Spirit of the North, I give thanks to you. I thank you for the wisdom and knowledge that has been shared with me. I thank you for teaching me that while knowledge is good, it is time and experience that turns it into wisdom. Help me to grow old well and to use the knowledge that I have received on my journey and mold it into the wisdom that I may use to help others. Help me to slow down and take time to think things through so that I may arrive at wise and useful answers. Help me to carry the spirit of the wolf, the pathfinder, the teacher. For in doing so, what I learn, I may give back to others to help them on their path. Help me to think from the heart instead of the head, for it is there where wisdom can be found. My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.
And now I return the east and close the circle. I give thanks to all the spirits for their love and guidance. I pray that I will use the gifts given to me for the good of the people. All life is a circle. We must come together and rejoin the sacred hoop so our people may live.

My heart has always been in the north. Though, I would prefer the warmth of the south, there is something about having definite separations of seasons.  Even as a boy, I always loved going to New Hampshire for vacation. I loved the mountains and driving along the Kankamaugus.  When I was in the service, I spent four years in Arkansas and while I loved the outdoors there, I just had to return to New England when my tour was up. I have traveled to many places in the US. I think only one other area sparked my interest to live there, which was New Mexico. Yet, I am back in New England where I can watch as new life comes forth in Spring, followed by the warmth of Summer, the slow dying back of Autumn, and the cold deep sleep of Winter. It is easy to see the circle that the seasons create here.
Life is a circle also. We are born and in the Spring of our lives, we learn to crawl, to walk, to run. As we reach the Summer of our youth, we play in the sunlight while still learning how to act like an adult. A good portion of life's lessons are learned during this time, like using a good sun lotion. As we move into our Fall of life, adulthood, we start to loose some of the childish ways and become more mature. We learn the hard lessons that life has to offer and at times either reflect back on our youth, or look towards our coming winter. It is here where we gain a lot of knowledge about life beyond the shelter our parents provided. Now we have to make the decisions. We have to take responsibility for ourselves. It is the lessons that we encounter during this time combined with the knowledge we accumulate that we will turn into the wisdom of our Winter years. More time passes, and inevitably we reach those Winter years. Our pace is slower. We reflect more on the life passed, and we begin to share our journey with our grandkids. Many of us will become known as being wise and some will turn to us for help with problems. Unfortunately for many, the younger ones will turn their backs and say we are old fashioned. Hopefully, we will have the wisdom to know that this is not true, and that one day the young ones will come to know. Maybe in their winter years, let's hope it doesn't take that long. In time, our bodies will begin to fail us. In time, we will return to the earth and mother will embrace us and take us back into her.
I am going into my golden year in September. Some have told me that is when I become and elder. An older maybe, but until I earn the title, I would not call myself an elder. On my journey, I have learned many things. I have learned of many healing paths, from the Eastern shamans, to the Inka Laika, to the Aztec curandero, to the medicine people of the indigenous peoples of the United States. One thing I learned was that one does not call themselves a shaman, a Laika, a curandero, or even an elder. It is a title that is earned by words and actions. I find that is good wisdom in that it helps to keep you humble. Like Fools Crow was said to have said, "You have to become the hollow bone and allow the Creator's healing powers to flow through you." I have great respect for Grandfather Fools Crow. He was a humble man, but from what I have read, a man of great healing power. However, he never laid claim to that power. He was just a "hollow bone".
I find as I am getting older that the brashness of my youth is slowly being replaced by the quiet contemplative ways of the elder. I am beginning to see why when you are told about seeking council from an elder to ask the question and then be quiet. The answer may not come right away because they will ponder your question so as to utilize that knowledge learned through their life and temper it with their experiences to give you the guidance that may just be best suited for you. Other times, it is because they seek the guidance of the spirits before answering. I find myself doing that more often when I have a decision to make. I don't make decisions as quick as I used to. I sit on them for a bit, asking the spirits to guide me in my undertakings so that my decisions will have a good result for all involved.
While some may say that I am coming into my winter years, I still feel I have quite a bit of life to go. It has been told to me that I will live to be ninety-three. If that is the case, then I still have a good forty-three years to go. That is almost half a lifetime, so maybe that means I am just crossing from my youth to being an adult, rather than crossing from the autumn of my adulthood to the winter of my old age. Who sets these rules? I do have to say this though, my body has taken a beating over the years and if I hurt now, I hate to see what the next forty-three years delivers.
I do know this. I plan on continuing to learn and grow and give back as I can. I will always work towards bringing the colors together. I hope to continue to write, even if no one is reading. Sometimes, it helps to sort things out. I give thanks to that wolf spirit that has guided me on my path since I was a boy. I have always been the way you see me now. I have always been an avid reader, learner, discoverer. I have always been known as a good teacher. I think I owe it to that wolf who has been my spirit since I was a boy running through the woods. I pray that over the second half of my life, that I will be able to take all the knowledge I have gained in this half, and turn it into wisdom that will help the ages to come. Well, at least maybe the next seven generations.
My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

http://en.beijing2008.cn/90/53/column211995390.shtml or Google 2008 Olympic Sponsors, just in case they move or remove the link.

All last year I have talked of Unity. Well maybe it is time that we all came together as a people to say enough! I find it deplorable that the Olympic Committee would grant an Olympics to a country that is known for its horrendous treatment of not only its own people, but the takeover of Tibet. The Dalai Lama has been living in exile since being forced to flee. Worse they try to make it sound like China is being maligned unfairly. There have been protests in the UK and France thus far. The torch is en route to San Francisco where it is to be met with the same disdain. The French came close to dousing it. Though it would have only been a symbolic measure as the police extinguished it three times to put it on a bus and get through the protesters. There is a lantern that hold the flame that the torch is relit from after it lands when being flown. There are planned protests all along the route. According to one of my Aussie friends, the Chinese government offered to send Chinese troops to Australia to help put down the protests. The new PM though, told the Chinese that the people had a right to protest. Good on him.

Many of us are not on the route, but that should not stop us from showing our disdain. Remember, the Olympics happen because of Corporate sponsors. Leading the pack is Coca-Cola and McDonalds.  Other sponsors include GE, Johnson and Johnson, Lenovo, Kodak, Manulife, Omega, Panasonic, Samsung, Visa, Adidas, Haier, Budweiser, UPS, Staples, and Snickers made by Mars.

Maybe it is time to send these sponsors the message that we are mad as hell and we aren't going to take it anymore. The abuse of people throughout the world needs to come to an end. Send the message to the corporate sponsors, boycott their products, send them letters, and give these Olympics the worst ratings of any Olympics ever. Send a clear message that corporate sponsorship of these OIympics is tantamount to supporting the genocide of many.

I feel bad for the athletes who have trained hard and long for these Olympics, but we as one people must draw a line in the sand. If we do not do anything, then we just condone all the abuses by all the nations, whether it is China, the US, Canada, Mynamar or any other country that abuses or walks on the rights of the people. We keep talking about changing the world, but unless we start to do something, start to say something, we are silent coconspirators.

I hereby refuse to purchase products from McDonalds, Coca-Cola, or any of the other sponsors until they withdraw their support for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.  I refuse to watch these Olympics nor take part in any of their marketing schemes.

http://mam.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/MAMWalkBoston/MAMWalkEvents?fr_id=8861&pg=entry&AddInterest=1633

Well, another year has gone by and still no cure. So my family and I are heading back to Boston on Sunday to man the rest stop for the Boston walk. My sister-in-law suffers from this disease. This is why our family has volunteered to man the rest stop. What warms my heart is that not only my wife's family, but my own are jumping in there. So if you are doing the walk in Boston, stop by and get a water from White Wolf and family. We truly appreciate all the walkers and cheer them on.

Even if you cannot get out and walk yourself, follow the links and give a donation, sponsor a walker. Every little bit helps.


A little about MS:

Multiple sclerosis (or MS) is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves. Symptoms may be mild, such as numbness in the limbs, or severe, such as paralysis or loss of vision. The progress, severity, and specific symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from one person to another. Today, new treatments and advances in research are giving new hope to people affected by the disease.
MS is Thought to be an Autoimmune Disease

The body’s own defense system attacks myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and protects the nerve fibers in the central nervous system. The nerve fibers themselves can also be damaged. The damaged myelin forms scar tissue (sclerosis), which gives the disease its name. When any part of the myelin sheath or nerve fiber is damaged or destroyed, nerve impulses traveling to and from the brain and spinal cord are distorted or interrupted, producing the variety of symptoms that can occur.

Most people with MS learn to cope with the disease and continue to lead satisfying, productive lives.
The Four Courses of MS

People with MS can typically experience one of four disease courses, each of which might be mild, moderate, or severe.

    * Relapsing-Remitting MS
      People with this type of MS experience clearly defined attacks of worsening neurologic function. These attacks—which are called relapses, flare-ups, or exacerbations —are followed by partial or complete recovery periods (remissions), during which no disease progression occurs. Approximately 85% of people are initially diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS.
    * Primary-Progressive MS
      This disease course is characterized by slowly worsening neurologic function from the beginning—with no distinct relapses or remissions. The rate of progression may vary over time, with occasional plateaus and temporary minor improvements. Approximately 10% of people are diagnosed with primary-progressive MS.
    * Secondary-Progressive MS
      Following an initial period of relapsing-remitting MS, many people develop a secondary-progressive disease course in which the disease worsens more steadily, with or without occasional flare-ups, minor recoveries (remissions), or plateaus. Before the disease-modifying medications became available, approximately 50% of people with relapsing-remitting MS developed this form of the disease within 10 years. Long-term data are not yet available to determine if treatment significantly delays this transition.
    * Progressive-Relapsing MS
      In this relatively rare course of MS (5%), people experience steadily worsening disease from the beginning, but with clear attacks of worsening neurologic function along the way. They may or may not experience some recovery following these relapses, but the disease continues to progress without remissions.

Since no two people have exactly the same experience of MS, the disease course may look very different from one person to another. And, it may not always be clear to the physician—at least right away—which course a person is experiencing.