Also owls are replacing pesticides for mouse control in NAPA wine country.
and cops are learning jui-jitsu to subdue people without injuring them. https://reasonstobecheerful.world/jiu-jitsu-police-departments-non-violence/
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Another piece of good news that shows what is possible in the future: Dads started patrolling an unsafe elementary school to keep children safe from violence that kept occurring. The feeling of love in the halls grew and the violence stopped too.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/10/28/dads-duty-patrol-school-fights/
About the spiral. I was outdoors today in my parents' backyard and saw a branch on a bush with alternate-growing leaves. The branch was sticking straight up, and from my angle it looked like a corkscrew seen from the side; the alternating leaves made an ascending spiral pattern. When I first saw the branch I actually thought it was a corkscrew-shaped wind chime, since there is a shade tree just above the bush. So plants are also trying to grow in a spiral fashion through alternate leafing. Who knew?
Also, how do we post photos now? It's for something completely different I want to draw attention to on this thread.
@coyote I never thought of alternate leaves as a spiral but you are right! To post a photo:
Go here to see how to post an image. https://www.jeannemayell.com/community/postid/51113/
This is a scroll I have hanging up in my bedroom. As you can see, it depicts the 7 primary chakras. @frank wrote on the forum about how the progression from 2020 through 2026 can be thought of as an ascent through the 7 chakras. So I like to look at this scroll as a reminder of where we are. Right now we're near the top of the orange circle (sacral chakra). Then once we reach 2022 we'll be in the solar plexus. The more I look at this design, though, the more I think the bottoms/tops of the circles correspond to the winter solstices. So the progression may have actually begun in Dec. 2019 (right when COVID emerged).
Notice how the bottom three chakras (2020-2022) are fiery? That's one reason why I think things will get noticeably lighter in 2023 (heart chakra). Although I think awakened 5th dimensional individuals can access all of the powers associated with the stages of the ascent before 2026 if they are very focused. If you're reading this forum, then you are probably already a 4th dimensional being.
I don't know if anyone remembers or not, but this past spring I posted about a walk I took while working from home and I felt like the land I lived on and near was waking up from something - the land felt more alive, and it beckoned me.
As with everything in life I got busy and my walks ceased. I've returned to working in my office and things are going well. Probably because of climate change we have yet to have our first frost and snow up here (normally we get our first frost in early October and the trees then shake loose all their leaves and things are dead until it snows.) Without the frost the trees have held their leaves this fall much longer than normal.
I have great trails behind my house, but I also have great trails behind my work, and as it was almost 70 on Monday, I decided to use my lunch hour to go for a walk. I used the Apple Fitness + "time to walk" and listened to General CQ Brown Jr. Tuesday I was delivering my SEL training so I didn't have time, but yesterday I went back and walked listening to Reba McEntire. Today I did the Nick Jonas walk.
Today was a very similar feeling to my spring walks. When I entered the forest the wind was blowing just strongly enough to rain leaves down from the trees like snowflakes and this powerful feeling of "We're here for you" overtook me from the trees. I did the walk, turned around at the halfway point and walked back. I came across a tree near the entrance that I felt compelled to touch. Strong and proud, smooth - I gave it a caress and walked on.
And about 30 feet later I stopped and turned back, returning to the tree. I put both hands on the bark this time and asked it to take some light and love from me, channel it down into its roots and to spread it across the earth. I felt a little light headed, but great when I did it. A euphoria came over me and I concluded the walk. The forest seemed to let me know it would be slumbering again soon but that it enjoyed my visits and hoped to see me again when they awoke.
This was an awesome experience and it's put me in quite the contemplative mood this afternoon :-). It was good to be reminded by nature that even though we harm the planet, nature still wants us around.
@dannyboy I remember that post. It really spoke to me. I live close to the north end of Central Park, and my weekend walks are one of those things that I look forward to so much. The north part of the park is such a cool place. Families have parties there, lots of pet people walk their dogs, and it's just really very homey and neighborly. Not at all like some of the fancy-pants parts of the park.
The Central Park Conservancy, which is the entity that runs the park, has a project called "Share Your Story," where people send in quotes about what the park means to them, and then some of the quotes are posted on banners all over the park. I took a picture of one of them, it says: "The trees, flowers and wildlife all give me peace." I see that quote every weekend and I just love it.
Nature does give us so much, even if we give it very little in return.
Here's an update to my update. The very next day we had a wind storm that knocked the remaining leaves off all the trees, and today I woke up to snow. I officially get the sense that nature has just dozed off for the winter and feel very special that the land up here saw fit to wave goodbye to me before it went to bed :-) I miss that silent but ever present friend already!
What a wonderful experience you had. I can feel it through your beautiful words. I would love to see you and Jeanne take a walk together in the woods. Oh, the secrets you might learn and the stories you could share.
@dannyboy, love your tree connection.
Let the trees be consulted before you take any action
Every time you breathe in, thank a tree.
Let tree-roots crack parking lots at the world bank headquarters
Let loggers be nature lovers, specially trained and rewarded
To sacrifice trees at auspicious times.
Let carpenters be master artisans
Let lumber be treasured like gold
Let chainsaws be played like saxaphones
Let soldiers on maneuvers plants trees
Give police and criminals a shovel and a thousand seedlings
Let businessmen carry pocketfuls of acorns
Let newlyweds honeymoon in the woods
Walk don't drive
Stop reading newspapers
Stop writing poetry
Squat under a tree
And tell stories.
By John Wright.