winsom

The Main Street In Town

2011-06-20T22:08:00.004-06:00

A few days ago as I took a walk in the town of San Ignacio, I came across a camel almost blocking the road. Parked the car walked a bit down the main street and there was a parrot having a drink and hanging at the local coffee shop/restaurant. Decided to leave down and head back to my bush as the town had gone to the animals , I then ran into a snake crossing the road. It was not so lucky. Leaving the bush to have a day in town is no easy task.... Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

CONNECTING TO...........

2009-09-12T20:20:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time! What can I say? I have crawled from under the load of work, daydreaming new ideas, having pure fantastic fun. Yes to all of the above plus more. I took the time I needed to align my thoughts, emotions and actions into being someone that I would really like to hang out with. During this hiatus I was still doing my weekly routine of teaching art to eleven & twelve year old who helped me to find that child that seems to go into hiding every so often . I was also running a foundation and raising funds in the most creative of ways. Please do not forget that a good portion of time was also spent talking to the Universe and getting answers.

Children somehow seem to have common sense wisdom and thus the children of Cristo Rey gave me much more than I will ever give to them. That is the ability to just enjoy the moment for the sake of enjoyment and see things through the eyes of a child filled with curiosity and honesty.

When I first came to Belize, I had once again become that child and stopped taking my self so seriously. I was doing things that I had forgotten all about, things that I had only dreamt about doing. One thing I thought about often in Canada was starting my own foundation to do the things I thought needed to be done. I was always telling myself, when I won the lottery, when I became rich. In Belize I never won the lottery or became monetary rich but I threw caution to the wind and with a friend’s help the Winsom Foundation came about. After a fun filled year of running the foundation, folks started asking serious questions of me, so I became that serious adult that I had left behind in Canada once again.

After watching Marlene suffer a mild heart attack, the wake up call was smack in my face. I realized that some changes had to take place. Over the last few months we went back to where we had left off. I once again learnt to laugh often just for the pure joy of laughing, it is such a stress reliever. The children around me basically dictates where the priorities of the Foundation should be and thankfully there is a board that can see the big picture and understands what the goal is and they never say that we do not have the funds. We are indebted to the Universe that just flows in the money as it is needed for a project or just one more grant to help a child in school.

I work mainly with the young children because they are so honest. They know when I am being honest and teaching/ working from my heart or just doing what I think I should be doing and the children do not hesitate to point it out.

Learning from the children, I strive to keep my heart pure and all the fences I had built, especially around my Art has been destroyed. Recapturing my childhood when I need to; has brought me joy, fun, imagination and creativity thus bringing a deeper depth, purity and love into my life.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

THE BIRTHDAY & DAY of the DEAD RITUAL CELEBRATION

2008-11-16T22:59:00.000-07:00

MORE PICTURES

2008-11-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

The Time is at Hand

2008-10-31T22:16:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.
It’s only two days to go
Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.
At Marlene’s and Winsom’s Ritual Space
In Cristo Rey Village,
Rain or Starlight

Friends of yours are welcome,
Remember to pass on the list of things to do and bring
To friends that you are bringing

The email list of names have been revealed
Car pooling is in order
Connect with each other and get a ride
Don’t let lack of transportation keep you away

More Birthdays that we are celebrating: around November 2nd
Teresita, Jean, Gracie, Sofia
Our total numbers of birthdays to be celebrated here tonight are Twenty

Come with an open heart
A heart ready to give and receive
A heart ready to help and enjoy
Remember … What we put in is what we get out of life or anything
The ritual, the party belongs to all
We are all one
Of Love.

The Mayan Ritual for the Ancestors begins at 5:45pm at the hill top
Followed by the African Ritual at the Mineral Alter
We will then give Thanks and Praises for the lives that were spared
We will say a prayer for those that lost their lives during the floods
The feast for the living will be next (that's us)
When it is good and dark
The Ancestral fire will be lit
As the eight foot Ancestral Mask is burning
As we are moved to do so,
We will place our knotted cord/rope into the fire
One may sing, dance, chant, pray as our messages are sent out on the flames and up by the wind
As Spirit and Ancestors move us, we shall do.

See you all at 5:30pm
We are the ones we have been waiting for
Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

Seven Days to go

2008-10-26T22:12:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.

It’s only seven days to go

Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.

At Marlene’s and Winsom’s Ritual Space

In Cristo Rey Village,

Rain or Starlight

Friends of yours are welcome,

Remember to pass on the list of things to do and bring
To friends that you are bringing, that's not on my email list

For those who have not been here.

You will see lighted lanterns leading the way through the woods to where the rituals are. As you walk through the woods, please feel free to stop along the route and give your praises for your safe arrival to these scared woods.
Cross the bridge into the other world and start to mingle and mix and meet old and new friends.
Welcome to Winsom and Marlene’s Ritual Space. See you all at 5:30pm

More to come

We are the ones we have been waiting for
Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

So Close Now

2008-10-19T22:09:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.

Hope the flood was not too devastating for you and loved ones

My Prayers are with you all.

It’s only two weeks to go

Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.

At Marlene’s and Winsom’s Ritual Space

In Cristo Rey Village ,

Rain or Starlight

Friends of yours are welcome,

In addition to previous lists

We are asking each one to take a long enough piece of natural cord or rope
That is God made, not man made
Sit with the rope/cord awhile
Think of all your Ancestors
That is family members that have passed on
Place a knot in the cord/rope for each Ancestor
Remember them
Talk to them
As if they were sitting next to you
Let them know how much you love them
Ask them for help in this dimension
You can also knot pieces of paper into the cord/rope
Where you have written things you want to bring to the Ancestors.
Bring this rope/cord with you on the 2nd.
Where you will feed it to the Ancestral Fire.

We will also give Thanks and Praises for the lives that were spared
We will say a prayer for those that lost their lives during the floods

More to come

we are the ones we have been waiting for

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

Real Close

2008-10-12T22:06:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.

It’s only three weeks to go

Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.

At Marlene’s and Winsom’s Ritual Space

In Cristo Rey Village ,

Rain or Starlight

Friends of yours are welcome,

In addition to previous list

We are asking each one to bring a dish to share.

Enough of what’s in the dish for your group plus two more people.

This way we will have ample food for the feast section of the night

What is the Day of the Dead?
The original celebration can be traced to Mesoamerican native traditions, such as the festivities held during the Aztec month of Miccailhuitontli (July), ritually presided over by the "Lady of the Dead" (Mictecacihuatl), and dedicated to children and the dead. The festive mood comes from pre-Hispanic society beliefs that regard death not as the end of life, but rather as an awakening or rebirth in the land of the dead. In the post-conquest era the festivities were moved by Spanish priests to coincide with the Christian holiday of All Hallows Eve (Halloween). The end result is that Central America now celebrate the Day of the Dead during the first two days of November.

What happens during Day of the Dead?
Generally, families welcome the dead back into their homes and/or by visiting the graves. At the cemetery, family members spruce up the gravesite, decorate it with flowers and enjoy a picnic in addition to interacting with other family and community members. In both cases, celebrants believe that the souls of the dead return and are all around them. Families remember the departed by telling stories about them. Meals prepared for these picnics usually featuring meat dishes in spicy sauces, chocolate beverages, cookies, sugary confections in a variety of animal or skull shapes, and a special egg-batter bread ("pan de muerto," or bread of the dead). Gravesites and family altars are decorated with flowers and adorned with religious amulets and offerings of food, cigarettes and alcohol. This commemoration has pleasant overtones for the observers, in spite of the open fatalism, whose interaction with both living and dead is an important social ritual.

More Birthdays that we are celebrating: around November 2nd

Bernabe, Dana, Nadege, John and Pat

If we have missed some one’s Birthday, who will be here,

Please add it to the list

Let us know.

More to come

We are the ones we have been waiting for
Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

Much Closer Now

2008-10-05T22:02:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.
It’s only a few weeks to go
Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.
At Marlene’s and Winsom’s Ritual Space
In Cristo Rey Village ,
Rain or Starlight
Friends of yours are welcome,
Keep the environment clean and friendly,
In addition to previous list
Bring with you
Your own eating utensils
That is: plate, fork or spoon and drinking vessel.
No throw away paper or plastic please.
So far
Birthdays that we are celebrating: around November 2nd
Simonetta, Ray, Al, Marlene, Alex,Lisa, Anna, Steven and Fabio.
If we have missed some one’s Birthday, who will be here,
Please add it to the list
Let us know.
More to come
We are the ones we have been waiting for
Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

Getting Closer

2008-09-28T21:59:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.
It’s closer than you think.
Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.
At Marlene’s and Winsom’s Ritual Space
In Cristo Rey Village,
Rain or Starlight
Friends of yours are welcome,
If you think they would like to celebrate with us.
This is also the adult “Day of the Dead.”
Please wear comfortable clothes/foot wear-
Bring along, besides your friends,
Bug Juice
Flashlight,
Rain gear
A chair if you want to be seated.
More to come
We are the ones we have been waiting for
Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

The Lead Up

2008-09-22T21:56:00.000-06:00

Greetings with love and Harmony.
The time is approaching.
Sunday November 2nd 2008. Starting at 5:30 pm.
Please hold the date….something great will be happening
At the ritual space.
More to come
We are the ones we have been waiting for
Blessings

Happenings

2008-09-21T10:50:00.000-06:00

Tara returned to Hong Kong after being in Belize for six weeks teaching Yoga to the kids. It was sure great having her here and being able to visit with her. The summer program was a great hit and I think it will be something the kids will remember for a long time. The drive to take Tara to the airport was one I wish I did not have to make because I secretly wished she could stay longer. Alas the time had come.

While at the airport, we ran into an acquaintance that works at the Venezuelan embassy, and is very much into youth education. He invited us to stay and meet Dr. Robert Hill who is a foremost expert on Garveyism. Dr. Hill was invited to Belize to speak about Marcus Garvey and the importance of the Belize connection to the movement. Dr. Hill originally from Jamaica was visiting Belize for the first time. I found him to be a very warm engaging and down to earth person. Marlene and I traveled to the capital to hear him speak at the University of Belize campus, which was jammed, packed with students and the general public. His talk really showed the different sides to the complex Garvey, and really gave us some in sight into his life, believes and character. Very well presented.

The foundation has decided to sponsor two children from our village, and is helping them with expenses in order for them to finish school. Many of the children finish school at thirteen or fourteen years old, because their parents have to pay for high school which is very expensive and they cannot afford it. As well, many families have a number of children who need to be schooled but again the finances are not available. One of the students we sponsored started her first year in high school, and the other student will finish grade school this year .Both girls are so happy to be in school, and they are working hard to make sure they do well. The foundation will do all it can to make sure they are successful.

There was more amazing news coming from the art corner!! One of the big companies sponsored a painting competition that was open to students across the country. Cristo Rey RC School had five finalists which was the most for one school in the entire country. The children were invited to an opening displaying the work of the top 40 pieces selected, as well as the top 12 whose work will go into the 2009 calendar, which will be distributed throughout the country. One of our students won $100.00 for being selected in the top 12. Needless to say everyone was all smiles and why not?

We are in the process of organizing our first major fund raiser to give scholarships and keep the art program going . Watch for more to come on that front.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

YOGA / ART SUMMER PROGRAM

2008-08-30T22:00:00.000-06:00

Winsom Foundation has just finished a successful Art and Yoga summer program with some of the children of Cristo Rey Village. A few pictures and comments from their daily journal, with permission of the children. Blessings.

21 July 2008 “I feel happy and I am go glad that I am back to arts. I feel good and happy”.

21 July 2008 “I feel good with action. I like the snake one and the one that we use to get energy in our body, hand and legs. I learn in the morning a lot. I have good teachers, Tara and Winsom Winsom”.

21 July 2008 “I am feeling excited about what my teacher is teaching us. I know that one is to breath in and breath out then do Aum or Om.”

2008-08-30T21:59:00.000-06:00

21 July 2008 “I am feeling that I am in the sky”.

2008-08-30T21:58:00.000-06:00

22 July 2008 “After the exercise we laid down on the mat for a few minutes and I was thinking the good things that Tara showed us and also thinking about God that he gave me this day to be here. I thank him very much. Especially Ms. Winsom and Miss Tara for giving and spending their time and their day to be here teaching us the good thing of yoga. I give them great thanks”.

22 July 2008 "Today was a great day. It was fun doing yoga. Yoga helps me feel very energetic. Drawing was even more fun. I wish I would be able to do drawing, painting and yoga every day. Every night when I go to sleep I'm excited for the next day. Yoga is my life. Yoga is the most exciting thing I've ever done in my whole life. Thanks to Miss Tara I realize yoga is my life".

2008-08-30T21:57:00.000-06:00

22 July 2008 “Today is a good day for all of us. I am so glad that they are teaching us yoga and I want to learn more. The drawing that I make was good. I didn’t know how to do it but with the help from Ms. Winsom I learned”.

24 July 2008 “My golden place is here in Cristo Rey. I feel happy when we are all together doing the yoga. I feel cool and strong. I enjoyed the game and it was like a hurricane.”

2008-08-30T21:56:00.000-06:00

24 July 2008 “Today I like doing the flip book. The only thing that I didn’t like is doing the baby (pose) but I do it anyways. When I paint the tree growing it had amazing movement to express my talents. I give thanks to Miss Tara because she is an amazing yoga teacher and I also give thanks to Miss Winsom Winsom”.

25 July 2008 “I liked the arts that we did today. After the yoga exercise we played a game. The game was about colors. We were finding the primary colors and the secondary colors. After playing the game we paint a circle that marks which colors you make to get what color. I will go to my home after the two weeks of yoga. I will miss Tara and Ms. Winsom a lot and I will wish them the best too”.

2008-08-30T21:54:00.000-06:00

29 July 2008 “I am alive because I have energy and movement. I am enjoying myself because we do all things to stretch ourselves and paint different projects”.

2008-08-30T21:52:00.000-06:00

30 July 2008 “I like my shirt, it look clean and neat. The drawing come out nice and not messy. It has yoga sign and Winsom Foundation”.

2008-08-30T21:50:00.000-06:00

30 July 2008 “Today I like playing games and doing the stamp on our shirt. I liked the flip book and also the yoga. The only thing that I didn’t like is doing the down dog because my legs began to hurt”.

30 July 2008 “We did shirts with yoga poses on it. It was so cool. Now we are letting it dry. Then Tara told us about Hong Kong and gave us postcards. I got one with a boat. Then we played a number game and the Scorpions won. It was an exciting day. I would like to go to Hong Kong one day. On the shirt I did a picture of the pigeon standing up”.

2008-08-30T21:49:00.002-06:00

30 July 2008 “From the shirt I did I didn’t know that if you cut the picture and stab the sponge with a special paint, when you wash it won’t come out. So I learned a lot about that and it was exciting doing about the shirt. About Hong Kong I was excited I didn’t know that the Buddha was the biggest seated in the world. Hong Kong has big buildings and it is beautiful. The bridge is big and that is the biggest bridge I have seen. I didn’t know that the boat was used when you are married or when visitors come. I didn’t know they sell hamburger and pizza. I have learned a lot about Hong Kong”.

2008-08-30T21:48:00.000-06:00

31 July 2008 “Today it was a busy day. Every day I was excited, a little by little I was learning about yoga and art. Every day they teach us different games and I enjoy it. Yoga everyday I was learning fast what they teach us. But the first time it was hard because I didn’t know what to do. I was getting better at head stand. Playing the sewing game was fun because some were going out of the door. We were screaming. We were having fun. Next year I would like it to happen again because we have fun. I hope next year we have this again so thanks for everything you have done with us Tara and Miss Winsom and thanks for the pen Tara.”

2008-08-30T21:47:00.003-06:00

31 July 2008 “I am very proud about Miss Tara and Mrs. Winsom because I really liked the program. For me it was fun. I hope that next summer they do it too. For the 2 weeks that I came to do yoga I learned a lot because the first day that I came I didn’t know nothing about yoga. I really want to appreciate them for their time and being so kind to us. Today I have learned at least a little bit about yoga. I am proud to teach anybody who want to learn about yoga. Even though I didn’t know a lot but I would like to teach them. I feel good for coming to the summer program. I also learned some new games and coming to class is fun. I would like to tell everyone to come and enjoy yourself and you will see that yoga class has a lot of entertainment. So don’t miss it next year if they do summer class, to come because we had a lot of fun. I would like to thank Mrs.Winsom and her daughter and also my mother for letting me come to this summer class”

31 July 2008 “During the two weeks I learned a lot of yoga with Miss Tara and painting with Miss Winsom. During the days that I went it was awesome doing yoga. I learnt a lot of poses. I wish Miss Tara to come back next year and do yoga and I will attend her classes although I will be going to high school. The only thing that I didn’t like doing is the warrior 3 because you need to have balance and you have to be strong in you belly. Maybe in the future I will become a yoga teacher, maybe when I finish my career in high school then to 6 form then to University. I don’t know if Miss Winsom will be able to see me grow up and teach yoga. Maybe some of us will be married already. Some of us might not continue living here but anyways I need to study. And I thank Miss Winsom and Miss Tara for all their support.”

2008-08-30T21:42:00.000-06:00

A few extra photos

JABALI : Strong as a Rock 6/1/2005 - 12/7/2008

2008-07-21T21:54:00.000-06:00

The month of July started off with the shocking news that two of our neighbors who live about one mile down the road from us were brutally murdered. They were an American couple who had been residing in Belize for at least 20 years. He was a builder contractor, and she was a real estate agent. The motive was apparently robbery and the perpetrators turned out to be a fifteen and seventeen year old, who shot them execution style. It was not till the next day that this crime was discovered.

What makes this incident stand out for me even more, is the fact that we were having a ritual on my land for Peace, Harmony and Prosperity and a number of people were at my home taking part in the ritual. The ritual and the murder were happening at the same time a mile apart. How is it that we are asking for peace and love, and just a stone’s throw away, the complete opposite is happening??? I suppose people that live in violent communities must face this situation daily. Asking for Peace and getting only war, aggression, and violence in response. It just shows how vulnerable we all are to these blatant acts of aggression that seem to be taking over the planet. Is there a single peaceful place to be found?

Peace begins within the heart of each and every one of us and then spreads out like ripples on the ocean to our family, neighbors, communities, and the world at large. We need to reconnect with our Inner selves and remove the blocks and distortion that are manifesting in very negative ways in our thoughts, words, and actions towards each other and the environment.

What a joy and blessing my daughter Tara, arrived from Hong Kong, and will be spending six weeks. It has been two years since we last spent time together. Tara has been living and working in Hong Kong and is teaching yoga with a company called “Yoga for Life”. We are collaborating on a two week yoga/ art summer program at the school where I volunteer.

I had to leave the country for a few days after Tara arrived from Hong Kong. When I returned Marlene and Tara said one of our dogs was not eating. If you know anything about Jabali (our dog), she was born to eat and if something is not bolted down she eats it, so we knew something was wrong. We took her to the vet who told us that she was poisoned. He gave her shots, IV fluids and vitamins and told us to give her electrolyte replacements at home. Marlene’s nursing skills went into full swing as she had to feed the dog using a syringe every hour because she was so weak. Alas, despite all of our efforts and prayers, our beautiful dog died. We buried her at the back of our land with the help of our gardener, who was particularly fond of her, the vet and his little son. We said a prayer, and wished her well on her journey.

How does that saying go, when it rains it pours?!! Tara started getting these small bumps on her skin that was itchy. We thought at first she had come into contact with poison wood or something she was allergic to because she had been working outside in the garden. Each day they seemed to get worse. Marlene thought they were chicken pox, but I told her Tara had already had the pox as a child.. We took her to the doctor, who confirmed it was chicken pox she was exposed to in Hong Kong. Apparently she contracted the Asian strain which is different than the German strain she had as a child. My heart went out to her. Here she was visiting and not having a good time with all what was happening here. In two weeks the doctor said she was no longer contagious just in time as the summer program was about to start. I must say she took everything in stride and was determined to teach the summer program despite her obvious discomfort. The hot conditions in the room that we taught in did not help. Let me tell you. I could not be prouder of her 100% out put to the kids and the program. She deserves an award.

Marlene was away visiting her family in Toronto for a couple of weeks, so Tara and I carried the torch. In the end everything worked to divine plan. What a blessing.

The Winsom Foundation has decided to sponsor a thirteen year old who really wants to go to high school but whose parents cannot afford to send her. Tara and I have been running around raising funds for her uniforms, books, and school fees, so that she can start on August 25^th. I have taught this young girl for the past three years and know she is a hard worker with a beautiful deposition. I will be doing everything possible to help her succeed. Please send out prayers for her success, and the continued success of the scholarship program and the Winsom Foundation.

The Winsom Foundation is gearing up for an auction and entertainment night to support our scholarship program and the Cristo Rey Art program. We will be auctioning off the art trees the students made as well as other art work on October18, 2008.

Just before school closed for summer holiday, the kids entered a country wide art competition. Last year I told them of another art competition but they did not want to enter. This year they actually pushed me to let them enter. I am wishing them well. The fact that they entered makes them a winner in my books. The start of the new school year is almost upon us once more, so Marlene and I will be gearing up to jump right on in once more.

Life is Beautiful, Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

Tulum, Tanka, Ocean, Pyramid equals Holiday

2008-06-20T22:56:00.000-06:00

Our good friend and neighbor invited us a year ago to spend a week at their resort in Tulum Mexico. I don’t know where the time went, but all of a sudden the time had come. We had to finally decide what we were going to do with Rusty our dog that gets along with few people including our part time helper. We figured he could spin by daily and come into the yard to feed the other two dogs but what to do about Rusty? We finally decided to build a dog run so he would not have to be tied up which would have been unfair. I must say, it turned out to be a pretty good looking dog run. I think he thanked us for that.For the cat’s we left enough food, water, and litter boxes.

It is about three hours drive to the Mexican border town of Chetamul and a further five hour drive to Tulum. Marlene, another friend and I made the trip. After an eight hour drive, all of us were definitely ready for Casa Caribena, our friend’s resort. The resort sits about 50ft from the ocean, and has the silkiest fine white sand you ever did see. Walking in that sand would make anyone swear off shoes for good!! We each had our own room, and our meals were prepared by their wonderful cook, who made my two all time favorite foods. Guacamole and Salsa. I was in seventh heaven . I spent many hours just taking pictures of the changing ocean and all the wonderful birds that came bye, perching on rails or just flying around modeling for me. In the evenings we sat on the back veranda or went up to her place to sit in her Jacuzzi and watch the sun set. Amazing!!!

We spent one day visiting Coba an amazing pyramid. The site was very large, so our friend hired taxis in the form of bikes to get us to various areas of the ruin. Marlene and myself, climbed to the top of the tallest structure along with the 50,000 other people who were either climbing up or on the decent. Reaching the top after what seemed like an eternity was very rewarding. There was a small chamber at the top which we entered, only to find a couple of sleeping bats, but the view was extraordinary like you could see forever. To mark the climb, our friend took a picture of me climbing which is on the blog.

Well the school year is coming to a close for another year, and I think it has been a productive one. The principle told me of a competition for schools, sponsored by Penta paints where children would compete for the best painting, with the 1^st prize being a paint job for the school of the winner. We had ten entries which I hand delivered to Belize City. It was a wonderful chance for the students to show cases their works and a real confidence builder. A few years ago, this option did not even exist, moreover the children would not even think of entering, so we are making headway. One student entered the national spelling bee and made it to the regional. Another student placed 2^nd in social studies for the region. Lookout! Cristo Rey is on the move.

I ask all of you to send up prayers for flood victims in Belize and around the world. Belize experienced flash floods May 31^st 2008 which is the day before the start of our hurricane season. It took the people in the south of the country by surprise. First we had Tropical depression Alma who went out to sea and came back in as a Tropical Storm Arthur. There were seven deaths, loss of crops, road and bridge washouts. They are now trying to repair the infrastructure and help people rebuild. The world community will really have to pull together to deal with these coming global crisis. As they say “today you tomorrow me”. Let us pray for the planet.

Tara is arriving from Hong Kong soon to spend a few weeks here in Belize. I CAN’T WAIT.!!!! It has been two and a half years since I last saw her. We will be collaborating on a summer program with 20 students teaching art and yoga.

I want to say a big thank you to Marlene for keeping notes of my coming and goings and typing them up for me. It makes doing my Blogs so much easier. Angels come in all forms even Earthly bodies.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

2012, Siestas, Art Show ,Fires and much more

2008-05-21T07:48:00.004-06:00

It’s been months since I have written on this page. I have removed myself from many other pages like “face book” as they take so much of my precious time. Recently I had the chance to see many of you when I was home in Toronto. I just have to choose to be there when summer is in full swing and it is easier to get around.

Lately I seem to be so busy doing a lot of small stuff like raising funds to carry on my art work with children in the village and having siestas. Recently much of my energy has been placed in the Children’s Art Show which came off beautifully on May 14, 2008. It was education week, so our school hosted four other area schools which translated into around three hundred & fifty students. The Winsom Foundation also launched our no litter campaign at our village school spear headed by one of the foundation members. It was great to see her commitment to the program and Foundation. I had the children do paintings about litter and she had posters made using the art work. She also had re-usable garbage bags for vehicles made. The Day started with a representative from Scotia Bank Belize presenting the Winsom Foundation with a check for $5000.00BZ for the Cristo Rey art project. It was a wonderful moment and made the long hot and dusty walk we did the previous year sponsored by Scotia Bank Belize worth it all. The check presentation was followed by the guest speaker William Neal (communications officer for UNICEF) who expounded on the role and importance of art in developing children’s sense of creativity and expression.

The children displayed their paintings which was all famed, as well as Macramé, Tie - Dye, Wooden Tree Sculpture, Nail Sculpture and Wire Sculpture pieces. Out side we set up many different Art Stations where my students demonstrated and taught the children and teachers from the visiting schools. The visitors were amazed with their hands on experience, and that they got to take their creativity / art home. Seeing the smiles on all the faces of the children, both those who were teaching and those being taught, reminded me of one of the reasons I came to this earth, “to look after, support and mentor children.” The whole day was in my view a very positive one and it was nice to see and hear the comments from teachers and students about the day. My payment received in full.

The village had a river festival which included a canoe race on the river, The foundation sponsored a team. It was really nice to feel that village /community spirit, as these events help to bring people together, and really pull together in good times as well as bad. Marlene and I try to go to as many events as possible and attend meetings in the village, although many times there is a language barrier for us as we do not speak Spanish apart from one or two greetings. We are trying, but we also encourage the children to speak English as their exams are written in English and it is an English speaking country.

We are in the heart of dry season here. The last time there was any rain was the beginning of March. Everything is parched and dryer than the Sahara. We planted tomatoes, cabbage peppers and other garden vegetables, which we have to water daily to keep alive, and sometimes we don’t always have water in the village. You never know one day to the next. It really makes you grateful and we take nothing for granted. Another concern is fires when it is this dry. I remind Marlene all the time about having fires at a safe time and in a save place if she has to burn bush. We recently had a bush fire in the village and one house was completely burned to the ground. And thank God it we had water in the village. The houses were wet down by the villagers as the fire truck came in from the nearby town and took water from the river to fight the bush fire. No one was hurt, just the loss of property.

After all this work I need a holiday so we are going to spend a week at the ocean. Two girl friends, Marlene and I are driving to Tulum, Mexico at the invitation of another friend who owns a resort there. Marlene and I are looking forward to this holiday as it has been awhile since we have gotten away or been to the ocean. I am also looking forward to visiting the Pyramids in Tulum as I am getting to understand more and more about the Mayan Civilization. Hope you all are reading widely and much about 2012 and the Prophecies of the Maya, Hopi, Dogon and many other indigenous people.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

OIL WELL OR TWO

2008-02-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

Universal Love is flowing,

Where is 2008 running to? Time has really sped up. Here we are practically in the middle of the second month and I just celebrated New Years yesterday.

Belize recently suffered the loss of one of our musical icon’s Andy Palacio. He was to Belize what Bob Marley was to Jamaica. He was Garifuna. The Garifuna are Africans who made their way here to Belize after being shipwrecked during slavery and linked with the Caribs. Andy had played at Harbourfront, Toronto, Canada in 2007 as part of his world tour promoting the music and culture of the Garifuna people with his acclaimed Watina CD. In the last year he won many, many awards including UNESCO’S award for Peace. Andy was the first Belizean artist I spoke to when I came to Belize fifteen years ago as he hawked his CD’s in the airport. When I moved here in 2004 he again was the first person who sat and spoke with me on how I should go about breaking into the Belizean Visual Art Scene. I had just spoken with Andy the week before, and he was willing to help me raise awareness and funds for my foundation. He is now with the ancestors, and watching on. If you can get hold of “Watina” his last CD, it is well worth a listen.

The school children that I teach each week are working hard, getting ready for education week in May. Right now they are working on wood tree sculptures, Macramé wall and pot hangers, and learning to do basic silk screen, to put on cards and T-shirts. We hope to auction off the sculptured trees to raise funds to continue the art projects and art center. There are lots of exciting things planned for the Winsom Foundation and Winsom Art Center.

We have been blessed to share a handyman/ gardener with one of our neighbors, and he has literally transformed our place over night. He works two days a week for us, and is a self-starter and has a lot of suggestions of how to enhance our place. We have finally started our vegetable garden in the fenced in plot he created. All we need are a couple of chickens and a horse and we’ll be set plus our own water well and maybe an oil well or two. Marlene and I had been looking for someone for a while, and the universe sent him to us. I give thanks.

The country is all geared up for general elections of February 7^th 2008, and it looks like it will be a close race between the ruling Peoples United Party and the United Democratic Party which are the country’s two main parties. I know that calm and peace will be the rule of the day. Time will soon tell who will be leading the Country of Belize.

Life is Beautiful, Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

Love & Light for 2008

2008-01-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well here we are, another New Year, whether we want it or not. Hope you all are ready to receive the rich abundance that awaits us, and that light and love will be your guide. Marlene, Lenny –my dad, a friend who lives down the road and myself , spent a low key New Years eve watching Michael Moore’s movie Sicko, I think everyone should watch it .We then watched a DVD of Simon& Garfunkel’s concert in Central Park. We had left over turkey, and roast beef which made delicious sandwiches, with the addition of different kinds of mustard, crunchy dill pickles, leafy green lettuce, red, red ripe tomatoes, green and ripe olives, good old Canadian hot horseradish and many dabs of Jamaican grace hot pic-a-pepper sauce. We had a couple bottles of wine to help pass the evening plus my great Jamaican Christmas pudding, and cookies. Just before midnight I lit a 7 space candle holder and we all thought about what we wanted to manifest for the coming year and what our wishes were for ourselves, our community and the world at large. Very powerful. We turned on the radio and counted down with our favorite radio station, danced to one or two songs then went back to eating. . At midnight we popped the cork on a bottle of champagne that our friend had brought over for the occasion. I decided to brighten the night a bit more by setting off some fireworks and firecrackers; which also sent our most fearsome dog running for cover, as he hates any loud bangs or thunder. I figure he must have had some traumatic event to do with loud noises before we adopted him.

It is time to get back into school gear after 3 weeks off for the holidays, and I am coming up with our agenda for the next five months. I think I will have them finish off pre-Christmas projects and launch into a new project so they can have work ready for education week in May 2008. We are also trying to get the Foundation into full swing, so that many of our ideas and projects can be realized in the near future.

My hand is still not up to typing, but I do have a wonderful typist in Marlene who is also the secretary for the Foundation. My gratitude goes out to her.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

END OF YEAR ROUNDUP

2007-12-31T23:26:00.000-07:00

Yes, it’s me in case you all thought I had fallen off the face of the earth. Just wanted to let you know I’m still alive and kicking and have been running like mad to get all the projects I needed done, started or concluded. It has been a very busy last few months, and my repetitive stress injury has been stressing me out when it comes to spending too much time on the computer. I find I cannot even go on everyday, or I go on for very short periods before it starts to bother me. I will have to come up with some solution as I love being in contact via Blog.

My dad who is ninety - one years old next year has come to spend the next couple of months with us to escape the winter winds and will return to Toronto in the spring.

We continue to meet some really amazing Belizean’s. One that stands out readily is a single mom who has six wonderful kids who she is trying her best to put through school. We would see her leave early in the morning and return home late at night, and wonder where she got the energy to do it all. The kids range in age from eight years to eighteen years. The one good thing is she has her family near by, who help each other when needed. I had not seen or heard from this mother for awhile and we usually touched base often. I finally got her on the phone only to find out that her eldest child was stabbed many times in an unprovoked attack and was in the hospital. Apparently, the older son was sitting in the car waiting for his mom to return from seeing a friend, when he saw his younger brother had dropped his bike, and was running from someone. The eldest brother hearing the commotion got out of the car and went to retrieve the bike. As he bent to pick up the bike, the person who had been chasing the younger brother, turn and started to stab the elder brother. His mother heard screams and saw her son on the ground fighting the attacker. Just as my friend and others including a policeman got across the street the young man collapsed and was taken to hospital. There was fear that he might have a collapsed lung and for a while it was touch and go, but he finally pulled through. Turns out the person that attacked him was unstable mentally, and was on the street because his family could not manage him. He eventually went to jail which was not the right place either but proper facilities are not readily available, so everyone in the community suffers, which is a sad state of affairs. These are some of the challenges for health care that are faced here.

We have new neighbors who have moved in right around the corner from us who we really like. The woman is a psychologist from the states and her partner is a builder from Montreal, and they both have been living in Mexico for at least 20-25 years. They bought the property beside us which had a partially constructed foundation of a house, got a building crew together, and within three months had the house constructed and ready to move in. What a beautiful house. They are both great assets to our community. The Psychologists was good enough to see my friend’s son who was very angry and depressed after the attack, and helped him move through some of the feelings he was having related to the attack. Really some super people. This is what life is all about. Helping who ever we can in what little corner of the world we are. Ashe

Our newest addition to the family is a wee kitten named Tiye. One night, I had a dream of a cat that was orange with stripes, sitting on my lap, curled up in a circle. I woke up and it was three a.m. I sat in bed trying to figure out what the significance of the dream was, but could not. The next morning someone we know said she was awakened at 3a.m. to the sound of meowing, which she tried to block out for an hour. Finally, she took her flashlight and went outside to find the source, and there under her truck was this little kitten no bigger than the palm of your hand cowering next to the tire. She picked it up took it inside and gave it something to eat, which she said she lapped up. The next day she saw us in town, and asked if we would be interested in adopting her as she already had a cat. We said we would see if we liked her first before agreeing. Well I nearly fell over when I realized she looked exactly like the cat I had dreamt about earlier. I guess she was meant to come into our lives as she bounded into our arms when we called her. Marlene has never had a cat before and at first was a little hesitant to take on more animal responsibilities, but Tiye has captured our hearts, and it is joy to have her, and watch all her tricks and antics.

Life here in Belize is full of drama, surprises, and gifts. There is rarely a dull moment. We had one of those dramatic episodes when our youngest dog spirit was bitten by one of the deadliest snakes in Central America, called a Fer-de-lance or Yellow Jawed Tommy Goff for those of you who want to look it up. I had just fed the dogs at six-thirty a.m. and had gone back outside a few minutes later to do something when I saw the dog’s face swollen to twice its normal size. I thought maybe he had eaten something and was reacting to it. The swelling didn’t seem to be going down after fifteen minutes and he seemed to be breathing heavier and was in some distress, so we packed him into the truck, and headed off to the vet. As soon as the vet saw him, he said he was a victim of a snake bite from a poisonous snake and needed anti- snake venom right away in order to survive. The real scary part is that all the places including the hospital, that should have had medicine had none .Finally we found the one vile of serum at a hospital but it was outdated. The vet gave the dog the needle and put him to sleep to relax and take the strain off his heart. Had it been one of us bitten, it may have been good night Irene. I truly believe our dog took the hit for us, in what could have been a very different outcome. Praises be.

Well talk about tempting fate. Spirit got bitten again within 6 weeks, so here we were again going through the motions of getting serum and visiting an amazed vet at our second encounter with the Fer-de Lance snake. This time we found Serum at the hospital and had to convince them to sell us one for the dog. A couple days later a seven foot Fer- de –Lance was killed at our gate bye some passing good Samaritans who saw it out the side of their vehicle. We are now cutting a lot of the jungle away from our living space. In the process we have found the skin of an eight foot Fer-de-Lance which I now have for healing medicine. A Mayan woman told us of a certain plant we should plant around the property to keep them away. There is a snake-man / herbalist who is trying to track down the plant for us so hopefully it will help to deter these unwanted guests plus the thinning of the jungle right around us. We have to keep reminding ourselves this is the rain forest, part of which we have laid claim to and somehow we need to live with the utmost respect with all beings. Saved again by our dog Spirit. What can I say? He gets the biggest piece of steak around. He’s earned it wouldn’t you say? Thanks to God, the Orisha, and the ancestors for keeping a watch over us. Ashe.

We have been involved with doing a lot of rituals for people and had been doing some of them by a beautiful water falls near here, until the snake doctor told us that Fer-de-Lance like to go down to the river to feed and will go into the water. Figuring we are a magnet for them, we decided not to tempt fate, and find safer environments to do rituals. Marlene has been busy doing her massages and is becoming sought after. Ashe.

Many of my family and friends seem to have their birthdays in November. Marlene, my mother and my sister are November people and the principal at the school was also celebrating her birthday and our new neighbor plus another friend who runs a great little resort. Anything for a party so I hosted a potluck dessert party. We had about 40 people and I had all the needed items to make funky birthday hats. People really got into making hats and came up with some good designs. The desserts bought by the guests were tasty and the birthday cakes I order were fantastic.

Our cat decided she wanted to see if there was any truth to the nine lives story, and almost became dog chow. I had just opened the door and somehow she slipped out without me seeing her. All I saw was one of our dogs come round the corner at the same time and pounce on her causing the other two dogs to come and see what the commotion was. The dogs attacked the cat and bit it but it escaped. I grabbed two dogs and I was trying to hold on to them as they dragged me across the yard in pursuit of the kitten. By this time I was screaming on top of my lungs for help. Marlene finally came out after what seemed like centuries and held two of the dogs while I grabbed the third. My dad came out of the house and was able to get the tired hissing traumatized cat into the house. I tell you that cat fought for her life that day and I think she used up three rather than one life. When my Dad got her in the house she was still fighting and scratching so he put her down and the kitten was so frightened it hid and it took us an hour to find where she was hiding as none of our calling to her or tempting her with food, was enticing her out. We finally found her shaking like a leaf and not sure if one of her hips was dislocated, because she seemed to be limping on it plus the missing pieces of fur where she had been bitten. Off we went to our good friend the vet who kind of raised one eye brow and looked at us as if to say what now? The vet examined her and gave her something for pain, inflammation and antibiotics. Apart from being a nervous wreck when the dogs bark, Tiye and all of us got over our emotional trauma in the following days. Even my bruises from being dragged by big dogs healed. Whew!! Never a dull moment and so much for animal tales.

Oh! Big news!!!!!!!!! Something I wanted to start for the longest time is finally a reality. I have started a foundation “The Winsom Foundation” which will among other things be involved in teaching art, community beautification programs, health teaching and education which Marlene and others are interested in and sponsorship for attending high school. I have been volunteering my time and what resources I have to the local school in the village of Cristo Rey since 2005, and find I cannot continue to fund them from my dwindling resources, but the need is so great, and I passionately care about children and encouraging them to explore their creativity and who they are through art. The art these kids have produced is amazing and they soak everything up like sponges. Marlene and I have seen kids who barely look at you, to a talkative bunch who have been able to use art as an expressive tool, and it has been a beautiful process to watch. For example, I taught them to do macramé and they have been making bracelets to give to family members and friends and hopefully sell some on the weekly market. That’s entrepreneurship for you!!!

The foundation threw a Christmas party at the school through contribution of one of the sponsors Carlton Watson of Canada. It was soooo much fun as we gave Christmas bags to each child which included art supplies like sketch pads, paints, paint brushes. We also had a Santa piñata which my dad helped stuff with candy for the kids to bust, and then had a massive Christmas lunch which included their favorites BBQ chicken, potato salad, tortilla, cake, lots of chocolates / candy and pop to drink. A good time was had by all.

Living here in Belize has meant we have had the privilege of meeting a lot of different people from all over the world with all kinds of stories. It is amazing how many Canadians are in Belize either visiting or living here. There is a whole community of Mennonites who are both old and new order, who have come from Alberta. Many other Canadians are from Ontario, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. We have also gotten to know a few Belizean families, one of which we invited for Christmas dinner. This family has just recently experienced a few devastating losses in the last little while. Last year their Mother died in the first week of December quite suddenly to an illness, and this year in November the father lost his mother suddenly after two days of illness. On December 22^nd the 17year old son who works on a construction site with his dad was cleaning a cement mixer when somehow it started up with his hand inside it, and he ended up with various injuries to all four fingers. A part of each finger except the thumb had to be amputated because they were so mangled. This is a devastating injury for him and we are being supportive as he goes through the mental and emotional healing. We met his mother shortly before she died last year and she told us we were one of the few people she invited into her home, because she tended to keep to herself. It was a real pleasure to have known her for that short time, and her son being the only boy really lived for his mom. The father and son are working for a Canadian company who the father says will pay treatment expenses and compensation for his son’s injuries. This is good news.

Christmas saw me cooking up my regular storm with all the usual favorites of turkey, stuffing, Spicy roast beef, fish, an assortment of salads, macaroni and cheese cake, and then some, all washed down with homemade ginger beer, sorrel and wine. Santa brought stockings for everyone, and the music kept us going. The dogs of course could not have been happier with the leftover’s and Christmas bone to chew on for a couple of days.

With the buzz of Christmas over, we decided to take up an invitation to go to the beach, to help a friend celebrate his 50^th birthday. One thing I like about Belize is of course the warmth, but also that it only takes three hours to get to the Sea, where you can enjoy a great beach, stay over night and return to our jungle retreat. My friend is renting a beautiful house, a stone’s throw from the Caribbean Sea with a porch that allows you to walk right around and look out. I of course had to do a ritual giving thanks and praise to my mother Yemaya, for continued health, prosperity and financial abundance that I am receiving. I also said a prayer for the world, and the raising of positive and healing energy.

On the eve of 2008, I am wishing you all the blessing of the Great Spirit and the Ancestors and that your path may be the right one for the New Year and beyond.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom & Marlene

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BIRDS GONE

2007-08-11T06:30:00.001-06:00

The children have flown the nest…we are suffering (especially Marlene) from empty nest syndrome. See photo story. . Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

WE ARE READY TO FLY THE NEST

2007-08-10T07:06:00.000-06:00

Need a thirty hour day !

2007-07-30T15:21:00.000-06:00

Wow! with bird baby watching, keeping three dogs away from my babies, visiting friends, garden/ land work, getting my studio up and running, creating and doing rituals, transferring VHS to Cd’s. Getting my computer back up and running. My hard drive crashed a week ago. I lost no data because the week before I dreamt that I should get everything backed up properly, did nothing about it but dreamt it again on the 15^th. On the 16^th I called my computer expert and he came in and put everything on an external drive. Do I need to tell you on the 18^th right after I did my Blog it crashed. Give Thanks to the gift of listening and hearing.

I have decided not to sleep or eat anymore as these two activities seem to take up precious working time. I still get some rest by going to bed at 2a.m and getting up at the crack of dawn, which thankful these days are 5am and not 4am as it was a couple months ago. I am eating well as I love to create new drinks and dishes with all the fresh exotic and some times unusual fruits and vegetables .What seems to be suffering is my blog. I need to figure how I can get more time out of a day. I decided that my blog is really a journal for myself that I make public. Easier than writing letters and postcards to fifty or more folks. Problem is when I send direct mail I do hear from people but with the blog I am in isolation from friends outside Belize.

I have been taking a lot of pictures lately. Almost everyday I see something to shoot and document. I have been working on my new installation that is desperately trying to be birthed. I am hoping to give birth in the new year of 2008. It is time; I have been pregnant with this work for a long time. I actually became pregnant right after giving birth to the four shows in 2002. I have never carried anything this long and now it is fighting to be out. It is time and I am ready. Is the world ready, I hope so?

My next few Blogs will be in pictures. Enjoy. Life is Beautiful and I am blessed. Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

FIRING THE GRID

2007-07-18T14:30:00.000-06:00

I woke up at 3:30 am and laid there thinking what I wanted for my family and myself. At 4:00am Marlene’s alarm went off and she came to wake me but I was already up. Marlene went out to put the dogs on and open up the gates, I went to have a shower. I but on my coffee pot that was prepared from the night before with 40 cups. Marlene and I then went to the back garden to build the sacred fire at the fire alter. We had just hung the lanterns in the trees when the dogs started to make a racket, it was 4:30am and the first car had arrived. Arriving early was the folks who had told me about fire the grid in January and had asked me if we could get together and do something. They had brought a huge fruit salad with every fruit that is around at this time in Belize. Red juicy watermelon, Golden sweet melon, all different hues of yellow mangoes indicating that we would be having different flavors on our taste buds. Orangey- yellow pineapples with the slightest twinges of golden brown; letting me know that sugar was oozing from the sweet flesh. Round purple grapes taking up their rightful places in and amongst the other fruits; thus helping them to enhance their true colours. Pale pink and white grapefruit a hint of sour for the pallet .The fruit salad looked very colourful, healthy and good.

Just as I took the dish inside, car after car followed, a total of five vehicles filling up our drive way. We closed the gate and the other cars parked outside. We walked to the second garden which houses our Alters and Ritual space. Everyone fell in and got the space ready. We quickly made the fire gathered around it, placed pounds of Copal and other sacred incense on the fire. Ray stared the ceremony with the most beautiful prayer he had written for the earth. As he was saying the prayer I slowly with my eyes went around the circle, stopping at each person with a prayer for them. All fifteen people received my silent Blessings. After the prayers were said we went into silent meditation. After around twenty minutes people started to fall out of the circle into their own space. I was looking to the East when I saw this huge Pyramid in the sky just resting on the mountain top. I could not remember ever seeing that shape on the mountains before and as I watched it, one of the women came over to me and asked which pyramid I could see from here. I told her that there was no pyramid, which we could see from this land. Suddenly I felt my daughter Hugging me real tight and I jumped and a tear fell down my cheek and I said to her “ You made it,” because she lives in Hong Kong. I then turned to talk to her and she was not there in flesh anymore. The morning light in the sky started to come in with every colour of an artist pallet, starting out with a pale yellow and then getting into a warm yellow and then hot oranges, reds, purples with slivers of cool blue and then I saw my pyramid shifting into an upturned face and realized that it was a giant cloud that had held its shape for so long. The woman came over to me and said look it’s a cloud and now we have a face. We all seem at that point to drift back to the circle, Marlene got her drum and passed out other musical instruments and we started to sing Shima Shima which is the Hopi word for Love. At this moment Ray and I seem to be on the same wave length because we started to walk up the hill and everyone followed singing and playing. We climbed to the top center of the hill at the point between the three Mayan burial Molds where we sent up wonderful music and thanked the Mayan for helping us to focus on what we have to do. We came back down singing fell back around the fire and it was 5: 56 am .Someone suggested we go around and say what we are thankful for and what we want for the future of the earth and its people, our children, grandchildren, the generations to come. We all said our piece and when the last person was finished, someone announced that it was 6:15. We all said so it shall be in our different ways and headed to the house.

We had a morning feast of Coffee, cranberry juice, fruit salad, scarlet red with its shiny small black seed Pitahaya, Jamaican style sweetbread/bun, coconut drops. I quickly made the corn muffins which were devoured with butter dripping from their centers. Everyone was on their way to jobs or whatever the day called them to. One of the last people to leave asked me if I had seen the Pyramid in the sky over the mountain range changing into an upturned face. What was it? Why was it there? She asked. Only the Great Ones can answer that I said. The Temple / house were suddenly empty. It was only 8:30 am. Marlene and I cleaned up and then had a rest.

After our rest I went to the website Fire the grid but no update, so I checked email and there was this beautiful email from my daughter in Hong Kong who said she was thankful for me and had visited me during her hour of meditation. I give thanks.

Life is Beautiful, Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

2007-07-12T21:47:00.000-06:00

Mama sitting on nest

It has been awhile since I have even thought of writing on my Blog. I have been busy watching the new family that has moved in on our hot water heater. I have been trying to let the mother know that maybe she should think about paying rent, at least pay for the security Marlene and I have been providing from our three vicious dogs. I spent many hours watching her as she flew around making her home/nest. It took her a few days. She had been sitting in the nest for around three days, when she finally flew off to get something to eat I think or maybe to distract me from her eggs. As soon as she left I climbed up the little hill to look down on the nest and there I saw two perfect eggs. Snap, snap, snap from the hill and I was just about getting another snap when she returned to her eggs so camera was but aside and I just watched her from the distance sitting on her eggs keeping them warm. Couple of nights I had to go out to get the dogs away from that area. I knew they could not reach her but I felt they were making too much racket for a mother in waiting. Well last night we had two eggs and this morning around noon, mama flew off and there were two beautiful babies/chick in the nest. Again I am viewing from the hill; I was so excited I almost forgot to snap the new little ones. Marlene came out to see the little chicks and that brought me back to earth. Snap, snap, Mama is back. Hope to keep recording the development of the wee ones. The things I am experiencing, money could never buy. I am so Blessed.. Life is Beautiful .Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

2007-07-12T21:45:00.000-06:00

perfect eggs

2007-07-12T21:39:00.000-06:00

The wee ones

Living with Nature

2007-06-23T08:24:00.000-06:00

My life sometimes just seems to get away from me and I get involved in too many things. All good but distracting from the way I want to live my life. I am back home after being in Miami doing workshops and being in Toronto visiting.

After the stimulus of sound, sights, smog, concrete, lights I encountered in those two cities my mind, body and soul started to feel all the pain and depression that I use to have when I lived there. Getting back into my mountain village of Belize was very emotional for me. It was amazing, just listening to the quiet, for the first time in those many weeks that I was away; I could once again hear myself think and feel the rhythm of the earth. Living a simple natural life within and with nature, desiring only what is necessary for my survival has been reinforced for me once again. Living with nature has created a level of wellness for me that no chemically made pills can ever do and I have no intention of ever taking those artificial supplements again. Since being back I have been eating fresh food, fruits taken right from the breast of mother earth, right into my own body. Asking the energy of the plant for its food, picking it, peeling and eating it right away, I can feel the healing powers of the fruit, working inside of me giving me all its energy and clearing the fog away. As I walk back to the house I see the little lizards who had been suning on my way to the back, running into the under growth .I take notice and then I see the leaves on the near by trees turning over, I look into the sky and not only do I see birds flying in the direction that the lizards had run but big rain clouds coming around the mountain. I run for home and got my laundry off the line just in time as the rain drops started. There is nothing like being inside with a good book, a pot of tea as the sky opens up and pour its liquid blessings on the tin roof. I am so Blessed and loved by all of nature that surrounds me.

Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

Reaching my walking goal

2007-05-07T12:45:00.000-06:00

On Saturday 5^th May Marlene and I was up at 4:30 a.m. getting ready to do our version of miles for millions Belizean style. This is the day we would walk 22 miles of hills and valleys. From Belmopan the capital of the country, to San Ignacio our town. Scotia Bank who agreed to take on this project; organized the walk to raise funds towards the building of the art centre in Cristo Rey Village. A woman from England told us when she did walks; she would soak her feet in water with a little vinegar, to toughen up her feet. We decided to try this and let time tell if it would work. The plan was for us to take a bus to Belmopan, and walk back to San Ignacio, hopefully finishing the walk before the heat of the day set in. The mood was jovial as we rode in the bus and for a time we were transformed in to happy school children embarking on a school trip. We arrived in Belmopan to be greeted by the counterparts at the Belmopan branch of Scotia bank. With high spirits we started our trek at 6:15 a.m. Marlene and I had packed a cooler with water and Gatorade to make sure we kept well hydrated. Well it’s amazing how much detail you miss when you are driving vs. walking and it was nice to see things and people up close and personal not to mention the warm hello’s and smiles of encouragement we got along the way. I had decided my personal goal would be to walk 5 miles and Marlene said she wanted to walk the whole 22 miles, so with these goals in mind we were determined. After what seemed like a long time I asked someone how far we had walked, as I was sure my goal was right within reach. “About 2 miles” was the response. What I thought I’ve only walked 2 miles and the hottest part of the day was yet to come? Was I crazy to undertake this? Maybe I should just get on the bus and ride it out. Hm? No!!! I told myself this is for the kids and I’m going to do it, so I trudged on. Marlene seemed to be in her own world as she walked toward her goal. Our walking companions seemed to be keeping up a good clip and we were holding our own. The next time I checked on how far we had walked, I found out I had passed my goal. We had done seven miles. Go girrrlll I thought and continued my steady pace. After a while a large gap had developed between those who were walking and those who chose to run or jog. The gap had gotten so wide, that it had become dangerous as vehicles had started to wind their way in and out. We decided for everyone’s safety we should close the gap, so everyone got on the bus and we drove until we caught up to the front group. I was not going to argue with a little helping hand in the form of a ride, so we all jumped on. Finally we could see the signs telling us we were just four miles out side of town, and the thought of resting and the lunch we had been promised started to swirl in my head. Home sweet home and the sweet smell of success. In all I walked 15 miles and Marlene walked 20 miles. Not bad I thought. I had really surprised myself. This is what life is all about. Going beyond where you thought you could, and planting your own little flag of excellence!! Go Gratitude. . Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

Invitation for Students Art Show from Cristo Rey Village in Belize City

2007-05-01T10:06:00.000-06:00

UNIVERSAL LOVE

2007-04-28T09:56:00.000-06:00

It’s time to open our eyes

Take a look around

Even Inside

The weather is right

The time is here

There will never be a better year

There will never be a better moment

For Love to take its root

To bloom its flower

Our first love,

Our mother

Mother earth

The foundation for everything

To be planted on

To be built on

The earth was here before us,

And will continue on after us,

Love too, shall continue after were gone.

All things return to the earth

Those we love

Are put back into the earth.

The earth turns all natural things

Into a common denominator

We are all one.

One love, Universal love.

Love is a common denominator

Love must be authentic,

Love must be natural,

Love can not be artificial

Love must flow, and shift

Like the valleys and rivers of mother earth.

Open up your eyes

It’s time to find a place

A place to plant your seeds

Where the seeds of Love can grow and grow

Your heart is the perfect spot you know

Time to plant a brand new world

Where love keeps growing and spreading

Spreading and growing

I am of love

I am of light

I am a Spirit child

I am a woman

I am an artist

I am an Obeah Woman

I am a Shaman

I am a Sangoma

I am a Witch

I am a Mambo

I am an Orisha Priestess

I am a High Priestess

I am the Moon

I am the waters of the Ocean

I am the Mother of the Universe

I am Yemaya

I am Love

This is my power

This is my work

I flow with God,

The Ancestors

The Orishas,

For our protection

Our nourishment,

Our Growth

Our love

I evoke the powers of ancient alchemy

For love,

From my hands and heart

My mind,

My body,

My spirit

I transform these elements,

Into the power of love.

Ancient Alchemy

Adding fuel of love

Ash to that which we go

Crystal, purity and clarity of love

Bones, strength and empowerment

Cloves, the essence of our spirit

Thus

Harnessing the Cosmic God Force

Our authentic selves

Our love

Planted in the soil,

The folds of mother earth

Food for the universe

Food for our soul

My Secret room invokes the powers lost

I have become the Alchemist

Let’s hold hands

Pass the spark of love

Let the energy of love

Light up the Universe

We are the Alchemist

Let’s tie knots of love.

Let it flow across ribbons of colour,

Let it flow and unite the human race.

Knots of love,

Universal love,

The magic of love moving into every direction

Transforming lives,

Transforming planets’

Transforming the Universe;

Love rules today, tomorrow and forever

The alchemist is at work

I AM THE ALCHEMIST

AGAPÉ

Catching Up

2007-04-15T21:14:00.000-06:00

Since I have been implementing the law of attraction more in my everyday thinking; living here in Belize, seems to be swirling magnificently with all the elements that I want in my life. I just opened my first solo show with a performance piece in Belize entitled IAmtheAlchemist

The show went amazingly well. I got lots of coverage from television, radio and a few print media. Marlene was in good form and her drumming was able to woo the crowd and get their attention. Once again Marlene and I wove our magic and the show was a huge success and it gave the people of Belize their first taste of installation art with a good portion of Spirituality and performance Art; hence the puzzled look on many faces and head scratching. A number of my friends from San Ignacio came to Belize City for the opening. We all stayed at the same hotel and partied until the wee hours of the morning. It was good clean fun and a great way to unwind after the opening.

Life is Beautiful. Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize.

MARCH

2007-03-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

March is here and that marks the time for the start of dry season which can be challenging because something always seems to go wrong with the pump in the village. Last year, it took five weeks to fix because they had to order some part from Guatemala which took for ever to be delivered. The villagers have to go down to the river to bathe, which is actually very cooling since it is the hottest time of the year. We have a big plastic tank which holds 2500 liters of water which flows in from the gutter when it rains. Hopefully this will be enough to get us through if we use it sparingly.

There are for the first time fruit on our mango tree which is so exciting because they are my all time favorite fruit. I could live on them. I can taste the sweet juice filling up my mouth and the excess flowing down my cheeks. I think my blood pressure went up a notch just thinking about it.

Marlene’ parents arrived on the March1st and will stay till the 29^th. It’s their first time to Belize, and she is very excited they are here. We took them to La Ruta Maya which is the annual river race that starts in San Ignacio and finishes in Belize City over the course of 4 days. It’s always exciting to see everyone at the start point and wonder who will cross the finish line. The race starts at 7a.m. in the morning, but there are opening ceremonies that include a Mayan sunrise pray and blessing where the beautiful smell of copal floats on the air asking the river Gods for safe journey for all the paddlers. Teams come from all over the world including Britain, Canada, Europe, U.S. and Latin America.

On a sadder note, a friend of ours son committed suicide on the day before they had planned to renew their wedding vows, so things have been a little crazy for all of us here. On the way to their place we smell burning in the car and then the engine cut out followed by loud hissing noises. You guessed it! Our radiator hose burst half an hour before we had to be at the church. We ran around trying to find parts and a mechanic and be the time we got to the church, the service had just ended. Anyhow it was better it happened then than at night in the middle of nowhere so go gratitude!! When a death occurs, family and friends really pull together to get everything done. At the wake everyone gathers, and helps in what ever way they can. One group was making wreaths out of paper, while and was cooking and helping to clean. People brought pop and food and anything they felt was needed, and another went to buy the coffin. There are no funeral homes here. The coffin was loaded onto a pick up truck, and the whole procession walked from the church, through the centre of town to the burial area on the outskirts where the person is finally laid to rest. There is something very powerful and acknowledging about everyone walking the person to be buried to their resting place. A final tribute.

It’s been a week since the funeral and my friends have asked me to be involved in a portion of the repeating of their wedding vows ceremony. I am letting spirit speak to me to come up with something that will be memorable and symbolic. Life is Beautiful Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

Greetings Light Seekers

2007-01-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

I have been absent from my blog for awhile. I have been so busy reading, listening, absorbing and taking trips into unchartered places /territories. I am involved with a group, through the internet. We are helping each other to live our life using the principles of “The Secret”. It has been a fascinating journey for me. As I study the Secret and try to incorporate them into my life, I do realize that all the other ancient methods I use are almost similar to this one. In studying and practicing the principals I now know where and what my weak link is. I am now working on fixing and getting the link stronger.
There is a book that our facilitator had recommended to us. I remembered that I had bought the book sometime ago so I hunted it up. I always date a book as soon as I buy it, yes the date in front was 1995, I just had not found the time in Toronto to read it or the Universe was not ready for me to read it. I think the Universe knew when the time came I would be in a place where it would not be available.
I woke up at my usually four a.m., reached for the book and have not been able to stop reading. I had to go into the town, a friend drove and I read all the way in. I am almost to the end and all I can say at the moment is WOW and read it for your selves if you have not done so already. “Bringers of the Dawn Teachings from the Pleiadians” by Barbara Marciniak.
My children are wonderful and are where they should be at this time in their life and scattered by the wind to Hong Kong, Kingston and Toronto. All are planning to be in Belize next year to help celebrate my Dads ninety years of living and enjoying his life. Hopefully the creator will agree with our wishes. Marlene and I are living every moment to its fullest. Life is Magnificent.Blessings from Ocean Spirit Fire Temple in Cristo Rey Village surrounded by many, many Pyramids of the Mayan Dynasty of Belize. Winsom

Pictures from the healing fire ritual taken by Paulette Robinett

2007-01-09T18:10:00.000-07:00

2007-01-09T17:05:00.000-07:00

Law of Attraction

2007-01-07T08:26:00.001-07:00

Dear Universal Family,
It had been raining for many weeks, day and night and I was really concerned. Each day I would say please stop raining, we need time to dry out and finish getting the trails and land ready, for our Spiritual group that was soon to arrive, but alas it still rained .Two days before the event I received an email from a group I belong to “The Secret Group” reminding me about the laws of attraction. Right then and there I realized I was bringing the rain. I stopped thinking about the rain. I put my energy into feeling the hot sun with everything dry. All day I thought of sun and that night it stopped raining. Sunshine flooded every corner of my being the next day and the ritual day arrived with a hot, hot sun beating down upon us.
The healing has begun, and it started right on time at the exact right moment with thirty-three participants. We had our first group from three universities from the Boston area. We spent the time talking about Alters, Rituals and Healing. We walked to and waded in the creek, we walked upon the land along the trails. We built Alters and created rituals for each Alter. After dark we lit all the candles and fire; protected our space/ self and entered into the realm of the Ancestors through our Healing Fire Ritual. Letting go of burdens being carried for years was witnessed and healing was in abundance for everyone.
Ritual night the sky was clear and every star danced to our drumming and candlelight. Every star twinkled to the firelight as we humbled ourselves beneath them and the expansive sky.
I am Blessed, We are blessed. Forward I march.
I wish you Good Health, Joy, Happiness, Wealth and Abundance always. Blessings.

FIRE YEAR IS HERE

2007-01-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

WELCOME 2007

I AM AWAITING ALL YOUR LESSON AND BLESSINGS

EVE OF THE FIRE YEAR

2006-12-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings, As I sit here, going over in my mind all that has happened in 2006, a water year, I am full of gratitude and give thanks for all the good things that has happened to me. This year was filled to the brim and moved swiftly by and now on the eve of 2007, a fire year, I am asking The Great Spirit, The Ancestors and Orishas to keep on guiding and Blessing me. I make no New Years resolution; I will be living each day as it comes with an open heart and mind. Each moment as the Universe reveals it to me.
As you all reflect on 2006 the year of water I hope you will have great things to put into the archives of memory. I wish you Good Health, Joy, Happiness, and Abundance always. Blessings.

CRISTO REY VILLAGE ART STUDENTS AT WORK

2006-12-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

more of the children's art

2006-12-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

ART WORK FROM STUDENTS OF CRISTO REY VILLAGE

2006-12-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

LOVE and JOY and LIFE

2006-12-18T04:16:00.000-07:00

This is a Song of ancient belief. This is my song of forgiving. There has to be more to life.
Looking around the world all you see is restlessness and my query into why I write a blog was helping to create more disturbances with my uncertainty. I simple write a blog because I want to flow and cover all the corners of the Universe with my love and in sharing my life in Belize, I hope will touch each and every one with even a small amount of Love and Joy.
Sitting through fifteen days and nights of rain straight you have to notice the Signs of the prophets are written on the leaves of nature. It is said to be the new reality in dealing with the global warming and erratic world weather patterns? Looking at all the colours of the rainbow and all the stars in the sky makes me want to testify of all that nature has to teach us. I am lifted up from this realm as I try to learn the lessons of patience and acceptance. With the rain everything is brilliant emerald green and it actually feels good to be blessed by the warm rejuvenating showers. You can feel and hear my heart beat saying thanks.
Children always turn on that spark that glows through and through that makes my soul rises to reach the light and my heart is opened to its fullest. I think I mentioned that I teach art to the children at our village school once a week? The children range in age from twelve to fourteen years (standard 5&6), they have been doing amazing work!!! I started teaching the classes in May and this November the children had their first ever art show. Six students and myself curated the show. The director of National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) and a few artists from the city came and opened the show. The Director was so impressed with the caliber of the show that he has invited the students to do a show in Belize City in 2007.He will be bussing the students in to the city for the opening. It will be the first time some of the students will be going to the big city from their village. One of the newspapers covered the event and the children felt proud and happy to see their pictures in the newspaper. My dream would be to open an Art school /Center to allow these diamonds in the rough to really shine.
Above all the powers, above all kingdoms, Above all thrones .A creative force created all things. A creative force places us in the path of another even for a short time. We may never know the reason this lifetime. We were stuck on the road coming home as it had been transformed into a chocolaty swirl of mud and sand, from all the warm blessings falling to earth in the form of rain. While waiting for the road works people to make it passable Marlene and I decided to get out of the truck to question the people ahead of us how long they had been waiting to get though. Low and behold we see New Brunswick, Canadian license plates on one of the cars. We spoke to them, two guys, a woman and a golden retriever who had been traveling throughout Central America for the past three months and were heading to Panama after Belize, all full of wonderment and excitement of their discoveries as they travel. We told them of some of the amazing Mayan temples and caves to visit while here, and about our neighbor who is a snake Doctor and takes people on jungle tours. In fact, he is hired by the British army on occasion to teach jungle survival and is someone with one million stories of his escapades some of which sound like fantastic yarns. He is an amazing man. After another hour the road was finally fixed, and we invited them to our place for coffee and spent the afternoon chatting about everything under the rain. I was thinking it was so nice to be able to take a moment and visit rather than having to rush about madly, with time for nobody and nothing. That is one of the many things I am blessed with here. Time and space to enjoy nature, people and things.

I am very Blessed and do I know it. My dad who is in his late eighties has arrived to spend the holidays with us. I will be celebrating the holidays with a few people coming over for dinner.

We have a man from the village that comes when we ask him to help us with chopping and keeping clean our cleared one-acre. He is a mixed Mayan and Spanish and is very connected to the land. When he chops bush, he makes sure to leave medicinal plants and foodstuff. The other day he found yam, which we dug up and ate for supper that night. Delicious melts in your mouth food. We are blessed with all the fruits and veggies we are reaping. Our helper has been busy cutting trails on the back six acres .We are getting ready for a group from the USA to do a Spiritual and healing workshop. Marlene and I have been busy getting the altar spaces ready for example putting big heavy stones in circles for the fire and ancestor altars.
I am diving in. I AM GOING DEEP. There is no turning back. I am now ready; our space is now ready for ritual and Spiritual work. Let the healings begin. Blessings and Happy, Joyful and Peaceful Holidays

QUESTIONS ?

2006-11-07T05:44:00.000-07:00

I have been questioning why do I write a blog. Is it my way of keeping a diary or is it to keep my friends and folks up to date with my progress in my new life .It could be plain vanity on my part. Vanity I do not think it is, because I really have nothing to be conceited about and as for seeking admiration of my attainments, how do one measure happiness, joy, kindness, peace, love as these are the things that I have attained in my life. In Canada, when I did new art works and folks were talking about it, I felt good. That feeling was always short lived and I had to do a new and better piece of art to keep the buzz alive. In Canada I was always trying to gather folks together to create a community, most folks loved the gathering but for me it was always one sided. I loved doing it but it really would have been nice if others were doing it also and I was invited. Here in Belize I am still organizing gatherings and still loving it. The difference is I am invited to just as many gatherings organized by other community mind-building folks. I always have a buzz in my soul and my heart is always singing. I always feel very special and triple blessed. The people here in my life are visual artist, published writers, musicians, and movie screenwriters. The difference with these artist they know who they are, they have gone through Spiritual journeys, they realize that sharing and spending time building community makes they lives much richer which spills over into their creativity.
I have ruled out vanity so I think it must be either my way of keeping a diary or keeping folks informed. Next time I will see which of these two is the reason or if I really should be writing a blog .Is it even being read or worth reading? Can I transcend love – real love through this medium? Let Agape be the Divine guiding principle in our life. Much Love, Joy and Blessings are yours.

WINSOM AT WORK

2006-10-21T21:02:00.000-06:00

Many of the readers of my blog has been asking, "Why is it only Marlene that is working?" I have also been working but Marlene never think of taking pictures.Ihave been the one to document all that is happening on the land.So today I told her to get the camera and document me moving dirt around with the caterpillar.I have always wanted to use one since the days when my son Karl was a little lad with all the Tonka
equipment.I use to play with his Tonka Caterpillar for hours filling up his dump trucks.Now I have the real thing in my backyard and the operater was kind enough to let me get in on the action.Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed being up so high.Blessings and Joy. Go Gratitude.

GODS CREATION & BEAUTY IN MY BACKYARD

2006-10-20T18:56:00.000-06:00

RUSTY MAKING SURE THIS IS THE RIGHT SPOT

2006-10-14T07:27:00.000-06:00

WORKING DOGS

2006-10-14T06:53:00.000-06:00

AT WORK

2006-10-14T06:25:00.000-06:00

clearing site for the future home of massage studio

2006-10-12T19:06:00.000-06:00

AGAPE- ultimate love

2006-10-11T22:03:00.000-06:00

Every second I live continues to amaze me and I have lived 1,887,182,803 seconds already and hope to live many, many more. Belize is teaching me many things. For those who know me, everything was yesterday but here I am, learning patience and I am learning it very well.
Presently I am reading, “Longing for Darkness – Tara and the Black Madonna”, “Autobiography of a Yogi “, “Frida Kahlo – the Brush of Anguish” and “ A Rosicrucian Notebook – The Secret Sciences Used by Members of the Order”. Some of these books I had bought many, many moons ago. I just could not settle down to reading them. I am now realizing that the real reason was that the time was not right; I would not be able to accept or carry out the lessons that I would be taught. The lesson from each is one and the same. It is about agape - ultimate love, living life to the fullest and relying on our inner knowledge. Over the years I have come to realize that we all have the answers inside ourselves. We just need to go down deep and find it and then it means so much more to us, because we came up with the answer for ourselves. It is so much easier to ask someone for the answer than searching for it within ourselves. Once we awaken our memory to what we have to do, everything will flow for us. Finding our center and moving forward will bring us lots of happiness and I just cannot wait to see all of us in that space. I am well and happy. Much Love to All. Blessings.

KNOWLEDGE

2006-10-06T08:07:00.000-06:00

Sunny Cayo has become Rainy Cayo and I love it. The land had been so dry and the plant life had been dying for a drink. My prayers were heard in the Universe because these last couple of days has been producing so much rain. Any time of the day or night torrents of water keep falling from the huge magnificent black clouds sweeping across the sky. Looking on the rain, seeing the dryness becoming wet clay reminds me of where I came from and where I will return. Everything in this life can be muddy or be beautiful depends on how you look at it. I want to be lifted up out of the mud into the beautiful clay. Everything is important in this life. See the small rocks to the big boulders each are important on the land. We are all important, from the biggest to the littlest, from the richest to the poorest, from the Queen to the beggar, from the mountains to the valley, rivers to the sea.
Have you noticed that the days are getting shorter and time has sped up? The year just started and it is at the end already. Sleep is a thing of the past for me. I have spent the last few years asleep .Now I am awake and feel I have so much to do that I am keeping the candle burning. I have cut myself free from all that was. I need to listen and understand the messages now. I am searching for more. Is it knowledge?
Can you hear me? Can you see me, can you touch me, and can you feel me. Are you hearing me? Much Love, Peace, Joy, and Beauty is wished for you.

Collared Forest-Falcon & Leaf Bug

2006-09-27T07:55:00.000-06:00

As I sipped my coffee gazing out the kitchen window this morning a full grown Collared Forest-Falcon came into my view. He hovered for a moment over the garden and then came down on a tree limb. It is such a beautiful bird, and my very first sighting since being in Belize. I had to get Marlene to come and see it. We watched for a while then I left to get my camera. As I was returning, Marlene said it had flown off. We went out side to see if I could spot it, but alas it was not around. On the wall by the door we did get another surprise, I call it a leaf bug. It looked just like a green leaf on the wall, and then I saw that it had legs and was moving.The dragonfly was from yesterday in my studio. I need to get a book on insects in Belize. This is an excellent start to a day that will only get better. Go Gratitude and Many Blessings.

Picture Diary

2006-09-25T18:30:00.000-06:00

BELIZE 25TH BIRTHDAY

2006-09-25T11:37:00.000-06:00

This past week has been the 25th anniversary of Belize independence. We have been working so hard we decided to take a couple of days off and do some exploring in our neighborhood. Of course we are such workaholics we could not take off completely. We spent the mornings working and afternoons going in a radius of ten miles from the village. We visited some magnificent lodges / retreats near to us. One being “ Blancaneaux Lodge” which is owned by Francis Ford Coppola (director of the Godfather, Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now). There were a group of writers from the USA at the lodge doing some short story writing but also having lots of fun. We also visited “Five Sisters Lodge” which was also very well groomed. We spent time visiting other folks whom we like and admire who moved to Belize for a slower pace. We all seem to be working much harder than when we were in our home countries. Here the work gives us much joy and satisfaction. We are very tired at the end of a day but we sure can see why we are tired .We then get so refreshed just standing on the land, soaring on the wind. There is so much power, when I allow nature to transport me to another realm. There is power all around me, I stand alone, touching the sound of silence as the night enfolds me and nothing disturb the sound of silence not even the peenie wallies (fire flies). I cannot explain what is happening all I know is that it is right. The expanse of the sky, the magnitude of clouds, the brilliant colours of the sunsets, the enormous stars have given me the key to living. I am slowly learning to let go. I am safe and happy

THE JUNGLE RULES

2006-09-19T07:30:00.000-06:00

Life at Winsom Ocean Spirit Fire Temple has been moving at a slow yet fast pace. Each day we do the same laborious work trying to control our little spot in the jungle that we call home. I realize if we should stop working for a week the scorpions, lizards, bugs, possum, snakes, frogs, anteater, armadillo, agouti, ocelot toucan, parrots, swallows, and not to mention all the insects, would be living in the temple. The spider webs would have all open space weaved closed and the vines would cover from top to bottom of the temple. If we stopped working for two months on the cleared place you would not be able to tell that a temple existed there or that the area had been cleared. In other words the jungle dictates to us how much work we have to do each day; the jungle rules.
I have not written for a while because my computer was all messed up. Then my email somehow decided that some folks should be blocked and some very important emails were sent to cyber land, where I think they just disintegrated into ash. To make matters worse my online banking system went mad and shut down my account for three weeks. It did not want me stealing from myself and I have been unable to access any money until I could prove that I was I. I was told by email yesterday that the computers are satisfied that this is I and as of tomorrow morning I can access money from Belize. I almost had to come back to Canada to prove that I was really Winsom. If this had happened to me in Canada, I would not have been able to survive three weeks without borrowing from family/ friends. With all the obstacles I am still enjoying being here in Belize at this time and feel we did the right thing. I do miss some things and some friends but there are so much here to make up for those losses. I also have to remember, that we are multi-dimensional beings and exist on multi-dimensional levels. Whether it is through our thoughts, dreams, astral travel or other non-physical contact we are never really apart...we are all one!
Not having things like wine has forced me into trying to make my own from the local berries here. I know nothing about wine making so if someone reading this blog have a very simple fool prove fruit wine recipe I would love to get it. Remember there are no stores to buy any wine making kit or utensils, so please let the equipment be things I can find in my kitchen.
I feel so much love in this world and I want to testify to the love in this world. Lets gather as a massive voice and sing, talk, show the love and do the work we came to do .I know people think I am strange but I know the Ancestors and Great Spirit sees me and watches over me. Many Blessings and more Love than you can keep are wished for you. Pass it on. Ashe

FIRE MOON

2006-09-07T07:39:00.000-06:00

Two nights ago Marlene called me to look at the sky through the window, was it a fire in the distant or was it a space ship about to land. I was excited as I watch this glowing golden circle with fire around it. My people have come to get me I thought. They finally found me here on Earth and sent a ship for me. To see better I decided to go outside, Marlene was not sure if we should do that but we did go outside to see what it was. The biggest, lowest golden moon I ever did see. It was sitting so low in the sky with a fire ring around it. Suddenly I sprang into action. I have to get my camera, record this moment for my blog. Took many pictures but only four came out and they did not look like what we were seeing with the naked eye. After awhile we went inside but we both had so much energy and were very hungry. It is now midnight and here we are settling down to eating whatever we could find. We both stayed up reading and talking until the wee hours of the morning. The next morning we slept in until 6:30 am only to be woken up by our dogs pulling their food dish around. Besides getting this land into shape, which needs many,many, more hands than Marlene and I have. Doing ritual work not much more is happening except this weekend 9th we are having a sleepover party with six strong women from Britain, USA and Canada. This should be YaYa fun .Go with Blessings and remember tonight is a full moon, use its full potential for bringing in Abundance in everything, it is our birthright. Blessings.

MY GIFT

2006-09-01T08:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday the Universe gave me a gift. With my eyes I saw the prettiest, largest grasshopper I ever did see. It was five inches long with iridescent blues and greens with a lavish swipe of golden red along the tail.It acted as if it was communicating with us before flying off. I took many pictures with Marlene’s help. It’s not the same as seeing it in person but enjoy and give thanks.
The last few days have been so hectic and filled with a lot of hard backbreaking work. Picking stones from the fields, taking them to the front to create a drive/walkway. Taking wheelbarrow loads of chopped wood to the wood shed for future bonfires and outdoor cooking. We have been trying to get a flower garden going on the little hill in front of the house. When we were renting and had time on our hands, I had got many cuttings from folks around. I started them in plastic bags and many of them took to my loving care and tender talks and without any effort they grew and sprouted.
If plants grow so easily without any effort and produce so much abundance in flowers and fruits why do we human struggle so much to do the same thing? I look around me and see how much leaves a tree has. The amount of fruits and flowers that is on plants, the many birds and insects around. All this make me know for sure that The Great Spirit / God /Allah/Jehovah likes abundance and is willing to create it for us all. Lets stop struggling and just live and celebrate. Above all the wonders of the world the treasures of this earth are the measure of the love that is placed here for each of us. Lets give love and gratitude. The plants and animals do it many times each day.
The dolphin rise out of the water giving praise and gratitude. How about the trees with their limbs open wide giving thanks. Place the souls/soles of your feet; better yet lie naked on the earth, feels its heart beat – saying thanks. The whole universe is giving thanks. The mountains are reaching for the sky touching the clouds as they join in the harmony of the dance giving thanks. This is my life – these are my teachers. I am full of Gratitude. Blessings and Joy to all.

GO GRATITUDE WEEKEND

2006-08-19T09:16:00.000-06:00

This has been the craziest of weeks and filled with loads of gratitude’s. Saturday morning went into town very early as the market and all that fresh fruits / vegetables were calling to me. Spent time talking to a number of folks and then headed to my favorite Internet café. First email I opened was from friends who was here in my town and was unable to reach me and they were leaving the next morning. They have been in Belize for a week. The hotel was just down the road so I signed out and went to find them. Took them back to my house to hang out for a bit. On arriving home we found our gate blocked by a huge tree that had snapped in two. We managed to inch our way through the gate. With saws in hand our friend helped us remove the tree from blocking our gateway.” GO GRATITUDE.” At eight p.m. I had to take them back into town and then head to a party. Just as we started down the road our muffler fell partly to the ground. My friend climbed under the car and tied up the muffler and said it would hold to go to the party. “GO GRATITUDE.” The party was small and we had lots of fun. At one- thirty a.m. Marlene and I said our good byes and headed for home seven miles away. Three miles down the road our Muffler fell down again. With party clothes, I climbed under the car and tied up the muffler. We slowly inched along the bumpy road to home.” GO GRATITUDE.” Monday bright and early we went to have our muffler fixed and of course along the way to the mechanic the muffler fell off again. We had no more wire but a kind man passed us and then turned back and he help us both with wire and tying on the muffler. “ GO GRATITUDE.” We spent all day at the shop waiting to get our car fixed. At five pm we finally left the shop. ”GO GRATITUDE.” We got home too late to pay the person that was doing some work for us on the land; we decided to go to his home and pay him. His road was so bad from the heavy rains we had been having. We managed to get to him after deciding to park the car and walk the last bit. On coming out, just a block from the main road we god stuck. I tried pushing as Marlene drove but all we managed to do is spray mud all over including myself. Three young men came down the road all spiffed up going girl cruising. They stopped to help as two other men joined them. “ GO GRATITUDE.” Pushing was not doing the trick so they decided to lift the car up and out. We could not thank them enough as we looked at them covered from head to toe with mud. “ GO GRATITUDE.” I do hope the girls saw what they did and gave points for being good Samaritans. I am so grateful for all the people who have helped me and I thank the ones yet to come. I am alive and living and loving every moment of life.
God/Sage/Allah is good. The Ancestors are good. Joy and Blessings.

Winsom Jabali and Rusty with the days reap including wasps stings

2006-08-12T15:01:00.000-06:00

JOYS & AGONY

2006-08-12T14:31:00.000-06:00

The Joys and Agony of living in this beautiful paradise. The first thing I do is to go outside, greet the morning and welcome myself back to this plane and give thanks and gratitude. Yesterday, upon getting out side, the first thing I noticed was that my plantain tree had broken in half due to the weight of the plantains. I slowly walk to the back giving Praise as the dogs prance around. Very happy to see me after a night without human contact and knowing that soon it would be mealtime. I decided that the bunch of plantains had to be cut down. The plant could not be saved, but the plantain was fit and could be eaten now. I walked back to the house got my machete and preceded to cut the plantain stalk. With the first swipe a cloud of wasp arose from under the leaves and a host of wasps managed to sting me over the face and arms. I ran for the house with the dogs running faster than me. In the safety of the house I checked my bites, which by now was hurting and found I was stung seven times. With my face and arms plastered with baking soda I decided to get my plantain. With all the commotion, Marlene is now awake and is telling me she will go out and get the plantain. I replied “ I am a brave soul; I am going to get the plantain”. I went out, made a smoke stick and retrieved my plantain this time without the dogs help. I then noticed that a bunch of bananas had pulled over the plant. I smoked the banana plant, cut my bunch of bananas and headed back to the house laden with the Universe gift to us. I close my eyes and feel the love and I am transported to all the realms of the Universe that I know is the power of pure love which is The Great One/ Sage /God / Allah.
This morning I woke up unable to see as my eyes were swollen shut but it is late afternoon and the swelling is down quite a bit. We notice that our young pup, Spirit has a very swollen mouth, and maybe he was stung that is why they did not come back on the second mission. I am alive, alive and on my journey. Joy, Blessings and Gratitude

2006-08-06T14:13:00.001-06:00

Red Sugarcane stand

2006-08-06T14:13:00.000-06:00

I sure enjoyed eating this seven footer sugarcane

2006-08-06T14:12:00.000-06:00

Guava just about ready

2006-08-06T14:11:00.000-06:00

Plantain we planted

2006-08-06T14:10:00.000-06:00

My very own Pitahiaya

2006-08-06T14:09:00.000-06:00

Green Bananas - green thumb

2006-08-06T14:07:00.000-06:00

Stripe Sugarcane

2006-08-06T14:06:00.000-06:00

Blessings for the land

PRISTINE WORLD

2006-08-04T14:54:00.000-06:00

There is a spiritual force pushing me into a bright light. Sometimes I think I am crazy until I see all around me, the magnificent birds etc. Two nights ago my dogs killed two, nine –banded Armadillo .In the morning we had the task of removing them from around the house to the land behind the Orchid. Yesterday as we awoke and came out side we were greeted with a host of black and Turkey Vultures circling and swooping down on the dead. Suddenly this hugh, huge white Vulture with a wingspan of at least sixty inches from tip to tip arrived on the scene. After circle, down he swooped and up came all the other Vultures. I ran for my camera and as Marlene held the dogs back I took the longest quietest, running strides across the back acre. Alas the Vulture came up, flew into a tree, then before I could focus again, it circled and flew off with all the other Vultures. I partly took long to focus the camera because I was in awe of such a beautiful, huge, graceful bird and I was watching it, forgetting to take a picture. The Vulture was completely white with around six inches to the end of the feathers tipped jet-black. I later found out it was a King Vulture with bodies up to 81cm.
Can you imagine this world in its pristine state surrounded by all its Glory? I can only imagine what the world would have been, what my eyes would have seen.
My soul is so awake and churning just as fast as this world is turning. The feeling this whole nature gives to me is more than I can hold. I need to spread the Joy and Love that I am feeling. God is great. The Ancestors are great. Blessings to all. Winsom

TIME OF FUN

2006-08-02T16:41:00.000-06:00

Recently I was in Sarasota, Florida for ten days visiting my dad and my youngest daughter Tara. It was a great surprise for them both and I had a wonderful time. Tara went to see her Granddad and I decided to crash their party. Tara has since left for Korea, next to Hong Kong and then, hopefully on to India. She will be gone for two years and I really, really wanted to see her before she left. It was such a marvelous time, helping my Dad and having some great Mother / Daughter time. Tara and I visited so many galleries in such a short time that my head was spinning. Just to have but one gallery in Belize would be such fun.

Since being back Marlene and I have been hard at work trying to get the front garden in. We planted many flowering shrubs and other tropical flowers like hibiscus, bougainvillea, poinsettia, buttercup, rose bush, ginger lily, bird of paradise. Most of these plants are from cuttings. I have been giving them lots of care in the nursery and now they are ready to face the elements and stand on there own. In Canada Marlene was never one to work in the garden but here in the tropics she has become a real gem in the garden.

The orchid needs lots of work; it is a struggle for two people to keep the jungle at bay. Today we hired a beautiful quiet man from the village to help us. He loves gardening and can do with some hard wealth. He has five acres of his own but his property and fruit trees are older and do not require as much care as a new orchid.

Today Marlene and I had sugar cane from the garden. I planted two joints of cane that was given to me for eating. Today I have two stands of sugarcane, could not wait any longer, I just had to test one. It is very soft and sweet sugarcane. I feel we have begun to feed our self in earnest as I await the first digging of our cassava.

Trying to control the jungle continues to be hectic but I do find times each day to give Gratitude. I am so Blessed. Joy and Light to all.

ALL IS WELL IN BELIZE

2006-07-24T12:31:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since my fingers danced and played across the keyboard. So much and yet so little has happened in this passing of time. Our builder, a Black American living in Belize for the last twenty years turned out to be not a man of his word. Our house is unfinished and he has the money. Presently there are four cases against him at the Supreme Court.
Belize has taught me so much and being filled with the Sage and Ancestor’s love, I just keep going, using all of their gifts. The powers of darkness/crooked builders cannot stop what God has placed in me. I walk and work on the land – singing songs of praise and gratitude.
I am surrounded by the glory of this land. Ocean water, Ancient caves, Rivers flowing by, Hundred year old trees and do not forget the great pyramids. We have got it all. My heart is singing – feeling like a thousand fluttering of wings of butterflies from outside my door. I am soaring beyond this world. My vibrations are if a thousand parrots have lifted me up.
For my Canadian/American friends and relatives who ask, when will I move back to North America my answer is simple. I traveled so many roads before following my dreams. Now I am singing songs of love and gratitude. Living in a place like this, trampling across the land and seeing all the wisdom that is placed in front of me, have awoken me to the truth of living so there is no turning back.
The work to keep the jungle at bay in the acre that we have cleared is quite a task for just two people. Marlene and I take it in stride and make sure we enjoy the land and joy that comes to us as we work. The fruit trees are doing very well even after being attacked by we-we ants. In another two weeks we will be harvesting green bananas and plantains. Guavas and coffee beans will be ready to be picked in three weeks. I do know that the great one and the Ancestors are walking this land hand in hand with Marlene and I.
Here is to God and the Ancestors with love and Blessings. Winsom.

I voted today

2006-03-01T16:43:00.000-07:00

Well Belize is treating me well. I am full of gratitude.Today is election day for Mayor and councillors and now Marlene and I have red fore finger. Yes we voted and it feels good.There is still lots to do to get the house in shape but it is a blessing living on the land watching and hearing all the wild life.I still have no proper communication out on the land so updates will be far between until we get a system. I am well and happy. . Blessings and Joy until next time I am in town.

Cermony and Ritual

2006-02-02T17:34:00.000-07:00

Life is very good. We have moved into our new house. Still many things need to be finished off but we are so blessed. In the mornings I wake up to such wonderful views and sounds that I am so full of gratitude. Our dogs are wondering what is going on. Our fence to keep the dogs safe is being built. The hot water now works but guess what. I have no telephone system or internet acesss where I am so here I am in town trying to catch up on emails and get a quick note out. This morning I did a cermony and ritual to honour my mother who died one year ago today. It was a very happy cermony and all the family and many friends were doing one at the same time, so we were not alone. Again I have to say how Blessed I really am. Blessings to all. Winsom

UNLIMITED ABUNDANCE FOR ALL

2006-01-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

This year seems to have come in on a running race. We have sped through eight days already but to me it seems like just around the second day of the year. I am feeling the need to spend more time in nature. One of the ancient forms of African spiritual practice is to go into Nature to mark changes in our life, clarify a situation, or to seek healing. I have become so North Americanized, that I have forgotten so much that my Ancestors had placed in my memory bank until I worked with the Dagara Medicine Man, Malidoma Some and Medicine Woman, Sobonfu Some, who awoken my memory. I feel that what I am noticing in nature are things I need to pay attention to, for my inner guidance. Everything in nature are guidance for our life so that we can live a more balance and effective way in this Universe. If we pay more attention to what nature is telling us then we will reap our birthright that the Universe has promised. Our birthright is unlimited Abundance in every form. I tend to limit myself; if I take a serious look at nature I will see that there is unlimited abundance in everything. The Great Sage did not give trees a few leave or the sky a few stars or give us only a bucket of water. All these things are in massive supply .It is time we start to realize that the Great Sage has limitless abundance for each and every one of us and we should receive our abundance with Gratitude and still be ready to receive more and more. I am listening to nature as it supports and advice me in every aspect of my life. I am absorbing the gifts of every element of Nature and I am tapping into the unlimited energy from the earth to manifest all that I want and need. . I am learning to re-open my connection with the essence of all nature: wind, water, fire, earth, animals, plants and rocks to give me a practical guidance. I am using the Universe to liberated my own consciousness which will lead to revelations and a new and more insightful me. I am open to all and ready to receive all gifts that the Universe has for me. Blessings and Gratitude

New Year - Full Circle

2006-01-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

I have been in Belize for exactly one year and four days and what a magnificent three hundred and sixty-nine days it has been. This year has taught me so much but I think my biggest lesson was patience and being in the flow of life.
Christmas eve was spent visiting friends and taking gift basket of assorted items for the children .We returned home around eight p.m. where we had supper and then lied in hammocks watching the night sky with a cool breeze rustling the palms as the stars did their dance across the sky. At midnight the chill and dew sent us into the house where I drifted off to beautiful music.
Christmas morning we all arose to the most gorgeous day and the soft sound of carols drifting on the wind from our neighbor’s house. We had a quite day, just enjoying the gift of time as we made a Christmas feast for the three of us.
The week past by so fast and before we realized, it was New Years Eve. Marlene and I decided not to go out that night but we did visit some special friends during the day. New Years eve I made a spicy meatball stew and made fresh flour tortillas. At dusk we lit around twenty- five candle lanterns and placed them outside around the house. Marlene and I sat in our hammocks eating and enjoying the starry night and discussing the importance of a new year or rather the circle of the years and all the gratitude we had .We thought of all the gifts we had that could be shared or passed on. We both called it a night at ten pm. Suddenly there were the loud bursts of firecrackers and fireworks. I raised my head, looked at the clock and said Happy New year, Marlene replied with Prospero Anos. I entered dreamland and the Spirit world where new Rituals and medicine were taught to me.
This morning I awoke quite early, remembering talking to my mother and all the rituals and medicine that was given to me during the night. I went outside, slipped out of my slippers, stood on the grass with its glistening dew and gave thanks to the Great Spirit / Universe, my Ancestors, Orishas and all Good Spirits that work with me. I went inside to my Altar, took it apart, cleaned every object and slowly replaced them with my prayers for the next part of the journey.
As I sat in front of the altar I thought of the last three hundred and sixty- five days. All the catastrophes, in Africa, Asia, America, China, everywhere ... and we humans still thinks that we are superior and can control everything. Nature will always be stronger and show us just how tiny and insignificant we are in the big picture. I also thought of how we are responsible for what is happening in the world. We were given this wonderful paradise to look after and all we did was take, take,take until we destroyed the balance. I wonder if some of the other people that think the same, would bring forth their gifts to help bring healing to mother earth. With so many changes in the world and many conscious spiritual people arriving in San Ignacio from around the world, telling stories of how Spirit have guided them to the area, has made me realize that dreams I had twenty-five years ago is now being activated and the wonderful healers from around the globe that are being sent to this part of the world all have something to offer the new world order that is coming.
So much has been happening here Spiritually for me. My dreams are profound and the Spirits on the land are very active. We have so many plans for this land that we are going to need all the great energies working on our behalf. They have already begun and I am enjoying communicating with them. Sometimes I think this is quite a big venture to embark on, but anyone who has been successful in any venture has had to take a chance and throw some caution to the wind. It is the beauty of jumping off and not knowing where we would land. Marlene and I landed well and hope soon we will have a beautiful spiritual self- sufficient place to invite people down to live a little closer to the natural elements of the earth. My wish for you in 2006 is all that the Universe wishes for you. Blessings.

.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME - GO GRATITUDE

2005-12-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yes it is my Birthday and I woke up at five a.m. lying quitely thinking of all the things I have gratitude for.The main one was that the Universe/Great Spirit/God has given me so many days over the years thus I am able to try and perfect the way in which I present my gifts to the world.I am up now and have lots to do so will write tonight again. Happiness and Gratitude.

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS MY.......HOUSE

2005-12-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well it is the eleventh of December fourteen days before Christmas and twelve days to my Birthday and I am no closer to moving into our house. The contractor is going at snails pace to do the finishing work. He only has two people working on it. When we speak to him he tells us he is trying to get it finished as soon as possible but I no longer believe him.Marlene is the only one speaking to him at this point. So much has gone wrong with this project.At this point all I can think is that the Universe and Ancestors are trying to teach me Patience and Grace.
My repetitive syndrome from use of the computer is much better but I am still watching how much time I spend on it. I cannot believe that I hated computers so much and it was Djanet and Nalo that convinced me it would be much easier to update my CV's etc.if I used a computer. Remembering those days of sheets of typing paper and whiteouts make me cringe. I must say I do miss getting letters in the mail where I would read them over and over sipping on cups of spice tea. I have decided that when I move to my house I will take Sunday afternoons to write letters on beautiful paper, maybe made by me. I will have my fountain pens and different coloured inks on my desk looking out over the garden onto our gorgeous mountain range.I am so Blessed and full of Gratitude. Much Love, Joy, Peace, Happinesss and Abundance to all.

Magical

2005-11-20T12:22:00.000-07:00

At four p.m. yesterday Marlene and I met up with a friend and fellow spiritual worker at our designate meeting place. The two cars left town for our land to prepare for a healing ritual for a client. Our friend, helping in the ceremony is from the U.S but has been living in Belize for quite awhile. This friend is an initiated priest in the Ancient Mayan tradition. Together with her traditions and my Maroon, Dagara and Yoruba traditions we created a ritual space on the land. At quarter to six just at that special time of day where the evening meets the night the client for the ritual who was waiting in the car was summoned. As I brought her over the hilltop the magic started to happen .The fire we had built was lit and busted into flames and the soft whisper of Marlene’s drumming floated up to us. We went down the hillside through a walkway of candles .At the entrance to the circle we were ashed as the smell of frankincense floated around us. As we went further into the circle the smell of copal, then cedar surrounded us. As we reached the center the Mayan priestess came forward with sage where we were all smudged and together we offered up a prayer. As the ritual precede the moon came out but a dark cloud floated across its surface, covering it up. We had so many candles and fire flies around that we were not without light. The sound of the drum was immense as it echoed back to us from the hilltop. Our client took the time she needed to go through each altar. At the Water Altar, the last of the altars, she just sat there absorbing its beauty and all the smells of roses, kus kus, orange leaves with flowers, Ylang Ylang and a special incense from Ethiopia called Queens incense. Just as she was finished and stood up the clouds drifted away and the moon was in full glory. We all went wild with love and joy. The healing had started. We packed up and went off to eat samosas, yellow rice with curry chicken and bottles of Belikin beer. Blessings.

Lazy Sunday

2005-11-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today was a very,very lazy day as you can see from the pictures below.Actually it is still going on. Marlene is now reading in a hammock, Tara is gone to bed and I am on the computer for a short time.Much Love and Joy.

Yes another Toucan they are everywhere

2005-11-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Toucan

2005-11-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Marlene resting

2005-11-13T20:11:00.000-07:00

Winsom and Oshun

2005-11-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

Creek & Dams

2005-11-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

At the Caribbean Botanic conference we met so many wonderful people plus many botanist whose specialty was medicinal plants. One of the many people was a botanist from St. Lucia who now resides in Alberta. The conference now over, with some days to spare and his wealth of information especially on medicinal plants our St. Lucian decide to spend some time with us. As we reached our land, he quickly started identifying different plants and flowers as we got out of the truck. Marlene, Tara and I learned things about plants that we knew nothing about and new herbal uses for medicinal plants. We walked through the fruit trees that we’ve planted and got some good encouragement and herbal ways to deal with the plant pests. I feel my brain now has so much knowledge about plants that I need to use the information. After all that brainwork we went for a walk to the creek near the back of our land. It was sad to discover much of the water had been dammed by the owners of the neighboring land to make a pool for swimming. I miss the flowing of the water to the big river. I am not sure what I will do about the dam. It has been a long time since we took the time to go down the back and now realize we need to check the land and waterways regularly. Our St. Lucian friend found a little mango tree by the side of the pool that he lovingly transplanted to our land. In the planting process he did a major ritual, which included prayers and ritual watering.
Marlene, our friend and I went out to a South Indian restaurant for dinner. We sat on the covered patio as the rain poured eating, drinking and talking about how blessed we are. After dinner he presented us with around thirty red cedar seedlings for our land, which we planted this morning in the warm rain. Many Blessings to all.

WEEK LONG CELEBRATION

2005-11-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

We just finished off a week of celebrating Marlene’s first birthday in Belize. The week started with a day at an Herbal Medicine Conference. This was the first time this conference was being held in Belize, and we were lucky to have it only a forty-five minute drive away at DuPlooy’s Lodge and Botanical Garden. Marlene and I got to meet some new and interesting people from around the world and learn much about collecting, growing and using herbal and medicine plants. Marlene seemed to have a good time and enjoyed the first of many birthday adventures and gifts that she was to receive throughout the week.
In the middle of the week we went to “Pops”, our favorite local hangout, where there is always good food, and lots of talks with the other customers. We had arranged to meet up with some of our British friends at POPS. We had a nice lunch of fajitas, burritos and tacos with just-tart-enough limeade and some of our local beer. Marlene was presented with a long blade machete from our friends, with a file that had a beautifully carved handle. One of our friends had done the carving. Marlene was eager to get out to our land to try her hand with her new machete. As usual the next morning she was able to test out her machete, as we headed to the land to do our weeding and maintenance of the land.
On Saturday we had arranged to pick up a couple of friends and we all jammed into our little truck and off we went to our once a month Jazz night at Caesar’s. We met up with others as arranged .We had a large table to listen, move and dance to the music. At the end of the first set the band broke into a Jazz rendition of “Happy Birthday” and our table and the rest of the room broke into song for Marlene. A birthday cake was brought out and we all sang and clapped as Marlene did a birthday dance to the music. It was an unexpected surprise for her, but she seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. The cake was sliced up and shared with many. The night ended with lots of hugs and smiles and anticipation for the next Jazz night. Marlene had a great first birthday in Belize, and said she was so blessed.
Joy and Blessings are coming from this land of Love to all.

Tara face painting

2005-10-29T23:12:00.000-06:00

HALLOWEEN

2005-10-29T23:04:00.000-06:00

The school in our village of Cristo Rey was planning a Halloween fundraiser. Marlene, Tara and I decided to get involved and do face painting for the children. For a donation the children and a few adults had their face painted. Blood, witches, ghosts, spiders, butterflies and flowers was the request of the afternoon. The fundraiser also had karaoke, BBQ chicken, and games of chances. The school made some money from the face-painting and other activities. This money will be used for supplies and maintenance of the school.

Picture Diary

2005-10-27T22:08:00.000-06:00

The Chinese Checkers players in our front garden

2005-10-27T22:05:00.000-06:00

Taking the group for a ride through the botanical gardens in Cayo