What Tarot Card are You?

You are Strength

Courage, strength, fortitude. Power not arrested in the act of judgement, but passing on to further action, sometimes obstinacy.

This is a card of courage and energy. It represents both the Lion's hot, roaring energy, and the Maiden's steadfast will. The innocent Maiden is unafraid, undaunted, and indomitable. In some cards she opens the lion's mouth, in others she shuts it. Either way, she proves that inner strength is more powerful than raw physical strength. That forces can be controlled and used to score a victory is very close to the message of the Chariot, which might be why, in some decks, it is Justice that is card 8 instead of Strength. With strength you can control not only the situation, but yourself. It is a card about anger and impulse management, about creative answers, leadership and maintaining one's personal honor. It can also stand for a steadfast friend.

What Tarot Card are You?
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Well, it's been a LONG time since posting. Many things have transpired since then. The stock market crash has smashed our dreams of early retirement, we have a bold , fine, thoughtful new president, and I have acquired a border collie. Yes, a border collie. Yes, I've heard all of the admonishments about the
breed ; OCD, not good pets, hyper, etc. BUT this dog found us. In fact this dog lept from the back of a pickup truck to find us, literally. The story may need to be a bit shrouded in secrecy because the original 'owner' perhaps would like the dog back. BUT, I am not a dog stealer, no sirree!! I am a dog rescuer. Really!! I would pay the man dearly for this dog if I could find him. Fact is, this little guy was emaciated, terrified, trembling, and had peed on himself. Not a pretty picture. No.And a little stinky, but he was a farm dog.

We were in our family volvo with the large DOG cargo space in back where our two dogs, Walter and Ike were happily riding.We were on our way back to Austin from New Mexico.....in central Texas....mid afternoon. I noticed the truck in front of us had a border collie riding in the back standing on his hind legs with his front paws up on the edge of the pick up. He was trembling and seemingly very scared. I wondering why the driver/rancher didn't seem to notice or care. Humm. Next thing we saw was he suddenly leapt out of the truck and ran off through the oncoming traffic. Yikes! That's a motivated escape . Not being good at emotional restraint in times such as this, I scream to my spouse, "get the dog, get the dog, get the dog" while he is honking wildly at the white pick up truck still moving ahead. The driver/ 'owner' never looked back and we never saw the truck again. After I managed to get my spouse to pull over, I raced out of the car after the puppy ( tiny 27 lb guy). When I got to him he was huddled at a gas station convience type store, cowering by the entry. Poor baby actually wagged his tail when he saw me and sort of crawled submissively in my direction. He was uninjured. Hallelujah!! I scooped him up and put him in my lap not really thinking about anything except saving him from being hit or injured. He was shaking, covered in pee and straw, and seriously bony. He rode on my lap for the next two hours home. I managed to get him to quit shaking after an hour or so, and he started looking around...at cows, goats..I don't think he has ever officially ridden in a car before.

Burdock Flowers

I spent several hours digging up the root from this plant. It is VERY large, about a foot long in some cases. My research shows that it has many medicinal properties ( what doesn't ) but I have yet to make the root well, ahem, palatable. I am working on a lotion- like balm but so far it smells like the cat box. Not a good marketing edge !!
TBC .....the neophyte wildcrafter herbalist...

Yes to everything today!

This is what I love about Taos

Mondo Kultur - Taos, NM 87571

Wildcrafting and other fun beyond worrying about how old you are

Well, since I've managed to survive from 50 to 51 without feeling much different, I think it is time to move beyond the age issue and focus on good stuff like herbs! Wild Herb harvesting , digging, planting and growing! This summer in Llano Largo has been prolific and green.More wild plants have sprouted and thrived on a daily basis than I have EVER witnessed in NM, albeit my time here has been four summers and various holidays.
Some of these herbs/ wild plants( ie weeds) I have harvested this summer are:

burdock
mullein
yarrow
mint
beebalm ( ??)
flax
vervain
red clover
rose hips ( the size of cherries!)


oh and APRICOTS! Oh my....what a harvest...what a dream...oooohhhhh


So I'm in the learning process of how to preserve these bounties.I have made tinctures with cheeeeaapp vodka from the Indian store and attempted infused oil with the burdock root ( that stuff is narly, stinky and GIANT) .So....you three readers of this blog ( you know who you are ) please help! What do I do with these wonderful things , besides irritate my easily irritated husband with piles of "rotting leaves".

Help!!

The Road To Llano

Our home in New Mexico is located in a fertile valley which used to be a swamp area 100 years ago. Thanks to over forestation and global warming, we are able to live in what I believe is one of the most spectacular places on earth. I wrote this poem when I was snow shoeing up the hillside in March. The Taos Horsefly, a left wing local rag, was planning to publish it in the June issue. Then they decided to discontinue the poetry section due to "the paper shrinking".

Road to Llano

Foraging the coyote trail to Llano
my boots sink into deep snow, thigh-deep.
Winter skies pale against translucent snow.

The pine leaves drop tiny blessings
like wishes or holy water,
they transform into dew as I hike.

An icy paw print
then bloody rib cage
leads to the half eaten beast.

I gasp
a hoof, then a gnarled furry leg
a horse’s head is frozen in ice.

Who could do this
Who could do this
Who could do this

My body is still with sadness
softness of quiet snow buffers my heartbeat
there is no witness to this outrage.

I will bridle you with golden rope
we will fly like winged conquistadors
above frozen hayfields

And when we glide far beyond
trout rivers and raspberry banks
we will sing

the broken song of the crow.
Wildly galloping through air
our bodies will become whole again.

Christine Wagner

Christine Wagner lives part time in Llano Largo near Penasco. She dreams of life there year round with an array of farm animals and fruit trees.

Bicycle Crash

OK, so I did it. It's that sort of thing that every triathlete or cyclist fears might happen one day. Most of us have had an accident or two, or three, but I pride myself on being careful Of course REALLY careful would be not to ride at all, but I mean watchful, vigilant and smart about riding in the city. So I was doing intervals on Spicewood Springs Road. 3 mins on, 3 mins recovery. This sort of entails looking at the Garmin like kid glued to the ipod. At least I wasn't hooked up to my ipod! So I have finished about 5 of these drills and I'm headed home. This means I have to cross 360, a notoriously busy highway with wide shoulders. Cyclists ride out there all of the time, despite cars whizzing by at 60+ . So I thought I'd just add a couple more reps and turned up 360 going south. There's are beautiful Korean or Chinese Temple there on the right hand side of the road with a strikingly large eye catching golden Buddha. I was admiring the Buddha when I looked up and saw to my shock, a car about 10 feet directly in front of me. There wasn't time to do much of anything except try to slow down and brace for the impact. Yikes! Slam! Fortunately or unfortunately, my rather large Bucky Beaver front teeth took a lot of the impact. Wham, my hands jammed into the back of the car knocking me over on the pavement. I was a bit stunned. My right foot was still locked into my pedal. Man. Who parks on 360? I thought I might be ready to get chewed out, but no one came out of the car. It was apparently stalled and abandoned. I stood up gingerly. Everything hurt, but I was in one piece. managed to get myself back on the bike and slowly glided on the shoulder back towards home. I felt my lip was cut and my right front tooth was pushed down about 4m lower than the others. IT was numb. Then I noticed my little finger was swelling bigger than my glove. It was starting to throb. I managed to get home and this is what I saw in the mirror. Humm, and nobody even stopped to help. Wow.
What a bad week to quit heroin!