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42’ F clear skies and sunshine.  We are getting a break in the storm for at least 12 hours and then 40 mph winds and about 3” of rain starting at midnight tonight.  This is just the eye of the storm.

There remains lots of snow and ice on the ground, but this dry spell allows for the garbage pickup, shoveling time, schools to reopen, and storm drains to be cleared.  There is plenty of preparation time for clearing fallen trees and opening the pathways for the coming rain to move on; opportunities to control the presumed and predicted flooding.

We got out the chain saw and took down the broken branches on the plum and crabapple trees.  We hauled our neighbors redwood tree branches off the road way and moved the log sized ones away from our house.  We have shoveled and cleared the drains. The stuck sump pump has been repaired.

We started the new year with spring like weather and so many clear, cold days of sunshine and bulbs poking up, I think people thought there would be no winter.  That those predictions of heavy and wet days were not coming and true winter was about a week long in November, which was a month before the actual start.  Mother Nature had other plans.

I spent 13 hours with no power in the midst of the snow and ice storm, watching and listening to the huge branches of that redwood tree break and fall towards my home.  I could hear the falling limbs in the woods behind my house and it was frightening.  As lovely as the snow falling looked, the driving ice was no bonus and I was concerned for our house and the solar panels – our safety and welfare.

I wrapped myself in blankets, put the pup on my lap and pulled on two sweaters over my long underwear and top.  Long underwear and fleece right down to the 2 pair of socks and knit slippers. Just my nose and fingers felt the chill.  I cranked up the radio and flashlight, and spent hours of my day light reading.  I knew what to do about staying warm and safe, I was unsure about what to do to keep my house also safe.

The eye of the storm is only so long and with the other end just hours away, one hopes that folks know what to do and how to prepare.  I do not think they practice anything but fire drills in schools anymore?

Over the years, I have begun to understand that there are lots of eyes in the storms of living.  Many of these storms can be predicted and prepared for and still the eye is important to allow the unknowns to be cared for and recovered, before the next onslaught.

As the birds play on the wind and feast at the holly trees, this eye is giving me an opportunity to let go of the feelings of intense fear about the neighbor’s tree, it is providing time for me to think about what I want to say to them to create safety, and it is providing a vision of what needs to be done.

I am practicing letting go of fear and increasing my knowledge base and celebrating how thus far we have weathered the storm.  I am counting my blessings which are numerous and collecting other’s stories of how they fared and what work they need to do ahead.  I am filled with gratitude for all the moments of the storm and for our safe journey thus far and I am releasing the fear.

The eye of the storm is filled with sunshine so we can prepare for what is next to come.  Do you celebrate the eye of the storm?  What assists you in letting go of the fear?  Do the storms of living help you to understand and grow?  Do you have a story to share?

The folks at Patricia’s Wisdom invite you to come on over to Wise Ears and subscribe to our occasional newsletter or come by to share your story.  We offer professional listening services and we grow by referral.  Who’s hearing what you have to say?

NOTE:   At the writing of the post, I still do not have an internet server.  Many communications towers are down.   I am sorry I am not able to reply to comments or even moderate some.   I am accomplishing this post by putting it on a flash drive and heading off to a computer with servers working to get it to IT Girl and have it posted.  There is considerable storm damage that is keeping things from being back to normal.

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Snow Day

Power has been restored to our very slushy neck of the woods but I have been informed that it may be a week or more before our internet and cable are back up and running. So for now … may you enjoy the wonders of winter!

Snowy Morning at Patricia's Wisdom

Snow day skiing

It is a snow day!  Maybe this is nothing for you to note or write about, but here it is all about enjoying the wonder of the experience.  As a child, it meant usually we had the day off from school, and we did not mind making it up in June, because a snow day was just so rare it was wonder full.

Not until my siblings took skiing lessons up the mountain did we have snowsuits, rather we just layered up and pulled on rain boots, mittens and hats.  When we were so wet and frozen we could not hang out for one more minute, we came inside for warm cups of hot chocolate and often a toasty bath.  If we lost power, then the fireplace was called into service and we played marathon rounds of board games in the flickering light.

The city often set aside streets for sledding, because everyone just stopped and enjoyed the experience.

And then the rain would come warm and wash it away and life would return to regular routines.

I probably had 10 Snow Days during my years in the public school system. (I spent my last two years of schooling in Cleveland, Ohio – no snow days there)  My youngest child celebrates her birthday in February and she had 9 birthdays of snow days during her progress.  One year my children were off from school for 18 days over the course of winter and they had to be made up in June.

One of my children lives in California now, and she is wishing that she was home for this Snow Day.  Yes she loves to cross country ski and build snow folk in the yard, but I think it is also that sense of wonder and just raw joy that comes from deep inside.  That rush to not waste a moment of this experience and feel it soak in right up to the knees.

There is something different this year.  They can tell us that tomorrow will be the worst day of this storm.  There are so many children who go to the mountains skiing every weekend, that snow at home is not so novel an experience.   The city is not blocking off streets for sledding but rather borrowing street cleaning equipment so that there will not be disruption because of the weather.  No snow folks have emerged on my walk.  And I do not hear the sound of children enjoying and calling out, “look at this!  Watch me!”
The school buses are not running, so I am fairly sure that the schools are closed.  We still have power so I think the TV and computer are still available.

The new kind of quiet is actually eerie.  Solemn.  Poignant.

I am curious as to whether or not now “they” will attempt to develop a pill or programming to recreate that inner joy and wonder of a Snow Day?

“Be aware of wonder.
Live a balanced life
–learn some and think some
– and draw and paint and sing and dance
- and play and work every day some.”
Robert Fulgham

ZIP still has the feeling and he comes in a shiny, happy puppy covered in snowballs and barking with glee.

How do you conjure up that feeling from deep inside?  How do you think folks find it today?  Do you think some folks do not know what they are missing?

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I have a Professional Listening Services Site at WISE EARS please come over and explore our services.

Referrals are how we build our business and word of mouth referrals, tweets, and comments on Facebook, Linkedin, and other social networks help us to meet new people.

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In 1971, a wonderful book was published by  The Boston Women’s Health Cooperative and it was called Our Bodies Our Selves.   It was here that I first discovered Dr. Christiane Northrup, an OB-GYN .   I scurried out to purchase my own copy.  No regrets here.

I shared my copy with my Mother as she did not know all those things about her body either and she could study by herself the material and not talk about it as she was taught.

I gave the book as wedding shower gifts and graduation presents to all of my friends.

I purchased several updates along the way and in December of 2010, I gave each of my daughters a copy of the new and revised edition.

In the 90’s I purchased a copy of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and am aware that a new revised edition is being published January of 2012.    My copy looks ragged and worn, because I refer to it so often.   I am debating whether or not to purchase the new 2012 edition…I got a new copy in 2009 as my original was just worn out.

In the early 2000s Dr. Northrup wrote a book called The Wisdom of Menopause.  This book was almost too late to be helpful to me and yet I find myself still opening it up and referencing and sharing my copy with at least 25 other women.  I still like to keep it right by my reading chair and look at it at least monthly or when my current physician does not have time to share adequately with me about the medications or diagnosis being made.   The book is much more reliable and accurate than any other resource I have found.

Powell’s

I also own an Herbal Pharmacy and Remedy Book, in which I can look up the assistance I need for earaches and nosebleeds and indigestion in the middle of the night in order to care in the moment.  This has to be a personal choice because you have to find one YOU Trust.

This is the resource where I found putting VICK’s Ointment on the soles of your feet and then cozy socks will stop you coughing for the whole night.   I have shared that advice a number of times in comments and on this blog.  The binding is falling apart and the pages are loose because I have counted on mine for 30 years, but it is out of date.

I have referred 5 people since the start of this year to these books.  Men need to know about these books and be supportive of women’s health initiatives.  Folks are starting to understand that they have to know about their own bodies and what their bodies are saying, in order to get an appropriate diagnosis and assistance from their Physician or other health care provider.

I cannot imagine going through life without having these books nearby.  With Women’s healthcare so on the line in the USA and being so attacked, I cannot imagine any woman not having a copy of these books by her side.

What is your body telling you?  What are the resources you use?  How do you listen?  How do you know if the messages are deceptive?

The Internet is a good start point,  and I have found that they are just not as good as any of these sources.

No one paid me to mention or review these books.  The opinions stated here are my own and come from my use and research.   These books have been invaluable to me in being my Do It Yourself (DIY) healthcare representative.   I like knowing that my Physician and Naturopath have these books on their shelves too.   How about you?

Dr. Christiane Northrup has an e-newsletter and also  Facebook 

If you purchase anything from Amazon or Powell’s from this site I will receive a few beans in my bucket.
Thank you

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I invite you to come over to WISE EARS and sign up for the newsletter.  Listening to what you body is saying in one of the many areas that we listen to and share in our occasional newsletters.
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