The Honor System

I feel like a vegetable seller putting what has grown, by the hand of the Great Mother Father God, out by the side of the road. Meticulously have I scoured the forest and lowland for marsh hay and rotting wood. Elements of my compost piles. I have tended what was once cast off as worthless to enrich my understanding and do my homework. I have continued to hone my craft turning sow's ears into silk purses. Over the years, I have let vast heaps of crap decompose under my hand, with watchful eye and watering can at the ready, intent on just keeping it "going". I honor the unfurling banners of protesters back through the generations, still inspiring vitality, in my blood. I have accepted gracefully the decades-long process of nourishing the great soil that supports my garden of thoughts and ideas. A single pass over with a bit o' mulch would never have done for the produce that I pedal, no. Nor could a single crop of rye, no matter how many swollen heads it might yield stand up to the complex and diverse offerings which I gladly put to the road for the hungry, the needy, the travelers.

Who among us has not passed a wagon by the side of the road or the rustic lean-to or shack with it's tattered awning for shade over the precious morsels sprung from the cornucopia of the land?  Rough tables or benches set about with squash, corn or tomatoes, strawberries and peas of Spring or beans and cabbages of Summer? Whilst the farmer, unseen, continues to tend and prepare more food for our tables we have the luxury of touching these fruits, touching and smelling them or by our own choice taking them home and making them part of our selves, the beneficiaries, of one others labor.

The times that I cracked the hard-pan, cleaved great clods of clay, broke them with finger wilting will, enhanced them with my own breath, with life. The times that I ruminated upon and scattered about the building blocks of new growth, balanced the elemental forces which would care for and nourish the soil. These times are reflected in the auburn orbs which burst delightfully onto the palate. In times of no rain, I had to be water-boy to my tender tendrils and burgeoning spinach. When the hail hit I mourned the disheveled Swiss chard and the holey leaves of the rhubarb. Through this, the building up, the tearing down and the faithful tending to the needs of my charges, it was always out of a concern and devotion to others. People I may never see, but who I care greatly about and have great compassion for. People who need to hear the ideas that I cultivate, patiently divide and nourish.

My ideas are set out to the side of the road in this forum and I humbly ask that for my toil, which is but a labor of love for you, that you put a reasonable fee in the coffee can. You know, the one with the slit in the lid and some coins rattling about along with the bills. I have heard that this method of payment can work. A restauranteur www.facebook.com/panerabread has instituted a pay what you can system for several new restaurants across the country. and the prospects of opening more is quite good. I believe that the St. Louis store typically gets about 30% more than the asking price from about 1/3 of their clientele. About half pay full price and for the small percentage of people who pay less than the recommended amount, for their part they are not only grateful, but take great pains to show their appreciation in other ways. The loss in revenues for these folks in need are more than offset by the premium that others willingly put in to support the system.

I try to take everyone at face value and do not want to judge. To continue to progress, I must have my can by the vegetable stand as it were. I continue to cultivate some of the best loved soil about "these parts" and when I find seeds worth planting, I rarely miss an opportunity. I see by my increasing readership that many of you have been sharing this blog with friends and I do appreciate it! In looking over my posts, there must be several magazines worth of information here. When I was buying several magazines routinely, I would spend about sixty dollars each month for that stimulation, but it was well worth both the time and money. I recently heard of an Irish storyteller who publishes stories through Amazon, he charges just a dollar per story and he offers a few for free to prime the pump as it were. For my part, I will try the honor system. If you are so inclined and want to read all of my material, shoot me what you would spend on your three favorite magazines. If you want to read just a few of my posts, put in a dollar or two for each, we never question what comes into the coffee can and we certainly won't spend any of that money until we are sure that we can pay for next year's seed order!

Thank-you for your time, consideration and belief that within each of us lies the power to change the world. If I did not leave this realm without blazing a path to sustainability for future generations, my life would have been lived in vain. Compassion and caring for this generation translates into better lives for our children and theirs. We must never lose sight of the fact that our decisions today will outlive us. May my words, more often than not, attune your perception to things that truly matter, not just for today, but forever. Blessings, All!

The Luckiest Child Ever Born

Before the superstitions of the modern age, a tiny being was born into this world who was never challenged with the concept of separateness. They were at once a being of the ether and of the Earth. Their blood flowed with a power subtly reflected by the shimmering surface of a great river. Their bones animated the strength of oaks an their mind was clear as a winter's night. They were one with the great and lesser powers that thrived around them and as a result, they verily buzzed with the collected lives and joys of Creator. Logic and proportion paled in their eyes when faced with the ultimate reality, within which they swam. Like the Great Barrier Reef, each moment, space and time was inhabited with a stunning array of burgeoning life, inspiring wonder and awe.

Each time a bridge to new awareness was to be crossed, their mother encouraged them and their father helped them to build the bridges to the other side. The forces propelling them forward on their quest was direct, yet slowly arcing as light waves are bent through space by gravity. The long view of their life was eclipsed by an ever attentive nature and deep sense of this one eternal moment. Their every need was met through the abundant glens and forests around their home. The many-fold increases that took place around the projects and diversions which they undertook were not unexpected. They planted a magical pea seed that gave back dozens more, they planted a lowly potato and were returned a dozen more to plant and harvest the next year. They took time to craft only what was needed and necessary for their family, their friends, their community and gave their wealth of spirit away, contained in all that they had created.

This lucky child, had the ability to transform the world upon which it was put in ways that still mystify after many lifetimes. This child is us. From the empty pot springs the greatest feast and so it is with this child, in each of us. The longing and isolation that we all feel from time to time would remain unknown if we interacted with the world as a child. We may need a mother to encourage us, but that can always be found in Earth herself and we may need a father to help us to build our own bridges as well. The unending track of the sun (Son) can substitute for mere mortals if we need it to. Surrounding ourselves with what brings in light and protects us from the raging storms that may swirl about us is part and parcel to our growth.

A wise old woman once said, "Don't shit where you eat." As we learn to tailor our sense of self to fit more comfortably upon the mantle of who we really are, there is less and less room to hide the ugliness of duality and separation. We are one with all that we experience. Our reality unfolds from ideas and images that we plant in our own minds. I wish you the insight and discipline to plant a garden worth harvesting.

We are all storytellers. We all have the power to share eternal truths through language, yet we often forget that the greatest fables rest on a firm grasp of reality.  I encourage everyone to share their stories and look to the great traditions that brought us to life, infusing their wisdom with the immediacy of our age. To look upon our lives as the ancients did, the mere hint of materialism can gain no purchase on our illusion about who we truly are. We are the fountainheads of eternal blossoming, but we must transcend our egos to unleash the flow of Creator's energy. Let me guide you on to the next level of our collective development. Let me plant a seed in you that grows into collective abundance for us all!

These sorts of stories can also be found at: otherfishwrap.wordpress.com
All funds raised through these sites will enhance our tree planting efforts across Northeast Wisconsin and soon in the Lake Superior Watershed as well! Please give appropriately, to transform the planet! The give away is the most powerful tool on Earth, use it wisely.

The Best Heart Medicine You May Never Hear About

You may not wonder why...heart related health issues abound in the modern world. Drug companies, doctors and hospitals around the country make a killing on procedures and prescriptions that abound around heart ailments. When the coverage of recent research into heart health neglects to mention how easy it is to eliminate most heart problems, one wonders not so much why, but how can a relatively small number of heart surgeons, hospitals and general practitioners be led away from a safe route to heart health for all? Here is the problem. It cuts into profitability for the existing health care system. You would think that when someone wins the Nobel Prize for Medicine, discussions would soon follow and that their cutting edge research would spread like wildfire. Instead, what has happened is a sort of witch hunt and shunning, the likes of which have been seen throughout the "development" of the entire medical model that we rely on for our "healthcare".

The Nobel Prize for medicine in 1998 was conferred upon Dr. Louis Ignarro for his work on mice, a common species for use in the medical research field because of their similarity to humans and easy of use for studies. his findings were based on reducing the incidence of atherosclerosis or "hardening of the arteries". what he showed was that there are therapeutic doses of  Arginine and antioxidants that could reduce or eliminate this condition. His findings have been proven out and his research has led him to even better combinations that achieve the same or better results. The lack of interest in this important work only proves how out of step with human beings the medical establishment has become. Now, nearly fifteen years after the work was first published, medical professionals and trade associations are trying to make this honorable doctor out to be some kind of loose cannon, jeopardizing the health of millions through deception and deceit.

In fact, there are dozens of places you can go to get a mix of two basic amino acids that combine to lead to heart health, but the gatekeepers of our for profit system don't want you to know about it. The initial studies were done comparing Arginine alone and in combination with anti-oxidants like vitamins C &E. There are ongoing studies that combine Arginine and citrulline, but the facts are clear, heart disease can be reduced or eliminated through use of these combinations to improve health. Oddly, this doctor has been chastised for trying to get the very products he knows have the power to help people out of the lab and into the hands of the general public. How many have to die or go through unnecessary operations before the AMA or American Heart Association will see the light? It is like the question, "How many stagehands does it take to change a light bulb?" doctors ask..."How many do you have?"

If I were to develop a method that saved lives, contributed to higher quality of life at far less cost, you know I would be all about sharing it with others. that is what good people do! In fact, most of what I write is directed toward that goal. Living better for less cost has been my mantra since the early seventies, my movies were about that, my writings have been about that as well. I'm just glad that I'm not a doctor making money off the fact that people who do what I have found to work. If I were, I'm sure that I would be under attack by the health care big wigs.

Now, as you know, much of the data that we can find online is to be suspected as hearsay until it can be proven through thorough research and vetting of sources, but what I know for sure is that there is a product by Herbalife, (who I do not encourage folks to buy from)  called Nightworks. It is a combination that was developed by the good doctor Ignarro himself. When I first heard about this regimen, I thought what hooey, but after looking into it more, I am convinced and now take five grams of Arginine and 3/4 gram of Citrulline nearly every day. I already take vitamin C, D and E as a matter of course. My father had a heart attack at a time in his life that I thought it was "way too young" and for all those I know who were "given a new lease on life" through invasive surgery, I now know that many more can be spared the debilitating recovery and the staggering cost of the preferred methods of treatment if they just knew what they could do to improve their own health.

It is not fair to think that we have the power to judge why medical associations and groups would refute new information, but after over a dozen years of waiting for the public to be served by those we entrust with our heart health, the time may be here to take our own steps to take care of our own bodies. The good doctor Ignarro waited five years before using his formulation of amino-acids and antioxidants through the supplement marketplace, I say great. Understand too that his "interest" in the product is 1% of sales. rather than getting rich on the product, he seems to be trying to share his research with the masses the best way he knows how. As for myself, I have worked out dosages based on good judgement and quality products from other sources.

To your health!

The Ice Went Out With A Sigh

Living along a river, as I do, allows my daily life to include certain experiences that my upland brothers and sisters may never see or hear. On long hot summer nights, the whisper of a cool wind still finds a way down from higher ground along the river way. When we get either north or south winds in winter, the ice heaves or collapses atop the estuary as the great mass of water breathes with the wind. Creatures of the night stalk the banks whether the moon is out or not and during the day, the old winding river lures critters and city folk alike to her quiet. Drawn by the river's familiar but ever changing beauty and a chance to experience a degree of solitude rarely found in the city.

Each year we get to witness one of the sublime events special to a northern river, the day or two we call ice out. On rare occasions the river shatters into a billion shards and as they rush past our house, they sound like a giant wind chime or endlessly breaking glass. The tinkling can be heard for hundreds of feet and others who have had the chance to hear the phenomenon will talk about it for weeks afterward. Yesterday, the ice went out in chunks, things that looked like they ranged in size from nearly the width of the river all the way down to car-sized pieces with a few even smaller ones jostling about into traffic jams that alternately broke through under the bridge downstream and backed up again as a giant ice dam. Occasionally there were large piles about the size of beaver lodges, thrust up by the briefly intense collisions between masses of ice that would normally support a hockey team, but today ran away faster than children released from school.

The night before last we had a major rainstorm and the added push of the rising water left no quarter for the ice to retreat to, instead it was flushed away over the course of hours. Each heave of the ice dams brought more muddy water and as the water rose, even the few chunks that had been pushed up on the shore floated free and easily away. It felt as if Nature herself had become tired of Winter. This year it must have been unfulfilling for her because the week or two that the ice was thick enough to be explored was all that could be mustered to emulate the season of hard water. Instead of weeks below zero, we only got one or two nights. Instead of a dozen or more snowstorms that required shoveling, we got but three. Heck, we got more winter in a week the last two years than we had all winter this time around the cycle of the seasons.

Winter went somewhere else this year, but in Northeast Wisconsin, where people pride ourselves as hearty and able to cope with all that winter can dish out, we felt a bit of Nature's sadness over both the record temperatures and lack of snow and ice. That said, there were many folks commenting on the fact that they "didn't miss" the snow shoveling, but just as many, if not more, went on to say how much they had missed skiing, snowmobiling and even the opportunities for ice fishing.The black earth is calling many to get their seeds ready and their gardens planned. Perhaps it is not yet time to plant, but this coming week the temperatures are supposed to get to sixty and if it were not still March, many would be planting in temperatures like these. It remains to be seen whether the sigh that the ice has heaved was borne on hope for the coming Spring or tired resolution to the fact that winter has gone from the landscape just a little too early.

Putting the Nearly Intangible into Words

In our complex world and at this difficult time, we often confront problems that lie in territory that defies the imagination of many of us. Global finance can be just such a realm. Even when we break it down into the simplest terms, the vast majority of people completely tune out. We cannot all be macro-economic geniuses, right? I'm here to say, not exactly. We certainly cannot all be hornswaggled and misled by a cadre of folks who claim this discreet subject matter their indisputable territory and who expect us to trust implicitly the knowledge base that they claim to be privy to. It all boils down to choices. We must learn what they are and how they affect us. We also have to understand enough about the subject to not be taken in by those who seek to benefit from playing the odds at our expense while amassing fortune or status amongst wheeler dealers in this esoteric realm. Rest assured, it is much easier to understand than it sounds. Economics, both micro and macro, delineate two forces in the marketplace, supply and demand. Supply is the availability of certain things, demand is the desire for them. Supply is how much you have of a certain thing, demand is more about how much others feel that they lack or desire what you have.

Since Greece is in the news lately, let us consider for a moment a Mediterranean culture, Island culture, people and places that throughout history have been raided, ransacked and overrun with traveling merchants and hordes on their way to somewhere else. Just the increased money spent on fuel to hop from place to place along the many miles of coastline costs an inordinate amount. If the fishing is good and the fruit trees supply most of the food needs of those living there, why should they desire a debt burden to allow them all of the modern conveniences? I have friends who loved Greece because for a few dollars per day, they had fresh fruit several times each day, could drink a beer or two and they also found ample places to sleep along the shore at night. Unlike the rigorous climate in northern Europe, the people that my friend met were laid back and I don't like the term lazy, but less motivated perhaps. Like the Southern tier of states in the US, expecting someone to bolt out of bed at the crack of dawn to exert themselves all day in hot and humid conditions would just be unreasonable. Perhaps it is not so much laziness as perspective.

Trying to impose our standards anywhere else on the globe is both frivolous and short sighted. Many nations have been saddled with debt because the powers that be have determined that it is the best way to "help" in the process of "nation building". What it really assures is the animosity that comes from paying way too much for way too little. Think for a moment about the average American home, it may cost 100k, with taxes, interest and a thirty year fixed mortgage, that home will cost the average American 2 1/2 times what it was priced at by the time it is paid off. The only ones who come out ahead on a deal like that are the lenders. Say I do pay off my home and put it back on the market, having paid the 2 1/2 times the value, do you think the new owner cares how much I paid? No! They only see what it is "worth" to them. Similarly, when we look to international finance and programs whose loans are floated by the World Bank and IMF, or perhaps the EU, the overriding interest is in the interest. Those loaning the money don't really have need for all that they have, that is why they are able to loan so much. The rationale is not that it is good for the recipient of those dollars to have the money, but to spend it and then (this is a big leap of faith) be better off in the future so that they will be able to generate the cash flow to pay off the debt with interest.

I have always loved the catch phrase, the cost of money. This simple twist of language puts the burden on the least able to afford the cost, and makes them beholden to those who don't need the money in the first place. The wealthiest have shackled the poorest and the middle class with ever increasing debt. the instruments of which are legal documents that put one person into the service of another as effectively as slavery ever did. What is operating here and everywhere that interest is charged for the use of money today that the "customer" lacks, is greed and usury plain and simple. Why am I going to pay over $250,000 for a house that is valued around 100k? Because that is just the way it is done. Wells Fargo Bank has been assured that the vast majority of their funds will be returned in the first dozen years and that the remaining, nearly two decades, payments that I make to them will be pure profit. This is the approach that monied interests have taken for most of our modern times. How much more lucrative it has become when instead of loaning thousands, they can lend billions.

The calls for austerity that we are hearing from the right, from technocrats and from world leaders today completely overlook the most important part of history. When we were in world wide economic downturns in the past, it was increased government spending that paved the way to recovery. The sacrifice of those who could afford it made possible the sharing of resources with those who were finding desperate times and who would have been poor candidates for extending credit because they had no prospects for paying back any money that might have been loaned to them. We are now allowing people who know far too much about their own interests to tell us what is good for us and the time has come to look carefully at the reasons they give for tightening the leash on those who accepted easy credit when the sky was literally the limit. Like a family overextended across half a dozen credit cards, making minimum payments will only assure a lasting debt burden that will eventually absorb more and more of their energy. Cutting services and operations budgets can work for an individual or family unit, to free up money to pay down debt, but for whole countries, or governments generally it is the exact opposite of what is needed to overcome hard times. People need to see the results and the need for hard work and building capacity for a better life, right where they live, not in parts of the world that stand to gain only through siphoning off profits from around the globe.

We are facing a trying time to be sure, but the path clear of this mess lies not in paying down pour debt, not in running an ever tighter ship and certainly not in dictating to others what their financial perspective, obligations and status will be, but rather working with people to find ways to succeed within their own parameters. We need to find ways to stop exporting the "values" of capitalism, the greed and deception, competitiveness and philosophy of lack that has added fuel to the raging fires of consumerism around the planet. We need to stop turning every square inch of the planet into a wholly owned subsidiary of corporate interests in other parts of the world and re-learn what makes the planet liveable is unique adaptations to local conditions. These are almost never found by multinational corporate interests and giant lending institutions muddling about in other countries, but by local people determining what they need to do and going about the process of getting to the bottom of what is important for them. I truly hope that in the very near future, we are able to reign in the unwelcome power that is associated with large corporate and monied interests, get straight on what they do well and what they have no business doing and come to a greater realization of the need for sustainability and unique approaches to development. Certainly, bigger dams will never make our lives better and we have seen that more lanes of traffic never shorten commutes. Making the planet more liveable and more sustainable go hand in hand, it is for us to decide what we need most and decisions like these are far too important to leave up to those who already own the lion's share of the power and who have the deepest pockets.

I.A.L.A.C.

When I first heard this acronym, I was at a loss about what it meant. For some reason I had made it to adulthood without hearing the "word" but understanding implicitly the meaning behind it. I Am Loveable And Capable. Oddly enough, too many of us don't hear that message enough. I'm here to tell you, otherwise you may never hear the acronym either and although you may have a sense of what it means, understanding often grows out of specific definitions and overt examples. We may come to some agreement on the term I. Amongst many, there needs to be a ramped up discussion about the term I, but as many of us know it, let us say that it is what we call ourselves, what we can see in a mirror and that carries the true self through our many and varied experiences, this vessel that our ego uses to define our specific organism. For now, let me just let this definition rest with you.

Am is the state of being verb that indicates that we are always such, it is our true state and immutable as long as we are taking up space in the physical realm, are able to understand being and ceasing to be, or otherwise animated by life.

Loveable and Capable threw me a bit when I first heard this idea. Was it possible that some people would understand themselves to be something else? Then I started to understand the depth and significance of the statement. Many of us are taught that we are not loveable and certainly our capabilities are frequently challenged along the course we plot through life. We frequently bump up against those who would judge us harshly or burden us with their own ego defense mechanisms. We may not yet have heard the words, but we have all seen the situation where the one person burdens another person with traits or deficiencies that they feel within themselves, but cannot admit. There are cheaters who are always seeing others setting them up to be cheated, angry people who think that everyone is angry with them, or those who think that they are stupid, but never miss an opportunity to call someone else this hateful and offensive word.

In fact, we are all capable, not just of shining in the best of times, but under daily challenges and situations that may only come along once in our lives. That is just part of why we are so loveable. When I first heard this idea, I thought what a bunch of pansy ass liberal crap. I knew full well that there were those amongst us who are not loveable and I had certainly seen by that time, in my early twenties, that incompetence runs at a pretty high rate, especially in large institutions like government, the military and industry. As I began to delve a bit deeper into the slogan, I changed along with my own beliefs into a better person capable of forgiving and loving those who I had formerly seen as useless and detestable people. In spite of our illusions to the contrary, even the most heinous or useless person is still loveable and capable, just not for the same qualities or abilities as another.

Babies, for instance may not be able to tie shoes, but in the overall scheme this could not matter less, because they are usually carried or on their hands and knees anyway. some people only need to perform one specific function anyway, so their capabilities are never fully understood. I heard it said the other day that each of us should begin to use our brains differently. We need to exercise our brains as well as our bodies, learning for at least fifteen minutes each day. We are all capable of exercise, even if we face some physical or mental challenges with regard to it. Capability combined with practice develop capacity. Sometimes, as we develop our proficiency in one area, we will discover capabilities in other areas as well, this is all part of growth.

As I gain more and more experience here on Earth, I find that love is not limited to those who deserve it, or can prove their worth, it is the natural state of things. When we are not faced with our own feelings of lack, threat or fear, it flows like a torrent from our heart of hearts. If we focus on any attribute deemed negative, we can dull our feelings of love, but as we learn to see through the lies that our egos burden us with, the love becomes harder and harder to mask with love and dissatisfaction. Sometimes our heart goes out to those we witness struggling. Even those we do not know can inspire a deep sense of abiding love. Just being human is enough to inspire love. As odd as it may sound to the cynical and unenlightened, we are all loveable and capable.

Meltdown at Daytona

Technocrats look to be taking a lesson from Mother Nature. Survival of the fittest is dying with a whimper. Tonight's tragic accident that took over an hour to clean up is looking to enter my personal record book as a Live on FOX proof that survival of the luckiest is the real and everlasting fact. As was said over the airwaves, everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing, yet inexplicably, between the two safety vehicles a car slammed into the jet dryer that was "routinely" cleaning the track during caution. The delay would not be causing much harm, other than the carnage of a lot of steel and aluminum but for the fact that several large boxes of Tide were spread to remove unburned jet and diesel fuel. In addition to the hundreds of gallons of ethanol (White Lightening) burned by the race cars, conventional fuels are still burned in large quantities for "support" and audience travel.

When the true cost of putting on such an event are calculated, even divided by incredible numbers of viewers, the 20 million dollar paving project for this one track seem to never quite add up. The millions of viewers who are waiting up to see Jeopardy will have to go to through their day, tired tomorrow.

When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it connected to everything else. Nature always bats last and as we enter the realm of honoring Creator rather than our human inventions, we find that inexplicably we are drawn to a place of compassion and respect for the lowliest of forces, in our human conceptualization perhaps that best comes down to chance. Amongst the billions of creatures here on the planet, you have been able to "see" my humble conceptualization of a tiny sliver of reality. rather than becoming preoccupied with this particular shard of reality, see for yourself how things cleave and along what lines you have the power to heal the rift between humankind and nature.

I am always amazed at the growth of interest in my blogs from far away lands. Not that I devalue interest here in my part of the world, but the need for looking more deeply into the collective myths we share worldwide, I think, helps create new myths, new realities and new directions for all of us.
I am reaching out this spring once again to ask each of us to redouble our efforts to make substantial and lasting progress toward sustainability. for my part, I am pledging another year of planting trees.Our local not-for-profit has planted many tens of thousands of trees, some of which now tower over houses,harbor wildlife and help to protect water quality. In America, we still refuse to acknowledge the value of reforestation. What our group has done is to pledge that no money given to ECO-Tours will ever go to pay people for serving on our board, planting, organizing plant-ins or advertising. We put every dollar into either protecting land, creating areas for planting or trees themselves. what we give is of ourselves and in our way we have transformed countless acres. We will continue to do so, with the help of those who fund our efforts.

Donations can best be sent from far off through our Paypal account. That account can be found at tnsaladino42@hotmail.com for those who prefer to send checks via snail mail, we are still operating out of our 1445 Porlier street Green Bay, WI 54301 USA address. It is a good time to think about donating because the discount we receive can allow us to buy more trees for less money as long as we order before the end of March. I like asking for money at this time of year because around the holidays, everyone else is asking and I get tired of trying to be heard above the din of requests for donations around that time.
Blessings to you and may the warm winds of spring bring you myriad opportunities for growth and development. may your days be filled with abundance and may your nights be mediated by pleasant dreams.

For my racing fans, keep the greasy side down and the shiny side up!