In Repose Blog

Thank You Olaf

Early yesterday morning at the end of a truly lovely and inspired dream of wandering the prairie, feeling like I was searching for something important...I walked my horse into a small low stream that turned into an ocean of warm and welcoming water.

In the last 12 hours we have measured nearly 8 inches of rain on our ranch thanks to the visiting tropical depression Olaf.

Austin and Central Texas has changed its drought status from Exceptional of last week, to Extreme this week, to the amazingly positive classification of Severe drought currently. Severe? Heck we'll take it. We are Texans. Severe is basically normal.

Prayers answered, dreams come true, life is good.

The Drought Continues

Please for those of you so inclined...please pray for rain for Austin and all of Central and Southern Texas. The three month forecast is for LESS than normal moisture. We haven't had normal moisture for years.

Our lakes, our water table, our livestock and the wildlife are suffering to an extreme degree. Some folks here are calling it "epic". It has never been so dry, and to add insult to injury we are having record breaking heat. 

Its absolutely heartbreaking.

Live H20. Lets Transcend.

How many of you out there understand how important water really is? I know some of you do. My dad (Hi dad...see you soon...) has always talked about the ocean and its massive connection to life itself. He knows.

My own family has been living in an extensive drought here in Texas and it has been extremely painful for us and our livestock and the wildlife around us. They know very well.

We need water. We ARE water. You have heard it before, we are 80% water. And what a coincidence (but not really...) so too, the earth is made up of 80% water.

Without water there IS no life.

Professor Emoto has proven that your thoughts, your intentions your prayers are recorded and reflected back to you in water! We are far more powerful than we have been led to believe.

Be a part of a historical experiment to shift global consciousness.

Visit Live H20 to learn more.

This can absolutely change reality as we know it. And it happens this weekend!

Most of You will Completely Ignore This Fact

Wireless communications radiation is to America today what DDT, thalidomide, dioxin, benzene, Agent Orange and asbestos were yesterday. Historically, the truth about the public health menace of extreme toxins is never told until thousands sicken and die.

We Got Some Rain!

Storms blew in recently and the heaven's opened up! When it was all over, (I think it rained for 11 minutes) we measured .25 inch of rain.

We'll take it. And yet, it really is the proverbial drop in a bucket. And the moisture evaporated before my eyes. My horses barely got mud in their hooves.

Drought conditions now affect 97.4 percent of Texas according to the U.S. Drought Monitor issued Thursday. Central Texas is not only the hardest-hit region in Texas but in the nation as well. The Seasonal Drought Outlook from the Climate Prediction Center paints a bleak picture with drought conditions persisting through April.

"If you're a producer or a farmer or a rancher right now without irrigation, you're basically in a world of hurt," said Victor Murphy with the National Weather Service .

Some say this is the worst drought in 100 years.

Sure seems so. We don't even have any weeds growing.

I need Water. (Make mine 'Thank You')

My creek needs water. The animals in the hills, the birds and the coyotes need water. My pastures. My gardens, my farmer neighbors, my yard, my trees. We all need water, a real soaking from the sky. My very soul wrings itself within me asking for more water, we must have more WATER.

I know I am moving about, walking and talking (almost like) a normal person, but inside? Inside I am the oft-drawn cartoon of the human crawling across the desert sand dying of thirst.

I am praying for it, dreaming of rain and think about the molecule of water itself as I drink it from my glass. I have been giving the very substance of water a lot of thought.

It is the very elixir of life. Astronomers seek it more than anything else when they look to our heavens. We know why.

And all water is not the same! If you are unaware of the miraculous work Dr. Masaru Emoto has done with water, watch this two minute movie clip and be mesmerized along with the wonderful Marlee Martin:

The View Outside my Window

Is not very nice. Everything is dead or dying.

The dust, the pollen, the bits of dead and dry weeds collect in corners and valleys like a house that hasn't been vacuumed in years might collect dust bunnies. The animals are suffering, wild and domestic both. Cattle are keeling over, farmers are beyond distraught. Hay, scarce and expensive now, will only become more scarce and get more expensive. Food too, eventually.

Don't hear about it very much in the news, do you? No, didn't think so. 70 percent of the state is in drought, our particular area passed EXTREME oh so long ago and now we sit smack dab in a dark brown widening spot called EXCEPTIONAL.

 Drought Monitor for Texas

Some experts call the current Central Texas drought stage one of the worst droughts since the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s.The La Nina weather pattern is poised to make a horrendous situation even worse.

People in the city apparently don't have to pay much attention to this quiet, widening disaster. The water still comes on when they turn on their faucets. Food is still trucked in and they can still wash their cars whenever they wish. Why should they bother to notice or care at all?

The drought saddens me and hurts me, physically, to my crispy dry core. What makes the hurt even worse is knowing how most people in Austin, and in most cities actually, are completely oblivious because of their disconnect from the land. Horsemen, farmers and ranchers wake up to a daily desperation that is rarely even acknowledged in the local media.

Would having more people know and care change anything? Maybe. I'd take a few thousand prayers or rain dances right about now.

Couldn't hurt.

Are Humans REALLY Destroying Earth?

I am an outdoors kind of gal.

I like visiting the city. I like my modern conveniences. I like my warm dry house. But I am happiest when I am outside, on the back of a horse in a grassy field of wildflowers, wind in my hair and watching the sun go down behind the clouds. I have always cared about the land and the creatures that live upon it. I feel quite aligned with the dirt and even the rocks and the weather cycles like drought or storms. I truly feel connected to this planet.

I recycle. I conserve water. I don't use chemicals at all if I can help it. No pesticides, no herbicides. NO CHEM LAWN.

I have been reading about our "Global Warming Crisis" for years. I have been uneasy about much of what I have read. I was especially taken with the "hockey stick debate", and began to do a bit of research. Then I began to do a little more.

Some of the details I have read are astounding to say the least. Especially about temperature measuring stations, and the utter human disaster we have created by the use of bio-fuels.

I have just read perhaps the clearest, most concise article yet on this subject written by a renowned environmental consultant and climatology professor named Dr. Tim Ball. I urge you to take a few minutes and read his article Biofuel Madness: Environmentalism exploited for political purposes.

Green Burial Factoid

Joe Sehee, executive director of the Green Burial Council, provides today's Factoid.

"Each year we bury more metal in cemeteries than was used to make the Golden Gate Bridge."

Living and Dying Green

While reading the Green Burial Council's FAQ section and their recommendations regarding environmentally friendly burial options, I was a bit taken aback by this sentence:

"For the time being, we suggest that people with dental fillings who expect to be cremated in the near future consider having their fillings removed."

The concern being mercury pollution, obviously. But ouch, do I really want to go in for dental work during my last days on earth?  Would you? Reading this DID make me imagine making the call for an appointment to my dentist.

"Tammy? Hi. Its Candace. You know I have that cremation thing coming up. Yes, uh huh, yeah, you know how busy schedules can get this time of year. Hey, I was just looking over my last-minute list of things to do and I think I better get that filling removed from that lower molar before its too late. Do you have any openings next week with Dr. Cole? Thursday? OK. Can we make it in the afternoon? Yeah, I really feel like sleeping in."

There are more ways to dying green than you might think, and more options available every day for the environmentalist who wants their last mortal act to honor mother earth. Tomorrow I'll talk about a company that offers to turn your cremains into plant food. I am not kidding.

In the meantime, for more information on eco-friendly funerals you can visit our In Repose Resource Forum where Kat DeLong has a new article entitled appropriately enough, Dying Green