2008-02-28

After a bath and a briefer than usual Morning Offering, Mick wheeled me down to the backstage area and Annie, on the Congress staff, got me wired for sound. I chatted for a few minutes with Leo Sprinkle before he stepped onstage to introduce me.

The talk went well, I think. It was a very positive and supportive audience and the PowerPoint presentation went well with no glitches in the first part, which was tagged to my topics, or in the second part, which was a slide show. I got some good questions at the end of the session.

I probably spent about an hour signing books after the presentation. It was grand to be selling books at a faster rate. We are now beginning to sell out of many of our offerings, which bodes well for being able to carry everything home after the Congress is over on Saturday. Our flight leaves the next day, Sunday. And it will be wonderful to be home again! Now that the speech has been offered, I can begin to look forward to that!

It was incredibly, miraculously lucky that I managed to move through the speech with only a couple of coughs. I made up for it the rest of the day, coughing myself silly, but being unable to cough anything up. I continue to feel quite ill. But I also feel absolutely thrilled and joyful! We stayed on task and did what we came to do!

In the afternoon I received two requests for interviews, one from a movie-maker whose name I still do not know and one from Fate Magazine. The filmer came to the room at eventide and filmed both Jim and me for about 15 minutes, for her documentary on waking up to love.

Jim took Aaron and me to Outback Steak House for dinner, mostly to thank Aaron for her hard work at the vendor’s table these last few days. It was a delicious meal! I offered the prayer at the Gaia Meditation, which we three offered together before Mick and I said good night to Aaron.

What bliss awaited me after that! Jim was feeling amorous and asked me for a date, so we ended our evening in sacred play, romping in the fields of the Lord.

2008-02-27

After Morning Offering I napped all morning, even though I had enjoyed a very sound night’s sleep last night. Jim was actually up and dressed before he woke me, a complete turn-around to our usual routine.

Aaron came up for lunch and we enjoyed conversation and sandwiches from Mick’s store of groceries. Then I went back to bed except for an attempt to hear what Leo Sprinkle had to say, which was aborted as I had to get back to the room and take care of some I. C. symptoms. Jim, however, went back to his lecture and enjoyed the rest of it. And Leo has promised to introduce me tomorrow. I am so pleased! Leo and I met in 1975 making a UFO-related film, and I have thought so much of him, ever since.

Aaron brought up several books for me to sign during the afternoon. She has been such a huge help, spelling Mick at the vendor’s table!

We all took in the “Meet the Speakers” dinner tonight, offering the Gaia Meditation right at our table at the appropriate hour. Jim prayed at the end of this meditation tonight.

2008-02-26

Again, I was blessed to spend the entire day in my most pleasant room. After Morning Offering, I slept through most of the morning and almost all of the afternoon. I cannot imagine how I could be so weary, because I am sleeping very well at night, but the daytime sleep feels very good and I am enjoying this period of profound rest. I continue to exhibit the symptoms of bronchitis and the heart-related symptoms as well.

Mick and Romi split the duties of our L/L Research vendor’s table throughout the morning and as Romi prepared to leave the conference to fly home to Kentucky, Aaron T came in from Washington. She is visiting in order to help us with the vendor’s table and to hear me speak. We all enjoyed a conversation before Aaron and the guys went to the vendors’ room so they could show her the ropes.

Aaron stayed at the table all afternoon while I slept. Jim collected her when he returned from driving Romi in to Las Vegas to catch his plane and we all had sandwiches for dinner, supping on the groceries he had brought with him from the trip.

We had our Gaia Meditation a bit early so that we could have a longer session than usual and include Aaron. It was a very good meditation and I offered the closing prayer. Afterwards, Aaron offered me a Reiki session before she left.

Mick and I had a lovely tryst after that, and went right from sharing energy and gradually stepping down to afterglow to our final prayers and bedtime.

2008-02-25

Still feeling quite unwell, I happily rested after Morning Offering, falling asleep over my book in the morning hours and again in the afternoon. It is an unusual use to make of being in a resort hotel, but this is my hospital! And I feel sure that in the days to come I will continue to recover. Hopefully by Thursday I will feel much better! Even if I do not, I am good to go! Just try and keep me away from that podium on Thursday morning! I greatly look forward to offering my talk here.

Mick and Romi split up the vendor-table duties while I whiled away my hours here in this large, pleasant room. We continue to sell very little. I discovered that Romi will be here until tomorrow afternoon, and when he leaves he will carry back one of our loads of books with his extra suitcase, leaving Mick and me with far less to sell or to pack home here at the convention.

Aaron T. is coming in sometime this evening and we will rendezvous with her tomorrow. She hopes to be able to help at the vendor table also, which is very good indeed of her!

At 6:00 p.m., Mick and I attended the Speakers and Benefactors Dinner, a generously catered meal. We sat with Jordan, Russell, Joan and Mary, all benefactors and all of whom were aware of our work at L/L Research. Their kind words were heart-warming indeed! On my right sat Abigail, a fellow speaker with me at the Time of Global Shift gatherings back in 2003 and 2004. She is now on staff with this convention, which is very large and takes year-round production.

Afterwards, we all posed for group portraits which will go up on the International UFO Congress web site, www.ufocongress.com.

Mick and I prayed for peace together this evening in the midst of the banquet and offered our Gaia Meditation without fanfare at table.

2008-02-24

This has been a quiet day for me, resting almost entirely in our room. After Morning Offering and our stretching exercises, Jim went to the vendors’ hall to man our table and he and Romi switched off all day. I decided, in the late afternoon, to go sit at our table as my outing of the day, since none of the lecturers appealed to me.

In the evening, Romi joined us to share a room-service supper and the Oscars on television. I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-23

After a wakeful night beset with one nightmare after another, all aimed at reducing my feelings of self-worth, and liberally bestowed with coughing and sneezing fits, I arose most thankful that it was daylight and that none of my dreams was true! Mick and I made our Morning Offering and had our breakfast from room service.

Jim and Romi set up the vendor table. Our table space has been reduced to half a table and Mick says a most trying person is sharing table space with L/L Research. We sold exactly one book all day! It is nice that it was our coloring book for kids! I am proud of that offering, as we are one of the only metaphysical publishers anywhere to have a product for the small child. It looks as though Romi will be taking some books home when he leaves us on Sunday night.

I asked Holly for advice first thing this morning, as I felt as though I were near death. She said to rest, recuperate and not to worry about my previous agenda, which had been to mix and mingle with others on behalf of L/L Research. That advice gave me peace of mind and heart. So I relinquished my human agenda and rested all day, sleeping the morning away and reading in the afternoon. By evening the coughing and sneezing were beginning to subside a bit, for the first time in over a week.

This hotel is one of the most poorly run and expensive places I have ever enjoyed! But I finally was able to receive a light bulb for the lamp on this desk, sufficient hangers for our clothes and, after 4:00 p.m., housekeeping came to empty the wastebaskets and change the towels. There was no attempt to make up the beds and I had to ask for the dirty spots on our carpet to be vacuumed away.

We finally were able to receive the long-promised wheelchair, but after the bell captain wheeled me down from our room to his desk to sign for it, he left me where I sat. Mick and Romi were involved with the vendor table on another floor and I had no one to ask for help, so I began to wheel myself across the acres of slot machines between the front door of the casino and the elevator to our wing, my poor, sore shoulders regretting every stroke, but knowing it was better than trying to walk the wheelchair up in my current shape. Fortunately a charming British man saw my plight and wheeled me all the way to my room. God Save the Queen and all British gentlemen!!!

We found that the hotel offers dial-up access to e-mail, at $9.00 per phone call, so I have also relinquished my need to attend to e-mail while we are here. It just makes my resting more profound and frees my mind for peace and restoration of vigor. Because our room is right next to their business center room, my wireless searcher can find their network and I can get on the internet to post my Camelot journal entries; a very nice piece of good fortune.

Romi discovered a nest of fast food places at the other end of this huge casino, and Mick and I have resolved to dine almost exclusively on their offerings. We are beginning to carve out good ways to save money and enjoy ourselves here!

At dinnertime Romi joined Mick and me for the opening banquet, which featured good food and the lovely surprise of seeing Anna, who had been a part of the Mackinac Island Gathering last August. She is looking wonderful! She brought me the most beautiful gift, a boiled-wool, lined, white coat with Austrian embroidery and intricately decorated fastenings. Imagine carrying that all the way from Norway! We had a great conversation during dinner and then Romi, Mick and I broke away and came to the room for relaxation and wine. Romi had purchased a bottle from the open bar at the banquet and we enjoyed it together.

Jim offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-22

This was our day of travel to the International UFO Congress in Laughlin, Nevada. It was a very long day indeed. After Morning Offering, Jim finished up his last-minute chores while I packed my computer bag and purse for the trip.

Romi picked us up, in all the ice and slush, with a light, freezing rain falling. The roads were fairly good, as the temperature was rising fast and it was well over freezing, and had been for several hours. However we motored carefully!

We had nine bags to check as well as our three carry-ons and my purse, because of carrying our products for the vendor table there. We finally got our bags checked, though they charged us for the third bags, while their web site had assured us we could have three each for free. The flight went uneventfully and we landed in Las Vegas, where it was also raining, but with a temperature of nearly 70.

Jim had to upgrade our rental vehicle to a full-sized SUV in order to carry all our luggage – another expense on which we had not counted. But unlike Stanley Outback, which I think of as a medium-sized vehicle, their medium-sized car did not hold our things. But as we heard when we checked in, the shuttle was a nightmare and we were well-off not to be on it!

The drive south to Laughlin from the airport, sometimes in cloudbursts so thick that visibility was almost zero, was slow and careful, and we were thrilled to arrive at last after a nearly eleven-hour journey. The storm across the desert was beautiful to see, with dramatic skies and mists embracing the mountains on either side of us.

Our room had my hospital bed set up, but it was furnished neither with pillows nor bedding. There were no hangers. There was no internet connection, and this hotel is advertised as brand new! The light bulb was missing from our desk lamp and I had no bedside table for my bed. We scratched around, calling housekeeping repeatedly and eventually they dumped off the bedding. Jim made up the bed himself.

Then there was a mammoth wait for supper. We finally were seated near midnight, our time. By that time I was so weary I could barely eat anything. I was never so glad to see my bed! We all forgot the Gaia Meditation! So peace, Mother Earth!

2008-02-21

What a day! It certainly had its challenges for me, as I continued to be unable to do almost any moving around without immediate and severe disability. Again, after Morning Offering I came upstairs to finish up e-mail and list-making and immediately and irresistibly fell fast asleep and slept until lunch time. I woke up in a profound sweat, which is undoubtedly excellent news, as the fever may well have been broken during my near-coma. Again, I had GI trouble on awakening which cued me in that until this illness passes I need to return to wearing diapers – and thank God for them!

I had a nail appointment right after lunch and when that was finished, my “do” was complete. Now I can do my work without worrying about how I look. I know I will look my best! So I can concentrate on doing a good job. I chose a French manicure this time, as it goes with everything I wear and will look well on stage. Since I talk expressively, with a lot of hand gestures to underline my thoughts, I know there will be some audience focus on my hands, especially since they have that big screen focused on me during my talk.

When I got home I discovered that somehow one of my nails had a dimple in the lacquer, so tomorrow before we leave I shall get Mick to become Mr. Jim, briefly, and tweeze up a little decorative flower with a diamante center to place on the boo-boo and cover that. I think I will put one on the other hand as well, in the same general place, to balance the art work. It will add, I think to the effect.

Mick and I came upstairs after my appointment and helped me pack until 4:00 p.m., when we took a break and I rested, having shot my wad for the nonce. Meanwhile Mick learned the routine on working the PowerPoint presentation behind my speech and packed up all our products for the vendor table.

We will use the generous luggage allowance of Southwest Airlines – 3 bags to check, a carry-on and one other item such as a purse or gentleman’s bag per passenger – and both gentlemen, Jim and Romi - shall carry two bags of L/L Research products and one personal bag as well as a carry-on. As for me, with my buddy-pillow and all my appurtenances, plus special outfits for the talk, the banquet, the cocktail party and the speaker’s dinner, I used all three suitcases for my clothes and accessories. Blush! Vanity, thy name is Carla! So sue me!

I chose to take blue jeans instead of going for skirts. I can re-wear them and save on the fuss of skirts, which wrinkle. And it is a blue-jean society these days. Fortunately I have lovely sweaters to go with the denim pants and will feel attractively and appropriately garbed throughout the convention days.

We did a bit more packing for me after Mick finished everything else, including sorting out two weeks’ worth of pills in their day-by-day carriers, so we do not have to take the mother lode of bottles. Now all I have left is to pack the computer bag, my carry-on, and my ergonomic purse, tomorrow morning after I do my journals. Preparations have come together seamlessly thanks to Mick’s utter devotion and good cheer in aiding me.

I had a good talk with Gary on the subject of the extra people who want to come to Channeling Intensive Two in June. He will write the three new people who want to come – Talitha, Maria and John – and line out what I expect them to do in the way of make-up work before they can join in it. I believe they will be glad to do the work, which is to listen to my speeches from CI -1, read the seven chapters of A Channeling Handbook and write an essay on Who Am I.

I am asking John K to come for a make-up review weekend, after he has done his homework, and before CI-2, and inviting Maria and Talitha (Talitha needs a scholarship ticket from California to Louisville and back to be able to join that. If anyone feels generous and wants to help the circle advance smoothly, we would welcome the donation of the cost of her ticket here – please, please step up and donate!) Otherwise I think I can work with her by e-mail, but of course it is not the same.

Gary offered the prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight. Meanwhile we experienced an ice storm, so Gary had to stay over. Poor guy, he misses Valerie. But it’s insanely dangerous to drive in a regular car on an inch of glare ice! By tomorrow the storm shall have ended and we can hope for good roads.

I was sorry to put Mick off for a date tonight, but my energy condition is bankrupt, and there is no use trying to wrest my attitude up to snuff for an energy exchange today. Hopefully tomorrow will be a different story.

It all feels very good. All the hurdles are jumped. We are packed – except for last minute stuff - and Romi will join us tomorrow for the trip to the airport at 11 a.m. Whee! We’re off soon! I am stoked!

And I gave Ba permission to use an excerpt from one of our AQ sessions for her newsletter for Deep Springs.

I took some time to write Melissa, welcoming her to the house, and sent my friends at St. Luke’s an update on my situation. I also cleaned my office. I’m ready! Tomorrow I will pack my computer bag and purse and be ready to go on time. Yay!

2008-02-20

After Morning Offering Mick went on with his mission to clear his customer’s farm of storm debris. He worked three solid loads, stacking one, once he had cut it up, for her firewood supply and taking the other two loads up to Avalon.

Meanwhile I inadvertently slept the day away, waking only barely in time to make my appointment with my GP, a caring lady named Aboud. She diagnosed bronchitis only slightly this side of pneumonia and prescribed 12 days of antibiotics. Hopefully they will kick in soon! Right now, I am in fairly poor shape. Just walking from the car to the office, seeing the doctor, was a trial and it was worse getting home, to the point where I simply let the rest of the day go. I am reading a good book by Susan Howatch and that whiled away the time nicely, in between naps!

I had a good rest, a good snuggle with the kitties and Jim was wonderful, surrounding me with love and affection. I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-19

While the temperature plummeted again, after Morning Offering Mick continued to work to clear a customer’s ample estate of fallen storm debris. It must be a mess out there because there is still more to do tomorrow after three loads were hauled away!

Meanwhile, in the morning I edited the last two tape sides of a speech I gave at Mackinac Island’s L/L Research Gathering last August and got it all off to Ian to put up on site. I wanted to have that in place before the Laughlin trip, as the speech was on 2012 – what the Confederation has to say about that – and my speech at the UFO Congress will end on the same subject, so I will be referring interested listeners to those two earlier Mackinac Island speeches.

I went to Images to have my hair cut and lunched with Melissa while we had a planning meeting. When I came back, I worked on the PowerPoint presentation with Gary until bath time. We did a lot of tweaking! Gary will create a whole new script for Mick to use during the speech as he changes images for me. And I will add a sentence explaining that the last half of the PPP is a slide show. This will save the audience from trying to put the images together with what I am saying. We decided that since the latter half of the speech is all about the channeling work, a slide show would be more interesting than endless quotes from my speech on the screen.

Gary also produced placards for all of our products, with a little blurb on what each is, and the suggested donation. These will be set up on the vendor table we have been given.

And he printed out 12 copies of Don’s 25-page unfinished book on the Law of One. We will give that away for free.

I felt perfectly miserable all day and am praying that this is the critical day! Lord, let me turn this around tomorrow! However Gary is now completely well again, as is Mick. So obviously there’s lots of hope that this will be the case.

Romi visited tonight and we had a good conversation. He offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation.

2008-02-18

After Morning Offering, Jim set out to work and had a full day of clearing storm debris from his customers’ yards. He still coughs from time to time but feels well now, thank the Lord! Melissa came down to Louisville from Avalon, also ailing with this flu that has swept through our little family, and did some town chores. We enjoyed her company and she will stay overnight tonight and get some much needed rest here, where she does not have to stoke the fire to stay warm.

In the morning I went through my entire Laughlin speech again, shortening it as Jim and I had discussed and finding many ways to tweak the prose and clear up small copy errors. It is now printed out and also has been sent to Gary for his work on the PowerPoint presentation which he will place behind the first part of the talk.

I cleared some desk work before leaving for my appointment with Dr. Brown, the ear specialist. He confirmed that the tubes were in and doing fine. And with a hearing test he also confirmed that I have lost another 10 decibels of hearing throughout the curve. He says that I need to wait for the tubes to work. He also said they may never work, but I won’t know that until I give them as much as a year to do their job.

I explored the possibility of further surgery, clearing the mastoid bone, but the odds are very slim that this operation will help me. So I may have inherited another chronic limitation which I need to learn to work around with grace and serenity.

It was a challenge to remain full of faith and totally positive, looking at this latest diagnosis, because it is very disturbing to have impaired hearing and balance and I cannot tell how my voice is coming across, which will concern me when I give my speech in Laughlin. I remember John Lennon’s humorous catch-phrase,

“Nobody told me there’d be days like these – strange days indeed! Most peculiar, Mama!”

Thank you, John! That says it so well!

After the appointment I had a bit of time left to work before bath time, and I used it to work on the placards for the vendor table we will have at the Congress. It will be helpful for people to see, for each of our books and so forth, a little placard that offers a blurb on what the product is and its cost. Four of our items are too new to have a blurb on site – the two sizes of L/L Research mugs, the 2007 collection of public channelings and the collection of the first 25 years of Light/Lines Newsletters. So I produced blurbs for them. Things are coming together!

I was quite unwell in the tummy and coughed my head off all day, but I am hoping that this represents the crisis day, and that I will start to recover from this flu tomorrow.

Mick offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-17

Our Sabbath weather was balmy and eerie, the temperature rising to 60 F and the winds high. Clouds rolled past without let all day, the weather as active as I have ever seen it here. Experts are muttering about tornadoes again being possible because of these extremes of temperature. I was thrilled that our power stayed on!

Mick and I stayed inside all day, keeping quiet and healing up. Jim seems close to completely recovered now, and I heard that Gary, who called Mick from his girlfriend’s, has now passed the crisis and his fever is broken. This is wonderful news, and it bodes well for me, as I seem to have the same bug. I coughed all day, my chest becoming involved, unfortunately. It is a lucky happenstance that I will see the ear specialist tomorrow, for if, as I suspect, I have a need for antibiotics, he can prescribe some.

We managed, however, to have a delightful day. I did my puzzles and wrote my journals while Mick cleaned house. Then we enjoyed two movies during the afternoon. The first was a small movie – just one copy at the video store – called The Hunting Party. It starred Richard Gere and Terrence Howard as a team of journalists covering various wars. It was a taut script, an excellent ensemble, deft in its flow and altogether admirable. I especially appreciated the casting of Ljubomir Kerekes as “The Fox”, the villain of the piece. He seemed the perfect foil for Gere’s anti-hero. I single out both Terrence Howard and Richard Gere for special marks as their characterizations of a former danger addict gone soft and then reborn and a burned-out case resurrected were complex and fascinating.

Our second feature of this double bill was an elegant, large, sprawling and very British film called Elizabeth: The Golden Age. The production values were as lavish as the acting was excellent. The depiction of the sea battle of the 1585 Spanish Armada’s attempt at conquering England was a triumph of visual effects. It is a good way to learn history! And the costumes were incredible! I thank the Lord that I am not living in those times. Corseted, bewigged and surrounded by acres of skirts, women of that time and class must have spent half their time dressing! Both Cate Blanchett and Clive Owen were delicious to watch.

We enjoyed the two-hour Extreme Make-over show in the evening. The cast of that show had chosen to work with a local family, the Hughes, whose son, Patrick Henry, was born blind and unable to walk. In spite of those seeming disadvantages, he has grown up to be a charming, solid, stable and remarkably grounded 19-year-old. He was a musician from babyhood, playing the piano by the age of two and taking up the trumpet and the guitar as well.

His Dad chose to take a night job so that he could interact with Patrick during the daytime and when Patrick wanted to join the U of L marching band, his Dad pushed his wheelchair and enabled his son to be part of the formations. Patrick’s attitude is that his blindness has enabled him to see people differently. He cannot be prejudiced by how people look, so all his valuations stem from his sense of the inner soul of the people he meets. He says, "I am just a regular guy, living my life."

The Extreme Makeover crew built Patrick’s family a house with rooms for each child and an apartment for Patrick where all the counters and appliances are at wheelchair level so he can be quite independent in his own “bachelor pad”, as he called it with delight.

It is too well known a story now for me to write about him as a difference-maker in my UPI columns of the future – I plan to take them up again as soon as I knock out this book – but he certainly is an inspiration!

Mick and I offered the Gaia Meditation, with him praying at the end, and we closed the day with a very healing and uplifting sexual energy exchange which gave me my only cough-free hours of the day as well as offering praise, joy and thanksgiving.

2008-02-16

The “Chicago Flu” that an attendee brought with her to the Channeling Intensive last weekend continued working its way through our little group. Jim, I am thrilled to say, is much better today. His temperature is under 100 F and he is not coughing so much. Gary is in the throes of it, feeling rotten. Nevertheless he beavered his way through the things pertaining to the Laughlin trip, brave fellow that he is. And by bedtime, I was beginning to cough to the point that my gatekeeper suggested I not channel tonight. Fortunately it is a fairly fast-moving virus and we should all shake it off quite soon.

I was relatively unproductive this morning, having trouble concentrating. In the afternoon I read the Laughlin speech through and discovered that I still need to cut about two minutes off of the text. Jim and I found a way to do that and on Monday afternoon I will finalize the shorter text. Fortunately, at the end of the talk, where the cuts are, I was simply quoting some of Q’uo’s more inspiring comments about the shift around 2012. So cutting those quotes down makes no difference whatsoever to the substance of the talk – it just makes the final inspirational passages shorter. This is fine. They may have more punch that way anyway.

Romi visited this evening, working on the L/L Research computers and sharing conversation and tea with us.

Anne B, my roomie from MacDuffie, wrote to say that she is visiting Louisville this spring to attend Patty B’s wedding, a happy occasion indeed. Patty is the widow of Anne’s brother, Phil, who is also an old, old friend of the family. Anne and I want to plan to get together while she is here and catch up.

It is funny how life works. In school I was a whiz and Anne was not. However due to our life paths, she has accomplished much more in the mainstream sense, editing many important and widely used textbooks and teaching English as a second language for many years.

I still say words like “Charlie” a little differently because of my year living with Anne, who is from Maine. I love her dearly!

Mick offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-15

Jim was a little better today, praise the Lord, but still wracked with a hacking cough. Although it is a blessing that it is a dry, nagging cough rather than one symptomatic of a chest cold, Mick was miserable with it, and restless under the doctor’s orders to remain still.

After Morning Offering I worked again on finding a way to talk about healing, reading through our transcripts using the key word, heal, and broke the logjam at last with just the right quote. I think I will find the writing flowing now on that topic. I am quite eager to finish this chapter, and anticipate tackling it again tomorrow!

Gary and I had some e-correspondence today and then, at lunch, a talk, all concerning the closing of the membership in the further Channeling Intensives. He shared with me a good letter from John K, who is already a channel and who had hoped, through attending these intensives, to break through to a higher level of channeling in service to others. He lost out on our first Intensive because we ran out of room. Gary did not want to deny him the hope of coming to the next Intensive.

This issue, of denying people the chance to join the channeling circle, has come up repeatedly since Jim and I decided to close the circle last week. Gary at first did not want to deny anyone a seat. Yet, if all those who came to our first Intensive return for the second one, the room is already full to bursting. I could not see any way to enlarge our circle, given our limited space.

As a result of our excellent talk, Gary agreed to look into ways to find more seats and, if he is successful, to include John next time. John will, if Gary can seat him, come here first for a weekend with me, after we have the first Channeling Intensive’s talks transcribed and up on site so he can study the material. I should think, since he is already channeling, that he and I can review all the material thoroughly in a couple of days.

It was four packed days of work for the attendees of the first circle, and they need to have the knowledge that John has done his part in catching up. There is a solid, close-knit, family feeling to the existing group and Jim and I want to honor that.

Mick and I also agreed with Gary that we would now accept others who had come to the Homecoming in 2007 if they ask to come, with the understanding that they, too, have reviewed all the material covered in the first Intensive circle. These were the two points which Gary wanted, and he got them – IF he can figure out a way to seat everyone.

I remain concerned about having such a large group to train. I was prostrated after the first Intensive was over and did not get a lick of good work out of myself for two solid days, sleeping all day on Monday and half the day on Tuesday. So I know I am right at my limit already, physically. But if spirit is sending me these people, and if we can find a way to seat them, I will offer myself faithfully as an instrument for developing them as channels for the Confederation. As Julian of Norwich said, “All is well, and all manner of thing is well.”

I went to Images Salon and got my pre-Laughlin facial and eyebrow waxing and coloring from Lee Ann O after that talk and, on the way home, picked up some tempting food at The Cheddar Box for him. So he dined well tonight on fancy chicken, asparagus, stuffed potatoes, Southwestern Cornbread Salad and mixed fruit, with Italian Cream Cake for dessert. He ate everything! I go by “feed a cold, starve a fever”, so his good appetite was reassuring to me!

During the afternoon I went over the speech for Laughlin again and declared it finalized by bath time! Now I will give the speech one more time tomorrow afternoon, to Jim, who swears he wants to hear it again, and time it in its entirety. I am determined to keep the speech within an hour.

Mick offered the prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-14

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope yours went a bit more smoothly than Mick’s and mine! We cancelled the night out at The Jazz Factory due to Mick’s deepening illness. In fact we spent the late afternoon at the Immediate Care Center having him checked. He was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection.

The MD said that the chill Mick had while getting utterly soaked during the cleaning off of St. Luke’s walkways – he used a blower to pry up the ice crust on the walks, and under the ice was liquid which blew back on Mick, thoroughly wetting him in 20 degree temperatures – had lowered his resistance to the bug. He also said he’d feel fine by Monday. So Mick called all his customers who were expecting him to clear storm debris this week to let them know he was down until then.

After Morning Offering I read through and finalized my work on the section on Psychic Protection in Chapter 11 of 101: The Choice and then spent the rest of the morning hunting for a good way to talk about healing, which is the subject of the next-to-last section of this chapter on advanced choices through the gateway to intelligent infinity, the last being sacred sexuality.

I have not hit on the right approach. The Confederation material likens the healer to the King’s Chamber position in the Great Pyramid. That requires a large amount of explanatory material. How to do that and stay true to the KISS rule? How to maintain the baby step, as Elkins always said was the key to good teaching? I will tackle that again tomorrow.

I had better luck in the afternoon, successfully shortening my speech for the International UFO Congress in Laughlin on February 28th to the requisite hour’s running time. I will go over it one more time tomorrow to smooth out the latter portion where all the cuts were made.

I also had a talk with Gary, who is attempting to create a PowerPoint Presentation to accompany my talk. He has had fair luck at finding images for the first half of it. When I begin reporting on the channeling itself in the second half of the talk, there are no objective referents to throw up on the screen. I suggested that the PPP be planned only for the first half. He will work with that concept for a while.

I heard from my brother, Jim, in Denver, that his wife, Kai’s, Mom will be able to come over from Thailand to stay with her and help her with the baby! This is great news for them. My only concern is that Fluke ("Folk"), Kai's 10-year-old son, is barely learning English as it is, and if he has his Gramma to speak Thai to at home, it may hinder his acculturation. Americans are very insular and prejudiced against anyone who cannot speak their language.

And Fluke is not a “cute” Asian as is Kai, who is charming, has the looks of a model and is slender and small. He is a heavy child and has the extremely heavy jaw line, perpetual natural scowl and deeply slanted eyes of his father. He looks different. Children can be so cruel to people who are different! I pray that he hangs in there, learns his English and finds ways to fit in.

Terry H sent me a large photo collection from a woman named Mikey, who is part of his Law of One study group in Taipei. I found some of her work charming and sent the collection on to Steve E and Gary for consideration as images on our B4 site. The store is up now!!!! There is a link from our archive site, or one can go directly to www.bring4th.org/store.

Mick and I took to my bed and napped after we returned from the ICC, rousing to find that we were hungry after 8 p.m. We ordered take-away from Ruby Tuesday’s and I offered the Gaia Meditation and its following prayer by myself while Mick went to pick up our Valentine’s Day feast. Yum!!! The night ended very well!

2008-02-13

We awoke to more snow. It had first sleeted, then rained, then sleeted, then snowed again overnight, so the streets were a total mess. My ministrations last night quieted Mick’s coughing for the evening but he awoke with a cold. Fortunately, Melissa had come down to Louisville from Avalon for town chores, leaving very early, and she was aboard to help Mick with spreading calcium chloride at St. Luke’s. She stood in the role of rescuer today, also driving in the slush and ice over to Louisville Tractor to pick up more calcium chloride. The snow continued off and on all day, so he shall have to repeat this exercise tomorrow morning early. Bless Melissa!!!

Other than that task, Mick stayed in all day, sleeping the morning away and doing a few little in-house chores like reading his e-mail and ordering a University of Nebraska baseball cap. I came down every hour or so to fix him more tea and refill his juice glass, and at lunch we all ordered Chinese take-away, which they delivered. Yum! If you’re ever in Middletown, Kentucky, try Ling Ling’s! We had some delicious sweet and sour chicken and egg rolls, and their Crab Rangoon was marvelous!

I was much more myself today, praise the Lord, and was able to complete the section of Chapter 11 of 101: The Choice on psychic protection. I shall read it over tomorrow to be sure I like it and then tackle the section on healing. It is exciting to be moving towards the end of this book!!!

In the afternoon, I completed the speech I will give at Laughlin, taking the listener through what the Confederation has to say about 2012 and all that. In the evening I read the new part to Mick and timed it. Sadly, I have to lose two pages. But I can do that! I quoted Q’uo generously, and I will take some of the largesse back. We want this speech to last exactly an hour! That’s the time I was given, and I want to keep to it and have the extra quarter-hour for questions.

I enjoyed speaking with Michael of the Law of One Community up in Canada today. Romi had sent me the link to their site and I wrote to ask him to give credit to L/L Research for the name. He responded with the most loving of e-notes and offered very kind words about our work, which inspired his present path of living the Law of One.

Melissa took off for Avalon during the afternoon, wanting to wait until the roads were well traveled before daring the journey. Everything is treacherous with ice! She called at sunset to let us know she had an uneventful and safe trip, thank the Lord. However she saw a lot of cars off the road. We sent a prayer for all of them up to the Divine Beloved.

We stayed very quiet tonight, watching one of the Matrix series of films and going to bed at the early hour of 10 p.m. Jim offered the prayer at the Gaia Meditation.

2008-02-12

From the beginning, this was a low-energy day for me. I fell asleep in my office chair after Morning Offering and only woke up at nearly lunch time. I can only think that the last weekend’s energy expenditure on my part was more than I had to spend! I am now repairing the deficit. I do not regret going over the top during the Channeling Intensive at all. Nor do I begrudge the recovery time I need. All is well!

However, I did not achieve what I hoped to do today, either in Chapter 11 of 101 or in my speech for Laughlin. I shall pray that by tomorrow my system is entirely rested and back to normal so I can work on both of those good projects.

Jim worked very hard today in the midst of all this snow, ice and sleet, taking four inches of snow off St. Luke’s walks as well as one of his customer’s and our own. Unfortunately he seems to have caught a chill from that cold, wet, work. I made him hot toddies this evening and hope that they warmed him up sufficiently to avoid his having a cold tomorrow.

Gary came to work today despite the un-scraped streets here locally. The town is a mess, he says! Schools were closed today all over this area. And more of this mix of snow, rain and sleet is expected tonight. Winter is here, by golly!

During the afternoon, Gary restored out living room to its usual configuration. During the weekend’s gathering, we had removed two large tables which go between the love seat and the rocker, and the rocker and the wall, to accommodate more chairs. It worked well, but now that we’re through with the Intensive, I am glad to see the room return to its default, with places for me to put my stuff!

Two positive notes: we received half of our mugs today, the 16-ounce size! They are very nice, with the Don Quixote image and our name on them. Hopefully people will like them and purchase them, bringing in some income for L/L Research.

And the vet called with the most welcome news that our little Chloe’s lump was entirely benign, and he got it all. So, as he put it, the operation was the cure. She is all well again! We are thrilled. Now she just has to grow her hair in again, where they shaved it for the operation. Chloe is the sweetest, most affectionate kitty we have ever had, utterly devoted and loving. We’re so glad our little Inkspot has a clean bill of health!

Gary offered the prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-11

My day was dedicated to resting up from the weekend’s energy expenditures. After Morning Offering I had a nap for about three hours. I awoke to have some lunch and write my journals, plus a couple of notes to people who had called during the weekend to ask if we survived last week’s storms. Then it was back to bed for another three-hour nap. I was still tired after that, and dozed off and on through supper and some television shows.

Mick and I offered the Gaia Meditation prayer together, wishing each other peace in our hearts and peace in the world. Then we enjoyed a lovely date, ending the evening with beauty and the glory of infinite love brought down into human vessels. Perhaps by tomorrow I will feel rested again, aided by this energy exchange and all the rest today!

Mick got two loads of storm debris up to Avalon before the new storm broke, giving us three inches of snow, so far. It will be interesting to awaken tomorrow and see what the total fall is! This is our first decent snowfall of the season, and it is quite beautiful!

2008-02-10

As the thermometer sank to single digits, in terms of wind chill factor, our participants stayed indoors and worked hard today, finishing up our first Channeling Intensive. We had a question and answer period this morning after Morning Offering and then a practice session, moving around the circle and passing the channel. People were improving quickly and I was happy that all of the focus and real effort of this weekend was paying off for the group.

After lunch we had a Q’uo session. I was a bit surprised that the group did not choose to ask questions directly concerning their channeling, but this is a serious group! They wanted to know what use channeling was, since the third density only had about five years to go. And they wanted to know what use third density is, since it seems like a prison we are trying to burst out of. If all we do here is try to get out of it, why have it at all? I look forward to editing the transcript and becoming fully aware of what the Q’uo group had to say in response!

By the time we finished the session it was time to get ready for our closing dinner at P. F. Chang’s China Bistro. After an initial delay of over half an hour, during which we found that despite our having reservations, the management had chosen to give our table to another group, I gently suggested to the manager that I was concerned for the older members of my group and was writing a letter to the Better Business Bureau in my head. This achieved immediate results. We got a table within ten minutes. They also pacified us with a generous gift of free lettuce wraps and spring rolls. I will not write the BBB, but L/L Research will never take another group there.

We had such a fine time there! And then we came back to the house and conversed for one last time before we had to go our several ways. The love in the group was palpable as well as spoken! The toast for the evening was, “To family.” I have never had a better group.

To be noted as particularly valuable as helpers were Tom C, who constantly watched out for the coffee pot, who got up every morning early and got out the breakfast offerings, and who had a shepherd’s instinct for finding the lost and errant members from time to time and Romi V, who valiantly manned the computer recording software and recorded all my talks. I know Gary felt he could not have done the work without Tom and Mike T, who came to Louisville two days early and helped Gary get the house ready for the crowd, arranging furniture and cooking themselves silly. Their efforts deserve a medal apiece! Kudos to you, gentlemen.

And kudos to every single participant. I was so impressed with their integrity, honesty and courage as they tackled a whole new art.

I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight. Afterwards, Gerri G was kind enough to give me a Reiki session while Leonard G toned. What a wonderful lift that was! Thank the Lord for every blessing and every kind and loving heart.

2008-02-09

While the weather began to move from balmy 50s to freezing 20s, Jim and I and all our houseful of participants in the first Channeling Intensive stayed inside, for the most part, and set our minds and hearts to working on learning to channel. After Morning Offering, the group gathered to hear me speak about psychic greeting and protection, how to build your inner workroom, and how to meet your guidance.

It was a day of intense concentration and struggle, and many had questions. We worked together to become ready to practice, first the tuning process, which we went through twice together, and then an actual practice session. I was very pleased with how well people did. There was a wide variation in terms of how well people recognized the contact of Laitos, who was the Confederation channeling teacher who came through for us, yet all hearts were willing and everyone was courageous and honest. I was well satisfied.

Jim has a strong feeling that we should not bring more people into this channeling circle, as I was intending to do, simply asking new participants to read through the material from this weekend after it is transcribed, edited and put up on site. He feels we need to keep this little band protected and work with them as a group. I acquiesced, although I do regret that those who have been on our waiting list cannot join us for the spring Intensive. He is right. Perhaps in two or three years, we can begin again with another group. But for now, we shall honor and protect the integrity of this one.

We lost the first hour of my discussion of tuning, due to software malfunction on the computer which was recording the words. I shall have to meet with Romi at some future date and go over this material again, re-creating this speech, so that our audio and written files of this event will be complete.

I found it very easy to take naps between sessions and probably slept three hours extra today. Nevertheless, I am beginning to be weary indeed, and feel fortunate that the last day of this well-named Channeling Intensive is tomorrow. I’m beat!

Mick offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.

2008-02-08

The first full day of our first Channeling Intensive went well, I am most glad to say. We went through a full six hours of material today, four hours in my lectures and two in their questions and answers. We explored channeling, what it is, troubles which come to one when one decides to become a channel, tuning and challenging. The questions were many, as I expected, and everyone was focused and attentive in the extreme. I could not ask for a better bunch of participants.

We had one glitch – the recording fouled up on the third talk, on tuning. I typed up a sheet which contained all the prayers and so forth about which I had talked, but that does not replace the background which I gave them, all of which was lost. On reflection, I believe I can sit down with my outline, when I get back the transcript of what we did save – the questions and answers, I believe – and fill in the missing parts from my notes.

We had half a dozen sleepy people to join Jim and me for Morning Offering and then Mick was gone all morning, taking a load up to Avalon and filling in our access road’s erosion control areas with his enormous trailer-load of storm debris. He needs that trailer empty so he can begin his work Monday at a dead run! He is attempting to clean everyone’s yards before we go to Laughlin and is feeling eager to use every moment until then, so he can keep all his customers happy.

Steve E. offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight. We all had a fine time after the work of the day was over, eating together at Hometown Buffet. After we arrived home from supper, I bade good night to the workshop participants and spent the rest of the evening with Mick, sharing a bath and whirlpool and then having a lovely time of energy exchange and communion before we said our last prayers together and turned out the lights.

2008-02-07

Tom C was up and making coffee as I came downstairs after doing my journals. Mick had gotten up early as well, thinking about all he wished to do today and still make the 5:30 opening of the Channeling Intensive. It was a weird feeling, coming downstairs to a dressed husband and a humming kitchen!

Jim took off after Morning Offering for a full day of hauling limbs and storm debris from a customer’s farm to Avalon. He barely made it back in time for things to begin, as did I!

During the morning hours, I edited the rest of the February 12th channeling and after lunch I started over with the section in Chapter 11 of 101 on psychic greeting and felt it was 200% better by the end of my work period. It seemed to flow so well! I did not keep much of what I had done before. I suppose I have been thinking about it at some level as I got ready for this workshop. Anyway, I’m thrilled.

I had my nails done as my preparation for the Intensive. We all get ready in our own way! I used an iridescent blue/indigo/purple for the base color and then overlaid that with green sparkles. It came out really well, and will remind me all weekend of the top four chakras, a good visual hint to focus.

The first night went very well, with all the attendees arriving in good time and moving through the opening night’s agenda with a lot of enthusiasm and intensity. They have all read the first seven chapters of A Channeling Handbook, so they’re front-loaded. We also had written essays on “Who Am I”, which we read round-robin style during the evening, stopping for the Gaia Meditation, at which Romi offered the closing prayer.

After the scheduled part ended, we enjoyed brownies and conversation and then Neil C was kind enough to give us the story of his recent experiences, mostly in California and Mt. Shasta. He has had repeated UFO encounters of the psychic kind and even met one of the people about whom he had dreamt, in Mt. Shasta. And she remembered him as well.

Chloe came back from her surgery perky and unruffled, glad to see us and in sweet temper. Bless her heart; I dearly hope that is the end of that! The vet thought he had gotten absolutely everything, and offered a very hopeful prognosis. He is not even sure it was cancer. I hope we have our little Inkspot around for a very long time!

The other two kitties, Pickwick and Dan D. Lion, outdid themselves as good cats tonight, sitting demurely on Jim’s and my love seat and remaining quiet throughout the festivities.

The workshop has started very well. I am so thankful! Tomorrow the real work begins!

2008-02-06

I slept hard and only awoke a good hour after I intended to be up and about, so I was still writing my journals when Mick came upstairs, already in bed-making and plant-watering mode, as is his wont in the early morning. He stopped so we could have a good snuggle and then went right onward, as we had a deadline to keep: we are taking Chloe in to the vet this morning to examine a lump we have found on her spine. All prayers and hopes for a favorable diagnosis.

Tom was up early, as was Neil, and we all had a good Morning Offering together. Then Tom, Neil and I set about our trip to Avalon. We drove up in light rain and the two men walked about with Melissa, seeing the place a bit, while I sat in the cabin and sang to Avalon, as she loves for me to do.

Meanwhile Jim set out to haul limbs and storm debris away from a customer’s farm. He had a good day, making two trips to Avalon. He said Melissa worked like a beaver, getting the side of the road prepped for his erosion control materials and re-creating the drainage culvert off that part of the access road.

When she said good-bye after the first load was placed, he told her he would be back, hopefully, and she said she hoped she would be ready for him. And she was! As he drove down the road to the point where they were working, he saw her lithe, slender figure doing a victory dance! It was a happy day on Avalon!

Gary had not arrived when Neil, Tom and I returned from our trip, so they set about cleaning in the kitchen – washing the pretty china and other treasures that live on our kitchen’s upper shelves – while I came upstairs to work up the rest of the notes for my lectures at the Channeling Intensive. I was able to finish all of that in good time. I spent the rest of the afternoon collecting a very nice meatloaf recipe and working on editing the session we had on January 12th, which is about transformation. I was not able to finish by bath time, but I made a good start.

After Gary arrived, he, Tom and Neil began rearranging the living room in order that we can hold the maximum number of people during the Intensive. All was in place by the Gaia Meditation. I offered the closing prayer for that.

Off and on, Gary and I worked on the last of the text for the B4 site, and by day’s end, Gary said that by tomorrow we should have a live, working, on-line store! We have never had a secure site to accept credit cards. Now we do! This is huge, wonderful news!!! Thank you Lord and kudos to webmaster Steve E.!

2008-02-05

Mick and I awoke to heavy rains and sultry, 60-degree (F) temperatures and after Morning Offering, very early, we went to Jewish Hospital East for my ear tubes to be inserted. It took all morning, as the doctor was delayed by an emergency, but eventually they were inserted with no difficulty.

After lunch Jim headed right for Avalon, hauling the load there which he had been unable to take yesterday due to getting stuck. Meanwhile I got back to work on preparations for the upcoming Channeling Intensive, putting together my notes for Sessions 3 and 4 of the curriculum. Things are coming together well, and I believe I shall be ready in good time to welcome the participants Thursday evening and do my part during our four-day workshop.

Neil C. and Tom C. both arrived early in the afternoon. They will help Gary prepare for the weekend by cooking and help me by doing a cleaning chore that Mick usually handles. However he is receiving full-time work requests from his customers, with all this heavy weather bringing limbs and trees down all over Anchorage. So I will have them wash and replace my pretty heirloom dishes on their shelves – broken sets, mostly, but quite lovely things inherited from my mother’s side of the family.

Gary and I consulted for an hour or so this afternoon, late, organizing the next two days’ work of preparation and also dealing with several other matters. We got a whole lot done in just a jiffy. He and I went through all the site text for B4 together and I corrected text for all blurbs except one, which I completely rewrote.

We were expecting high winds and possible tornadoes again overnight so I was glad to see Mick return safely and batten down the house against the storms. In the event, though we lost power for a little while, we were lucky and escaped damage. And we got power back quite quickly! To our immediate south, there was terrific destruction and huge areas were out of power! We dodged the bullet again!! Praise the Lord!

Romi joined the crew for the evening and we enjoyed a good discussion. We offered the Gaia Meditation together, with Romi offering the ending prayer, and after supper together, watched an episode of House on TV.

After everyone had gone to bed, Mick and I came upstairs for a most romantic tryst and I went right from afterglow to sleep, a lovely feeling. Praise the Lord for all the blessings of this day!

2008-02-04

After Morning Offering, Mick went out into the gathering gloom of the day to work amidst the showers at clearing from his customers’ yards the storm debris from the small tornadoes that ripped through here while we were gone. He got one load of debris cut, loaded and hauled up to Avalon. Then he came back and got another full load cut and loaded. However in the softened ground, his truck and trailer got well and truly stuck, so he ended the day getting pulled out and was unable to cart the second load to Avalon.

Meanwhile I continued my preparations for the Channeling Intensive, finishing my reading of A Channeling Handbook and then preparing my notes for the first two lectures.

I got a very welcome call from Board member and experienced channel, Steve T, letting me know that he could not attend this Channeling Intensive. He has a good many things on his plate, and simply cannot do it. I assured him that this is fine. He has been through all of the introductory material. He can pick things up next time. I am sorry not to have his able aid here for this weekend, but we’ll do fine regardless. It was wonderful to talk to Steve and get caught up. He has a new home now! I forwarded his new contact info to Gary.

Having discovered that our double boiler was kaput on Sunday when Mel and I prepared the beer cheese dip, I ordered a new one from Williams-Sonoma.com. In the process I collected a nice recipe for lime-y guacamole.

Mary from Jewish Hospital East called and needed information galore for my ear-tube operation tomorrow. We had a very pleasant chat and then I faxed her my Prescriptions List and Living Will, the only items that were better sent than relayed in person.

I ended the day ferrying Mick to and from the site of his stuck truck, trying to pull the load out with Stanley, failing, and then coming home to arrange for a tow, doing so and taking Mick back to the site. It is incredibly warm today, in the mid-60s F! And tomorrow it should hit 70! The weather mavens are predicting violent, dangerous weather tomorrow night when a cold front comes through. Interesting times on Planet Earth!

Mick and I ended our day with the Gaia Meditation, at which he prayed the closing prayer, and a date, always two joyful, sacred occurrences in our lives.

2008-02-03

Jim and I had a lovely Sabbath! After Morning Offering he cleaned house while I continued putting things away, unloading items from luggage and storing them. I also had some journal writing to catch up on and that took my morning time.

With our lunch we began to watch a block of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes that took us right up to the Superbowl. I had not seen a good many of these shows and really enjoyed the afternoon’s TV watching. Melissa arrived during this time and we had a good chat as she settled in for the night. At bath time she and I started, and she finished, a batch of beer cheese which was simply scrumptious! We indulged in that while watching a really, really interesting game.

I was rooting for the Patriots, feeling that it would be great if they could have a record-breaking perfect season, but instead the Mannings had a record-breaking run of two brothers quarterbacking two successful Superbowl teams two years in a row.

I offered the Gaia Meditation prayer tonight.

2008-02-02

We arose two hours earlier than usual in order to have time for driving on bad roads on our way home, and it was good that we did so, as we got home in time to have a restful evening and get our gear stowed here at Camelot. There was a bit of snow on the roads but no real problem, thank heavens, and we had a fine trip. Hawks continued to accompany us: Jim’s total at the end of the trip was 179, a record by quite a bit. And we can count one more: I saw a road sign for a town called Hawk! Make that 180.

It was wonderful to be home! The kitty cats greeted us and we spent a most affectionate suppertime enjoying life with cats again! They make a good bit of difference in one’s environment, with their sweet ways and loving salutations.

Mick offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight. Then we played together in the fields of the Lord, exchanging energy with much joy and thanksgiving, before bedtime.

2008-01-31

The last day of January dawned arctic and bright and we said farewell to Mom after Morning Offering. We forsook our usual route and stayed north of all the icing in Kansas, Missouri and western Illinois, going straight through Iowa instead and ending the day at Davenport. The skies clouded at lunch, and by dusk we were driving through fairly heavy snow. However Stanley Outback performed admirably and we achieved our objective, though quite late, due to the slow speeds on all the roads.

The way ahead may be icy, no matter how we try to drive tomorrow. We shall need to consult the weather mavens tomorrow morning.

Mick and I had a lovely energy exchange to enliven us both and refresh us after the wearying trip. We shared the prayer, passing the peace at the Gaia Meditation.

2008-02-01

When we arose this morning, the news was even worse than the night before. Roads were closed at some point in every path home. We tried to accept the inevitable with grace, and stayed in Davenport an extra day.

After Morning Offering I worked on my Laughlin speech for several hours, deleting most of what I wrote. I just did not have the flow going. So I gave that up in mid afternoon and Mick and I watched No Country for Old Men, choosing it from the in-room pay-per-view menu.

What a violent, silly movie! Undoubtedly it is an accurate depiction of the heart of our times, here in the final days of the Bush presidency and all the awful violence of it, all the torture, war and killings and all the lies which do violence to decency. Perhaps, as Tommy Lee Jones’s character did at the end of the film, we can just wake up from this bad dream! That was the only message I saw there.

I offered the closing prayer at the Gaia Meditation tonight.