High Mesa Happenings & Heartstrings

They Used to What ?!!

Cindy W., a long time friend of HMHC sent this interesting and entertaining piece. Thanks Cindy for this edifying talk into the past!

They used to use urine to tan animal skins , so families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. If you had to do this to survive you were Piss Poor.
But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot.They didn't have a pot to piss in and were the lowest of the low.

Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June. However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water , then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all, the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying: don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying: it's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying: dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.

Getting quite an education , aren't you?

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could , bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food , causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth. Now , whoever said History was boring ! ! !

Peace Village at HMHC

  

Peace Village is an “experiment in peace education,” structured in day-camps, after- school programs and teen curriculum, and adult workshops. Participants in a Peace Village project “promote the practice of nonviolence, the value of seeing [them]selves in one another, and the importance of being a peaceful presence.”

High Mesa Healing Center is proud to host the

Sixth Annual Kid’s Camp Peace Village of 2009.

  Planning for the Peace Village Camp at HMHC has been underway since last November; however Co-Directors, Kaylah Glasgow and Susan Finch work year round; November is when a core of volunteers start to meet monthly with the Co-Directors to help with this tremendous task of creating a week-long day camp: there is the curriculum to review and update; teaching materials to inventory and supply; snacks and lunches to oversee; brochures, application and donation letters to draft and send; traffic coordination, transportation to off-campus activities, AGL interviewing and training, and so forth.

The camp participants are children of 7-13 years of age, divided into 3 age groups; each age group has several Age Group Leaders who work with them and the teachers.

AGL are teens who demonstrate enthusiasm, leadership, responsibility and dedication to the mission of promoting non-violence, who show respect and care for all people and the environment, who inspire their younger peers.

Teachers at Peace Village Camp are school teachers, administrators and parents; some are HMHC Colleagues and Practitioners, others storytellers, musicians, environmentalists. They each bring particular knowledge and talents; they all live in the spirit of the Peace Village Mission.

The Curriculum includes non-violent conflict resolution strategies, music, art, meditation, multicultural and interfaith wisdom capsules, storytelling, nature walks, and peaceful self-empowerment tools. The camp will have an off-day at Angus Outdoor Education, filled with activities such as Animal Track, Brutal Gourmet, Forest Birds, Orienteering, and such.

 Peace Village Camp at HMHC is an amazing opportunity for kids and teens to learn to work together, to play together, to accept differences and to resolve conflicts with a peaceful intention. Peace Village Camp at HMHC is an incredible opportunity for adults to demonstrate that cooperation and community life involvement bring understanding among various cultures and creeds and thus, bring Peace.

Kudos to all involved in this project!

HMHC would like to thank everyone of Peace Village of Ruidoso for the opportunity to open its Campus to the project.

Peace Village at HMHC runs from July 27 to July 31, 9:00am-3:30pm.

For info, donations and participation, contact Kaylah Glasgow or Susan Finch, Co-Directors.

 

***************

 

Pictures (click on the picture to see a larger version and caption) included in this posting were taking during the Walk in the Woods: Health and Safety Fair of Ruidoso, NM. HMHC rented a booth to present some of  HMHC Colleagues  and their services:

* Healing Touch by Barbara Mader, RN, CHTP

* Personal Coaching by Kate Winner

* Web Design by Joel Carothers

* Pilates by Vanessa Blackburn, MA, MLT of Village Wellness

* Massage Therapy by Linda Schreiber, LMsT

* Peace Village by Kaylay Glasgow and Susan Finch of Peace Village

* Mail, Blog and Workshop Coordination by Nadette Welterlin-Hugg, MH,

     of Nature's Well to Healing

                                             

                                       

                                                  

                 

  Written and Posted by NWH   

Kids and Nature

Summer is here. Kids are home or grandchildren come and visit. 

There is now a new condition affecting our youth, and along a label for it: Nature Deficient Disorder. Click the link to find a NPR report and a book about this ailment.

Then, Nature lovers ! do with kids what you love to do yourself: go to a water park, go camping, find your favorite outdoor spot to read them nature and animal stories, draw and invent with them new flowers, animals, trees, places, etc. Just about anything that will inspire budding botanists!

And never mind that special bond and awe you inspire!

For more tips, visit The Green Life

Find fun printable Earth Coloring Pictures and Reading Activities at Love our Earth.

Written and Posted by NWH

Panthea's Create-a-Goddess

This is fun! Sent to HMHC by Cindy W.   Thank you!

 

What You Can Do

Not only can you play around and mix and match pretty textile-type patterns, but you can accessorize to your heart's content. Make yourself as Goddess and save the image to put on your blog or website. Or create your very own, brand-new Goddess. Give her a name and story then share it with the world.

Click Goddess Dolls to do so.

I did. Voila!

 

Posted by NWH