Meredith Kendall's Blog, page 131
March 26, 2011
Medieval Costume Party
That's right. That's where I'm headed this evening. Medieval Birthday Party.
Unicorns? Knights, fortune tellers, and princesses?
Will report later.
Unicorns? Knights, fortune tellers, and princesses?
Will report later.
March 25, 2011
letter from Sendai
from a friend of a friend of a friend...
Subject: A letter from Sendai, Japan
Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,
First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.
Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.
During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.
Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."
Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.
We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not.
No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.
There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time. Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two stars, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains of Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.
And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entrance way. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.
They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.
Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.
Thank you again for your care and Love of me,
With Love in return, to you all,
Ann
Subject: A letter from Sendai, Japan
Hello My Lovely Family and Friends,
First I want to thank you so very much for your concern for me. I am very touched. I also wish to apologize for a generic message to you all. But it seems the best way at the moment to get my message to you.
Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.
During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.
Utterly amazingly where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."
Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.
We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not.
No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.
There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time. Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two stars, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains of Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.
And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entrance way. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.
They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.
Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.
Thank you again for your care and Love of me,
With Love in return, to you all,
Ann
yin
In the yin. The resting phase, gathering energy, reflecting and contemplating.
ethics
... life begins with quickening, and a woman has the right to determine her future. 
All we are saying...
is give peace a chance.
fixed, I think?
testing 123
test,
yes!
test,
yes!
Box of Lies
Read Box of Lies by Mark LaFlamme.
Don't start this book if you have to go to work tomorrow. #1: You won't be able to put it down. You're going to have to read the whole thing. It's a page turner. #2: Once you finish it you're going to spend hours going over the plots and characters - so don't even try to get your normal sleep. Unless your normal sleep is full of nightmares. LaFlamme's images and characters will pop up over and over, scaring you again and again.
This book will smack you upside the head, squeeze your guts, and make you cough. You might vomit.
LaFlamme drags open a curtain, showing you the scary corners of your mind. He provides just enough science along with the phantasmagoric fantasies to truly scare you crapless. He opens up his heart too, offering up just enough soul to make this an honest read.
Thanks, I think, for another haunted apartment house of horrors. Condos of creepiness. Ghost ghetto of Lewiston, Maine. Yeah, thanks.
Don't start this book if you have to go to work tomorrow. #1: You won't be able to put it down. You're going to have to read the whole thing. It's a page turner. #2: Once you finish it you're going to spend hours going over the plots and characters - so don't even try to get your normal sleep. Unless your normal sleep is full of nightmares. LaFlamme's images and characters will pop up over and over, scaring you again and again.
This book will smack you upside the head, squeeze your guts, and make you cough. You might vomit.
LaFlamme drags open a curtain, showing you the scary corners of your mind. He provides just enough science along with the phantasmagoric fantasies to truly scare you crapless. He opens up his heart too, offering up just enough soul to make this an honest read.
Thanks, I think, for another haunted apartment house of horrors. Condos of creepiness. Ghost ghetto of Lewiston, Maine. Yeah, thanks.
Maine's Giant Whoopie Pie
Heard an interview on the radio this morning. DJs interviewed the Issamax baker of the Giant Whoopie Pie. She said it will weight between 750 and 850 pounds. She's started to bake and assemble it. Said she started to put the cream frosting on the bottom portion, then froze it. She's worried that the weight of the top cake will squish out all the cream frosting. She thought freezing would help stabilize the Giant Whoopie.
She said the baking sheet weighs 100 pounds, and she put 200 pounds of batter on it for the top portion. Said there will be about 400 pounds of frosting. Used 200 pounds of eggs for the batter.
Tomorrow the Giant Whoopie will be transported to the Maine Mall for viewing and snacking.
She said the baking sheet weighs 100 pounds, and she put 200 pounds of batter on it for the top portion. Said there will be about 400 pounds of frosting. Used 200 pounds of eggs for the batter.
Tomorrow the Giant Whoopie will be transported to the Maine Mall for viewing and snacking.
