Thursday, October 30, 2008

Indian Retreat in Spanish Fork


The Hare Krishna temple in Spanish Fork, Utah is like transporting oneself half-way across the globe to India! Instead of spending over $1000 on airfare, however, I spent a whopping $125 for three days of Indian culture in a beautiful authentic temple which felt like being in a land far, far away. My dear friend Emily and I shared this inspiring weekend together, and made some spiritual connections with new faces along the way.

Saturday morning after our yoga session, we took a hike up in the hills near the temple. What is that rope attached to which I am holding in my hand, you ask?


It's a Llama, of course! There are dozens of them roaming around out here. Apparently, they make great pack animals and are frequently rented out to hunters. This is our yoga teacher Alan with his favorite little furry creature.


Cute...kind of, but man, do they stink! I've never smelled anything like it...really. Riding in the van with these two, even though it was only for a few minutes, was torturous! It's kind of a smell between butt and really bad body odor, combined with rotting hay. It makes my dog smell like roses, even on a bad day.


I really bonded with this McCaw, though. At first he wasn't so sure, but by the second day, he was begging to hold onto my fingers. He even let me scratch his head. Scratching a bird feels weird. He's just a prickly stump under all those feathers!



Emily and Alan jamming on the guitar. :)


This is Vie. She and her husband Charu run the temple. She's also an amazing painter in her spare time. She is super devoted to Krishna, which is just the Sanskrit name for God. We got to sit and talk with these devotees about their beliefs, and participate in some of their rituals and practices. It was very educational, and although the stories and traditions are different than Christianity, the principles and concepts are the same. Being open to what they had to offer was very rewarding and faith-building.


Sunday, October 12, 2008

I Don't Believe in Pet Psychics

Back in January I blogged about a pet psychic who came to my house and did a reading on D'Ogee. If you recall, she said that he wanted a cowboy outfit. Well, since she was accurate about a few other things, I figured that my dog did indeed enjoy being dressed up and had a secret desire to be clothed in cowboy attire. I've always kind of kept my eyes peeled, just in case I happen to run across one. The other day as I was rummaging through the Halloween store, and I found it! I was so excited to go home and try it on him, hoping that it really would put a smile on his already happy face.
He humored me for a few minutes, but disappointingly, he was not thrilled by his little cowboy hat. This is him pulling on the hat and trying to chew the elastic off that went under his chin.

What a bummer! I guess I wasted 60 bucks on the pet psychic....either that or D'Ogee thought he would like a cowboy outfit, but realized upon getting one that it wasn't everything he had hoped it would be. It happens.

"Stud on the Range"

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Read This! It Kinda Freaks Me Out

Will everyone read this post from my friend's blog, please? I've been hearing several things relating to the issue of emergency preparedness, and I've always thought, someday I'll do something about it. However, since my friend shared this dream on her blog, I've been inspired to take action...now! Well, tomorrow, really...she's going to come over and help me put together a 72 hour kit. :) I hope others will consider doing the same.

http://soulofthemoon.blogspot.com/

Just for the record, when I was in 6th grade and my house burned down, I'd had 3 or 4 dreams the month before that my house was on fire. Yep, I was pretty freaked out when I realized my dreams had been premonitions. I'm not saying that something bad is really gonna happen, but it couldn't hurt to get prepared just in case. Just wanted ya'll to know.