It's time, I've got faith that everyone of y'all can do it,
​WAKE UP!

All my Love,
SvG

Dear Friends,

There is a Natural Order that exists beyond the constructs of time and human ideology. We, our precious Mother Earth, and all her flora and fauna are each one created with the ability to grow, heal and thrive even in the aftermath of great adversity and storms.

On this day go out and take a barefoot walk, plant a seed, hug a tree and give thanks to the forests, sky, mountains, streams and fields.

Nature is a beautiful expression of God's perfect love. Open wide your heart and treasure it forever.

Peace, love and blessings,
SvG

My response to someone's enamored posting of a semi well known guru's words...

Beware the silk-tongued guru spouting endlessly enticing, yet unachievable, ideologies that leave you feeling hypnotized and dependent.  You are much stronger and wiser than they would have you believe. 

Use common sense, follow your own path, your own destiny, your own heart. Its very simple really...Hug a loved one, spend time with nature, lend a helping hand, commune with God. You don't need them, you already have it all.







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​ Such cheerful little souls, bringing sunshine and joy to all they encounter!

First a blizzard, then digging out walking paths through two and a half feet of snow certainly keeps one in touch with life and the living of it. Tonight the temp will be well below zero. At minus twenty the cold reaches deep into boots and bones, even some of the trees can be heard beginning to crack.

So grateful for a snug house, hot food, and a toasty fire. Looking forward to spring!

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Dear Fellow Travelers,

Today, heavy grey clouds hung low and ominous over the wintery landscape. Enclosing our small cabin, the tall dark forms of fir and pine rise silently, reaching for  the sky, for light, for life. Though branches are weighted and bent under fresh loads of snow, still, the embers of banked green fires burn quietly within, waiting for a shift in the wind and the first thaw of spring. 

Winters here in the northlands are long and cold, unlike the gentler ones where I grew up, running barefoot and free amongst the hills and hollers of southern Appalachia. The ancient land of the little people and the Cherokee. A place where one could still speak with a granny healer or listen to the handed down stories and songs of a poor farmer, an elder, a broom maker, a faded old gentleman, or a country fiddler.

The ancestors of these folk had carved out a life, built lodges and homes, hunted and fished and gardened, raised a family, helped their neighbors, and told tales of how they'd fled from somewhere else with nothing but a pocket-full of dreams and a hand-full of hope in search of a better life.

My own people were among these. Some had walked this land since the dawn of time. Some came sailing across the sea to land, colonize, write a constitution, build a grand white house and a nation. Some were loaded like cattle into the holds of ships, some fled from the horrors of war in the old world, some fought in revolutions and conflicts on the soils of the new.

Every one of them wanted the same thing, the simple right to life, happiness and freedom. The ability to acknowledge or worship, in their own way, a divinity and power much greater than themselves. The ability to voice their needs and concerns without fear. The ability to protect their homes, families and villages from those who would take and destroy.

The real America was founded on courage, on principle, on a beautiful dream of freedom and equality, but most of all she was founded on hope. Hope for a better existence for those who risked all and everything in the seeking of it. Hope for the upholding of truth and justice. Hope for a life of intrinsic value and sacred freedoms, both inner and outer.

In these recent days, it appears we are once more in the throws of the old dangers and despairs. What so many fled from and fought so hard against, has found us, and feels to be growing darker and more powerful by the day. Fear gnaws hungrily at the very soul of our nation.

But still, there is hope. As long as we live and love and breath, there is hope. A shining light at the end of the tunnel, the sun's rising out of the dark of night, a shift of the wind, the longed for blossoming of spring.

Like our nation I too have experienced almost unbearable loss and pain. But always, like her, even in the depths of my deepest despair, there came moments of profound beauty and joy. And with them the realization that all was not lost, is never lost. Fear creates illusion, the dampening of spirit, of life and the living of it.

No thing is permanent, no thing is separate. No life, or nation, or even the most distant star exists without the connection and mirroring of all other lives and nations and stars.

 A wise man once explained,  "The definition of evil is, belief in the illusion of separation."
​The inherent bonds of connection are what gives us empathy and compassion. Walking in someone else's shoes is what shows us that the other's heart, soul and needs are not dissimilar from our own.

I remember a line an old bluesman once sang, "God is in you, God is in me, to know all of God is to know humanity." 

True equality comes not from 'leveling the playing field' by forced sameness. No, true equality comes from allowing and nurturing every soul's unique gifts and purpose, celebrating the astounding wonder of each and every life. 

We are all unique and individual, yet, at the same time, truly one as well. Our lives are not a lone, one dimensional, black or brown or white, but a glorious multicolored thread artfully woven within the sacred design of the great Tapestry. Each human heart carrying the possibility for extraordinary expression of love.

So, why not take one another's hands, cradle and nurture every life as if it were our greatest treasure, stand strong and proud, and unfettered...individual, yet unified? What if we looked past the clouds, weathered the storms, and freely followed our hearts and dreams together? One family, one people, one nation, and one precious world, under the eternal grace of the Great Creator.

Outside, the sun shines bright now, lighting snow and earth and trees. The sky is a most exquisite, translucent blue, and from the branches of a nearby pine a lone eagle sings out her  ancient love-song.

As I stand in awe of natures beauty and simplicity, I am reminded that the wind will shift, the cold of winter pass, and the warmth of spring come blossoming into life once again. Yes, the Mystery is alive and well, and as long as there is life and love and breath, all can never be lost.

Peace Love and Many Blessings to all, 
SvG








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Refreshed website and new posts coming soon . . .







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 Its already mid winter here at our new home among the low ridges, pristine lakes and vast forests of Wisconsin's rugged Northern Highlands region. Luckily we made the move and were able to get all settled in before the first snow flew! And fly it has, well over two feet of the stuff on the ground so far . . .

What a year of intensity, extremes and bolt-out-of-the-blue changes.  It was way beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Yet here we are, tempered, pared down, streamlined and perhaps ready for the adventure ahead! 

Where to begin . . .
Lets see, first there was my husbands dangerously close health crisis. Then, while struggling to recover from that, the bizarre attack on our land began. Then, because of that oh-so-neighborly harassment and desire to destroy, came the series of events culminating in our very unexpected move. 

Just goes to show, you never really know what life may bring next.

The push to move was extreme to say the least. And lightning fast. Two pieces of land gone within a couple days of signing. For full price. Thirty days to get forty years worth of living and all the out-buildings cleaned up, cleaned out and packed. The intensity was almost beyond endurance. The task, almost insurmountable.

But we pulled through and remain alive and relatively well. Our sturdy log cabin home is warm and cozy, the air crisp and clean, the surrounding land amazingly beautiful, and the new neighbors darn good folks. Already feels like home!

Thank You Creator, for the gifts and blessings. You certainly do work in the most mysterious ways!

The challenge and lesson?

Surrender. Trust. Standing strong for what is good and right. Willingness to follow guidance, no matter how intense or demanding. And always, to remember  the love.

Its interesting to step back and realize what an amazing journey life really is. How all the pain, joy, struggle, work and even suffering of a lifetime have all been leading up to this one precious moment in space and time. Right here, right now.

I like what my husband is fond of quoting . . . "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and this moment is a gift, that's why its called The Present."


Peace, harmony,
and many blessings to all
in this wintery season,
SvG