INTERESTING TIMES

 Tradition is tending the flame, not worshipping the ashes.
--Composer Gustav Mahler

Suicidality is directly linked to a feeling of powerlessness.  When there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it, it's easy to lose hope, get angry, place blame, become resentful or even violent.  Arson is violence, like rape.  The fires in Israel and Palestine, set by both individuals with both alliegances, reflect the same spirit seen in Brexit, and the election of Trump, and the fires that have been burning in the southeastern US.  I think there's some sour grapes in there too.  If I can't have my fair share, you can't have any either.  Arson is a quick and dirty way of gaining some power.   People of planet earth are angry and frustrated, and rattling the bars of their cages.  Unfortunately the actions taken are usually more emotional than rational, and the end result is a worsening of the situation that caused the loss of power in the first place.  Don't like being poor?  Electing a millionaire won't do you any good.  Don't like living in a depressed place?  Burning down the forests probably won't help.

But the thing is, is sure does feel good.  It is immensely satisfying to last out, to burn something, to smash something to smithereens.  When you are angry, such outbursts are therapeutic.  I personally just LOVE to take the glass recycling somewhere that I can smash it bottle by bottle.  I am praying (atheist prayers) that all the angry people of the world are ready to study and get clear about their true objectives.  I am praying that the angry people will organize and do something productive, now that catharsis has been achieved at least in some places.

Education is not the filling of the pail,
but the lighting of a fire.
~William Butler Yeats

As far as I can tell, life isn't worth living without love. For a long time I've lived without love, but only barely. I've wanted many times to jump off of something tall for a lack of love. I've fallen in love. I have a great capacity for love. There are many people that I love, have loved, still love. But to be loved back. Ah. This is what life is for, to love and be loved. It is like having two people adding fuel to a fire, instead of just one. One person loving is like building a fire with damp wood and no gas. Tending the flame is much work, and the fire dies when you have to leave to gather more fuel. You have to start over with just a match, and because you love, you work so hard to coax that flame to life. Two people can take turns, blow on the coals, bring light tinder and then small wood, medium then large logs. Two can build a blazing white man fire, or a discrete orb in privacy. Two can bank the coals and rest in the warmth. Yes, more wood will need gathering, cutting, splitting, and the ashes build up. Everything gets that smoky smell. The house can burn down, or the pot of chili get burnt. Nothing is for free. There is risk. There is loss. Still, it is the natural way. Life wants to keep living. Fire wants to keep burning. Love wants to keep loving.

There's an older husky living here who is on 3 meds. She's on metacam/meloxicam which is an NSAID, for her arthritis. She's on levothyroxine (synthetic T4). And she's on DES (diethyl stilbestrol), yes, the same one that they used to give pregnant women that ended up causing all sorts of malformations in their offspring. DES is used in canines to prevent urinary incontinence. Who knew??

I'm interested in your ideas about where I might consider setting up a naturopathic medical practice in the west. Have any suggestions as to places or people I should investigate in the northern half of the western US? When I leave Flag I am going to explore that region on my way back to PDX, and I have never been there before, so I do not know where I am going. Montana for sure, and Sandpoint, Idaho.
( Arrived in AZ yesterday morning: brain dump )

I recommend this book.
By Dorothy Bryant
For everyone.

This is a pretty cool finding. Having hot flashes has no impact on your overall mortality, but having night sweats is actually a good sign. I have my theories about why this might be true. You have any ideas? The result is independent of BMI, smoking, hormone therapy, and exercise.
( Details: I think I may write up this article for one of my gyne papers. )

I'm in my office right now. It's a small room near the door to the apartment, adjacent to a closet which is likely to be our guest bedroom whenever we have a guest. Our new apartment really is at least twice as big as the Crow's Nest. And it is warm. It is the upstairs of a large house, with three of the four corners made into closets. The remaining corner has been made into a kitchen. This office and the main living area are wood paneled. The wood is pleasant and warm. The carpet in the living room is deep green. The bedroom is large. There is a laundry facility in the basement. And best of all, the kitchen has a gas range, and the heat is a gas stove with visible flames and stone for heat retention. There's something wonderful about FIRE in a dark and rainy city. This apartment actually gets and stays warm. That Crow's nest was entirely uninsulated. It was a very chilly place to hang out. We're still in the Brooklyn neighborhood, but we're in a warmer nest, close to the 17 line bus, and on a quieter street. There is no "mom thirty" here, when all the parents arrive to pick up or drop off their babies at the elementary school. We don't miss the desperate moms trying to park, nor the cascades of children on our sidewalk, nor the little man next door who put fish guts in his trash can. So I think the move was worth it. The expenditure is about the same, probably, overall. This rent is $100 more, but utilities and laundry are included.

Gillian Stansbury is the instructor for two of my classes, and I can see that I will take more electives from this lady. She is an illustrator, herbalist, a philosopher, artist, musician--she has many talents. She is teaching the ND1 class on Naturopathic Philosophy and History, and I am also taking Northwest Herbs I from her. In the philosophy class the other day she taught us two songs. I want to get the words down ( here. )