Gaian Tarot Artist's Journal

36 - 56 - 76 - Hike!

I had an email conversation the other day with a friend about my "emotional meltdown" post.  Somewhere along the way I found myself saying to her:

"I have to say (from the vantage point of 56 years to your 36) that getting older rocks.  We really do get smarter, and life gets more juicy and more satisfying, the older we get.  The only part that doesn't get better is our bodies (in general).  So if I could tell my 36-year-old self anything, it would be:  Start a regular yoga practice now!  And keep it up for the next 20 years!

So I'm telling you instead.  :-)"

After I closed my laptop, the thought occurred to me — hey! what if my 76-year-old self wanted to say to my 56-year-old self:  "Start a regular yoga practice now, and keep it up for the next 20 years!"   

I cracked up.  I can't imagine being 76 any more than my friend can imagine being 56.  I'm staying consistent with my water aerobics, but not with my yoga, and in some ways I think it's more important.  Yoga or Tai Chi or QiGong gives us flexibility, strength and balance — not to mention inner peace.

So I think I just gave myself a new goal.  My 76-year-old self thanks me.

The Bounty of Summer

The morning's stash from the Farmers Market — who could resist?  An island friend was selling his produce and said he'd be stir-frying up new potatoes, sugar snap peas and garlic tops for dinner — we moaned and bought his peas and garlic to go with the potatoes and salmon we have at home.  Radishes for Craig's tacos and Rainier cherries from the other side of the mountains at $10 a pound — ouch.  But oh, so sweet. With every bite we remember we're supporting an organic farm family who've had a rough spring.

And this has nothing to do with summer or good food but I just want to thank Arwen for such a lovely review of this blog.  It's really something, sometimes, to "see ourselves as others see us" (a nod to Robbie Burns).  Thank you Arwen!

Seven of Earth

With the arrival of summer here in the Pacific Northwest, I've been spending as much time as possible outside. I've either had a weeding tool in hand or a fistful of colored pencils.  Yesterday I finished the last of the Sevens.  Here's my 7 of Earth, which is a bit different from the usual "waiting for the harvest" theme of the RWS 7 of Pentacles.

Remember that in the Sevens, we set a new goal for ourselves, one that reflects our inner work (as opposed to a goal in the everyday world).  With the 7 of Earth, we set some kind of practical goal that manifests in the physical world.

A woman plants a red cedar sapling near a creek where salmon spawn.  She is volunteering for a habitat restoration project in an area that was once heavily logged.  Western Red Cedar is a slow-growing species that won’t reach a mature height of 150 feet for twenty years. As it grows, it helps to shade the stream, keeping the water cool so young salmon can thrive.

When the Seven of Earth appears in a reading, we set a goal for ourselves that involves long-term planning.  We don’t expect to see results immediately but are content to know that we are working slowly and steadily toward our goal. We learn to be patient. We’re not on our own timeline here — instead, we’re on Mother Earth’s timeline!  We learn to live in synch with Her rhythms and cycles.  We trust that our efforts are worthwhile, even if we don’t see the fruits of our labors for a very long time.

Random Thoughts on Earth Day

(Earth Day morning!  This is the same view as the photo I took two days ago. Welcome Spring!)

I have a few thoughts and links for you today, on Earth Day 2008.

Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, makes a good case in this NY Times editorial for why we should bother to “go green” these days, in the face of discouragement and despair that whatever we do won’t be enough to turn the tide of global climate change. 

It’s about a change in consciousness. 

“Sometimes you have to act as if acting will make a difference, even when you can’t prove that it will,”  Pollan writes.   “That, after all, was precisely what happened in Communist Czechoslovakia and Poland, when a handful of individuals like Vaclav Havel and Adam Michnik resolved that they would simply conduct their lives ‘as if’ they lived in a free society. That improbable bet created a tiny space of liberty that, in time, expanded to take in, and then help take down, the whole of the Eastern bloc.”

Do you know about Earth Hour, 8 PM your time tonight?

I read about this yesterday on Beth OwlsDaughter's blog, then received an email from Gaian Tarot reader Danielle Salerno.  I'm going to quote part of Danielle's email to me:

Earth Hour is an initiative run by the World Wildlife Federation to get the notice of the public on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.  On Saturday March 29th, 2008 communities, individuals, and businesses across the globe will be turning off their lights for one hour, from 8pm to 9pm (local time).  Last year this was done in Sydney, Australia with very encouraging results (i.e. a 10.2% reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions for the whole city), and this year it is being opened up to the rest of the world.

If each of us turns off our lights for one hour on Saturday night, it would make a big difference globally, both in reducing emissions and in increasing awareness about the seriousness of global warming.  More information about Earth Hour, including an online sign-up and free media can be found at www.earthhour.org.

And just now I stumbled across this report from CNN, "First cities go dark for Earth Hour" . . . Sydney has done it again!

I'm in!  I'll be turning the lights out tonight at 8:00.   How about you?

I'm supporting Al in Bali, please add your voice too

In two days Al Gore is going to address the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia. At his urging, I've signed an important petition showing I support his important call for a visionary treaty to address the climate crisis. I hope you will too.

www.climateprotect.org/standwithal

The world's elected leaders must take the steps necessary to solve global warming.  It's not too late.  We have the opportunity now to improve the Earth's future for our children, and their children.  If we don't act, we will only have ourselves to blame.

(Thanks, Chavala!)

And even more about Corn . . .

Eddie just sent me the link to this video about the new film "King Corn," which is coming to the Pickford in Bellingham this weekend.  He says he found it five minutes after reading the discussion about corn and the Guardian of Earth.  Dontcha love synchronicity?  Can't wait to see this film. Thanks Eddie!

A Lively Discussion

There's a lively discussion going on in the comments section of my previous post about the Guardian of Earth.  I just posted a comment that's longer than some of my regular posts.  Just in case you'd like to join in on the conversation!

Green Smoothies go mainstream!

Green smoothies!  Dr. Oz!  Oprah!  Who woulda thunk it?

Rain - Woods - Action

Today is Blog Action Day for the Environment  . . .  others have spoken about it far more eloquently than I can, like Angela and Julie.

As for me, I wandered into the woods in the rain, for a breath of fresh Wild.  I saw this

and this

and this.

You will have to imagine the sound of raindrops, and the hushed flutter of wings.