ChatterLog May 2010

Greetings everyone, and welcome to the May ChatterBulletin! We have now moved from the sign of Aries into Taurus, so it is no big surprise that we have also just celebrated “Earth Day” on April 22nd. Earth Day began back in 1970 and was the brainchild of environmental activist, Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin who, after witnessing the horrific 1969 oil spill off the California coast, decided it was time to bring more attention to the widespread environmental degradation. That year over 20 million people participated in the Earth Day celebration and now, 40 years later, Earth Day is observed by more than 500 million people around the world. Unfortunately however, the oil spills are still happening, as witnessed recently off the Louisiana Gulf Coast.

Ironically (or not) some years ago I took a course called the “Landmark Forum” and it was thanks to and during this time that I decided I wanted to get back into photography in some way. In one particular exercise we were asked to come up with a phrase that perfectly described what our “intention” was with our goal. My phrase was, “The acknowledgment and preservation of the extraordinary beauty of the world” and the label upon which I wrote it is on my refrigerator to this day.

Possessions

© Louisa J. Curtis

You may remember the image of the single snowdrop in the last bulletin that so beautifully illustrated the end of winter, survival and the beginning of spring? Well, not only does the Earth sign of Taurus have green fingers in the garden, they are also natural healers, making use of the plants they grow. So I thought I would share another “miracle of nature” with you and one, which perfectly demonstrates that for every ailment and physical complaint out there, Mother Nature has provided us with a cure. A few days ago I noticed that the nasty little dry patch of skin in between two of my fingers had returned once again. It does this periodically so I applied some medicinal hand crème in the hopes it would go away. However, it didn’t really help, and then I remembered, silly me, I have an Aloe Vera plant! For those of you that do not have an Aloe plant, I highly recommend that you get one, they are very easy to grow, require little maintenance, and it’s easy to take cuttings in order to start another plant for somebody else. So anyway, I took a piece of the Aloe, opened it up to get to the slimy inside and rubbed a generous amount in between my fingers. By the next morning, the redness, dry patches and irritation had completely, not partially, but completely gone away and the skin was soft and smooth again. Pretty amazing!

I decided to make this month’s theme Possessions because the sign of Taurus is also known to enjoy beautiful objects of all kinds – animal, vegetable and mineral alike! For me, the topic of possessions brings up some interesting thoughts and emotions. On a humorous note, some of you may recall the late, great comedian George Carlin’s classic and brilliant sketch on “Stuff.”

I laugh every time I hear him talk about this particular topic, especially coming from a family of semi-hoarders, or should I say, “collectors.” In a slightly different version to the one on YouTube I remember it was so brilliant the way he began with the stuff we collect as a child, followed by the stuff we need when we leave home and go to college, and then we get married and move completely away from home and get even more new stuff, and yet we still have the original stuff stored at our parents, and it might and usually does stay there for years, even until our parents die. Well, my sister and I certainly got to experience that one last year after our mother had died. As I said, we come from a family of collectors.

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My mother, my sister & I circa the mid 1990’s

In closing, and even though in England where we grew up, this holiday takes place in the month of March, in continued memory of our mother, whom we miss a whole lot, let us not forget that here in the U.S. it is Mother’s Day on May 9th. So to all of you “mums” out there and to all those of us whose mothers are no longer with us – Happy Mother’s Day!