2007-02-18

A skiff of snow had fallen overnight and what had melted yesterday evening from Jim’s application of calcium chloride at St. Luke’s had refrozen in the frigid night. Jim got up at daybreak and spread 200 pounds of calcium chloride all around the parking lots and sidewalks and then blew and scooped snow until all the church stairs and rampways were clear before the 8 AM service.

He came home with a tasty breakfast treat with which we often indulge ourselves on Sundays – Krispy Kreme donuts. We know the sugar rush is not good for us, but allow ourselves the sweet taste once in the week.

I did not go to church as I still feel quite poorly. Indeed, I am somewhat concerned that I have not bounced back. I napped a good deal of the morning away, hoping to feel better enough to handle the channeling, and after lunch did the same again, to no avail. I felt weak as a kitten. As I tuned for the session today, I asked the Q’uo group if I would be OK to channel, as I felt so very low-energy. They replied that if I were patient and worked slowly, I would be fine, as my channel was clear, just very weak. And that turned out to be the case.

We had a good group this Sunday, with Carmen, who had come early to put in some volunteer time on formatting the database she has created of my poetry, Romi, who came early to set up for the recording of the session for the computer group meeting in cyberspace, Mark from Nashville and Tom F, who had been missing in action for several weeks, taking his grandson to various swim meets all around this area.

Tom and his wife chose several years ago to raise him as their son, as Daniel’s mother, Tom’s wife’s daughter from her first marriage, is a crack addict and in and out of prison. I greatly admire Tom and Nancy for taking on a family at their age – they are both retired from their work. His grandson, Daniel, has a gift for swimming. Daniel’s excellence in swimming keeps Tom hopping! He takes him to early morning practice six mornings a week, plus taking him to swim meets both for school and for Lakeside Swim Club, a premier local swim team out of which came Mary T Maher some years back.

Romi had a question today about religion and the group liked it, so our group question had to do with how to find your way amidst the confusion of various dogmas and creeds to the truth.

After the session, which recorded successfully for the airwaves as far as I know, thank the Lord, we had Romi’s Love Tea and Mark’s homemade blackberry wine to enjoy, and good conversation.

In time, Jim offered a handsome feast to the crowd, roasted turkey and a new recipe for scalloped corn and tomatoes which everyone loved. I was not able to eat, one of the side effects of this last bit of illness being to remove my ability to eat in the evening, but I did drink a nutrition drink, and I take both a one-a-day vitamin-mineral tablet and a liquid infusion of minerals daily, so even if I cannot eat, I know good nutrients are being given to my system.

After we sat down for supper Gary, who had come back from visiting his friend in Corbin, joined us with a video he offered for us to see called Rize, about clown dancing groups in Los Angeles. There are groups of young people who create clown faces for themselves and dance to act out their many emotions, turning anger and feelings of disempowerment into positive entertainment for themselves and the neighborhood.

It seems to be working for disadvantaged kids there, where the clown groups support each other and keep each other out of the gangs which are plentiful on the mean streets of Watts and east L.A. It was inspiring and the dancing was very interesting to an old gypsy like me. It felt funny to hear the kids talk of how they lack any arts training because they are poor and no one in society cares to offer them any advantages. I was one of the “advantaged” kids to which the teenagers in Rize referred with some scorn, with my six years of ballet and my twelve years of modern dancing training. They kept referring to their lack of chances for training in the arts. However they are making beautiful art themselves with their dancing, training or not.

After we offered the Gaia Meditation, the group broke up for the night. Jim and I said good night to our guests and came upstairs, where we had a good conversation with Mom McCarty, who reports that she is preparing for our trip to see her, which begins next Friday. We can pray for good weather for that trip!

Mick and I snuggled with the cats and enjoyed some music on TV until we said good night around 11 PM.