Monthly Archives: April 2009

My Cassadaga and Ocala trip

Thursday, April 30, 2009. I got up early yesterday and drove to Ocala and Cassadaga with the May Horizons Magazine.  I love doing that drive.  Plus I love getting to shop at the Mother Earth Market in Ocala.  Since our Wild Oats in Melbourne closed, I miss the wide variety of vegetarian and natural foods.  One thing I did discover, though, was that I make a way better hummus than they do!  I originally tried a (packaged) carrot hummus spinach wrap from the deli there and loved it so much that I came home and made my own version (recipe here).   So yesterday while I was there, I bought another one and ate it on the hour drive to Cassadaga.  I make mine with canned garbanzos and lots of lemon, garlic and parlsey.  After eating mine for several months now, I compared it to the sandwich I had today.  No contest!  It was quite the revelation.  Continue reading

Cardinal nest update; what story do you tell about your life?

Wednesday April 29, 2009.  I goofed.  I made this post before I left for Ocala this morning and thought I published it and find I did not.  Sorry about that, here it is. Well, no Facebook posts for you today. Yesterday I took it easy and stayed in my bedroom for most of the morning.  I typically fall asleep in the chair in the living room, proof reading.  It’s kind of uncomfortable, which is the point.  I don’t keep a recliner or comfortable couch in there because I don’t want to become a couch potato.  I usually get up after a few hours and wander into my bedroom about 3am for another hour or two of sleep before I get into my day.  This time I wheeled the laptop (it’s on a rolling hospital tray) into the bedroom with me.  My room stays nice and pitch dark, which is very healing and restful to me.  As soon as I walk into the other parts of the house, there is lots of sunlight, which wakes me right up.  So I wanted to stay in a restful mood as long as I could. It reminds me of when I used to travel so much.  I would get the best rest at hotels, since the rooms get real cold and dark, perfect for sleeping.  Half my time in a hotel room is always spent at the laptop working in the middle of the night.  So when I have the laptop in my bedroom at home, it has a bit of a vacationy, out of town feel to it. Continue reading

When death can be sweet relief — Seeing through the illusion

Today is the 33rd anniversary of my brother Bobby’s passing. He was 22 in 1976 when he committed suicide.  I view death differently now.  At the time, he was hanging with a sketchy crowd and I’d had to bail him out of jail for minor offenses.  He had a minimum wage job he enjoyed, and no high school diploma.   He lived with the love of his life, not far from his new daughter. He was going through a lot of things, mental and physical, and apparently it overwhelmed him.  He didn’t talk to anyone about his troubles, so who knows what specific combination of thoughts finally got to him.  Although I felt sadness at the time, I felt mostly relief that we wouldn’t have to worry about him any longer, nor wonder when that middle of the night call would come.  Nor how to tell my parents when it did.  It was something I had never anticipated.   I felt stoked that my heart didn’t feel ripped right out of my body, as it did when my husband died a few years earlier.  I had been meditating and studying yoga philosophy, and viewed each death as a practice in seeing through the illusion.  I began feeling connected to the essence of each loved one who passed and through time, it just seemed both natural and transitory when the bodies fell away- nothing to get upset about.  It is going to happen.  We go to sleep here and wake up there. I will feel blessed when it comes, while eagerly anticipating the next adventure.  That’s the thought I pre-pave for myself.  Continue reading

Animal Spirit Guidance website is coming along

This is a new website I’m in the middle of creating.  These are our temporary pages Animal Spirit Guidance while I get all the info together.

I know anytime I go online, there are so many pages to have to go through, that contain unrelated stuff, so I wanted to put it all on one page to make it easier to find.

And when It’s easier for me, I can make it easier for you, too.

I am still looking for artwork I can use on the site, I like the wildlife montague scenes.

Later I’ll add personal stories of animal guidance.

Stay tuned.

The best things that ever happened were not anticipated; When friends die; Seeing through the illusion; Reframing the past

The best things that ever happened to me were not planned or anticipated. I thought I’d just live in Miami and work in downtown law offices and be Della Street and that would be my life.  And it was, and I was happy.  I lived a good life.  I worked and played (even softball!) with a great group who all had substantially more than I did as far as material things.  We travelled about on boats and planes and helicopters to all sorts of fun party spots for weekends together.  Recreation and weekends that, had I not been invited along as a guest, I could not have afforded.  They were definitely unplanned upgrades to my life.  Things I didn’t expect or strive for.  They seemed to just spring out of nowhere, or as a side effect to me having a fun life.

The first time I went to NY, the Bahamas, Bermuda, I would sit and marvel to myself “how did I luck in to this?” I never gave serious thought to any life other than just working at the law office.  Life was good, pay was good, I got paired with high profile attorneys representing powerful businessmen and infamous celebrity types.  I loved my job and the people around me, and the clients.  I’d go above and beyond for my boss or the clients.  I became friends with many of them.  And, every few years, I’d feel guided to a paralegal position at another firm, for lots more money and I’d make the switch.  I had once walked into a complex job where the assistant before me did not keep extensive details about how to do the job.  After that, I made it a policy to keep a running account of how that job was done.   So if I died tomorrow, my boss could just find these instructions in the top drawer, and know where everything is and what had to be done in what file by what date.  I always did the work of 2-3 people and I loved the work. My friend Sunny Beckwith was like that also.  We’d crank out the work and it would be spot on accurate.

It always seemed like I was working in a fun place with friends I knew, for a lot more money and more freedom and opportunities than many of my other 9-5 friends had.  It split us into two worlds, and the pouty pusses tended to have the boring mundane jobs.  They had less choices and opportunities.  They were right there next to us, but not vibrating in resonance with us, so they wouldn’t see what we could see.

I used to think I was lucky, since so many things always went my way.  Then I thought I might be a jinx, since so many close family and friends were passing (1960-70’s the drug years).  Then I realized that I was indeed lucky, and that my friends had chosen to come in to my life so I could go through their death experience with them.  After the first few, I realized it’s important to say what you feel needs to be said and did not say in life, so that became my rap.  Just to get them thinking about what amends they might make to clear the air, to clear their own conscious.  Some people would rather go to their deaths full of guilt and frustration than voice their troubles to an unsympathetic ear.  That was when I became that sympathetic ear, I became someone who gave another perspective, another side to the story.  I was someone who helped them reframe the circumstances and events of their lives in order to see that it has usually indeed been an ideal life that just needed to be looked at from another viewpoint, a few years down the road.

I am always finding little bits of the past that float up.  I delight in reframing the events of the time to find links to my giddy Now.  The deeper I look, it’s all good news.

I never would have said, I want to publish a monthly magazine and be known all over Florida for it and be some new age guru.  I would not have applied for that job, had I seen it advertised.  But now 17 years later, I am still publishing Horizons Magazine and loving my career.

I never grew up thinking I’m going to be a fortuneteller and use my powers for good.  But in the late 80’s my mother suggested I apply to Psychic Friends’ Network and I worked for them until late 90’s.  I loved the freedom to do readings for a lot of people I didn’t know and I would work my job during the day and do the phone line all night long.  Even so, I had a lot of time and energy to do personal fun projects as well.  Life was getting better and better.

Then I decided I wanted to move away from Miami to Dallas where two friends were.  In the process, I met a friend at the law office and we began dating and I decided to instead move the next year 3 hours north to Melbourne, where his father owned property.  I met Mark Tietig at the law firm and gave him a ride home after a pretrial session.  He lived on a sailboat at a Coconut Grove marina.  He’d been blinded in a sailing accident and the firm was representing him.   We began hanging out and became the best of buddies and both decided to move to Brevard County at the same time.  My uncle built me a home in a section of Palm Bay woods, and Mark built his home in Merritt Island.  Once again, the Universe conspired to bring all sorts of good things into my life, just because I was already having fun and It wanted the fun to continue.

So, since my life can be like that without me doing much envisioning or pre-planning about it, maybe sometimes I get too resistant when I am focusing on saying my affirmations too often or on schedule.  There’s a fine line.  And right now, there can be something that I’ve already done, some work I have already created that is sitting in a drawer, that is going to bring me a contract or gig I would love to do, and I just don’t know it yet.  That’s all.

It makes me wonder what exciting thang is coming up for me that I can’t even imagine right now?

Something that will give me a quantum leap upgrade.  I can feel the tension building.

It’s going to be a good one.
You’ll be the next to know.
Andrea

LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body
The End of Death As We Know It

A reminder from the Universe

Monday April 27, 2009. I had a gentle reminder from the Universe yesterday.  I’m pretty strict about what I eat since I changed several years ago to a very low fat diet.  I don’t really miss certain foods anymore, but I miss the idea of certain foods.  So Sunday I had a sandwich for lunch.  Pretty innocent.  Bread, some light mayo, turkey breast and swiss cheese.  Innocent, except that is a heavy combination for me these days, at about 30 grams of fat total.  I usually keep my meals at about 15 grams of fat each.  Then for dinner, several hours later, I was in the market and bought a relatively lowfat, frozen vegetarian pizza.  Lowfat at 11 grams of fat per serving and 4 servings in the box.  That’s real low compared to a lot of what is available, but still a relatively high fat meal for me, to ingest 30 grams of fat at one meal.  Especially after having a heavy lunch.  I ate 2/3 of the pizza and, as I did so, I knew I’d have repurcussions simply because I’d eaten bread twice in the day.  I eat so little processed food,  so I knew my sinuses would clog up for a day or two afterward.  But I didn’t expect to be up all night with indigestion. Continue reading

I saw the gopher tortoise; seeing the broader view; appreciating the seasons

Yesterday afternoon I finally saw the big turtle that has several burrows on my property.  I was doing a lap around the yard to water in the new jasmine cuttings.  The night blooming jasmine will root anywhere I put it, as long as I give it enough water.  I have several dozen cuttings down in the yard right now.  I heard a crashing sound under my office window and looked to see a big gopher tortoise crashing through the dried leaves.   I had not seen this one before, although I discovered two sets of burrows when I was clearing the property in November.  I could tell by the burrow size about how big the turtle would be.  But I was surprised how heavy s/he was.  I should have turned it over to see the bottom of the shell to determine the sex, but I was just thinking to move it from one side of the driveway to the other to save it the long trip to the safety of the side yard.  I see I’ve cut down some palmettos that haven’t come back yet, which produce saw palmetto berries, which the turtle eats. I have to remember as I cut my paths, that I may be affecting someone else’s food source by my design decisions.  Everything is beginning to come back in full force except the west stand of palmettos.  I cut them way, way back in November and cut many of the stumps as well.  Even though I love my woods, I wanted to open up my yard for a season and be able to see more of it and see farther than I had before.  I am blessed that to the west and east of me are several lots of woods, so I can get the feeling of being more secluded and hidden than I actually am.  Sometimes I like to feel hidden away and private and sometimes I like to open the yard up and be able to play frisbee and foxtail in the back yard. Continue reading

My Friday

Today we got the mailing done for the May Horizons.  So I haven’t had time to write anything.  Except here are my Facebook posts for yesterday and today.

I can’t wait for the sun to come up to go see the cardinal chicks as soon as mama gets off the nest

Mama cardinal has not left the nest. I am sure the 3rd egg has hatched by now. Biological entrainment and all that…

(Andrea) had a sore and stiff left knee this morning from overdoing yesterday. At 4am I gave in and took an ibuprophen I had here. It took away the pain and stiffness until just a little awhile ago. Debating whether to take another since I have it here, or if I should dash out to Herb Corner for some white willow tincture. I don’t wanna get on the “takin’ medicine” bandwagon. Continue reading

Yesterday afternoon in the yard

Thursday April 23, 2009.  I wrote this yesterday as I sat out on the yard.  it was such a serene scene that I wanted to share it with you.   I’m sitting herein the shade of the mulberry, next to the loquat tree in the back yard.  The loquats are gone now, the last ones taken by the squirrels and birds last week.  There”s a new batch of ripe mulberries on the tree, and I imagine the little wrens that come along about 5pm will descend upon them and pick the tree clean.  I am armed closeby and with my Peterson Eastern Birds Field Guide at hand.  I want to see exactly what kind of birds this crew is.  The squirrels are already used to me and YinYang, who sits close by in the shade of the mulberry tree.  She’s too fat and lazy to chase , but she likes being where the action is. Continue reading

Free Market of Melbourne/Palm Bay is Sunday at Manatee Park downtown

This Sunday April 25th –  The first “Free Market of Melbourne/Palm Bay” is this weekend, this Sunday. The RRFM will be at Holmes Park, often Called Manatee Park, in downtown Melbourne. Let people know it is happening and it will be ongoing. Have them bring stuff, put off the yard sale, get that spring cleaning done. Play an instrument? Bring them. Why? Why not?  Information tables? Of course.  Bring everything but leave your wallet at home. Continue reading