Out with the Nasty nasties

Peacock feathers & prayer flags

This Winter is a special treat. We are cozied up in my Grandmother`s home, aside wood burning stove and a full kitchen. Our favorite past times have been strategising our future, playing Munchkin, geeking out on Doctor Who from BBC, making enchiladas, visiting with my Grandmother & also revamping the Traveling Wagon.

Love at first sight!

Needing some TLC

Love at first sight!

Florence the Traveling Wagon has come a long way from the days when lad I bought her from would use her to haul his heavy machinery, tools and what-not to work sites. First, there was an initial vacuuming and Spring cleaning. This would gear Florence up for the two Summer seasons I spent traveling the open road and offering Healing Massage at Fairs and festivals throughout Northern California.

Tahoe, Nv

Tahoe, Nv

Gaia Festival, Mendocino, Ca

Hwy 89, Ca

Nevada City, Ca

Truckee, Ca

Then there was this previous Winter, which I spent bundled under blankets with my partner and dog, staving off the cold and toughing it without a heater.

Mt. Shasta

Santa Cruz, Ca

Winter Road Trip 2012

Âshland, Or

Happy Camp, Ca

Fort Bragg, Ca

Which created plenty of uncomfortable experiences to inspire our current dedication; The Awesome making of our Gypsy home.

No more sink or cupboard (aka toilet)

Goodbye nasty nasties

Shortened overhead cupboard to accommodate soon to come stove pipe

After ripping out the two layers of filthy carpet, as well as the sink and cupboards, we have some ideas to make manifest.

Under the bed

Under the bed

Getting the Paint on

Getting the paint on

Getting the first coat of paint on

Second coat of paint

Second coat of paint

frills and thrills in gold

First we add some paint and new flooring

$ store grip for extra insulation

Reflooring

Cutting Linoleum

Macho man

Installing linoleum flooring

New paint and linoleum

New paint and linoleum

Budget prices

Installing the carpet

Stapling carpet in place

Soon to be a pot stove

New flooring

Winter 2013 Chinook project

Then some special finishing touches…and still more to come!

painting the trim

painting the trim

Installing the trim

adding carpet on the walls for insulation

Finishing touches

Finishing Touches

Home sweet home!

Nap time

March Rains Down Love

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This day is wet with rain that drops from the sky in cold long sheets. This morning was wobble and bang! The trailer door opens to wind- storm whooshing against the dark cavernous nest of our Chinook home. Puppy, kitty, Phil & myself all curled in the tiny bed chamber beneath leaking skylight, dripping clothes, and insulated windows. We are survivors of 12 hour slumber; Sealed up tight to any light, except that luminous reassurance along the outer window seams. Small cracks of soft yellow light which proclaim; Yes! Morning has come.

Last night, Venus and Jupiter conjunct. This sense of expansive freedom combined with the luminous love in these planets created new beauty in our halted excursion. We are camped in Grass Valley, Ca. This makes Indigo Cat ecstatic. She has succumbed to Lulu cuddles through the stormy night. This makes us a little on edge. We have responsibilities to unthrow. Phil is busily sorting through his past self and shedding his old skin as I did in January. His storage facility is 10 x10 feet of furniture, books, magic wands, costumes, and random artifacts of the communal house we shared in Rough & Ready, Ca. I have taxes to gather, understand, and file. But, oh! The Ocean beckons….Hopefully we will answer her soon ❤

Storming 20

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It is a brilliant life! Awakening to the sound of crows in flight, and seeing the soft horizon of rolling hills in early morning dim-light. Mendocino! How I love your lushness, your vibrant greens and tender violet highlights. Small voles scritch- srcatch the earth under scrutiny of Lulu ears. Phil creates hot coffee and Mate’ mocha blends. I am passing my time in company of Tamara Wider of Peleotechniques. I am admiring her beauty, honoring her tender garden, soaking in the need for my massage techniques on injured muscles and healing minds. The morning had passed quietly, my healers skills applied to tense tendon, and crumpled palm. I skipped toward the chinook with fire in my heart. We were given the task of digging a compost pit, and would stay until Sunday. Sunday! Four full days of wonder and bliss in quietude and circumstantial belonging. Alas, Phil did not feel the same. And into the afternoon light I felt my heart shudder and quake. The soil rich with worms, I roll them in my fists and savor their sweet spirits luminescent against my flesh. The Earthworms in my palm were my best friends. The root-ripped weeds at my feet the sullen heartstrings of my pain. Oh, the anxiety of sudden separation. Phil had pressing business concerning his storage, car, and finances in Nevada County. He needed to care of business. So, he took a ride with the farmstead to hwy 101 & 20 and hitched to Clear Lake at midday. Perhaps, while he was awaiting his next fated ride, the hair on his neck prickled a little, or his eyesight shimmered. For, while he sat in the hot sun, intent on returning himself to his responsibilities, I was staring longingly at the chicken coop. I begged them to go inside their beds. I had to go see if Phil was alright. I felt I had abandoned him, as he had me. Oh, silly heart’s sweet drama and maddening fickleness. What was the point of everything if I were no longer with him? Had these past three months been for nought? Had all my sacrifices and engagements been to send myself into a lonely bliss edging along the coastline with no purpose or companion?

As the sun descended, so too the chickens went to bed. I drove up the dirt road and found Phil hiking a only half a mile up. He had returned to me as I had sought to return to him.

He stuttered something breathless about his travail, and enlightened compromise. That he loved me, and wanted to honor me better and that he was willing to let go of tobacco too. The tobacco too. It takes my breath away.

Inland & In Snow

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Fort Bragg is a plentiful Mendocino community full of year round, home-grown food networks and kind folk. I have always enjoyed camping along her shores and discovering secret places to explore.

Tempting as it was to cease our search and stay to see the results of a massage interview with a local spa, we felt the calling to travel to higher land.

Mt. Shasta is renowned for its visitors seeking spiritual solace as well as people like us, seeking to fulfill a sacred calling.

Florence, our durable 1978, 4 cyl., 2 wheel drive Toyota camper, is a super trooper (thank Goddess she insisted on a new set of tires <a   href=”https://healingmassagers.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/difficult-rubber/”&gt; last time I visited Mt. Shasta!</a>), navigating muddy banks, snow torn dirt roads and bumps and thumps throwing our belongings and bells into a cacophony of ecstatic, “We are here,” in the late hours of Sunday night. For four days and five nights, through Valentine’s Day, we camped out in the snow, the fire being our main concern. We roasted food on the coals, tea in tin pots, and threw Lulu’s ladybug frisbee to her hearts content.

Even out in the wilderness of Shasta, I’ve learned to be careful what I wish for. In Shasta, dreams can instantly come true. In my haste and confusion to figure out What we are doing, Where we are going, and How it will happen, my phone rung with tempting and sure-footed opportunities in different healing communities from the Northern Coast to the Bay to Ashland. All of which are extremely enticing vocations. However, I find myself actively practicing discernment. I am seeking a future occupation and place to live that includes not just myself, but my other roadside companions as well. Gratefully, there has been some local interest in my Handcrafted Blessings line of Spiritually-infused-textile ear-wares, and that has made enough money to cover our tummies.

Now, here I sit with a hot cup of tea, after a warm bath in a claw foot tub, in a beautiful space provided by Dorthea Joyce (an inner perspective performance artist as well as author of BEing) and Phil by my side. Hmmm, where or where will we be? My confidence in the Spirit of Present Moment and Good Timing blooms ❤

Wintertime Transit

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2012 has brought many changes to many beings! Due to new insights in the heavenly plane of Earth Realm, Florence is on the road again. This time the cozy Nook takes on new highlights with spice racks, herb collections, blanket racks, and oh, yes, my Kelpie Healer, Lulu. We are in sight of many places with extra flavors of light offerings. Initially called Southward along the California Coastline (oh, Hwy 1, I could sleep on your shores forever) we now make our way Northward with some psychic speculation to what we will find but no promises. Wish us luck as we seek somewhere warm to rest, honor & serve a higher force ❤

Eleventh night

Eleven is a powerful number, it is considered a “master number” because it is a higher vibration of 2. It signifies innovation on humanitarian levels. These past eleven weeks in my third year at Truckee Thursdays was a powerful time of both innovation and humanitarian efforts. I began my booth in Truckee shortly after leaving behind another professional enterprise which I called “Quality Childcare,” where I visited numerous families with crafty projects to demonstrate skills to young children. My original booth plan was shared with long-time friend Erin. We made all sorts of jewelry, clothing and wall hangings, each with a special touch of love and tender blessings. Our booth was entitled, “Be Blessed.” But I wanted to do something more. I wanted to reach people on a deeper level. So, I enrolled in Reiki and massage school, enlisting my dear partner Christina to journey with me through education and business. We wanted to find a way to reach people who didn’t necessarily make time for themselves otherwise. We wanted to enmesh the energy of outdoor music and food into the fun flavors of our healing abilities. At first, our canopy was something held up with one hand as we massaged with the other. Our tapestries were discarded sheets and scarves. And our booth was weighed down with water jugs. One particular July afternoon, it literally flew away…and another week my ancient massage table snapped in half. However, through the profits created by this ongoing enterprise, I have been able to expand and improve upon Healing Massage. We have coordinated tapestries, gathered three nearly-efficient canopies, purchased comfortable and weight bearing tables, added crystals and essential oils into the mix and sunk more money than I want to recall into my traveling wagon, Florence. It is my hope that through this continual effort at finding people who need my healing light, I can continue to provided for myself a somewhat stable existence in adventure and health. Now that Truckee Thursdays has entered its third phase of completion in my life, I can still look forward to offering my healing talents at the Northern California Woman’s Herbal Symposium on Labor Day weekend and at Mannafest in Penn Valley on September 11th. I am also attempting to build a steady clientele in the local Nevada County area. I have faith, that what I have to offer in this healing community is unique, and that I am giving to the world what I am meant to be offering. Like the words in a movie reverberating at the edges of my mind, “If you build it, they will come…”

As well as Eleven’s influential energies of humanitarian innovation, these few months in Truckee has brought personal growth, partnership and fun! Looking back at memories of my booth and how it has improved and continually succeeded to reach people, brings a feeling of delight to my soul. This last night in particular was special, because my Mother and my Grandmother came to visit. Among the joy of seeing regular clients, that sadness of seasonal goodbyes and the softness of meeting new people, there was a tender wave that passed through me when I realized that I have something to show of myself to my family. These are the people who gave me Life and always hoped I would become something more than the little girl who sung, danced, and spun until she fell over. Much like spinning to my knees, my Mother and Grandmother witnessed the crowd pushing into our Healing tent with anticipation and reverence, and the wait list filling over as I massaged from 5-9 without a moment to spare…this last night, the 11th night, I think I made them proud. Innovator, humanitarian, adventurer and healer which I am.

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Adventures in Retrograde

Well, I had every good intention to include myself in the debut event by Miss Merina Alchemy’s Heavenly Productions. After a heartfelt phone call from Christina, who was unable to depart from her new abode in Berkley to meet me as planned, I loaded the Chinook solo and enlisted the help of my loving husband to help me set up. It was also his father’s birthday party last night, so we took separate vehicles, as he would not be staying with me once I was assembled. After 5 hours of scaling huge mountainside cliffs and navigating tight turn-rounds’ past nearly every corner, we determined that our directions HAD to be WRONG. It was near six o’ clock by the time we decided to just chill out at a local Washington, Ca spot along the river. Lo n’ behold, we found trail markers to the Cosmic Alchemy gathering. I drove the remaining 3.5 miles of rocky dirt, over a crazy bridge and up huge boulders that vaguely passed for a road. At one point, I realized that my clutch driving skills, while improved, were not enough to slowly climb steep hills in a heavily loaded vehicle and not stall. In the midst of another comical and ridiculous turnaround, we were brought into confrontation with a party-goer from my past. I felt Manuel’s willpower push my Chinook backwards while I hit the gas in reverse. Then he turned the Honda around, and we were realigned, moving back over the rickety old bridge, beyond a time marked by my past lover’s presence calmly waiting for us to pass. In the midst of all the twirls and frustrations, my hubby and I were headed home together. I am positive that at this moment some dear people are finishing their night at a truly epic beach event. While it saddens me to know that my healing services are not there to offer, I am also relieved to find that I can enjoy this brief and rare respite, with my family, at home. A truly epic night for us all.

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~ Check out my hubby and I’s ongoing Adventure Southwards Project, based on our 6 month journey through Central and South America by land, river & sea….

Desert Strip on the Fifth demension

Upon our arrival at the Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, Ca I had nearly mastered the restart and non-stall that every elementary clutch driver must experience. The Chinook wagon rumbled into the newly furnished Gaia Festival with dust clouds insulting parking volunteers and friendly greetings with Rastafarian Wailers. We set-up our Healing Massage canopies on top of a hill neighboring The Matrix energy consultation booth and just past them, there were the savvy palm leaf hat sculpting duo with a cat. When we assembled my tent, a cloud of playa infiltrated our nostrils. Apparently, I hadn’t unpaked it since Burning Man 2006. We must have let some playa fearies loose, too. Because so much of the weekend was reminiscent of the Black Rock desert for me. Including our spot on the Medicine Wheel village. We were perched atop a dry hillside with full sun all day long. The people at Gaia had gotten something wrong, and did not supply us with power, so we generated our own by reiki light and our neighbors hung glow sticks to attract attention. We were positioned across from the Dome, where fascinating talks took place about the wonders of seaweed healing, lymph flow, music (like Melissa Crabtree) and dream walking with Stargazer Li. At first, our Healing Massage was the best kept secret, and most people meandered to the $2 per minute booth with not a single tapestry, a busier intersection, and a lineup of massage tables. However, by the time the event was through, we had people lounging in our chill space, reading crystal books and medicine cards, seeking celestial advice, and breathing through deep bodywork. Another success in our small lineage of festivals. The Healing Massage Toure is evolving well. Now that I know how to drive a clutch, no telling where Florence and I will go!

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Time out of time

I arrived home late from working one of my numerous odd jobs. Christina was resting on my couch and my Puppy was in her usual uproar that I was home. She is a descendent of the dingo clan, and jumps enthusiastically at the slightest excitement. Our plan was to take the Chinook for an oil change. I am still getting the hang of driving a stick shift, and so Christina had agreed to chaperone me after we divvy up the booth. We are both destined separate directions this week, which I think is a bit of a reality check. After spending much time synching up in the small crawl space of the Chinook, spending an entire week apart was not something we anticipated when we made these plans. And while we are completely excited about the prospects and the people we are working with this coming week, there is a slight undertone to our mutual admiration for one another so often refereed to as camaraderie. So, after admiring Christina’s handywork on a new banner, covering our ears to the incipient crystalline bark of my puppy, and then meandering past an old abandoned mining tunnel on Deer Creek, we decided to just hang loose and worry about the Chinook and oil another day.

~Tamaura

Collaborative Transitions

Throughout the last two summers, multiple homesteads, and an ever-evolving traveling booth, Christina and I are forming a unique bond. Like all partnerships, we are discovering ways to improve our respect for one another, and better understand each others needs. Now that we are on the road most of the week, we are finding a synchronicity that is both magical and convenient. We are building a balance of care for one another, as well as a network of opportunity. Perhaps this is why I have a feeling of apprehensiveness regarding the coming toure. I have become comfortable with the balance Christina and I are creating. However, this coming week will be a test of our expansion from partnership to collaboration. Christina will be traveling to Truckee with a fill-in masseuse, and I will be heading to Mendocino for Gaia Festival with Stephenie. Two Healing Massage booths in multiple locations simultaneously? We must be crazy ❤

~TamAura