Poem

I was given a copy of this poem from my pastor. We had a group dicusion on what each line ment to us and what it says about our society.

What do you think? I'm ready for a dicussion if you are......

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THE INVITATION by Orian Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

copyright © 1999 by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.

July - the Hottest on Record

Lucky for me I wasn't in town for most of the HEAT.

Spent for first week of the month in San Diego. Great 4th of July at the beach. Collected Pooka shells, played in the surf, watched many sunsets, watch the fireworks.

Spent the next week in town. Don't remember what I did.....

Spent the next two weeks in the Pacific Northwest with family. Did a lot of work at mom's house. Bottle some wine. Went to the Oregon Brewers Festival - they had 80 different breweries there. Only made it through 28 of the brews. They give 4 ounces per taste. So that's 28x4 oz = 112 ounces. Split that between 3 people still means I didn't drive home. Thank God for lightrail! Went Sport Clay Shooting with my dad and brother. Kind of like golf but with shotguns. A higher score is better. Out of a possible 100 I know I hit at least 25 clays. Picked Blueberries and made jam - bought Marrionberries and made jam. Watched Chicken TV every night I could. Took the family to Detroit Lake with a friend of my dad's and went wake boarding, surfing, and intertubing off their ski boat. New for my kids - they loved it. OH, I almost for got ....... It was darn HOT in Portland while we were there. Not as hot as Phoenix but Portland's humidity made up for it.

Next week the kids go back to school and life returns to "NORMAL"

Cub Scout Day Camp

Wow. Have I been busy......

Just got finished with Boy Scouts of America, Grand Canyon Council, Heard Scout Pueblo Cub Scout Day Camp. I was the Webelos Director for the camp and taught over 900 Webelos the Scientist pin.

Each year the camp has a theme - this year's theme was Pirates of the Pueblo. I was Captain No-Black Beard. Day camp started on May 28th and finished on June 27th. The sessions are 3 days long and each day starts at 3 pm and finished about 9:30 pm. Total number of cub scouts at camp is set at 300 boys per session.

Want to get more info about Cub Scout Day Camp, click here.

I had a blast!!!

It's a dry heat!!

Yea, Right! It's May and we hit 107 on Monday.

Very busy weekend.....

Kids were confirmed and baptized. It's Norway's Constitution Day (May 17th). The 138th NRA Annual Meeting was in town. We had 3 separate baseball games to watch. Took the family out to Spaghetti Factory after church. We were going to go to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see Chihuly.

Ooooo - We are going peach picking tomorrow at Schnepf's Farm.

It's going to be a busy summer............

Twinkie - Myth and what is it really made of?

I ran across an article in the Journal of Clinical Reasearch.

"Twinkie, deconstructed" a book by Steve Ettlinger. The review can be found here. The Author's website can be found here.

The wording under the title will either make you want to read it or put it on your never ever ready list.

Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats

Well, will you read it?

Home prices

Home prices - are they still too high? take a look at the video. I like numbers. How correct are they? watch the 6 minute video

Let's get a show of hands..... Who thought the home prices were out of control in the first place? Now that we have so much invested in these over priced homes, do we need to make sure the air doesn't leave the bubble?

What did "we" do to inflate the housing prices as high as they were? Is it truly every man's right to own a home? Economics is a roller coaster - if you liked the ride up you'll definitely scream on the way down. Supply and demand - I still remember my economics classes (I'm a visual person so I can still see the charts when I close my eyes). Someone in America manipulated the demand curve by lowering the standard of who can get a loan. Who has the ability to tell the banks to make risky loans to people who don't qualify. It's not the banks - bankers are calculating people who don't take chances (I've met too many "Banker" personalities, I know the type).

Most people who work in the housing market their whole lives know this was going to happen. they just thought it was going to happen 5+ years ago. The fact that it didn't is what is going to make this fall so much fun. IMHO the housing market is going to over correct. Unlike what it did in the 80's, it's going to go bellow the 100K mark. Wait an see and be ready when the time come to jump back on the ride we call capitalism.

I'm sorry.

I told my youngest son just that last week.

I'm sorry our generation is not fixing the financial problem he and his kids will be dealing with.

I'm sorry health insurance is non-functional.

I'm sorry I don't have all the answers.

I'm sorry I can't always spend all the time I can with you.

I'm sorry you rights are being slowly taken from us.

What would you say to your child?

comments are welcome.