“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” John 8:32 (NIV)

Firstly,  I’ve made many mistakes in my 69 years; bad judgement, cheated, lied, stolen and disrespected life.  Each of us, I believe can lay claim to some part of this statement.  Does it matter what our discretion? My discovery:  I’m an ordinary human being who has discovered a trail to becoming extraordinary. Join me.

John was right, “the truth does set you free’. However, remember, you have to ‘know the truth’ to be ‘set free’. What does the ‘truth’ set you free from?

Many find the ‘truth’  sets them free from something they don’t want to be set free from. You could say the ‘truth’ came back to haunt them. There are many kinds of ‘truths’. The ‘truth’ that sets you to building a new trail. Or a ‘ truth’ might set you to maintaining a trail that has been neglected. A ‘truth’ that sets you to covering a trail that should not be traveled.

Our lightning fast medias’ bring us all kinds of  ’truths’. We have to chose which truth to believe. We have to ‘know the truth’ before it can ‘set us free’…and that could be a difficult truth to build into our trails…or stop our trails altogether!

Relax, this is just between you and me. Let me put you at ease…yes, we’re ordinary, but we have the ability to become extraordinary in whatever way we wish. We can live our dreams…or maybe some part of them.  Isn’t that a relief?

Okay, now that you’re relaxed, take a few deep breaths:  Imagine. You have just been elected President. You are the new leader of a nation! You have just moved into your new home and  stepped into your new office. You’ve become extraordinary! You are going to change the world!  All the work and money to get here paid off…pinch yourself. It’s real, you’re here.

Many helped get you here. You have debts to repay. Things are expected. You have a ‘things to do’ list that would choke a heard of horses! There are all kinds’ of battles to be fought; 7 billion people are scrambling to live on this planet;  and communication is lightning fast! Global thinking was a prerequisite.  There is a multitude pushing you forward…it’s a race to change the face of our planet! What was that dream you had? Is it still here? Or,did it get lost along the way?

Now’s your chance to shape the world. Are you up to the challenge? Just answer one question. You’ve already surrounded yourself with those you trust and believe can help you most. Now let the rest of the world know your intention. What’s your plan?

Think about this and get back to me. Just go to the ‘Share the knowledge’ below and click on ”Comment’. Have at it!

Happy Trail Building!

“Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people.” – Henry Kissinger,  1970

This is the future Henry Kissinger had in mind in 1970.

Without the knowledge of how our bodies work we can not fully understand how to feed our body.  Not putting biology at the forefront of education is a disservice to humanity, the planet and all its inhabitants! Biology should be the foundation on which all else is built and integrated into. Education should begin with counting the bones in our feet and developing an understanding of our place in the web of life.

What is Biology? Merriam-Webster defines Biology as:

“Home-based businesses are one of the fastest-growing segments in our economy, and that trend will only continue, as the age of the corporation, which began barely a century ago, now gives way to the age of the entrepreneur.” – Paul Zane Pilzer, Author and Nobel Prize Winning Economist

Join a company for the right reasons. A business has to have a product/service that I feel passionate about. For me, I won’t sell anything that I don’t believe is a benefit to myself, my community and this planet.

There are 1000s of small businesses in my community and yours. Local businesses that you nor I know about. The knowledge of their existance is changing. Enter Groupon, Living Social and The Customer Advantage. These companies are making these small businesses known. They recognize the benefit of supporting local businesses. Local businesses employ 68% of employed people.

Getting In Front of a Trend

Technical and Social Media is changing everything. Look at Groupon. Groupon’s membership grew to 40 Million in just two years. Groupon was able to get in front of a trend (Group Buying). Group Buying is a major new trend and Groupon is now the fastest growing business in the history of business! Faster than Google, faster than Amazon, faster than any company you can think of. Their business is so successful they recently turned down a $6 Billion dollar buy out from Google!

Look at Facebook and how it developed. Mark Zukerberg didn’t have any idea what he was creating when he started Facebook. It was a change that was  ready to happen and was going to happen with or without him. He was able to get in front of the change. Now look at where he is.

There are thousands of great Network Marketing companies out there that offer people a way to GET AHEAD OF A TREND; Trends that Technical and Social Medias are pushing forward at the speed of whatever your modem runs at!

If you are thinking about joining a company, follow these steps before joining. Then when you are satisfied, Jump In! The water is great!

Find — and study — the company’s track record.
Learn about the product
Ask questions
Understand any restrictions
Talk to other distributors (beware shills)
Consider using a friend or adviser as a neutral sounding board or for a gut check.
Take your time.
Think about whether this plan suits your talents and goals[34]

Have fun on your trail to GETTING AHEAD OF A TREND!

“The livestock industry is the last wildlife-genocide program in the United States,” says Bruce Apple, the director of an Oregon-based environmental organization appropriately called Rest the West. “All-out war is declared on a diversity of species every day to benefit a single industry.” 

This ‘single industry’, the Beef Industry, is one example of how our dollars have an impact to not just the wild horses, but our health and the environment. Think differently about your purchases. Every penny you and I spend makes a political statement.  Take time to look ‘behind the name’. Understand what your purchase means to others.

Is this a difficult concept to wrap your mind around? Yes. However, once you take time to understand everything that happens behind the products we purchase and realize the power of every dollar you spend, then you can begin to govern like no government ever will!

Behind the Burger:

Our sensational appetite for Whoppers, Big Macs and Wendy’s burgers is chomping at the hills of our nation’s wild horses; people eat approximately 200 billion burgers a year! The United States has a population of a little over 307 million; “Modern plants can process 800,000 pounds of hamburger meat a day, from many thousands of different cattle”. Last year the U.S. Population Ate 26.4 Billion Pounds of Beef Cattle! And according to ‘Freakonomics, The Hidden Side of Everything’, “Our Future Looks Fat; Study Predicts Nearly Half the U.S. Population Will be Obese by 2030″.

About 45 million beef cattle roam some 870 million acres, more than two thirds of the land mass in our seventeen westernmost states. There are about 33,700 wild horses and 4,700 burros roaming on BLM ranges in 10 Western states.  The Bureau of Land Management says, if these horses were left on their own, the population would explode. Let’s see, 45 million beef cattle and 33,700 wild horses…and why is the BLM focusing on the wild horse population? Chomp! Chomp! Oh, by the way, there is a huge difference in the way cattle and horses graze.  I’m not saying to stop eating beef…just slow down! Try eating only ‘organic’ and eat less.

The changes needed today will go beyond much of what we have loved and coveted. We have a couple of choices when it comes to the changes we need. We can choose to leave a bright and shiny world; full of everything healthy and beautiful; or, continue chomping away at the heals of our world, leaving a sick and fearful world. This is difficult journey; making time to study before you make a purchase. The upside: You can participate in governing this planet with every penny you spend.

Look closely at the CHANGE that is ahead for all of us; the heart and soul of what life is about, not just what it looks and smells like; new doors to how we connect are opening. Welcome. ‘What happens to the least of us, happens to all of us’.  Me, I’m just a ‘whimsical kid’ that keeps dreaming. Penny Politics works! Try it on and see how it feels!

Happy Wild Horse Trails!

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it.Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.
—Chief Seattle

As I sit in the sun, delighting in the flutter of  wings and reveling at the sight of birds as they feast; cautious, fearful, yet determined to feed, no matter how close I come. As long as I remain still they succumb to bravery and peck away at the bird feeder.  There are hundreds waiting their turn at the feeder. Fluttering and chirping surrounds me. If I move too quickly, they flicker away. What is this invisible line of connection? Drawing them near, then frighten them away with my movement. I’m a giant in their world. Their language and pecking order a mystery. Yet, they too are an intricate thread within the web of life.

“Is there something wrong? I’m somewhat concerned. One of the village men came and said there were stirrings of trouble in the forest. What kind of trouble? The village man said, “creatures are being killed and dying in the forest. Insects, animals and birds are struggling for life.”

- Clive Cussler, Blue Gold, a novel from the NUMA files.

Fiction? We all recognize the ‘trouble’: It’s all around us; fear is nipping at everyones’ heals.The novel brings a glimpse of one mans movement that caused the death of a pod of whales and more. He places an enormous blister on humanities face and bringing imbalance to life and the planet.

How do we begin changing lifestyles and habits?  Until each of us acknowledges what Chief Seattle so eloquently said; ‘all things connect’, the imbalance we’ve created is killing us.  Is it our lack of education? Is it greed that provokes humanity to take such stupid steps? Our rampant and irresponsible development and consumption reveals our societal immaturity on an enormous scale!

Think ‘non-consumption’. Opps, that won’t work…the basis of our economy would go bust! Oh, our economy is already a bust. For me, a good start would be to shift from ‘want’ to ‘need’ as a basic foundation for curing much of what is wrong in our world. We need to tilt the scales back to when we were a ‘need based’ society. We are a society  Starving for purpose, but we need to give up ‘gluttony’! Standing in line at the grocery, I heard a woman say, “I want an SUV! I’m having a mid-life crisis!”. We chase after ‘things’ to fulfill ourselves; never giving a thought about how these kinds of actions affect the world around us. Even when we are aware, we seldom go beyond the name of a thing; at the depth beneath a name and how it connects to everything.

Just as you, I yearn to have a voice, to be heard.  To be understood and respected. I too have a dream:

Stewardship is practiced by everyone. Each of us is a good and loving person. Each of us can take the time to ‘go beyond a name’ and become familiar with the ‘essence of life’ and how we are all connected.  We understand Biology; living organisms and vital processes. We see a beautiful living thing and know how it is connected to ourselves and its environment. We no longer lose all that we hold dear. There is a natural balance and every community thrives.

Happy non-gluttonous trails!

Rocky Mountain Trail

The following story was sent to me in an email. I am so pleased to present it here. I asked about who the author was and could not get an answer. So, if anyone knows who wrote this, I hope you will let them know that I have published their words; which are addressed to any and all those who believe the ‘boomer generation’  didn’t do enough to help the environment.

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.” The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.

In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us.

When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not a Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.

We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn’t have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.

We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need computerized gadget to receive a signal from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

Conservation isn’t just a ‘state of mind’…it’s taking a close look at where we want to go and how we want to get there.

Tightening our belts with regard to the economy also means changing many of the way we do things. If each of the 310,950,000 people in the United Stated changed one little thing with regard to conservation…what a huge difference we could make.

Happy Conservation Trails!

Welcome. I’ll try and make this short, sweet and maybe a little entertaining.   And, of course, it’s somewhat free.

We’re all looking for ways to lighten our load; cut expenses and still get things done and maybe find some enjoyment.  We are in the time of the ‘shrinking dollar’. Jobs are almost non-existent and we have to ‘tighten our belts’, in far too many instances,  without starving. Who’s to blame? I’ll point my finger at you and me.  Who else can be held responsible. We each participated in someway to bring us to this juncture…again. You would think we would have learned a few lessons…just shows you how much attention some of us are paying.  Much of what we are doing is simply not working.  Now, we’ve got to dig ourselves out…yet, again.

How can we make things easier on ourselves and maybe change directions? This may sound simplistic, however, increasing our Bartering efforts is just a tiny tip on the iceberg of getting through these ‘hard times’. Some seem embarrassed when offering to barter. There is  nothing to be ashamed of; societies often turn to ‘bartering’ when in a time of  ’money crisis’. And, we certainly can’t argue about the ‘money crisis’ we’re in.

In case you are unfamiliar with the bartering system; it is a method of exchange by which goods or services are exchanged for goods and services without using a medium of exchange like ‘money’. It’s usually ‘bilateral‘ and has always existed along side monetary systems. Most cultures of the world have based their ‘exchange system’ on ‘flat money’. And look at what most culture are experiencing!

Bartering has a long history. I’ve been bartering in one way or another all my life. Interestingly, when I looked ‘bartering’ up I found out that ‘there is no evidence of a society or economy that relied primarily on barter’. Non-monetary societies operated largely along the principles of gift economics. That sounds like the movie ‘Pay It Forward’ or going deep into ‘living from the heart’ …here’s hoping you’re a ‘Taoist’ or a serious ‘Christian’.

Just to recap. The dollar bill is all but disappeared, it’s time to look at other strategies and integrate more of our heart into the economy; which may include a combination of  ’monetary systems’; flat money, barter, gift economy and looking at new ways of supporting each other.  Let’s  increase our efforts to do these things.  Let’s think ‘outside the box’ a little more. We all know jobs are limited. The feed back about our circumstances seems bleak! But we humans are incredible, we always seem to get up after a fall.

Here are some things we can do to make life easier.

1. Go over your expenses and cut back everywhere you can. I just cut my expenses $130 a month. That’s almost $1600 a year.
2. Barter whenever possible.
3. Practice ‘gift economics’.
4. Look closely at companies that offer ‘enlightened capitalism‘.
5. Get back to a more ‘need based’ economy.
6. Call everyone you are doing business with and see what specials they might offer.
7. Do more outdoor activities; hiking, camping, picnicing, etc.
8. Support your Parks.
9. Scrutinize every dollar you spend.
10. Be prepared for great things to happen.

I’m making a commitment to do all 10 of these things…let’s see what happens.

Happy trails!

Coexisting with animals, humans and the planet is such an intricate journey. It takes courage just to walk out the door. Often times I don’t.

A’ responsible father’, unbeknown to me at the time of our initial encounter, rents my neighbor’s garage driveway space. How ‘the responsible father’ got there; I answered a Craigslist ad the ‘responsible father’ had placed looking for a space for his RV; I gave my neighbor ‘the responsible’ father’s information.

We will call the responsible father ‘Troy’. Troy works hard at labor intensive jobs and travels a great deal following work. Troy has a pick up, young and strong. He has a glow of health about him; tan and handsome. Me, I’m an ‘old woman’ trying to grasp every straw of ‘health’ and ‘goodness’ I can; often leaving me breathless and sore.

Troy was kind enough to take me to pick up a couch that I purchased. I gave him a few dollars…he didn’t want to take the money, but I insisted, I know how hard his money comes and gas is expensive.  For awhile I let Troy to use my outside plumbing to fill water containers. However, Pieper and Sprout barked a great deal when he came; which was disturbing to me and the neighbors; so, I had to ask Troy not to use the outside water anymore. He seemed to understand.

Troy goes to the downtown library regularly. Recently, he found a car on Craigslist that he wanted to check out. However, he does not know how to respond to the ‘seller’ using his email. He asked if I would contact the seller and give him/her his phone. I responded twice, leaving the ‘seller’ Troy’s phone number.

Initially when Troy called at around 8:30 a.m this morning and asking if I would contact the ‘seller’, I told him my computer was down. It wasn’t. I just didn’t know how to say ‘no’. Having asked Troy a couple of time over the past month if he would help me do a couple of things I was feeling muffed that he had not asked what he could help me with. Here I go expecting something from someone I hardly know.  Not a good idea.  It takes time to know someone:  However, my thinking was, if he pays alimony, then he’s a good guy…and good guys offer to help out an old woman. Well, as they say, ‘timing is everything’; I don’t know about ‘timing’ be ‘everything’, but in this instance, mine didn’t seem to be all that good.  Even when you’ve spent time to know someone, expecting a certain behavior can be setting yourself up for a fall. And I barely knew Troy.

I decided to do some yard work and while moving a pile of wood, I thought about my lie to Tony and felt a little guilty. That’s when I decided to call him back and offer help, and ask if he could make time to help me.

When I got him on the phone,  and Troy asked me for the third time to contact a ‘seller’, I asked if he had an Email address and he said absolutely. I offered to teach him how to do respond using his email. He said if it was too big of a deal, that he had friends in other places that would drive him someplace at the drop of a hat. He then said he didn’t have time today that he was going to a friend’s house for a barbeque. And kept repeating himself. Saying that if it only takes a minute and if it’s such a big deal…and then repeated about his friends. He did not want to give me an opportunity to speak. I finally shouted for him to stop and let me speak. I told him it did not have to be today and asked him to give me the information so I might help him. It was difficult for him. He finally gave me the information, and that was when I realized it was the same info he’d given me two other times. I said if the person has not called as yet, I didn’t see the point in sending his phone number again.  And that when he had time I’d be glad to show him how to respond by email to people on Craigslist who do not list a phone number; he began repeating himself again. I’m not sure how I squeezed out about helping  me do a couple of things sometime.  He began repeating what he had said before and that he wanted to hang out with people who he could learn from…and then made accusations that I was bragging about helping him. It was clear that Troy was upset and had made his mind up about the situation. I finally told him;’ you see what you want to see…and hear what you want to hear’.  I think we said ‘goodbye’, I’m not sure. I don’t believe Troy heard much of what I said. Nor, do I believe he wanted to take time to listen.  He had made up his mind about the situation.

Making our minds up about a situation, without taking the time to listen and understand, can create such ‘chaos’.  Who wants to take the time to repeat back to someone; “this is what I hear you saying”, “this is what I understand”.  Therefore, the majority of the world ‘hears and sees what they wants’. Someone said ‘no one can know you as well as you know yourself”. What are you thinking? What are you doing? Inquiring minds, yes, there are ‘inquiring minds’ out there…and they really do want to listen and understand what you have to say.

We are just specs on this planet.  Most of the time it seems to me, that we are ‘specs on steroids’!  Short ‘tweets’ camouflaging for conversation. Believing what we want; more often without spending the necessary time to listen and understand. We long for someone to listen.  Thinking if we speak loud and as fast as we can, someone will hear; we saturate the internet; trying to ‘Brand’ ourselves. Wagering our time on this or that.

If there is more to ‘A Morning’s Tale’ I’ll let you know. In the meantime…’You hear what you want, you see what you want’ and ‘no one can know you as well as yourself’. Are you living from your heart? Can you hear it beat? Does it matter? How long must you and I take? Can you hear me? Tweet, Tweet!

Happy trails,

Walking the line between sensuality and reality leaves me a little dizzy. ‘Give me Freedom or give me Death’ is obsolete. There are varying shades of freedom and death in Blueray and Digital surrounding me. A colorful vortex sucks at my bones; luring me with promises that I know will leave me docile. Jump in, be happy!

Fraud discovered humans had feelings we repressed because they were too dangerous: remnants of our animal past. As he witnessed the horror of war mounting; he believed war to be terrible evidence of exactly how we should have expected people to behave given the knowledge of our psychoanalysis.

I surmise that our ‘animal past’ may have given us limited ability to communicate; and as a result we were more inclined to battle for what we wanted. However, our evolution into intelligent beings, with increased communication skills should have curtailed our nature to battle for what we want. Is it our ‘animal past’ that keeps us in ‘battle’?  Or, is it purely economics that keeps us in battle? How big is the business of War? Over 50% of Federal Funds are spent on war! Is it no wonder its the most popular commodity being sold to the American people? Who profits?

“The normal profits of a business concern in the United States are six, eight, ten, and sometimes twelve percent. But war-time profits – ah! that is another matter – twenty, sixty, one hundred, three hundred, and even eighteen hundred per cent – the sky is the limit. All that traffic will bear. Uncle Sam has the money. Let’s get it. Of course, it isn’t put that crudely in war time. It is dressed into speeches about patriotism, love of country, and “we must all put our shoulders to the wheel,” but the profits jump and leap and skyrocket – and are safely pocketed. Let’s just take a few examples:”

“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.” 

―  Smedley D. Butler

Fraud’s American nephew, Edward Bernays was the first man to show American corporations how to make people want what they do not need; manipulating the masses; linking mass produced goods to our unconscious desires. Out of this a new political idea of how to control the masses: by satisfying peoples inner selfish desires, one made them happy and thus docile. The start of the all consuming ‘Self’ which is come to dominate the world today!

Armed with this knowledge American Corporations learned how to package and present anything they could make a ‘buck’ on to the American people…war was dressed in patriotic speeches and love of country  becoming the ultimate commodity for those who would benefit.

Jump in, be happy! The American Dream is your ‘fix’! Everything comes with a promise. Be careful what you buy…defining and understanding the ingredients are crucial to your life. How do you know who keeps their promise? Who can you trust? Trust is much more than a name. How can you chose without knowing? How do you find out? You have to spend precious time. It takes time to filter through all the muck out there. If you are not taking the time to filter through the information; a colorful vortex is sucking at your bones; luring you with promises that are leaving you docile.

Education is one of the Pillar Posts of humanities foundation. Everyone must have equal education. Unless we each have similar knowledge we can not sustain ourselves. Until every individual has equal resources; which begins with a sound and equal education, someone is left behind. And as president George Bush said, “no child left behind’. What surprises me most is that we have sadly neglected this most important foundation to our society.  ‘When one of us suffer, so shall we all’. Without equal knowledge we are devalued. Everyone suffers.  Society’s chaos; wars abound across the planet and Death marks its tracks; and the wounded seem to disappear. Everyone looking to feel good with little left to believe in and grasping at the American Dream with all their might!

Society’s management and organizational skills are undisciplined, uncoordinated; contributing to the planetary shifting and species extinction… as our weakened immunity leaves us diseased and dying.

Solutions to this bleak reality does not exist in continuing the model we created…it is NOT working! We need new kind of ‘Paradigm’. Whenever given the opportunity and mechanism to do so, people are good, kind and supportive. There are new ‘paradigms’. New ‘opportunities and mechanisms’ to be apart of. We simply must not give up our pioneering spirit.

I’ve worked hard for some piece of the American Dream for almost 70 years. I’ve come up with a tiny bit…and I could probably stop with what I have. However, my ‘pioneering spirit’ and my nature to be ‘good, kind and supportive’ will not let me be content just to be. I’ve a vision that we can be all that is good in the world. Through my ‘looking glass’ I’ve found some ‘new paradigms’.  If you are visionary enough and can learn to trust a little more you will seek out these ‘new paradigms’ and change our History! Here is one such new ‘paradigm‘!

Happy Visionary Trails!

"A Mother's Love" (Elyse Gardner 2009)

A friend forwarded ‘A companion Animals Ten Commandments’ to me recently, I thought I’d share it. It’s June, it’s hot and just as we strive to keep our human selves cool…we need to remember our furry friends need the same consideration.

As the July 4th is close I want to remind everyone that our furry friends don’t like fire crackers; and in Colorado, the fire danger is so very great I encourage everyone to find a peaceful way to celebrate!