The sun is shining down on us after a few days of heavy rain. In fact the forecast for the rest of the week has sun for every day. We are camping – making the most of the last few days that the campgrounds are open. We feel pretty lucky :-)
Saturday and Monday were spent with family as Carm’s brother’s wife’s mother passed away last week. The whole family gathered around for the afternoon wake – all 11 of us (and I may have missed counting someone). They are not a quiet bunch… there weren’t too many other people there, mostly just Tammy’s family so perhaps the emptiness was filled just a bit by their presence. Certainly Tammy must have felt supported by her extended family.
Monday was the funeral and church service. I though I might write a bit about that, but realized that my atheist views might offend – and I don’t want to press my views onto others. Suffice it to say that if I were wanting to turn to the church, I would first investigate Buddhism. I am more interested in the spiritual life than by living by a bunch of archaic rules. I’ve read some books about people who have gone that direction and the beliefs seem to be more close to my own. One quote that particularly moved my was “God is in you, God is you”. It is certainly up for interpretation, but I took it to mean that we must find within ourselves our own peace. Which is relevant to me as I live my life with illness.
Either that or I’d just find my solace in Nature. And maybe start worshipping Mother Earth!
This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. ~ Dalai Lama
I was reading an article by a couple that had travelled to Myanmar (was Burma). They had taken a luxury cruise through part of the country with stops to visit the attractions of the area. As I read through the article I thought that this would be a wonderful way to view a country like this… and then they talked about eating their scrumptious breakfast and seeing the people on the shore with their oxen and donkeys. It suddenly struck me that there was something terrible about travelling in such luxury through a country filled with desperately poor people. It just seemed so wrong.
On a lighter note: I am loving my “griddler”! I’ve grilled “tons” of zucchini, some squash, lots of red peppers, green beans, mushrooms, and of course all of those ingredients sometimes make their way onto pannini sandwiches – yum! I’ve actually taken the bbq off the camper and will use the grill for the annual steak as well. It is just so easy to use, easy to clean, and does a bang up job on vegetables :-)
We had our “neighbours”, Bert and Susan, over for a glass of wine last night. They also have a Titanium that they love. We first met them years ago, and run into them regularly. It is fun to catch up on each other’s trips and troubles (cause you may have already guessed, an RV is a house that goes through hours of earthquake every time you drive, shaking the s&(# out of everything!)
I think I mentioned that last time we camped there were people talking down on those that aren’t outside all the time… well… it is 12:30pm with a strong shining sun and where are we? Inside! I guess we are inside dwellers. I do have the sun shining on my face though. We’ll sit outside for a while this afternoon – after we have our club sandwich at the Basket Case – and before we go to our dance class!
Religion is the opium of the masses.
Karl Marx
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