Who am I?

I just had an unnerving experience. For a while now my naturopath, Dr. Faye Johnson from Dakota Natural Health Center in Bismarck has been referring her difficult cases to me. This means that she works with people; does all that she can to help them; finding that she has run out of techniques to help the patient; she sends them to me.

I have been very honored by Dr. Faye's faith in my skills and techniques. I have been able to further help these people through the techniques that I know and so she continues her referrals. Just now, though, I had one that makes me VERY nervous for some reason.

This woman told me that she just got back from Mayo where they were unable to help her except to give her some new medications. She told me that she has reacted to them, which is not a new experience for her. Right now there is very little that she doesn't react to--her inner environment is so very toxic.

This woman, a school teacher, has had to quit work and is in extreme pain constantly. She said, "I'm calling you because Dr. Faye said that you can maybe help me. It's only a ray of hope that I have, but that's better than no hope at all."

I told her that I named my blog, A RAY OF HOPE, for that very reason. BodyTalk was only a ray of hope to me when I was terminal also. Now this woman looks at ME as the one who is extending that one ray of hope to her. Can you imagine how unsettling this is for me?

Who am I to be the person who gives this critically ill woman a ray of hope? Who am I to think that my skills can save HER life? Who am I to think that someday she may look at me as I look at Elizabeth Hanson--the BodyTalk practitioner who saved my life through God's guidance and blessing.

Jacob just said, "Mom, this is your big chance. You've been wanting to work with someone who is very sick so that you can build a reputation for yourself." GULP....

I do have the dream of having a health center here for the ill SOMEDAY. God gave me this dream as I lay dying up at Paulette's center 4 years ago. But that is in the future--then it won't bother me that someone's life is at stake; then I'll have more skills; then I'll have more nerve; then I won't be so busy with home schooling and the farm.........................................

In response to the doubts I have raised I will say that I told the woman, "Yes, I'll work with you." I sent her to the IBA website to study BT and the KRT website to study radionics before her in-person session with me next Tuesday. I told her that, if she sends me a sample of her hair in the mail, I will do a session on her the day that it comes. I told her that there IS hope in the combination of these 2 natural modalities--that many people are starting to find rapid improvements in their health in the past few months since I began combining them. I gave her hope.

Now, as I ponder all of that, my insides are churning as the thought keeps recycling in my mind, "WHO AM I?" Still, God DID say to me on my deathbed, "There is WORK to be done, Dawn." So I work in the Lord's fields. He saved my life for a purpose. He led me to the modalities that I've studied since then; He developed my intuition; He gives me the strength to do the sessions; He is the one who does the healing!

I rest, then, on His will for my life but I covet your prayers for strength, courage, and wisdom as I go about the task of giving folks hope--A RAY OF HOPE. For some people, that is all they've got!

To the work, Dawn, to the work!

Celebrating Two Years

Oh, how is it possible that yesterday was my two year blogiversary? I had planned to post about it all day yesterday but chose instead to spend my extra moments helping the boys finish up the floor on the 2nd story of our storage building. It was so lovely outside, and Andrew was getting discouraged that it was taking so long, so I decided to put off posting until evening.

Then last night I had 2 sessions to do, and after that my stomach was a little upset, so I went to bed early. As I lay there falling asleep I thought, "Rats, I didn't even post on my second anniversary of beginning blogging." I almost got up and wrote a paragraph announcing my give-away in honor of this momentous occasion but I was sleepy by then and decided to do it this morning.

This has to be very short, even now, because today is my son, Andrew's, 20th birthday. How can that be? However I wanted to take a moment to say that this year, like last, I have decided to give away a free BodyTalk session. My friend, Kimberly, mentioned when we took Access class together last month that she was happy that she won the free session last year. That inspired me to make the same offer again this year.

If you would like to enter to receive this power-packed free session, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. I'll wait a week and then draw one name. Feel free to enter again even if you won last year.

I'd best get to work as we're having a birthday party here tonight. Cora and Jacob are hiding some treats for Andrew to search for later. It's a tradition that my children have grown to love over the years and it doesn't seem like they've outgrown the thrill of the search. Andrew hid Jacob's favorite protein bars last week for Jacob's birthday and both boys had a ball. However, it is apparent that Andrew will have much more of a challenge to find his treasures than Jacob did. My goodness, they are REALLY hiding them good! :)

Blessings to all--especially those who have birthdays today or those women who gave birth on this day. I'd best post this off as Andrew was born at 10:54 and I need to give him his spanking in 2 minutes. :)

Happy Sabbath to all,

Dawn

Crying

Goodness, I've never had it hit me THIS hard before. I just came in from chores after having a good cry. When I first went outdoors this morning, I noticed that large numbers of geese were heading East. I thought, "Oh good, they're just strengthening their wings before they leave us in a few weeks," and went on my way.

After the milking as I came out of the barn, though, I noticed that there was an awful lot of honking about a mile East of here. Do you remember the pictures that I took of that field full of them last year. Well, that must be where they had agreed to meet this morning, as birds were heading there from all directions.

I watched amazed as they clumped together swirling, swirling, swirling. Then, as I watched, someone headed SOUTH! Was I mistaken? "It's such a beautiful morning, Lord," I prayed, "they CAN't be leaving us for the Winter, CAN THEY?"

I kept watching and then I felt the tears slipping down my checks. It was undeniable--THEY WERE ALL HEADING SOUTH!!!!!!!!!! I have always felt an immense longing for them when they're gone, but I can't ever recall weeping at the loss of their beauty and honking in the sky overhead.

Yet there I was crying silently as I watched the long columns of Canadians heading south on their long migration to warmer climates before our North Dakota winter hits. We're taught in BodyTalk that 90% of what we do comes out of the subconcsious mind. Lots of times we don't understand why we do or feel something and this was a bit of a surprise to me.

I tried to stop crying but I've learned enough to know that this is unhealthy. Cora walked up to me, saw that I was crying and walked on by to leave me to my thoughts. Jacob did the same. I, too, tried to walk away from the spot but I was glued there. For the next 20 minutes, I watched as every last Canadian goose flapped joyfully Southward for their Winter homes.

Slowly the sky emptied out and so did the contents of my tear ducts. It was very strange and stranger still that I find myself writing about this. Still, this is one more of those times that I simply MUST write. It makes me feel better to write and if my thoughts can bless even one person in the world in only one, little way, then I am VERY glad that I shared this powerful moment in my life with you.

I love poetry, as you well know. This is a poem that we shared at Alfred one 4th Sabbath about 5 years ago. I just loved it then and so I dug it out for you to ponder as you think about this moment in my life on the prairie of North Dakota. If you're one of those who lives where "My" birds go for the Winter, I'd appreciate your waving them a welcome when they appear in your part of the world.

Best get ready to go. I'm taking the family out for lunch at the Golden Corral in Bismarck today in appreciation for helping get ready for dad's sale. This is a long-awaited treat for us. Then Robert is treating the family to a treat which shall remain a secret for we haven't told the children about it yet--only that we're taking them to something special this afternoon at 2:30. You'll have to wait along with the children to see what it is.

Have a great week in the Lord,

Dawn


SOMETHING TOLD THE WILD GEESE
By Rachel Field



Something told the wild geese

It was time to go,

Though the fields lay golden

Something whispered, "snow."



Leaves were green and stirring,

Berries, luster-glossed,

But beneath warm feathers

Something cautioned, "frost."



All the sagging orchards

Steamed with amber spice,

But each wild breast stiffened

At remembered ice.



Something told the wild geese

It was time to fly,

Summer sun was on their wings,

Winter in their cry.

Finishing Thursday, October 14th

After we got off the cruiser, we made a great discovery. We were headed towards the AQUARIUM OF THE BAY, which is the place that Cora most wanted to join us at, when we were drawn to this incredible sounding band. Anyone who knows me knows that I am captivated by good music like nothing else--well, maybe except for GOOD food. ;) Anyway, I was drawn to the sound like bears to honey.


We pushed through the people and looked in vain for the band. As we got closer to the sound, though, we saw that it was only ONE man playing the strangest looking stringed instrument that I have ever seen. We made our way over to the table and stared at the man as it slowly registered that he was making ALL of that sound with just one instrument.

When he finally finished his song, Robert spoke first and asked him if that instrument was making ALL of that sound. The man laughed and said, "Yes" and started to answer our questions as to what it was called. Bob Culbertson became a part of our lives then as he explained that the instrument is called the Chapman stick and it's only been around for less than 2 decades.


Bob said, "I've played in many different countries and I'm the only one in the world who has designed a course to study the stick at home." I thought of my boys immediately and wondered if one of them would someday fill our home with such awesome music.

As you can imagine, we didn't want to wait that long. We bought 3 of his CDs, as gifts to the children. Later we sent them to Bob's website to wet their appetite. You, too, can hear Bob's awesome skill and wet your own appetite to buy a stick by going here: http://www.stickmusic.com/. I must say, though, that it may be a long time until we have the money for a stick of our own as they range in price from $1,500 to $3,000.

I do regret now that Robert and I were both so dumbstruck at the beauty of his amplified stick music filling Pier 39, that neither one of us thought to take a picture of Bob. This is close to where he was standing, though, so this will have to do. Notice the entrance to AQUARIUM OF THE BAY in blue on the right. That's where we went to next which also was covered with our city passes.

This aquarium, just inside the door, was round with a diameter of about 7 feet and it stood about 9 feet tall. I was captivated and began my quest to capture a school of swarming fish with my little digital camera. We gazed at the many "Small" aquariums until one of the staff told us that there was much more to gaze at downstairs, so off we went.
I never was very successful at capturing those swirling, whirling schools but I did get some nice shots of larger, slower specimens of fish hood.

If you grew up in a German home like I did, you learned the meaning of the word, ECKLE. To be eckled means that you can't stop gazing at something, even when it grosses you out. It's so odd that it's amazing but, to stare at it for long, you get chills down your spine by it's ugliness. If this has ever happened to you, then you have been eckled. Well, this was the first of many things that eckled me at the AQUARIUM OF THE BAY! I just loved the place! Praise God for His endless creative abilities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was the first thing that we saw when we got downstairs. It was a very large aquarium filled with these see-through jellyfish.

The sign said that, if you look closely, you can see the undigested food in the four stomachs of these Moon Jellies. See if you can see it on this close-up. I wasn't even one bit eckled--I was fascinated.

This was another type of jellyfish. I have never been so captivated by movement in my life as when I watched this creature of the sea. If I had known how to use the movie function on my camera, I'd have captured this incredibly beautiful movement. All of that white stuff inside the yellow "bowl" moved as the bowl squeezed in and out. This is how it propelled itself forward and the white stuff flowed as hair in a gentle breeze. I could hardly stop watching.

These fish tried to disappear in the sand at the bottom of the aquarium. We thought that they were dead at first, but then one of them blinked. :)

Then I saw a shark--a big one. It was way in the back of the tank so it was too dark to capture him. Then he turned and swam right beside me. I was so stunned that I couldn't speak, let alone take a picture. Robert was ahead of me so, when I could think, I told him that the shark was coming his way. Robert put his hands against the side of the tank, as the shark swam by, and caught his length. He was THIS big and just on the other side of the glass!!!!!!!!

This, I think, was the most fascinating thing in all of California--Filoli; whales; and the redwoods excluded. This guy was attached to the glass at my eye level. I have never seen a starfish, let alone watch one feed. I tried in vain to explain my wonder to the children when we looked through our 1,700 + pictures later at home.

As you can see here, the sea star feeds on his underside. For lack of a better term, it looks as though he has hundreds of little macaroni sticking into him there. These little tubes were constantly scanning through the water for minuscule bits of food--moving back and forth. When a bit of food came close, the starfish used his vacuum cleaner suction and sucked it up in the tube. I was so fascinated that Robert had to tear me away with his words, "There goes the shark again!

This is another attempt to capture a school of hundreds of shiny, little fish.

Finally we came to a place where one can sit down and rest--the AQUARIUM OF THE BAY IS HUGE!!!! As I sat resting a bit, none other than the big guy himself (a Sevengill Shark) came and swam RIGHT OVER THE TOPS OF OUR HEADS!!!!!!!!! What an awesome moment--everyone was totally quiet in awe of the opportunity that we were having to be so close to this fine creature. I couldn't even capture the full length of him as you can see.

How I wish that I could remember the name of this type of fish. They were my favorite and so beautiful with their lovely iridescent spots.

This place was a place of education too. I learned here that the San Francisco Bay is an estuary where fresh water from several rivers and creeks merges with the salt water of the Pacific Ocean. Please take a few moments to read this sign if you hope to have this blog post be an educational experience even a tiny bit.

When we got to the end of the two 300 foot tunnels which hold 700,000 thousand gallons of filtered bay water and house 20,000 aquatic animals, we took the elevator back upstairs.
Now we found ourselves in a place called TOUCH THE BAY! Literally!!!

There were 2 touch pools that re-create California's rocky shoreline. In it were leopard sharks; bat rays; sea cucumbers; and sea stars. Here Robert is touching a leopard shark, carefully following the directions shared by the staff member. She explained to us that these animals are raised in the pools since babyhood so are relatively calm around humans. Still one needed to make sure to touch them in certain places and in a gentle manner. I only worked up my courage to touch a sea star but preferred to enjoy sharks and such from a distance. This shark was pretty sleepy but moved away after Robert stroked him a few times.

Totally fascinated by God's incredible creation that lives in the ocean, we were saddened when it was announced that they were closing the building for the day. After going down this escalator, we again found ourselves out on Pier 39--this time with more time to explore.

As Bob's wonderful stick music filled the whole area, Robert and I started wandering down the "Street" to explore one of the most famous areas of San Francisco. You can catch a glance into a few of the shops that I found most interesting. Shark teeth anyone?

How about entering this cute, little shop which was stuffed full of cable car souvenirs? Can you believe that Robert and I were in the San Francisco area for a whole week and did NOT take a ride on a cable car? If you would have seen the wonderful events that the children had planned for us, you'd see why there was not nearly enough time to take in everything. Besides, with parking costing a quarter for 5 minutes in the parking meters, I'm not sure that we could have afforded the luxury of a cable car ride. I guess it will have to be the thing that draws me back there sometime in the future. :)

All along the walkway there were these cute baskets of foliage. They were about 6 feet in diameter so they were not small. Isn't this an awesome way to dress up a corner of your yard?

Jewelry stores were everywhere in San Francisco. We only made 2 purchases in them and these were lovely combs for Cora and my hair. I think that Cora has shown hers already so I'll have to get a picture of mine to post here later. It's a big star and it's studded with all kinds of diamonds, don't you know. The sign on the store said that there was a retirement sale going on so everything was 90% off. I'm quite certain, then, that I would never have been able to afford the lovely comb at full price. We did notice later on, though, that everyone of the stores had a sale of some sort going on at the time. Wasn't that nice of them to all have special sales during the week that we just happened to be in California? ;)

Some of the store owners were very cleaver with their store names. This one was full of treasures from Ireland but the name reminded me of a book I've heard about a time or two.

Ooops. I guess I cut off the whole name here but this shop is called the SOCK MARKET. I never knew that there were so many different kinds of socks--oh my!

This one I just HAD to get a picture of but we moved along VERY quickly then.

Finally we found ourselves back out by the bay again. We were so glad that we had gone out just then as this is the closest that we actually got to one of these big, heavily laden ships. WOW!

"There they are," Robert said as he pointed to these sleepy critters. We had been reading about how the sea lions had token over Pier 39 years ago although most of them are out in the ocean in the summer and fall. I guess these are just a few of the ones who fill up these docks during the winter months.

There was a crowd of about 500 people out strolling on the outside of Pier 39. I'm assuming that we were all tourists who had come past the shops to get a bit of lovely evening California air AND to get a look at the sea lions who control this part of the wharf. The numbers of cameras and oohs and aahs told me that this was not something that many of us had ever seen before.

However, it was all a bit "Boring" as I had spent all morning at Filoli and the afternoon on the bay or exploring it in the aquarium. I found myself yawning when I noticed that there was some kind of official boat gliding towards us AND the sea lions. Then things started to change.

It was so hilarious as the sea lions caught sight of that boat. I told the children later that they were just like our goats or geese when they see you coming towards them with a pail of grain. All of a sudden, the creatures came to life and started bellering their welcome to the boat. One nudged the other and pretty soon the docks were rocking like wild. I thought they were going to be fed and I'm pretty sure that they thought that they were going to be also.

I wish that you could have heard them as they flopped off the docks into the water and swam to the boat with anticipation. Then the boat turned around and slipped away amidst GREAT protests from the sea lions. There was a terrible roaring and flapping amongst them then and they swam in the water and yelled, "Cheater" after the boat. The crowd loved it and I found myself laughing with great mirth.

There was nothing to do but climb back onto the docks. This was hilarious to watch as the older, larger specimens climbed on the dock right by the edges. This left the smaller, younger ones trying to find places where they could climb back on the docks. There was CONSIDERABLE noise and everyone just loved it. Afterwards, I concluded that the boat came by to give all of us tourists something to laugh about and talk about when we went home to our land-locked homes in North Dakota and elsewhere.

After that show, I was getting a little cold; more tired; and VERY hungry. We decided to go back down the boardwalk and try to find something to eat for supper. We walked on the other side now and saw different shops and things of interest like PUPPETS ON THE PIER...

GADGET WORLD that I knew the boys would have loved sticking their noses into had they been there....

and this beautiful carosel called the SAN FRANCISCO CAROSEL. Robert was going to buy us some tickets to ride on it, but they said that they wouldn't be running it for another half hour. Our appetites wouldn't allow us that long of a wait, so we moved on.
We had fun looking at all of the restaurants on the pier and finally decided on one on the upper deck. It was sooooooo ramantic to walk up the steps and along the top sidewalk to the one shop that looked as though it may have some food that we'd both enjoy delighting in. The smells of the food coming out of the open restaurants were tantalizing to one who had only had an early breakfast and one and a half pieces of cold pizza for lunch.

It was now about 8:00 PM and I was ravenous and eager to eat out after packing lunches and eating in the hotel room all week. However, when the waiter showed us the menu it was easy enough to forget my hunger for another hour. We had both been prepared to splurge a bit but when we noticed that the least expensive item on the menu was meatloaf and that it cost $16 a plate, we told the man, "Thank you" and headed back to the parking garage where we had left our rental car.

After charging the $48 fee for parking in the garage all afternoon and evening to our credit card, we were happy to head back home to San Bruno. It was an hour drive to the hotel but it wasn't quite so daunting to be driving around the area anymore. It was dark by the time we got "Home," so we were glad to be off the streets and safe in our room again.

Half an hour later, we were enjoying our burritoes, fresh from the microwave, and thankful that we had food. Then we tele- something or othered the children on the laptop and they watched
us eat our supper as we ranted and raved about all that we had seen and heard that day. Before we were finished talking, Andrew had already gone to Bob's website and heard him play the stick. I must admit it, though I swallow hard to do so, technology does have it's ways of keeping families together.

I was so tired that night that I fell asleep almost instantly which was a good thing as we had to be up VERY early the next day. Now that I am tired again, I will close with the concept that it doesn't seem possible that our trip could keep getting better and better every day, but it DID. I hope that you're enjoying reading about it as much as I am enjoying reminiscing.

Sleep well to all my loved ones out there. I trust that you, too, are thankful for the wonders of technology in bringing us closer together in heart even when the miles separate us. Bravo for blogger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawn

Seriously now

Hi everyone,

As much as I'd like to keep my mind focused on our care-free days spent in San Francisco last month, reality slowly creeps in. Although I'm working on another post full of pictures, I decided to throw this in here just for a dose of reality.

The North Dakota Home School Association puts out an e-newsletter called the Eclectic. Just in case you, like us, don't know what that means I'll share what we learned when Andrew looked up the word this afternoon on his I-pod. He has insisted on the exact meaning of words for as long as I can remember and we, being naturally lazy, let him continue on the tradition while we improve our vocabulary at his expenditure of time. The word, Eclectic, then, means mixing and matching good parts from several different sources of ideas.

In this case, we learned a bit about upcoming home school events; a good resource with which to study our government which is free online; and what parentalrights.org has been up to since I decided to tune out the world. I was delighted in each case.

Please take a moment to watch the trailer to the new movie that this fine organization just put out here at my time expenditure. :) Then join us in getting out the word about the need for an amendment to our constitution to protect parents rights to raise their children in the fashion that they deem best for the child. If you do watch this, you'll see that good old FREE America needs to be protected from those who have their eyes on destroying our country.

Anyway, did you know that Governor Hoven has declared the second week in November as the week of the family? Also, did you know that Parental Rights.org is planning a big event on November 20th to launch their new movie to the world? I didn't know this either until today, so don't feel all alone.

Here's the deal, if we send them $15 they'll send us a copy of the video. All we have to do is agree to watch it on November 20th (with the rest of the country) AND try to get as many others to watch it with us as possible. So, how would you all like to come over to our place to watch the movie on November 20th? UM, maybe I should throw in an RSVP here as we really do have a small living room. :)

Please pray about this and let the Lord lead you as He will.

One other bit of news is that I made Thanksgiving arrangements with my sister-in-law, LV, today. You may recall that my brother/her husband Russell and she were here last Summer for a short visit. Well, LV's mom just died and she's all bummed about no family to spend Thanksgiving with so I invited them here for the day.

LV told me this morning, "Russell was absolutely glowing when he got off of the phone with you last week. He told me, 'Dawn just invited us for Thanksgiving Day. Can you believe that?" WOW--I never dreamed that I mattered to him at all, let alone making his day with my invitation. I guess it just goes to show that one never can tell when one will find an open heart. Let's keep loving then, folks, for there certainly are many lonely hearts out there in the big, busy world.

Here's to love then!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dawn

Touring the San Francisco Bay

It was next to impossible, but we did finally tear ourselves away from Filoli. Thursday was the time that Cora had written about in our big book these words, "Today is the day that I most wish that I could be with you." We figured that she must know of further delights as she had planned the trip for us so back we went into the beautiful city of San Francisco.

We found the street with all of the gorgeous Pier buildings full of cars from people out on cruises. We were looking for...

THIS one.

This was so that we could board this boat....

which we did as this picture is proof of.

Passengers on the upper most deck

We were standing by the rail with a nice family of 4 from Colorado. The wife told me that they were there to celebrate their 20th anniversary and I, of course, shared that we were celebrating 30 years of marriage. We wished each other a happy anniversary and pleasantly chatted the whole rest of the cruise.

I was very thankful that the children had bought us 2 City Passes for $62 each as this was only one of the tours that we were allowed to enter with our passes. The mother of the family told me that they had paid $70 for their family just to take this one cruise. Good job on purchasing the City Passes children. This picture shows the wake so you can see that we were moving along rather quickly.

The tour took us out to the Golden Gate Bridge where the boat was turned around. This is what the bridge looks like from the deck of the HARBOR EMPEROR.

This is the now-abandoned prison Alcatraz. There was one boat that took people out here for a tour but neither Robert, nor I, cared to spend any money to go and see it. Instead we looked at it as our boat slowly glided past it.

The wife from Colorado offered to take our picture, with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, if we would return the favor and take a picture of their family. This happened quite often on our journey.

One of the delights on the Bay was seeing many sailboats out and enjoying the glory of the lovely weather. Only once had I ever seen a sailboat and this was when my Uncle David from Wisconsin had brought his out to sail on Lake Eureka. It turned out a great disappointment to him as he'd just gotten his sails up when he was at the other end. These folks had no such disappointment as there was plenty of Bay for everyone.

This boat was available for those more adventurous spirits. Robert said that the boys would have loved to have a ride on that one as it REALLY moved. I was happy that I wasn't on it as I would have a ride on a fast boat in a few days and one of those is enough for me. :)

Well everyone, Cora has found a new movie for us to watch, so I'll close for now. We're still not at the end of my picture review of Thursday on that unforgettable week in California, but the rest will have to wait for another time. We took over 1,700 pictures on our journey so you can look forward to many more to come.

I wish you all a glorious Sabbath rest--what's left of it. The guys just came in from trying out their new shotguns; Cora and I played ourselves out on duets at the piano; and dark will fall on us soon. Then the new work week will begin but for now, it is STILL THE MOST GLORIOUS DAY OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sabbath hugs to all of you out there whom I love,

Dawn

Haunted by the beauty of Filoli one week later

One week ago from today, which would have been October 14, 2010, Robert and I took the tour of Filoli and we will never be the same. I have never seen such beauty all in one place before and it is forever etched in my mind as a dream come true. This tour was truly my favorite event on our trip to the San Francisco area.


It did me such good to learn that there really were people on earth with huge fortunes who really did care about their fellow man. You will see that this is true as you ponder the meaning of the name, "Filoli".

Filoli was built as the family home of Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn II. Mr. Bourn made his wealth by mining the Empire Gold Mine, which he owned. This was the most productive gold mine in California. Although extremely wealthy, Mr. Bourn had a motto in life which was the springboard for the name Filoli. He lived by these principles which I gladly share with you to ponder.

TO FIGHT FOR A JUST CAUSE; TO LOVE YOUR FELLOW MAN; AND TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE.


Can you see how this motto would be good for all people to follow no matter what their income level is? Anyway, Filoli is taken from the first two letters of FIGHT, LOVE, and LIVE. FILOLI. Perhaps you will want to let this concept sink deep into your being, as I have done this past week, and Filoli will exist in your part of the world too! Perhaps if we all did so, the strength and beauty of Filoli will exist EVERYWHERE on this planet, as God had first intended.

These pictures are a poor representation of the spirit of Filoli but it's all that I have to try to show you how wonderful it truly is. The first is on the hour long drive out of San Francisco.


We arrived at Filoli an hour before the formal tours began for the day. This is Robert walking between the gorgeous flowers on the way to the visitor information center.
Flowers are everywhere at Filoli. This is one of the many arrangements that are spread throughout the house. All of the arrangements are made from flowers and things grown on the estate. Each room had one or two of these spread throughout to enrich the environment.

I have never seen so many different types of trees as I saw at Filoli. After the Bourns had passed away, the estate was sold to Mr. & Mrs. William P Roth who were in the shipping business. The Roth's made only one structural change to the house and that was adding the large pillared entrance to the house. They did, however, make massive improvements to the gardens.

Our guide told us that the gardeners would groan when Mrs. Roth would go out shopping at an annual greenhouse Spring sale. Once she came home with 3 TRUCKLOADS of new trees, bushes, and flowers and said, "Plant them wherever you think best." That's how Filoli came to have 16 ACRES of formal gardens plus many more acres outside the formal gardens which we did not see.

I cannot recall the name of this tree but isn't it awesome?

The grand entrance to Filoli. We were told that once the Roth family wanted to host a REALLY big garden party. Wanting to assure success of the party, no matter what the weather, they covered this entrance (about the size of a football field) with a piece of beautiful, blue, silk fabric. It was the talk of San Francisco for months.

You can see our guide, Robert M. off to the left, holding his straw hat. We were welcomed warmly by all of the staff (wherever we went out in CA) when we told them that we were on our second honeymoon celebrating 30 years of marriage.

We just loved Robert's gentle spirit which was suited perfectly to Filoli. His name kept leaping out at me, though, until suddenly I recalled that in the movie, EMMA, there was a Robert M. I told Robert Bornemann that that's where I had heard the name before and we both chuckled.

Robert M. ushered us into the men's chamber off to the left upon entrance into the mansion. The ladies' chamber was on the right side of the entrance. Our guide told us that every single person, who was ever fortunate enough to enter that main door, was ushered into either the male or the female "Freshening" room. They were told to take off their coats; wash up; and use the restroom if necessary. Only then were they considered fit to be seen by the owners of the house. Notice all of the lovely arches throughout the entire 36,000 square foot house.
Robert showed us that there were 2 layers of doors here. The first was the elegant door inviting guests. The second one is just barely visible and was solid. These were pulled closed at night for protection of the family. He said that tour guides used to always pull these doors out to show folks on tours. One day, though, one of them fell out during a tour and so now it is no longer permitted to pull them out. All efforts are being taken to preserve the house in it's original form.

Filoli has 43 rooms, not counting bathrooms and spare rooms. To quote from the printed information we received: "The interior has elegantly carved moldings, marble fireplaces, inlaid parquet floors, and magnificent architectural doorways, with a superb sense of space and proportion in the 17 foot high major rooms." To put it bluntly, IT WAS GORGEOUS!!!!!

This is a picture of the kitchen stove.

This, perhaps, was the most interesting thing in the whole mansion. In each room of the house, there were little black buttons on the walls (picture to follow). These were used to call one of the 12 servants when one of the family members was needing any type of assistance.

When pushed, the buttons would register on this switchboard which was on the kitchen wall. Our guide, Robert, told us that he was told that the staff prayed daily that this would never break down. He showed us the wiring involved in keeping it going and this was in the early days of electricity. You can read some of the room's names on the call board.
The windows in the home were mammoth. Four of the windows still have their original drapes and this is one of them. This is in the dining room.

A view of the dining room with the marble fireplace. The house has 16 fireplaces and each one of them was different and special in it's own way. I wish that I could have captured the painting above the fireplace but it was a little dark in this room with dark paneling. Robert M. told us that there are only 4 of these paintings in the world and they sold for over $4,000,000 each!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Filoli has, amongst it's vast treasures, one of these famous paintings.

After the meal, Robert told us, the men would stay in the dining room for their brandies and cigars while the ladies retired to the ladies drawing room Here was this gorgeous piano and every sort of delights to feminine eyes and ears.

Just one of many such delightful trunks scattered here and there around the house.

On the far end of the ladies' drawing room, this beautiful mirror was available to check for just "Perfect" reflections before rejoining the men. I reckon that if all one had to do all day was to sit around and be lovely, there wouldn't be much need of a mirror at all. How would you ever get be-smudged? :) Actually, it sounds rather boring to me after all!

I was constantly amazed at the beautiful mouldings above all of the doors and windows at Filoli! Notice also that each room has exquisite borders around the ceilings--each one is different from the next room's!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course, I felt most at home in the library. Robert M. told us that most of the books were not originals, but he did show us one that was. This room was about 40 foot by 30 foot in size and had the carpet which Queen Victoria once had in her home.

One of the many call buttons with which to fetch a servant.

The second owner's wife, Mrs. Lurline Roth (who willed Filoli to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1975), was not only an avid gardener but she also loved race horses. She used this room to house her many trophies from the races that her horses had won.

After her death, the Trust saved only a few of her many trophies which were on display in this former Trophy Room. They then donated this room to the use of displaying botanical art. Here were 2 books about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide which were given to Filoli by the estate of Prince Charles of Wales. The books teach how to create this art form from plants and classes are taught here for just that purpose.

These are some of the results. There were many such creations on the walls of this room which were created by drying the beautiful plants of Filoli.

One of the many bathrooms in Filoli which, as you may recall, are not counted amongst it's 43 rooms.

Here is a sample of a typical place setting used in the dining room of Filoli.

Finally we were ushered into the ballroom at Filoli. I held my breath as the beauty seeped into my soul. There were huge murals on the walls. This one depicts the 11,000 acre estate in Ireland that the Bourn's gave to their daughter, Maud on her wedding day. Did you catch that? THAT'S SOME WEDDING PRESENT!!!!!!!!!!!

According to the brochure, the ballroom is 32 feet wide and 70 feet long with a ceiling height of 22 1/2 feet! The chandeliers are French crystal; the massive baroque fireplace is of Machiavelli marble; and 6 elaborate sconces complete the illumination of the ballroom.

It was in this majestic environment that God chose to honor our marriage. I head heard Robert M. say to a man walking by who was carrying some music, "Have a song ready for a couple who is celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary." My goodness--would he?

I had forgotten all about it, as I was taking in the beauty, when the musician said very loudly, "And now would the honeymoon couple of 30 years please come forward to receive your gift from Filoli in song?"

We stared at each other but Robert M. chuckled and led us up to the grand piano. He took this picture while Robert and I listened to the song sung in our honor. Later we learned that both Robert M. and the pianist/singer only came to Filoli on THURSDAY MORNINGS--the very time that God took us to the estate. ISN'T OUR KING FABULOUS TO LIFT OUR SPIRITS LIKE THIS?????????

After we thanked the man for the song, we were led outside to the extensive grounds. Robert M. explained that the house was built with a central hallway throughout it's entire length. The gardens, also, were built on this same theme. Notice the huge Irish yews which had been taken as seedlings from their daughter's home in Ireland decades ago. They had gotten too large and needed to be severely pruned. Robert M. said that in half a year you'll not even be able to see that it had been pruned and, indeed, much new growth was already covering the stumps.

The grounds were massive and I do believe that one could get lost in them. I thought that this was a capital idea. Many of the gardens had small blueprints of the layout of the plants. This helped one to capture the concept behind it's design--very clever idea!

This was the garden house where the family would often picnic with their guests. Robert M. said that the servants were not as fond of this as was the family. They had to drag the food a considerable distance from the kitchen and it was expected to be warm as usual.

This is the sundial that marks the exact center of the 16 acre garden.

Who could resist walking on that sweet, little path?

Another view of the family's picnic area.

One of the many ornate gates that separate different parts of the gardens. Many volunteers (lower right corner) come to help keep Filoli beautiful for generations.

The 25 by 74 foot swimming pool was added by the Roth family in 1946.

Around every corner there was either an architectural wonder or a natural one. This is a tree that had about 6 of these limbs hanging down to the ground. There was enough room for about 10 people to stand in the little "Caves" that the branches formed. I just HAD to have my picture taken inside.

This was built to house the Roth children while they were little and mama wanted to work in the gardens. It was HUGE--like everything else at Filoli.

Here Robert is cooling off in a natural arbor of leaves from some unknown tree. It was rather warm that day so it felt good in the shade.

This is the high place looking down that long, central corrider of the entire gardens. Can you just imagine being there when the Roth's daughter, Bernice, walked this path up to become a bride in 1941? What a place to get married!!!!!!!!!!

This is one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen in my entire life. At some point Mrs. Roth had seen a stained-glass window garden and she, of course, wanted one. As you can see, box hedges were planted in a certain design to be the framework for the "Glass." Inside the little hedges were planted many flowers of different colors to make the design of the "Glass". Unfortunately, the flowers weren't in bloom when we were there, but it did give me an idea......

Here is a small portion of the rose garden which is the home to 500 different rose bushes.

This is the cupula on top of the Garden House which was designed to help break up the long brick wall and give a view to the sunken garden and the walled garden. We were told that this is no ordinary rooster up there, but it comes to us from the French. I'm trying desparatly to recall the name of the bird, so if anyone knows, please send me a comment. I found it amazing that the Bourns thought so much of their gardeners, that they gave them this lovely bit of archetecture to gaze at when their backs were sore and needing a good stretch. Is ever there a more lovely place on Earth than this place called Filoli?

This is the last picture which I took at Filoli. Robert M. told us that all of these apple varities are grown at Filoli. Each one had a toothpick in it bearing it's name. When I asked what is done with all of this rich abundance of fruit, Robert M. smiled a big grin. He said, "IT'S ALL DONATED!!!!!!!!!!!"

After I recovered my breath, I pressed him further with, "To whom?" I could tell that Robert M. was thrilled to tell us about the generosity that was carried on there.

He answered me, "Well, all of the volunteers can take as much of it as they want and then it's given to homes."

I asked him, "Do you mean nursing homes for the elderly?"

He nodded and then added, "but mostly to homes which shelter the homeless."

I'm crying tears of joy even now as I think of the generosity of the Bourns carrying on to those who tend Filoli to this day! Also, think of Mrs. Roth giving up her home, while she was still alive, to see that Filoli would be a blessing to millions of people. HOW AWESOME IT IS TO ME TO SEE THAT THESE WEALTHY PEOPLE TRULY DID THEIR BEST TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE!!!

Shortly after this, we parted with Robert M., but not with Filoli. Filoli will forever remain in my mind as a place of unsurpassed beauty and peace. I hope that I have inspired you to dip your tastebuds into Filoli by going to: http://www.filoli.org/.

I wish to thank Miss Jen (listed on my side-bar) for sharing about her family's trip to Filoli earlier this year. You made this wonderful experince possible for us as we'd not have heard of it otherwise! It just goes to show, you never can tell how you will bless others from a simple, little blog post! :) Keep posting about the beautiful things folks, for we are all hungering for them.

Lastly, I wish to publicly thank the three most incredible young people in the world--our children, Cora, Andrew, and Jacob. Countless times I told the story in California of how our precious children could see that we needed a vacation and how they put the entire trip together for us. Every time I told it, I saw the wonder and amazement in the listener's eyes and it made me realize how truly rich we are to be parents of these incredible people!!!!!!!!!!!

"Thank you" hardly seems enough for all that you did for us, you three! May God bless you richly for all of your efforts to make our 30th anniversary one that we will cherish all of our lives!! I love you so much!!!

Your proud mama!