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Rambling Along the Metaphysical Path
by Georgia E. Warren
Publisher, Metaphysical Times
I first learned about magic, science, belief, exceptional writing, illustration and the power of advertising from the inside cover of comic books.
Magic, science, belief, writing, illustration, and advertising have served me well throughout my life and career plus they've all played a decent part in paying the bills. I was totally engrossed in comic books. Not that they were comic. I wasn't fond of Donald Duck, Little Lulu, Mickey Mouse, or Audrey. No, I snuck my older brother's Superman and Batman.
It wasn't the stories that caught my attention, it was that inside cover... SEA-MONKEYS!
I believed in every word, the vivid colored illustrations, and the magical science that would bring them to life in my own room. "MOTHER, I WANT SEAMONKEYS. PLEASE." I was informed I would have to buy them myself and not out of allowance. I would have to do extra chores for the money. Well, I did, and finally the package really arrived.
Do you remember Sea-Monkeys? They are still around, Wal-Mart sells them.
I followed the instructions. I had the perfect spot in my room for them.
I was so excited about the prospect of having all of these new friends, I threw up.
"JUST ADD WATER"
Well, if you are older than, well, maybe ten, you know they are brine-shrimp and are not the kind of magic I imagined at all. But, and it is a big but, they did come alive. Another older brother (not the comic book brother, the oldest brother) got me interested in these little creatures for what they were. The animals sold as Sea-Monkeys are an artificial breed known as Artemia NYOS (New York Ocean Science), formed by hybridising different species of Artemia.They undergo cryptobiosis or anhydrobiosis. A condition of apparent lifelessness which allows them to survive the desiccation of the temporary pools in which they live.
I took my Sea-Monkies to school for "Show and Tell" (my mother drove me so they would get there okay). I started a lifetime interest in the magic of water.
There are different kinds of water, there are different states of water, there is healthy, potable water, there is poisonous water. One over lying truth: Life on this planet depends on the existence of water. Without water there is nothing. No living beings, no plant life, no spores, no thing but igneous rock.
Why do we feel better by lakes, the ocean, water falls or after a cleansing rain? The following excerpt is from webmd.com:
"May 6, 2002 -- There's something in the air and while it may not be love, some say it's the next best thing -- negative ions.
Negative ions are odorless, tasteless, and invisible molecules that we inhale in abundance in certain environments. Think mountains, waterfalls, and beaches. Once they reach our bloodstream, negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy.
It's too early to tell for sure, experts tell WebMD, but that's not to say there is not some sound science behind the concept.
These forms of moving water release negative ions, it isn't just emotional. Negative ions cleanse the air. Pollutants fall out of the air and to the ground."
We live on a planet that depends on a regular, plentiful, water supply to thrive. We are seeing more and more erratic weather. In the last one hundred years we have watched Onondaga Lake in Central New York turn from a beautiful healthy lake to one that become dead and poisonous. When I was a graduate student in Ohio we would sit by the Cuyahoga River and throw matches at the water to watch it burn from the pollution.
This summer, I lived it first hand. We had a drought. The weather played some other magic tricks on us. Warm weather too early, a frost too late. That along with the dry season has turned the fruit on 112 Pear trees to a few pears on five or six trees. We still aren’t ready to be in the pear “business.” That’s a couple of years away.
We were the luckiest people in our neighborhood. Our neighbors lost apricots and peaches that they would have sold commercially.
Our well went dry on a daily basis from watering everything we could reach with a hose and carrying water even further in big plastic cans. My flowers were a luxury that received what water fell on them while I hosed the Raspberries. Perhaps too late in the summer to save much of our garden, we bought a 550 gallon water tank and had it filled. The highest spot for it for gravity feed was in the front yard.
My "Sea-Monkey" mind is still alive
The water tank looked like a circus wagon to me and at least we had fun with it.
I moved from reading my brother's comics to a fascination with speculative fiction; possibly too much. Isaac Azimov, my hero, was a mathematician and wrote popular science and science fiction. In the 1970s he wrote seriously about the dangers of ruining our environment. Of course Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles” was a favorite, and I read it more than once.
I wonder if the Martians may have destroyed their own planet. Did they have water and then loose it? Why are there canals? How very similar Mars is to Earth, except for the water . Can we become another Mars? Are we already becoming another Mars? Has all evidence of life just disappeared from this red planet, except for “the canals”?
There are people who claim that it is not our reckless irresponsibility for the changing climate. Look at the statistics, year after year we have record warmer temperatures, too much rain in one area and too little in another. Floods, droughts, high temperatures. Are we ruining our health in an overcrowded world, locked in air-conditioned offices, houses, and automobiles without the benefits of fresh air and healthy, natural spaces, that develop negative ions?
From Shirley
by Corbie Mitleid
...“Someone told me today that this was her funeral, and that she had died in February. I was stunned. I mean, I hadn’t seen a lot of her and I knew she hadn’t been feeling well… but…
“I saw Shirley in her garden, and it was four or five weeks ago. It was about 10:30 at night, and I saw Shirley walking around in her back yard, in her bathrobe. So I went down and asked if everything was all right.
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