SouthernRebel4445's blog

A Sunday morning fastly eroding and soon to be afternoon and it will be once I finish this composition of this missive.

The days, the weeks and months now just fly by.  They say it has something to do with getting older, perhaps.  I'm also hearing alot that time or our perception thereof has accelerated greatly as the vibrations in the universe increase and more galactic waves push through our galaxy in preparation for the paradigm shift.  I've heard it said now that our typical day is now that of a 16 hour one.  The clocks still measure the same 24 hour day, the sun rises and sets on the same times as it did centuries ago.  Now if it feels like you can't get the same amount of things done in a day as you did 20 years ago??, this is why. I know I can't and no it's not because I'm moving slower with age, I'm not that old, yet!  Time is basically all relative with just us humans really the ones that measure it out in increments and how our minds perceive it in this three dimensional realm within a multi dimensional universe or multiverse.  Yes time has sped up and will continue to do so exponentially now.

As I compose this missive it's now past Mid August and my most favorite time of the year is rapidly approaching that being Autumn. I'm already planning Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas or the more Pagan variations thereof. Planning on how to observe it more in tune with my Pagan beliefs.  Seems like last week I was out bike riding on Memorial Day weekend planning the 4th of July. Feels like a couple days ago it was July 4th, the day was filled with magic. I have the photos that captured that magic and it was one of the best I've had in my adult life. I always know that once the 4th of July passes the rest of the summer is a blur and such is being the case.

Labor Day weekend now just 3 weeks away.  My favorite time of the year is autumn. Maybe I'm what is known as an "Autumn" Person. My favorite colors are Reds and Oranges, browns and yellows, I love the warm spices of cinnamon, allspice, cloves.  Labor Day weekend I'll go to the shed out in back of house and lug out the autumn decorations and adorn the house inside with the festive colors of autumn leaves and dried floral arrangements. 

Living in the Florida Keys the summers here are regarded as many northerners regard winter. Northerners are glad to see spring/summer after the drab, harshness of winter, the warmer days mean more activity outside up north in spring/summer. Reverse that for the Florida Keys.  Summers here are wickedly brutal with torrid heat and humidity.  Yes you can do everything out of doors but expect to be drenched with sweat, get dehydrated.  We look forward to the cooler days of autumn and winter as folk up north look forward to the warmer days of spring and summer.

As much as I abhor commercialism and capitalism I still look forward to the store displays that mark the turning of a season none other than autumn.   The first signs clearly evident with the Back To School merchandise but that's only a small part.  Suddenly one day you go into the grocery store and you see those familiar orange, yellow bags of candy popping up in a display. It's just a small section at first. A closer inspection reveals this to be Halloween candy and that should start appearing in the next couple weeks if it hasn't already.  Suddenly those candy displays and bags like a virus multiply. What was just  a small section or two of shelf of a few assorted bags mushrooms and envelops an entire store aisle. Suddenly like mushrooms after a rain a store display erupts with candy and then Halloween decorations.  Now the stops are pulled as commercialism makes the best of the coming months.  It's all mental programming for the BIG HO HO (Christmas), get you in the spirit. Think about it.  First the candy and then you start seeing Halloween decorations for sale.  Suddenly you notice the baking supplies making a prominent feature on store end caps and eventually a section of store relegated just for the upcoming baking season.  That is probably the most favorite for me of the season is the baking, I just love food and sweets and its all comfort foods.

Notice that one day in the coming weeks you will enter the grocery store and immediately your eyes will be greeted with the autumn decorations of the colors associated with the season. What is more noticeable is those Cinnamon scented brooms and that spicy aroma permeate an entire section of the grocery store. It more often burns ones nostrils and makes the eyes water it's so strong.  Nothing gets ones mind thinking more about autumn and the Holidays than Cinnamon.  It's my favorite smell on the planet. I keep our home filled with Cinnamon essential oils year round.  I think because it's a strong comfort smell to me.  Capitalism knows this also to use as a form of mind control basically to get you revved up and nostalgic.  A building crescendo commences with the colors, sights, sounds of autumn.  As days grow shorter, the nights cooler and the trees change.  The stores proudly display the autumn harvests of colorful gourds, pumpkins. Entire sections are relegated to Halloween.  You are thinking Halloween is still aways off but you notice something else that is looming amongst the autumn displays.  This usually happens in the shopping malls first and like a plague it spreads into the chain stores.  Suddenly trees sprout among the shopping midways adorned with the gaily colored lights of the upcoming Saturnalia still months away.  The jolly fat man in the red suit starts appearing. You think to yourself. Gee let's at least get Halloween over with first. No wait.  I'm still in shorts and sandals in New York let me have a couple more barbeques, a weekend out on the lake before I even have to think about Halloween that is still yet such a long ways off.  Not in the accelerated pace of time.  The youngins will be yelling trick or treat while you scratch your head thinking we just did the 4th of July and oh wait that pile of dirty clothes has my summer shorts still in it. Yep I better wash them before the whole damn laundry pile walks away on its own and put them away for the winter, clean?? that's an option.

I personally look forward to Labor Day.  My mood and focus immediately shifts to Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fall TV. lineup. It's the first sign that cooler weather will be coming. I look forward to the upcoming baking season, the house filled with the smells of baking and the colorful decorations that undergo the same process in our home such as the commercial stores.  Some autumn decos festooned throughout, an explosion of Halloween adornments and even more so out in the yard. Quickly replaced by Turkeys, Puritan figures and cornucopias. That can't be swept away fast enough to get ready for the grand finale of Saturnalia, The Big Ho Ho or Christmas.  We hold onto these traditions as they are comforts. Comforts to most of our youth, of happier and or simpler times.

As I grow more in tune with my Pagan roots and beliefs I shift my focus more each year away from the commercialism and celebrate the season itself.  I won't adorn our entire front yard into a massive spook yard.  Awesome yes I must admit. Too much work and effort for just a dozen kids to come and see. Then I have to take all the crap down and put it away! I still have open plastic totes of unused fireworks from the 4th of July sitting on the treadmill and floor of the garage. My Excuse? It's just too damn hot to mess around sorting and organizing. I don't like going into our garage this time of year. Its average temperature hovers around 100.

I will still observe Halloween though but more along the lines of Pagan custom of All Hallows Eve or Samhain. I'll still buy some bags of candy just for us two adult kids in the house. I'll still carve a jack o lantern or two or three and sneak a few decos up in the yard. I just have to remember I have to take all that crap down!!!. Then Thanksgiving.  Wow where else do you spend what you would on an entire weeks worth of groceries and more if you entertain for a meal that takes days to prep for, hours and hours to cook, minutes to eat and is all doing down the toilet the next day.  We however give in and do it.  Yes I do enjoy Thanksgiving it's on my list of favorite holidays, I enjoy it immensely. I keep saying each year I will simplify. Each year I try but it just don't feel right unless you go full tilt, overboard.

What gets me is the Thanksgiving turkey is not even cold yet and many Americans are heading out to the stores to stand in line all night for Black Friday.  A Commercialism nightmare, one of the biggest snake oil scams the greasy wheels of Capitalism has going.  You think your getting a huge bargain?  Just remember where this stuff is made that cost pennies on the dollar to mass produce, has a HUGE markup then put the word "SALE" on it and sell it while still making a HUGE profit because now you are selling mass quantity.  I have no part of that day at all.  I have no desire to stand in line all night nor get mowed down in the screaming stampeded while going in the doorway. I don't live in the north so couldn’t imagine standing outside in 30 degree weather.  Ya know I wonder though?  That Thanksgiving meal folk gorged on?? A gut load of food now digesting.  You know the saying, food in, poop out.  You’re in line for the sale of the century. That Wii Play station that will be on sale for $50 bucks, the store only has a limited amount, Your freezing your you know what off and "Duty Calls"  Most parking lots don't even have porta potties and you don't dare step outta line and loose your spot. Folk are out for blood for that SALE, that spirit of giving and being nice is already in the toilet ahead of your bowel movement when it comes to messing with getting that latest deal.  I even hear of some "Hard Core" shoppers wearing adult diapers.  I draw the line there. No Thanks. I'll stay at home and be very entertained by the You Tube clips of the fights breaking out, the mayhem, and the people squatting behind whatever gives them a sense of privacy to relieve their bodily functions for all to see on the World Wide Web.

Yep no thanks.  My partner and I stopped buying gifts for that one day, spending money we don't have. Instead we have Christmas year round. You just surprise one another with something when you get a little extra money during the year.  I think I will put up a small tree this year, one of those table top jobs just so I can puts some of those high tech LED Christmas lights on it.  I used to go crazy decorating. It looked like Santa puked inside and outside the home of everything/anything dealing with Christmas. Talk about over kill!!  I am a person that takes things to the extreme.  I think the last time I put Christmas lights up outside I lost count when the lights got near the 100,000 mark.  Let's see that would be 2006. Yep I remember. I almost burnt the garage down on Christmas when I overloaded the garage circuit trying to reroute extension cords.  A line of thunderstorms was moving in.  Most of my outdoor outlets were GFCI type. Rain, extension cords and GFCI's don't get along and not conducive for Christmas lighting.  I was scared shitless when I saw the scorched outlet when I unplugged everything in January.  I'm glad the circuit breakers in the main box kept tripping and I wasn't a fool to try and over ride that!  Christmas night of 2006 our yard was mostly dark as heavy rains pounded, GFCI's had all tripped. Weeks and weeks of work putting it all up, fretting over burnt out stands in the meantime. All for one day and the night it was most important it didn't work.  About had a bowel movement in my pants come January at the sight of the electric bill also.  Then what goes up must come down.  I think I wound up taking all the stuff down somewhere around Valentines Day or was it St. Patrick’s Day of 2007.  As a matter of fact there are still about 800 white twinkle lights now a tangled mess in our orange tree as of August 2009, Screw It!!.  I keep it there to remind me not to undergo the yearly madness of giving into the madness for just one day.  Nope I look most forward now to having the Yearly Yule bonfire in the yard, observing the Winter Solstice rite with ritual, followed by some small feasting.  This is where the whole birth of Christmas stems from even the birth of Jesus. Ask me sometime I've done the research.  Halloween comes from Samhain and alot of lore, legend and tradition to get taken by the conglomerated, convoluted grubs of commercialism.

Nope this year I look forward to observing the true rites in accordance to my Pagan beliefs and Spiritualism, the way it's meant.  Talking too and thanking the Spirits/Creator, keeping it simple.  If I do want some nostalgia to remind me of my youth and bring some comfort I keep it small and simple. Remember... I have to take it all down!

It all seems so far off but really isn't, it's coming and very soon.  I talk about this now because before I know it I'll have to write it in the past tense.

I promised Fil that I'd start contrubuting more here to the group so here goes.

As I begin to keyboard this missive it is still raining. A clear line of blue sky to the north marks a distinct demarcation of heavy overcast and rains to the south. The blue sky slowly advancing.  We sure get some unique weather here in the Florida Keys.  All this means that at some point in the next couple of hours I have to go to work.  Always seems like a dirty 4 letter word to me "WORK".  BUT. Until a better modality of sustainability comes along the bills gotta be paid and food bought by partaking in the dirty 4 letter word called "WORK"

I like the barter system. Equal work for equal trade.   Have a client that owns one of those hair salons.  Never thought I'd be caught in one of those!!..LOL  I felt change in my appearence was needed to accomdate the changes ongoing within and my entire world changing.  I was a natural blonde as a youngin up until teen years.  Seems as soon as I hit the age of 20 my hair just got darker and darker to now a dark ash brown at age 46.   A wild hair up the backside oneday I thought hhhmm what would it be like to see that blonde 20 somethin dude again.  I did one of those home box  beach dye jobs... UGH!!! disaster!!!!!  Brassy Orange and I do mean Brassy.  Went to my one client that owns the hair salon and said "HELP"!!!

She said to come on in the shop.  I was hesitant about going until she told me they have a private room, okay cool.  We agreed upon me doing some extra work at their property in exchange for the bleach job. This is in addition to the twice montly service I provide. Fair Enough.  Got the hair done to blonde and I felt younger. "Hey that's me again"!!!  It has been over 20 years since I even had any length of hair!!. I always kept my hair cut in a military/USMC high and tight and I was very fastidious at maintaining such.  The past year I started slacking and letting it grow, buzzin it off, letting it grow again. Then I decided to just let it go and grow. 

So here I am a 46 year old dude in the midst of mid life crisis but I felt good at the old but new me.  The mirror reflecting an aging 21 year old who is now being constantly reminded by the ole body that we just can't do that like we used to. The Screw You  body attitude, I can do this, do anything to my body's signals no longer apply.  I pay for reckless ambitions  for such vicarious behavior these days.  As long as my mind don't age then it's all good.

The barter worked very well and I was happy to provide in exchange about 2 hours of labor on there property putting down mulch in landscape beds.  A follow up 2 months later to keep the look followed by "just deduct it" from the bill.  I'm good with that.

I needed a small push lawn mower. Ya know just one of those cheap 6 horse power jobs. I have a large commercial walk behind lawn mower I call "The Beast" it's heavy, awkward and cumbersome but not a lick of trouble/problems with engine, belt or blade in the now 7th  year of owning it and very hard use. Other than the rear wheels are falling apart in the axle hubs and the frame handle needs a weld job it's still in remarkable working condition. I have the handle jury rigged with heavy gauge wire.

Wouldn't you know a push mower came available from some folk moving.  There lawn needed cutting before they vacated the home and if I cut the grass I could have the mower... fair enough.  Now I have a little mower to do the small jobs with and zip in and zip out.

I like this barter system. If only I could get the grocery store to do the same and maintain the parking lot we'd be really good. Big Corporate store... nope and the account already taken.

I can only hope in the New World the current monetary system will be of no use.  Each can use there skills, talents and abilities in exchange for goods and services.  We can hope.

Okay time to fnish up here, post and carry on with the day. The sun trying to make an appearence now.  My plans are to be here on this forum more often.  My priorities are changing and focus being redirected.  Things are moving and shaking in the realms for me now as my Guides finally come through speaking to me and giving me directions once again.  I'm to start doing again among other things.

Will post an El Nino update for the group here.  It's something that is going to affect all this coming winter with some of the wildest and strangest weather probably yet to be seen if the trend continues to intensify and amplify like I feel it's going to. That however is another post.

My legal given name is Kev but  I also go by JD, Cowboy, SouthernRebel for those that remember me from the older forums and Friday Night Chat rooms. I continually evolve as years go onward it seems.  Feel fee to use any.

Kev

Hope the link comes through. Some interesting facts/data about Global Warming NOT happening. Lot's of links on this page to click on and read some interesting stuff if one is interested. Makes one really wonder about what is behind all the propaganda. JD http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.iceagenow.com/Snow_on_...

My first post here to this group. Thanks to fil for inviting me. I sit here wondering where a year has gone. Trying to recollect all that happened in 08. Some of the things only being from a couple a months to a year just seem like a blur, some seem so long ago and yet some things like yesterday. Funny how our minds perceive time. A year ago on this very night a bitter cold airmass spilled into the Fl Keys like a damn bursting. New Years Day 2008 we had temperatures of 90 degrees. The morning of January 3rd the 2nd coldest temperature of 37 degrees was recorded for Key Largo. I distinctly remember a year ago tonight. The north winds howled almost to gale force and temps plummeted into the 40's. As all things seem relative. To my norhern friends this is a balmy day in January. In the tropics this is considered bitter cold and it sure felt it. I slept in my jeans, tshirt, long sleeve thermal shirt and quilted flannel shirt and my cap on!!. I had just about every dog in bed with me trying to snuggle up and keep warm. It was short lived and by the weekend it was back in the 70's. My next recollection of 2008 was April when I was feeling really good. I was at a crossroads at making a career change. Went up to the local construction company, filled out an app. I was prepared to do anything at that point other than landscaping which I was so tired of. Going through mid life crisis sucks. You wake up one day and suddenly you realize your own mortatlity. You realize that some of the things you used to could do you no longer can and that opportunities that were always there are now behind you and becoming increasingly outta reach. You realize that you can't keep starting over. My hard hat in one hand, wearin an orange hi viz vest I liked the look on me. It definitely fit me. Had this been 20+ years ago? I would have jumped at the chance and dove right into working heavy construction. Where would I go at age 45. I have no CDL licences and by the time I learned to operate heavy equipment and become proficient at it I'd probably be too old to jump up and down off the rigs. So mowin lawns and trimming hedges, manicuring yards it is. I realized if it ain't broke dont go tryin to fix it. So hey.. I still wear my hard hat and orange vest doing yards. At least the "Yard Guy" is clearly visible. Watch out for those falling coconuts!!! they will knock you out, not me!!! LOL. One nice thing is there is a new federal law that all people workin on federal, state right of ways must wear a high viz vest..you know those fluroscent orange or yellow vests with the gray reflective stripes?. Hey there the in thing for 2009..LOL I'm a little eccentric anyways so who is gonna pay a never mind to the yard dude wearin a hard hat. Never been asked as to why and if I was I would tell them the truth, I'm having a mid life crisis that would stop the conversation..LOL Be that as it may I stuck with the business. March was a tragic time loosing our 10 year old Rottweiler "Drake" to bone cancer. It was a very aggressive cancer and we only had 1-2 months left with him and made the best of our time left with Drake. Soon even the pain meds weren't working, his quality of life was no longer quality. He was in pain and it was time to send him home. It was my parnters dog so I did't have to make that decision. That day came in March when we said "till we meet again Drake" I was numb for days afterward. Picked myself up by the bootstraps and carried onward and forward. Soon summer was upon us and that dreaded heat and humidity had set in. We didn't know if we would have a home one month to the next just stayin one step ahead of the Foreclosure process, no money for back taxes, property taxes. We was at wits end and continuously fighting, bickerin which was not at all produtive. What worked out with a family member getting us a loan at the last minute, temporary band aid fix but kept the roof over our heads so far. July 2008 more tradgedy hit. My beloved black lab of 12 years "Pedro" had congestive heart failure. He was an aging dog and his health deteriorating. My guides spoke to me many months before and said "Enjoy the time you have with him now" That I did. One day in early July I heard a commotion during the night. Thought Pedro was having a seizure, he had a heart attack. The following day he lay listless, breathin fast and shallow. I knew the time had come and now it was my decision what to do. He was in pain, he was non responsive. I knew the following day it was time to send him home with Drake. It was the hardest decision I EVER had to make in my entire life. I knew there was no hope for recovery, he was suffering. I spent the night on the floor with him and we talked and he communicated telepathically. He told me thank you for a wonderul and fullfilling life. He said it was okay to get a new boy, he would pick him out for me and I would know. Pedro said "Look for me dad in the new boy" I was devastated having to put Pedro down. 3 weeks later a friend took us up to the pet store in Miami. We decided to get a new Rottie pup and a new Black Lab pup. We thought it be fun for them to grow up together. That good friend used her 'stimulus" check to get us the puppies as otherwise we could have never done it on our own. When I met "Rebel" our eyes locked. He was so excited as if he knew I came just for him. He was just over 3 months old and we bonded INSTANTLY. My black lab pup was perfect in every way. That day Kriten (The Rottie pup) and Rebel both came home. There age only seperated by 2 days. Double the trouble, Frick and Frack and the Monster Pups. Never regret a moment, depsite holes chewed in dry wall, throw rugs eaten, pillows, cushions destroyed and quite a bit of landscaping becoming chew toys. The one thing Pedro used to do was at feeding time he would bark. Bark just to be obnoxious as if he was saying. ME FIRST, FEED ME FIRST!!!.. the barking was incessant until the feed bowl was placed on the floor. Rebel a 3½ month old black lab puppy on his 2 nd day in his new home we was preparing breakfast for them. Rebel started barking incessantly. The hairs on my arms stood up and tears in my eyes. Pedro did tell me during his last hours "Look for me in the new boy, You will know it's me" The barking!!!. None of our other dogs bark like that at feeding time, only Rebel. The hurricanes came and went in 2009. Everyone threatened us and everyone missed us. Yeah we got some winds, rain but getting so used to these things I really didn't pay it a no never mind. There was no danger of life/property so we took it in stride. Yeah it made a mess of branches, leaves but getting so used to that anymore.. I never totally lifted outta the funk I got in right after July 4th. I let things go around the house, the yard, everything. Living was just existing day to day. The new pups was the only thing that kept me going from day to day. Make matters worse I came down with a serious lung infection (Walking Pneumonia) and a persistent, constant, dry cough, hard to breathe. No anti biotics would knock it out. Phooie on antibiotics. Got ole fil's Colloidal Silver making device out and started making colloidal silver and took it sublingually, sprayed it up my nose every 1/2 hour to 1 hour and 10,000 mg Vit C a day. In a weeks time it was totally knocked out of me after 3 non stop months and at times I was very sick to the point in bed. That depressed funk finally started lifting in December. It was as though the dark storms clouds had finally parted and were clearing. Once again I have regained my productive self and ways. Things are back in order again and I feel like the old me or new me. Christmas came and Christmas went. Didn't do a thing in regards to celebrating this year. Havin no money it just didn't make sense to celebrate it. So here we is exactly one year later. What a year it's been. The highlight being the 2 beautiful pups that are turning into very large puppies that are so full of love. Where will 2009 bring us?, What will it bring us?. I know time is speeding up faster and faster as we rapidly approach 2012. I look forward to the coming year. Look forward to new opportunities. Despite the doom and gloom with the ecnomoy which we all know HAS to come. This will be a good and better year. Well hope I didn't do too bad for my first post here. Glad to see you fil, matt, brigit (sp?) JD