The HUMANS are out there! Stay home for your own safety!

Now that we are not on the road, it is easier to look back and appreciate it.
When you are out there, you get to see all sorts of educational things....I call it "visiting America"....

Billboards like the one for:

Angry Bull Steakhouse

right next to a hospital billboard:

We Treat Men Friends With Prostate Cancer

(Is it just me, or do you think they work as a team?)

Or.......how about this one...

Jesus Christ is Lord Travel Center 5 Miles Ahead!

Featuring the Heavenly Hamburger!

 

Then a bit further down the road, another billboard:

Top of Texas, Catholic Superstore!

And somehow we resisted stopping at:
Jesus Christ is Lord, Not a Swearword Travel Center
  
 OK, I can't just pick on Texas....
A sign we saw in Maine:
Benefit BBQ for Cancer!  Pork! Hamburgers! Hot Dogs!
("Yes", I thought, "this event will benefit CANCER...but not the cure or prevention!")

You might think this crazy little oxymoron is unusual, but you can find a pig roast for cancer in almost every state!




 

And just in case you didn't know that the cancer fundraisers around the world can be just as insane as in the USA, here is one in Ireland:

 
 There are things you only get to experience when you are on the road.....do you really want to miss one of the greatest southern wonders?  Jesus appearing in the kudzu? For a small fee, you don't have to miss out.

 

The Unimaginable

If you are someone who is willing to witness all the pain and beauty in the world on a regular basis, you have probably known despair.

A few months ago we stopped living full-time on the road in our solar camper and we started working on a house we bought near Santa Fe, New Mexico.  Working non-stop on the house has been a labor of LOVE.  And we have been physically and emotionally exhausted from the process.  Writing has not been an option for me.  I was too tired to be inspired. 

  

                                                                                       HOME

                                                                               

But now, we are in our home and loving it.  It is quiet, solid, peaceful and warm and we are surrounded by incredible day and night skies, a kirgillion birds and snoring neighborhood dogs (all spread out on rugs and furniture around the house).  All of the unloved critters in the area found us within a day of us being here.  I cleaned and dressed their physical wounds and JC and I continue to put healing love balm on their emotional wounds daily. 

One of the neighborhood, previously unloved dogs, resting on the sofa.

Seeing the deplorable condition of the dogs and other animals in the area along with doing my usual research for my work.... and, on top of that being exhausted and breathing lots of toxic stuff while working on the house, was making me sink deep into despair.

And then, just as unannounced as the despair came, it is gone.  Intention is so powerful.  I decided yesterday that I would read a few Mary Oliver poems each morning and write down a favorite line.  Every time I read her poetry, there is some line that grabs me and gives me exactly what I need. 

Today’s line was perfect: “Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable”

I think much of our despair comes from not being able to imagine a bright outcome when we see the suffering humans are causing in the world.  So, for now, I am going to leave some room in my heart for the unimaginable….A world free of needless suffering...a world where the humans care about life on earth and act on that caring.