I just got an email from my mom outlining some interesting facts stimulated by the recent ban of personal size water bottles in San Franciso.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19378595/site/newsweek/from/ET/

Did you know:
• Over 45 million plastic water bottles a year end up in the trash? • For those that aren't recycled, it takes 1,000 years to break them down? • Of those that are thought to be recycled, the evidence is that 90% of them still end up in landfills, according the Container Recycling Institute of California? • That the cost to manufacture those bottles is enormous, consumingover 250,000 million barrels of oil each year? • That over 40% of bottled water is taken from a municipal tap, somewhere? • That several tests of bottled water showed some to be higher incontaminants than municipal water? • That most bottled water is ACIDIC? • That any squeezeably soft bottle is soft enough to leach dioxin, aknown carcinogen, into the fluid it has stored? • That the tap water alternative that Rocky Anderson suggests couldleave you ingesting up to 90 legally allowable chemicals? (according to the E.P.A.) • That the tap water you might drink instead contains chlorine, forsure, and that chlorine has been linked to breast cancer and other cancers? • That the chlorine you drink in just one glass of tap water is justas effective in killing off the needed healthy bacteria in your gut as it is in killing off the bad unhealthy bacteria that it kills in the pipes? • That reverse osmosis membranes have been "improved" to the pointthat they not only take out chemicals, but they also remove most of the needed minerals, as well, leaving it very nearly as hungry of a water as distilled water is? • That experts warn against drinking distilled water for more than ashort term cleansing fast, as it will leach minerals out of your bones? • That there is a better solution????
www.BalanceAndHeal.com
Go Mom!!

Free at Last!

Just a spoonful of sugar!

I was laying on the beach the other day, trying to relax--something that has become increasingly difficult to do--because I was thinking of all the things on my "to do" list. And, Mary Poppins voice wafted across my memory. Oh how I wish I could snap my room clean, or snap my laundry folded, or snap my dry cleaning picked up, or snap my papers written, or snap my stomach full and satisfied. Uh, yes. Even feeding myself becomes a chore sometimes.

"Just a spoonful of sugar can make the medicine go down in the most delightful way."

Did I miss the whole moral of that scene?

In every job that must be done there is an element of fun.
You find the fun and
Snap!
The job's a game?? Where is MY Mary Poppins?

Lost Art

Van Gough : The Sower
Not : The Sower and a Tree

I really want this for my wall. A big one. Mural size.

Last summer at the Pageant of the Masters in Laguna Beach (I highly recommend attending this incredible & innovative event to anyone), this was one of the players' creations . Usually the orchestra plays the music, but during this presentation, Christine Day's version of "Fields of Gold" was piping through the ampitheatre. I was deeply moved and felt very connected.

And now, when I see this image or hear Day's rendition I feel joy! Which reminds me of a whole new post...

The Happiest Place on Earth...

Right in my Backyard!

Cowabunga! - the Year of Herefords, Surfers & Sand

So, the infamous O.C. Fair starts today and are we excited or what?? With such events as the Senior Surfer Hat, Cow-Chip Throwing, and Pinapple Bowling contests, the Ukulele Jam Session, viewing the World's Biggest Horse, the cattle drive through the streets of Costa Mesa, Willie Nelson, and the Peking Acrobats...how could you go wrong?

And then there's the favorite, baby animal nursery. Baby zebra, baby cow, baby deer, & baby pygmy goats. This was taken last year.

it's in the stars...

My God is and organized God. Call it what you will, but I believe the universe is the way it is for a reason.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace." Eccl. 3:1-8

"And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years; And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so." Abr. 4:14-15

The wisemen read the stars to know not only when the Christ-child would be born, but where.

Today, I had my own star chart read and it was fascinating. What did the stars and planets say at the precise time and location I was born? Look out Aries and Saturn! I'm gonna knock your socks off!