Saturday Morning Coffee Ponderings......

Good morning Y'all.  It is a morning of snow fall and unknown snow accumulation.  The forecasters have put us in a winter snow warning zone, but still are saying 1-6 inches.  That is a big difference particularly when you are shoveling your driveway. I am on  my second (YES SECOND) pot of coffee.  I think it is a sign of my week.





From the time that I took this video until looking out now, It has increased.  Snowing pretty big flakes.  But perspective.....we have been so spoiled that we don't know what to do with our selves when we have a bit of snow.  There will be a plethora of stupid drivers and winter complainers.






It has been a busy week.  Juggling full time employment, full time school, and life has been a challenge.  I hope that my abilities to multitask get a bit easier through the rest of the semester.


As you may recall, one of my "things" for these posts is to look through my phone and upload any pictures or videos that I took (cause they are really important - REALLY?) and talk about them.  I stopped at the "LARGEST TRUCK STOP IN THE WORLD" to use the facilities (too much tea) and in the stall was this sign.  WHO KNEW that Interstate 80 was the 2nd longest interstate.  And the longest Interstate is I-90 which is just right north of us.  HUH.......got to PEE and I learned something new.







The other picture is of the Ice Fog in Clinton when I awoke (not really awoke cuz I didn't sleep well - so emerge might be the better word) from my hotel.  First time this year I have had to scrape my windows.  SO SPOILED.  The fog was so thick that I had to completely trust my phone GPS to get to my location.  A little spooky driving in a location that you are unfamiliar.  But I survived.





Curtis, our friend Kristin and I were so fortunate to attend a Chad Elliott/Bonita Crowe show at The GrapeVine, LLC this past weekend.  Chad's mom Kathy was there and  it was amazing to see her.  She looks great and after that amazing show, we were all so proud.  We were reminiscing about 15 years ago when Chad started his career.  He has come so far and his talents have grown.  The energy from the crowd was the best I have ever seen.  He fed off that energy and had the crowd eating it up.  So very proud and happy for him as he is invited to Tennessee for a folk contest.  This is a great honor and he and Bonita will be there to "audition" his original music.  It will be a great thing.  Check Chad out at www.chadelliott.net.  I have an amazing video of Chad singing one of the classics, but alas the file is too large to upload.  I am trying to figure out how to put it on YouTube so you all can enjoy.

And in other live music updates, Curtis, Jack, Keetah I are headed to Western Iowa next weekend to see Mat D and the Profane Saints.  They will be debuting some new music and ROCKIN the Chesterfield in Sioux City.  CAN'T WAIT!  If you don't know them, check them out at www.matdandtheprofanesaints.com. I just discovered this morning, that he has songs from his new CD Holyoke posted on that website.  Guess what I will be doing this morning while I am typing.

These guys are two of the best story telling songwriters.  Am proud to know them and enjoy (and some might say obsess over) their music.



As I said, I traveled a bit this week for my job.  Two days out of the office and a 3 hour drive one way to get to my destination gave me a lot of windshield time.  Windshield time is a time where I am staring at the road and doing more internal pondering.  On this "journey" I had an experience that I am still processing and sorting through.  Bear with me readers because I am going down a road where people look at me with "SHE HAS LOST HER MIND" sparkles in their eyes but here we go.  My spirit animal is a hawk.  What does that mean?  Our nation's First People talk about an animal "energy" that we all have.  Mine is the hawk.  I have always had a wonder about these animals.  Iowa is full of them - thus the "Hawkeye State".  And many of us see them perched on an interstate sign or diving for dinner, however we just move right along.  Not me, I count them as I am driving, look for different markings while driving, and am all around obsessed.  Some people might say "Hawks really?".  There are other majestic birds - Eagles, Falcons, etc. Why not one of those more "important" birds?  I can't really answer that other than I have always had this connection.  I think of them as the "trailer park" bird - kind of like me - (A WHOLE OTHER BLOG POST).  THAT is likely why I like them so much.  Thanks to Keetah, she sent me a blog about what the Hawk symbolizes.  Any who........As I am driving home on Thursday afternoon, I am windshield pondering; struggling with some emotions regarding helplessness and what the future holds for a sista.  And I see one hawk, another hawk, another hawk, another hawk.....all within a short time frame.  Now anyone that knows me knows that I don't get emotional publicly usually.  One of my co-workers calls me a "stone" cause I "never let people see me sweat".  As I am driving and see HAWK after HAWK after HAWK, I can feel my resolve slipping.  ELEVEN hawks in about 90 miles.  Tears begin....overwhelming emotions. OMG!  This is a message that I am still sorting out.  Good thing I had to go to the bathroom (a cynical person - MEMEME! - would say "that's why you were emotional silly - you had to pee") The Divine Spirit of the Hawk blog that I talked about above basically says this:

In representation to humanity, the hawk is called messenger, protector and visionary. Keen vision is one of its greatest gifts. Hawks see things others miss.

The hawk comes to you indicating that you are now awakening to your soul purpose, your reason for being here. It can teach you how to fly high while keeping yourself connected to the ground.

As you rise to a higher level, your psychic energies are awakening and the hawk can help you to keep those senses in balance. Its message for you is to be open to hope and new ideas, to extend the vision of your life.

The Hawk is an animal of flight. It soars through the air looking down, and sees everything. It has a larger perspective of what is going on down below. With its keen eyesight, it looks down as it soars through the air looking for its prey. It can see the smallest of creatures below.

The Hawk is known as a messenger, similar to the planet Mercury, for the hawk soars close to the Grandfather Sun, as does the planet. When you listen to the power of the Grandfather Sun or Wise Spirit that lives within, you are protected from all types of harm.

The Hawk teaches you to be observant and take a close look at your surroundings. It soars with the power to overcome difficult situations. It soars in circles over the life of the earth, asking you to circle over your life and view it from a higher perspective.

The Hawk has a distinct cry, one that most people are aware of. Its cry signifies awareness. If you hear the cry of the hawk use your intuitive ability to discern the message and seek the truth.

If a hawk has soared into your life, you require a higher perspective. You need to see the details of what is going on and look at the bigger picture. Take a look at your situation from above.

I can't get it out of my brain. This energy I really feel is transferred into my intuitive abilities to "read" people.  I have talked about this with some of my besties, but I can feel when a person has "real" intentions or their energy is genuine.  When I meet someone that has ugly (sometimes evil) energy, I know it instantly.  I think this comes from my spirit animal's "keen vision".  I can see it on a different level than others.  So much so that my judgement is question constantly because others don't "see it that way".

What does all this mean?  WHO THE HELL KNOWS!  But......it has set my brain in overload processing it all.  It has helped to write (or type) it all out today.  Still working on it.  Which will lead me into my next blog subject that I hope to get done this weekend -- BEING GOOD ENOUGH!

WHEW!  Thanks for reading all that.  Yep, your brain is saying -- RHONDA HAS LOST HER EVER LOVIN' MIND.  It's okay.  I feel like that some times too.

Wind has picked up here, so blowing and drifting will being.  Headed to DSM on a mission to find something at Gordman's.  PLEASE STUPID DRIVERS STAY HOME!  Wait that's me.......TILL NEXT TIME folks....