Mama Liberty's blog

I'm not sure just where to start... but this has been increasingly bothering me for quite a while and, if nothing else, trying to put it into words here - and any comments from you folks - may help better than thrashing around in my own mind.

I am a lifelong Christian. I've studied much of religion, both Christian and other, and have given much thought to it all. I've gone through a number of churches, having been a Catholic for nearly 25 years until recently, and so made a good faith effort to be part of that community in a number of ways.

Sometimes a seemingly simple question - or a misunderstanding - can create great rifts between people and challenge deeply held ideas... I may have lost a very long time friend - and he's an incredible champion of freedom - over this. I really don't understand why and he, strangely, is not at all clear why he disagrees with me. I would really appreciate any feedback.

A topic that comes up often in the counseling I do is forgiveness. That was a serious part of my hospice work as well, and I've learned much about it over the years - both in my work and in my personal life.

We all have a complex mixture of experiences, old hurts and misunderstandings, resentments and fears. Most of us have at least some serious trauma - physical and/or emotional - from our past, and most fear such trauma from future events as well.

Just a quick note to say Sunni is having connection problems and there is no timetable yet for when she can get back on line. Stay tuned...

She said something about a January 16th celebration of something here, but the phone connection was bad and I couldn't make it out. If anyone knows what that's all about, please post it!! Thanks!

I realized last night that I was almost out of my last batch of home made schnapps, so thought it would be a good time to share the recipe here.

Before I start, and just for the sake of argument - those who are purists or like to work a lot harder than necessary... here are some links to other methods.

Brewing Real Schnapps by distilling - without a real "still"
What are Schnapps and Cordials?
Complete, exhaustive recipes and directions here.

So! Start out with JUST ripe, fresh fruit if at all possible. Frozen fruit is ok, as long as it is top quality and JUST ripe when frozen. (Good luck unless you picked it and froze it yourself. sigh) Wash and clean (peel if needed, core, remove stems, pits, etc.) carefully, then allow to drain thoroughly. Fruit that turns dark on exposure to air can be sprinkled with vitamin C powder. Grind some C tablets with a mortar and pestil - just remember to wash out the chili powder you ground up last!! LOL

Chop fine or run through food processor on coarse setting. Don't puree.

ratio is 1 pound clean, dry fruit to 1.5 cup everclear or 95% grain alcohol PLUS 1.5 cup filtered or distilled water. OR you can use 3 cups of 80 proof Vodka. Some vodka has a funky flavor, so the better quality the better the finished product will taste. I won't use vodka at all since I started with the Everclear - but the vodka is ok if you can't get the other.

DO NOT ADD SUGAR at this point.

Mix these in a sterile glass or stainless steel container with a good tight seal. Allow to stand in a cool, dark place for 2 to 4 weeks. Pour through a fine metal strainer into a clean glass jar. Allow it to drip and don't press. The fruit pulp will make wonderful topping for all sorts of things, so don't even DREAM of discarding it! It can be frozen in ice cube trays and then put in plastic bags to be used little by little.

When you have the pulpless product in the glass jar you can choose whether or not to add sugar - or how much. The standard recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup white granulated sugar for the batch size above. That much sugar may or may not dissolve immediately, but will be ok eventually. Don't use more, however. This should be sealed again and left to age in a cool, dark place for about 3 months.

I have plans to try some plain honey instead of sugar on the next batch. The honey would be especially good with some of the herb liquors like peppermint or spearmint. I want to do some with chamomile and maybe one with rosemary too.

For an herbal recipe, start with the 1.5 cup water, boiling. Add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the dry herb and allow to steep until the water is cold or longer for bark (cinnamon) or seeds (like dill). Strain out the herbs and add the alcohol, then sweeten or bottle unsweetened. It doesn't need the same "working" time as the fruit, though it will improve in flavor with age.

One of my favorites is made with cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, cloves and apple juice concentrate for the water. This one definitely needs the sugar. It's dynamite on/with hot apple pie or to make "mulled cider" in a flash. Use a recipe for apple pie spice mix to get the proportions. I'll look it up and try to remember to add it later.

Whew! Have fun with this. I need to go find something to drink! [G]

Sunni's turkey roasting account spurred me to share my own methods and recipes here. Cooking is certainly one shining example of the idea that there is more than one "right" way to do things! I'll have to try her method one of these days, and thought some of you might enjoy reading about mine.

This method is good for any size turkey, and for any wild game birds. There are some extra tricks for the wild birds, however, so ask me if you want those too.

Independence Day (I refuse to say "4th of July") has become a difficult time for me in the last decade or so. To say that I'm ambivalent - or even downright cynical - is an awful understatement sometimes.

And yet, I can't help but remember history, the fine and lofty hopes and dreams of so many people - past and present. I can't help but be moved when I read the declaration, or consider the incredible sacrifice so many have made to make that declaration live... regardless of the rightness or wrongness of the outcome.

This is an "oldie, but goodie": The Accidental Addict - Clearing away the myths surrounding the OxyContin "epidemic." By Maia Szalavitz

You've probably had an article or movie smack you upside the head at some point... probably more than once. I know I have, and will again.

The latest such was an article submitted to The Price of Liberty called, An Old-Fashioned, Judgmental, Closed-Minded American Pleads “Guilty”
By Timothy A Thorstenson from American Handgunner magazine.

I've recently started sharing another kind of energy therapy with my friends and clients. There are many, many different ways to healing with energy therapies, and EFT is one of the easiest to learn, but some people find it even more effective or easier to do Zpoint.

ZPoint is a simple, easy to learn way of truly becoming your authentic self. There are no complicated instructions. There is no equipment to buy. Its as simple as reading a 5 line healing program and repeating a special cue word whenever you are feeling stressed or upset or wish to release a harmful self destructive life pattern.

I had tried the Zpoint method a month or so ago, just reading it off the web page, but hadn't seen any particular benefit in it, though several clients have reported good results.

Even though the Zpoint people insist that there is "nothing to buy," they sell their DVDs and CDs rather aggressively. I saw no need to buy any of them, in great part because I didn't see any need for another therapy, but my sister sent me two of the CDs recently.

So, last night I sat down to listen to the first CD, and decided to do some EFT tapping while I went through the Zpoint procedure.

WOW! Many shifts, changes and insights that were new.

I've been struggling with a cataract (right eye) for the last year, sometimes making progress and sometimes seeing marked deterioration. I finally broke down last week and made an appointment with an eye doctor for the end of this month, but am determined not to give up trying to heal this myself.

This morning my vision is so much better that I'm typing this without my glasses...

I'll continue with the Zpoint, and the EFT... and let you know what happens.

Try it on everything, even if you think there is no way in the world it can make any difference. This is amazing!

I've always had a problem remembering some things, mostly the small details such as adding things to shopping lists, making personal phone calls, and finding items I'd "put away."

After the life changing events that brought me to become an EFT practitioner, I was still plagued by these minor lapses of memory and resolved to find the answer. The admonition to try EFT on "everything" finally led me to begin tapping for those small things, and a whole new vista of life opened up.

Please see the completed/final article at my website.

I've spent a great part of the last week reading the "news" and hundreds of commentaries, blogs and emails related to the tragedy in Virginia on Monday.

Sometimes I wonder if anyone actually studies old fashioned journalism anymore... not that it was ever pure, but the current mix of hysteria and conflicting stories - not to mention horrible writing and endless typos - make me wonder just where these "news" people come from.

Today marks the start of my second year in Wyoming. It's also almost exactly 6 months since I started to open carry my revolver.

Both of those things have caused me to do a lot of thinking, reevaluate my motives, goals and a lifetime of beliefs and conclusions. A lot of them have changed and some have been completely replaced. It's been an incredible roller coaster ride, but I've enjoyed it more than almost anything I've ever done before.

In many ways, I'm a whole new person.

Here is the letter from the Spearfish WalMart, received this week, and my response.

Thank you for the concerned letter, and I absolutely apologize for any misunderstanding of what our policy is and/or isn't, concerning firearms and whether or not someone can openly carry on our property.

Travis Olson
Co-Manager 1543

My response:

Dear Mr. Olson,
Your apology is gladly accepted, but you have not clarified the policy very well.

Reading your letter, I get two messages. The first is that open carry is allowed.The second seems to be that it can't be loaded.

An unloaded gun does not represent any increase in safety to me or to your employees/customers - but it could spell the difference between life and death in a lethal encounter with a criminal.

I am a responsible, well trained adult. I fail to see any difference between the ammunition in the cart and what is already in my sidearm. There are probably a dozen or more people in your store at any given time carrying concealed. I assume they don't announce their status when they buy ammunition.

Anyone who, in any way, becomes aggressive or physically endangers others should be promptly removed from the store. Those who are peaceful and non-aggressive should be left alone. The mere presence of a tool on one's belt does not constitute a danger to innocent bystanders, whether it is a gun or a hammer. That seems simple enough.

Unfortunately, you seem to be laboring under at least some of the same disinformation so dear to all those who would create vast seas of disarmed victims. Somehow, the gun or the ammunition is the evil problem, regardless of who is using them.

So, I am still at a loss to understand just what to expect if I return to your store.

Sincerely,