Problems

    My apologies to my friends/family/readers. I haven’t been able to post anything for a while. More problems than a dog has fleas . . . Problems with obtaining water, getting a valid cell phone, wrongful information, deceit, betrayals, false friends. The list is too long.

I will be going to some officials to get things cleared up tomorrow but it may be a while before I get to the bottom of things and finally get access to the correct information. I’ll keep everyone posted on the blog.

On the plus side, the walls of the fence are finished. I am looking for a carpenter who can install a large chain link gate until I can afford a high one entirely made of metal. The gate will be wide enough to let me go through with my RV or let trucks come on the lot with deliveries. It will cost a bit more than chain link. The narrower opening is for a people door.

Teodoro has begun construction of the bodega. It should be finished by early next week. Again, I will keep everyone posted as soon as developments occur.

The fenced in area was to have been my garden. However, at this altitude, the seeds simply dried and died up in the implacable sun. It would have required TONS of irrigation. April and May are the hottest months in this climate.

Guess that’s life. What went up must come down. In the definite down phase in which I find myself now, things can only go up. I’m looking forward to the upward phase.

My living quarters, boondocking and all, are nevertheless giving me a feeling of home. It goes for my three girls, too.

Stress Overdrive and Meditation

It’s one about which I’m not that proud. I have always been self-propelled into the next project, forever hastening to overcome the next hurdle, looking forward to the culminating achievement, yeah, I’m definitely a Type A. All just so that I can finally R E L A X ?

In my old age, and I’m ashamed to admit that I relapse more frequently than I would like to, I try to let go of these compulsions. I realize that at worst they can lead to an early death. To a lesser extent they rob me of quietly enjoying the moment, more often than not depriving me of a tranquil mind. I admitted earlier to a certain inability to seize the day, the moment. . .

As I watch Teodoro, a quiet placid man, silently plod to pick up the next block and fit it up with sober unhurried movements, without ever being in a hurry, yet managing to achieve so much in a day, I feel embarrassed. Embarrassed to often equate agitation and hurriedness with drive. Which in turn leads to a tumultuous mind and an accelerated heartbeat; a clear loss in the end.

So, last night, body aching from running all over the place in an attempt to achieve two days’ shopping into a half one (to my excuse, I had to do my 8 errands all over town in the time that my friend Monica had very obligingly put at my disposal with her car since I don’t have one, as yet), I resolved to put back into my daily obligations the very first one of the day, MEDITATION. Wow! what an ooopsie! I just wrote down medication. I guess it’s a Freudian slip and at the end of the day, I’ll have to choose between one or the other.

This morning, I gave myself an hour after taking care of the dogs and making sure all was ok with Teodoro and Uriel and listened to Om Mani

Peme Hum (a Tibetan chant), then to the calls of the whales, and to a Sanskrit chant Om Namah Shivaya. The lingering aches with which I had awaken have now disappeared. Lines have been erased from my face. And I feel peaceful. Amazing!

For anyone who would like to listen to these tapes, here are a few links:

Om Mani Peme Hum  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPszteX0z7k

Om Namah Shivaya - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npXhH9E4UAg&feature=related

Music Sounds of the Forest – Images Monasterio de Piedra Watermark Enya - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnREtYxCY-I&feature=fvw

There are many more, depending on one’s taste, spiritual inclination, and musical preference. Try humming or singing along. A make-happy practice. At least to me.

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