I just discovered NatGeo Ch. 45 series American Weed about the medical marijuana dispensaries in Fort Collins, CO. It follows a family of 5 brothers who have a growing and dispensary business and they talk a lot about how tightly the operation is regulated. Then there’s the former mayor who’s actively trying to close all the dispensaries “so the town doesn’t go to pot.” He goes on local radio giving false statistics about crime because he doesn’t understand the laws and regulations and real benefit of it. I agree probably a ton of people get on it for recreation, but go for tighter regulation to see who it’s prescribed for, rather than deny convenience to it for the terminal and seriously ill who depend on it now that pills have ruined their livers, etc.  I wrote about it here  On Legalizing Marijuana Wanting repeal of prohibition isn’t just about getting high.  Cannabis is a natural medical treatment.  Many friends suffering from chronic pain, from cancer, MS, rheumatoid arthritis and mood swings of bi-polar could not tolerate mainstream medications.  Marijuana helped them to manage their symptoms and to ease the anxiety of having a terminal condition. It is a miracle plant put here by a loving Creator, for a reason.  Continue reading →

My friend Domino has minor brain damage from an old head injury.  It’s only when he’s stressed or tired that he notices it.  His damage was to the frontal lobe and left temporal lobe.  The result is mostly that there’s a time delay between info input and info processing.  How he describes it is like with schedules and calendars and directions and maps, he’s very visual.  If you write it down for him, he understands it immediately.  If you tell him, he has to translate it into written form before he can identify it, meaning, he has to write it down before he even grok what you’re saying.  If I mention a new place to meet, he can be thrown into a frenzy until he Googles the address and sees the map and gets a feel for the location before considering whether that’s a viable place to meet.  Just the mention of a new name or location when he’s stressed or needs sleep can befuddle him.   Knowing this ahead of time makes me more careful with him.  But I can still catch him on the rare day and forget and start calling out directions and landmarks to him on the phone and then not be surprised when he just hangs up on me due to the overload.   I’ll learn.

Groan… 9am and I’m already overwhelmed with work, feel underslept and have a nonstop day ahead of me.  This is when I can test the effectiveness of my meditation practice.  Can I breathe myself calmly through everything that needs to be done, with a smile inner and outer?  Can I maneuver through the day easily and effectively?  Without driving anyone else crazy?  We’ll see.

I saw the bunny in the east garden this morning, as the sky began to lighten.  I’d walked over to the bird bath to see if yesterday’s rain had filled it.  As I rounded the bamboo, I saw a quick movement and it was brown bunny, who’d done an about face when she saw me.  I apologized and did my own about face, and left her to her breakfast.  Last evening, I tossed some romaine ribs into the back yard at the entrance to her trail east.  I saw out the kitchen window just now that my giant Maine Coon kitty Izzy had stationed himself at the head of the trail this morning, albeit still sleeping.   So I figured I owed brown bunny some privacy in the front garden.  I love sharing space with the critters on the land here, the squirrels, the raccoons, the bunnies, the armadillos, the opossums, the snakes and lizards, the birds, the dragonflies and butterflies.  Speaking of which, I’m off now to enjoy the day.

I did it again: I’ve got a head cold slowly migrating into my chest, and until today I’d forgotten I’d blogged about the same thing before.  I have no excuse.  I should have recognized it immediately.  I began the week with 2 days of  upset stomach, which morphed into a giant headcold for 2 days and is now moving into my chest.  I’m so seldom sick and when I am, it’s over quickly and never too uncomfortable.  Now I’m just playing the waiting game and letting it run its course.  It does kick my butt, though, and feeling weak and tired makes me gripey and whiney.  Poor Roomi.  I’m used to spending hours and hours in silence with my own thoughts and now each time I run into the office to type here, I feel like Grandfather sneaking behind the shed to smoke his cigs to get away from Grandmother.  But now I recognize that I’m both the grandfather AND the grandmother.  If I am who I say I am, what am I hiding from, and why does it make me snippy?

Carlos Nibaldo Cotal