My Expanding Universe

My universe is getting wider. I dwell here at the edge of the forest for years, unaware of all of the creatures around me. A few months ago, we put up bird feeders that dispense seeds. Suddenly, all kinds of seed eating birds begin to show up. These are birds we have never seen here, though I now realize they have been here all along, since I have matched their songs and calls to their appearance, and I already know how they sound.

They spill a lot of seeds. Soon we have three kinds of squirrels, and some chipmunks too, visiting our deck. All of this commotion attracts an owl, which perches atop a nearby tree, for hours in the evening, watching. In plain sight! Yes, I have heard the owls many nights before, yet I have never seen one here.

I discover a nifty tool for being aware of the birds around me. I already have binoculars, which I tote around with me on my daily walks. They give me visual superpowers. But now I have an audio bird identification app on my phone. I know many of our birds already, but when I turn this app, Merlin, on, and let it listen to the birds on my walks, I am startled to realize there are many species around me that I never recognized. For every three bird calls I may know, the app alerts me to three more. I never knew they were there! I also have an app on my phone that can play bird calls to them, in their language, so to speak. When I do, they often respond, probably out of confusion or curiosity, but still. These are birds that have been there with me for years, unseen, heard but unrecognized, but present, all around, all along.

It begins to dawn on me that the same must be true for the animals around here as well. I know three or four kinds of rabbits live here, but I usually do not see them. My neighborhood is home to coyotes, foxes, cougars, deer, bears, raccoons, and skunks, and a multitude of tiny creatures such as mice, voles, bats, and gophers. And lizards, with iridescent blue tails! Snakes arrayed in colorful stripes. 

There are dragonflies of four colors. Blue butterflies, orange butterflies, red butterflies.

Bright green tree frogs loudly broadcast their locations to one another at night. Tadpoles appear in the pond. Ducks and herons drop by the pond now and then. Eagles, ospreys, hawks, and vultures circle above. Usually we humans are so obsessed with our terrestrial concerns down below, that we rarely even look up to notice them.

All this, and when I look around, it often seems so quiet and still. But now I know; it is not so! The air, land, and water is teeming with life. All these abound, under the life giving love light of our daystar. But we are starting to do more than getting into their business; we are starting to threaten their very existence with our thoughtless and anthropocentric ways. 

Now I carry the awareness that they are all around me, all of the time.

As above, so below; as below, so above. It is axiomatic. So, I raise my attention to the starry night sky: How could it not be also teeming with life? With a gazillion, trazillion, quizillion, stars out there, most of which have planets; some similar to ours, how can there not be other worlds, other beings, other environments, other civilizations! Again, our blinders of attention cause us to neglect to consider them. Do we really need to wait to be told about them by other humans? The so called authorities and experts? No, we can assume they are there.

Actually, we can assume they are HERE. All around us, all of the time, being themselves, doing their own thing, minding their own business. 

Problem is, as with the animals in my neighborhood, we are all in each other’s business, to a lesser or greater extent. The worlds, the realms, the dimensions interpenetrate. We are becoming more and more aware of how we are impinging on the other creatures and environment of Earth, with our destruction of habitat, noise, EMF, light pollution, and toxic waste. But what about the neighbors from our surrounding stellar environment?

Is that really so separate from us? Look up on a dark and starry night, if you can get far enough away from the light pollution that blights the velvet indigo firmament, and you can see pretty much forever. There are no borders, no walls; no little imaginary lines on the map unless we draw them.

This is just as much your place, your home, as any spot on Earth. Stand anywhere on Earth, and you will be able to notice that only your feet touch the ground of this world. The rest of you is already standing in this infinite sky! We know the stars are still all around us in the daytime, even though we do not see them. You are a space being, in time. Reach out your arm, and you literally rearrange the universe. Step back into the part of your mind that is reading this, that is watching those stars, and you are one with Only One in each of us, The One Who beholds it all. 

You are the consciousness peering out from all eyes. You did not create yourself; you are spun from the same stuff, animated by the same spirit as all beings, everywhere.

So when we smart monkeys act on our hard wired, long evolved instinct, and fight each other’s tribes and groups, we are doing our thing. But when we we do it with nukes and super destructive weaponized technologies, we are impinging on the realities and business of those other beings around us. We may call them aliens, but they are not so alien. They are our space neighbors. Our primitive behavior, combined with our advanced weapons that interpenetrate their dimensions, is getting in their business too. The ETs are here because we are a danger to ourselves and others, including, yes, these beings we are not aware of.  But who are certainly aware of us. 

And they are a bit concerned. Ok, more than a bit concerned. It is time for the smart monkeys of Earth to change our ways and be good neighbors, to each other, those above, and those below. It is time to give love and make peace, all around.

For no matter where we place our attention, we are not alone. And we never have been. Don’t fall for the propaganda that they are hostile. That is just our monkey DNA programmed projection. If they were a threat, we would be toast by now! Their forbearance and patient, parent-like concern, and even subtle supervision, is ample proof that they mean only to help, and not to interfere, unless absolutely necessary to protect us all.

There is even an app for this, now, to make friendly contact with our ET neighbors. I have this one on my phone too! All you need, to follow the protocols on the CE 5 Contact app, is your natural, inborn, connection to our shared One mind consciousness, the ability to think clearly, a sincere heart, and peaceful intent. You can of course, do this, without the app, as you are a sovereign citizen of the universe, and never separate. It is time for everyone to become a good galactic neighbor, an ambassador of peace and love, from Earth.

Now I walk around with a new awareness. They are all around me, all of the time. All my relations.

The Pandemic Blanket Series

The Pandemic Blanket Series


After the nine eleven attacks that rocked and shocked the world, I did a series of blankets: security blankets, medicine blankets, and love blankets. It has been many years since I made a blanket, but during the Covid isolation period, I found myself once again, interested in blankets. As we all quarantined and cocooned, I begin to crave the soft enfolding comfort of the gentle and warm hand woven wool blanket.

This year I have been in love with the Shetland breed of sheep. If you have seen one Shetland sheep, one fleece, as they say, well, you have seen one Shetland! The Shetland is an primitive breed, small in size, and big in personality. They are very pet like. They apparently came in more colors and patterns than any other breed. 

As with many primitive breeds, they are not suited to factory use because of the lack of uniformity, and this is one of the reasons they are particularly endearing to me. Some have a double coat, with a soft downy undercoat, as well as the stronger guard hairs; others have a single coat. 


There is a wide variety of types of fur on the different parts of the fleece as well, with some soft or coarse, and some long or short, plus color variations. The color will even transform from one season to another. All, on a single sheep!


 I spin one amazing fleece in which you can clearly see the lamb was born dark blue gray, but then turned white: the first inch next to skin was dark, then changes abruptly to white! At shearing time, this one would have appeared dark on the outside, but was white under that! I learn that this is the trait from which the original tweeds were made.

Some roo: the coat comes off all by itself in the spring, either it falls off in pieces, or all at once with a little brushing or combing. This makes a very soft yarn, as there are no cut edges on the hairs. 




So, as the shows and fairs begin to be cancelled due to the pandemic, I begin to look to online sources for raw fleeces to spin. First I call a Shetland sheep farmer I know in my own neighborhood.  I visit her farm and buy five beautiful Shetland fleeces. Each one is so unique. I am intrigued. Most spin right off the locks, with no need to card it first. The fleeces of a Shetland tend to be small, often, only a pound or two. It is usually not very heavy with lanolin, though.




I also find some heritage Shetland fleeces in the land where my ancestry DNA test reveals some of my ancestors are from. Packages arrive by mail from Northern Europe. So exciting!


It turns out that due to importation restrictions, Shetland sheep can’t just trot onto a plane or boat and move into a farm in the US. Breeders must go to Europe get some semen from a Shetland, and then back breed, for several generations, to the Shetland, by successive mixing with some other breed off sheep that are already here. This fact has led to some interesting diversity that has been introduced to the Shetland name here in the States. It is no wonder they are considered pretty much a different breed from the European strains. 

So as I buy online, I find a very wide variety of traits in the fleeces. Some are curly, some are straight, some very soft, others not so much. My favorite ones lately have been ones that have little ringlets so tight you could curl one around a toothpick. I spin these in a way that keeps the ringlets and features them.


The yarn I spin is loose and fluffy; “woolen” style. I weave squares on a CinDWood potholder style loom; diagonal pattern, not square. The results are loose and fluffy. 

Soon I have piles and heaps of squares. The blankets require many, many squares, depending on the size of the squares. I join the larger squares together by pulling the side loops together into one another. This method requires no extra yarn, but does add a little bit of warping, as the squares tighten at the join. 
I join the smaller squares by actually sewing them together with external matching yarn, using a figure 8 shaped stitch.

I dye over both the dark and light fleece colors. The colors I dye over white are bright and pure. Some of these, I dye lightly, to produce pastel colors. With the naturally dark fleeces, of course, the colors come out in darker shades, and with less dye, the duller shades.

Next it is time for my color compositions. This is the really fun part. Every creative production is, as they say, ninetynine percent perspiration, and one percent inspiration. This would be the inspiration part. 

The first six blankets are monochromatic. Controlling the color is tough. I am so tempted to add more colors, to go full rainbow, even! But I hold my fire. Between the many shades and pure colors and pastels, plus the whites, grays and blacks, there is plenty enough diversity to work with.




But finally, on blanket seven, I can’t hold back any longer:







Phases of Covid Social Reorientation

Phases of Covid Social Reorientation

Covid has put us all, and the whole world’s social landscape through transformational change. 

In the beginning, it was a call to arms. All can help; in the effort to save us all. Stop everything, for a little while, so we can flatten the curve of exponential transmission, in that moment when we know very little about the virus, and have no known medicines, treatments, tests, or vaccinations for it. 

It is a phase of pulling inward, stopping our regular habits and patterns, even spending time alone. A moment of being alone. Together. 

Even the overworked medical heroes isolate behind their wall of protective gear.

Getting to know ourselves, going within, feeling who we really are. A real pattern-interrupt.

Many of us notice, during this phase, our possession of the shared wealth of abundant resources and systems that permit such a complete halt of business as usual. It is a teachable moment and an object lesson that, if we can change so suddenly, we can also change other things suddenly too, such a carbon pollution causing global climate catastrophe.

Next comes the phase in which people begin to form pods, little isolated groups of relative safety, from which members cannot venture out without involving the others in the pod in their business. It is, perhaps, a rudimentary recapitulation of the early stages of civilization, from the cave to the small tribal band.

We begin to discover new ways to work, new ways to get food and supplies. New ways to meet.

When supplies get ramped up and become available, the mask appears. 

All the while, social media is playing in the background, as we all think these things through together. 

The mask becomes an item of fashion, but also now, it is starting to be a sign of social separation and signaling. 

The mask is a new wall of separation, both physical and symbolic. Isolation compounded by viral, often untrue gossip, sometimes outright disinformation, enhanced by strengthened tribal impulses, gives rise to contentions, suspicions, even hostility. That feeling of we are all in this together dissolves. 

The next phase reaches a peak of this separation and social fragmentation as the vaccines roll out. So much fear and suspicion swirl around, especially in the amplified environment of the social media, that two distinct sides form.  

When a family member dies, people get emotional. Death stalks around, cultivating fear-obscured thinking.

The Rationals can see that if we all would just use the tools we have, those that are obviously scientifically sound, we can stop the pandemic and all will benefit. 

How can anyone endanger us all by going around unvaccinated? Put on a mask, or you are saying you don’t care about others. You could kill someone without even meaning to. How selfish!

But the Sovereigns are not on board. Trust is shaken. You wonder what is true. The Sovereigns suspect a plot to take away their freedom, their choice, their body autonomy.

Covid theater arises. The science is constantly changing. The Rationals wear their masks as a badge just to set an example for others, even at times and places when a mask is not really needed. The Sovereigns hold mask burnings; flouting the latest Covid transmission data by accusing the scientists of changing their story, thus proving that they can’t be trusted, even though it is the very nature of scientific information to shift as more is known and shared, and it is the nature of viruses to mutate.

But truly, both sides are actually pro social at heart. The Rationals simply know what is right for the best outcome for us all. The Sovereigns’ highest value is belonging to their tribe and adhering to its beliefs, even if it kills them. The Rationals are arrogant; the Sovereigns are paranoid. Both feel the pressure to conform to the position of their side. This phase can be likened to a Cold War, in which the sides retreat into their camps and armor up in defense of their respective positions. The tribes became nations, nations polarized into two opposing ends with irreconcilable differences .

The phase we are in now has all of these hardened positions beginning to soften and become fragmented. The Rationals know now that the vaccines have limitations. If they are paying attention, they will also know that big pharma has manipulated the pandemic for its own profit and in many cases at the expense of many people’s lives as they suppressed the efficacy of treatments and and safe medicines that were cheap and available “off label” in order to develop expensive alternatives that were patentable. They also realize, if they are being honest with themselves, that some people do just fine skipping vaccinations and treating or even preventing infection naturally and with wholistic methods. 

The Sovereigns have been outrun by the virus, and have, in many cases, suffered the personal consequences of mindless adherence to group beliefs. Even the young, healthy ones who have had a mild or even an aysymtomatic case of Covid know someone who was not so lucky.

Both sides have been traumatized by the fight. The Sovereigns have been hit with accusations of selfishness and uncaring, leading to the great humiliation of being shunned. The Rationals have been crushed to find out what these people in their lives on the other side really think; how they could behave so foolishly and disappointingly.

Now we do have many more tools with which to mend covid ravaged bodies. We have more knowledge, diagnostic tests, treatments, and better vaccination techniques than in the earlier phases. But we still do not have enough information and knowledge about which individuals may be personally vulnerable, and who is not really in danger. Nor do we know which direction the virus will mutate next. So it is not over. But it is slowly diminishing, like a season changing.

In the current phase, an uneasy truce is slowly giving way to reconciliation. The world is shaken. The civilization of the world is awakening into a new phase. People everywhere are craving so called normal. We will not go back to how we were before; for we are now, Experienced. Are we wiser?

Socially I have noticed one unifying and healing trend common to all: we now value the ability to be together in social community in our many favorite forms. Burned by the schism, we are also trying to reach out and mend the rift caused by the fight.

I had hoped in the beginning that the shared experience of the pandemic would open minds and increase cooperation and compassion. But fear has a way of contracting minds, and shrinking the capacity for care and rational thinking. Sadly, many are simply going back to the old ways of living, ignoring the innovations and realizations gifted to us by the crisis. Like pigging out on comfort food after a trauma, it is understandable, if not healthy. Some countries and tribes have gone right back to the old wars and rivalries, taking up right where they left off.

After living for so long down in the cellar of our fight or flight brain, higher thinking and reason have taken a hit and are in retreat. Confusion is thriving, exacerbated by deep fakes and other internet accelerants.

Fear is the opposite of love. The heart will need time to recover from this long phase of contraction. 

But I hope we stay awake and remember what we learned: we like playing with our friends, we are all in this together, everyone deserves compassion, and change, even dramatic overnight change, is possible. IF we want it.