For my last full day in Clackmannan (the town about 25 miles outside E-burgh I've been in), the family of four (including the 3 month old and the 2 year old) went on a rather strenuous hike up to Castle Campbell. We drove about 20 minutes to the town of Dollar (where everything is ironically expensive) and then hiked through stunning woods to a beautiful castle where, from the roof of it, it felt like you could see the whole of Scotland.
Then, we came back and while the family took a rest, I watched one of their nutrition DVD's and learned a heck of a lot about cancer prevention. Basically, stop eating animal products of any kind and flood your system with cruciferous greens (cauliflower, broccoli, chard, kale, sprouts, etc), garlic, tumeric, cloves, and fruits (specifically berries - oh, and bananas may have potassium but they have a lot of sugar in them to, which can mess with your blood sugar and can be linked to mood swings...they can also cause sinus drainage...). Seeing as I personally know at least 4 people who have died of cancer (and less and less survivors of it...), and everyone single person I know knows someone who has died from cancer (just because everyone dies does NOT mean it has to be from cancer...), this is REALLY important information that doctors don't tell you...because they don't know themselves. The average medical school graduate gets 4 hours of nutrition class - IF they choose. It's optional. Now, I'm a bit too smart, I think, to be an "everything's a conspiracy theory" paranoid person, but really...there are actually a fair amount of people who do want to reduce the world's population, the meat and dairy industry is a HUGE business and, well, it just seems like there's something else going on here. We all grew up thinking that milk was good for us, because of the calcium, right? Well, medical studies have shown a near one-to-one correlation (in case you're not familiar with statistics, that type of correlation hardly EVER happens) between milk and jouvenille diabetes. People who didn't even cut out the meat but added on serving a day of greens reduce their risk of cancers by 25%. Yet, some people won't give up meat because they think it's the "only" way they'll get certain vegetables. If that's true, then God's a liar (read Genesis 1:29). Why don't we know how to eat right? I mean, the Fed spends $10 billion a year on health education. Well, McDonald's spend that much every 48 hours. And, as a wise counselor friend of mine once said, "A large majority of people lack critical thinking skills. That's why commercials work."
Anyway, after doing that, I read my cousin's letter. John Michael has, in my mind, always been sensitive (like me), and his letter was overwhelmingly so. The memories of childhood (he did share a bit of childhood with me even though he grew up across the country), the things he pointed out in me that I thought no one in my family knew, everything was so...just, wow. It really made me want to talk to him more. Reading people's letters (I've still got ten to go!) has illuminated the personalities of the people God has lavishly blessed to me. As another sweet friend (and fellow-letter writer) said upon my sharing that I got about 21 letters total, "That ALONE is sheer sweetness."
So, tomorrow I'll probably be going to church with this wonderful family who has blessed me so much with, not only their model of a good, healthy, loving marriage/way to raise kids, but also really cool accents and really awesome conversations in those accents (our longest one was about childbirth and how my primary gift from The Father as a woman is to be a generator of life above any other calling (which I'm going to have to think about a WHOLE lot, especially since marriage is not guaranteed to all women but it was a good conversation anyway...), GREAT food (I've now got over 600 recipes!), overwhelming amounts of resources on everything from nutrition to vaccines to spiritual growth, and then, hop on a train to Oban (we stay there for a day) where I will meet up with my SPU crew. I'm not sure how much access I'll have to the internet, but, the next time you'll hear from me, I'll be on the pilgrimage that was the seed for this whole life-altering trip.
Bend is a quaint, arts-oriented, somewhat historic gathering between hills of central Oregon (the Cascades) and water (the Deschutes River). Many a hiking trail invite nature lovers, wanderers and pray-ers further into the mystery that is nature. Rocks and trees and skies and things freely appear on and as the landscape surrounding the town; dogs and explorers mingle among the seemingly untouched (save for the hiking suggestions softly snaking through) wild.
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