365 Days of Change: Seek and Ye Shall Find

365 Days of Change: Seek and Ye Shall Find

DAY 12 - PERSISTENCE (September 2, 2012) 

I have missed a day in the 365 days of change, but it will be added to the end of my blog sequence.  What happened?  Where did I go?  I am persistent, and it can be fairly tiring.   

   

Since August 24, 2011 (the start of my involvement), I have searched the Highwood area of Kananaskis for missing 59 year-old Australian hiker Kevin Kennedy, along with many others from Kevin's family, RCMP, Kananaskis Emergency Services, search and rescue groups across Alberta and British Columbia, the hunting, fish and wildlife communities, and the hiking/scrambling/mountaineering communities – including my home club: Calgary Scrambling and Mountaineering Club.  What has happened in the 365+ days since I became involved with this unique personal quest is a tremendously involved story – to be told some day, perhaps.  For now, this journey continues.  Since he set out on August 21, 2011 on a four-hour hike with the objective of completing the Tyrwhitt Loop, Kevin remains missing.  Many of us continue to search (until the snow drives us away for the second year) for evidence to give his family closure.  To some, I’m obsessed.  To others, I possess conviction.  Everyone has a different take on what it signifies to be doing what I’m doing.  Where is the line between Obstinacy and Persistence?  There isn’t one, because O comes before P in the alphabet, and they stand - naturally - side by side.   This is my take, on what I’m doing…

PERSISTENCE

What then – once again, when my feet are sore and my muscles ache – what then, is my decision on which road to take?  Do I fold and buckle, slump low to the ground, and say with a sigh - I have given, I did try.  What then, can be done, when all others say stop! – I am obsessed, I am driven, is it not quite enough!?    

It is enough when the thing I seek, is found.  It is enough when the purpose behind the passion, comes around.  I follow my own inspiration - I am both hero and fool.  I recognize, but do not passively follow, others’ rules.            

What now – once again, when my feet are fresh and my muscles new – what now, is my decision when all is reviewed?  Do I focus and plan, search until the snow, and say with new hope – I will succeed, I will know.  What now, will be done, while all others do watch – I am committed, I am loyal, and that is conviction enough.

"Something hidden.  Go and find it.  Go and look behind the Ranges.  Something lost behind the Ranges.  Lost and waiting for you.  Go!" - Rudyard Kipling

365 Days of Change: Once in a Blue Moon

(Illustration: Sky & Telescope)

365 Days of Change: Once in a Blue Moon

DAY 11 - WEIRDNESS (August 31, 2012) 

What was the blue moon issue really all about today?  And is there anything creepy about it?

As I understand it, this month we had two full moons: one at the start of August, and one this evening.  I spent some time reviewing documents on the 'net, but lost interest due to the convoluted explanations and differences between sources as described by Sky & Telescope - so you're welcome to review it for yourself.

The moon wasn't blue at all, but it's not supposed to be unless there are atmospheric anomalies like smoke or other impurities influencing the color.  I hauled out the binoculars, and the lunar surface looks pretty much the same - except I'm fairly certain it has more craters today than when I used to gawk at it as a kid with my dad's field glasses while laying inside a roofless igloo.  The brightest shooting stars I ever saw were caused by twenty pounds of plastic and glass slipping out of my frozen hands and whacking me hard between the eyes.  You can get away with uttering a lot of F-words late at night in your igloo with both parents in the house, fast asleep.  It's really quite liberating. 

I didn't do anything special for this blue moon like go skinny dipping, or park somewhere high in the city to ogle it like everybody else.  I pulled my bedroom curtains open so that my cat could bask in moonlight on the window sill.  I lit a pile of candles, placed several quartz crystals out in the backyard to be recharged, then grabbed a few pieces of bison jerky with a can of Lucky Lager beer, and wrote this blog.  Uh, excuse me?

Which part?  The bison jerky and beer, or the recharging of crystals?  Okay, I agree, that last bit sounds a bit creepy, but I've been involved in crystal healing for a few years, and have given public presentations on it.  I don't just climb piles of rock, I haul some of them back with me!  Every room in my house has rocks or fossils strewn around in choice locations.  If any of them paid rent, the mortgage would have been resolved long ago.  

The moon and sun, recharges crystals.  Water also cleanses them.  There isn't anything Twilight Zonish about this because energy manifested from celestial bodies influences geological structures.  Try to think of crystals as batteries.  Why else did we once have crystal watches?  Crystals are natural conductors, they'll project and absorb - depending upon their type and specific application.

The moon has two phases of importance - a phase of ascending and descending, as well as two important stages of full moon and new moon.  The energy of ascending moon is related to new beginnings, optimism and hope, whereas the energy of descending moon is related to those things that we would like to diminish, like reduced debt, negativity, and illness.  Full moon is related to love and abundance, and crystals charged during new moon help with introvert activities, like mediation and contemplation.  I'm not sure if the "blue moon" has any distinctions above this, but I'll probably find out when I haul them back in off the grass.  

What did you do for today's blue moon?  Did you know about it, or did it crest over you while you were dreaming and I was drinking cheap, 5% beer?  This has to be the weirdest post I've ever written.  I don't know whether to be happy about it, or just apologize.  Don't bail on me, okay?  There is hope after the lunacy of a blue moon passes, and there are still 354 days left.  I'll be ready for the nut ward on day 365.  There will be a break-free party like no other.  

"The moon is a friend for the lonesome to talk to." - Carl Sandburg