Live Each Day to Your Fullest

Christmas Day-4 PM,2005.
A moment in time that changed my life forever.

I was a local athlete, participating in several sports and activities related to
the outdoors. The latest was triathlon, combining cycling, running and
swimming into one event. I traveled an hour's drive south from Durango, CO
to spend Christmas with my family, and brought a road racing bicycle to
lightly train and burn off calories for the upcoming family meal. I had a hard
time that morning, making a decision to ride a mtn bike on empty singletrack
trails, or a road bicycle, for an out and back experience. My decision was
unknowningly going to result in a near-fatal situation later that day.

I rode thirteen miles, with seven left to go.
Climbing a long, strenous stretch of lonely pavement and looking down at the
speed computer reading 7.5 MPH, was the last recollection of a former life as
I knew it.

Then it happened.

I strange sensation occured that cannot be described in total detail, but a
visual feeling of spinning inside a tornado with black splotches was witnessed
by me. I heard myself scream, but it didn't come from my
vocal cords. A strange roar emanated from somewhere, but could not figure
out where it came from. Then the real confusion sunk in a few moments
after.

I found myself staring at ground level to a Giro bicycle helmet, exactly like
the one I owned. It was strapped onto a head that looked familiar, and the
body below was laying on the ground with my winter clothing on. I realized
this was myself on the ground, and started looking around to see what I was.
There were no arms, legs, shadow or anything resembling a human being
behind these eyes! I could see clearly and move my eyes, but no body
attached. I was all thought and vision, but a missing body! To my left, a small
red car skidded to a stop, and saw a right side mirror on the gound. I
appeared that I was hit by this car.

I heard a car door slam, and a young man running towards my body,
repeating, "OhmyGod, OhMyGod!" At that moment, a sucking feeling like
being drawn by a giant vacuum cleaner into gelatin happened. I immediantly
felt pain, and was face down, like I saw moments before. The pain was
indescribable! I felt an internal, deep, intense feeling never occuring before,
like I had shut down or died. I felt like that feeling was going to happen again
in the ambulance, when paramedics said my blood pressure was going down.
It was apparent, that I had several internal injuries that needed immediate
attention.

I found out later that the emergency surgery had problems, when I wouldn't
wake out of anesthesia. I saw a tiny pinpoint of light grow into a large warm
disc of intense white light, and then retreat quickly. I opened my eyes,
observing the doctor and several medical personnel staring down with
shocked faces. A nurse told me later on, that they could not wake me up and
were having problems trying to keep me stabilized.

My sister came to visit me at the hospital, bringing a small digital camera
that I had in possession at the moment of impact. It would only show one
photo in the viewscreen and was astonished at what I saw. It was the tornado
effect, with black splotches inside the walls of this "tornado." I had the
camera inside a back pocket, completely out of lighted view. Unfortunately,
my sister took this camera back to the store for a refund, and forgot to take
the media card out with the photo.

I suffered from staph infection within the first four months of recovery, and
came within two weeks of experiencing leg amputation. There are few ways to
describe the amount of anguish, when a doctor tells you in person that the
leg is not doing well, and in order to save a life, the leg may have to go. I
fought this and told the doctor, "It's not going to happen."
I really didn't know, but my leg did take a miraculous turn for the better,
baffling several medical experts who have never seen a body part suffering
from uncontrollable staph infection recover in such a short time.

I had several spiritual experiences during the main recovery period, of my
face being touched and thinking it was a dream most of the time in the
hospital. One night it happened again, this time at home. I felt a hand lightly
massaging my facial cheeks, and woke me up. It makes a person somewhat
confused, thinking those dreams are so real. So I closed my eyes but not
asleep yet, and the hands came back to touch my face again. This time, I was
completely awake, and felt invisible hands gently touching my cheeks, and
even made my skin yield a bit. I couldn't stand it no longer, and called out "I
felt that!" The hands drew away immediantly. I realized that those "dreams" in
the past were real situations, and concluded they may have been healing
sessions by angelic beings, unseen by human eyes. I did thank them out
loud, and was amused, that I possibly fooled an angelic being by acting
asleep.

Four years later, the recovery has allowed me to ride bikes, hike, snowshoe,
snowski, windsurf, and swim,
all in limited sessions. I lost the ability to run and
stand upright for long stretches of time, but am very thankful of the
blessings and healing that continues to his day.

Let's keep our Planet Clean for Future Generations

Global Warming, Global Cooling, elevated CO2 levels, uncontrolled air and
ground pollution, famine and war.

As citizens of planet Earth, we have our plates full in all of the debates
presented to us on daily news agencies. Opposing political groups attempting
to sway us into believing what is right or wrong, radio talk show hosts
criticizing each other's news agencies about truth and controversy. We seem
to be drifting apart as human beings, instead of uniting for the good cause.

Whatever the case, our precious Earth is being pummeled daily by airborne
particulates floating in the atmosphere by coal-fired power plants, and
millions of vehicles spewing toxic gases. On a recent trip to Salt Lake City this
winter, I witnessed a weather phenomena called Temperature Inversion- cold
air sinking to ground level, trapping pollutants and creating a smog almost as
thick as pea soup. I've seen milder results in my own area of the Four
Corners, but never this extreme. It's quite saddening to see thick
smog in a beautiful city such as Salt Lake City, and wondering how this
effects residents with every breath taken.

My own region of the southwest United States where I live is called the Four
Corners, where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet. It's possibly
the most beautiful area in America, where topography varies from mile-high
sandstone desert, to alpine tundra
resembling northern Canada. Little human population lives here, except for
smaller towns sprinkled among the terrain.

Employment opportunities vary and can be far and few. The energy industry
is active in NW New Mexico, with oil/gas extraction, and two coal-fired power
plants generating electric power to Arizona, New Mexico,
Las Vegas and southern California. During the winter, temperature inversion
occurs in the San Juan Basin, and the energy industry creates a brown cloud
that can stretch 85 miles north to Telluride, CO. This cloud contains sulphur
dioxide which is proven to aggravate asthma on suffers, is a carcinogen, and
sterilizes lakes of fish habitat. But a major culprit within the brown cloud that
affects humans severely is the metal called Mercury.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has guidelines and standards that
industies must follow. However, those guidelines are grossly underrated,
allowing power plants and the petroleum industry to emit exhaust gases into
the visible level. Anything of that magnitude must be seriously harmful, in
opposition to officials of the participating industries, who continuously claim
they do not harm the air and water, nor living beings. With growing cases of
asthma and cancer rates among residents of the Four Corners region, I must
disagree with those statements.

Adding insult into the mix, is a controversial proposed power plant called
Desert Rock in the Navajo Indian Reservation. This "state of the art" power
plant will also be coal-fired, and spew more sulphur dioxide and mercury
into the atmosphere, than the present two combined. Navajo president Joe
Shirley is instrumental into contracting Sithe Global to build this behemoth
power plant, and local opposition is currently active in finding ways to stop
this plant from being built.

Navajo President Joe Shirley claims this plant is to create good paying jobs,
and secure the future of the Navajo tribe. But corruption and kickbacks have
also clouded Navajo tribal government, and is rumored that certain tribal
members are going to profit well under the table from the development of
Desert Rock. The practice of kickbacks is very common in Navajo
government, and is often publicized in the news media.

I'm not attempting to demonize the Navajos, which are a proud and strong
people. The youth are seeing what their elders are doing, and see many
statements on editorials and forums, that they do not want to govern their
nation in the present form. I truely hope they achieve a brighter future, and
not sway themselves to endanger lives with impure air and water for their
children to breathe and drink. I'm not against industrial progess and
development, but let's have realistic enviromental standards to keep citizens
from suffering under a toxic breeze, and not turn the Four Corners into a
"National Sacrifice Area."

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