Now where were we?
We just left from meeting Texaswren and her husband, and headed south to Austin. Unfortunately I was so stressed from the traffic, that I only got a few highway shots, and that was after my husband reminded me. He did try to cheer me up by gawking at a man wearing a very large cowboy hat and driving a very small convertible.
Soon we were heading west, straight into the setting sun.
"hello"
"I'm blind and lost!"
of course I didn't take a moment to identify myself, but with the question of where are you I assumed Marina knew who it was. My husband and I saw a street with a similar name to the one we were to turn down once we arrived in Dripping Springs. Alas! It didn't look like a road, but a driveway. We ended in a parking lot with a sign declaring that it wasn't a turn around area. Luckily Marina knows here town and was able to tell us were we should go now. Once we were headed east again, it was easier to see the road.
my oh my! The back country that Marina lives in is so very pretty. It was getting dark so I didn't get too many pictures.
or ones that aren't blurry.And of course we were true to ourselves and missed Marina's driveway. We had to drive for a time before finding a place that we could turn around with the trailer. On the way back, Marina's husband waved us in, we had arrived.
As soon as we hopped out of the car, it wasn't hi, I'm....no it was, the bathroom is there. Then we were able to introduce ourselves {though Marina and I have been talking online for 4 years now, we seemed to already know each other and there was no need for introductions} Next we were placed back into a pick-up and driven into town for dinner. We were several hours late and the restaurant was closing shortly. We dinned at a Cajun style restaurant. I hear that the owners relocated there after Hurricane Katrina. Dinner was very good.
Back to Marina's and to bed.
The next morning, Marina and I were up before the men. We had coffee and looked at her land from the back porch. So many trees! We talked and giggled and waited for the men to wake. Once they did, Marina's husband made breakfast while my husband attempted to get some trailer lights.
With daylight and warm weather he was able to get the lights working.After a wonderful breakfast, they took us on a tour of their land. So many trees. It's very pretty but after a while I realized that I could never live in there. I need the open prairie.
We spied some sheep
And soon the demon donkey was there.
She doesn't seem like that much of a demon.
She showed up with a hurt foot. They four of discussed what we should do. Was she fit for travel? Would it be right to send us home with a hurt animal? Would it be right to send us away with nothing?
We all came to decision. And after much bribing, tugging, wrestling, and fighting, it was time to take Donkey home.
5 comments:
You would call him Donkey, wouldn't you?
How's he doing without his crew? Is he getting along with the goats yet? Have any of the boys tried to ride him?
Austin!
You went down to the hill country. Some areas are really really nice. Away from the city it is beautiful and serene.
Glad you got your donkey---but you didn't say how he did with his foot and the trip.
Monica
Phelan, Please forgive this use of your blog, & please delete this comment if it offends.
I'm studying Herbalism & received this email, which I'm sure is genuine & if so is very worrying:
"Imagine a world where natural herbs and supplements are OUTLAWED.
Where natural vegetable juice is classed as a DRUG.
Where health food stores are stripped of all their products and banned from selling anything stronger than a cup of water.
Where naturopaths are FORBIDDEN to practise their craft... imprisoned or fined when they try to pass on their knowledge...
Where people with cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's aren't allowed to seek out alternative remedies to ease their pain... where they aren't deemed responsible or intelligent enough to look for their solutions to their disease... however slight the chance of a cure.
Where books that promote natural remedies are bulldozed into large piles and burned.
Have I been watching too much Sci-fi on late night telly again?
Okay, I realise this all sounds very Blade Runner. But stay with me on this one...
This is a scenario that really COULD happen. And soon. The seeds are already being sown. We just need to take a look across the Atlantic.
Yes, in the good old USA, some nasty things are afoot.
Believe me, this is something you WON'T be reading about in your newspaper. But in my world it's front page news.
And I reckon you're going to be just as horrified as I am...
In 10 days this new law could destroy hope for millions
In the USA, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is launching a quiet attack on natural medicines... and all who practise, preach and supply information about it.
A new FDA "guidance" document has revealed plans to reclassify all vitamins, supplements, herbs - and even vegetable juices - as FDA-regulated drugs.
Massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as 'medical devices' and will require FDA approval before anyone can use them.
The document is called Docket No. 2006D-0480, "Draft Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration."
It's outrageous...
It means that the mega-corporations who run America are so frightened of the rise of alternative therapies, they want to stamp them out altogether.
This is the 'Big Push' for greedy drug companies
Basically, it's an all-out attack on personal freedoms by greedy corporations. A last-ditch attempt to save the conventional medical industry from a huge shift towards natural medicine.
According to Mike Adams of The Organics Consumer Association:
If the FDA gets its way, the United States will become a medical wasteland, dominated by corporate drug company interests, where the naturopaths are imprisoned and their products destroyed."
Supplements and herbs will become contraband, and gardeners who grow their own medicinal herbs may be raided and arrested by DEA agents wielding assault rifles.
Simply selling dried broccoli sprouts as being "good anti-cancer foods" may land you in prison, and running a vitamin shop could result in you being arrested for "practicing medicine."
This will be the situation in the future...
FDA "experts" (the same guys who re-approved Vioxx after it killed over 50,000 Americans) will decide whether herbs, supplements, vitamins or simple devices like massage stones are to be regulated as drugs and medical devices.
Of course, this is a horrifying proposal.
So rather than spark a proper national debate, it seems that the FDA and its cronies tried to sneak this under the radar... keeping it rather 'schtum'.
Now word has got out and the natural health community is up in arms.
Not sure what good that will do in against the might of big business...
But the FDA is allowing public comments on this until an April 30th deadline. This means that people can petition, argue, and so forth.
Here's one of the petitions.
www.democracyinaction.org
The problem is, they've got 10 days and just an internet petition to arm themselves with.
'David vs. Goliath' springs to mind.
Let's just say, I'm not hopeful.
Why this matters to you and me
You're probably thinking that this is all happening in the United States, so it means we're safe here in the UK and Europe.
Well, no.
What happens in the USA invariably drifts across the water within the decade. The same big businesses hold sway over our government.
And the same attacks are ALREADY happening.
If you recall, last May, a letter was published in The Times slamming Homoeopathy and other complementary therapies as "bogus" medicine.
The letter, organised by Michael Baum, was sent to 467 acute and primary care trusts across the UK.
Sue Croft, Director of Consumers for Health Choice (CHC said:
The group of doctors are entrenched in the old philosophy that curing disease with drugs is the way to good health.
This one-size-fits-all approach is wrong and doesn't work. It completely disregards the fact that we are all individuals with different anatomy and physiology, as well as mental attitude and lifestyle.
The doctors say there is no proof that homoeopathy or even acupuncture works (though it has been used for thousands of years). But lack of evidence today should not be a barrier for the future. If these alternative treatments are taken away - or blocked by just financial considerations, we will never really know what they are capable of.
I couldn't agree more!
It's up to us to fight for our freedom
You and I are of a similar mind. We are open to ancient healing techniques and the power of foods and natural medicines to help us fight disease.
We don't think conventional medicine is bad. Neither do we want to ban it, as the FDA want to ban non-corporate alternative health treatments,
We simply think we have a right to look for ways to supplement conventional medicine with alternatives.
It's our right to choose. It's our planet. It's our food. It's our plant-life, vitamins and minerals.
It NOT the government's...
It's NOT the corporation's.
It's OURS.
I'll be keeping an eye open for all the latest developments as they happen. And if a petition comes to the UK, believe me, I'll pass it round.
If you're interested in finding out more, check out the Consumers for Choice website here:
www.healthchoice.org.uk
Yours as ever,
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter"
If anyone wants to contact me about this, my email is killimengri@gmail.com & my LJ is
http://killimengri.livejournal.com/
I've posted this there too.
I don't know if anyone over there knows about these changes
Killi
I can understand the anxiety about the traffic. That highway looks gigantic! A bit scary for me.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 4
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