The Cross and the Glitter in the White Dove’s Eye

17 May 2012 6 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Life Events, Sightseeing In California

I keep telling myself how lucky I was yesterday coming home on the 101 Freeway from West Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley on a designated stretch leading to home.  I was gazing up and noticed that tiny wisps of clouds that had formed a perfect cross. The cross crowning the top was at the perfect distance up from the middle, the way all crosses displayed are drawn.  I was marveling at the sight in the afternoon sky and wondering how many others in our vicinity were seeing this spiritual spectacle. Off to the side of the car speeding along with us was a white dove.   I know you think I am making this up for a good story, well, you are wrong.  You say it could have been a seagull, they are white, but we were traveling so far inland I doubt it.  When I got home, I sat down to ponder this event, thinking to myself, this is truly a special sign and it was there for anyone driving by that spot. Or, was I the only one picked out to be the teller?

This insightful event is an eternal element needing no translation, but just in case, it may be a resolve, a magic charm, a blending of spirits, good luck, the truth set before me for contemplation, a message of peace, love, purity or a just a special unrelated delight to behold.

Before the cross and the white dove sighting, I had a brush with the devil’s javelin. It pierced me through the heart and shattered  something gnawing inside that I have been dealing with for years.  I don’t exactly know what it was, but now it is  crushed into little pieces and blown away by the wind. Now that I have witnessed the healing light, the cross bearing news of God’s force, and the will to feel free given swiftly in the glitter of the white dove’s eye, I have been blessed.

A short while before the cross and dove sighting, I met a lovely lady, rather angelic, now that I remember her.  She said, “Hello.”

I said, “Hello, are you having fun?”

She said, “Tons of it, how about you?”

I said, “Well, by the end of the day perhaps tons of it.”

She said, “ Let me tell you what my mother used to say,

‘If you are having a bad day, just think of not having one.’”

HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!

Come and Enjoy Orcutt Ranch and Horticultural Center

12 May 2012 8 Comments

by Sheila Clapkin in Day Trips, nature, orcutt ranch, outdoors, Sightseeing In California, travel, vacation

Orcutt Ranch and Horticultural Center: Open daily from Sunrise to Sunset.

This property is a most wonderful respite quietly sequestered at 23600 Roscoe Blvd. in West Hills, California is a retreat from the teeming urban environment most of us find in our daily lives.

I am not an official recruiter for Orcutt Ranch, but I do recommend you spend some time there.  It is not a big investment of time for a huge return from nature and ancient fauna and flora.

Admission to this historic 25-acre Orcutt Ranch and residence is free and isn’t that a lovely courtesy?

Orcutt Ranch was formally called: Rancho Sombra del Roble, which means, “Ranch in the shade of the oak.” If you park your car in the parking area and begin your walk of the grounds, you will fill your senses with trees, some 600 – 900 years old; you will encounter community gardens, citrus orchards, an old Spanish style home, an old well maintained barn, beautiful rose gardens, and an especially wonderful moment is to stand in and amongst the bamboo forest. If the wind is up the sounds of the bamboo forest take on orchestral tones. Consider having your wedding or special event at Routt Ranch.

If you come to Orcutt Ranch in July you are encouraged to pick ripe Valencia oranges and white grapefruit. A slight charge will be incurred.  This is a secret. If you stand under an orange or grapefruit tree in the orchards, soon a ripe fruit will fall very close to you. No one is looking. Peel it and bite;  juice rolls down your chin and your eyes roll back with the sensations of such a pleasurable taste treat. How can you be charged for a gift the tree has dropped into your path?

There are plots of land to the side of the ranch that can and are rented for $120 per year. Many renters grow vegetables year round in the ranch’s community gardens.

Since I am in no way connected to Orcutt Ranch I am free to tell you the lessons I learned from my visits to this lovely hideaway.

First, there are lessons from the trees. If they could speak you say, what would they say?  If you listen you will hear six and nine hundred year old truths that sound as modern as today. They will tell you, “Let nature take its course.” They will tell you to become more and more adaptable and mutable. Figure out a way to survive. They will say, “Age breaks down structure.” It poses pulls of gravity and may need some holding up with braces and wires to hold parts into their places.

And then, you witness the gnarls of time, a sight you see in all walks of life on the planet. Our bodies as we age need lots of tweaks, touch ups, grips, clutches and embraces. The lessons include resilience of time. We do not have as much time to learn these lessons, as do the trees, so we must preserver and survive during the time we are permitted. Ancient plant life shows sustenance from the earth and the process, which keeps all living things alive for a prescribed parenthesis in time.  If you try and alter the time lapse, I think that would negate the lessons. Altering nature gets into Biotechnology, which takes more time to study and discuss.

Secondly, there are lessons in history on this ranch. Time has moved along and if we preserve the past we will more fully enjoy going back in time for whatever time we have allotted.  Historical visits rejuvenate and elevate our consciousness.

Visiting Orcutt Ranch and the lessons you learn will be different, from mine, but no less rewarding. They will enhance the time spent at the ranch and will make your day! Each time you visit you will learn new lessons and leave with a newly formed enlightenment.

A Day Trip to Visit Rankin Ranch

05 May 2012 1 Comment

by Sheila Clapkin in Sightseeing In California

It is springtime at the Rankin Ranch and we were invited to have a first hand glimpse of the blooming lilacs and the lush green hillsides. Our family especially enjoyed the ride up through the Greenhorn Mountains east of Bakersfield as we made our way to the ranch.  Mountain roads are always a treat to “city slickers” and hillsides that have been coated green by recent rains are a particular delight. As you travel onward and upward you experience a dotting of trees, casting shadows, telling of the early morning time, knowing that as you descend in the late afternoon the shadows cast will have changed sides noting that time has passed and the day will soon end. As you ascend further towards your destination, the narrowing of the road has added envelopment by encroaching, bending, branching trees giving you the feeling of being hugged by nature. Soon thereafter, you find yourself negotiating hairpin turns and long vistas to the sides you have passed and yet to come. The climb is captivating and finally you see the sign letting you know that Rankin Ranch at 23500 Walker Basin Rd, Caliente, CA is close at hand.

Our first experiences on the ranch included archery, horseshoe toss, swings, ping pong, and a recreation center full of games and places to rest, relax and view the ranch scenery from a giant viewing window.

Photos of us horseback riding, enjoying the hay wagon ride and meadow for our BBQ lunch will help to see what you can do here as well. Also, included are photos of one hundred year old barns, structures, vistas, equipment and the appropriate ranch animals.

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We did not have enough time for swimming and fishing, but have vowed to return to spend more time and another spring at Rankin Ranch. Being in a country environment reveals new truths by adding  new dimensions to your thinking. There is a slow quiet revelation and as it unfolds, it is unencumbered by the commotion, racket, clamor and the blasting sounds of city life. You become able to decipher your own state of reality, your own state of fact. You are able to incorporate inspirational and motivational gifts from nature’s source.