Oregon that
is.
An overcast day on the gem of the ocean, the Columbia River.
The Red
Lion Inn is situated in Jantzen Beach on
the Columbia River—sounds divine, with a river walk and all. The only problem
is it sits next to a steel bridge with a constant stream of traffic, and every
second a truck drives over something, a steel plate I think, that sends off a
loud clang that drives my dog nuts. That is if we are outside. Inside the room,
we are in hog heaven. It’s quiet. I can concentrate. I can write myself silly.
Sweetpea mainly sleeps on the bed.
Do you know what this is?
It's a rain chain. It directs water from the roof, down the chain and into the ground.
I’m on a
birthday retreat, a vision quest of sorts. Three days without concerns of home
and heart. I’m not like Dick Van Dyke, who as Rob Petrie on his TV show, set
himself up in a mountain cabin to write and ended up playing with a paddle
ball, and lonely for home.
I just
completed the longest blog ever—for bloggers on www.bestdamnwritersblog.com. (And there I found I am a Crash-test Dummy blogger.)
You know how I
have complained that the blogging gurus say long blogs work best. It’s a
mystery to me. And today (ha ha) Seth Godin (world renown blogger) had a two-line
blog. I love it.
I am playing
around online with a downloadable day planner/calendar. About ten years ago I
bought a day planner that worked great for me. Since then , and not wanting to spend $29.99 and up,
I’ve been buying some that have pretty covers, but don’t work well for me. I
end up writing over pages meant for something else, so I decided to put one
together myself, without knowing that would not be a simple task. My plan was,
maybe is, to have it eventually as a downloadable give-a-way.
Already
January has zipped past, so I better get it together before the end of February
or I’ll lose another month. I’m
searching for quotes to add to monthly pages.
I have a picture (painting) I like for a cover that I hope is not
infringing on any copyright.
The day I was
to leave for my trip I pulled a Medicine card from its deck. It was an
Eagle--upside down. It said I ought to go on a Vision Quest for I have felt my
wings were clipped. And I should build my nest higher—whatever that means.
It is self-preservation
to take care of oneself.
In Europe,
they send people to spas instead of to the doctor. A time to heal. I think my
decade birthday was weighing heavily on me. When you begin wondering how many
days you have left it’s time for a break.
The other day,
my friend asked her 102-year-old mother, if she’s ever lonely for her friends
who have passed on. She smiled and said, “Heck no, I never liked the pressure
of being constantly amicable—now I can be as ornery as I want.” What a woman.!
Yesterday sitting
at my breakfast table in front of a bank of windows, I squinted across the
river—way over into Washington State (Oregon and Washington divide right in the
middle of the Columbia River), and I saw a building I recognized as one our
family visited years ago. Daughter dear still has a tee-shirt from there that
reads “Peace, Love, and Crabs.” The building was Joe’s Crab Shack.
Hold on. I’m
having a bath here and going over there for dinner.
I had a bath
too, but can’t go into the restaurant.
Dinner is over.
I have clean hands and clean fingernails--all evidence of crab and butter washed
away. I drove across the river, across
that clanking bridge, and there I was within a stone’s throw of the Crab Shack
but had to drive about 6 miles to get there.
That bridge seems
to be hanging over my head.—like someone toying with me. I look up, but the
bridge stays right over the top of my head. I can see it, but how do I actually
get onto it?
While both the
hotel and the Crab Shack are tucked beside the bridge, the labyrinth of roads beside
it, make crossing the bridge a challenge.
`
I made it to Joe’s
Crab Shack where I cracked and peeled the beautiful crustacean before me, indulged
myself on crab meat, and butter and lemon, and made a royal mess. No potatoes, no
corn. Right now I am on an anti-inflammatory diet.
Back in my
hotel room, I clicked on the computer, and there was a perfect ending to my
Vision Quest.
#Jack Canfield
sent a link to a #Dr. Christiane Northrup interview. Her topic, “How our beliefs
effect our health.” Perfect.
When she said,
“Goddesses never age,” my ears pricked up.
Our emotions
are the key, for the body is self -healing.
The following
are highlights from Dr. Northrup’s interview:
“What we call
health care, has nothing to do with health. It is disease management and
disease diagnosis. “
Northrup went
on to say that we are used to a bandwidth of emotions. We don’t get too high,
or too low. If we study #epigenetics (gene expression) we see that it is the
environment (what we eat, think, live, what chemicals are coursing through our
bodies, etc. ) that governs the genes.
It is not, as is often stated, “My mother had it, her mother had it.
It’s in my genes.”
Northrup never tells her age because she does not want
anyone’s input about her age. Ta Da!
At age 84 Dr.
Northrup’s mother went to the Mt. Everest base camp.
Wow, ok. Let’s
go for it, not Mt. Everest, just whatever we want.
Upon postmortem
examination- on Nuns who gave their consent-- researchers found that people
with dementia and people without it had the same Alzheimer’s plaque in their brains.
Dr. Northrup has found that people the world over who have
lived to 100 and beyond have one thing in common. They
are future orientated.
Her
affirmation: “I love and accept myself right now.”
When you go on
a vision quest, honor whatever shows up.
Live long and
prosper,
Love from
Joyce