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At Codex Alimentarius- Latin for “Food Code”, the plays are read, line by line and debated on by a World that doesn’t necessarily even accept certain principles in their daily life- like taking supplements. As a Nutritional Therapist, this was MY meeting. I had to be there. Thankfully a few staunch supporters made sure that happened.

In the case of the Codex Alimentarius meeting held in Bad Soden, Germany on December 3-7, 2012, the ball was in jeopardy of being punted into oblivion when we hit the discussion of Nutrient Reference Values. Was there anyone out of the nearly 300 delegates who really cared at all about the issues that will impact you when you go to the health-food store this coming year? This was my second meeting and I could see clearly that the paragraphs dedicated to the discussion of our Nutrient Reference Values were in danger of being accepted as written and set into stone around the World in favor of getting to the coffee break and I mean that literally.

You have to understand, the United States citizens enjoy unprecedented access to supplements with values that actually have the power to prevent disease or heal ill health – the rest of the World either does not use supplements, believing they are toxic – like drugs – or the nutrient reference values (RDAs) are so low that multiple bottles would have to be purchased at great expense to create the impact that one good U.S. bottle creates.

I saw this firsthand in Germany. We went into a health-food store and I could hardly find the vitamin/mineral section. When I did find the ONE shelf, the highest values for D3 were 400 IU’s. I take 25,000 IU’s daily…Talk about breaking the bank. No wonder the World, represented in the form of country delegates, were anxious to get to the free coffee, sweet rolls, etc. at the break. Their countries can’t afford this nonsense so they mentally have moved on and disregarded this argument. This was not their World. If the National Health Federation were not present at this crucial meeting on setting Nutrient Reference Values, I can guarantee you that your World would never be the same again. Once lowered, do you really think they stand to somehow go through Codex’s 8-step process to rise again?

The attack on these particular NRV’s, from my professional standpoint, is designed to take out a large number of the population at least in the U.S. where we have access to supplements with values that are currently at least approaching sufficiency and where we have the incomes generally to support their purchase.

What was so incredibly ironic about this meeting was the emphasis on malnutrition in the World. It actually sparked a growing interest in me about the integrity of infant formulas. They are including transfats and contaminants in infant formula! When we learn that in France, for example, breast feeding is neither popular nor widely practiced, it pays to defend the integrity of infant formulas! But the trajectory of the morning – 3 hours before NRVs were even approached – was on ‘growing up milk,’ which Elizabeth Streken (an INGO representative of the International Baby Formula Action Network) said was a market ploy to get mothers to feel guilty if they didn’t keep bottle feeding babies way past time… 

At any rate, the discrepancy and complete disconnect in regards to the NRVs was that supposedly Codex was there to prevent malnutrition in the World, yet they were the very ones in favor of lowering our already malnutrition promoting low NRVs, which are set to prevent the very last-ditch disease processes before death instead of promoting optimum nutrition and vibrant, disease-resistant health.

So, these two themes predominated:  (1) Get through the tedious drivel and get me to the coffee and donut cart; and (2) The incongruous ‘Yes, we are all for stopping malnutrition…let’s lower the values in the supplements, shall we?”  And then let us not forget the overarching theme by Mme.Dictator Chair –  “What I Decide, Will Be.”

National Health Federation has been in existence long before any other health-freedom organization was even a ‘gleam in the father’s eye.’ We are the granddaddy of them all. We’ve employed a continuous lobbyist in Washington, D.C. the entire time. We alone hold the distinction of being the only health-freedom organization able to speak at Codex. So, do you see now how important this ability is? Not only can we speak, but we can submit paperwork – and we did – three times on the NRV issue prior to the meeting in Germany (twice as part of the electronic working group hosted by the ultimate opposition: Australia, and once directly to the Committee). And moreover, we stay until the final page of the Report is agreed upon and have the ability to make corrections to that final Report in which omissions are frequently noted….

Do I feel fortunate to be on the team of the most powerful health-freedom organization at Codex? I feel incredibly humbled. For one who had little political interest or influence in the past, I am now thrust into the heart of the action where policy is set for the World. It is not only quite humbling but it carries an enormous responsibility to carry the wishes and desires of those that NHF represents to the seat of power. And we do faithfully time and again.

The lives that are impacted are not only our own but our children and grandchildren. Our family’s health is at stake. In the final analysis, if we lose our health we have lost. It is all we have besides the faith that sustains us and keeps us seeking the path of Light in the growing darkness of the World. The Codex meeting on nutrition was anything but. It was about marketers seeking to manipulate the World – guilting them into keeping children on formulas when they needed to embrace a solid diet – real ‘growing up’ food. It was about lowering key nutrients and raising others that would ensure that our health would deteriorate. It masqueraded in the guise of compassion, yet all the while was undermining our health by chipping away at the very foundations in the name of greed and ill health.

We at NHF spoke for YOU. At the end of the day, I approached the dais where Dr. Pia Noble held court. I asked her for 5 minutes at the next meeting to explain the science behind our commitment to NRVs. She grimaced, rolled her eyes, disregarded me completely in the most disrespectful way possible for one woman to address another and deferred to the Secretariat. The answer was – you guessed it – NO. “It might create further discussion….”   Codex is a UN-sponsored concept and organization, under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In 1994, the World Trade Organization entered into the fatal game and now who speaks for you? National Health Federation. That’s the real WHO.

To access NHF President Scott Tips’ article summarizing the Codex meeting, visit the website at www.thenhf.com or this direct link: http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=3567.  While you’re there, we invite you to join our efforts to protect the health of the World by becoming a member or underwriting expenses to future Codex Alimentarius meetings like the one upcoming in March 2013 in Beijing where the topic of ‘contaminants’ will be reviewed.

Kat with Taylor, One of Our Five Grandchildren: You Bet We’re Concerned About Contaminants….

My current personal passion is also focusing on contaminants in infant formulas, as well as aspartame and aluminum in our food supply. We really can’t fight this fight without every one pitching in and doing their part and it’s so satisfying to know we really ARE making an impact on this World for future generations to enjoy.

Postscript: I received permission from a Facebook friend to include this interchange from this morning:

Tom: Kat, I am attracted to people adept at putting pen to paper, particularly when the subject matter involves calling out the dark forces who treat humanity as their tool to help formulate their hideous agenda.

Kat Carroll: We each have to be true to our calling and this is clearly my destiny. I come from a strong line of activists who weren’t afraid to call a spade a spade, even to the point of landing up in jail! (Grandfather…) I never woke to this side of myself until I read Scott Tips’ excellent article about Ractopamine, and despite being a 25+ year vegetarian, I found my ‘fire lit’ and off I’m blazing! I appreciate your words here, and thank you for them, as well as your support of the National Health Federation Tom. We were the ONLY ones speaking at this vital Codex meeting despite all the health freedom organizations in existence taking money from people that believe they’re helping them…sad. We are truly on the front lines, thanks to staunch supporters like YOU!

We can’t do it without each one of you!

“Pinot Noir is like a woman in a tight t-shirt. If she’s had work done, it’s gonna show,” Mike Willison’s wry, mocking, and unpredictably hilarious sense of humor combined with his contagious vitality and passion was making this a tour like no other- and I’ve been on plenty, mostly in Napa. Before we parted company, I dubbed him the “Anthony Bourdain” of Rex Hill Winery. You don’t enter into this wine tour casually—you’re in for a totally engaging experience on many levels!

We met on a cold, wet day in Newberg, Oregon amidst thirty year old vines harvested three days prior to learn predominately about the thin-skinned, hard to grow Pinot Noir. Since we have a small Pacific Northwest vineyard of 120 Pinot Noir vines which we raise biodynamicly and organically we drove the two hours from Adytum Sanctuary to sit at the feet of the Master, Rex Hill Winery, who uses these methods, unlike the majority of wineries stuck in the toxic Round Up, herbicide, and pesticide game.

 We knew we’d enhance our practical knowledge, but little did we know it would be so fun! My husband Donn’s upbringing wasn’t conducive to his development of a wine palate but he enjoyed an intellectual and palate-initiating tour tasting fresh grape juice up to the point just past a fermented fizz when he condemned it as ‘medicinal’ and passed it to me.  This ‘non-drinker’s wine tour’ oxymoron was actually a complete success from Donn’s standpoint: a profitable, fun day for a teetotaler who plants vineyards in every home he owns—go figure…

Mike explains, “Round Up is heavily used in most vineyards. Here at Rex Hill we plant cover crops of vetch, red clover, mustard, and buckwheat. The wasps will be attracted by the buckwheat and eat the spotted wing drosphila( http://cisr.ucr.edu/spotted_wing_drosophila_cherry_vinegar_fly.html) that use their tail hook to slit the grape, lay larvae, and  seal it back up. Fruit is harvested unknowingly full of these larvae. It effectively destroys the crop and is a problem not only in California but now in the Pacific Northwest. We use biodynamic methods for prevention.”

 My parents pioneered crop-dusting in Cuba by selling interest in it with airshows, wing-walking, and parachuting. They owned two airports in the South and saved entire crops from devastation many times over with sulphur and other pesticides and herbicides. 

There’s no doubt it works, but Rudolph Steiner countered the Industrial Revolution with a return to natural farming and methods your great grandparents used that flowed with the rhythms of the Earth. We’ve taken the biodynamic, organic path at Adytum Sanctuary, and we will plant buckwheat and pray for wasps to protect our young vines. We mow and welcome the honeybees attracted to the abundance of dandelions that others poison. We eat our weeds here- nettle, dandelion, burdock, and yellow root… Our land has a rugged, unbridled beauty and all the untidiness of an English Garden but soils are rich with earthworms and leaf mold from 100 year old maple. Order and productivity shouldn’t be bought at the price of sterilizing or harming the Earth that sustains us. Grasp the Nettle by Peter Proctor is THE book on Mike’s desk at Rex Hill. It’s on its way to Adytum, thanks to a good used book seller- it’s an expensive book so shop around.

 I asked Mike what they do for moles, voles, and rodents that can destroy a vineyard. He pointed to tall, metal hawk perches. Do you see now? Just bring in the natural predator and forgo the poisoned worms, pesticides, and herbicides. Other problems are approached preventively and usually by spraying foliage with a preparation much like a homeopathic tincture that raise immunity and nourish naturally to create a strong plant ‘child’. I sense that’s how the vines are seen here- as children in need of loving care – and I respect it. Because of these methods of nurturing the soil, Rex Hill’s vines are too vigorous, producing too much vegetation.

 They employ a Scott Henry (http://www.avalonwine.com/trellising-the-grape.php) trellising system for several years to minimize luxuriant growth produced from the vitalized soil and encourage more fruiting. This method works well to minimize fungus and mold, and to allow as much sunshine and air circulation to the fruit. Wine has been called liquid sunshine, and while Pinot Noir loves the cool, cloudy Pacific Northwest climate with a variable diurnal temperature range, the grapes need as much sunlight and air circulation as possible so the Scott Henry system works here.

Of course, when transitioning vines from the ravages of chemicals (Mike likened it to drug use) it takes years to encourage them to find their true place, to reach deep into the Earth for nourishment. Rex Hill has several rehab projects in the works including removing heavily chemicalized hazelnuts from production from just-purchased land, and turning the ravaged plots into a healthy, biodynamic, organic vineyards- a three year process to achieve this designation.

 Rudolph Steiner (http://www.rsarchive.org/Biodynamics/) taught that the farm is an entire system where everything thrives; everything is done with intention. Cosmic forces are utilized- planting, harvesting, and applying tinctures by the moon. This land definitely feels alive under our feet and there is evidence of recent mowing and a few mole hills. 

Vineyard staff has their own raised bed garden plots to play with. A few dogs accompanied their owners to work creating a happy, complete ambiance. Everyone seems deeply engaged here and invested in the outcome. Erica was only employed 3 days and is a complete natural, “We don’t cover up the beauty of the grape- we just enhance it.” She encouraged me to try some wines I normally wouldn’t have…

 Remains from the wine vats are composted and spread to enrich the top soil. Grapes aren’t watered on a regular basis unless they’re young. By allowing dehydration, roots are encouraged to delve deep into the heart of the Earth and a smaller, more flavorful berry is produced- and those minerals are drawn up into the concentrated fruit of the vine, and ultimately into your glass. No wonder wine is such a healthy habit enjoyed by centenarians, particularly the reds in moderation. Rex Hill had so many smooth yet complex drinkable wines, moderation becomes a bit of a challenge!

Referencing again the tight t-shirt comment, Mike goes on, “Make good fruit and you won’t have to work hard to correct the balance once it’s harvested.” Oregon Pinot Noirs must use 90% Pinot Noir grapes to be classified as such; other states are at 75% which explains the edge Oregon wines have. Rex Hill’s commitment to the philosophy of Rudolph Steiner pays off in the glass. In short, the vineyard is full of children each with their own personality and unique needs- none of which include drugs and medication. Raise them love, respect, and integrity and you will be blessed with great wine that doesn’t require manipulative, remedial “work” that will show up in the finished product.

They have some white wines as well here. Strangely, the Gewürztraminer grapes absorbed the smoke from the summer’s wildfires and we detected a ‘campfire’ essence in the developing young wine. Terroire reigns supreme, from the Cosmic atmosphere down to the soil. The East Indians have a saying, “…the scent of the hands” which alludes to food prepared with loving care. You can taste the integrity, the love, and the caring in these wines.

Surrounded by tall, metal vats full of young wine, we did have a rather interesting, impromptu conversation centered on structured water and frequencies influencing it. The structured water of the developing wine is surely absorbing the music which was played quite loudly.  It seemed incongruently disconnected to the philosophy of Rex Hill, “like Bach should be playing,” I suggested citing a study on Kirlian photography in which plants were shown to recoil at raucous music and literally lean toward lovely music. In my feeling, beautiful, classical music might be playing softly in the vineyard as well.

 Later, I found this link: http://m-edition.com/archives/19. “Three hours per day with psychedelic rock (acid rock) played through a loudspeaker on the side of the chassis, preventing the growth and destroyed the squash plants, green plants and corn in less than four weeks. Retallack played the music from two different radio stations in Denver for two groups of petunia. The two radio stations playing rock music and classical music. The newspaper “The Denver Post” reported: Petuniaene who listen to rock music refused to flourish. Those who listened to classic music developed six beautiful flowers. Towards the end of the second week, leaned Petuniaene who were subjected to rock music away from the radio and showed uneven growth. Petuniaene who listened to classic music leaned all toward sound. Within a month, all the plants that had been exposed to rock music died.”

Since yeast ensures the wine remains a living entity, and further recalling the work of Dr. Matsaru Emoto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_dmYT83ZKY&feature=related) who exposed water to words, music, and images producing changes in the crystalized water tells me Rex Hill might consider the impact of music, words, and intentions in their vineyard and in the developing wine in vats and barrels.  Wine is structured water. We are over 90% water. If thoughts can change water, the power of words in music and the violence or intensity of some music (yes even some classical music) needs consideration. What a fun experiment to label some of the barrels with ‘love, peace, and the ‘I hate you’ that was shown in the video. Do a blind taste test of wines from the same vintage and see what happens. Play Mozart to the vines in the rehab plot. It may very well take Steinhart’s work to another plane.

This spectacular video series takes it a step further: Structured Water: the Future of Medicine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taQUrkB0nPQ  The 6^th video relates to this discussion here. This may be the missing link that takes Rex Hill wines, which are already fantastic and clearly made with the ‘scent of the hands’ to a whole new level. We play beautiful music through outdoor speakers to our vines at Adytum. Working inside of their intense aura of love and community is magical…a happy vine family. What’s good for us is good for them.

Apart from the expected education on a wine tour, we got off on other interesting tangents. But first, let me introduce you more fully to Mike Willison, Tour Guide and the “Anthony Bourdain” of Rex Hill Winery. Mike is so entertaining, he needs his own TV show but at the same time, he’s so passionate and brilliant, he needs to write and keep teaching on the biodynamic, organic method Rex Hill is committed to. Mike’s tour is punctuated with so much sardonic, often unceremonious humor, he could easily have been a stand-up comedian but combined with the raw edge and sheer knowledge of Anthony Bourdain, he brings a potentially high-brow subject down to earth and often with a variety of accompanying accents and funny gestures from Australia, France, and Germany, and Italy. He’s well-traveled, well-read, and generally has a great gift for teaching.

Mike, “I’m not sure if you’re aware—and this is important—if you want to speak perfect German, stand on your tiptoes and arch your eyebrows.” The constant injections of fun made this a memorable tour. He graduated UC Davis’ Viticulture and Enology program in California and went to work as an intern at Rex Hill in 2007. He never looked back. He gave us hope that we too might become great wine makers one day. “School doesn’t make you a good vintner. It takes creativity, understanding the process, and how you fit into the company’s culture. Here we take the raw materials and handle the process from beginning to end.” This isn’t common as grapes are often sourced elsewhere, and many farmers aren’t vintners.  He cited www.winebusiness.comas a publication Rex Hill subscribes to.

Later, seated at the long table to taste the culmination of their hard work, I asked if cork was sustainable. Growing alder and fir at the plantation at Adytum, I see how long it takes a tree to reach maturity…Mike said cork bark renews itself every 7 years but shortages occurred during the rise of the Australian wine boom in the 80’s. France and Spain have first dibs on corks; so many wineries went to the screw-off cap which seems a better choice until Mike explained screw-off caps are hard to recycle so corks remain… His inevitable humor creeps in once again, “The minute I have a girl out for a nice dinner and order a wine with a screw-off cap, I’m sleeping alone! There’s a sexy allure to the pop of a cork (he says this complete with sound effects: middle finger in cheek) and it’s unlikely to transition anytime soon unfortunately.” He tells us that a few restaurants in Portland, Oregon have begun using wines on tap bypassing the cork and screw-off cap altogether. (http://www.irvingstreetkitchen.com/) Evidently the problem comes in with the distribution of the 6-gallon kegs. No one wants to clean them, store them, etc. There is a new service industry waiting to be born that will reduce the impact on the Earth.

We enjoyed the sensual aspects of our tour and having our palate and mind enlivened with a variety of tastes and descriptions- and the persistent contemptuous humor this time of British tasters, “This smells like Starfruit… they wax poetically,” you’d swear Prince Charles entered the room- the voices that come out of this man! Mike rails against ‘talking poetry’ when you’re tasting, “Starfruit doesn’t have a smell! If you want to talk poetry when you’re drinking wine, talk from things in your own life!” ‘Fruitloops’ was Mike’s ‘poetically descriptive’ assessment of one of the amazing selections in the tasting room and I’ll be darned if it wasn’t spot on! He is bent upon taking the snobbery out of wine and bringing it into everyday life ‘drinking in the middle of the afternoon out of a paper bag on the front porch- your neighbors will never know’. We are smiling yet again…

  He knows his stuff and translated it well, but we came for the vineyard, the soil, the lessons to be learned from Rudolph Steiner’s holistic approach and we left inspired and more committed than ever. The great wine and entertaining lecture were a satisfying, pleasant finish. Mike told me Rex Hill was ‘in it to win it’ and I’d say they’ve scored! They have a winning, sustainable, respectful model others would be wise to emulate.

Mirth greets me as I step out of the Turkish Steam Sauna on the heels of  hot tubbing in light rain, under Adytum’s signature orange umbrellas with a great glass of Pinot Noir… We left for the City at 10 a.m. for an 11:30 entrance to The Body Beautiful at the Portland Art Museum, stopping at South Park for an early dinner and were back to the hot tub at Adytum before sunset making this an enjoyable, inspiring day trip…

But for now…let the visual feast begin at the Museum!

The Body Beautiful brochure assures us that “The exhibition features more than 120 exquisite and priceless objects from the British Museum’s famed collection of Greek and Roman Art. Iconic marble and bronze sculptures, vessels, funerary objects, and jewelry are among the treasures that explore the human form, some dating back to the second millennium BC.”

It truly is one of the best exhibitions we’ve seen and since it’s on until January you may wish to enjoy being surrounded by the World of ancient Greece, which certainly speaks to me with its grace,beauty, and celebration of the human form. 

Polykleitos is famous for his so-called “canon of proportion.” He used mathematical formulas to develop cannon rules for rendering the human figure and embodied the visualization of values of truth, beauty, and goodness. These sculptures were beautiful and morally sound unlike so much of what passes as art today .

Physical and moral excellence were portrayed in the male nudes’ athletic poses. Females were clothed but the shape of their bodies evident beneath the fabric leaving little to the imagination. The drape of the fabric animates the sculptures and they may stride out of antiquity at any moment.

Aphrodite, Goddess of Love and Beauty, circa 360 BC, was installed in a temple. She is stripped for bathing casting the viewer in the role of voyeur.

Athletic sculptures were commissioned to commemorate victories. Since many originals have been lost; the Romans copied  Greek sculptures.

Amphora are two handled jugs; a commonly shaped Greek vase. Some had lids but few survived. They stored wine, honey, milk, water, and the ashes of the deceased. I love the way everyday objects reflected literature, myths, and exquisiteness. The Grecian principles have guided my own decorating at Adytum where everything chosen here is for comfort, convenience, and beauty.

Herakles (Greek spelling) was the first superhero. Dionysus was the God of the grape harvest, wine, and the art of pleasure vs. war. He was also behind Greek theatre. The slide show is the best way to share this with us. Donn was photographer for the most part today and the descriptions appear after each photo in the slideshow.

Two figures created a complex composition in a latter period of Greek sculpture and were able to be viewed from both sides.

While hiking and a picnic with me can be considered the cheapest of dates, I’m not a cheap date when it comes to the Museum Stores and the fine dining nearby.

I abandon myself to rich visual stimulation that feeds my senses as I view the store from the ticket area where I checked my coat.

Bronze sculptures of Pan, Socrates, Plato, and an unknown woman holding a bowl, and a Dragon- my current obsession- will come to grace the Adytum breakfast table in a new vignette,  and you will love them too and be inspired by their quiet, powerful spirits. I love art within reach during meals; art that can be stroked and fondled while one dines. We caress cool bronze and  trace the fingers of the sculptor in his inspired state, feeling the vibration of creation…memorizing it, becoming One with great art.

I should have been born in Italy or France where centuries of art surround at every turn…life needs to be about truth, beauty, and goodness as does art. We need to be confronted with it. What we behold we become. One of the functions of art is to challenge as well as inspire. Tom Wolfe, author of Bonfire of the Vanities and The Painted Word says of Frederic Hart’s work, which we have at Adytum in Fragment 2 and The Messenger, “… it is the idealization of the human form, the glorification of both heroic individuals and the heroic possibilities of mankind.” Good art elevates!

We are one of the few B&B/Retreats in the World showing museum-quality fine art for the pleasure of our guests. With limited amounts in the Ex Nihilo series, you may never see these fragments or full body sculptures of Frederick Hart’s unless they end up in museum upon the owner’s death. Most of them remain in private family collections, so this is a rare opportunity indeed at Adytum Sanctuary (www.adytumsanctuary.com) to experience fine art on the scale of Da Vinci or Michelangelo.

 We are in the beginning stages of bringing fine art to Adytum Galleries in a retail fashion. Don Hatfield (www.donhatfield.com), Bill Hillman (www.mansionglass.com), Leslie Clark (www.nomadgal.com) are some that are forming the foundation of  this budding art gallery at Adytum Sanctuary as well as local artists. While one of Don Hatfield’s originals may set you back a substantial sum, a giclee is affordable, and that we have. This form enables us to surround ourselves with fine art from noble spirits although we do have Don Hatfield’s original works as well. Check out the giclee process here if you’re unfamiliar: http://painting.about.com/cs/printing/a/gilceeprints_2.htm.

Frederick Hart (http://www.hartcollection.com/sculptures.asp)  said of fellow artists of the same school of thought, a ‘commitment of their work to the inherent mystery and beauty of life has been the hallmark of the great ages of art—and will be again.”  We met some amazing artists sketching an ancient statue together- it was perfectly rendered….Kevin asked us to share their website link with you: http://www.temporaryartists.org/

Frederick’s widow, Lindy Hart signed his book for Donn and me in 2006 when we went to their mansion, Chesley, which she shared with Frederick until he died. She wrote, “With gratitude for your understanding of the power of beauty.” Does that not say it all? 

We must surround ourselves with beauty, love, and peace. Strive to create beauty in our surroundings, in our ‘self’ which is the literal temple of our Creator. It is not vain. On the contrary, it is full of nobility, respect, and honor. We need to remember who we are and the elevated place we hold in the Universe. You know it’s true. And the beauty of the naked body…male or female tells us so. Ps. 139: 14 (my favorite Psalm…) I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. We are all beautiful, amazing works of fine art! Each one…

The Greeks celebrated the body beautiful and so did Frederic Hart whose Creation Sculpture graces the entrance to the Washington National Cathedral, the 6th largest cathedral in the World. His inspired workwas completely ignored by the media who preferred what Rick Hart called modern sculpture, “Turds left on the lawn in front of box buildings.” Ugly, meaningless sculpture passed off as art reflects the mind of the society that creates it. We need to return to a commitment to truth, beauty, and goodness in art.

Rick Hart died in his 50’s of a lung disorder, probably due to breathing the Carrera marble while he sculpted on the Washington National Cathedral. The Mirth and Greenman, outside our Turkish Steam Sauna, were carved by Rick Hart’s fellow sculptor, Walter Arnold (www.stonecarver.com). They both worked on the Cathedral in icy conditions creating indescribable beauty for all time. We’ve gone on to collect more of Walter’s work, dragons and gargoyles.

Frederick Hart’s was a story of rags to riches, rising from a lowly mail carrier who slept in a freezing garage with two German Shepherds to keep him warm at night. One day, he was allowed to show his stuff…He came out of the proverbial gate carving a Gargoyle that put him into competition with the top 300 that vied for the position of creating the sculpture that would adorn one of great cathedrals of the World. Not since Michelangelo’s Finger of God have we seen a creation sculpture until Rick Hart created a maquette for Ex-Nihilo, Out of Nothingness…Out of the Mind of God and he won up against established stone carvers from Italy!

He later said the inspiration for this great work came to him in a dream from The Messenger (also at Adytum), an angel that visited him in the night and showed him the work that would later grace the entry of the Washington National Cathedral, and send me into pure chills when I saw it between the creation of Sun and the Moon and the Conversion of Paul and Peter and Adam in the middle.

The moment I saw this work of this great sculptor on the cathedral, whose work has been compared on the order of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, my body was covered with chills and tears spontaneously ran down my cheeks. His work is inspired and channeled from Heaven itself and the goal is to remind us of our greatness created in the image of God,  and that we are surrounded by angels, “ministers of fire, sent to minister to us.”

We  have such great need to remember who we are, particularly when our governments seek to degrade our health with fluoride, GMO’s, radiation, EMF’s and the like and control us to the point of seeking to crush our independent, proud spirits. There has never before such an assault upon mankind to create infertility in us, to riddle us with disease and cancer…The mind is more powerful than all of these things and we must have a firm grasp of the Reality we exist in: beauty, truth, and goodness- made in the image of the Creator. If there was ever a time to stand firm, it is now and the great art of the Greeks, Romans, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Frederick Hart remind us of our divine heritage.

The Body Beautiful is on until January 6, 2013; portlandartmuseum.org. $20 each adult. 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97205.

Leaving the Museum and heading to one of our favorite Portland restaurants featuring local, fresh foods, South Park is a serious wine bar known for its extensive wine list. South Park is juxtaposed against Tart Berry, eclectic frozen yogurt shop where you can top yogurt with ‘Halloween on a table’ if you’re so inclined. Donn got sugar-free New York Cheesecake…

South Park- from the first bite it was a mouth-gasm. Pickled shallots atop local Steelhead. French music playing and good Temprinilla. Donn had butternut-squash ravioli. Around $75 with tip.

Tart Berry Frozen Yogurt for a sugar-free, maltitol sweetened dessert for Donn, .46 cents an ounce in a place full of inspiring quotes, crazy decor, and a funky atmosphere kids of all ages love. 

Downtown on 9^th Street behind Nordstroms, taking the Beaverton exit off the freeway, then Couch/Burnside to Alder and then 9^th.

                                                            “I am still learning.” Michelangelo

Remember those quintessential Indian Summer bike rides, crunching over fallen leaves in dappled light, weaving and banking hard into curves, jumping over logs and rocks with your 9 year old inner-self shouting, “Whee!!!”? Well this wasn’t that ride. We went in search of a good ride and we got a lesson in courage, perseverance and…found ourselves nowhere near Dead Man’s Lake at the end of several hours. Last week it was the ‘amazing colorful mushroom and creepy baby frog’ hike…this week ‘endless uphill forest and butt-burn’. Even Lance Armstrong on steroids couldn’t have conquered this slick, single-track, unrelentingly steep grade all the way up with only a few flat stretches to actually ride the bikes that we ended up pushing nearly the whole way…

All my cajoling to turn back didn’t faze Donn. When I turned to begging, he dug in with even more optimism and I thought, “This ‘ride’ reminds me of what I asked of my then-husband in my childbirths, ‘no matter how much I beg, don’t you dare let me take drugs’…” Greg hung tough and didn’t and I endured three 9-10 pound babies with sheer will alone, and now Donn wouldn’t give in and let us turn back. If the trail was wider and the pedal wasn’t drawing blood slamming against my leg it might have been better, but probably not- it was a Geisha Walk… mincing steps in a tight kimono with an unwanted companion.

At long last I hear, “We can ride on the way down,” Donn’s optimism is slowly fading, his manly resolve weakening.  Finally, after an hour of this we get to deal making time. I ask, “If we’re not there at the crest of this mountain in half hour, can we turn around then???” With both of us now breathing hard, slipping with every step on decomposed granite that lodges in my open Keens, he finally relents and amazingly, my own resolve fires up, “There’s sunlight ahead. Let’s go for it- it might be a clearing- 4 more minutes…deal?”

Have you ever had a picnic right there on the side of the ‘road’- mid-trail, no destination? Well, on our slippery little incline before our last 4 minutes we had an apple, water, and some nuts, “Why can’t someone come along and tell us how much farther it is?” Within minutes (precisely when I was trying to determine how to negotiate the slope to find a tree) two hunters came down the trail encountering our bikes in the middle of it blocking their way.

After a nice exchange we find we’re half hour from this (adjective omitted) Lake and it’s straight uphill for the last challenging piece, “My butt was burning!!” 20-something Danielle admits. 

Anthony has a strange looking thing in his hand and he gives us a demo of his elk horn. I ask, “It sounds just like a sax. Were you playing a song or is that how an elk bugles?” (Listen to this!!)

“Oh, it’s an elk…and I got a responding elk bugle when I blew it this morning at the Lake,” he says (but thankfully no elk carcass accompanies them down the trail, I think from my vegetarian mindset…). “Well, God must have a sense of humor because it sounds like Kenny G in the forest!” I answer, and it did! “How were you going to pack an elk out?” Anthony points to Danielle- tiny, sweet Danielle- and I smile…but I do see she has something like a metal pack unit on her back. Good Lord…maybe the biking isn’t so hard after all! “Toughen up Kat!!”, I think… They suggested next time the Green River Trailhead that was more ‘biker-friendly”. Anthony shared an app on his phone, used in airplane mode, ‘Back Country Navigator’. We’ll check into that as we wouldn’t have attempted this with a bike had we seen distances…Donn had a map on his iPhone only.

At the end of the 3.5 hours’ hike in you will, according to Danielle, find your prize (after that killer hill) and also ‘a lot of bear poop’….We are never alone…haven’t I told you so? 

When we stopped to rest at one of many of these ‘stops’ along the way disguised as photo ops, a little chipmunk popped his head out of a hole in the ground conveniently marked by a pine cone so he could find which ‘house’ was his, I guess. 

It might look like you’re in the company of the Ancients, but there are a dozen eyes on you at any given moment.  When we finally got back out to the paved (thank God!!) road, there was fresh bear scat on it…This time; we had the 9 mm in the backpack to scare off those bears (:.

Actually for much of this slogging uphill trying to keep myself and my precious bike upright (best gift Donn ever gave me…) I was thinking in military terms to strengthen myself. Having been a personal trainer I know it’s 90% mental. And Nick Delgado, PhD came to mind, my friend who broke the Guinness book of World Records for lifting overhead hammer curls for a solid hour at age 57- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjVZuxB6wJU 

Next, I mentally drifted in this painful ‘death march’ to the article I am co-authoring with Scott Tips about the upcoming NHF team’s trip to Germany for the Codex Alimentarius meeting on Nutrient Reference Values and what a war it really is. If you wish to fund that war, click: https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/dMZya because I will be there freezing my tail off in Bad Soden in December, representing you along with the rest of our team while we try to get Codex and the Worldwide delegates to see that reducing the nutrients in our supplements will have an impotent, detrimental, and weakening effect just when we need to be the strongest and stay on top of the One World deception. For Scott’s full story see: http://www.thenhf.com/article.php?id=3118

In James Schneider’s excellent book Guerilla Leader, T.E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt, he details the mark of a dynamic military leader: “extraordinary energy, personal courage, profound curiosity, keen powers of observation, and an aptitude for novelty and innovation.” If we don’t develop these traits we will be drinking fluoride thanks to Codex who wishes it to be listed with a minimum daily requirement ( I am dead serious…industrial waste cum nutrient….) This is the same fluoride Hitler used to create passivity in the countries he would later dominate by war. If we don’t develop these traits and put them to use, we will accept the reduction of the already low nutrient reference values in our supplements; we will consume MSG blindly thinking it is just salt, like the last Codex meeting I attended where they tried a covert ‘pass’ on this- thanks to NHF it was averted …..

Barely Room For Me…Much Less Pushing Dead Weight

We ALL need to toughen up and NOW! We aren’t going to take this domination lying down, right? No belly up/yellow dog for us, right? Our “pull-together” uphill climb while pushing the weight of the unenlightened (asleep at the wheel…) will see the World free of the fetters of uncontrolled greed backed by the pharmaceutical companies and Big Government.

This bike-hike was tapping into my internal reserves, far beyond my burning quads, butt, and deltoids from pushing a supposedly ‘light’ 26 lb. bike. My courage was being called on, determination, perseverance, and sheer will. I’ve been biking hills since I was 34…18 years now, and this is the mother of them all- and technical to boot with rocks, roots, and thick washout sand that can send us over the steep slope in a moment’s time. Also the thinnest trail I’ve ever had the displeasure to navigate-all the while pushing something else beside me. I saw scant evidence of horse travel there and could only think, “God help them…” Foot traffic alone, in closed shoes, with some gumption- got it? Keens- modify those hiking shoes, will YOU? A little screen over the open cut-outs would have kept about 500 rocks out of them…

Still it was a seductive warm day full of Autumn color.  We were doing what we’ve always done- getting out there!! Breathing deeply! Feeling small against the great height of the trees and drawing inspiration from their ability to stand, straight and true, through it all. Hearing God. Hearing our heart pounding because we thought we were in better shape than this (:…… At least, this week it wasn’t getting dark on us because the ride/walk down was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride on …Steroids.

The Forest and Mountainsides are Full of Firey Vine Maples

We jogged because the bike pulled us. We rode enough to get the ‘high’ of the inner “Whee!!!!!!”, some of us flipped over the handlebars, some of us had our fingers go numb braking constantly without release…some of us made it back to the truck faster than the other One, but we won’t say who. At least I remembered to sit on the back of my bike seat to create drag on the back wheel to avoid the flip (if that tells you anything)….

Beautiful Christmas Pine Cones!!

At the end of the trail were… pine cones. Terrific, pitch- coated pine cones, and enough for baskets and baskets all around at Christmas- the quintessential Christmas pine cones  We did it! And we didn’t….By now, you know I’m looking for the lesson…so what was it? My day-trader friend, Jun, in Brooklyn tells me it’s all about the journey and sent me a poem called Ithaca years ago. “When you set out for Ithaca, ask that your way be long, full of adventure, full of instruction… http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ithaca/  (This is our Ithaca today and we are on the road.) “Have Ithaca always in your mind. Your arrival there is what you are destined for. But don’t in the least hurry the journey. Better it last for years, so that when you reach the island you are old, rich with all you have gained on the way, not expecting Ithaca to give you wealth. Ithaca gave you a splendid journey. Without her you would not have set out. She hasn’t anything else to give you.”

I really ‘got it’ today that it’s the journey and not the destination. What am I feeling, thinking, experiencing along the Way? What is God teaching me through nature, (and my burning ass pushing this ‘light’ bike uphill for hours when I had hoped to actually ride the thing???)  It reminds me of the Battle of Warsaw in 1920 sometimes called “The Miracle at Vistula” the first decisive battle of the Polish-Soviet war where Poland seemed to be on the verge of defeat. Everybody in the World agreed— but after 3 years of fighting the Red Army, in Vladimir Lenin‘s words, the Bolsheviks “suffered an enormous defeat”. And the West is safe once again…

Polish Flag- Courageous Freedom Fighters

Anything is possible! I am feeding my will to scale this mountain by focusing on Poland’s military strength… We are desperate and looking for inspiration and succor from Poland, Ithaca, and Lawrence of Arabia’s leadership prowess in the midst of this ancient forest. Tomorrow we have guests arriving from Georgia. We take our time away from Adytum Sanctuary and our lessons when we can get them. By biking this killer mountain, I found an unexpected mentor today.

The Killer Mountain Is My Mentor Today