The Free Radical

(Half the World by Rush from their 1996 album Test For Echo)

Sitka keeps expanding her collection of dead things daily. This is about the fourth dead squirrel brought to me by the dogs in recent months.

There was a serious shortage of pine cones this last winter. The squirrel population was decimated as a result. This summer, however, has obviously been the Summer of Love for squirrels. Now at the last week of summer, their numbers are back up to a level I’ve never witnessed before. So many freakin’ squirrels!

The dogs aren’t killing them though; they’re just collecting them as they’re found in various states of decay. I don’t know what’s killing them; maybe they’re just falling out of the trees due to overcrowding or some such thing.

I’ve only been able to find very limited bear signs in the woods this season.

The forest sovereign has moved into town for our entertainment and edification. I can’t walk to my local grocery store in Fairmont without having to step over at least five piles of bear poop along the way. It’s only a block from my house!

And in case you’ve missed this trending video from my home town, here’s a very popular video shot on the golf course just down the street from where I live:

Baby Bear Pole Dancing…

I’ve mentioned it a few times… that we have the opportunity to step off the wheel of karma. This has confused a lot of people. “What’s changed?” Actually, we’ve always had the opportunity to let go of the karmic design. In the past, it’s been called ‘enlightenment.’ Now we just call it growing up.

The abandonment of karma lies in our taking full responsibility for our lives– same as it ever was. And this notion of responsibility has also generated confusion.

It’s actually rather simple. It’s merely a taking responsibility for what you think and how you feel. No matter what ‘happens’ in life, you always have the choice of how you will feel about it moment to moment. Feelings do arise spontaneously, but in order for a ‘negative’ emotion to settle in beyond the moment, it must be fuelled by your thoughts. Thinking and feeling go hand-in-hand.

In the merest blaming of others, circumstance, or even God, karma is invoked. You are the sovereign fully responsible for how you feel in every moment of your life– if you so choose.

And that’s the simple message for today: karma is a choice.