The 10 Commandments from Horses

“I get up every morning determined to both change the world and to have one hell of a good time.
Sometimes this makes planning the day difficult” -E.B. White

If you want to watch G-d laugh, have a plan… especially with your horses. They dont know from schedules… all their is is now… Another great lesson they teach me. I think G-d teaches great lessons through his animal kingdom

I like quotes, phrases and mottos, because they can contain wisdom and lessons in a few words. . They’re no good unless you share them. Which brings me to another in my sometime series.

The 10 Commandments from the spirit of Horses
1. Thou shalt trot a mile in your fellow man’s hooves. If you treat everyone you meet as if they are hurting in some way, you’ll be right most of the time.
2. Thou shalt remember: you aren’t what you do. If you are what you do, then when you don’t, you aren’t.
3. Thou shalt do it now. There are so few tomorrows.
4. Thou shalt remember, horses reveal, when we are truly ready to listen.
5. Thou shalt treat money like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow.”
6. Thou shalt know it is not enough for a man to learn how to ride; he must learn how to fall..”
7.Thou shalt shut thine eyes our eyes tight and commend yourself to G-d when purchasing a horse or taking a spouse.
8. Thou shalt not need a title or braggin’ rights to enjoy riding my horse long distances.
9. Thou shalt remember the innate qualities of our horse even when he’s not listening. “The horse has the pride of a lion, the eye of a deer, the speed of a gazelle, the strength of an ox, the loyalty of a soldier, and the heart of a woman. He has brought the country doctor to the day of our birth, cleared our roads, and plowed the fields that feed us. He has carried us as children across an open meadow, and, finally, when our time is done, pulled the wagon that takes us to our final resting place. He is with us always.”
10. Horse, thou art truly a creature without equal, for thou fliest without wings and conquerest without sword.

The horse is G-d’s gift to man
- Arabian Proverb
Trot on friends, trot on.

 

Go Green to save Green

It’s no coincidence that most frugal people are environmentally conscious, and vice versa. Frugal lifestyle choices tend to be environmentally friendly choices. What a win - win.. for your pocketbook and the planet. It’s almost impossible to be concerned about the environment without taking actions that lessen your own impact on the enviro.. Ah grasshopper, the circle of life, it’s all connected . True frugality is not just about saving money, although that’s often the most noticeable benefit and the reason people initially “go frugal.” To me frugality involves reusing whatever I can. Frugality also involves turning the water off when I brush my teeth, doing most of my laundry in cold water, hanging it up to dry, keeping my thermostat turned down, combining my errands to save on gas, keeping lights off if at all possible, and using fluorescent light bulbs whenever I can. By doing these things both my purse and the planet can hopefully see a “darker shade of green”.

So how easy is it to improve the environment and your bottom line simultaneously? Here are ten frugal changes you can make that also benefit the environment.

1. Use homemade cleansers rather than commercial preparations: Commercial cleansers are overpriced, over packaged, and full of harsh chemicals. There are very few cleaning projects that baking soda, vinegar, and water cannot handle. These ingredients are inexpensive and easy on the environment. Recipes are widely available online and in books about frugality.

2. Switch to cloth whenever possible: Reusable cloth napkins, diapers, and cleaning rags are all kinder to the environment than disposable. Cloth creates less waste and requires fewer resources to manufacture than disposable or paper products. Cloth items are also less expensive over the life of the item than their disposable counterparts. Take reusable cloth bags to the store.

3. Buy used whenever possible: Buying used from yard sales, thrift shops, and consignment stores means that no additional resources went into making your item, and you’ve prevented the used item from ending up in a landfill prematurely. Used items are generally much less expensive than new, saving you money. Want to take this one step further? Borrow or rent items rather than buying when possible. Organize a neighborhood tool or craft supply swap, visit your local library and borrow books, or rent movies and games rather than buying. You’re helping the environment by using existing items, and you’re saving yourself even more money by not buying. Can you say “Goodwill”? Pun intended!

4. Use Mother Nature’s free utilities: If you’re allowed to have a clothesline, get one and use it. Let the sun dry your clothes for free. Even if you can’t have a clothesline, indoor drying racks work just as well. Use nature to your advantage in other ways. Open your windows for air rather than cranking up the AC. In the winter, open your blinds to get some free heat. Collect rainwater and use it for watering your garden and flowers. You’ll be using fewer resources and lowering your utility bills in the process.

5. Take up “>gardening, but don’t use commercial pesticides or fertilizers: Growing some of your own food will save you money and result in healthier, less processed food. You’ll save even more money by composting for fertilizer and using natural pest control techniques, such as introducing repelling insects and plants into your garden. These methods are both frugal (almost free, even) and environmentally friendly.

6. Consume fewer resources: There are many ways to conserve electricity, water, natural gas, and gasoline. Simply turning off unused lights and checking for leaky faucets are good places to start with electricity and water. Driving the speed limit and maintaining your car are simple ways to save fuel. Check online, in books about frugality, and with your utility for more conservation ideas. Each idea you implement not only conserves more resources, but saves you more money as well.

7. Innkeeper’s Tip: Learn to cook from scratch: You’ll eat healthier without all the preservatives, and homemade foods are much less expensive than processed foods. The guests appreciate it too ! And think of all the packaging you’ll keep out of the landfills if you cut down your use of over packaged, individually wrapped foods.

And Time is on your side, for 51 more things you can do to save the environment

 

The Motherlode

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

Mother’s Day is a nice holiday, but it isn’t quite one of those cushy weekday government holidays when folks get to sleep late, the banks are closed, and there’s no mail delivery. Still, the second Sunday in May is put aside for everyone to honor poor old Mom.

As a kid, I never could figure out why there wasn’t a Daughter’s Day or maybe a Twin’s Day or something so that I could get flowers, candy, cash, and maybe that cool new ping pong table we saw at Big 5 – so I could kick brother older bro Jeff’s butt at something

Sure, I figured my momma was deserving of a special day, I mean, she worked long hours and still managed to cook supper for the five of us most nights, No accident her nickname was “LS”, Lazy Squaw. Money was tight and she made sure we had nice clean clothes to wear – albeit she made us iron our clothes and wear half-slips under our skirts to temple.

All through history, people set aside a day to honor mothers. Natives danced in their birthday suits around trees, the early English had a Mothering Sunday and gave Dear Mom a ‘Mothering Cake,’ and here in the U.S. after constant nagging from suffragists and moms everywhere, President Woodrow Wilson made Mother’s Day a national observance every year.

Moms have always nurtured, sacrificed, and baked cakes for their offspring. Just take a look at Jesus’ mom Mary — she’s so famous that if your buttermilk biscuit looked like her, you could sell it on eBay and earn a small fortune.

With all the motherly rearing comes motherly advice. I always wondered if Mary got frustrated with Jesus and said, “Shut that door, were you born in a barn?” Or if the founder of the Home Depot store’s mom told him, “Move out of the way, you make a better door than a window!”

I can’t count the times “LS” told me:

• “Don’t make that face/cross your eyes or it’ll freeze like that!”

• “What do you think — money grows on trees?”

• “Did we get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?”

• “Finish up the old before you start the new!” That included bread that had been in the bread drawer 3 weeks.

• “Don’t make me come back there!”

• “How many times do I have to tell you – NO!”

• “If all your friends jumped in a lake, would you jump too?”

• “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all.”

• “You can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.”

There were several suggestions she had regarding food:

• “We have two choices on tonight’s menu: take it or leave it.”

• “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach.”

• “You know what the best diet is??? Push yourself away from the table.”

• “You ate all that? You must have a hollow leg!”

And you know she had something to say about hygiene:

• “Don’t put that in your mouth – there’s no tellin’ where it’s been!”

• “Always wear clean underwear, ya never know when you’ll be in an accident.”
Not to mention, she taught me logic like ” If you fall off that swing and break your neck, you can’t go to the store with me.”
L.S. also taught me medicine - like, “If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way.” and of course
she taught me to meet a challenge- “Where’s your brother and don’t talk with food in your mouth. Answer me!”

Yes, moms are special and they really deserve a day to be honored, Consider yourself lucky if you have two parents or even just one. As daddy used to say, “if you didnt have a father/mother, we’d have to go out and buy you one”. Parental units aren’t perfect, but chances are, no one will ever love you the same way.

Especially if you act the way you did.

 

Team Canter Gets Ready to hit the trail

As Gaynor and I (aka Team Canter) make our final equine preparations for our endurance ride at roundup Montana in the next weekend, we also have the “camping” extravaganza to prepare for too

As with weddings and tax-evasion, an journey to a backwoods trail demands that attention be paid to what seems like a myriad of details. Even among seasoned hikers there is no such thing as immunity to forgetfulness, while for the novice, simple lack of experience necessitates a near-compulsive attentiveness while planning, as often enough, even seemingly obvious points of note can go woefully overlooked. I know getting ready for this ride, I’ve printed out the quintessential “what to bring to a ride list” only to read and re-read til I have it indelibly etched in my brain. And still I worry I’m gonna for get something important.

That Hill Looked Flatter on Paper . . .

Never fails to happen. he problem though, is that when most initiate backpackers first pour over a park map, they focus on the indicated length of the trail, and not the terrain it runs over. Always remember: Most park-maintained trails are designed to offer the path of moderate resistance, and that winding red line measures the distance from A to B as the crow flies – while you’ll be walking.

A 10-mile trail traversing a park’s hill-strewn highland region can easily be more difficult than a than a 15-kilometer (9.3 miles) route through gently rolling terrain. Attention must be paid to the topographic contour lines that overlay the indicator for the trail itself, yet they are so often and easily overlooked by someone judging a trail’s difficulty on horizontal distance alone.

Cutting Weight Versus Cutting Corners

Anyone who’s ever carried so much as a schoolbag on their back knows that lighter is the way to go, but some kit pieces are unquestionably worth the extra poundage. This is particularly important to keep in mind, as a few of these are often among the heavier items you’ll need along with you. Back to my original theory… “less is more”.

Forgetfulness isn’t so much a problem here as is inexperience – know what’s mandatory and when looking to shed weight, give a thought toward Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Food, water and shelter above all else, followed then by what’s required for basic safety. In other words, whatever you do away with, adequate food, a means of producing heat (matches, flint, etc.) water and a pot to boil more in, clothing, tent and sleeping roll suited for nighttime temperatures and a first-aid kit all form the immutable core of your gear – look elsewhere when lightening the load.

Partners In Crime

The larger the group the better, and where a two-member party is the minimum, four would be truly ideal. This offers numerous advantages, including the dispersal of weighty communal items (cookware, tents, etc.) an increased party-presence that will help ward-off unwanted wildlife, and the reduced chance that a disaster along the trail will leave one member alone and immobilized while another goes back for help.

The Three Most Neglected Items . . .

Knife: There’s a reason why the first tools ever wielded had cutting edges. For all intents and purposes, a sturdy, sharpened knife will be one of the most oft-reached for items in your pack.

Matches: It’s the worst feeling in the world to sit hunched before your carefully included stove or readied kindling, only to realize you’ve forgotten a means of igniting it. On their first trip beyond car-camping, no one wants to find themselves re-enacting Quest for Fire . . . or Alive, for that matter.

Rope: You’ll be setting lines for your tent, binding things to the outside of your pack, stringing food high up in the trees at night, erecting tarps between fire and falling rain, replacing severed bootlaces . . . in short, you’ll need rope, preferably about 100 feet worth of the polypropylene variety.

Perhaps most important of all things to remember is that when embarking on any journey into great outdoors, camping, care and consideration are paramount, as barring that of Nature, the most common Law in the life of a hiker, trail rider or runner is, often enough, that of Murphy.

Camping checklists can vary depending on the length of the camping trip, size of the group, and your priorities … but here’s where you can find more than the ABC’s of camping and your outdoor extravaganzas.

Time to hit the road and git ‘r done. See you on the other side. Happy trails

 

Mom’s Day in the Kitchen

Kitchen gadgets aren’t just for cooking experts. Sure you can go overboard; after all, there are virtually thousands of contraptions to choose from. But here’s a list of some really useful kitchen gadgets you can buy for mom—and each one is under $50!

1. Silicone Oven Mitt: These babies are hot in kitchens right now. They can withstand temps up to 500 degrees and you can toss them in the dishwasher for an easy cleaning. Target these babies by Orka You will also find trivets made out of the same silicone, too. So useful!
2. Pepper Mill: If you’re still shaking pepper out of a plastic jar, you are missing out on a whole world of spice with fresh milled pepper. There’s tremendous variety to choose from: some are tiny and also sport a section with salt, others are 2 feet tall , and a bunch are even battery powered and do the milling for you. I prefer manual grinding with a simple twist of the wrist in a see-thru acrylic material that is easy to clean
3. Knife Sharpener: If you keep wondering why you’re ripping your tomatoes apart when slicing them, it’s because your knives are dull. I love this particular knife sharpener because it’s simple to use and it has no moving parts such as little wheels. Just three or four flicks of the blade through this and you’ll be slicing pretty again.
4. Wine Bottle Opener: Forget those crazy old fashioned corkscrews that leave you wrecking the cork and leaving bits of it in your wine. This full-proof opener works with a simple flick of the handle.
5. Silicone Basting Brush: This handy brush is wonderful when you’ve got to brush olive oil on a chicken, sweep egg white on a pie shell or a whole host of other important little tasks. Tons better than using one of those wooden brushes with bristles. Those darned bristles always shed and are nearly impossible to keep clean. Just pop the silicone brush into your dishwasher and you’ve got zilch to worry about.
6. Automatic Sugar Dispenser: If you drink coffee every day you’ll love this thing. No mess, no fuss—just push the button and an exactly measure ½ teaspoon falls into your cup of brew. Want more? Just push the button to clean; that’s it. And it’s easy to refill, too. Kinda fun for the person that needs a little taste of sugar each day, but doesn’t want to go overboard!
7. The Teastick: Perfect for that afternoon spot of tea. It holds loose tea leaves tight and allows them to steep in hot water. Must be some scones out there somewhere.

Don’t forget the flowers… especially when you see a large company like Sam’s Club get behind the Fair Trade program. They’re now offering Fair Trade flowers for sale on their website. You can read all about Fair Trade flowers here, but the important thing to know is that in addition to labor and environmental standards, a portion of the purchase price goes directly to the workers for a community development project (like a microlending program, a program to supply families with livestock, computer education, etc.)It seems that more “high-end” farms that participate, meaning that you may be getting higher quality flowers from Fair Trade farms. Really, this is a winning situation for everybody, and the fact that Sam’s Club is participating means that some very big buying decisions are being made that reward these farms that really make a difference. Check the Fair Trade Flowers website for more sources of Fair Trade flowers. Yeehaa.

And yes. there are some scones bakin’ for that afternoon tea (or breakfast for that matter!) right here from Recipezaar

Ingredients
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup cold butter
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg white, additional sugar for top

1. Combine dry ingredients.
2. Cut in butter to coarse crumbs.
3. Stir in raisins and buttermilk.
4. Stir just until moistened.
5. Place on floured surface,knead a few times (6-8).
6. Pat into an 8in circle,cut into 12 wedges.
7. Place on greased cookie sheet.
8. Beat egg white until foamy, brush scones.
9. Sprinkle with sugar.
10. Bake at 400* for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Top with jam of choice

Tons more kitchen gadgets and tools here.. you’re only limited by your imagination.. or your budget and storage room.

Trot on friends, trot on.

 

Keep on Singing

Lord, I lift Your name on high;
Lord, I love to sing Your praises;
I’m so glad You’re in my life;
I’m so glad You came to save us. You came from Heaven to earth;
To show the way,
From the earth to the cross,
My debt to pay,
From the cross to the grave,
From the grave to the sky;
Lord, I lift Your name on high!

I sang this worship song both recently at church and in the past at our synagogue. Regardless of the rendition, I’m uplifted for days after I hear and sing it. It becomes one of those songs you ” cant get out of your head.” It becomes a “mantra” as it were since I tend to repeat the stanzas without really “thinking” about it. I’ll do that when I’m waiting for my class to go at a show or if I’m tacking GaZi for a ride. and I’m feeling a little nervous. The gift of song is a precious connection for me to G-d.

And while this one doesn’t refer to G-d as “He” , notice I said “He”. If I said praise the lord for “She” is good, well, i think we all know the reaction I would get from our esteemed male population . God, I think, has to be a male .. or maybe not? . Take a look at the Bible. He created men first, Adam… maybe that’s when “L-rd let there be light” came into being… What ever was He thinking? Think of names in the bible, now think of male names. Lets see, David, Peter, John, and it goes on. Now let’s think of Womens names. Mary, Eve….uh, there was probably a Donna or a Susan in there somewhere. But I digress.

The Lord God, or Jesus, or both, created the world with the blink of an eye. It took him six days, and supposedly he rested on the seventh. “On the eight day, God had a cocktail.” But as I said to my father when I was “knee high to a grasshopper” after Hebrew School… it’s all different roads to the same G-d.” I think I’ll go sing a Psalm of David.. hmmm or would that be Donna? Works for me.

Do I hear an amen?

 

Nothing Succeeds Like Success

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
- Thomas Edison

I’ve never met anyone who didn’t want to be successful at something. It’s fair to say we all want to be successful. Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years that have helped me stay on track and move toward my dreams.

1. Do the Right Things Every Day.

The best way to accomplish anything is to put the power of action and time to work for you. Just like interest accruing on an investment, when you invest the right actions on a daily basis, you accomplish your goal much faster.

So, whatever you’re doing, figure out the actions you need to take on a regular basis to accomplish your goals. Then do those every day, every week, every month, whatever it takes to get it done. When we were planning the Bed and Breakfast and the renovation logistics.. came up with a timeline… and stuck to it. Worked on it every day… chiseling away piece by piece.

2. Be Good to Yourself.

Being successful in business, as in life, takes energy and work. And it’s a lot harder when you’re tired, stressed out or otherwise in poor health. So, set yourself up for a win by taking care of yourself. Keep your body and mind well-tuned and in good shape so you have the physical and mental energy to be all that you can be. We’re all different so we all have things that help us stay healthy and balance. Find what works for you and do them on a daily basis. For me a “bad day on the horse is better than no day on him/her”

3. Keep Swinging the bat.

Kirby Puckett who played for the Minnesota Twins was well known for being a consistently good hitter. A reporter once asked him what his secret was. He said it was simple. He swung the bat as often as possible. Every opportunity he got, he’d swing at pitches. He said the more he’d swing, the more he’d hit. Hmmm.. simple really.

The more times you try, the more opportunities you have to succeed. And, the more you do something, the better you get at doing it. So, your success rate will probably increase.

4. Read the Signs.

We all get busy. Our personal and business lives are full to the brim with things to occupy our time and mental space. So, it’s easy to zip through life and miss things.

Like signs.

The world is constantly telling us things. Whether we believe it or are even aware of it, we have signs all around us, guiding us.

I think of the movie, L.A. Story (1991) starring Steve Martin. While trying to find meaning in his life, Steve Martin’s character discovers the highway signs in Los Angeles are sending him messages. (They’re written in plain English so it’s hard to miss them.) In time, he learns to pay attention to his signs and his life becomes more purposeful and less chaotic.

The older I get the more I realize the importance of reading the signs the world gives us. Maybe this is because I’ve gotten better at reading them and I’ve seen the impact on my life.

When several independent things happen in my life that point in the same direction, I take that as a sign. When I try to avoid or ignore something and it keeps coming back, I see that as a sign. When I keep making the same mistake over and over and then someone or something helps me pull my head out of the sand so I see the error of my ways,

I take that as a sign.

The more you learn to read your signs, the better you will be at making the right decisions in your life.

5 Don’t Try to be Perfect.

I’m always amazed at how many of us fall into the perfection trap. We can’t start something until we think we have the whole thing planned out. Or we don’t finish things until they’re done to our level of perfection. I’ve done both, more than I care to admit.

Striving for quality is great. So is meeting standards. But we should never strive so much for perfection that we lose sight of our goal.

Nobody is perfect. Nothing is perfect. It’s simple human arrogance to assume we can achieve perfection. It’s just not possible. So, get over it. Set your standards to a level that is appropriate to your goals and resources. Then git ‘r done

6. Know Thyself and Flow with The Go

You’ll  accomplish more if you use your strengths. Our strengths and our talents make us unique. They give us abilities to do certain things very well. As such, they help define who we are and what we should spend our time doing. if you want to watch G-d laugh, have a plan… Have a plan but you gotta flow with the go… It’s all part of the grander plan ultimately

We will be more successful at things we do well than at things we do not do well. The more we know ourselves, the better we can understand our individual and unique talents. And then you can be like Tiger… get that hole in one. .. keep swinging .

Breakfast is served. Hole in One

It’s basically a slice of the best bread you can find, with a little hole cut out in the middle. A fresh egg is lovingly nestled in the hole and then cooked (either baked or fried) until ready. Serve with bacon and you have the perfect brunch dish So go be like Tiger Woods and enjoy that hole in one.

Adapted from Out to Brunch by Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs

* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 4 slices sturdy bread, sliced 1-inch thick
* 4 large eggs
* salt and pepper

1. Dscn1946Butter both sides of the bread. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out a hole in the centre of each slice of bread. Reserve the cutout pieces of bread.
2. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet and saute the cutout pieces of bread until golden; set aside.
3. Add a bit more butter to the pan if necessary, and lay the bread in the pan. You may have to cook these two at a time so as not to overcrowd your pan. Cook the bread for one minute and then turn. Gently crack an egg into the centre of each slice of bread. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until the bread begins to toast and turn golden on the bottom. Carefully, flip the slices of bread over and fry for another 1 or 2 minutes.
5. Serve with bacon and the fried cutout pieces of bread to dip into the egg yolk.
6. Enjoy!

Note: This recipe serves 4.

 

Look for Your Landing

A childhood dream come true… a leap of faith… especially when a major lifestyle change occurs in the process. Lots of folks dream of leaving the urban sprawl and get some land. But alas, why do you want land? Get that settled first. Why are you even considering spending a 55-gallon drum or so of real money on some remote tract of dirt and rock? Ask the average guy what he’d do if he were to win the lottery. Chances are he’ll talk ranch. There’s just something mythical about owning acreage.

It’s a throwback to our heritage or nature, a sense of adventure, control of our own destiny, perhaps a dormant agrarian gene buried in our D.N.A. Perhaps we’ve watched a few too many John Wayne flicks.

Ignoring the intangibles, investment means buying right and selling right, both of which require research of your desired market to make intelligent decisions. Undertaken sensibly, land investment offers very tangible tax advantages, not to mention lifestyle

“Location, location, location,” yeah, right, but it’s true.

Decide on areas of interest, and then read up on those areas. Read the local papers, visit with locals at the cafes, investigate census figures, and study water issues and availability. Determine trends, find locations of landfills, prisons, or other issues with potential to affect values.

Before you start investigating specific possibilities, determine your goal. Are you intending to simply hold the property for a profitable resale, or do you picture years of enjoyment with your grandchildren on your Ponderosa? It affects your decision. Then, as you proceed to check on specific ranches, remember that there is no perfect ranch out there, no utopia. They all have flaws. That can be a surprisingly hard concept to accept. But the more pre-investigation you do, the more likely you’ll be to locate tracts approaching your needs.

Then start looking. Looking is half the fun. Enjoy it! Figure on looking at dozens of places. They may not be making anymore land, but there are always more places coming onto the market.

Personally, I prefer the alpine country country of Montana.. a childhood dream come true and chose to make it home. It’s great and if the market goes south and I’m stuck with it, that’s alright with me. Quit looking for that great bargain. It isn’t out there. Sellers are sophisticated and know about recent comparable sales. But they’ll usually give a little on price.

Two biggies that we found (among others)

CLEAR TITLE: This is a b iggie… If there is a lien on a property due to non-payment of bills or taxes, the title will be considered clouded and you might not be able to obtain clear title to your piece of land. There may be disputes about boundary lines, or adverse possession if you have an unwelcome long-term squatter. In most cases, a thorough title search will uncover any irregularities, and the mortgage company will require that you purchase a one-time title insurance policy against any future issues.

WATER SOURCE: If you need to dig a well, consult with the local well driller. There’s a pretty good chance that the driller will have a good idea about how deep he’ll need to go. You will pay by the foot to drill a well, and it could add thousands to your budget. Ah, we love the well water…You’ve done your homework and you’re considering several places. Don’t choose it if it doesn’t have water. Test the water. Have your attorney examine and explain fully any easements and mineral clauses, and ensure that it comes with an agricultural tax exemption that you’ll immediately personally renew after closing.

How old are you? INot gettin personal mind you, but the older you are, you’re probably adverse to risk. Cash out. But you young studs all want it now. Go for it!Of course you can’t afford it. But if your wait extends to “one of these days” you’ll never be able to afford it. Take a chance. If you fail, get up and try again. ( See paragraph A above… a childhood dream come true).. if not now, then when?

Here’s how. Bite off more than you can chew. Try to have saved enough for a low down payment and the first of many long term note payments.

Sacrifice. You don’t really need that new truck, and a little overtime never hurt anyone. How bad do you want this ranch? Lease out the grazing or farming, as well as the old farm house and the hunting. Time seems to lessen the burden of payments. Meanwhile, on weekends or after your regular job, invest a lot of elbow grease into your ranch. Paint the front gate, grade the roads, cut a few kinks, and repair the barn roof. The grunt work will help keep you in shape. I know gazillionnaires who dig their own post holes. Get down and dirty!

Yeah, I know the stock market is nuts, and I’ve read the headlines about sub-prime markets collapsing. So what? If everything else goes to hell in a hand basket, at least you’ve got the land. So why look for your landing? Because land is a great American dream. Because it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to play, only guts and desire. Because you look good in boots and a hat. Because you’re a survivalist, a tree hugger, a cowboy (girL0, or a hermit. Because it’s none of our business. Take that leap of faith Go for it.

And speaking of going for it.. and taking a bite .. life’s short eat dessert first. In your intrepid innkeeper’s quest for hte perfect oatmeal raisin cookie… yet another experiment … courtesy of allrecipes This is a really moist, delicious cookie that’s also quite healthy so yeah, have some for breakfast.

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup butter
* 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 3 cups rolled oats
* 1 cup raisins

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs, vanilla and honey. Sift together the flour, baking soda and cinnamon, gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats and raisins.
3. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto unprepared cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until cookies start to brown. Remove from baking sheets to cool on wire racks.

Chew on that ..

 

Meditation in Cathedrals of Our Own

They say that these are not the best of times
But they’re the only times I’ve ever known
And I believe there is a time for meditation
In cathedrals of our own

How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies
Perhaps we don’t fulfill each other’s fantasies
And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives
With our respective similarities
It’s either sadness or euphoria
- Billy Joel Summer Highland Falls

While I was raised Jewish and a belief in G-d, it was on a mountain run at Mt. Baldy that I actually had my “G-dincidence” and epiphany of G-d’s presence in my life. I’d spent more of my Shabbats in the “mountains of the L-rd” than in a synagogue. So when I came across God in the Wilderness, by “Adventure Rabbi”, Jamie Korngold this really got my attention. What I’ve been trying to articulate forever.. done brilliantly. . I even had to send this to my Joani in light(!) of our ongoing about the need to go to formal church service to pray versus meditation in cathedrals of our own. I’ve quoted this song to her several times.

Hiking trails, horse trails, and open spaces are filled with people who are not in church. Or are they? As the “Adventure Rabbi” writes in this book, many of her most powerful spiritual experiences have taken place outdoors, and she argues that she’s not wrong to take nature as her temple, because Judaism (and by extension Christianity) was founded outdoors, in deserts, on mountaintops, and by rivers. Humanity has always experienced the awe and “space of grace” as I call it that many associate with a feeling of being in the presence of the divine amid the beauty and wonder of the wilderness. It’s only relatively recently that worship was brought inside. Although Korngold writes from a Jewish perspective, her book contains ideas that are relevant to people of all religions, or those who lack one, but simply love to be outside.

Korngold writes that she was serving as the rabbi for a congregation in Canada when she began to feel restless; her obligations left her little time to enjoy the natural beauty around her. Combining nature with religion was her spiritual calling. For me, it was ultrarunning and now endurance riding. (Side note., I started thinking maybe the Adv. Rabbi and I were related)

God in the Wilderness pursues two basic tracks—Korngold gives the scriptural basis for praying and worshiping outdoors through citations from the Bible, and offers eight pieces of counsel to help nudge readers toward a more mindful way of living.

As the French philosopher Nicolas Malebranche wrote, “attention is the natural prayer of the soul,” and in the first lesson, “Cultivate the Patience to See Burning Bushes,” Korngold writes about a time she led a Jewish group on a hike and at first they were too distracted and too busy chatting to pay attention to their surroundings. Korngold postulates that Moses, if he were encumbered with a cell phone and a BlackBerry, might have missed the burning bush. “Heightened awareness,” she writes, “is the first step toward engaging the spiritual possibility that continually surround us.”

Readers are also reminded to to “Remember Sabbath Rest,” but thinks it’s okay if that rest involves hiking up a mountain—if you spend all week sitting at a computer, hiking (or riding : editor’s note) a form of rest

So get out in a cathedral of your own… talk to G-d and listen to His casual reply ( borrowed from John Denver).

Do i hear an amen?

 

Walk With the Animals

Driving down the gravel road to the mailboxes and then a “stage right” to town, I saw an antelope staring at me. It was then that the thought occurred to me that the antelope out number the people in Montana. It’s almost guaranteed that in one day you will see more antelope than you will people.

The antelope here run in groups of fifteen plus and don’t care if their blocking roads or holding up traffic. After all, we humans are the minority here so why should they care? So, if you ever hear a rumor about the wildlife outnumbering the people in Wyoming, believe it because it is true. I think there is a two to one ratio here, which is why I would never move. We may not make the news and we may not have a lot of people here or anything to do, but the wildlife (antelope) are well worth being here.

I feel since we’ve moved here and now with the horses , I know I’ve come home.Out in nature unknown places, somewhere close to our Heavenly Father and all things free. We I can’t live separate from all other species. They are the soul of me. Let’s hear it for passion that shakes us up, wakes us up, and hopefully makes us feel a little strange.

Dylan Thomas wrote:
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light…

He speaks of our awakening at the end of days, and feeling that so much is left undone.

I say let us be awake and wild every day.
Let us see infinite possibility all around us, here and now.
And let it whisper to us from beyond the next hill, and the next sunrise.
Let us not give in to the dying that we suffer daily when we fall into tired, empty habits.
Let us not listen to the voices that ask us to always speak in a measured, mediocre way.

Can I get a high five? Shabbat shalom friends, trot on, trot on.