....my daughter and the waltons

The Waltons

It's raining and snowing again here in the foothills near Yosemite...the ground is saturated...it bubbles, we have streams where there shouldn't be any.  But my neighbors to the north in Oakhurst have taken a lot harder hit...too much wet snow for the Oak trees.

They split in half with the weight and in some cases the earth is seems to  spit them out at the roots. 

There is no electricity for thousands today and it's been out since Saturday
....Madera County is considering calling for a state of emergency...
Yosemite is closed...roads are impassable....trees down everywhere.  Roads everywhere are dangerous because of flash floods and slides.

tThese rainy days tend to make me want to curl up with something I love and stay still. 

 Today I checked to see if there might be a rare gem on tv I would enjoy watching......
and I found The Waltons!  Two episodes back to back...Two hour of a show I watched every week while I was pregnant with my first baby.

 I loved that show.

It is centered around a family growing up in rural Virgina in the 1930's

 during the Great Depression and WWII....they didn't have a lot but boy were they rich.  

The family consists of John and Olivia Walton, their 7 children, 
and their wise, wise, grandparents....actually they were all wise in their own way..
.they talked, shared meals and chores....
No TV .....The kids played outside...without coaches.

The stories told each week are seen through the eyes of the oldest son, john Boy, an aspiring writer.  

  He told simple stories of  his family, who were always supportive of each other. 

Each week problems would arise but within that one hour they would be solved, 
there would be healing.....

The show was about love..

did I say I really liked this show...it was filled with spirit...

Todays shows were still as I remembered them..
and I was afraid they wouldn't be as good...
afraid they might seem just too sappy...out of date...

but they weren't,  it's still wonderful feel good TVtv

at the  end of the last episode I watched he expressed his gratitude because, 

'the love of our mother and father was more constant then the stars in the sky.'...that's the love I have for my girls..

This is my daughter.. Erin

She is named after a Walton...

what can I say..

There were three Walton daughters...Erin, Mary Ellen and Elizabeth....I liked the name Elizabeth a lot, and it was almost hers, but my stepmom was an Elizabeth and my mom wasn't going to go for that...Mary Ellen...not right...so she became Erin.  

I think I wanted the Waltons experience of  love and trust in family for her.  

I wanted her to have the  feeling that as a team everything is better....

and that she is unconditionally loved.  

I wanted her to know life doesn't have to be filled with things to be fullfilling...and I wanted her to have a love of nature.  

Well...I think it worked, that name  

She is an amazing woman who loves unconditionally.  

One of the best women I know...

She is young, but she is strong, wise, beautiful, smart, caring and creative.  

She's a mom, a sister, wife, worker bee, friend, daughter, animal activist...

she wears all those hats with pride and heart.  

And now she is a blogger 

My Journey to Make a Difference

She is writing about her planned trip to Japan in November..

.her journey to do something for the dolphins of Taiji.  

She wants the annual slaughter to stop.

And she is willing to go there and stand witness.  

There is a saying that once you become an agent for something it becomes your responsibility to speak for it, and she is doing that.

I am proud of her passion....proud she is a passionate woman.

Take a peek at her blog...join her on her journey.

...the simple feeling of being

"Is this not obvious?  Aren't you already aware of existing?  Don't you already feel the simple Feeling of Being?  Don't you already possess this immediate gateway to ultimate Spirit, which is nothing other than the the simple Feeling of Being? 

And don't you already realize that this Feeling is Spirit itself? 

 Godhead itself?  Emptiness itself? 

Spirit does not pop into existence: it is the only thing that is constant in your experience...and that is the simple Feeling of Being itself, a subtle, constant, background awareness that, if you look very closely, very carefully, you will realize you have had ever since the Big Band and before...

not because you existed way back when, 

but because you truly exist prior to time,

 in this timeless moment, 

whose feeling is the simple Feeling of Being:

 now, and now, and always and forever now.

You feel the simple Feeling of Being? 

Who is not already enlightened?"

Ken Wilber...The Simple Feeling of Being

.....let's play

 It's World Book Day. Game rules : Grab the book nearest to you and turn to page 56, write down the 5th sentence. Don't choose your favorite book - choose the one nearest to you right now! Post the sentence here in comments and we can see what we collectively have learned...let's share.

Here is what I got...and it is very pertinent...ah the Universe and it's messages.

"It is wise to endure difficulty with restraint, 

in this way the resolution comes sooner."

...no Frontiers

To hold us 'til the day when fear will lose its grip
And heaven has its ways
And heaven has its ways
When all will harmonize