Attack of the Gallbladder Sludge Monster!

Polyps and Sludge and Cysts! OH MY! When one thinks of the stereotype of elders exchanging complaints around the dinner table, things like “the rheumatism”  “gout ” and “gallbladder troubles” likely come to mind.  In the hubris manner of the young and the healthy I imagined that I would never fall prey to such topics of conversation. Ye…

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Beyond Awareness II- The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire

Yesterday I sent out a long post contrasting the Shirtwaist Strike with the whole October pink mania.  In Part II we will discuss the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire which followed the strike, as it relates to metastatic breast cancer – which is when cancer has spread beyond the breast into other parts of the body, the brain, liver, bone…

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Beyond Awareness Month: Lessons from the Shirtwaist Strike of 1909

What follows is an account of the Shirtwaist Strike of 1909 as it might relate to Breast Cancer Awareness month. In late September 1909 some brave women, seamstresses actually, organized a general strike that pulled in over 20,000 garment workers.  They were fighting for safer working conditions, a fair wage, regular working hours, and the…

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The Inner Puppet Show.

Yesterday was so very beautiful. After work we celebrated a family birthday at Shively Park with a picnic supper.  The trees there are big and old and have the feel that they are holding the world together. Two beech trees on either side of the park have covered the ground with their burst open little spiky…

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Becoming a Frog on my way to Zen Princess.

All through this journey I have been focused on the idea of metamorphosis. At first all I knew was that I wanted to change, and focused on changing into a new self that was no longer “compatible with cancer.” I started out looking for clues on what I needed to do differently and then worked on…

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World Peace Day – Pray for Sacred Lands.

“To us, as caretakers of the heart of Mother Earth, falls the responsibility of turning back the powers of destruction. You yourself are the one who must decide. You alone – and only you – can make this crucial choice, to walk in honor or to dishonor your relatives. On your decision depends the fate…

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Holding up the sky for Chicken Little.

  First off my MRI results came to the Clinic yesterday and the Nurse Practitioner, Marion, gave me the all clear. I looked at the report – and it is annoyingly brief. One would think with all the angst I have been feeling this past week that it would have more than a few sentence fragments….

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The Pink & The Pissed

My friend David recently sent me an excellent article* written by Barbara Ehrenreich in 2001. In it she bemoans the tyranny of all things Pink.  Barbara Ehrenreich is the brilliant mind behind the book Nickel and Dimed, and has spent decades questioning and critiquing and debunking the norms of our society. She helps us to see from new…

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Grati-Tuesday ~ Ursula K. LeGuin

This letter is the first of what I hope to become a regular practice of writing letters to those who have influenced and enriched my life. Some on my list are living, some dead. Some are people I have known personally, others are public figures. This week I thank one of my favorite authors, Ursula K. LeGuin. Welcome…

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Soothing surgery scars with some herbal whoop-ass.

Making herbal whoop-ass is something we really love to do here at the Hotel Daire. For several years we used Herbalism as the focus of our homeschool efforts. You can study chemistry, botany, math, anthropology, and history all while gaining useful skills and creating a family apothecary. Back in June Dr. Metro, my naturopath, suggested that I get…

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Call of the Wild

Labor Day weekend. Wow, seems like the summer flew by. Last week we traveled up into the edge of Olympic National Park to camp a few days, and then rushed back so I could meet up with my friend Amy to spend a few days in the Cascades at Breitenbush. 18 hours of driving to…

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