Sunday, August 31, 2008

A Quiet Sunday

It’s unusually quiet this morning. Being the dead of summer, nearly every window is shut against the heat and humidity. It’s wet. Weeks of rains and high humidity. No children are outside playing. No birds are merrily singing. The drone of each neighbor’s air conditioning unit occasionally is heard. Feeder bands from Gustav stir the trees into a whirl with brief bursts of rain slammed against the windows. Then all is quiet again. My clock flashes 2:37 - reminding me it wants to be reset after the power outage last night. Stormy weather. A distant rumble of thunder, a swirl of the trees and then stillness. The only sound I hear is the click of my keyboard.

Perhaps I shall stay in bed this morning. I enjoy the soft rosy glow of the Indian Peach walls, the salmon colored shears and the golden flicker of the cypress rose scented candles. They add to the pink blush of my crisp cotton bedding. There is a warmth to this room that doesn’t exist outside of these four walls. I feel very safe.

Friday, August 29, 2008

ONE - Self

After I posted my poem, Self, I sent it to my brother.  He replied with a poem of his own, titled "One" (below).  I asked him if I could post it here in my journal, and he said,

       Sure, it belongs to you and you may use it as you wish. You may want to add a disclaimer that makes reference to the fact that the author has spent the past month on cloud nine.....

I liked it, and I hope you do too...

One

The caterpillar does not die
It grows into the butterfly

A person's need is not all greed
It is the spark that makes the growing seed

Living life with caring indulgence
Is a life that celebrates abundance

A person with an open heart
Grows to know she's not apart

Just as dust grew to be the sun
We grow to learn we all are one

KMD

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Self...

An overshadowing loss,

A feeling described as blue

A mourning is taking place

What else could I do.

Sacrifice the selfish separate self

Deny indulgences and greed

Put away the denials

Suppress the carnal need.

I close my eyes with anticipation

Searching each evening dream

Looking for guidance - perhaps a clue

For a glimpse into the unseen.

The morning comes; I’m not ready

But life goes on, and so must I

I go through the day reminded

The selfish separate self must die.

Your Selfish Separate Self tho’ tough,

At thought of Death, is terrified,

And can quite frighten you,

When looked straight in the eye.

Reflecting back as carnival mirrors,

The master of deception

The Selfish Separate Self will fight,

To maintain its position.

A conscious conditioning

With each spoken breath

To speak my truth with clarity

Put Selfish Separate Self to death.

Speak one’s Truth with Clarity

Is not easy to learn

When bombarded with negativity

Around each daily turn.

 

-Michelle DeMars Mayher-

 

::Within and Without

Torn Between and Against

Mirrors on ALL sides

Split Inside and Out

Again and again

Thus is the Ignorant SELF::*

*The Children of The Law of One - The Lost Teachings of Atlantis”

 

Monday, August 25, 2008

Getting back...

This is somewhat like an overdue response to a correspondence from a friend; the longer it gets from the time you last responded, the harder it is to get to responding. So much to say, so much going on. My last entry was a fairwell to Fay. It looks like now we have to pay attention to Gustav.

Post -Fay, I managed to get caught up on the work that ‘s supposed to be done when we’re not in “Threat level 4” for emergencies. My younger daughter started her second year at the University and I’m enjoying the empty nest - again. She certainly has had an excellent summer vacation!

The weekend was a good opportunity to get back to focusing on MY needs. I decided to do a “detox”. I spent Saturday and Sunday on juices, and for lunch today I began with “Raw”. It’s kind of fun, actually, except for one bad “experiment”. Yesterday afternoon I juiced a whole bunch of stuff: I felt I was getting more fruits than veggies, so I added some spinach and some romaine to some carrots and half of a large beet. I love beets - cooked - even the greens in a salad, but this was my first experience “juicing” one. Wow. Wear gloves , for sure. The experiment probably wouldn’t have been too bad if I’d skipped the romaine, and used about one third of the fresh ginger. It was a struggle to finish it… but I did - not about to waste all that nutrition. A hot cup of lemon tea was quick to chase those lingering tastes. This evening’s meal was a salad with assorted greens, but the tasty part was half of a perfectly ripe avocado with fresh lemon juice. I topped it off with an excellent peach and apple juice, with a touch of ginger. (It was lick-smackin’ good!). We’ll see - not sure I can truly identify my motives… health, discipline, a need to clear my head… all of the above and more.

I have had very interesting dreams lately and I had this nagging feeling that the Universe was trying to get a message to me. That was reason enough to “detox”. So far, my dream clarity has “diminished”! It may be my body actually resting instead of being jolted with caffeine, alcohol, sugars and fats. However “communication” is a key theme for several days, now - and the number “5”. Not quite sure how it all will pan out, but I”ll be sure to let you know.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Good day, Fay

There is barely a breeze....an occasional drizzle of rain.  It's 6:00 AM and Fay should be beating our beaches.....

hmmm.  unpredictable as weather, Fay's as flighty as a feather....

I just checked out the radar image (btw..there are some wonderful weather sites:  wunderground.com is good, nhc.noaa.gov is good and intellicast.com is good) it looks like the east coast of FL is getting hit much harder ...harder than we are and I'd venture to say, much harder than the weather folks predicted.

As I stated in a previous post, I've been living in hurricane country for a lot of years.  I don't profess to be an expert, but I've been just as good at reading hurricanes as any layman.  I laugh at some of the local meteorologists.  yesterday, one fellow who looked to be about nine was on the TV with his maps and clickers, and he said "If Fay goes west, we'll have high surf...blah blah...  if Fay goes East, we won't.." Oh spare me. And he gets' paid for that crap?!! 

Yesterday, a local newspaper reporter was in Town Hall and said, "We're ground zero." When I asked what he meant, he said, "We're the main event.  There's national news crews all over the island."  So I asked "Where's Jim Cantori?"  If you follow Jim, you know what the weather channel calls ground zero.  Jim was in Naples, which is just south of us here. 

The last word from the boss yesterday was "don't come to work until I call you."  He's probably up by now, and watching the radar, waiting for Fay to move on by.

Some are disappointed when it's a "non event." Like my neighbors, who are new to SWFL (from Nebraska or some crazy place).  I heard them having a hurricane party, and complaining that this is the worst storm they've ever seen.  I see it as another learning experience. ..and another one down, and another one down. Another one bites the dust...

 

Monday, August 18, 2008

TS FAY

This fickle thing called Fay

I have lived in South Florida for thirty years. I have been through hurricanes. No two are alike. I have approached hurricanes on a personal level, until recently. In my position as Town Clerk for the Town of Fort Myers Beach, I become, the Public Information Officer..(PIO) within the Incident Command System (ICS). This system is required by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) in order for municipalities to get federal aid…aka…reimbursement.

Isn’t government such Alphabet Soup!!?! Acronyms acronyms!!

Friday afternoon, the boss sent an e-mail alerting key personnel to be available by cellphone throughout the weekend.

Saturday morning, the boss called and said I needed to be in the office at 10:30 Sunday morning.

Sunday morning, we were in standup mode.

We had a staff meeting today (Monday) at 8:00 AM. A Town Council meeting at 9:00 AM, to declare a state of local emergency. A “division commander” meeting at 10:00 AM ( I loved this! This is where the “men in uniform” come in… the fire chief, the police captain…haha! And the police guys “touch their guns” when they make statements! (and the fire chief has chewing tobacco in a can..yuck!”)

My role was pretty much to contact the county EOC (acronyms, again…that would be: Emergency Operations Center), establish a communication with the county PIO (that would be, public information officer) and scribe advisories, alert the media, etc. We (as a municipality) are committed to ‘speak with one voice” and so squelching the staff members who feel empowered when approached by the media was a constant housekeeping function,.

I put out advisories on our web site, (if you’d like to see my work: www.fortmyersbeachfl.gov ) on our phone system: 239 765 0202, our hurricane hotline: 239 765 0919 extension 140, and we have a system called Code Red, that auto dials all FMB residents who have registered a phone number with us, to receive a recorded message regarding an emergency situation.

Dr. Steve Lyons is on the weather channel. I love him. He’s the best. Fay is a fickle thing, for sure. The 8:00 advisory has little wind, not too much storm surge… a heep of rain, maybe, but I think we’re outta the woods….

We dodged another one….

So far, so good!

P.S.:  Just for <<fun>>  ! read this: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCDAT1+shtml/182104.shtml?

and realize how crazy storm tracking really is....

welcome to my world....

 

 

 

Thursday, August 14, 2008

About a year ago, Lauren was shopping with me at a Bed, Bath and Beyond, and she stopped at a display of bathroom scales, and said, “ We need a scale.” That was enough for me, so I bought one. I have been overweight by the AMA’s charts since middle school. But lately, I have been losing weight, and it’s quite an interesting study.

About a year ago, I took up kayaking. I did it in order to have a recreational activity that wouldn’t strain my knee. ( I eventually had knee surgery in December 2007). What I found was how many other muscles of the body are used with kayaking. I began to notice how more defined various muscles of mine had become. Then, people began commenting on my body image. One day, the letter carrier came in to the lobby at work. I have known this man for 25 years. He looked at me and said, “ You’ve lost a ton of weight~! “ I was at a meeting for a civic organization, and some friends commented, “ …well, you’ve lost weight….” It was not a conscious effort ,and that’s the beauty of it. Oh it’s not some awesome success story ! Not by any means. But last night I ordered a jacket for myself from a catalog that I have frequently shopped. I’m comfortable with their clothing fit. Recent purchases have been returned for a smaller size. So, last night, I had to force myself to trust that this jacket would be a better fit in a smaller size. That’s the surprise.

From about a year ago this date - give or take a month or so each way - I’m down about 20 pounds, and have decreased body fat and increased muscle, and, have dropped about two clothing sizes.

My dietary habits have changed very little. I use less mayo and more mustard, I go more for proteins than starches - never did and will never eat mammals…

One thing I did…I started about 8 or 10 months’ ago…. Every morning… I have a mantra… It includes various “ I AM….” but relative to weight loss, I say daily, “…Every time I have a bowel movement, I lose body fat.” …..That is the power of Manifestation.

(no sh*t)