The Season Is Shifting

For the first time in weeks, the birds singing didn't wake up at 4 a.m. I slept through till the alarm jostled me awake.

I was dreaming. My friend was telling me that another friend of ours from high school (who is now a secret service agent) had a fling with Henry Rollins back in the day.

I thought to myself, "No wonder Henry is so messed up. Anyone who falls in love with (this friend) doesn't get over her."

This morning as I fed the cats, I thought to myself, "If Henry did want to love a woman, (this friend) would be perfect if she played bass guitar."

So what does it mean when the birds aren't chirping and singing at 4 a.m. anymore? Or are they still there and I have just gotten used to them so they don't wake me up? I miss their morning wake-up call.

Educating Family...Harder than Educating Strangers

My Aunt sent me the following e-mail. Now mind you, this IS a popular thought process in this nation. Without getting political, and stereotypes exist for a reason, this is the belief system of many of the folks who voted McPalin.

If the article becomes overbearing, you can scroll down to my row of asterisks. That's where the next level to the story ensues.

By the way, the entire following e-mail was written in GIGANTIC HUGE RED AND MAROON font.
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FIRST E-MAIL FROM MY AUNT TO A WHOLE LIST OF PEOPLE

Subject: This will tick you off! Tree huggers are at it again.

Check out the link in the last line of this email.

The U. S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota ; western South Dakota ; and extreme eastern Montana ..... check THIS out:

The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay , and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.

'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea..' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.

'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin , but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves..... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!

That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years straight.

2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!

U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006


Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels.. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?

They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:

- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States .

HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy....WHY?

James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East -more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.

Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so! Now, while you're thinking about it .... and hopefully P.O'd, do this:

3. Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.
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Now I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.

By the way...this is all true.. Check it out at the link below!
GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind.

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
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The propaganda overwhelmed me. It's amazing, and people fall for it. This peaked my husbands curiosity so he did a little research.

Yes there is "oil". I use the term oil loosely because the "oil" is referred to as shale oil. Now without going into the entire diatribe of the evils of oil (some of that comes a bit later), I did a reply-all and sent the following e-mail to everyone on her list.

REPLY E-MAIL TO MY AUNT AND THE ENTIRE LIST OF ORIGINAL RECIPIENTS

If you are really interested in this topic, you may want to read this:

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3868

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Well, it's obvious that my aunt did not take the time to read or even look at the article, because this is what she replied back thinking that I was one of those people who were ticked off that our God given right to drill for that oil on US soil was being blocked by those environmentalist wacko tree huggers. (Yes, she wrote her e-mail in CAPS.)

REPLY E-MAIL FROM MY AUNT TO ME

YES, I HAVE A FRIEND IN W.VA. WHOSE SISTER-IN -LAW LIVES ON THAT LAND AND THEY ARE STILL WAITING TO BECOME RICH, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE ITS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. SHE SENT ME A NOTE ALSO.
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It is a bizarre oxymoron...my aunt is a gardener and an encyclopedia for holistic health. She is highly religious. Doesn't drink nor smoke. She is extremely frugal and doesn't throw much away. She is a talented rug maker. She buys and sells at flea markets. If you sat down and had a conversation with her about natural things, you would think that she could slip into the "tree hugger" category. I truly love my aunt. I love hanging out with her and talking holistic health. She knows so much, and my cousins don't take her seriously. She and I will talk for hours. We have a lot in common. Yet, I think she is also the perfect example of the type of person that has been created/molded by propaganda.

REPLY E-MAIL TO MY AUNT TODAY

It doesn't tick me off that it is not drilled. It ticks me off that people WANT to drill.

It's not as easy as it sounds. Some of the "oil" comes from shale rock which is extracting oil from rock. It is highly destructive, poisons the water and creates huge amounts of air pollution.

Even if "drilling" did occur, at best, there is only a 6 month supply over the course of twenty years. So, if there are about 180 days (in a six month time span...30 days x 6 months) that's less than a ten day supply for each of the twenty years at the modern rate of US oil consumption.

The entire ordeal is a farce and a scam to further pad the pockets of big oil business. Why would you want to support something like that? So your friend's sister-in-law (someone you don't know) can be rich? For money that doesn't benefit humanity as a whole, a part of this beloved United States and Earth gets to become a toxic waste pit? That ticks me off.

Why would I give a holy crap about other people's wallets? I'd rather change my lifestyle and leave a healthy clean planet for my child and future grandchildren to enjoy life on as I (and YOU) got to.

People need to change their lifestyles. Because at the US consumption rate of oil, even alleged "trillions" of barrels will NOT make us any less dependent on foreign oil.

To desecrate the Earth is a direct abomination of our holy Creator and a direct sin to our future generations.

Safe travels.

Love you,
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And my final comment on this is that if people don't like being dependent on foreign oil, why don't they just STOP using oil?

Using oil is a choice, and you can choose NOT to use it. That is one sure way to stop dependence on foreign oil.

An Epic Night of Dreaming

This is written out as a conscious stream...

Dreamt all night
last night
and when I woke
in the darkness of night
I closed my eyes
and returned
to those dreams
like an epic...
I dreamt of pirates.
Bad pirates & good pirates.
Bad pirates out to get Blue and I
We escape
I find an ally in a
big burly dark yet red faced man
who, at first, is doubtful
and hesitant to assist
but I convince him.
I know that he is the best.
We begin to subtly recruit for
our "army".
Many show for the first meeting
the room fills
as the meeting begins
part of the group shifts
their faces become like
clown faces painted white, black and red
they are spies from the other side
infiltrating
a fight ensues and
we immediately know
who fights with us.
With no plan it's hard
to continue fighting
we retreat, intact.
We are on a ship.
I am on the bow with the
Captain- my burly pirate ally friend
and a woman who is of dark skin
with dark hair. She is dressed in white
in a Star Wars Bohemian type of style.
She is stunningly beautiful.
She is also assisting in leading and strategy
and has brought a group of her own.
She is wise, kind, intelligent and dignified.
The wind blows us on the bow
as the ship sails quickly over the open sea.
Stars shine and it is
black all around us
the sky & the water
I say above the wind to the Captain, "I'm scared."
(I felt alarm after the attack at the meeting. I sensed the danger we had to overcome.)
The Captain gives a chuckle and replies,"It's about time that you felt the danger."
I go to him and put my arms
around him. I say,"I'm afraid (of what's to come). I love you."
He has his arms around me in a protective way.
I turn to the woman and
embrace her. I tell her
that I love her, too.
Tears are running down my face.
I'm in a dingy headed
across the ocean. There
are two or three others in the
dingy. We speed across
the open ocean.
Our "army" is on the move.
We have a plan. Everyone has a role.
We are not big, but we are clever.
We are ready to die if necessary.
In front of us is a big
white barge type boat closed on three sides with thick steel walls.
The fourth side and back is open towards us.
I can see the cargo.
An all-white semi tractor truck
in on the barge/boat.
Everything related to and
on the barge is white. It is a stark contrast
to the dark open sea.
We are all moving at a very fast pace. It's a bumpy ride in the open ocean.
Blue is safe inside the trailer
of the semi truck.
We follow close behind.
As we near our destination
and begin to move in our very
practiced and planned sequences,
I jump onto the barge and open the trailor.
As I do this, doors on the shore open
and the bad pirates attack (how did they know?).
As practiced and planned, I put Blue in the dingy.
He complains that he wants his toys.
I pick up a Star Wars
action figure (Han Solo?)
and put it in my jeans pocket.
I yell down at him above the noise that he must go.
I have no fear.
I look around.
There is chaos and fighting everywhere.
I go into the trailer to see what I can grab.
In the trailer is a bed and dresser. Toys are scattered, no doubt from the bumpy journey.
I try to pick some things up.
Blue is in the dingy
and they are moving him to shore.
He is supposed to go into one of the doors that the bad pirates came out of.
If all had gone as planned, this would have been a simple move.
I am concerned that with the ambush
that Blue won't make it to his destination on shore.
If I jump now, I can
swim to the dingy.
There is chaos all around and
I hope that everyone sticks to the plan.
I wake up.

As I lie in bed
in the dark room
the birds sing
loudly. Their songs
come in through the open window.
I don't know what time it is
but it is pitch dark outside.
I remember from a Rikki Hall column in
The Hellbender Press
that this time of year,
the Robins sing at 3 or 4 a.m.
I'm not sleepy
but I guess I return to sleep
because I'm dreaming again...

We arrive in a new place
by water and boats
this is a friendly place
city-like, bustling
we know that we can be safe here.
It is not of this time (it seems back in time, yet of this time)
There are wooden barrels on the wooden piers
The buildings seems wooden, stone or clay-like
the colors of the atmosphere/time is terra cotta-like,
browns and reddish browns.
We are all going to live here.
There is no sadness or fear.
The feeling is knowing.
I go to work in an inn as a waitress/room service/maid type person.
I sense that some time has past.
I am not unhappy. I feel alert and aware. I am busy at the inn.
I am at a diner type counter at the inn.
I can see into the kitchen.
My mind suddenly remembers as I see a
woman at the counter that I recognize as an ally.
I'm trying to jog the person's
memory without outright talking
about our past alliance.
I realize that it is time for
us all to come back together.
I know that no one is far, but where?
I sense an enemy in the kitchen
on the other side of the counter.
I realize that we need to be
super sly. It's time to motivate.

I wake up.
It's still dark.
Blue calls out, "DAD!"
I'm awake, but I don't move.
Chad jumps up and goes to
Blue's room. (I listen for dialogue, but hear none.)
Chad quickly returns and is quickly back
to sleep.
I guess that I fall back asleep, too
because I am in the dream...

Modern day.
I'm leaving my home and
I set the alarm.
I can't let them see me leave the
house
I'm going to a meeting of allies
there's a car in the street with
two men watching the house
I get out of the house and crawl away
on my hands and knees
so they don't see me.
(Ditto the sequence)
It's another day in the dream
Again, I go to leave the house (same mission)
I set the alarm
I open the door
and I see the car
I think that I can crawl off
again, but next door neighbors are
arriving home
I don't want them to see me either.
I cancel the alarm because
my 80 seconds to leave the
house are about up and
I don't want the alarm to go off.
The dog is in my way and I'm
afraid that I won't get the code
in on time.
I punch the wrong code. I hit cancel
then the right code.
The alarm doesn't go off.
I think to myself that I'm
going to have to exit through a window.

End.