Swine Flu . . . Should we REALLY be panicking?

The CDC only confirms 68 actual illnesses. I can’t see how 68 people getting sick (out of 6 billion people) is cause for such a panic. that’s not an epidemic. An epidemic requires a large majority of the population to get sick. How is 68 out of 6 billion a large majority of the population?

I could understand with the Avin Flu in 2005, because hundreds of birds were literally falling out of trees dead and people coming in contact with the dead birds were getting sick. Our beach was covered with dead sea gulls, ducks, loons, and sand pipers that year. It got so bad that our local sandpipers, than the most plentiful bird on the beach, is now a “critically endangered” species. THAT is an epidemic. 68 people out of 6 billion? that is not an epidemic.

I can’t understand why no one is talking and panicking about the frogs. The frog population, that’s an epidemic. 40 million frogs dead for no reason in less than 6 months in the fall of 2008, with 40% of all frog species going into extinction in the past 5 years and 80% of the remaining 60% are now on the endangered or critically endangered list and most of those being born with 3 eyes, 4 heads, 6 legs, or the oddest thing of all : tails! THAT is an epidemic! 68 out of 6 billion is not an epidemic.

And that’s just frogs – the salamander population was hit far worse, with the entire species (all breeds) at risk of extinction within the next 5 years.

The black plague that was an epidemic. 1/3 of the entire population died. Millions and millions of people got sick. Millions died.

Diabetes, AIDS, lung cancer, breast cancer, obesity . . . those are epidemics killing millions world wide. How is 68 people getting Swine Flu considered an epidemic?

An epidemic means that the race is at risk of extinction due to a wide spread death that can not be controlled. Does 68 people getting Swine Flu REALLY mean that the human race is threatened with extinction? I don’t think so!

you know, I’ve got a friend who is right now panicking like crazy over this Swine Flu thing (that’s how I found out about it, no tv or radio, so no news) … he’s saying stuff like “I’m gonna die” and he’s rushing around getting all kinds of herbs and vitamins and getting (yet another!) flu shot. I haven’t been to a doctor in over 20 years, last time I had a vaccination was in the 1970’s, and I have only been sick twice both times it was with chicken pox. He gets flu shots every 6 months, runs to the doctor panicking with every news report, and gets sick all the time . . . I think half the time he’s sick just because he sat there terrified telling himself he was going to get sick! panicking weakens the immune system. I think if people didn’t panic there would be a lot less people getting sick.

If more people knew what they were taking when they take meds and stuff, I think there would be a lot less hypcondriacs out there. I wish more people knew where their meds come from. Dead babies, dead cats, dead dogs, dead horses, dead bear, retired race horses & greyhound dogs, and lost cats and dogs (former pets) from shelters and pounds. . . Most vaccines aren’t even officially proven to work! is so much death really worth it? 

I am at a loss to understand why people are panicking over this Swine Flu thing. It seems illogical to panic or to refer to it as an epidemic (as many people are now calling it).

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Swine Flu vs Religion . . . thoughts?

I find it alarmingly strange that people who do not raise pigs are getting Swine Flu. It’s a farmer’s illness and no one other than farmers have ever gotten it before. I know every one is saying it’s something spreading via contact, but contact with what? It’s caused by coming in contact with pigs, thus the reason for it’s name.

The logical point of reasoning here is that it is being spread by contaminated meat. Of course the Bible, the BofM, and the D&C all warn against eating meat. I wonder, have any vegans gotten it yet or only meat eaters getting it? Has any one looked into that yet?

Can you imagine a recall of pig meat? OMG! What would the blood lusters eat if pig meat was recalled? 87% of the food on the market has some form of pig, pork, ham, lard, or grease in it. That would be a recall bigger than the Menu Food pet food recall of 2007!

Jewish and Muslim and SDA don’t eat pig meat (and Mormons aren’t supposed to either, but finding one who actually obeys the teachings of the church is rare) . . . are any of them getting sick?

I would be interested to see a study of who is getting Swine Flu in comparison to what they eat, and if religious diets have any influence in wither people are getting it or not.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Off Topic-ness

Looking back over my blog posts of the last few months, I can see that my recent posts have had nothing to do with writing, helping writers, or even thoughts on writing subjects! ACK! I have gotten so side tracked with every thing that’s been going on in my life lately that I’ve had no time to think about writing!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Off Topic-ness

Looking back over my blog posts of the last few months, I can see that my recent posts have had nothing to do with writing, helping writers, or even thoughts on writing subjects! ACK! I have gotten so side tracked with every thing that’s been going on in my life lately that I’ve had no time to think about writing!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Swine Flu . . . Should we REALLY be panicking?

The CDC only confirms 68 actual illnesses. I can’t see how 68 people getting sick (out of 6 billion people) is cause for such a panic. that’s not an epidemic. An epidemic requires a large majority of the population to get sick. How is 68 out of 6 billion a large majority of the population?

I could understand with the Avin Flu in 2005, because hundreds of birds were literally falling out of trees dead and people coming in contact with the dead birds were getting sick. Our beach was covered with dead sea gulls, ducks, loons, and sand pipers that year. It got so bad that our local sandpipers, than the most plentiful bird on the beach, is now a “critically endangered” species. THAT is an epidemic. 68 people out of 6 billion? that is not an epidemic.

I can’t understand why no one is talking and panicking about the frogs. The frog population, that’s an epidemic. 40 million frogs dead for no reason in less than 6 months in the fall of 2008, with 40% of all frog species going into extinction in the past 5 years and 80% of the remaining 60% are now on the endangered or critically endangered list and most of those being born with 3 eyes, 4 heads, 6 legs, or the oddest thing of all : tails! THAT is an epidemic! 68 out of 6 billion is not an epidemic.

And that’s just frogs – the salamander population was hit far worse, with the entire species (all breeds) at risk of extinction within the next 5 years.

The black plague that was an epidemic. 1/3 of the entire population died. Millions and millions of people got sick. Millions died.

Diabetes, AIDS, lung cancer, breast cancer, obesity . . . those are epidemics killing millions world wide. How is 68 people getting Swine Flu considered an epidemic?

An epidemic means that the race is at risk of extinction due to a wide spread death that can not be controlled. Does 68 people getting Swine Flu REALLY mean that the human race is threatened with extinction? I don’t think so!

you know, I’ve got a friend who is right now panicking like crazy over this Swine Flu thing (that’s how I found out about it, no tv or radio, so no news) … he’s saying stuff like “I’m gonna die” and he’s rushing around getting all kinds of herbs and vitamins and getting (yet another!) flu shot. I haven’t been to a doctor in over 20 years, last time I had a vaccination was in the 1970’s, and I have only been sick twice both times it was with chicken pox. He gets flu shots every 6 months, runs to the doctor panicking with every news report, and gets sick all the time . . . I think half the time he’s sick just because he sat there terrified telling himself he was going to get sick! panicking weakens the immune system. I think if people didn’t panic there would be a lot less people getting sick.

If more people knew what they were taking when they take meds and stuff, I think there would be a lot less hypcondriacs out there. I wish more people knew where their meds come from. Dead babies, dead cats, dead dogs, dead horses, dead bear, retired race horses & greyhound dogs, and lost cats and dogs (former pets) from shelters and pounds. . . Most vaccines aren’t even officially proven to work! is so much death really worth it?

I am at a loss to understand why people are panicking over this Swine Flu thing. It seems illogical to panic or to refer to it as an epidemic (as many people are now calling it).

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

————-
If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Swine Flu vs Religion . . . thoughts?

I find it alarmingly strange that people who do not raise pigs are getting Swine Flu. It’s a farmer’s illness and no one other than farmers have ever gotten it before. I know every one is saying it’s something spreading via contact, but contact with what? It’s caused by coming in contact with pigs, thus the reason for it’s name.

The logical point of reasoning here is that it is being spread by contaminated meat. Of course the Bible, the BofM, and the D&C all warn against eating meat. I wonder, have any vegans gotten it yet or only meat eaters getting it? Has any one looked into that yet?

Can you imagine a recall of pig meat? OMG! What would the blood lusters eat if pig meat was recalled? 87% of the food on the market has some form of pig, pork, ham, lard, or grease in it. That would be a recall bigger than the Menu Food pet food recall of 2007!

Jewish and Muslim and SDA don’t eat pig meat (and Mormons aren’t supposed to either, but finding one who actually obeys the teachings of the church is rare) . . . are any of them getting sick?

I would be interested to see a study of who is getting Swine Flu in comparison to what they eat, and if religious diets have any influence in wither people are getting it or not.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Living With Asperger’s Syndrome

I’m drafting out a new book, as yet untitled, about what it is like to live with Asperger’s Syndrome(which I have) and I’m using my blog to run first drafts of sections of it. Second drafts are being moved HERE. This post is one of those draft posts, expect more to show up over time.

~Who Is Affected by Autism?~

In one word: me. I have Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of Autism. Life is difficult, not so much because autism affects the things I do, but mostly because people do not take the time to get to know me. My cloths scare off most people, before they get to meet me. The few that aren’t scared off get upset at my not making eye contact when they speak to me. They get more upset when I don’t answer them back. Next they start interigateing me, questions left and right and I sit down on the ground and start drawing or writing in order to block out their words, because I can’t process so many questions all at once like that. Next thing I know they are calling me a retard and telling their friends to stay away from me. Think I’m talking about kids? Think again. I’m over 30 years old. No kid ever called me a retard, but their parents did (and still do), Sunday School teachers did, adults, men and women in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. When you tell someone you have Asperger’s Syndrome they ask: “What’s that? Never heard of it.” When you say it’s a form of Autism, they respond with: “Oh, so you ARE retarded than. I thought so.” My response is: “Was Albert Einstein retarded?” and they say, “No, he was a genius, he was the farthest thing in the world from retarded!” And than I throw the big one at them: “Did you know that Albert Einstein had Asperger’s Syndrome? and so does nearly every other person whom like myself is one of the 3% of the world’s population with an IQ of over 130?” (My IQ is 138 btw.)

There needs to be a better understanding in the world about Autism, and well, you hear doctors and teachers and parents talk about what the “think” it’s must be like, but how often do you hear what it is like from someone who actually has it? Not often enough, I’m afraid, so I am going to speak out, and maybe others like me will read this and than step forward too.

It takes me a long time to get enough used to some one to start speaking to them … years sometimes. It’s very hard, because people don’t want to make an effort to try to understand and worse they never want to become my friend. Autisms = a lonely life.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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maybe I’m a gypsy and didn’t know it

A few days ago I was thinking that maybe my life is that of a monk or nun … some one responded to say they thought I was a reclusive hermit (this person knows me in person, so maybe they had a better point of view than most other people, thus giving a more accurate point of view?) Whatever. Anyways, I was just reading some posts across the net about gypsies (I was searching for info on how to build a gypsy wagon and got side tracked reading up on the history of gypsies instead!) and started wondering if maybe I have gypsy blood in me and that’s why I dress the way I do and have all these animals and live separate from the world and live off the land and am attracted to the idea of building a gypsy wagon. A few minutes ago I mentioned in a passing thought, not at all serious, as to wither or not I could be a gypsy and not know it. I am now rethinking the seriousness of that statement and asking quick seriously now: Is it possible I’m a gypsy and didn’t know it? If so, how would I go about finding out?

I was just reading and read a passage which said that “many gypsies (Roms) are of Scottish decent” . . . really? Is that true? How do I find out if that’s a true statement or not? Anyone know anything about this? I was joking when I said “maybe I’m a gypsy and didn’t know it”.

I can in fact trace my Scottish heritage back to the Picts, right on down through a whole bunch of Scottish, Indian, and Scottish-Indian witches (including my grandmother), wizards, socorors, hypnotists (including my grandfather), soothsayers, and fortune tellers.

Part of the reason local people accuse me of being a witch is because my family history is galloping with them — hundreds of them, going all the way back into the 1500’s. Being a witch is sort of a legacy for our family.

We are collectively known as the Royal Atwater Clan of the Scottish Highlands, even though none of us has lived in Scotland in over 200 years.

There is a trail named after us when our early Mormon ancestors followed Young out West. The Atwater clan WAS considered to be gypsies back than, which is why the Atwater Trail got named — so others would know not to take it and thus avoid contact with use evil Mormon Witches.

One of the first things you hear people say when passing me in public is: “Don’t go near her, she’s an Atwater you know. She’ll put a curse on you and you’ll be dead by morning.” One of the reasons I go by the name of EelKat instead of a full name is to avoid any “bad connections” with my Atwater ancestry.

Of course than there’s the other side of my family — also from Scotland, also mixed with Indians, also teaming with witches. The Ricker family of the Garden (aka Old Orchard Beach). My family founded The Garden in 1657. The Garden was renamed The Town of Old Orchard Beach in 1881. Up until the 1960’s the whole town was run by my family. They were sort of like the Marfia on a small scale. All that remains of the original Garden is the land at 146 Portland Ave on which now sits my “tent”. It is the oldest piece of land in New England to still be owned by it’s original family. 

Of all the questions, comments, and statements I get about my cloths and the “odd” way I dress, one of my favorites is: “What are you some sort of princess?” It’s always said in a tone of sarcasm, and my answer “Why, yes, in fact I am. I’m one of the last members of the Royal Atwater Clan of the Scottish Highlands”, always stuns them into silence. It’s not good to use sarcasm with me, for shoot sarcasm right back at you is something I excel in, only, unlike the question which was intended to hurt my feelings, the answer is always a blatant fact.

I don’t know. . . maybe I should build a gypsy wagon. Embrace my heritage. Than too, maybe I should take up witchcraft. Than people wouldn’t have to falsely accuse me of being a witch anymore. Than when they say: “Stay away from her she’s a witch!” and I could say:“Yes I am.”

I suppose it is my families history with this town, (both the Rickers and the Atwaters have a long history with OOB) which causes the new locals of today to want to drive me out of town.

When I was a kid we had a population of 2,000. Today OOB has a population of 12,000 year round residents and 2 million tourists. That’s a huge jump in just 20 years. I remember when Portland Ave was a dirt road and our farm was considered to be “waaaaay out back in the woods”. So much change in so little time. I don’t like it.

One of the high priests at church, often refers to my family as “The Gypsy Mafia”. I asked him why he calls us that, and his answer was: 

“You Atwaters are like a hive of bees. You fight amongst yourselves all the time, but when any one outside the family says anything the whole hive of you swam down on them. All 200 of you band together, and no one stands a chance against the entire clan. That’s why you are like a Mafia. The way your family — relatives of many generations — uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, grand parents, in-laws, cousins three or four or more times removed — you are act like you are all brothers and sisters, no matter how many generations have passed, and even if you’ve never meet each other before! I’m sacred of you and your family. A lot of people around here are scared of you. Normal families don’t act like that. Normal families don’t even know the names of their distant relatives. Heck, normal families don’t even know who their first cousins are or if they even have first cousins! You people are crazy. You’re are like some sort of cult. I see your family and all I can think is that you are the Mafia. Only the Mafia have family relations like your family. Normal families don’t act like that.

And than there’s the way you all live. You live in the woods, most of your cousins live in cars in other people’s back yards. Your aunt has all 8 of her husbands living in tents on her front lawn. Look at you, your house burns down and what do you do? You put up a 10 foot tall cross and build a tent under it! Half of your relatives are homeless and most of them camp out in army tents in the middle of your garden year after year. Your family is not normal. You act like a pack of gypsies. You are gypsies. You are what the Mafia would be like if it was run by gypsies!”

Well, that’s my ever “deeply concerned” high priest, for you. But I must admit, my aunt does have 7 husbands (not and they do live in tents on her lawn. One of my uncles owns a family compound and has more than 30 adults and 75 children, living in or around it — many generations of them (he did have 15 children after all). And yep, several of my uncles show up unannounced bringing wives and children and children and more children and put up army tents smack dab in the middle of our vegetable garden, and than stay for months (or years). But, they are family, and when family is in trouble, family is never turned away. That’s what families do — families take care of one another.

I am shocked at my high priest’s implication that “normal” families do not take care of each other, and if he is right and that is the way “normal” families live, than I want no part of it, cause if you don’t have family than you don’t have nothing!

But now, reading up on gypsies, I do see his point, cause we do sound like what I’m reading it saying that gypsies are, and I don’t know what a Mafia is, but I suppose if people keep saying we live like one (my high priest is not the only person who says so) than maybe we do.

So now I’m thinking very serious thoughts on the matter and wondering: Am I gypsy and never knew it? How would I find out? What exactly is it that makes a gypsy a gypsy anyways? Is it a race or is it a life style? I am reading conflicting view points on this matter.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Still trying to find a way to put up a house.

I love this house boat! Reminds me of the house boat I had, but the town of Old Orchard Beach woun’t let me keep. I got it after they burnt down my house. It was an old house boat from the 40’s that I was going to fix up and live in. That was asfter they made me tear down the yurt I started building. . No house. No yurt. No house boat. That’s when I built the “tent” instead (http://www.squidoo.com/onbeinghomeless2 )

I love this gypsy wagon! So, yurts are illegal in Old Orchard, as are house boats (in a fishing village . . . house boats are illegal????) You can have campground type houses, thus the tent itself (a tarp over a wood pile) was legal in Old Orchard, as are RVs, which I can’t afford as I can’t find one for $200 or less. I wonder if a gypsy wagon could be called an old fashioned RV? It wouldn’t be very hard for me to build one.

you know . . . it wouldn’t be too hard for me the close in the Goldeneagle and turn it into a gypsy wagon. oooh! thoughts are flying! I’ve always wanted to get the Goldeneagle on the road again, but was thinking in terms of it running – driving, but what if I could get it moving by horse power instead?

I need a horse

A house barge would be nice! I know Old Orchard wouldn’t allow one of these. Can’t live in a house boat here.

Thinking on all this house issue stuff, seeing how the snow is finally gone, which means it’s time for me to fix the tent up for it’s third year of use. (I’m only “not homeless” in the winter when I stay with relatives during the heavy snow season). Summer is upon us and I’m not really looking forward to yet another year of “the tent”.
A Hobbit House! When I first built the “tent” I was planning one of these. Didn’t get very far though, because I hit ledge only a few inches down after I started digging. I wonder though, What if I changed my approach and built the dirt up instead of digging down into the hill? That could work. I could build a sod house in only a couple of days too, plus unlike the “tent” I could live in it year round.

I did have a tippi up for a while and loved living in that, it had much more room than the “tent” does, but it wasn’t very good at keeping out the rain and snow, thus the move to build “the tent” instead.

I really like the idea of a gypsy wagon. It’s closed in better, and is up off the ground, which means it’ll be warmer too. Too bad my horse died. If I still had my horse I could take to the road with a gypsy wagon, and not have to stay in one place.

I wonder how hard it would be to take 14 cats and 40 roosters on the road in a gypsy wagon? I suppose it wouldn’t be any harder than trying to live in a tent with them which I’m already doing. I remember a guy who did that back in the 70’s. He had a team of donkeys pulling the wagon, and a herd of goats behind him, and chicken crates on the roof. I think he was Amish. Anyone remember him?

You know . . . maybe I’m really a gypsy and didn’t know it, cause I’m really liking the idea of a gypsy wagon lifestyle. And my cloths do already scream witch . . . at least, people on the street tell me I’m dressed like a witch.

Reminds me of Toad in Winds in the Willows when he bought a “canary wagon”. I haven’t read that book since I was about 8 or 9 yeas old. I really liked Wind in the Willows. I should read it again.

I just remembered . . . I still have the frame for Thunder’s old horse trailer! I can use that to build a gypsy wagon with . . . or I could, if not for some high priest who cut down one of my giant pine trees and the tree (about 200 feet tall) is now laying on top of it. I need a chain saw so I can cut up the tree and get to the horse trailer.

I don’t have a problem with actually building a house. The problem I’m having is that I have no money to buy materials so I have to build with what I have already. I’m not sure I could build a sod house seeing as our land has so much ledge, I’d have to have the dirt brought in from someplace else and I can’t afford that. .

It’s depressing not having a house to live in, and knowing how to build several different types, but having no way to get the materials to build a single one of them.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that once I finally do get another house back up, that they won’t just burn it down again. I need to move away from these people, but I don’t see why I should leave my home, when my family has been here for over 300 years and the people trying to make me leave moved here in the last 10 years!

A sod house would be pretty burn proof though and I could plant a garden on the roof too!

“Whenever we spend money or play an active role in society, take time to consider the consequences of our actions. Buying a tank of fuel supports the violent occupation of the middle east, buying cheap clothes supports sweatshops and child labour, buying from transnational corporations funds the extraction of capital from poorer countries and the erosion of human rights.” ~Simon Saville

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Trash Night! YAY!

Tonight is trash night. I know it sounds weird to say you are glad you can put your trash out, but I am! From 2005 through 2008 I couldn’t, not without the trash men slashing the bags and dumping the trash on our lawn. I am so glad the crazy high priest that was our town manager than is gone. Most of the harassment stopped when he got run out of town. Church men should not be allowed to hold government jobs.

for a while we had a problem with the trash men, slashing the bags and dumping them on the lawn, instead of taking them. At first we thought it was wild animals doing it, but one night I stayed up and saw the trash truck stop and the men dump it out!

Stayed up every week after that, and found out they were doing it every week. Later found out they had been told to do it by the same town manager who had instigated the other vandalisms in an attempt to get at our land. I am so glad that town manager got kicked out so I don’t have to go through that any more.

He used to send the police to our house the next day after trash night, to “attach a lean of an extra $2,500″ to our land for not picking up the trash on our lawn. After it reached $20,000 in total, I STOPPED picking up the trash the town was dumping on our lawn, and boy did it start piling up than!

And they wonder why I won’t go to the Saco Ward? (I went to Sanford and Cape Elizabeth instead of Saco) When men like that are not being excommunicated anymore, I got to wonder what other criminals are in the Ward. Separation of church and state? I wish! More like they cover each others a$$es.

When the town finally did take the land, they had a mountain of trash more than 8 feet high and 40 feet across, that they had to remove. Three years of the town dumping trash on our lawn, really added up after a while! LOL! Town manager tried to charge us with the $100,000 it cost (or so he said) to remove the trash, but he lost out on that seeing how we were not the ones who put the trash there to begin with . . . he was.

How is it that that bastard still has his position in the church? When the FBI started the investigation, it was found out that ours was the FOURTH town he had done this too, and that he’s a history of being run out of town manager jobs due to his criminal activities. And yet, because he holds church ranking, no one can do anything about it, because you can’t take a priest to court. I hate the separation of church and state law!

I’ve only one thing to say about this: Jim Thomas is evil and if he tried to get a town manager job in your town, know that he has already been run out of 4 town manager jobs — 3 out West and one in Maine. BEWARE OF THE EVIL MAN HE WILL RUIN YOUR TOWN!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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maybe I’m a gypsy and didn’t know it

A few days ago I was thinking that maybe my life is that of a monk or nun … some one responded to say they thought I was a reclusive hermit (this person knows me in person, so maybe they had a better point of view than most other people, thus giving a more accurate point of view?) Whatever. Anyways, I was just reading some posts across the net about gypsies (I was searching for info on how to build a gypsy wagon and got side tracked reading up on the history of gypsies instead!) and started wondering if maybe I have gypsy blood in me and that’s why I dress the way I do and have all these animals and live separate from the world and live off the land and am attracted to the idea of building a gypsy wagon. A few minutes ago I mentioned in a passing thought, not at all serious, as to wither or not I could be a gypsy and not know it. I am now rethinking the seriousness of that statement and asking quick seriously now: Is it possible I’m a gypsy and didn’t know it? If so, how would I go about finding out?

I was just reading and read a passage which said that “many gypsies (Roms) are of Scottish decent” . . . really? Is that true? How do I find out if that’s a true statement or not? Anyone know anything about this? I was joking when I said “maybe I’m a gypsy and didn’t know it”.

I can in fact trace my Scottish heritage back to the Picts, right on down through a whole bunch of Scottish, Indian, and Scottish-Indian witches (including my grandmother), wizards, socorors, hypnotists (including my grandfather), soothsayers, and fortune tellers.

Part of the reason local people accuse me of being a witch is because my family history is galloping with them — hundreds of them, going all the way back into the 1500’s. Being a witch is sort of a legacy for our family.

We are collectively known as the Royal Atwater Clan of the Scottish Highlands, even though none of us has lived in Scotland in over 200 years.

There is a trail named after us when our early Mormon ancestors followed Young out West. The Atwater clan WAS considered to be gypsies back than, which is why the Atwater Trail got named — so others would know not to take it and thus avoid contact with use evil Mormon Witches.

One of the first things you hear people say when passing me in public is: “Don’t go near her, she’s an Atwater you know. She’ll put a curse on you and you’ll be dead by morning.” One of the reasons I go by the name of EelKat instead of a full name is to avoid any “bad connections” with my Atwater ancestry.

Of course than there’s the other side of my family — also from Scotland, also mixed with Indians, also teaming with witches. The Ricker family of the Garden (aka Old Orchard Beach). My family founded The Garden in 1657. The Garden was renamed The Town of Old Orchard Beach in 1881. Up until the 1960’s the whole town was run by my family. They were sort of like the Marfia on a small scale. All that remains of the original Garden is the land at 146 Portland Ave on which now sits my “tent”. It is the oldest piece of land in New England to still be owned by it’s original family.

Of all the questions, comments, and statements I get about my cloths and the “odd” way I dress, one of my favorites is: “What are you some sort of princess?” It’s always said in a tone of sarcasm, and my answer “Why, yes, in fact I am. I’m one of the last members of the Royal Atwater Clan of the Scottish Highlands”, always stuns them into silence. It’s not good to use sarcasm with me, for shoot sarcasm right back at you is something I excel in, only, unlike the question which was intended to hurt my feelings, the answer is always a blatant fact.

I don’t know. . . maybe I should build a gypsy wagon. Embrace my heritage. Than too, maybe I should take up witchcraft. Than people wouldn’t have to falsely accuse me of being a witch anymore. Than when they say: “Stay away from her she’s a witch!” and I could say: “Yes I am.”

I suppose it is my families history with this town, (both the Rickers and the Atwaters have a long history with OOB) which causes the new locals of today to want to drive me out of town.

When I was a kid we had a population of 2,000. Today OOB has a population of 12,000 year round residents and 2 million tourists. That’s a huge jump in just 20 years. I remember when Portland Ave was a dirt road and our farm was considered to be “waaaaay out back in the woods”. So much change in so little time. I don’t like it.

One of the high priests at church, often refers to my family as “The Gypsy Mafia”. I asked him why he calls us that, and his answer was:

“You Atwaters are like a hive of bees. You fight amongst yourselves all the time, but when any one outside the family says anything the whole hive of you swam down on them. All 200 of you band together, and no one stands a chance against the entire clan. That’s why you are like a Mafia. The way your family — relatives of many generations — uncles, cousins, brothers, sisters, grand parents, in-laws, cousins three or four or more times removed — you are act like you are all brothers and sisters, no matter how many generations have passed, and even if you’ve never meet each other before! I’m sacred of you and your family. A lot of people around here are scared of you. Normal families don’t act like that. Normal families don’t even know the names of their distant relatives. Heck, normal families don’t even know who their first cousins are or if they even have first cousins! You people are crazy. You’re are like some sort of cult. I see your family and all I can think is that you are the Mafia. Only the Mafia have family relations like your family. Normal families don’t act like that.

And than there’s the way you all live. You live in the woods, most of your cousins live in cars in other people’s back yards. Your aunt has all 8 of her husbands living in tents on her front lawn. Look at you, your house burns down and what do you do? You put up a 10 foot tall cross and build a tent under it! Half of your relatives are homeless and most of them camp out in army tents in the middle of your garden year after year. Your family is not normal. You act like a pack of gypsies. You are gypsies. You are what the Mafia would be like if it was run by gypsies!”

Well, that’s my ever “deeply concerned” high priest, for you. But I must admit, my aunt does have 7 husbands (not and they do live in tents on her lawn. One of my uncles owns a family compound and has more than 30 adults and 75 children, living in or around it — many generations of them (he did have 15 children after all). And yep, several of my uncles show up unannounced bringing wives and children and children and more children and put up army tents smack dab in the middle of our vegetable garden, and than stay for months (or years). But, they are family, and when family is in trouble, family is never turned away. That’s what families do — families take care of one another.

I am shocked at my high priest’s implication that “normal” families do not take care of each other, and if he is right and that is the way “normal” families live, than I want no part of it, cause if you don’t have family than you don’t have nothing!

But now, reading up on gypsies, I do see his point, cause we do sound like what I’m reading it saying that gypsies are, and I don’t know what a Mafia is, but I suppose if people keep saying we live like one (my high priest is not the only person who says so) than maybe we do.

So now I’m thinking very serious thoughts on the matter and wondering: Am I gypsy and never knew it? How would I find out? What exactly is it that makes a gypsy a gypsy anyways? Is it a race or is it a life style? I am reading conflicting view points on this matter.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Still trying to find a way to put up a house.

I love this house boat! Reminds me of the house boat I had, but the town of Old Orchard Beach woun’t let me keep. I got it after they burnt down my house. It was an old house boat from the 40’s that I was going to fix up and live in. That was asfter they made me tear down the yurt I started building. . No house. No yurt. No house boat. That’s when I built the “tent” instead ( http://www.squidoo.com/onbeinghomeless2 )

I love this gypsy wagon! So, yurts are illegal in Old Orchard, as are house boats (in a fishing village . . . house boats are illegal????) You can have campground type houses, thus the tent itself (a tarp over a wood pile) was legal in Old Orchard, as are RVs, which I can’t afford as I can’t find one for $200 or less. I wonder if a gypsy wagon could be called an old fashioned RV? It wouldn’t be very hard for me to build one.

you know . . . it wouldn’t be too hard for me the close in the Goldeneagle and turn it into a gypsy wagon. oooh! thoughts are flying! I’ve always wanted to get the Goldeneagle on the road again, but was thinking in terms of it running – driving, but what if I could get it moving by horse power instead?

I need a horse

A house barge would be nice! I know Old Orchard wouldn’t allow one of these. Can’t live in a house boat here.

Thinking on all this house issue stuff, seeing how the snow is finally gone, which means it’s time for me to fix the tent up for it’s third year of use. (I’m only “not homeless” in the winter when I stay with relatives during the heavy snow season). Summer is upon us and I’m not really looking forward to yet another year of “the tent”.
A Hobbit House! When I first built the “tent” I was planning one of these. Didn’t get very far though, because I hit ledge only a few inches down after I started digging. I wonder though, What if I changed my approach and built the dirt up instead of digging down into the hill? That could work. I could build a sod house in only a couple of days too, plus unlike the “tent” I could live in it year round.

I did have a tippi up for a while and loved living in that, it had much more room than the “tent” does, but it wasn’t very good at keeping out the rain and snow, thus the move to build “the tent” instead.

I really like the idea of a gypsy wagon. It’s closed in better, and is up off the ground, which means it’ll be warmer too. Too bad my horse died. If I still had my horse I could take to the road with a gypsy wagon, and not have to stay in one place.

I wonder how hard it would be to take 14 cats and 40 roosters on the road in a gypsy wagon? I suppose it wouldn’t be any harder than trying to live in a tent with them which I’m already doing. I remember a guy who did that back in the 70’s. He had a team of donkeys pulling the wagon, and a herd of goats behind him, and chicken crates on the roof. I think he was Amish. Anyone remember him?

You know . . . maybe I’m really a gypsy and didn’t know it, cause I’m really liking the idea of a gypsy wagon lifestyle. And my cloths do already scream witch . . . at least, people on the street tell me I’m dressed like a witch.

Reminds me of Toad in Winds in the Willows when he bought a “canary wagon”. I haven’t read that book since I was about 8 or 9 yeas old. I really liked Wind in the Willows. I should read it again.

I just remembered . . . I still have the frame for Thunder’s old horse trailer! I can use that to build a gypsy wagon with . . . or I could, if not for some high priest who cut down one of my giant pine trees and the tree (about 200 feet tall) is now laying on top of it. I need a chain saw so I can cut up the tree and get to the horse trailer.

I don’t have a problem with actually building a house. The problem I’m having is that I have no money to buy materials so I have to build with what I have already. I’m not sure I could build a sod house seeing as our land has so much ledge, I’d have to have the dirt brought in from someplace else and I can’t afford that. .

It’s depressing not having a house to live in, and knowing how to build several different types, but having no way to get the materials to build a single one of them.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that once I finally do get another house back up, that they won’t just burn it down again. I need to move away from these people, but I don’t see why I should leave my home, when my family has been here for over 300 years and the people trying to make me leave moved here in the last 10 years!

A sod house would be pretty burn proof though and I could plant a garden on the roof too!

“Whenever we spend money or play an active role in society, take time to consider the consequences of our actions. Buying a tank of fuel supports the violent occupation of the middle east, buying cheap clothes supports sweatshops and child labour, buying from transnational corporations funds the extraction of capital from poorer countries and the erosion of human rights.” ~Simon Saville

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Trash Night! YAY!

Tonight is trash night. I know it sounds weird to say you are glad you can put your trash out, but I am! From 2005 through 2008 I couldn’t, not without the trash men slashing the bags and dumping the trash on our lawn. I am so glad the crazy high priest that was our town manager than is gone. Most of the harassment stopped when he got run out of town. Church men should not be allowed to hold government jobs.

for a while we had a problem with the trash men, slashing the bags and dumping them on the lawn, instead of taking them. At first we thought it was wild animals doing it, but one night I stayed up and saw the trash truck stop and the men dump it out!

Stayed up every week after that, and found out they were doing it every week. Later found out they had been told to do it by the same town manager who had instigated the other vandalisms in an attempt to get at our land. I am so glad that town manager got kicked out so I don’t have to go through that any more.

He used to send the police to our house the next day after trash night, to “attach a lean of an extra $2,500″ to our land for not picking up the trash on our lawn. After it reached $20,000 in total, I STOPPED picking up the trash the town was dumping on our lawn, and boy did it start piling up than!

And they wonder why I won’t go to the Saco Ward? (I went to Sanford and Cape Elizabeth instead of Saco) When men like that are not being excommunicated anymore, I got to wonder what other criminals are in the Ward. Separation of church and state? I wish! More like they cover each others a$$es.

When the town finally did take the land, they had a mountain of trash more than 8 feet high and 40 feet across, that they had to remove. Three years of the town dumping trash on our lawn, really added up after a while! LOL! Town manager tried to charge us with the $100,000 it cost (or so he said) to remove the trash, but he lost out on that seeing how we were not the ones who put the trash there to begin with . . . he was.

How is it that that bastard still has his position in the church? When the FBI started the investigation, it was found out that ours was the FOURTH town he had done this too, and that he’s a history of being run out of town manager jobs due to his criminal activities. And yet, because he holds church ranking, no one can do anything about it, because you can’t take a priest to court. I hate the separation of church and state law!

I’ve only one thing to say about this: Jim Thomas is evil and if he tried to get a town manager job in your town, know that he has already been run out of 4 town manager jobs — 3 out West and one in Maine. BEWARE OF THE EVIL MAN HE WILL RUIN YOUR TOWN!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Living With Asperger’s Syndrome

I’m drafting out a new book, as yet untitled, about what it is like to live with Asperger’s Syndrome(which I have) and I’m using my blog to run first drafts of sections of it. Second drafts are being moved HERE. This post is one of those draft posts, expect more to show up over time.

~Who Is Affected by Autism?~

In one word: me. I have Asperger’s Syndrome, a type of Autism. Life is difficult, not so much because autism affects the things I do, but mostly because people do not take the time to get to know me. My cloths scare off most people, before they get to meet me. The few that aren’t scared off get upset at my not making eye contact when they speak to me. They get more upset when I don’t answer them back. Next they start interigateing me, questions left and right and I sit down on the ground and start drawing or writing in order to block out their words, because I can’t process so many questions all at once like that. Next thing I know they are calling me a retard and telling their friends to stay away from me. Think I’m talking about kids? Think again. I’m over 30 years old. No kid ever called me a retard, but their parents did (and still do), Sunday School teachers did, adults, men and women in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. When you tell someone you have Asperger’s Syndrome they ask: “What’s that? Never heard of it.” When you say it’s a form of Autism, they respond with: “Oh, so you ARE retarded than. I thought so.” My response is: “Was Albert Einstein retarded?” and they say, “No, he was a genius, he was the farthest thing in the world from retarded!” And than I throw the big one at them: “Did you know that Albert Einstein had Asperger’s Syndrome? and so does nearly every other person whom like myself is one of the 3% of the world’s population with an IQ of over 130?” (My IQ is 138 btw.)

There needs to be a better understanding in the world about Autism, and well, you hear doctors and teachers and parents talk about what the “think” it’s must be like, but how often do you hear what it is like from someone who actually has it? Not often enough, I’m afraid, so I am going to speak out, and maybe others like me will read this and than step forward too.

It takes me a long time to get enough used to some one to start speaking to them … years sometimes. It’s very hard, because people don’t want to make an effort to try to understand and worse they never want to become my friend. Autisms = a lonely life.

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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Can a person be a Nun/Monk without belonging to a religion?

Was just realizing that I live the life of a Nun/Monk . . . the codes I live by, the standards I have (including no sex), the foods I eat (and don’t eat) the way I live in tune with nature and animals, even the way I dress (1600’s robes) all says I’m a Nun of some sort. Yet, I follow no religion.

Even things like my not talking and not driving a car, suggest a monks life style.

I have 14 cats, 2 ranchu, and 40 roosters . . . my lowest amount of animals . . . prior to the fire I rarely ever had fewer than 500 animals at a time . . . again, suggestive of a monk life style

vegetarian, with what most people describe as a very strict (way too strict) diet. . . again . . . monk life style

refusal to cut my hair and refusal to wear modern cloths, instead wearing long robes and capes from 1600’s or earlier (and often being chided for it, and usually being told I’m a witch as a result) most of the locals are terrified of me because of the way I dress . . . but again, if my clothes were brown instead of black, blue, or purple, I’d be dressed no different than a monk

my long time desire to breed chickens, while also to putting an end to all human consumption of chickens, again, suggests a monk attitude

my daily habit for sitting down and thinking deep thoughts for hours on end, contemplating on one question at a time (as I am now doing ) is suggestive of the meditative habits of a monk.

My building of the strange wild garden retreat of towering bamboo, wild roses, and grapes, all centered around an ancient car where I sit and write, surrounded by the wild birds that flock to shelter within my garden . . . . and the fact that my garden houses the strange creature/demon/faerie “Etiole” whom only one other person has seen, again, suggests a monk, both the garden itself and the fact that I’ve seen it’s odd inhabitant

my refusal to work what people call a “normal job” and instead to make a living writing and painting and rescuing animals . . . . more monkness

living the life of a hermit, going years on end without contact with humans, and than the few rare occasions I do leave the farm, where do I go: the library, the beach, Rachael Carson’s Wildlife Hiking Trails, the Botanical Garden, walks through the Ross Forest . . .

Am I some sort of monk/nun and never realized it before? If so, what should I do about it? Is there such a thing as a monk/nun without a religion? Are there others out there who live the same type lifestyle like I do?

I am deeply saddened by the acts of vandalism that are often thwarted at me, my pets, and my home, due to people finding my lifestyle so out of the mainstream

I has occurred to me, that maybe I should open some sort of a meditation retreat where people can come and be at one with cats and chickens and roses and trees, the same way I live.

How does one go about opening a place like that? and where? (Pyrenees comes to mind right quick. . . at the top of a mountain)

of course opening such a place would mean contact with humans . . . I’m not very good at that, that could pose a problem

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

————-
If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
.
.

.

Can a person be a Nun/Monk without belonging to a religion?

Was just realizing that I live the life of a Nun/Monk . . . the codes I live by, the standards I have (including no sex), the foods I eat (and don’t eat) the way I live in tune with nature and animals, even the way I dress (1600’s robes) all says I’m a Nun of some sort. Yet, I follow no religion.

Even things like my not talking and not driving a car, suggest a monks life style.

I have 14 cats, 2 ranchu, and 40 roosters . . . my lowest amount of animals . . . prior to the fire I rarely ever had fewer than 500 animals at a time . . . again, suggestive of a monk life style

vegetarian, with what most people describe as a very strict (way too strict) diet. . . again . . . monk life style

refusal to cut my hair and refusal to wear modern cloths, instead wearing long robes and capes from 1600’s or earlier (and often being chided for it, and usually being told I’m a witch as a result) most of the locals are terrified of me because of the way I dress . . . but again, if my clothes were brown instead of black, blue, or purple, I’d be dressed no different than a monk

my long time desire to breed chickens, while also to putting an end to all human consumption of chickens, again, suggests a monk attitude

my daily habit for sitting down and thinking deep thoughts for hours on end, contemplating on one question at a time (as I am now doing ) is suggestive of the meditative habits of a monk.

My building of the strange wild garden retreat of towering bamboo, wild roses, and grapes, all centered around an ancient car where I sit and write, surrounded by the wild birds that flock to shelter within my garden . . . . and the fact that my garden houses the strange creature/demon/faerie “Etiole” whom only one other person has seen, again, suggests a monk, both the garden itself and the fact that I’ve seen it’s odd inhabitant

my refusal to work what people call a “normal job” and instead to make a living writing and painting and rescuing animals . . . . more monkness

living the life of a hermit, going years on end without contact with humans, and than the few rare occasions I do leave the farm, where do I go: the library, the beach, Rachael Carson’s Wildlife Hiking Trails, the Botanical Garden, walks through the Ross Forest . . .

Am I some sort of monk/nun and never realized it before? If so, what should I do about it? Is there such a thing as a monk/nun without a religion? Are there others out there who live the same type lifestyle like I do?

I am deeply saddened by the acts of vandalism that are often thwarted at me, my pets, and my home, due to people finding my lifestyle so out of the mainstream

I has occurred to me, that maybe I should open some sort of a meditation retreat where people can come and be at one with cats and chickens and roses and trees, the same way I live.

How does one go about opening a place like that? and where? (Pyrenees comes to mind right quick. . . at the top of a mountain)

of course opening such a place would mean contact with humans . . . I’m not very good at that, that could pose a problem

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

————-
If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
.
.

.

Can a person be a Nun/Monk without belonging to a religion?

Was just realizing that I live the life of a Nun/Monk . . . the codes I live by, the standards I have (including no sex), the foods I eat (and don’t eat) the way I live in tune with nature and animals, even the way I dress (1600’s robes) all says I’m a Nun of some sort. Yet, I follow no religion.

Even things like my not talking and not driving a car, suggest a monks life style.

I have 14 cats, 2 ranchu, and 40 roosters . . . my lowest amount of animals . . . prior to the fire I rarely ever had fewer than 500 animals at a time . . . again, suggestive of a monk life style

vegetarian, with what most people describe as a very strict (way too strict) diet. . . again . . . monk life style

refusal to cut my hair and refusal to wear modern cloths, instead wearing long robes and capes from 1600’s or earlier (and often being chided for it, and usually being told I’m a witch as a result) most of the locals are terrified of me because of the way I dress . . . but again, if my clothes were brown instead of black, blue, or purple, I’d be dressed no different than a monk

my long time desire to breed chickens, while also to putting an end to all human consumption of chickens, again, suggests a monk attitude

my daily habit for sitting down and thinking deep thoughts for hours on end, contemplating on one question at a time (as I am now doing ) is suggestive of the meditative habits of a monk.

My building of the strange wild garden retreat of towering bamboo, wild roses, and grapes, all centered around an ancient car where I sit and write, surrounded by the wild birds that flock to shelter within my garden . . . . and the fact that my garden houses the strange creature/demon/faerie “Etiole” whom only one other person has seen, again, suggests a monk, both the garden itself and the fact that I’ve seen it’s odd inhabitant

my refusal to work what people call a “normal job” and instead to make a living writing and painting and rescuing animals . . . . more monkness

living the life of a hermit, going years on end without contact with humans, and than the few rare occasions I do leave the farm, where do I go: the library, the beach, Rachael Carson’s Wildlife Hiking Trails, the Botanical Garden, walks through the Ross Forest . . .

Am I some sort of monk/nun and never realized it before? If so, what should I do about it? Is there such a thing as a monk/nun without a religion? Are there others out there who live the same type lifestyle like I do?

I am deeply saddened by the acts of vandalism that are often thwarted at me, my pets, and my home, due to people finding my lifestyle so out of the mainstream

I has occurred to me, that maybe I should open some sort of a meditation retreat where people can come and be at one with cats and chickens and roses and trees, the same way I live.

How does one go about opening a place like that? and where? (Pyrenees comes to mind right quick. . . at the top of a mountain)

of course opening such a place would mean contact with humans . . . I’m not very good at that, that could pose a problem

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

————-
If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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.

Why Is Everyone Protesting the CPSIA?

Was just reading up on the CPSIA law that’s going into effect in August, and wondering why people are have such hysterics over it . . . Maine has actively enforced testing of all handmade products since the 1970’s. (I know because my mom owned a craft shop and Maine required all sorts of testing done on her stuffed animals and dolls before letting her sell them to the public.) I just assumed every state did the same.

In fact I’m shocked to find out that most states DO NOT have such a law in place and required this national law to go into effect. It’s only good business practice to test the contents of your inventory before you make products for sale to the public, esp if said product is intended for children. Why are thousands of crafters and home sewers protesting this law? I’m a crafter. I’m a home sewer. I’ve lived with this law my whole life, because Maine already had it!

I’m confused here. Did I miss something? I can’t figure this protest out. Can someone please explain it to me? Thanks!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

. . .

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
.
.

.

Why Is Everyone Protesting the CPSIA?

Was just reading up on the CPSIA law that’s going into effect in August, and wondering why people are have such hysterics over it . . . Maine has actively enforced testing of all handmade products since the 1970’s. (I know because my mom owned a craft shop and Maine required all sorts of testing done on her stuffed animals and dolls before letting her sell them to the public.) I just assumed every state did the same.

In fact I’m shocked to find out that most states DO NOT have such a law in place and required this national law to go into effect. It’s only good business practice to test the contents of your inventory before you make products for sale to the public, esp if said product is intended for children. Why are thousands of crafters and home sewers protesting this law? I’m a crafter. I’m a home sewer. I’ve lived with this law my whole life, because Maine already had it!

What’s your take on this? I’d love to hear what you have to say about this post. Leave a comment and share your views!

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If you liked reading this blog and want to read more stuff written by me, I have lots of websites, where you can read other things I write, here are a few of the ones I like the best:
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