Experience Is The Best Teacher - By Sakoieta'

As parents, grandparents and great grandparents, many of us would gladly take the responsibility of dealing with hurt and pain for those we love. We feel with our experiences at life we would have the ability to be more capable of bearing it and carrying it. We want to leave those we love as unscathed and near perfect as we possibly can. In doing so we would fail to allow these others to have to deal with the same types of pain, confusion, anger, disappointment, and hurt that actually made us who we are today. We must allow those we love to use their own strength and learn what is good, bad, true or false in their own lives in order for them to grow as a person as we did. Not so different from us they for sure have made unwise choices. It may also be hard for them to believe that our experiences in life were any near as wretched at times as theirs are. But we have to allow other people to exercise and put down their feet so they develop the strength to take a stand. How can they ever develop strong legs or become strong if they don’t exercise standing on their own two feet?

Dealing With Change - By Sakoieta

It is one of life’s unwritten rules that when changes occur we have to be able to adapt to the change. Yet it is also true that when we are affected by change and even encouraged to work with change it is a decision that we make from our inner being. Real change comes from the inside. I heard before that some people say it is like understanding how useless it is to put a warped container inside a good one in hopes of straightening it out. That will only spoil the good one. The stuff they are made of has to be workable if either is to be saved. It is possible to wait a long time for a situation to change so that we can change. It won’t happen. We have to change first - our thoughts, our attitudes, and very often our reasons. If we are ever to be totally free of miserable or unhappy circumstances we will have to remold our own human spirit to the will of the natural created order and its Creator. That is the only help we have that is not based on money or dependency on someone who is equally weak.

Would Mega Bucks Change Your Life For The good?

Check out my latest blog on Mother Earth News at:http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/lottery-lifestyle-change-zbcz1305.aspx#axzz2TZoOl71S

The big question is would winning the lottery really improve your life?  Sure you would probably make some improvements but what then?  Would it buy you fresh air, pure water, regular visits from wildlife?

Cowboy Western Breakfast

 With the snow last night we felt it was safe to cook out breakfast.  Fried spam, potatoes with my special seasoning also known as Cajun Foreplay, and eggs all done to perfection.  Yummm..

Last to go on were the eggs and that topped off a good morning of sitting at the picnic table for a good meal.

Tweeking Our Wildfire Prevention System

Our misting system arrived from Advanced Systems Co. It will cover up to 50 feet and we will install it across the front deck to use in case of any wildfire hazard. Dealing with Jon Offerdahl the system designer and salesman made this purchase easy. When you stop to think about it a mist system is the ideal choice for remote living. When all the wildfire mitigation has been done a mist system is just the thing for that last area of protection for a deck.  If it gets hot in the summer having a mist system serves as something to cool you off.  

For more information on this system or to purchase a system that is right for your needs call the number on the card below or go to their website at www.advancedmistingsystems.com.  

If you happen to live remote and have a well like we do it is necessary that what ever you use doesn't drain your well.  A low pressure mist system will run for days without placing any stress on your well.  Seems to me to be a good solution.  Even though there is no guarantee your home won't burn anyway, this is a sensible safeguard that should improve your chances.  

Life Lesson #2 - Believe In People

Long ago I volunteered to manage a Little League team.  The league had it rigged so that when the players were assigned to specific teams that as the new manager I ended up with the boys that didn't know a thing about baseball. We practiced and we practiced when we could reserve the field and ever so slowly our players developed the basic skills to compete. Our players learned the rules, how to hit, catch and even run efficiently.  All except one little boy who could not master catching the ball, even when I threw it to him from a couple feet away. Catching that ball was impossible for him.  The harder he tried the worse it became. We put Tommy in right field as not many balls were hit to that area. Tommy was a shy quiet boy who didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the boys but tried his best to catch that ball.  

Our team then started to play games. Tommy missed a practice or two and a game. I thought maybe he was sick or had homework  but that was not the case.  I called Tommy's mother - a single mom - and she informed me that Tommy did not want to be on the team any more. I asked her if I could come by and talk to Tommy and she agreed. I drove to her house and we all sat down and I listened to Tommy tell about how all the other boys teased him because he couldn't catch the ball. Both during practice and at school and he believed they did not like him. I told him I didn't believe that was true and would he give the team another chance which he reluctantlly agreed to do. I then held a team meeting and explained to the other boys how Tommy felt and what team work really consisted of. Our team was not really a team without Tommy. That he was willing to give it another try and that we needed to work on his catching ability or actually the lack of that ability. It may take patience but WE needed to help Tommy. 

Tommy came back to the next practice and I learned life lesson #2.  The other boys all pitched in and worked with Tommy and encouraged him individually and collectively on how to catch.  Tommy could catch 'sometimes' but still missed most of the time. Tommy was made to feel a part of the team in spite of his not being able to catch and no one on our team gave up on him again.  

We ended up tied for first place which amazed all the other managers and teams. It came to the last game of the season for who would be number one. We went into the 6th inning, one run ahead of the president of the League's super team which he had handpicked. We were down to one out to win the game. Tommy was in right field and I heard the other team telling the batter to hit the ball to right field as Tommy couldn't catch the ball. Whack! It was a high fly to right field. OH NO!  I watched Tommy weave back and forth to line up under the ball. As the ball came down Tommy stuck out his glove and caught it. The look on his face showed he was as surprised as everyone else was. The team ran to Tommy and I heard them telling Tommy they knew he could do it, what a spectactular catch it was and how he saved the game. It was a team celebration with Tommy in the center. The game could have gone either way because that hit was to deep right which would have tied the game at the least. Tommy was the HERO!!!! 

That could be the end of the story but it wasn't.  A few weeks later Tommy's mom called me to reveal how Tommy had been struggling in school and how my coming to him and getting him back on the team turned his life around.  How she struggled in being both mom and dad as a single parent for Tommy.  He didn't have a father influence and was quick to give up when things got tough. How his Little League team mates were now his closest friends and how they encouraged him. She said before he didn't really have any friends. She thanked me profusely for having confidence in Tommy and reaching out to him. It would have been the easy  to just let Tommy quit because he wasn't much of a player anyway but I just couldn't do that.. I believed it was about playing the game to have fun, build character, learn to work as a team, and develop skills instead of winning at all cost and teaching young boys that to win is not always everything. I don't know what happened to Tommy as we moved  away shortly after that, but I doubt he ever went into the pro's or played college ball.  What I do know is that Tommy and the rest of the team all learned a valuable life lesson.  That a team is for everyone on the team not just the stars and good athlete's. Every small contribution is important and we would either win or lose together.  That  you don't give up on people because they may lack a certain skill and you reach out to them and encourage them and keep them as part of the team.  Life lesson #2.

I had a meeting before the season with the parents and players and explained that if they wanted their boys on our team it was about having fun and not winning.  I didn't care if they lost all their games, I wanted them to learn team play, develop character, but most of all to just be boys and have fun. I know a lot is said about parents and Little League but my parents were the greatest. I don't know of a single parent that ever put pressure on their son to win.  They just wanted them to have fun and as it turned out we ended up having fun all the way to first place.  Maybe that is Life Lesson #3, have fun and let the rest fall into place.

May 8, 2013

Purging Old Habits By Sakoieta

It is interesting how society has changed so much to where everyone wants things done fast and quickly. There is a pill for this and a pill for that. An exercise program that claims fast results in no time at all. But real effort at changing things takes time. The old people knew that and followed it. If we let down our guard, old habits are there waiting at the door to reclaim their space in our lives. These habits will sneak back in so innocently and seemingly so familiar that we seldom will expect what teeth they have. The truth is once we decide to change something or work at change we can’t expect it to happen in one fell swoop or immediately. What has come back into our lives by such tiny degrees of invasion must be edged out the same way. The fact that our ability to change comes in small steps does not minimize a real or great commitment to change. Little by little, we reform our habits making sure we do not leave space for another bad habit to move in and claim space within us. We have all kinds of help when we feel that the effort may be to great. Friends can be there, family can be, personal belief and faith. All these add up to positive supports to give us the strength, determination and energy to follow through.

Check out the blog on Mother Earth News that describes the process and labor involved in putting a stone fascia on our home to enhance the beauty and protect against wildfire.  I also reported on the misting system for exposed wood like the deck and had a call from John with Advanced Misting Systems yesterday that our new mist system is in the mail.  Seems to me a bargin at $119.00. These folks are really good to do business with. John told me he is only a few miles from the California wildfires that are now burning out of control.  That is one scary experience we hope to avoid by being proactive.  

See the article at http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/installing-masonry-stone-zbcz1305.aspx#axzz2Sc6qVmxG

Moving On From Guilt - By Sakoieta'

Remembering our past often has the potential to bring up negative images as well as good. Remembering can be painful without any real benefit. Much of the time, though, it helps us move ahead and to go on to do what we have to do. It is far too easy to carry around false guilt, a wrong idea, to override our good memories. We lose sight of the positive things we have done and the happiness we have shared by recalling a thousand impossible wishes we wanted to come true. But it doesn’t do any good to drag these things of the past into the now where they can dwarf the present time because the past was not what we hoped it would be. It is important to focus and remember people, places and things that were dear to us. To remember them with pleasure does them more honor than to on what we did or didn’t do in the past.

Mother Earth News Has It's Web Site Up And Running Again

Mother Earth News is back up and running again.  I just submitted a new blog on stone work but now that pot is legal in Colorado I should have named it stoned work.  All joking aside doing stone work is hard tedious labor but when the job is done it sure looks nice.
The new and revised web site is a REALLY nice site and so much more efficient than the old site.  It is easier to make comments and by clicking on the persons name on the tag line it will show you all the postings they have made.  It allows readers to submit email questions or comments to the writer once they have  logged in on the site. I don't know presently if my present submission will go under the DIY heading or under Homesteading but it should be live sometime tomorrow.
Check out the new site and I think you will find it more improved from the old site.  It is still at www.motherearthnews.com.  

Thinking Through Problems Rationally - By Sakoieta'

One thing I relearned again, after having to deal with some traumatic family events is that sometimes in life we just have to learn to take living in stride, to side step a great many things and completely ignore a great many more. When we do this we can then rid ourselves of things we have saved for no good reason, whether they be physical, emotions we have carried, or thoughts that have no place within our minds. We then have room for things we really do want in our lives. We’ll find we will worry less about trouble, while still knowing some people need it just to feel secure, but we no longer do. When we do this we will be happy just to be able to take time to sit or do things or visit and spend time with people or things that make us just basically happy.

Editorial comment: 
Sakoieta' has a methodical and intelligent way of approaching topics that are often over looked in our every day  busy lives.  It is a pleasure to post his wise, well thought out. inspiring and challenging comments to this blog.  He is a rare person in our hectic self absorbed world and posting his comments hopefully will lead us to a more well balanced and grounded life and give us pause to think.  I find his comments and observations on life a tremendous value and hope other readers find them equally helpful. It is especially rewarding to have him as a friend whose wisdom continually speaks to my very nature.  Sakoieta' a rare gem in a field of rocks... When he reads these comments he will feel them totally unnecessary due to his truly humble nature but I for one am grateful that he is willing to share his philosphy with all readers thereby making our lives richer one small step at a time.  

Dangers Of Lying: By Sakoieta'

No one can be happy who has 

been thrust outside the pale of 

truth. And there are two ways 

that one can be removed from

this realm: by lying, or by being

lied to.  

Lucius Annaeus Seneca 

Roman Philospher  

3 BC - 65 AD

When we hear truth it is as sweet as the cleanest best tasting water we ever drank. Truth can very easily stand by itself forever. A lie in whatever form, is deceit and deceit is a major block to lasting relationships, to friendships, and to stable lives. Liars are lost in a world of their own making. We have seen lying glamorized in a world of make believe until the real world has difficulty telling the truth, even when there was no real need to lie. Even little white lies thought to be harmless are barriers, wrongs, that all stand in the way of honor and truth. The biggest lie of all is that lying in any way is harmless. Truth sees through the veil of a lie and all credibility is wiped out. We need to live truth, love truth, act in truthful ways, share truth and teach truth.

More Raw Beauty

 When I let the dogs out to go potty I noted the sun had set or was setting behind the mountain and everything looked black and white.  Ran back in to grab the camera to share these photos. Raw beauty at its very best.  How wonderful to just walk out our door and see all this intricate and beautiful wonder right in front of you.

April 23, Snow

 These are photos taken about 15 minutes ago on our way home from dropping some mail at the front gate.

The above photos had 6 adult turkeys in it but by the time I got the window down they were back in the woods.  If you look carefully I think you can see a couple.

Dealing With Stress - Sakoieta'

On any given day, at any given time, stress can creep up on us and suddenly we find ourselves in a world where our hearts are racing, our mind and thinking is shaky, our body reacts and we are momentarily unstable. It is at these times we need to stop and stand still momentarily in order to get a good grasp of who we are, what we are about, and how we do things in order to deal with this new stressor. By doing this we can now open ourselves to speaking words of calmness and peace to ourselves. we need to speak so the we think the peace, feel the peace, and see it. We need to think of peace permeating our entire being so that it is closer than our hands and feet, closer even than our own breathing. We become one with peace. We will find our body will accept this and we will be able to focus better, more clearly and continue on in peace doing what we need to do.

Heart Attack Snow

14" plus new snow and it is slush on the bottom and light fluffy snow on the top.  Sticks to your shovel and the shovel becomes extremely heavy.  Go to toss a shovel of snow and the weight is so much that the shovel flies right out of your hands.  This is the type of snow that you leave in place and let the sun work on it for a couple days.  Too heavy to shovel, too heavy to push.  The photo above is my garden box that had sprouts coming up yesterday.  Sarah in the background wondering what happened, I was laying on the deck in the sun yesterday and I didn't know I hibernated and missed summer.  

 While I was out taking photos this little guy flew right up to feed so I took a photo of him also to share.  He had to be hungry as all his other food sources are covered with snow.

The above photo shows our mud room roof.  The sun is coming up and it has warmed up from 4 degrees to 16 degrees so this will all melt off in a couple days if the sun stays out.  The sun will compact it down and it will melt away and we should see bare ground in a few days again.  Even the snow thrower can't handle this slop and clogs up so we will let the sun work on it and just stay home for a few days.

Add Feathers To Your Arrow With Caution - By Sakoieta'

Heard some excellent words today. My partner was video taping a copy of Crooked Arrows when I walked into the room. The old man on there was telling the "Joe Logan" character to be careful so that he doesn’t provide a feather in the arrow someone may use to shoot at him. I thought about this for quite awhile and realized how often some of us may do this because we feel we can trust everyone that we meet and often then reveal too much of our lives, who we are, what we do, what we believe, etc before we really realize whether these people we are speaking to can really be trusted. Some people we can, but then there are always others who take what we have shared with them, twist it and do use it to shoot at us to try to do us in. We all need to be careful that we are not providing the feather for an arrow of that kind.

Current Blogs

Perhaps some have wondered why none of my blogs for Mother Earth News have been cross posted to our personal blog site here.  I have one in the hopper to be published but Mother is changing over to a better system.  Going strictly from memory, when I first started to write a blog for Mother several years ago they were getting roughly one million viewers per week on the web site.  The blogs were getting over 30,000 per week.  That has increased to where their system needs to be updated to accommodate all the viewer's who are looking at that site world wide.  

Therefore they have the original system shut down for new entries while they make the transition to the new system. I'm told the new system will be very much improved and easier for us bloggers to use. Sometimes it took quite a while to get a blog posted (days) and I'm really looking forward to the new system. The latest 'hopeful' date to be up and running is next Monday but my guess the IT guys will have to recover from their nervous breakdown first.  I can't imagine the second largest magazine in the country switching over to a newer and improved high capacity system.  What a colossal headache that must be. As soon as the new system is up and running and tested for any flaws  I will be posting again on Mother Earth blog site. I'm told that there will be no sub headings like Happy Homesteader and that we will all be posting under just one heading. Also that our individual blogs will be linked so those readers who follow us individually or by topic can do so.  

It is also difficult for readers to post a comment on a blog presently and hopefully that will improve and more dialog will be possible.  So as soon as their system is up and running again I will cross post my weekly blog to this site too.  

Cell Phone Etiquet - By Sakoieta'

Cell phones and texting. I appreciate that mankind has been able to develop technological devices that now make our lives easier. But these, like anything else have to be used in a responsible manner other wise what is a positive and useful tool and way of communicating can also be a weapon that causes more problems and can hurt relationships. For all you people who text, learn to also use correct punctuation other wise messages you send can be seriously misunderstood. Even in having a cell phone, if I can talk person to person with someone I prefer doing things in that manner. That way there is more of a chance of being understood than being misunderstood and it creates little confusion.

Worthwhile Wisdom From: Sakoieta'

Most arguments are traps of one kind or another. They should be avoided like poison. We need to realize that anyone who comes to us to argue rather than sit with us and discuss things in a peaceful manner is not really looking to resolve issues only to throw their anger like burning sparks on anyone who is in listening range. When someone approaches us in this manner we need to allow ourselves to relax right out of it and not be party to it. Why do we need to end up being the other half of an argument that was merely a disguised trap in the first place? The argument or disagreement is really with the other person, leave it there. The best revenge of any kind is always to refuse to argue or fight. Peaceful and reasonable discussions bring change and usually can improve relationships. Nasty arguments usually do little of anything other than having one person trying to assert their power over others. This is neither fair nor does it include solutions for both parties or help in dealing with the issue at hand.

A Snake In The Grass

A co- worker of mine when I worked in Orlando took a friend of his fishing on one of central Florida's many grassy lakes.  His friend had come down from up north to do some Florida fishing and visit his friend.  As they were motoring along a channel with grass on both sides of them, fishing the holes in the grass, they came upon a very large water moccasin laying on top of the grass with dozens of baby snakes laying across its back. As they eased by the friend reached over and grabbed a paddle and took a swing at the snake and missed and his momentum took him right over the side of the boat. Fortunately the other guy was close enough to reach out and grab his belt before he fully dove into the water. As my co-worker told this story his comment was: "isn't that just like a Yankee, piss off a bunch of poisonous snakes and then jump into the water with them". Anyone who has ever been around this species of snake should know that it is nothing to be trifled with. The bigger they are the meaner they are.

That story reminds me of the new form of diplomacy being used by N. Korea and Kim Jung-Un.  Threaten a super power, their allies with total destruction and then give them weekly updates on your progress. Somehow that co-worker story and the present machinations by the N. Korea leader connect in my mind. I'm glad, for what ever reason the US has, that they are using restraint with this saber rattler.

USA Costilla County, Colorado

 Here are some photos I took on a recent trip to town in Ft. Garland.  This public park is right on Hwy 160 and I drive by it often.  Every once in a while I stop and read some of the names on the granite wall and reflect on our freedom in this country and how it comes with a price.  I took these photos for a blog I have submitted to Mother Earth News magazine.

For being a relatively small population Costilla County residents honor their veterans with great esteem and pride.  I just like to stop and read some of the names and reflect on my own military background.

Lemming Or Independent Thinker - Life Lesson 11

It is a myth that lemmings jump as a group over a cliff to kill themselves. It is a fact that they will migrate on occasion collectively. Scientists have several theories but no one seems to be able to get into the mind of the rodent for the complete answer. Hence they do go en mass together even though it occasionally is group destruction. They will go off a cliff into the water and attempt to swim to another area for reasons of their own.  Sometimes they do not have the endurance to make that swim and die in the process. They start out with good intentions but all end up dying anyway. It is not understood why this rodent joins a mass of others of like kind but they do and seem to attempt to migrate as a group. Sometimes it doesn't work out for them. 

Over the years many comparisons have been made between the apparent self destructive tendencies of the lemming and humans. Both mis judge their capacity and ability.  While the mass suicide of lemmings is a myth the comparison between their self destruction and humans who follow others or agenda's blindly is anything but myth. I have personally observed that some people find it easier to follow a false ideal, a convincing person, or what appears to them what may be the right direction than to think for themselves.

As a matter of fact I see articulate people who can express themselves very adroitly with good educations blindly follow what is flawed, what makes no sense or is destructive to others or themselves on a regular basis.  Some support people who are clearly defective out of a sense of friendship or for reasons that only a therapist could fathom. Friendship is not following( like a lemming) blindly even when you know that ideal or friend is wrong.  A good friend will give that friend who is headed wrongly another choice of a right or better way and still support them as a friend. Supporting someone who is clearly wrong or with evil intentions is not being a good friend. The old axiom that two wrongs don't make a right is flawlessly correct and two people who choose to do wrong don't make a right either. It just makes two people very wrong.  It is better to support a friend but not endorse or support their bad idea or choice and therefore become part of that bad decision. 

We humans seem to be conditioned to be followers and not think independently for ourselves anymore. We have various forms of media that prefer us that way. Some people are so committed to always being right that they manipulate others who may not agree with them. They are persuaded that like the lemming the bigger following they can accumulate the more right they are. The challenge for all of us is to think independently and base our decisions on established facts and not loyalties or half truths.  A half fact is also  half lie. It is possible to support a friend and not what they are doing. 

 This would be this old mountain man's life lesson #11.  Be yourself, think for yourself, make choices and decisions based upon fact and not instinct or half truths.  Instinct can be wrong sometimes even though it may seem right. By the time you discover you are wrong you just may be to far down that trail to recover and save yourself. If you are afraid you will lose a friend if you disagree with them - maybe they weren't much of a friend to begin with.  You have become a lemming who will perish with the mass of other lemmings who may just be blind followers and not independent thinkers.  

One of my favorite sayings is:  "Never Judge till you've heard the other side." Euripides (480-406 B.C.)  By listening to only one side you may have heard only half the story.  If you take the time to listen to all the facts you might be tempted to take the other side.  It takes less effort to be hasty than correct. I have personally witnessed many a reputation be ruined by those who were hasty and then spent enormous effort to proof their faulty thinking was right and did not have a real friend to disagree with them respectfully. Don't be a lemming, it is not a good choice at all and could end in your friends destruction as well as your own.      

Be Yourself - By Sakoieta'

I remember when I was a teenager wanting to be a drummer just like Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa. My Grandpa took me aside and told me that there was no way I could be like someone else and it was really a waste of time to try. He said if I wanted to be a good drummer to work at being as good as I could be so the world was aware there was a third drummer, me. It made me realize we can only be better in our own way. We know right from wrong, regardless of how the world or others have tried to recondition us to their way of doing things by following the crowd. Nothing or no one except ourselves can keep us from hearing our own voices of common sense. We can and should refuse to be a part of anything that was not a an extending of the gifts we brought with us from Sky World, when we were born, to share with others while we walk upon the earth for the many days we have to do so. There are voices outside who will tell us to be like them and do things the way they want, but they really serve no good purpose only to distract us from being the people we are destined to be when we came here in the first place.

Life Lesson 283 - Could The World Be Better?

Do you ever wonder as I do, could the world be a better place.  It seems to me that a good start would be if people would look up from their smart phones once in a while to smile or engage other people. Having just come back from town I note that most people walk around with their smart phone to their ear or walking along looking down at it. The information highway is a wonderful thing but walking around in a bubble shutting other people out is not good either. I suspect that many do that just so they appear busy and don't have to engage others, and isolate themselves.  I wonder what ever happened to the old fashioned way of looking a stranger in the eye and talking to them - even if it was just about the weather.

It seems to me that people today seem so wrapped up in themselves and looking busy that they lose their connection with other people. What could be so important that they have to be talking all the time on their smart phone. As they walk around the store, as they drive their vehicle, as they stand in the check out line, wait at the doctors office and just about every where else they go. Since I don't have one maybe I don't fully understand that they are like an adult pacifier.  Maybe they have just lost the sensitivity toward others with all this new technology that is available.  Maybe there is a new  etiquette today that you don't smile or make eye contact when you are pretending to be engaged in conversation on your phone. I have over heard some of those important conversations and they are not working if you seek to be smarter.  Actually they seem to be dumbing down a lot of the population if you ask me.

It used to be that safe burglars would sand their finger tips to make them super sensitive and the nerves so acute that they could feel the tumblers fall into place as they turned the dial. Maybe we need to sand our senses so that we are more aware of the people around us so we can compliment someone on their nice shoes, hair style, smile, or just talk about the weather. Would that make the world a better place?  I think so but then safe crackers no longer sand their finger tips because the safes today are electronic and tumblers don't fall into place anymore.  I guess the same rational applies to interpersonal relations as long as we can hold a smart phone to our ear or walk along holding it in front of us.  Maybe we no longer need the human interaction like we once did, and now we can have the perfect 'virtual' relationship electronically.

Just my observation but maybe the world hasn't changed at all.  Maybe we have changed and isolated ourselves. Technology can be a very good thing to possess but so can human contact with strangers.  

Happy Birthday Gypsy

 Gypsy would have been 16 years old today.  We miss her alot. She was a sweet girl that was happy right up until she became very sick.  We are happy that she is frolicing in the fields of heaven because she was perfect in every way here on earth. She had so many good features that room would not allow them.  She was just a very good girl that was totally devoted to her family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GYPSY....Wish you were still here.

New Laminate Flooring

Here is the installation photo of our new laminate flooring.  For the complete story go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteasder/choose-laminate-flooring.aspx#axzz2P2Hi0pm8

We decided on laminate flooring because of its reasonable cost, a project I could do, and its durability and beauty.  It was easy to install but difficult on the old knees so it was done over a few days.  Now that it is finished with the new base boards and trim it looks really good and worth the effort.  

Change - By Sakoieta

It’s amazing to me what lengths people will go to, to try to keep change from happening for themselves, family or friends. They will even go as far as hurting the relationships of those they claim to love and care about by getting angry and criticizing those who are accepting change on a daily basis and adjusting their lives accordingly. They really need to accept the fact that everything changes and nothing remains the same and accept this daily occurrence as normal and accept it as something that causes them to grow helping to enhance their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being. Change cannot be stopped, we can only allow ourselves to accept it and adapt to it in the best ways possible. We do become better and stronger people as a result.

Expect The Unexpected

When you live in the mountains you need to always expect the unexpected.  Yesterday I was headed down (accessed from outside) to the basement and saw this pickup truck drive by which is a shock since we don't get traffic on our road in the winter.  The sun was out and it was bright with the sun reflecting off the snow.  The driver either did not see the pile of snow across the road which was about two feet deep or thought he could drive through it. As it turns out he was heading down to a lot he had bought to check it out.  Being from out of state he would not know how difficult our roads can be in the winter.  What was not apparent is that only the top two inches of snow was fresh and the pile of snow where the road equipment had stopped plowing was mostly ice. With our temperatures getting up to the 50's in the day and dropping to 5 degrees at night it was pretty solid. It made a nice ramp to launch his truck from.  The front of the truck went over the solid bank of ice and the left front wheel came down in the ditch. Even though it was a four wheel drive the four wheel drive would not engage with the truck twisted at an odd angle like that.

The right rear wheel is the only one that would engage and it was off the ground just enough to keep from gaining traction.  Besides it had to pull the heavy part of the truck backwards out of the ditch.  After numerous cell phone calls to get some heavy equipment to pull the truck out or hire a tow truck it was pretty obvious no one was going to respond.  I knew my vehicles were not strong enough to pull a crew cab truck out of the ditch with ice on the road.  We had been shoveling some of the ice and snow from the rear of the truck and after a few hours of waiting there was nothing left to do but shovel out the rest of the truck.  We took turns shoveling which was not easy for a person not used to the altitude. I have a steel choker that is 60 feet long and a two ton come along.  We were able to winch the truck just far enough to get it level again where the four wheel drive finally engaged. After that he was out but we had spent most of the day waiting, shoveling,talking and winching.

When you live in the mountains it pays to be aware that conditions can be different even quarter of a mile away.  We finally got him shoveled out (some of the hardest shoveling I've done in a while) and he was back on his way. My reward was seeing a relieved and happy face.  The good thing was that I got to meet a very nice man and got some needed exercise in the process. A few folks in our community will not lift a finger to help anyone who is not their closest friend.  Most others will not leave someone stranded. In my opinion it is the right and neighborly thing to do and I'm glad he got stuck where he did as it would have been much harder and far more dangerous to get him unstuck  had he gone on down the road a ways.  Living in the mountains you really never know what to expect and a routine day can turn into an adventure in short order. My day really improved in being able to meet a very nice man. Mountain conditions require constant alertness and always being prepared. This incident turned out well but could have very serious had it not happened where it did. Mountain motto - always be prepared.  

Frosty Morn

 It is always a time of wonder when I wake up and see the trees frosted.  There is a special beauty in having everything frosted early in the morning.

Even the wire fence gathers frost and has its own unique beauty.  If you click on the pictures they will enlarge. 

Recovering From Mistakes - By Sakoieta

I remember being told a long time ago that any man can make a mistake but only a fool will continue to make the same mistake over and over. Thinking on this I think also that since we all make mistakes in our life only a fool would also continue to judge a person by the one mistake that was made and then never allow themselves to move past it. When we or others have fallen short of or missed the mark we can choose to recognize it and leave it there where it happened. There is no use in stirring an old mistake into every new thing that we do. There will always be things that seem to break our hearts, pain that will go on and on. But we do have the ability to work through it. We grieve for the loss of things, or persons or ache for what we cannot do to change situations, but there does come a day when the sun shines through. Time heals more quickly when we decide to let it. Our main understanding is that we can only take responsibility for our part in all things and leave others to carry theirs.

Springtime - Rainbow On The Ceiling

According to the officials Spring arrived on March 20, 2013.  According to our prism hanging in the window with the rainbow on the ceiling it started today. There were several rainbows on the ceiling but the light washed most out.  This one came our pretty clear.  For us spring has officially arrived now.

Peace Makers -- By Sakoieta

Peacemaking seems to be almost a lost art today and yet it one of the most important activities we can ever engage in if we want a balance to return to our lives and beyond. Reaching for peace and extending forgiveness is necessary for so many things that go wrong. Forgiveness and peacemaking never degrades a person or situation, it only elevates it and them and is not to let someone get away with something but to free ourselves from an entanglement. It frees us from a bitter resentment that can make us sick, and can help heal the sickness if it is already there. Eventually it makes us glad we did not react, doing or saying things that would have caused us to later be sorry for our words or actions.

Deer Whisperer?

This may sound strange but actually it is true.  Some may refer to it as coincidence, some may say I'm reading more into it than exists, some may say I'm totally off my rocker.  The fact is that it did happen and has happened so many different times that I do not attribute it to coincidence.  I have encountered other people that have the same attributes. I know one man who can walk up to a full grown bear and scratch it on the head.  Animals have different instincts than we humans and when there is a connection between the two species it is a remarkable thing to behold and experience. I can't explain the connection but you know when it is happening.  

One time many years ago I was going fishing when I saw a deer get hit by a car.  The deer was cut and bruised but survived the crash. The deer ran over and used a fence to stabilize itself.  The deer was in shock and in panic mode.  I stopped and went up to it to see if I could help it. In just talking to it I could see it calm somewhat.  Going up to a wild animal in panic and shock is highly risky if not outright ignorant but I could see in its eyes that it was calming.  I comforted it until more help arrived and we loaded the deer in a truck and I held it in my lap and kept it calm as we took it to the vet.  I held it most of the way and then another guy took over.  The deer recovered but a deer gone crazy in the cab of a pick up truck with two men could be a very unfortunate occurrence. The deer knew that we were helping it and it stayed calm as we drove down the road to the wild animal rescue.  It was clearly its instincts but picking that deer up, carrying it to the truck and loading it in the front seat could have been disaster but instead it understood we were helping it. 

Animals are far more intelligent and have more acute instincts that we possess and when the connection is made between them and us it is an incredible experience. When an animal that instinctively does not trust humans to begin with does so; and if you happen to be the human, it is an incredible and life changing experience.  

For more on this go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/the-happy-homesteader/deer-whisperer.aspx#axzz2OAk8UHIH

March 16,2013 - Satire

Amazing!!!!  Here it is the middle of March and our driveway is bare.  In 16 winters we have never seen our driveway bare at this time of year.  In addition the temp's have been in the 50's every day,  well above normal. Snow is melting like crazy and running down the ditches. Hmmmmm, maybe there really is something to this global warming after all.  We  know it is happening but how much man contributes is a big question for me. Maybe we are truly headed toward some cataclysmic crisis. Maybe I should look on the good side of this.  If the polar ice caps melt and the sea rises as high as predicted when N. Korea launches its nuclear war heads at our West coast they will fall into the water. They keep threatening to do that so the question is when and not if.  Probably wishful thinking they will fall into the water but clearly there is something to this global warming - look at our driveway as this is highly abnormal.  Normal snowfall for this time of year is 240" and so far we have half that amount, 120". The temperatures have been very warm here all winter with the exception of a few weeks.  We are not burning the normal amount of firewood that we usually burn so the up side of that is we will have a good stock on hand when the next ice age happens which is also predicted.

In addition wildfires are already happening so that clearly is not good. Certainly nothing to take lightly and not something to take casually. We can't do anything about the weather anyway but we can spend our time doing as much wildfire mitigation just in case.    

Another Home Run By Sakoieta

Forgiveness is a virtue that I find being practiced less and less especially when I read about the political ilk of this country and the greed, graft and corruption they practice. True forgiveness is offered immediately by people who know they have either accidently offended someone or unknowingly did it. Forgiveness of that nature carries with it responsibility, restitution, reconcilliation and finally restoration. It has nothing to do with people doing wrong, denying it, and then finally being forced to say they are sorry. That is pure BS, anyway they want to wrap it or package it. It really shows the arrogance of a human being who cannot look within themselves to seek true forgiveness when wrongs or errors have been committed and then they refuse to take the time to work in a way that leads to as much restoration of the relationship as can be accomplished between them and the ones who were offended by their wrongs.