The healing journey of a widowed, unschooling badass in Delaware.
The questions posed are clear. Do you trust the government? Do you accept that they have done horrible things to their citizens? Do you think they have fundamentally changed in one hundred years?
Credit for original post to The Free Thought Project.
I’ve been playing soccer at least weekly for almost a year with no mask. In that time I have heard of only one team who couldn’t play because of a positive Covid test and one player who suffered an infection (this player always wore a mask). In the few months of the vaccine being available, at least two players have missed games claiming the jab as the reason.
Those are my anecdotes. Here is how health authorities are abusing numbers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/11/briefing/outdoor-covid-transmission-cdc-number.html
Two soccer games, two yoga classes, two jiu-jitsu classes, cold showers, Wim Hof Method breathing, The Pilgrim’s Progress book study and play practice, our building club, and hiking with a special lady and her daughter in the last five days.
Kind of grueling. Our May is crazy and I’ll be grateful for the shift in routine come June. But I love this pace.
Disclosure: The links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
I think you underestimate how much value, health, wellness, and happiness our group has brought to its members. Not once in a year of meeting in public without requiring masks have we been challenged by any authorities.
Some homeschoolers, especially new ones and those in extraordinary circumstances like me, need this fellowship. It’s not nonessential. We won’t let a corporatist government agency like the CDC tell us otherwise.
Much like the groups before Lockdown, we share resources, tips, challenges, feelings, and anything that we hope another with find valuable.
We are parents who love our children, family, and friends no less than those who choose to follow a different set of rules.
Yet, we are treated differently by those we would look to for support. We welcome all, but are not welcomed by all.
The largest homeschool group in the state chose to open itself to temporary homeschoolers; virtual, crisis, and hybrid schoolers; and, it seems, anyone who might be curious about homeschooling in Delaware. That brought about a major culture shift from the dedicated homeschool discussions that had once prospered there. At the same time, they chose to follow guidelines from a variety of agencies (governor’s office, CDC, DE Dept. of Health) that were ephmeral, impossible to comply with, and often contradictory on their own terms.
It’s difficult for those of us who have been active and supportive in the Delaware homeschool community to be treated as lesser. We are trying to feed a great need for social contact in our corner of the state. We’re trying to do it in a positive and inclusive way. We feel very successful in that mission.
We recently changed our name to “Allschoolers Park Days in New Castle County” to highlight our inclusivity and simple mission: To provide a weekly, outdoor meetup for whoever needs it.
Come out on a Thursday and watch the children play. Cook some dogs with us and share whatever thoughts you need to share. We miss so many of our friends and love making new ones.
May God’s blessings shine on everyone.
I sweat a lot. I’ve cut out toxins like alcohol and pharmaceuticals, and have reduced coffee and meat consumption. I’ve done a few detox regimens and it just seems that God gave me a highly active, unusually warm body that expels a lot of water and waste.
Masks during exercise cannot be good for anyone. I’m an extreme case, but anyone who is elevating his heart rate to achieve a higher level of cardio vascular health is abused by blocking his airways.
Disclosure: The links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Sweat collects on one’s mask. Sweat contains human waste, it is an excretion. Through a mask, that waste is breathed out into the air and inhaled into the body, the same body that just decided to excrete the waste. This goes on for as long as the workout lasts plus the duration of time inside.
This is not the way exercise and breathing is meant to work. Listen to James Nestor, Wim Hof, Scripture (breath = spirit), or any yoga instructor for hundreds of years before April 2020.
I just heard another propaganda piece from the state declaring the dangers of Covid. Where is the state sponsored message about improving your health? For over a year we have known that obesity, smoking, and any number of improvable human conditions contribute to mortality rates. Why is the theater of masking still being forced?
Watch how people treat their masks. They are filthy and that filth is being launched into the air with each breath. Listen to your body when you wear a mask, listen to your breath, pay attention to whether these things are telling you that this is good for your health and wellbeing or not.
In the very least, support lifting mask mandates on healthy people exercising. We are trying to better ourselves and would love for you to join our ranks (it feels fucking good).
Young guys always underestimate me on the soccer pitch.
Today they must have been half my age and seemed to target me early in the game. Nothing got down my line and I put them on their asses a few times. Once their attacks dried up on my side, I had to roam for trouble.
It was a blast. Our team is older, more cohesive, and loads better at having fun.
Every time I get to step onto a field I feel the blessings deeper. Even hard moments carry happiness and gratitude with them. But today wasn’t hard. It was light and fun and full of smiles.
I’m grateful to God for all the invitations I get to play; the joy I find in the game; and the mind, body, and spirit that fuel my success.
I just watched a video of Canadian police arresting a pastor for holding church service.
Those who choose to serve the government betray themselves, their fellow man, and God.
Our governors have behaved like little pharaohs for over a year. They, and those who enforce their dictates, are our enemies. We must turn our backs on their authority. We don’t have to physically leave their jurisdiction to be free. We can choose freedom right here.
God bless you and your freedom.
I saw it coming.
I was putting the clean dishes away and remarked how there were fewer matching coffee mugs than ever. That several of the mugs Mary and I shared had been broken or given away. I remembered how difficult some of those breaks had been.
The widowed attach things to their former life as a husband or wife. A broken coffee mug is one more piece of that loved one that is gone. At times, the well of grief seems endlessly deep.
“I’m through that,” I thought.
I grabbed the last gift Mary had given me at Christmas six weeks before she died, a beautiful red and white Jesus mug with Isaiah 9:6 on it.
For to us a child is born…and his name will be called “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
I spun toward the boiling kettle and brought the top of the cup down hard on a glass container waiting to be washed. A white chip flew across the counter. The crack was fully through the ceramic.
I smiled. A test. A challenge. A thing. Nothing but a thing in my hand. Mary wasn’t trapped inside, nor my memory of her. She is untouchable, safe in Heaven.
After recording the damage for the inevitable blog post, I thought I would toss the lifeless object. But the spring green and pink of the garden that Mary left told me I could bring life to this cup. I don’t know what little plant will find its home here, but I do know it will be happy and blessed.
After 14 hours of hiking over five mountains, we had one more summit on our list. Out of nine in our original party, three or four were considering the final mountain. The others had resigned to end their day.
The crossroads was at the only waterfall we had seen all day. I was of two minds about continuing, so I decided to climb down to get a good look at the falls and ask God for guidance.
The day had been full of grueling rock scrambles and this small descent to the river seemed extravagant and unnecessary. This beautiful moment gave me clarity. I charged back up to the path and announced that I was in to finish the trek.
My fellow travelers didn’t expect that. We were looking at a long seven miles of ascent and descent that would have to be completed in the dark. I realized that I was acting in bravado. God was speaking to me through my companions.
To avoid injury and the pitfalls of climbing off the mountain in the dark, we decided to end our journey.
We all got back to our accomdations happy and healthy. It was the longest and hardest hike most of us had undertaken. We slept soundly and started making plans for a return to Devil’s Path in the morning.
God often answers my prayers in unexpected ways. He counters my desires with a better course. He reminds me to pay attention to all the signs around me.
Tonight I thank Him and pray to always keep my eyes sharp for His signs.
Thirty days of poems coming to a close
And it seems there’s been little but prose.