The Hana Chronicles: Month 7, Day 31

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August 21, 2026- This was one of the quieter days. Hana slept for an hour in mid-morning and for two hours in the afternoon. These naps don’t interfere with her night’s sleep, so I think this is more evidence of a growth spurt.

When she wasn’t napping, we took our stroller walk, made more enjoyable by the cloud cover,which later burned off. (This is still the dry season.) She also did plenty of standing and took a couple of scooting steps, each time, along the bars of the playpen. This evening, we all came to consensus about Hana’s meals. When she is full, she keeps her mouth closed and will not take any more bites. That is okay with her grownups.

HANA’S NOTE- I am so glad everyone understands me. It is hard not to have words all the time, but I’m getting there.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE-2004- Penny went from cane to walker, in the Fall of 2003. She toughed this year out, saying she had no intention of going into a wheelchair. She would also not cut herself any slack. When there was a Baha’i devotional on the second floor of an apartment building, she insisted on going up, one step at a time, on her own.

I worked through the second semester at Palo Verde Middle School, with a modicum of support from the administration. I was not holding things together, though, and resigned at the end of the year,rather than drag everyone through the gathering mess. It was actually a relief, and the Fall found me substitute teaching at Glendale Union High School District-and doing well. As it happened, the three individuals who worked to keep me off balance, in the previous school district, didn’t change their ways and were arrested for a couple of other transgressions, the following school year. I was not surprised.

Life has a way of balancing things out, even when it looks darkest.

July Road Notes, Day 15: Reckonings

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July 19, 2021, Saugus- It was bound to happen-after 1 1/2 long journeys, my sad old tires had to be turned into road filler. I purchased four new replacements. The days when retreads or used tires sufficed are long gone. So are the days when I took a chance, and dealt with blowouts.

Laundry got done today, also. The small local laundromat was different. A single, harried attendant mans a cramped facility, with good machines-but unlike the coin laundries in the west and south, this one had no waiting area for patrons, save a couple of chairs outside. That said, it is an agreeable place, and the attendant has plenty of regulars who offer kind words and help him-and each other.

A maternal aunt-by-marriage passed away, late last week. She was a paragon of elegance, and one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. If I were to follow the example set by Sabina LaSala Kusch, a lot of the now occasional conflict in my life would be expunged. We didn’t see much of Aunt Sabina, growing up, but her demeanor was always pleasant.

There remain the constant appeals for money, from Africa. I know that others have life far tougher than I do, but what if a large number of people were to band together and offer small donations, instead of assuming that one person can take on a project, start to finish, by self? As it is, my own debts are coming due-and I intend to meet these, honourably-even if a few people regard my refusal to keep donating to THEM-as treachery.

Reckonings are tricky. Karma may strike, even when one sees self as justified in one’s actions. I will take whatever consequences come about, but will not put energy into attracting negativity. I only wish for the best for others, even if I cannot provide it by myself.

Archangels

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February 4, 2017, Prescott- This afternoon, I finished reading “The Standing Stones Speak”.  Set in Carnac, France, British spiritualists Natasha Hoffman and Hamilton Hill detail a series of messages they claim to have received from archangels, on topics ranging from the existence of Atlantis to the progress of souls.

 

There are numerous references to Jesus, Mohammed, the brief primacy, in the not-to-distant future, of a “charismatic figure”, whose rule will be primarily in Europe and North America, and will last 3 1/2 years, before he is removed.  There are references to karma and reincarnation of souls, from one human body to the next, over  the past several thousand years, and that both karma and reincarnation will cease, in the very near future.  This will take place, the archangels say, because the “New Jerusalem”, mentioned in the Bible and, essentially, the true New World Order (the opposite of that which is, rightly, feared by devout Christians), will be built and will obviate the need for souls to constantly return in human form, in order to resolve their issues.

That is the gist of the archangels’ messages.  To me, these would conveniently explain my wistfulness and longing for the forest, for certain places in Europe, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountains, being drawn to particular people and familiarity with certain situations, that I had not previously experienced.  I would need a lot more confirmation of these messages, from more authoritative spiritual texts, especially from the Baha’i Writings, before I would be “all-in” with the overall content of the messages in this book.

Nevertheless, the tone of the book is positive, encouraging of people to develop the goodly character of their souls, and to work, mightily, to seek spiritual advancement, through a righteous life- not in isolation, but among the people with whom we find ourselves.  Baha’u’llah teaches us to be of good character, in group settings, as well as individually, just as Jesus did.

I am continuing to read several Baha’i books, as well as “Apocalypse”, by Dr. Jim Richards and “Return to The Garden”, by Shakhti Gawain, in pondering this primal subject.