my car, even taking everything out, and never saw it, because it wasn’t there. But there it appeared, ON THE SEAT. ON THE SEAT where it had NOT been before.

I shook my head, called out a silent thank you to the universe and its witchy ways, and laughed at my good fortune.

The rest of the day has been full of sunshine and joy, but I still can’t figure it out.

Is it the disappearing object phenomenon? How did it happen? WHY did it happen? And what’s the lesson?

According to my Google research, these are the areas to explore if you have experienced the return of a lost item:

Lessons on the 3D level:
Must you always have a physical explanation for any occurrence?  Why?
Do you believe that there is only one answer for any occurrence? Who told you that?
What happens if you can’t find an explanation for this occurrence?

Lessons on the 4D level:
Can I concede that I can’t explain this occurrence just yet?
Do Others have power over me?
Do Others have powers that I don’t have? (St. Anthony, or Archangel Chamuel, for example?)
Can they see more than I can see?
Who are these Others?  Are they mirrors of me?

Lessons on the 5D level:
Is this an item you love? If not, why is it here?
How long was this item gone before you missed it? Are you rightfully managing this energy (including time)?
What is the disparity of frequency between the You that could see them and the You that couldn’t?
What is the energy of the missing item?  Sad?  Nostalgic?
Does it represent a period in your life needing release?
Does it remind you of something you need to get done?

I haven’t had to the time to explore and examine my relationship to the receipt and discover the deeper symbolism, but I highly recommend reading this entire article. It blew my mind!
https://www.areyouawakening.com/life-on-earth/when-an-item-youve-lost-suddenly-reappears/

Featured image from Pinterest

Talmud Wisdom

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The Talmud (study or learning) is a compilation of ancient teachings regarded as sacred by Jewish people. It’s the link between the Torah and Jewish practice and beliefs. The Talmud is also a way to see and comprehend discussions between thousands of rabbis spanning centuries before the work was compiled and put onto paper. The Talmud states that the Torah was mostly written by Moses. That’s a LOT of historical documentation to absorb and think about.

I studied both the Torah and the Talmud at Sunday and Hebrew school, even learning to read and write in Hebrew, but I remember virtually nothing. However, with recent tragic events, this quote from the Talmud seems appropriate.

(The kind of things I remember is to look at the calendar and note that Hannukah comes early this year, December 7!)

The Talmud states, “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly now, love mercy now, walk humbly now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.”

Enter The Vortex – No Help

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My frustration level is OFF THE CHARTS.

Here’s what I learned today. Since Angel Girl turned four years old, I needed a new car seat. When it arrived, I didn’t have too much trouble assembling it (although it took an HOUR) but I couldn’t figure out how to properly install it next to her brother’s. I didn’t pay much attention when Dad did it.

I read the cryptic instruction booklet and it was like reading hieroglyphics. I watched several YouTube videos and they didn’t help me, either. This isn’t unusual–I’m not very mechanically inclined.

I figured that our friendly police department would surely be able to assist me, so I drove to the local station. This is where the vortex of frustration began…

Guess what? Our police do NOT help to safely install carseats, but they said OTHER grandmas have come in asking for help, too.

The police department referred me to AAA.

AAA also does NOT help to install or make sure they’re installed properly.

AAA referred me to California Highway Patrol which DOES have a program to safely install car seats but they’re booked up through January 2024. That’s no help at all. AT. ALL.

CHP said the Sheriff does it, but they most likely are booked up too. I called to make an appointment, had to leave a message, and no one returned my call.

I even called a neighboring city’s police department and they don’t install car seats either.

After that, I called Children’s Hospital which does have a car seat installation program but it charges FIFTY DOLLARS per car seat!!!

Our local fire department doesn’t assist in installation or inspection to make sure car seats are properly installed.

The final call I made was to Safe Kids Worldwide’s Child Passenger Safety, a nonprofit organization, and there is no tech in my area. Also, no one responded to my email.

I’m exhausted from running around the dead end rabbit hole with my vain attempt to ensure the safety of the Angel Kids.

I eventually tried to install it but noticed there was no anchor with this particular booster-type seat with a back, and it seemed a bit unstable, so I took an anchor strap from the old seat and tried to attach it. I’m not sure if it’s OK but at least it’s not moving around and seems more secure.

And from the manufacturer, I read comments and questions from others who wanted information about no latch/anchor:  “Thank you for your interest in the Turbo Booster 2.0 Highback Booster Seat! Unfortunately, a LATCH system is not offered for this product. We hope this helps! – The Graco Team” Well…it doesn’t really help at all, because why NOT??

Friends have said I should just leave it for Dad to do it again but I wanted to make life easier for all of them when I pick up at the airport. It’s much less stressful to jump in the car and head straight home than to have to sit at the curb and wait for him to hook it up.

This says volumes about lack of community service and safety from the entities that should absolutely care. My very final outreach was a call to the community relations department of our police department to suggest they recommence their former program of assisting/examining installation of car seats. Not surprisingly, I’ve received no return call.

Frustration level? OFF ALL THE CHARTS.

UPDATE: A neighboring city’s sheriff’s office returned my call, I made an appointment for this morning, and their in-house certified car seat tech examined both car seats and gave me a few tips to keep the kids extra secure. It took less than ten minutes–peace of mind = PRICELESS. I’m still concerned that it took so much effort to get it done. I don’t think most people are as tenacious as I am, and if they quit too soon, their children might not be secured properly in an accident.

KRISTALLNACHT | Never Forget

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The Night of Broken Glass, or Kristallnacht, was a wave of violent attacks against Jewish people, coordinated by the Nazi regime on November 9–10, 1938.

Nazi Party paramilitary groups and Hitler Youth carried out the attacks, but countless ordinary Germans watched and even participated.

My grandfather was a rabbi. Although he had already emigrated from Hungary at the the turn of the century, my mom assured me that it most definitely COULD happen again and that’s why we should never forget.

From The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: 

On November 9–10, 1938, the Nazis staged vicious pogroms—state sanctioned, anti-Jewish riots—against the Jewish community of Germany.

These came to be known as Kristallnacht (now commonly translated as “Night of Broken Glass”), a reference to the untold numbers of broken windows of synagogues, Jewish-owned stores, community centers, and homes plundered and destroyed during the pogroms.

Encouraged by the Nazi regime, the rioters burned or destroyed 267 synagogues, vandalized or looted 7,500 Jewish businesses, killed at least 91 Jewish people, and 30,000 Jews were “arrested” and sent to camps.

They also damaged many Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes as police and fire brigades stood aside and offered no help.

Kristallnacht was a turning point in history. The pogroms marked an intensification of Nazi anti-Jewish policy that would culminate in the Holocaust—the systematic, state-sponsored murder of Jews.

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
-Dylan Thomas

Pythagoras Knew

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“As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”

In other words, don’t kill or eat animals. Be kind. Be VEGAN.

Crime in Carlsbad: Guns, a Samurai Sword, and SWAT

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What the heck is going on here?

Sunday morning….

Carlsbad police arrested a 33-year-old man at a motel Sunday after he brandished a samurai sword at paramedics responding to an unrelated medical emergency.

Police were dispatched around 9:40 a.m. Sunday to the Carlsbad Village Inn, at 1006 Carlsbad Village Drive, according to the police.

Officers tried to make contact with the man, identified as Eliot Rauk of Lomita, through the door of his motel room. Rauk yelled through the door, threatening to kill approaching officers and brandished a handgun, seen through the motel room window. 

Some areas of the motel were evacuated, with the Carlsbad SWAT team responding shortly afterward.

Rauk barricaded himself in the motel room for several hours while the police department’s Crisis Negotiation Team attempted to contact him by phone.

At 2:36 that afternoon, after police reached him, Rauk exited his room and was safely taken into custody.

After a thorough search of the room, authorities found a samurai sword and a semiautomatic handgun.

Rauk was transported to Tri-City Hospital for a medical evaluation and will be booked into Vista Jail on suspicion of making terrorist threats, unlawfully brandishing a weapon, and threats of violence against a police officer.

Two days before that, on Friday…

There was a shooting on the street in Carlsbad, which is a rare occurrence. I mean, this is a little beach town, not LA or Chicago.

An Oceanside man was arrested after shooting at a police officer during a traffic stop.

An officer with the Carlsbad Police Department stopped the driver for multiple traffic violations Friday night on Madison Street and Oak Avenue.

As the officer approached the vehicle, the driver pulled out a handgun and fired at least one round at the officer, police said.

“The officer immediately sought cover from the gunfire and returned fire with his service weapon,” the department said in a news release.

The suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Oceanside resident Patrick Harold Doherty, drove south about one-eighth of a block before stopping.

The officer called for additional units and a high-risk vehicle stop was conducted when more officers arrived, including a field supervisor and a police dog. The suspect complied with police and was apprehended several minutes later without further incident.

“Neither the suspect nor the officer was struck by gunfire. However, several rounds struck the suspect’s vehicle,” police said. “During a visual inspection of the van at the scene, a ghost-gun type handgun was seen on the driver’s side floorboard.”

Doherty was booked into Vista Jail on suspicion of attempted murder of a police officer, felony resisting, assault with a firearm on a police officer, and an outstanding arrest warrant for driving under the influence.

It seems like there’s no way to live without violence; it’s all around…in small towns, big cities, and other countries like Ukraine and Israel and Gaza.

It’s sad and scary to feel unsafe; how depressing.

(Info curated from Google.)

seriously

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The world is going through some serious things, all very painful, all tragic.

One of my favorite aunts died yesterday, in her sleep. She was ninety-one years old and had a hard time coping with the death of her loving husband and a subsequent stroke. She was simply tired of being alive, even less after her youngest son recently died of cancer. Last week, her entire family (on the east coast) gathered by her side for her birthday but they said it was as if she was already transitioning, already thinning the veil between here and there or nowhere.

This Mary Oliver quote from her poem, “Invitation”, really says it all:
It is a serious thing
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world

It could mean something.
It could mean everything.

The Annular Solar Eclipse

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I couldn’t find the special eclipse glasses we used in 2017 even though I know I saved them, so I used a colander and it made some really awesome crescents on a white background. The sun was only about 70% obscured here, no ring of fire, but super cool to safely experience.

Here’s a relevant poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850 – 1919) 

A SOLAR ECLIPSE

In that great journey of the stars through space
    About the mighty, all-directing Sun,
    The pallid, faithful Moon, has been the one
Companion of the Earth. Her tender face,
Pale with the swift, keen purpose of that race,
    Which at Time’s natal hour was first begun,
    Shines ever on her lover as they run
And lights his orbit with her silvery smile.

Sometimes such passionate love doth in her rise,
    Down from her beaten path she softly slips,
And with her mantle veils the Sun’s bold eyes,
    Then in the gloaming finds her lover’s lips.
While far and near the men our world call wise
    See only that the Sun is in eclipse.

Cosmic Blunders

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I don’t know about you, but today has been a day full of frustrations, miscommunications, stress, anxiety, and a general sense of agitation and discord everywhere I turn.

People tell me they didn’t get my emails that I CLEARLY have a record of sending while one misunderstood word engendered disagreements and verbal sparring before the matter was cleared up.

I don’t like stress, not that anyone really does, I guess. but for me, stressful situations cause my poor little heart to pump too hard and raise my blood pressure.

This is when I need to practice breathing and meditation. It will all work out, I’m sure, but in the meantime, I won’t really be able to relax.

In addition to the annular “ring of fire” solar eclipse on the 14th, in SoCal we’re on the verge of a Santa Ana weather event; windy, very low humidity, and lots of swirling energy, so it’s probably a good idea to go outside and water my plants to redirect my mind.

BREATHE!

Oh, and stay hydrated, ‘cos when I get stressed, I shut down and don’t eat or drink, so I’m sitting here with a giant water bottle. There’s nothing worse than a dehydration headache.