This Ocher sky

The winds calmed last night so we didn’t have to evacuate. It’s 86 degrees out, substantially cooler than yesterday and the sky has an errie ocher glow, reminiscent of the sky in the movie Vanilla Sky but ocher instead of pink. I’ll still be keeping the Jeep packed with important documents and some other things that will remain there until sometime in November when

“Fire Season” The new normal that shouldn’t be.

I had not even unpacked the Jeep from last weeks Evacuation which lasted two weeks for us and here I am packing again. I’m pretty good at overlanding but this, this is different. A lot is required of me to make sure that my loved ones are safe and have what they need to stay healthy and comfortable. There’s very little room inside of a compact SUV carrying three adults and 2 German Shepards so I’ve been reading reviews of the best waterproof cargo roof bag and a car alarm. I’ve had no use for a car alarm since I stopped working in the cities but need one now as I drive into cities and areas unknown to me for temporary lodging. I was able to get Cove, my migraine medicine provider to send me a three month supply of my migraine meds. Something we all need to do when we live in an area with so many natural disasters. Let me clarify.. when one evacuates suddenly and only has a week or less of refills on their meds, it can be a nightmare to reroute the script to another pharmacy in another county or state.

It’s advisable to get a three month supply of meds, especially those who take life saving meds and have them at the ready in your go-bag.

I can’t believe we have to live like this, always having the go-bag ready, but it’s our new normal out here. 

I’m exhausted and need deep restorative rest and sleep but won’t get it very often until after November and then I’ll be preparing for  the floods we get out here that require us to evacuate as well. 

Yes you’re right, it is no longer sustainable for me to live in these redwoods which I love so much. They’ve always been a safe haven for all of us. To be under the redwood veil and mist has saved my life so many times, and the lives of many others. I have begun a grieving of leaving the woods here, my plans have not  come into vision yet and I wouldn’t speak of them yet if they did. Changes are on the wind though and I’m sad for now. It’ll change and I’ll be energized and bright walking into a new way but for now, I’m exhausted and sad. 

What’s helping: Lactuca, Passiflora, Kava, Forbidden Fruit, CBD, Cal Poppy, Ashawagandha, Jamaican dogwood, Pedicularis densiflora, Magnesium, Glycine.

Power Outage, Off Grid Preparation

Working or living off grid teaches one a lot of about how to survive. Here's some worthwhile info I learned working and dwelling off grid.

Water enough for a week, one gallon a day per person. Half gallon for dogs and cats per day.

Protein bars

Beef jerky

Laughing cow cheese

Apples and oranges

Dried sopressa dried sausage from Trader Joe's or other dried salami Box or power cream for coffee

Powdered milk and powdered cream

Instant coffee

Wine

Whisky

Crackers

Pink salt for hydration

Coconut oil for coffee and body/hands

Smoke oysters

Instant oatmeal

Canned foods

Small packs of mayo, ketchup, creamers etc

Instant potatoes

Dog-food

Leash

Camp stove or camp burner

Propane

First aide kit include herbal tinctures

Cannabis

Pipe for cannabis

Rolling papers

Supplements

Baby wipes

Hand sanitizer

Good garbage bags

Ziplock bags

Clorox wipes

Toilet paper

Power packs

Solar power packs

Radio

Two way radio or walkie talkie/Motorola

Good headlamp

LED lanterns & Lights

Batteries of all kinds

Lighter, matches

Earphones or and earbuds and a spare

Power cords and spares

Extra track phone

iPad or and laptop fully charged

Cash

Downloaded movies, music news, files for offline

Apps for offline: Pocket, Google Drive, AmazonPrime, Youtube Ham radio

FCC license

Dear Lover

#note1

Thoughts on smudge sticks

Cedar

Angelica

Redwood

Copal

Redbud

Mesquite

Sweet grass

Oak

Lodgepole

Balsam

Rose

Willow

Fungi

Juniper

Pinion

Lichens

Doug Fir

Yerba Santa

Roots and rhizome

A cuppa water

Tons of resins, all kinds

I could go on. What's missing? "Sage" specially saliva apiana, more commonly known as "white sage"

Been seeing reading lots of people pushing the /smudge stick/ thing, I'm like "why?" I personally don't use "sage" like that. Sometimes people bring us some. It lasts a long time, still have that same "smudge stick" from 5 years ago. Good in a throat gargle for the cough, cold, flu season. I've made infused oil out of it to combine with chaparral, resin and cannabis to make a antibiotic salve. But to "smudge" with? No. I don't even really smudge. Dislike the word right now, overused, tired, unnecessary. And we don't always have to /banish/cleanout/ often we need to welcome and call in. We can utilize so many other flora and fauna. I personally prefer utilizing palos. Sticks, wood, from my region or some given to me. Medicine from my own nec of the woods is more powerful and in better shape then something I would have ordered and had delivered through the mail and then again I also have a relationship to these plants out here. Bioregional medicine. Most powerful. We can refrain from always thinking we need to clean, banish, scour, purge, colonic, enema, douch. Enough with the bloodletting and use of leeches already. Use what's growing around the place. Get to know it. If you must clean out, learn and get to know what's in your area. Doesn't always have to the burned and smoking either. Making an infusion, either hot or cold will be powerful and effective. It can be used as a spray, a floor and house wash, you can even just use your hands and flick the waters around your home, sweep it over your own self. Or just keep some of the plant around the place, just sitting there. Marigolds floating in a bowl of water know what to do and are already doing it.

Just my two beads worth.

Medicine Bundles

It’s often thought that medicine is an elixir, pill or tincture and sometimes it is. I’m referring to medicine as something one takes when ill or imbalanced. I am also referring to medicine which brings us back to our original song and being. A spiritual tonic, tea or talisman. Let’s remember tonight that Medicine Bundles, both physical and spiritual are also places on earth.

Joshua Tree, March 1, 2019 

Saint James-Chapter of the Phoenix

Saint James-Chapter of the Phoenix

Relearning old skills.

Relearning old skills.

A few things Oya has taught me Heykua hey iya mi...

A few things Oya has taught me


Heykua hey iya mi, hekau hey Yansa. Oya is in and around me. She has always taught me the impermanence of things and to be right, Right meaning as opposed to wrong or contractive/contraction. Yansa says be here now and move in ways that are in the present. She reminds us of our short, unpredictable time on earth and requires us to walk in balance and in a good way in the strength of our youth and vibrance as well as our feebleness and declining years on earth. Humans often become cocky and too self confident in the time of their good health and youth.They can become rude, mean, selfish and self centered and only become loving, empathetic, receptive, quiet and giving when they have a health crisis or lose their job, home, their mind, their bodily abilities and the lives of loved ones. They see and fear the gates of the cemetery at that point or get a glimpse into loss and begin to correct their imbalanced way of living on earth. Sometimes they revert back to their contractive ways then suddenly they have a recurrence of the diagnosis or trauma that spurred them into change in the first place and they begin the cycle all over again. Oya’s winds are usually not predictable or calm and she reminds us that we don’t always have time to make it up, redo, repair things, say things. Suddenly we are out of time and life.

Oya is not patient and is part of the cutlass/machete posse and wears fire for a skirt. She severs things, strikes them down, puts an end to them, takes away to make room for necessary growth. Her winds can change on a dime. She is secretive and serious and hard to get to know. Her location on earth isn’t where you think it is, physically or otherwise. Arrows cannot easily find her. When she is not assisting her children in battle or balancing things in the world, she is deep in the woods. Oya dislikes greed, monopolies, meanness, deceit and dishonesty and brings unexpected change for everyone. She speaks the truth even when it’s hard to hear and guts the belly of the liar. Initiates of Oya often rile people up and they become rattled in her presence. Change often makes people anxious and uncomfortable and Oya kicks up the winds of people’s //stuff// When asking an initiate of Oya for their opinion or advice, make sure you don’t have an answer in your head that you’d like to hear. Chances are likely that their words will be unexpected and cut like a knife. To fear change is to fear the essence of Oya, and many are afraid, understandably. It’s common for one to be in the presence of an initiated priest of Oya for a quick chat or visit and then directly after, find their world has quickly changed. She brings transformation to people’s seen and unseen worlds so that they may move from stagnation, calcification and inflexibility into movement growth, healing, evolution and elevation.