21st Annual Rod and Run in Packwood, Washington & The Packwood Museum

It's fun to try new things! This was the first classic car show Donn and I have been to. Adytum Sanctuary has a full house this weekend with guests from Eastern Washington who came delivering handcrafted wine barrel Adirondack chairs and table (more on Monte and Cheryl's craftsmanship in another blog- and how you can commission YOUR unique set), and a family from Frankfurt, Germany here to explore Mt. Rainier, St. Helens, and enjoy the luxury of Adytum at day's end...

We set off for Packwood, not far from Adytum, in the late afternoon. When we arrived at the field where the cars were displayed we were met with a great deal of smoke tainting the pure mountain air of the tiny town of Packwood near Mt. Rainier. We stepped over elk droppings to join the crowd and find out what was so fascinating about the belching exhaust of a smashed truck...The Packwood Fire Department truck and crew stood ready to extinguish the flames...We learned that every year, something is blown up by putting a brick on the gas pedal and letting the truck run out of oil. One year they put sugar, bleach, vinegar, and more into the gas tank of a Pontiac and it never did succumb. Neither did this old wreck. Stubbornly it ran 18 minutes while we all anticipated the blast, "Aren't they worried about a shrapnel effect? Look how close everyone is..." Only in Packwood! So in an anti-climactic move, it just quit running. And we felt stupid. (: For one who would never go to a demolition derby, it was pushing my comfort zone.

But moving on, the car show became interesting as we learned about old cars, how they are insured (quite cheaply- $250 per year for 3000 miles of use), and how readily available parts are. Plus, they are just beautiful! Shiny chrome, big, classy interiors...the 50's music made me feel like dancing and I swept up Donn's hands to twirl me in the grass. He wasn't buying it. The 50's were such a light, happy time and the cars evoke that era (before my time- I'm a child of the 1960s) so the day left us feeling happy.

Donn owned a '56 T bird and showed me how you can see through to the trunk through a little slit behind the front seat. He told a story of putting a friend, Monty M. and his girlfriend in the trunk where they could supposedly lay down and 'neck' in privacy- shut in the trunk! Lots of room and air space though...Sounds like a Twilight Saga abduction to me; I wonder how much psychotherapy it took for her to get over that one?

We stopped off at the Packwood Museum, open by appointment and Friday and Saturday. It is rich in logging, Indian, and pioneer history. So many of the names in the museum are familiar as they or their family members are our patients at Medical Vision Center in Morton (www.medicalvisioncenter.com) where Donn has practiced 32 years. One day, I imagine we will be in that museum. It teaches me to live life fully every day and embrace the present because we will soon just be a part of the past- important as it may have been.

There is much to do in the Pacific Northwest in the summer. We, who dwell in gray and rain, know how to make the most of our long, lovely summer days. Next is the Mossyrock blueberry festival; http://mossyrockfestivals.org/ the first weekend in August. I took my first order of organic blueberries last night- $75 for 25 pounds. They will go into the freezer for our daily shakes. If you're on Hwy 12 stop into the Pan Pacific blueberry farm store for a great selection of their blueberry pies, jam, and products. They now offer organic too but I am partial to a locally owned You-Pick field near Adytum Sanctuary (www.adytumsanctuary)where they have a good separation from the occasional crop dusting from the Pan American field (no drift/little drift) and the berries are enormous and sweet.

Put the Morton Logger's Jubilee http://www.loggersjubilee.com/schedule.htm on your calender as well- the second weekend in August on the 9th this year. Loggers come from all over the World to compete in true feats of skill and strength. I learned to throw an axe in 2011 at this event! It is also fun and perhaps something we wouldn't naturally have been drawn to, but were so glad we experienced it. We will go again this year and the flea market is really eclectic! Enjoy your summer and make space for a transformational experience reconnecting with all that really matters in life in the beauty and peace that is...Adytum Sanctuary.

Life As a Garden by Katherine Carroll, NTP

Who gets up early to discover the moment light begins? ~Rumi Rising about 3:30 a.m. as I like to do, enjoying the extravagant privacy of a house surrounded only by water music and darkness, I’m watching for a marauding, fat doe when first light breaks. She’s accustomed herself to enjoying breaking her fast at Adytum in the Children’s Garden on plump organic blueberries, then heading to the ¼ acre fenced garden to nibble on tender lettuces, cruising the plum and apricot trees, and finishing with raspberries on the fence.

Life on Birley Mountain in Washington State, overlooking Lake Mayfield, the Tilton and Cowlitz Rivers, the blueberry and flower fields of the DeGoede Bulb Farm is serene and peaceful. No wonder this doe feels right at home raiding my gardens. The blue jays are the ones who usually let me know she’s doing it again- unless of course, they are ratting out their own out of jealousy that one of their cohorts reached the ripening plums before they did. The bird song begins before 4:30 a.m. - before first light. I heard once that if you visit a zoo before dawn, you will be greeted with what seems to be cacophony, but in their own unified dissonant way each of the zoo’s occupants greet the dawn with their voices raised in song. Animals…ever the shining example to us all with their focus and priorities in the right place.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don't go back to sleep. ~Rumi So life is peaceful for the wildlife here on this mountain, and for me…I’m watchful. We are in the first years of these gardens- the 6th now- so there isn’t quite the bounty to share yet particularly in the vineyard or with the 50 or so Old English Roses lining their rows and the larger gardens. One day we won’t mind feeding them all and we’ll have plenty to share. Isn’t that just the Tao of Nature? Walking barefoot, I “ground out” on grass soaked with heavy dew and feel the mist on my face as I walk the grounds to make my presence known and make sure the Doe isn’t in the vineyard which will stands to produce a better yield of Pinot Noir grapes in this third year. Jays dip into the fountains to prepare for the heat of the day which lately emerges around 2 in the afternoon when the fogs burn off. This weather transition, marked by the Breath of the Dragon rising in a chill fog off the Lake, is the era of spiders- big ones – and it reminds me I dreamed of one last night; always a good sign of creativity on the rise. This is, as Keats said, “The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.”

Just when we think summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest with a week or two of welcome sunshine, the mists come with the dawn illuminating the work of the Weavers and we remember that good or bad, all is fleeting and we must savor life before it passes us by. If moments are all we have, moments are the silken strand with which we weave our life. We must always be planning our next garden, tending to the ones we’ve established and not neglecting the most important one of all ~ the garden of the Interior.

Set out now, while you're strong on the heart's vast plain: You'll never discover joy on the plain of the body. The heart's the only house of safety, my friends: It has fountains, and rose gardens within rose gardens. Turn to the heart and go forward, travelers of the night; There's where you'll find trees and streams of Living Water. Mevlana Rumi (1207 - 1273) On a Tuesday in mid-July, I answered a spontaneous invitation to leave my work behind and visit some lavender farms in our area. It did me and my nurse practitioner friend, Margie, so much good and we both kept remarking about the power of a little change of scene and a break in routine. It was so lovely and the air so rich with the seductive lure of summer in each purple blossom that I decided on the spot fields of lavender would be my next garden. We interviewed the owners of Castle Rock Lavender Farm and I’ll share it with you in a separate post because it was rich with information. I came back to Adytum with a book which they suggested having used it themselves to set up their acreage with a productive lavender farm, and of course, I returned with lavender… two pounds of lavender buds for drawers, pillows, and gifts, essential oil, massage oil which I will also use with vinegar to mop the wood floors with.

Margie suggested we stop at the Chehalis Farmer’s Market on Boistfort Street, only open Tuesday from 11-4pm. There too we found more lavender from a local farm – a handmade wreath tightly woven.

The Market was small, just taking up a street on either side, but it was sufficient and we enjoyed some raw treats of nuts and dates made into little balls as we walked along to each stall and learning about raising Emu for their oil. When Margie found out they were killed at 18 months, and we’d seen their fuzzy baby pictures, she decided to forego the oil she’d intended to buy. “Why do they have to kill them for their oil?” she lamented. “Yes, they should just give them lypo (suction)!” I offer. “That is a typical “Kat” statement!” (: Well it made sense to me. If they could create the goose that laid the golden egg by fattening the Emu and siphoning it back off a few times before they slaughter them (they eat the meat, and the timing of that most likely had much to do with their 18 month life sentence) then perhaps we’d buy their oils and lotions.

We finished with the farmers, leaving with the wreaths, plants, and vegetables that were actually a bit wilted from the heat toward the end of day. Morning is the time for Marketing...We decided to visit some of these farms and get some inspiration and instruction for our own greenhouses and the land devoted to feeding us.

Weekends at Adytum in summer are spent outside as much as possible, whether eating every meal on the deck watching the boats on Lake Mayfield or hiking waterfall trails. We found Nature’s gardens in the Goat Rocks area abounding with water music and the characteristic beauty of the Pacific Northwest. We have taken much inspiration at Adytum Sanctuary from Nature as we’ve planned gardens here.

Little wild strawberries and lupine, Alpine Fir with their whimsical contortions gained not from a Bonsai master’s hardwiring them but from bending under winter snowpack, ferns of every variety, and early wildflowers like Indian Paintbrush and Beargrass. The downed trees become sculpture and nurse logs for future forest inhabitants. The natural gardens from the hand of the Creator are the most satisfying and artful evoking soul and fantasy and mystery…and inevitably they send us home with desire to recreate them here.

And don't think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter. It's quiet, but the roots are down there riotous. ~Rumi Don’t neglect the garden of the Interior. As we transition through seasons we can’t depend on outward displays of color and beauty to ravish our senses and buoy us up with delight. Everything beautiful begins within and it is that garden we must always be cultivating. It is from that sacred garden we gift the World with love and the magnificence we are here to offer.

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think warm days will never cease, For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells. Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep Steady thy laden head across a brook; Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. III Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, - While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, And touch the stubble plains with rosy hue; Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn Among the river sallows, borne aloft Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies; And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; And gathering swallows twitter in the skies." ~ Keats

Destination: Major Fun at the Packwood Flea Market! By Katherine A. Carroll, NTP, Associate Editor, Health Freedom News

Okay. I admit it…Adytum Sanctuary www.adytumsanctuary.com  has been up and running 6 ½ years now and I've never been to the infamous Packwood Flea Market http://packwoodfleamarkets.com/events.asp in the great Pacific Northwest held every Memorial and Labor Day weekend. Plenty of our guests have been and we’ve always been busy working. 

Off We Go!

We had a couple celebrating their 5^th anniversary in the Star of the North http://www.adytumsanctuary.com/readmorestar.html

and 3 fun-loving women in the Orion Suite http://www.adytumsanctuary.com/readmoreorion.html who were attending Mark Bolender’s horse event which entailed going through a challenging obstacle course. http://www.bolenderhorsepark.com/  Despite  Adytum Sanctuary  being booked,  we pursued our own fun and found out some of our guests had beat us there! 

People come from all over the States to experience this particular flea market. Massachusetts, West Texas, Eastern Washington… they were there, hundreds of them, so many that the internet and phone services were overwhelmed and shut down.  We drove 40 minutes in steady rain, past the logging town of Morton http://www.visitmorton.com/ where our optometry clinic, Medical Vision Center www.medicalvisioncenter.com  is located.

Medical Vision Center and Nutritional Visions Natural Health Center in Morton, Washington

You have to realize, Packwood is the end of the line. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packwood,_Washington  

If you want to be buried the country, move to Packwood. I have a friend, an ex-General in the army who spoke daily with a past President. He resides in Packwood bordering Gifford Pinchot forest land on a compound that is impregnable. So this tells us something about the kinds of people who locate here… On one end of the spectrum, think rugged individualist with a high-powered gun and you have capsulized Packwood in a nutshell and on the other end of the same spectrum, those live there who crave deep peace and an escape from the World. For many, Packwood is a second vacation home site.  

 

Into the heart of the Ancients....

Passing Packwood you can catch the Grove of the Patriarchs, a must-see as you sense your frail humanity being dwarfed by these Ancients. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g143044-d145868-Reviews-Grove_of_the_Patriarchs-Mount_Rainier_National_Park_Washington.html  As you head left at the Y in the road and run into  Ohanapecosh http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/ohanapecosh.htm  where we followed a herd of elk and a lone bear last Spring, past neglected hot springs and an old resort from the 1920s where people came to take the waters.

Heading farther on the right of the Y you encounter White Pass Ski Resort http://www.skiwhitepass.com/ in 30 minutes. Here I learned to cross country ski, foregoing skiing in their million dollar chairlift and lodge expansion at the top of the mountain. Yakima http://visityakima.com/ is about an hour and a half still and has wineries you’ve surely read about along with Walla Walla http://www.wallawalla.org/ farther still up the highway. But back to Packwood for some fun!

 

Something Old....

There are new things for sale and old things for sale at the Packwood Flea Market with every walk of life coalesced to buy them and nearly everyone with something to eat in their hand -simply hundreds of people invading Packwood, the colorful little town at the foot of the mountains. It’s a beautiful day here at least unlike 'winter hanging on' which we drove through . 

Quintessential Late Spring Day in Packwood, Washington

The pure white clouds are big and puffy matching fresh snow topping the mountains. The air is about 65 degrees. The hills are verdant with new spring growth. It is truly the quintessential late Spring day as I step into the Child-zone.

"I spent the first half of life learning to become a man. I will spend the second half learning to become a child." Picasso.

It could have been a dog parade instead of a flea market that we've come to see with every variety of mut and purebred represented, leashed and getting along perfectly!

We Fell In Love With the Great Dane

We stopped by Betty’s art gallery and checked out her fresh inventory then dipped into several  antique stores which immediately met our noses with the musty smell of ancient possessions and long-since forgotten tools and ways of being. Later, we climbed the steps to the historic Packwood motel; tiny, quaint and with an amazing bear skin on the wall which took us back to the early 1900’s.

 

Let the Fantasy Begin!

I've always loved this town because it has character and a distinct flavor all its own.  Packwood takes you away from the City and all of your cares, into the present moment life of a Child, to be sure, and the mountains of rough black stone which line the highway, the giant Fir, the lush meadows, and wide open sky which rival anything Montana boasts is seriously breathtaking. No wonder we always see hundreds of elk here http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=48249.0

Packwood is found after passing ‘Big Bottom’ country along the way, so named because the Cowlitz River,  which we view from Adytum Sanctuary as frigid emerald green water, accelerates its initial flow through a lush, flat valley full of horses and cattle.

Through the Rain...Lush Meadows of Big Bottom Country

Yes, too, there is a correlation among some of the inhabitants, I confess, to this unfortunate ‘big bottom’ name and the 'party' food at the Flea Market didn’t help things.

Party Food!

We crawl through town bumper to bumper 5 miles an hour. While we’ve seen vast herds of elk in the past, now we see a carnival atmosphere and they have escaped to the high country. $5 for parking and we’re walking under an unexpectedly blue sky with Cottonwood tree fluff blowing like snow on a late Spring breeze. The air is scented with my favorite Caramel corn sweetness which seems to typify fairs and carnivals.


 I’m continually struck by the amount of dogs of all sizes on leashes in various tutus and polka dotted sweaters as I am seeming miles of stands and concessions in this sleepy little forest gem.

Doggie Fashion Extravaganza in Packwood, Washington

God was smiling on Packwood today because the coat I brought was left in Donn’s Raptor and we walked in sunshine and 65 degrees. When we left a few hours later, following a solid caravan of cars and motorcycles down the road west to eat dinner at Plaza Jalisco for our favorite Spanish omelette with rancho beans http://www.eastlewiscountychamber.com/PlazaJalisco.htm , the rain was still pouring earnestly…

Heading Back to Adytum Sanctuary in Showers

we were in a magical pocket of sun and fun- and it was! Donn said, “I love the way you always get so excited…” as I took picture after picture and spoke my impressions for later writing into the Evernote on the iPhone.

Packwood’s transformation into a fantasy of fun was marked with the painted faces of starry-eyed children, wispy cotton candy, snow cones with bright blue syrup, corn dogs, elephant ears, fried apple slices on a skewer dripping with a sugary syrup, beer gardens, Cowboy BBQs, pulled pork, and every imaginable variation- even Thai food at the base of a Pacific Northwest Mountain.

Guess He Doesn't Have Kids...We Were The Recruits in the 60's

We passed an ice cream stand with a John Deere motor powering two large “hand-cranked” homemade ice cream machines. We walked forever before we found ONE single healthy option…savory nuts. (Note: there is a wide-open market for healthy foods at these things…where are the entrepreneurs who will create some healthy options in a carnival setting? Find a need and fill it….the secret to success!!! How about coconut water, iced green tea, kombucha, coconut ice cream made with stevia, RAW savory nuts, dehydrated kale chips, dried fruit from Yakima, wine from Walla Walla, and raw chocolate (Donn’s original creation- and to die for- is at the end of this blog…)

Donn Speaking with Ed English and Grandsons, Wife Sue in the Background

The creativity at this market was truly amazing. Some of our favorites were Ed English’s bonsai and a company in Yakima making wine barrel chairs, wine racks, and dog beds. There was a chair made with old skis and so much more you will see in the slideshow. https://picasaweb.google.com/katacarroll/PackwoodFleaMarket

The sweet scent of kettle corn, BBQ, hot dogs and fries mix with wood smoke, Fir, and fresh mountain air reminding me of every fair and camping trip I ever went on as a child. Every dog that has ever been left at home is here today and dogs for sale too.  Dogs with purple and rose colored pom poms and dogs in polka dotted sweaters; dogs who were dog- tired and sleeping on the sidewalk with their tongues hanging out

Dog Tired, To Be Sure...

and large puppies who were clearly in need of a nap. Dogs so big a child might mistake them for the Christmas pony. And strangely, no dog poop! I dodged spit in Beijing and in Packwood, there was some restraint among our animal friends in effect evidently.

I haven’t been inside anything like this in ages…a little like walking through the distortion fun-houses at the annual County Fair. To see a carnival in the pristine wilderness was disconcerting but somehow magically fun at the same time, enough to make me want to go again in September….

Remember These?

The flea market is a contrast between reminisces from childhood: old games  you played like Chinese Checkers, hardcover detective books secretly read in bed after lights out,  cherry tobacco in a pipe stand like the one Grandfather had near his favorite chair juxtaposed between possibilities of the future like meeting a Great Dane and learning what a wonderful family dog they are and falling in love…

Oh Baby!

unexpectedly opening your heart up to possibly having one and a greenhouse too…all more work, yes I know…but kind of irresistible at the same time in this enchanted setting.

We talked to Wayne,  in his 60’s, about buying a greenhouse http://www.solargemgreenhouses.com/ and got an unexpected lesson in medical marijuana laws and  growers in Oregon who buy from him keeping their operations top secret not letting the greenhouse delivery trucks go up the road all the way to their clandestine sites. He told a sweetly corny joke as we said goodbye...What I thought was all about the past, going to this flea market, turned out to be about the future too because we’ve been talking about having a greenhouse at Adytum for years and will accept delivery shortly on ours. Year-round kale (and kale chips) now…

Adytum Sanctuary Garden Will Have The Biggest One In Hopes Of Increased Self-Sufficiency

Donn was looking for one vendor’s site in particular…a friend of his who does bonsai, Ed English https://www.facebook.com/ed.english1. We walked down every alley way- and there were many as this market which goes on and on and on…and finally at the end of one side of the very long street we found  him! His was the best site by far, even though we had passed antique horse-drawn buggies, ancient tractor toys for kids to ride on, an accordion, a unicycle, crossbows, Samurai swords, and knives, and so much more outrageous and interesting stuff.

2013 Raptor vs. Buggy- Take Your Pick

Ed had been to China in the 60’s and told a story of dating a woman when he was 17. She wore a traditional kimono. During their walk into town on their first date, she said in polite Chinese, “Excuse me…” and stepped off a few paces, hiked up her kimono, and peed on the side of the road to his astonishment. Wish I’d have thought to ask how that date ended… I was sharing with Ed and his wife, Sue, about my recent trip to attend Codex Alimentarius’ meeting on food additives in Beijing, China and seeing glamorous, exquisitely beautiful women raising their white surgical masks to spit on the sidewalk (which I spent much of my time dodging…) Things are different here in America but admittedly I didn’t see the obesity in China either so take your pick of things you’d like to dodge.

The Dragon King with the World In His Grasp...

I had passed all the food stands and all the vendor stalls with my wallet intact but succumbed to Ed’s red soapstone Foo Dogs, Chinese Dragon, and a gong; estate items left when a Chinese national’s parents died. I will treasure them as I treasure learning to love Beijing despite its roughness.

I Loved Watching This Little Emperor Getting Photographed at the Silk Market In China, 2013 

China carved a big place in my heart to be sure and I anticipate going back in March for the next Codex  meeting where Scott Tips, President of the National Health Federation, myself, and the rest of the NHF team will protect your health and health freedoms. Scott Tips, also FDA specialist attorney, spoke no fewer than a half a dozen times to reduce aluminum in our food and beverage supplies by 50% and completely eliminate it in others. (Aluminum is in sauces, hot cocoa, biscuits, pancake, bread, and muffin mixes, frozen pizza, etc. http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=3649

NHF President Scott Tips Speaks for YOU at Codex Alimentarius Where Standards Are Set For What YOU Eat and Drink

 Note to past guests: if you see large blocks of time removed from availability from Adytum’s booking calendar, please call me at 360.790.2011 (cell) and most likely you can still enjoy Adytum in my absence; Donn will be there to let you in!

300 Year Old Bonsai, Front Right Lower Corner

Ed had a 300 year old Bonsai I’d have loved to have purchased. It was taken from the 6000 feet level of a nearby mountain and was buried in a rock. He was able to secure it with the tap root intact and it’s remarkably beautiful today evoking strength and longevity. He had bonsai in maple burl bowls that looked like stone. You won't see anything like this anywhere else, I guarantee you. The creativity of this man is admirable and he reads and researches bonsai and Chinese history and dates questionable women (:  (sorry Ed, couldn’t resist!! Sue, you escaped that comment!!)

Puff The Magic Dragon....

A flea market becomes a metaphor for the passage of your life in eras held in the shape of the possessions you no longer possess but which are now woven into the fiber of your being to shape and mold you and live forever in memory. Katherine A. Carroll

The Labor Day Packwood Flea Market is even bigger than this one! I can’t imagine. Adytum Sanctuary is filled with the treasures of travels but now it holds local fun and a memory I will never forget- the first of many Packwood Flea Markets.

An Adytum Original created by sometimes Chef, Donn Carroll, OD

Mix in food processor the following:

12 TBS raw cacao nibs made coarse or fine in a coffee grinder (http://www.longevitywarehouse.com)

3 TBS Almond butter

2 TBS Sesame butter (Tahini)

2 TBS Hemp seed powder or (https://healthforce.com/warrior-force/warrior-food-extreme-vanilla-plus)

2 TBS mesquite (http://www.longevitywarehouse.com)

2 TBS Yacon (http://www.longevitywarehouse.com)

2 TBS Pure Synergy Superfood (http://www.thesynergycompany.com/v/pure_synergy.html) optional

2 TBS Maca (https://healthforce.com/superfoods-rejuvenation/macaforce-vanilla-spice-maca)

1 TBS Tocotrienols (http://www.longevitywarehouse.com)

1 TBS Carob powder

3 TBS xylitol http://www.longevitywarehouse.com

3 Squirts of Omica Stevia toffee flavored (http://www.longevitywarehouse.com)

1 TBS honey

Pinch of sea salt

Heat 1 cup of coconut oil into liquid oil on low, then pour into food processor and mix with the rest of the ingredients.

Pour into soft molds then refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour before serving.

Optional:  Add raspberry jam as topping when serving.  Sprinkle raw unsweetened coconut in mold before adding the cacao/coconut oil mixture.

You can make the basic recipe with just the cacao, coconut oil, and a sweetener like stevia then experiment with any of the other ingredients to your taste.  My favorite is with Tahini.

Catching Up with YOU!

Kat on Break From Codex Alimentarius at Forbidden City in Bejing, China 3-13

Many of you have expressed interest in staying abreast of nutritional solutions for ocular issues. There is a new post up at http://medicalvisioncenter.blogspot.com/ which will publish in our magazine, Health Freedom News (HFN) this month. HFN is the quarterly publication of the National Health Federation of which I am an Associate Editor, and this article will appear on a few other news sites as well.

If you know of someone with macular degeneration, if you have it as part of your family health history, or if you have had your gallbladder surgically removed, or if you just have trouble digesting fats then this article will give you practical, logical suggestions to impact each of these in a positive, healthful way.

We Need To Start At Birth Protecting Our Priceless, Magical Eyesight!

I invite you to sign up for email alerts when we put new material on the Medical Vision Center blog. Next in line is an article on one of the main complaints patients present with to either Medical Vision Center in Morton, WA or Martin Way Vision Center in Lacey, WA; ocular allergies. Research indicates studies which show how this problem can be helped in an unexpected way.

Our Main Practice In Morton, WA. We Were The First To Include a Nutritional Therapist - two actually- & a Dispensary On-site & the Health of our Patients Has Improved Along With Their Eyesight, Which is an "Early-Warning" Signal 

I continue my private nutritional therapy consulting practice and dispensaries at both clinics and of course, publishing in magazines to share this knowledge that you will be hard-pressed to get at any other optometry office anywhere.One day, hopefully every eye clinic will have a nutritional therapist on staff but for now, you have the blog and a personal consultation if you need it. If you know of someone who needs help to impact their ocular issues with diet, supplements, and logical strategies I can be reached at katacarroll@gmail.com or 1.360.790.2011.

NHF Scored HUGE Victories for YOU by  Attending The PWG Session Prior To Our Attendance at the General Session

I recently accepted a full-time position at the National Health Federation after being a volunteer for 19 months. In addition to the extremely FUN job of working on Health Freedom News, I was made Editor of our e-newsletter among other responsibilities. This is another incredibly FUN project and a way to share health, protect health freedom, and change the World for the better with your help! There will be firsthand reports on Codex meetings and what NHF accomplished there, there will be studies and health articles, the top shared links on our National Health Federation Facebook page (have you joined us there yet? I post news every morning and again, your health stands to improve vastly from these articles from many respected sources), and much more. Please sign up for the e-newsletter at www.thenhf.com so we can stay connected in yet another life-changing way!

We All Need To Claim Our Right To Inherent Health With Wisdom & Discipline

Have you noticed the common thread here? I want to invest in your health and in the betterment of the World because we are capable, strong, and well when we are functioning most effectively in our gifts for the good of all! Health is a treasure to be jealously guarded and nurtured and it is my passion. Stress reduction is such a key part of that...having time to nurture our creativity and deepen our love. Adytum Sanctuary remains the strong tower I run to, away from the pressures of the World, to renew my body, mind, and spirit and reconnect with all that really matters in life. Adytum grounds me and it is our pleasure to share this magnificent sacred space with you and yours....

The Orion Courtyard, The Vineyard, Lake Mayfield, and the two Rivers...Peace is Back

Adytum Sanctuary remains a true sanctuary to us all- us included! As you know, with the extra demands on my time, we have a new website reflecting the changes: www.adytumsanctuary.com but you will  find Adytum welcomes you as she always has: with love, grace, serenity, and an invitation to reconnect with all that really matters in life...here in this rugged Pacific Northwest beauty. We've had several guests lately using the Star of the North to meet family 'in the middle' with some coming from Portland, OR and some from Seattle, WA.

Need More of Adytum?

The Spring migration is accomplished and Evening Grosbeaks are back, every bird we see is busy nest building, and the eagles are here again as well gracing the blue, clear skies with their stunning majesty. The flowers are up, leaves and blossoms on the trees and the DeGoede's Bulb Farm is bringing its tulip magic to the Northwest. The trails are clear as some kind souls came to collect maple and fir that we had offered. Still more where that came from if you need firewood. Some have even brought their portable sawmills and made lovely lumber to make dining room tables and furniture from.

Tulip Time at the DeGoede Bulb Farm

Fishing season is about to open. Our kayaks are available- just bring life-jackets please and enjoy a spot on the Tilton River that is quite secret where you take your pick of 2' long rainbow trout swirling about the kayak, where there are waterfalls, water oozels, eagles, steep canyon walls covered with ferns and rainbow-tinged rivulets of water coursing down to land in the emerald waters of the Tilton. There will be no one here in this sacred space most likely. It is extravagant privacy at its ultimate best. We are anxious to get back to our favorite waterfalls and catch them at their volume. And the mountain bikes have been out multiple times already! Don't let this season pass you by!!

It Won't Be Long Now...Pure "Other-Worldly" Peace...I Know How They Feel

So...we are excited to see you again this season. Because of many travels planned for my work with NHF please reserve early as inevitably some weeks will have to be blocked off in my absence. Here are the links I mentioned above and I hope to enjoy your presence at each one!

Be well,

Kat
katacarroll@gmail.com or 1.360.790.2011
www.adytumsantuary.com
https://www.facebook.com/AdytumRetreat?ref=hl
www.medicalvisioncenter.blogspot.com
www.thenhf.com       to join e-list or join with me in my work at NHF for the World
https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Health-Federation/121416927890343?ref=tn_tnmn
www.tnsradio.ning.com   to listen to the radio program I help with on Wednedsays noon PST or archived pods/Scott Tips
www.medicalvisioncenter.com  if you are in Morton, WA and need an appointment: 1.360.496.5140 or if in Lacey, WA please call 1.360.456.2020 where Dr. Carroll and I are in office Wed. and Fri. at that location.

Falling Inexplicably and Unexpectedly in Love with China, the Microcosm….by Kat Carroll, NTP, Associate Editor HFN

     If Paris in December of 2012 was the most romantic and hauntingly beautiful City I’ve ever experienced in my life, then Beijing is the most captivating, complex, and intriguing when I had the good fortune to visit for ten days in March 2013. Unexpectedly I find my heart quite utterly captured and I will anticipate returning to another province in China next year to indulge my senses in the juxtaposition of art and rawness while attending to the business of the Codex Alimentarius (Latin for Food Code) World, protecting health freedom with the NHF team.

     Beijing, China is the terrain of opposites and contrasts are everywhere and often simultaneously. The most lovely, elegant woman in a blue velvet evening dress with a sensuous side-slit emerges from a taxi with an equally handsomely attired date and proceeds to spit (in the most fulfilled sense of the word)  on the sidewalk, narrowly missing me, in the most incongruous display of what Westerners would term the worst of manners. Welcome to Beijing where I learned to dodge men and women heartily embracing this “way of being” here in this atmosphere of sophistication, oppressive smog and cigarette smoke-filled air inside and out. Next this Oriental Beauty covers her nose with the stark protective whiteness of a surgical mask and glides down the street leaving me jarred internally. This is Beijing 2013 with one of the most envious subway systems in the World.

     The noise in the City is continuous. The imaginative display of vehicles is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Most of the smaller “conveyances” are equipped with a basket or cart and they all zip around amazingly without incident with man or machine and within millimeters of both. Bikes are everywhere and none are remotely new. It is incredible how much recycled cardboard one can fit on a bike and remain upright! Restaurants become oases of calm to balance the intensity outside. Walking to a restaurant I witnessed the spitting beauty queen, a man urinating quite impressively actually behind a tiny taxi sign (no prostate problems here evidently), and a woman losing her noodles literally on the sidewalk as I dodged to avoid the backsplash.

     Life in Beijing has a rawness I haven’t been exposed to since Greenfield Junior High in Bakersfield, California but also an intensely heightened beauty that I could get used to living with. Even with the lovely calligraphy everywhere the Chinese manage to merge rawness and great art every moment. Simplicity in a floral arrangement is refined to high art and poetry in motion in a young woman’s flawless hands as she swirls warm water over tea leaves is as immensely splendid as watching a meteor shower. These contrasts excite my senses and quell the restlessness within me that comes from monotony of a predictable life; the daily “expected”. Despite being a nature girl, I can get used to this…the visual stimulation, the energy, refuges of peace and art to nurture my soul…

     But what if the current Beijing, China is a microcosm of all humanity? Full of lofty beginnings, intelligence and creativity, forging their way into the World scene with inventions and spectacular color on symmetrical architecture enlivening a gray, chill climate. But then entropy sets in…things trending toward disorder and chaos. And now our eyes are red from the smog, even bordering on infection, classy women spit openly in the street- surely something in them must recoil at this but hey, there’s so much smog that the mind overrules propriety to spare the lungs, 14,000 pigs bloated bodies fill the rivers moving downstream and polluting the water while the government assures the Chinese and tourists like us that all is well. We can only fool ourselves so long. There comes the clarion call to retrace our steps to our roots. Return to what we were doing when we were the most successful… China is instant messaging this to the World. Do you see it?

     We have nobility within, grace resides beside innate power. We just have to clear to the pure flowing channel past putrid, rotting pigs to get back to where we were on the ascendant. Each of us has areas that need reclaiming. I defy even one to show me they are at their pinnacle consistently unless perhaps you’re a hermit or a monk. Life and the law of entropy rush in. Our schedules often get too busy to see to important details like  introspection, prayer, sleep, supplements, and 10 live organic fruits and vegetables a day. Our spiritual life? Nurtured or withering on the vine? Walking meditation or plugged in to the World vs. the Universe? Interior pollution is akin to 14,000 rotting pigs versus the clear, untainted water of life flowing through us.

     China is vast, rugged, refined, exquisitely beautiful, shockingly raw, and threadbare all at once. Tonight I breathe the pure air of the great Pacific Northwest. I look out of spaciousness ($33,000 per square meter to buy land outside of the Forbidden City in Old Beijing…) to survey the Lake Mayfield which happens to have a cloud resting on the serenity of its surface and upside down pointed Fir at its borders. Has the sky turned inside out and what is up, is down?

     Life is full of these reflections and China reflected to me our greatness and our tendency to dissipation and degradation. We must choose and we must fight to keep making positive progression because it doesn’t come naturally. Making a life precariously straddling the Great Wall will find you in a crumbled heap at the bottom with a cracked head. The vision must never be sacrificed to the hard climb. It IS hard and it IS worth it – the ascension.

     We must stand against the World for our nobility, our purity, our pride. It took immense vision to construct the Great Wall, the Forbidden City but not only that but protecting the vision and creation that resided in the act while building something that lasts. What are we building that we are prepared to defend - our spirit, our health, our family, our wealth, our path of service? What has been built that we enjoy that we are prepared to defend? The Forbidden City allowed nothing that would compromise its integrity: no soil to tunnel through, and it was surrounded by a great moat and walls in a defensive posture. There is a time to know our magnificence and a time to protect it with everything in our power. That time is now. 

     You may be tired of my weaving my non-profit work in the World into the peacefulness of writing in the Adytum Sanctuary side of my life but I have to say it…After attending the last Codex meeting in Beijing, I believe we need to get very serious about protecting our health. Without health, my friends, we have limited options. I won’t say that we have nothing because I have watched people who have lost their spark and their vitality return to their spiritual roots and become very powerful in prayer for themselves, others, and the World, maybe for the first time in their lives.

     But to remain VITAL with open options to exercise our talents and power we must realize that the powers that rule World trade and supposedly our health: Codex Alimentarius, of which I attend- they are NOT for health despite their false mission statement. National Health Federation was the ONLY Voice for YOU- the shopper buying for themselves and family at the grocery store or market, at the last meeting.

There was no one in the whole World who spoke for the consumer except NHF  and I mean it. I heard lies in the 7 days of meetings on Food Additives. Lies from the sweetener industry. Lies from the artificial coloring people. Lies from the US and Australia. Lies designed to defend World trade, their companies, their nations.

China is set forth in the World right now as a failing example in the things that really matter in life (like breathing…) and they did it to themselves.

     Do you wish for yourself to create a World in which you used to be the head and now you are the tail, despite money pouring in? When you cannot take a single pure breath- and I mean it literally even in the mountains I visited- is that wealth to you? Money in the bank while your lungs fail you…HEALTH IS WEALTH and you know it is true.


 Monsanto, Agenda 21, Doctors killing more people annually than perhaps they actually heal… Do you wish to create a World where babies are poisoned by greed- Melamine is the name of that greed and dogs were carted to their graves over that atrocity as well.

 Do you wish to poison and pollute the soil with “compost” made of old car batteries and human feces and then enjoy that watermelon plucked from the vine that was desecrated in that soil and now becomes part of YOU? China has adopted for this choice and all inside a political system that is not for the people.

     The Chinese were the great Minds that brought forth great inventions like the printing press, the compass, and more. They thought so big centuries ago that their ideas traversed miles of mountain ranges becoming walls and they created a City that made my heart exult because it felt so holy and so splendid. They cultivated beauty, intelligence, and a profound spiritual depth despite your denomination. China wove its way unexpectedly into my heart with a respect and admiration that the current decay cannot obliterate.

     China is an invitation to us all to return to our roots: to the heritage of grace, magnificence, and expansive vision we all possess. We are destined to reside in beauty, in love, in strength, in compassion, in progress, in dominion over forces that would hinder those goals. China is a World irritant at present like the freshwater oysters infiltrated with a foreign body which produce the pearls.

     China’s wise pearl reminds us we can relieve ourselves of the irritants and embrace beauty, our destiny, our future and that of the World. Make our investments now and make them strong, make them last- each one using our gifts and talents to restore this World to rightness. In the health freedom World I see a lot of people getting angry and upset. That is not passion. Passion creates a new terrain. It builds a Great Wall and a fortified City like the Forbidden City. Anger can easily turn inward on us. It must be directed into a constructive energetic use that will create the World we are proud to leave behind as our legacy.

     When I left China, I prayed over the City as I looked out from my hotel room. I prayed over all those that would remain to breathe that air, dodge spit in the street, wonder about the integrity of their food and water, and the milk they feed their children. China has inherent greatness and power. So do we. We must train our hands to war once again because this insidious degradation that seeps into whatever continent we are on to destroy our magnificence is easily crushed when we wake to our beauty and our power and the amazing force of our collective will and create the life we imagine.