The children have a two week holiday at the moment so we spent the last week outside, enjoying the benefits of this amazing region (southern France & northern Spain) which offers so much diversity at this time of year, from skiing in the Pyrenees Mountain to swimming in the Mediterranean Sea surrounded by palm trees.
Wild River
First up we visited our local river, a 30min walk from home.
Sandwiches for lunch.
After which the children played in the river, stone hopping their way to the other side.
Building a dam here.
The water was extremely cold (3°) but this didn't stop Esteban from taking his clothes off.
A little meditation in the sun.
Before jumping in and wading back.
Luna was also on form, just as she always is when exposed to the simple joys of nature.
Demonstrating her stretching abilities here.
Skiing in French Pyrenees
The following day we were up at 6am to drive an hour into the mountains where there is still snow.
The slopes here are rated green and blue which is a perfect place to teach your children.
I loved the way some of the runs took us through trees, very similar to Switzerland where i learned to ski as a child.
Felt good watching my family coming down behind me.
The children are getting more and more confident with each trip, though they are still a bit resistant to turns and stuck in snow plough, which isn't the ideal way to ski. You're fighting the snow basically and the skis should be parallel as you turn from side to side.
Here is Esteban going down a blue slope. (Harder than green).
Last year i focused on assisting the children and didn't ski so this is actually the first time i've put skis on for nearly 30 years. And i must say it was great! It really is like riding a bike. But i feel as if my body and mind are stronger now than they were back then and despite breaking my leg skiing at the age of 6, creating a knee injury which has plagued me all my life, i had no pain and only an amazing feeling that my level of skiing had somehow improved in this time. I even managed a few jumps!
After a full day of skiing we enjoyed a drink at this restaurant. It always feels so good to take the boots off.
The day cost us €150 for the rental of the skis, boots and tickets. Which isn't bad really. Had we stayed a night locally the cost would have increased by around €500.
Garden Day
The next day we hit the Spiral Garden where the children helped me with a few things which needed doing before we departed for Spain.
I remember thinking how this was my absolute perfect day, my family with me in the garden, everyone content, the sun shining, cats playing, yellow butterflies flying, the feeling of Spring in the air.
Don't have any photos because that's what happens when you are enjoying a perfect moment!
However, this moment of perfection was swiftly followed by a loud crashing noise in the bamboo forest and Sabrina screamed the kind of scream only a mother can.
I realised instantly that one of the children had fallen off this edge.
To give you some perspective here is a shot not from the bottom, but from about half way down.
At maximum speed i ran to the rescue and found a shaking Esteban at the bottom in an uncomfortable looking ball. His first words were "I'm alright Sam, I'm alright" so i naturally assumed that he was alright. He wasn't crying and didn't appear to have any major damage, though he did say his arm hurt, so i carefully lifted him to his feet and helped him back up.
He had been standing alone when it happened and the entire fence had been pulled down on one side so it was pretty obvious that he had been leaning on it.
He said he couldn't remember what happened (could this just be his pride?) but he evidently did something dumb. He knows very well you cannot put your body weight on this kind of fence.
He was in shock and didn't stop shaking for half an hour. Luna cried a bit, feeling the intensity of the moment. The girls ran to get ice for his arm while i gave him some Reiki. Couldn't see any swelling after 10mins and he was able to move his hand slightly. Plus he said the pain "wasn't too bad" so i assumed it was just a sprain and thought nothing more of it. But yes, that was quite a drop to take head first. Around 5m i would say.
The following morning his arm was a little bit swollen but he said it didn't hurt much and the movement was returning, so we packed our bags, jumped in the car and drove to Spain.
Northern Spain
Here we are in Roses (Costa Brava) where Esteban can be seen pointing at a starfort model with his damaged arm. Evidently with no pain!
I include this shot because i understand now that when people like the man depicted in this statue discovered the star formations, they found no entrances and did not understand who had built them or what they were for. Hence the confused look.
It is for this reason the entrance to many starforts is more modern than the walls. They literally had to break their way in and build the entrance.
In this shot you can see three different ages. The original wall from a Golden Age, the more modern entrance built in the Renaissance and finally the ugly modern reconstruction work.
History tells us this formation was built in the 16th Century for defensive purposes but this makes no sense as these star formations are on every continent and some of them appear to be much older than 400 years.
If you are skeptical about this statement please have a look at this list which includes aerial photos showing starforts in the following countries:
We are expected to believe that people in all the above countries had the same idea to construct in this excessive and complicated way (despite their lack of ability to communicate) along with the same need to defend themselves from invaders.
Clearly absurd.
More likely all starforts were built (or grown) long before the 16th century by an interconnected civilization much more advanced than our own.
Regardless, i always enjoy examining these forts which are all over this region and we spent the night in Roses in a hotel on the beach, just around the corner from the starfort.
The wind was cold but the sun came out for us eventually.
How blessed we are to have the Spanish Mediterranean Sea within an hour of our French home.
Luna did the mandatory pose and we headed off inland towards the mountains.
Saw this antenna on route and enjoyed the way it looked. It's for lightening i suppose but could so easily be wired up to benefit the growth of plants.
I also spotted this on a roof and it reminded me of a Rodin Coil with a cone on top. No doubt a very energetic combination!
Next up we arrived at a medieval village.
Look at how this bridge has been constructed so skillfully, hard to see the difference between the rock holding it up and the bridge itself.
Looking down towards the water i spotted this black otter running around doing his thing.
Structures like this are evidently built for defense, though their shape still reminds me of a well thought out frequency device.
And i always find myself wondering why they needed such big doors? Even a man on a horse is only half as big as this entrance!
Next we were lured into a waxworks museum by this man who bites the fingers of children ;)
They had cool stuff we could play with in there, so naturally we played!
Queen Sabrina and Esteban her loyal guard.
Sam the peaceful warrior!
Sorry Luna. Looks like someone got you there.
Everything in here has been reconstructed by hand. Even the ballista which they told us was in good working order.
Esteban was particularly interested in all the different spear types.
This guy was my favorite though chatting with his creator i learned that he is based on fantasy, unlike the others.
The two brothers who created everything in this museum told us they worked on Game of Thrones as advisers, due to their extensive knowledge.
Spotted this lovely house on our way out of the village and i simply adore its shape. It does not strike me as a house built by someone living in constant fear of attack, at the heart of a fortified medieval village. And was the ground level lower at one point?
Driving on through the mountains we spotted this amazing village perched on the edge of a cliff.
Looking closer i realised this was no ordinary cliff. More likely it is a massive ancient tree which has been petrified since being cut down.
All those lines in the rock were once the xylem of the tree, for transporting water and minerals up and down the trunk. Like you can see in this cross section of a nasturtium stalk.
Or at Devil's Tower which is pretty obviously a massive ancient tree, felled like all the rest.
They tell us these formations are created by magma, but really? A perfectly flat surface at the top along with 100s of identical strands stretching 264m into the air, all created by molten rock?
Easier to believe in Father Christmas.
Volcano hopping
Right at the end of the day we arrived at our most interesting destination. A region which has been shaped by volcanoes!
The information centre told us they haven't been active for 700 years.
I noted how green the fields around the volcano looked.
Everyone knows food grows better in the soil around volcanoes. Hence the human obsession with living around them despite the dangers. We are told that minerals in the basalt benefit the soil but it seems to me that after 700 years these minerals must surely be depleted?
Basalt was everywhere and it was easy to remove from the volcano slopes.
Obviously Esteban couldn't resist, so he jumped the barrier and continued one of the holes (with his injured arm).
Here is a handful of basalt. If only i had a mCGS meter i could know how paramagnetic it is.
It was getting dark towards the end but here you can see how rich the soil looks.
It is not rich because of minerals leeching from the basalt, but rather because basalt has paramagnetic qualities which last forever.
And this is why i use basalt for my cones!
I found this lovely shade of red/brown basalt just as we were leaving and instantly fell in love with the colour. Had to put some in my pocket!
As soon as i was home i made this from it and yes! This colour is exactly what i was looking for.
Who knew i was going to find it at a sleeping volcano in Spain!
Will return with a bucket next time ;)
Salvador Dali
During our final day in Spain we visited the Dali Museum in Figures. Like me, he had an obsession with the egg shape. Perhaps he understood its energetic qualities?
He even put an egg above his home in Cadaques, which really says something to me about how important he felt this shape to be.
I have been to this museum before but was no less captivated by it the second time.
Beyond stunning.
Beyond surreal.
Beyond understanding.
This device looks a lot like an electroculture antenna to me.
The children really enjoyed this room which looks pretty random as one enters from here.
Only when one walks up the stairs and views the room through this lens is the 'sculpture' revealed.
It is a portrait of Mae West.
Really love the work of this man and could easily talk you through a whole bunch more of his creations but i had better get to the punchline of this post!
Final thoughts
We went to the hospital the day after returning to France and guess what?
Esteban had a broken arm. Two fractures in the radius bone to be precise.
I suspect he fell head first off that bamboo platform and used his right arm to protect his head on the way down.
The doctor was a bit shocked we were arriving almost a week after the event and indicated Esteban must have a high pain tolerance. I didn't mention the Reiki i gave him or the endless paramagnetic cones around our home, or the energized water we drink every day, or the fact that he is the son of a fire dragon!
I had started to wonder in fact if we were ever going to see any broken bones from these children so this event comforts me somehow and i look forward now to decorating this very tempting blank canvas. Seems a shame not to decorate it with crystals and copper!
Esteban absolutely loves having a broken arm and only now that a doctor has given it a label (fractured) is he using it as an excuse to do nothing!
Funny how he was able to enjoy an entire holiday doing everything as usual before the label arrived and it makes me wonder if the resin cast on his arm is really needed? My feeling is that his arm would have healed naturally and this cast is really only there to protect from further damage, if he falls on it or gets hit or whatever. But yes, it's a 'just in case' society we live in these days and if we go to a hospital that's simply how it is.
The cast will stay on for a month and that will be that.
But what should i do now?
Build a stronger fence?
Ban children from the bamboo platform area?
Continue to re-enforce the idea that some fences are less solid than others and hope for the best?
Can't say for sure yet.
But one thing is for sure, this little man has some angels watching over him.
He has shown me something unexpected and this event will i believe only serve to make him stronger.
Great holiday, great lessons learned.
Love & Light everyone 🌱