She Who Heals

Published September 5, 2019 by tindertender

Mother, sing me a song

That will ease my pain,

mend broken bones,

Bring wholeness again.

Catch my babies

When they are born,

Sing my death song,

Teach me how to mourn.

Show me the Medicine

Of the healing herbs,

The value of spirit,

The way I can serve.

Mother, heal my heart

So that I can see

The gifts of yours

That can live through me.

~ Native American prayer

Beautiful Day ~ Unhindered

Published August 12, 2018 by tindertender

Are you going to let them ruin this beautiful day,
These boys, so new on their life journey?

This morning I decided I would be adventurous. I drove to Mt Hood! It was a beautiful day for a drive.

I went to the lodge for lunch, ate cheese and apples and some sort of wine jam and fresh baked bread. As I was finishing up I saw a man walk in with his elderly father and young son. Immediately I stood and offered my table. You see, I had the grand view of the trees and another mountain off in the distance. It was glorious! They refused at first, seeing I still had food on my plate. I assured them I was finished, full, and ‘he’ being an elder deserved this fine seat. He wanted to share it with me while I finished, but I left them to enjoy the view and each others company.

I walked out with a smile on my face, happy that this elderly man who had trouble even walking any more would get to sit there and ponder life and relations while he looked out upon this majestic view.

As I drove along, there were so many sights that just blew me away!

I decided to drive to a lake that was several miles up a gravel road. It was so beautiful!

22.1

I took a left a few miles along and the road climbed, becoming very rocky and pitted, I giggled as I drove. I got about 1.5 or 2 miles up and finally came to the first trail. I got out and walked along a little way, it was so quiet! No electrical wires, no sound at all. It was completely still. I got to thinking … I didn’t have a horn, or dog, or big stick or anything, and then I thought I didn’t feel like being a tasty treat for a cougar or something, so went back to the car.

On the way back down, once off the deeply pitted and bolder-y rode I came again to the relatively mildly pitted gravel road and realized I had a flat tire. That hadn’t happened in 32 years! I got out the book and was prepared to learn something new today. While I was reading the book, spare leaning against the car and jack and such all spread out, a jeep pulled up and asked me if I had it okay. I replied not really.

The man and his friend got out and changed my tire for me … BLESS THEM!! I drove the remaining 3 miles out to the main highway and stopped at the rest area gas station for air since the spare wasn’t quite full. Being Sunday, no tire companies were open so I limped the 47 miles back to town with flashers on doing 40 mph.

People were very calm about the whole thing, they just went around me. Until I got into the city, that is. All of a sudden I saw people throwing their hands in the air and jerkily steering around me, rolling their eyes.

That’s when the SUV full of boys showed up. The passenger hung out the window making arm and hand gestures at me. The other passenger in the back seat was taking video on his cell phone. I wondered what their problem was, and that’s when I realized that my flashers were still on. Boys … no interest or ability to consider what someones day may have been like or what may have happened requiring the flashers to be on.

There’s probably a video of me somewhere on social media with a post about an ‘old lady driving through town with her flashers on’.

So, no … they will not ruin this day. Shallow and ignorant behaviors do not deserve my attention, but I did want to blog about it only because their lack of consideration was so obvious. They’ll learn … some day.

PS ~ Here’s a few pics of some beautiful art at the lodge.

It was indeed a joyous day, a day to be grateful for.
And I Am …

Not Everyone Will Appreciate The Storm

Published April 9, 2018 by tindertender

Dancing in the rain As I stood atop the cliff the wind whipped and roared around me. My body was pushed about like it was paper, I giggled as the power of it surrounded me.

I spoke with a woman who lived here full time and marveled at the power of Mother Nature, how she was showing us her strength, and how amazed I was at the feel of it. I told her how incredible the force of it was and how I loved it. She looked at me as though I was half crazy. Here in this place, the winds sometimes ripped roofs off houses, she did not find that so wonderful I suppose.

The waves of the ocean which at first were calm and rolling, became torrents of whipped water rising in white rushes of churning waters. It raged as it tossed about the sands underneath.

While I am not an owner of things in this place, I was able to marvel with awe and wonder at the might of this scenery, those who DO own property and dwelling tense as they anticipate the damage that could arise from this storm, fearing loss.

Walk In The Park

Published March 4, 2018 by tindertender

Took my pups to the park early this morning. Saw some pretty amazing scenery, and it wasn’t too populated. The cooler weather and time of day most likely had a lot to do with that. These two own my heart.

As we walked along I wore a smile that I had no intention of trying to hide. As far as I could tell there was no one to see it anyway. We stopped a few times just to listen for awhile and really take in the view.

The patterns of the rocks in the paths we took were interesting to me. Some were quite large and others just pebbles, yet they were embedded in the hard earth just the same. There was a lot of water flowing, my hope is that it will do more good than harm to the forests this year. Weather modification programs are out of control.

Here’s a short video I took while walking along with these two love bunnies. It’s the simple things …

Intelligent Animals

Published December 11, 2017 by tindertender

Those who look at the incredible construction skills of the beaver and say animals have no intelligence, are incapable of understanding.

Reweaving Nature & Culture

Published October 14, 2017 by tindertender

There has to be the possibility for a radical transformation and change, and if it can happen in an individual, then it can happen in a culture and culture’s connection to nature. We’re in that moment where we’re either going to allow the unraveling things to pull us further into darkness, or we’re going to pick up a thread ourselves. We’re not responsible for the whole thing, we’re just responsible for that thread, and if we pull that thread forward we’re joining the resonance of creation and the reweaving of nature and culture.

Cape Horn Trailhead Challenge

Published August 27, 2017 by tindertender

It was a long and beautiful hike. I was pretty tired at the end, and no wonder. The 3 hour, 7.1 mile, moderate difficulty hike I thought I was taking turned out to be an 8.3 mile, strenuous difficuly hike.

https://gorgefriends.org/hike-the-gorge/cape-horn-loop.html

Cape Horn

This was an experience that left me breathless, literally.

The sites were amazing! My muscles worked, my lungs added a ton of air to my body. I visualized them burning the toxins from my form and as I replaced the water my body sweat out, I saw my self purified.

Only when I reached the top and looked out and down did I realize what a climb I had taken! The views were spectacular!

The natural rock steps as I trekked up this trail were incredible! I actually was not quite prepared for this as I wore sandals that were not really snug to the foot and they kept trying to slip off. Next time I hike, I’ll be wearing at least tennis shoes!

After walking the decline for a time I met the rocky slope and it started to incline once more. I thought my legs were going to scream, I know I wanted to verbalize my surprise, however there was no one to tell it to.

I had stopped several times in the past on the Cape Overlook above. I was curious every time what was down here at the bottom, and now I know. It is a unique perspective seeing from above all these years an finally making it to the bottom.

This journey was a challenging one. By the end of this hike my 51 year old self was asking me why I chose to do this, and the answer is simple … I was unprepared, I accepted a challenge without fully investigating it.

Lesson learned. Full research will be made for future hikes, sturdy footwear and an extra bottle of water will be brought also.