Urubamba

A good friend set out to Machu Pichu yesterday morning.  We had a conversation about Machu Pichu and his life before he left to Peru with his wife.  He was adopted as a baby, and had recently found his birth family.  He had also quit his job.  He is in search of his highest self.  All this brings up my journey.

I went in a group to Peru some years ago.  We did indeed go to Machu Pichu.

I had found a teacher, who had so much impact on my life and my beingness.  Mary was and still is a major teacher.  I learned ways to heal: not just for myself, but for others.

There was a piece of the teaching that we each had to go through.  It opened so many doors I had shut in my inner being.  In the process, I saw the Peruvian Master teacher, Don Manuel.  He was a simple man in some ways, while on the shamanic level, he was incredible.  He was also in my dreams, teaching!

From then on it was amazing.  I had very little money, but I put my down payment.  Surely my guides would help me! Mary asked me if I wanted to get my down payment back.  I said no. As we got closer to the time of departure, I began to wonder whether I was just being foolish.  But no - there was a woman who had a scholarship fully paid.  She was pregnant and there were complications, and her doctor said there was no way she could go.  Mary called and told me I had a full scholarship!  I got a passport, just barely on time.

I packed my bags and went.

The journey to get to Peru was long and I was tired and hungry.  We arrived in Cusco, the major city of Peru.  Our guide, Jose Luis, met us at the airport.  We went by bus to a hotel, where we ate and rested.

We were in Cusco for a few days, getting acclimated to the high altitude.  Then we went to Urubamba or Urupampa (Quechua "flat land of spiders"), a small town in Peru, located near the Urubamba River under the snow-capped mountain Ch'iqun. Located one hour fromCusco, Urubamba is the largest town in the Sacred Valley of the Incas. It is also located near a number of significant ruins of the Inca Empire, including Machu Picchu. Tourists often come through the town on their way to visit these sites.

TO BE CONTINUED

Rare Encounters

When I left my busy life in Olympia, the Capitol of Washington State, I moved to Whatcom County.  My time was my own, and did read quite a lot.  I had no idea it would be so satisfying.  Even more, I learned a great deal about birds.

One of the things I did was feed the birds. There was a Vine Maple right outside my window, and I put seeds out for the birds. I hadn't any previous experience, but I had a couple of books and watched what they did.  There were lots of small birds:  Chickadees, Robins, Swallows, Finches, Bluebirds, Starlings, Sparrow, and more.  I enjoyed watching them.

There were larger birds: Flicker, Cardinal, Crow and even Raven.  But the most interesting was a large bird, looking straight at me.  It was longer than a yard long, more than the width of the Vine Maple.  I had no idea what to do.  But I looked at my bird books, and talked to an expert.

Cormorant!  Usually Cormorants stay close to the sea.  Where I was living was about five miles from the sea.  That's not a difficult flight for this bird, but this young one was confused.  There wasn't really anything I could do: I couldn't even give food and water.  Eventually the bird flew.

Later, in a different and bigger house, I continued to feed  the birds through the winter.  I saw many different species.  I have two bird feeders through the winter.  One is for the smaller birds, and another somewhat bigger, and easier for the larger birds.  I also put out suet. The most interesting was a Northern Harrier, sitting on our roof.  I went to my bird book, and found this is a rare bird.  It didn't come close to the bird feeders.  This one couldn't have easily gotten food out of the feeders anyway, and it flew fairly quickly.

There is a dead tree in the front of the house, which I covered with Hollyhock, a leafy vine and two different Clematis.  It also has a hole into the center of the tree, just big enough for two Flickers.  And so our tree became a Flicker nursery.

One of my favorite bird siting was when I was driving South and saw a huge Snowy Owl going the other way.  Snowy owls sometimes come South in the winter, but this was nearly summer. It was about five feet away, and the bird wasn't higher than where I was in my car.  I can see it still!  It was beautiful.

Computer Wizardry

I remember my first awareness of computers.  It was 1967.  I was 18 years old, and at school at the University of Iowa.  The computer took up the space of a whole two story building. 

Now, 46 years later, everywhere there are smart phones. And today, I read a prediction that tablets will be the computer of choice.  And even my humble cell phone is a kind of computer able to send messages and browse the web.

I also remember the first time I saw a car phone in 1980.  A friend was a doctor and needed to be available even when driving.  His phone was huge compared to my cell that fits in my relatively small hands.  The doctor's wife had a Macintosh, but I didn't have the money to buy one. 

It turned out that my first computer was a MAC, and I loved it.  I had it for quite a long time - about 15 years. 

I searched for a place to take it, and found a group who would take computers for people who really needed them but had no money to buy one.  I remember that they had posted what they would or wouldn't take and I figured they wouldn't take mine.  But no . . . they were excited to get it even though it needed a lot of attention to spiff it up. 

In 2000 I went to work in Olympia, the Capitol of Washington State.  We had much faster computers, and people who could fix them.

Most recently I bought an HP all in one -- there is no tower.  I'd love to have a MAC, but I don't have that budget.  I'd also like to have a tablet.  Maybe soon.

I wonder what will come next!

 

The Way Home

 

          My Cousin Darlene and my Mom took me to Milwaukee to catch my flight home.  We all got on the plane.  But ...  there were some problems.  The plane needed some help - a LOT of help.  The plane was also going right through Houston shortly after the tornados went ripping through near enough to be another caution for me. They made all of us get off the plane.  I had noticed the woman seated across the isle from me was crying. 

          We waited, and waited, and waited.  The woman who had been crying told us that her father was dying and she wanted to see him before he died.  Still crying she asked to find the fastest way to get to Southern California.   That took a while.  There was a woman next to me that said we needed to pray.  There was another woman on the other side of me.  We all prayed softly.  My sense of it was that we were enveloped with angels.  We stayed with her while the airline people searched for the fastest and best way for this woman.  She did get a plane to Southern California.

          Then the plane was finally ready.  I had to make a choice.  I really didn't want to go to Houston.  Beside the tornados, my Dad would have to meet me at SeaTac at midnight, and probably longer because of the two hours of repairs.  So I decided to get a different plane.  I found a man from the airline, and asked him if I could go straight across the country.

           This wonderful man gave me a first class seat going from O'Hare directly to SeaTac.  And since I would have stay overnight, he gave me vouchers for free for a place to stay, and for dinner and breakfast, and the Coach to take me to O'Hare.  My Dad didn't have to travel late at night. 

           The very best was that I had my first time in first class: wonderful food and wine, and it was really comfortable.  The man sitting next to me told me how to open up the table when our food was served.

           When I got to SeaTac, I found my luggage very easily.  And my Dad's car was just outside the door. 

           The last miracle was that we drove home the before the bridge on I-5 collapsed! 

  

Cousins, Aunts and Uncles

My Mother lives in Wisconsin, while I live in Washington State with my Dad. So I go to Wisconsin most years.  Both Mom and Dad came from large families.  Eighty some years ago there was no birth control and children worked on the farms.  Thus, although I am an only child, I have lots of aunts, uncles and many cousins.

My most recent visit was in May of this year.  I went with a purpose -- to visit as many family members as I could.  I got my wish.  Of course I spent a lot of time with my Mom, but spent time with family I hadn't seen for a long time. 

My Mother's eldest sister Lorraine is still alive at 94 and clear as a bell.  She uses a walker, but otherwise she seems more like 84.  While I was talking with her she said "I have only six years to get to 100"!

Lorraine has a daughter, Darlene, and four sons.  The boys used to tease me and my cousin Margaret.  For example, they told her she had to pump the cows tail to get milk.  She almost got kicked.  One of the boys died in a car crash a few years back.  While I was visiting with Lorraine, her youngest son, Gene arrived.  I hadn't known that I would get to see him.  It had been decades since I had any contact.  Later that day we had dinner with two of Darlene's brothers and their wives.

We spent most of a day with another of her brothers, Lyle, the eldest, and slept at their house.  That was interesting because as a child, I rarely even saw him because he was was so much older.  His wife, Ella Mae is a really wonderful woman.  She has hearing problems, and yet she communicates very well.

One thing I really liked as we travelled around, was the beauty of green rolling hills and valleys.  Ina way it reminded me of Whatcom County, in Washington State, where I live.  Both are green, and both have hills and valleys.  Yet Wisconsin doesn't have actual mountains as we have in Washington. 

Another of the places we went to was Madison Wisconsin.  My Aunt Yvonne lives there.  When we arrived at her door, she scolded me for not having visited for too long.  She said, "I haven't seen you since 1986!"  Then she smiled.

Then there was church, and another cousin from a different family.  He was leading a session on money issues for the church.  He was as surprised as I was!  A couple of days later he came to Mom's apartment and spent some time with Mom, another aunt, and me. 

Every thing comes to an end, and Darlene and my Mom took me to the airport in Milwaukee.  I checked my bag and then the fun and challenges began. 

See you in the next chapter!

The Beauty of Whatcom County

          I have lived in a variety of places: born in Anchorage, grew up in Chicago and Iowa, law school in St. Louis, and then to Seattle.  More recently I moved to Whatcom County.  It is my favorite place to love.
         
           Eastern Whatcom County has wonderful mountains around three sides: South, East, and North.  One of those mountains is Mount Baker.  It is majestic and beautiful.  The native people of this area, the Lummis, call it Komo Kulshan.  There is a wonderful story about Komo Kulshan, of love and envy:  http://home.online.no/~arnfin/native/lore/leg268.htm

            A long journey south of them stands their mother, Clear Sky.
You know her as Mount Rainier, (seen in the 'Paramount' pictures at the end of movies, in the cinema!)

            There was a woman named Fair Maiden, who planted seeds and roots.  The seeds she planted there grew and spread, and that's why the lower slopes bloom with flowers of every color. Often on a clear day or night, the mountain dresses in sparkling white and looks with longing at Komo Kulshan and the mountain children near him.

             What I love most about Whatcom County is the abundance of green: trees, farms, blooming flowers and tall cedar.  It always stirs my heart.

Whatcom County and Komo Kulshan

              I love the place where I live:  in Whatcom County.  The mountains divide
the western county from the east.  And in the west is the bay.  There is lush green almost everywhere in Whatcom County.  When I drive through the county, I cannot help soaking up the beauty of the trees on the rolling hills. 

              One of the most prominent part of the scenery is Mount Baker.  It is the tallest of the mountains in our area.  There is always some snow on Mount Baker, although in the summer there isn't much. The volume of snow and ice on Mount Baker is greater than that of all the other Cascades volcanoes (except Rainier) combined. 

              Mount Baker, along with Shuksan, have a special place in the lore of the native people of this area.  also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is an active volcano.

              Komo Kulshan, a very tall and handsome young man, had two wives, as was the custom of his tribe. One was named Clear Sky; the other, Fair Maiden.  As you might guess, there was quarreling.  Eventually Clear Sky packed her bags and left.

               Fair Maiden became an island, and Kulshan, left with his children in the mountains of the Northwest coastal range, kept stretching upward, trying to see his wives. So did his children.

                The Three of them grew taller and taller and became high mountains. One is Shuksan, a little east of Kulshan and almost as tall. Some people say the others are Twin Sisters, a little west and south of Kulshan.

                 A long journey south of them stands their mother, Clear Sky.
You know her as Mount Rainier, (seen in the 'Paramount' pictures at the end of movies, in the cinema! )

                 The seeds and roots she planted there grew and spread, and that's why the lower slopes bloom with flowers of every color. Often on a clear day or night, the mountain dresses in sparkling white and looks with longing at Komo Kulshan and the mountain children near him.