Heat and humidity, sunshine and torrential rainstorms; New England summers are glorious and extreme. So much water, so much green, and in the yard in front of this house so much zuchini and mustard greens and beans (almost ready!).

My life, right now, is pretty low key. I stay home most of the time working on interviews for the radio show, or teaching classes online. Much of my focus is on providing a stable calm home for Lasky the dog, who is nearly 17 years old. She's gradually becoming less steady on her feet, and she spaces out a lot, but she's still her very sweet self. I promised her that I would see her through to the end of her days in that body, and I am keeping that promise. It may seem silly to some, but making sure Lasky is happy is one of my jobs at this point in my life. Chloe the cat too, but she is not approaching the end of her life as far as I can tell. At nearly 17 she has another 5 to 10 years to go.

Something happened on last week's radio show...well a lot happened, but there was a moment when I acknowledged, on the air, the shadow side of the show's theme. The theme is to explore visions of a viable future for life on Earth including humans. The shadow is, of course, the form which says there is no viable future for life on Earth including humans. By acknowledging the shadow on the air I seem to have freed something up within myself, or around me. In any case I feel less constrained by the theme, freer to explore with less structure in the interviews. I interviewed three very interesting people this week; Coleen Rowley, Antor Ndep, and Medea Benjamin. The interviews will air on upcoming episodes of Paradigms.

And now it is August, Lammas, Lughnasad, the festival between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox. The gardens are ripening, the harvests are starting, the sun is still hot in the sky but the promises of autumn and winter are already dawning. I love feeling the wheel of the year as it turns. The older I get the faster the years go by, and yet the older I get the more I slow down and enjoy it all.

This is a week to be especially mindful and aware. Pay attention. If you see people being rounded up, quietly disappear. If someone comes to your door and wants to inoculate you, tell them to hold on a minute...and disappear, or take whatever measures you deem appropriate to protect yourself and your family. This is no joke.

These events are coinciding. Check out each link. As crazy as this may sound, this is actually happening.

US prepares major terrorism readiness exercise

Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccine Alert

What You Can Do to Prevent Forced Mandatory Swine Flu Vaccinations. Demand Your Right to Self-Shield!

And if all that weren't bad enough, here to add insult to injury is Dick Cheney:
Dick Cheney's connection with the Tamiflu vaccine

These videos are from Buffy Sainte-Marie's new CD "Running for the Drum" which is nothing short of great energetically, spiritually, politically, musically...Thank you Buffy!

Buffy Sainte-Marie - Cho Cho Fire

Last night I was in the presence of two musicians who played beautifully. Charlie Messing on guitar and vocals and Ben Littenberg playing stand-up bass; they graced the wbkm studio for Paradigms.

That was the good part.

Somehow, I am not sure how, the show did not get recorded. I could swear I clicked on "Record" but when I went to prepare the podcast of the show there was no file to work with. Since the software works I can only conclude that somehow I screwed up. How embarrassing, and disappointing because the music Charlie and Ben played was really wonderful. Luckily they have agreed to be on the show again, and this time I will get the recording done properly!

I had a visit with a friend yesterday; someone I've know for 25 years or so. We are both at times in our lives where, let us say, the gilt is off. Both in our 6th decades, not partnered, living lives that are not particularly part of the status quo, both of us are observers and people who are in service to the greater whole. I was talking about needing to be less susceptible to feeling the distress around me, her response was that perhaps my skin is too thin. It's true. I have always been an empath but I used to have better shielding. At least I think I did. Lately I have found that my shielding is not always so great. So I tend to not go out into "the world" so much because I just don't want to deal with the distress I witness. I also find dealing with the human bureaucratic systems to be frustrating, pointless, and just plain stupid.

Each in our own ways we struggle with or face similar stuff, even though the forms are different, our stories have their own unique content and qualities.

This question I work with on Paradigms, "What are our visions of a viable future for life on Earth that includes humans?" has added a dimension to my personal journey. By working that question I keep having to face it's shadow, which is something like "There is no viable future for humanity." I haven't said that on the air, but that statement is IN the air during each interview, and each broadcast. Who, that is paying attention, isn't thinking that at least some of the time, or wondering about it? I know I'm not the only one. I've thought that in a way Paradigms is a radio program to watch the end of the world by. I don't want to feed that idea, the hopelessness, but it's there and I can't ignore it.

In the interview with Marc Sapir MD that aired on last night's Paradigms, Marc said something to the effect of "some day the sun will explode, and life on Earth will end..." and of course he's right.

The answer I get from within me when I visit these ideas is...focus on the now. Feel the aliveness. Cherish the moments. Witness the beauty, and add to it when and where possible.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

This morning, just past midnight, I went outside to feel the starlight during the dark moon. I love doing that. I called the quarters, I gave my thanks and made my wishes for a thicker skin with an open heart, more joy and clearer thinking (like remembering to hit "record" during a radio show!).

It is my observation that we really are all in this together, whether we know it consciously or not. The deeper the numbness perhaps the further that awareness is from consciousness, nevertheless it is true. We are all in this together.