MAGE MUSIC: Just for fun

MAGE MUSIC: Just for fun Stairway to Heaven

Spiritual Horsemanship - project development: Hurry Up and Wait

Spiritual Horsemanship - project development: Hurry Up and Wait: Long associated with the military, where the grunts are mobilized in double-time to get ready for action and then end up cooling their heels for hours or days until being deployed, "hurry up and wait" applies to horsemanship as well - with a twist.  Giving up the hurry and being willing to wait gets you to your goal faster than you'd think.

Glenwood Gazette News: Dutch Oven Cookoff

Glenwood Gazette News: Dutch Oven Cookoff: The eleventh annual Dutch Oven Cookoff will be held April 6 in Glenwood NM.  More at GlenwoodGazette.com/

52 WEEKS TO PREPAREDNESS - Week 8

52 WEEKS TO FAMILY PREPAREDNESS FOR TWO

WEEK #8
Follow this for painless preparedness that will get you going on the path to being ready for catastrophic events and that, at the end of the year, will leave you in the best position to thrive in the event of any emergency.

You can do this! The cost is spread out over a full year, plus you will have a year to work out your storage.

Food Storage 30 lbs of wheat
Extra Item 30 lbs of beans

72 Hour Kit Personal Hygiene Kit
Travel size shampoo, bar soap, chapstick, lotion, razor, nail clippers, comb, brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, handy wipes, hand sanitizer, 1 roll of toilet paper, small package of tissues, feminine items. You can put a kit together easily or buy them at Amazon.com (e.g. 73 Piece Personal Hygiene and First Aid Kit for under $30) or look in camping/hunting stores.

Family Prep Provide a safer alternative heat source for your home. This could be your fireplace or wood stove or a propane or kerosene space heater. A year’s supply of fuel is preferable but for emergency purposes two weeks supply would be acceptable. Any time an alternative heating system is operating, have at least on carbon monoxide detector in use and ventilation must be provided to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.

MAGE MUSIC: All In Good Time

MAGE MUSIC: All In Good Time: The Mage musician's first notes begin to weave the spell.  It becomes harder and harder for the listener to focus on the guitar’s individual...

Jimmy Jaramillo RIP

I just got back from the memorial service for Jimmy Jaramillo.  He was a personal friend of of mine for nearly 20 years.  He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather.  Referred to during the service and elsewhere as a hero, Jimmy was a role model for many both in his civilian life and his position with the Catron County Sheriffs Department.  Jimmy could cook up a mean batch of refried beans, and he seemed to get a lot out of scaring me with a flash of lights from his patrol car when he recognized my car on the road.

There were about 400 people at the memorial, and of course there was a large law enforcement presence.  In addition to prayers and eulogies, the formal honor guard brought in the ash urn, performed the ritual salutes and the flag folding and presentation.  There was a three volley gun salute, a last radio call, and then bagpipes. 

A lot of of our most comforting funeral/memorial traditions have old, old origins. The custom of wearing unadorned black clothing for mourning dates back at least to the Roman Empire. The singing of sad songs (country style around here) comes from the ancient Greece threnody (a song, hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person). In ancient Rome families carried masks in the likeness of the deceased in the funeral procession - today we use photographs. The gun salute custom originates from the European dynastic wars, where three shots were fired into the air to signal that battle could resume after a break for removing the dead and wounded. Bagpipes, too, are associated with warfare; Scottish warriors used musical instruments to intimidate their English adversaries as early as the 14th century - and we all know that there is something about that particular sound that bypasses the thinking brain and goes directly to the emotional centers.  Even the tradition of post-memorial food is from ancient Greece’s perídeipnon, a dinner after the burial.

Amazing Grace, played on the bagpipes, is a shot to the heart no matter what your beliefs. You don’t even have to be that familiar with the lyrics to feel it as a spiritual anthem when it’s performed as an instrumental as it was today. Just about my favorite version of Amazing Grace is performed by Walela (featuring Rita Coolidge) and is sung in Cherokee. And yeah, there are bagpipes in the background.

Good bye Jimmy, we will miss you.

52 WEEKS TO PREPAREDNESS - Week 7

WEEK #7

Follow this for painless preparedness that will get you going on the path to being ready for catastrophic events and that, at the end of the year, will leave you in the best position to thrive in the event of any emergency.

You can do this! The cost is spread out over a full year, plus you will have a year to work out your storage.

Food Storage:  6 lbs of jam
Extra Item:  20 lbs of oats

72 Hour Kit   Flashlight and AM/FM radio with extra batteries (wrap all electronic items in two separate layers of aluminum foil if you are concerned about the risk of EMP damage)

Family Prep: Clear brush, debris and trees to 30’ from your home.