[Andrea Barnett Budin]

Hi Chrisy, You made me laugh -- out loud. I am always aghast when I pour out my heart into a post and see how lllllllllloooooooooooooong it is. And I guess I am in turbo mode -- leaving out the vowels. I think I was trying to "shorten" my post, knowing I had so much to say, from the getgo. Thanks you for seeing my thinking process so vividly. You are an extremely empathetic Soul. That's beautiful.

I don't know if you read about my Yosemite/deer eating crab apples out of my hand post, but your description of this magical place was spot on as they say. The roar of the Merced as you enter on that steep incline in your car, aimed straight for the sky -- scary but awesome. And the power of the rambling river is full of such power, it has ample for you to reap from the sight and the sound. I walked among the Sequoias, as tall as the Empire State Bldg and wide enough for two cars to go through, side by side. Ancient, or older than me any way, and thrilling. Full of energy. You could feel the life force, the "chi". Trees growing out of rocks, the reaching for life from beneath the ground up toward the sun is empowering.

Dr. Mitchell Gaynor (Healing Essence) is my NY onc/supplement expert/healer. He teaches guided imagery and meditation. 40s, I'd say. Unique to be sure. In his book he speaks of growing up in Texas and his father/dentist told an old Indian man that worked for him to cut down a tree that was obvious dead. The (American) Indian refused. He said it's ESSENCE was still alive! Each day he went out to the tree and talked to it, stroked its' trunk and fed it. In a few wks it began to sprout. I immediately identified w/that tree after met bc. For a while I thought I was a dead woman bearly walking. I realized instantly reading this account of the tree that MY Essence was still live. I decided to talk to myself, nurture myself and help guide my body to heal. My Spirit still lived!

I was in Yosemite in '78 but the images I carry inscribed in my heart stay w/me. I stood looking over a valley a mile beneath, green carpeted with wild flowers blowing in the wind of wild colors swaying -- reds and purples and pinks waving at me, beside a great lake. I could see the Indians that once lived there, their squaws and papooses running and playing, their ponies... I sensed their energy still there in the air. The sky was a brilliant blue, an impossible blueness that was like a great canopy coming down to the land. I was inside a snow globe. Connected to the Universe, and in perfect sync with Life. I connect w/that energy often, recreating the moment experienced decades ago. It is also MY favorite place in the world. Some day I will return, but for now I carry the memory of it close and often. I hold the thoughts of that power and life. I imagine, as you say, the torrents of water and those magnificent granite cliffs. I will now add, as you suggest -- feeling the rushing water wash through me, carrying off all stress and filling me with new clean life-affirming air, as I take deep breaths in through my nose and blow the air out of my pursed lips, hearing it escape with all that is unwanted, kissing it goodbye...

Thank you for your beautiful message, Chrisy. Love your picture.

BTW -- QOL is ?????????? sometimes a good Zin at Yosemie, check out my updated avatar!????????????????????? Please explain. I am intrigued.

Great big hugs and much love... ANDI