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Dear Victoria, YOU ARE A SAINT... What you help people do for their health and well-being is so much needed in today's world!
When Mary Horvath first told me what she was planning on doing at your lovely cottage in the evergreens -- FAST ON WATER ONLY! -- I was quite leery. And honestly, I decided to go just to look after her. I had no intention of fasting before I talked with you. But I did have 3 things I wanted to eliminate from my life: a long-standing glass of wine habit before and after dinner leftover from a stressful career in the hotel industry, high blood pressure medication of just a few months' taking, and a lifetime of being on an inhaler for asthma. After talking to you on the phone, however, you convinced me to try "a few days of fasting on water-only" during my reserved 3-week stay. Once you sent me Dr. Scott's book of 100 fasting case histories Fasting for the Health of It and once I read more and more of 2 BOOKS IN 1: The Health Seekers' YearBook with The Best of Common Health Sense, I was thinking of trying 10 days. Come to the end of my stay, I had completed 3 days of juices while I took myself off the blood pressure medication and 11 days of fasting on water-only, with 7 days of breaking the fast correctly. Mary checked in a week before my arrival, so she was well into her 21-day "Correct Natural Hygiene Fast."
Moving on to my arrival day -- April 23, 2012! I was greeted at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport by a robust woman with the rosy complexion of a healthy 9-year old girl! She stepped out of a shiny-black PT Cruiser and gave me a huge bear hug that took my breath away! After this first introduction to you, we had a leisurely, long day of getting to Our Hygiene Homestead in The Woods. You took me to the spectacular Skagit Valley Tulip Festival and left me to wander through endless acres of red, yellow, orange, magenta, and purple tulips all planted in perfect rows with the foothills of The Cascade Mountains as the backdrop on one side and land stretching to salt water on the other. I wandered not "lonely as a cloud," but with hundreds of other tulip seekers who wanted to smell the tulips as they touched the sky! After that, you asked me, "Would you like to be left alone to hike around a hill called 'Little Mountain' with views of Puget Sound to the west and snow-capped Mt. Baker to the east? I could drop you off while I go on a few errands." I am a hiker and a runner. Of course, I said: "YES!" And since, I was about "to lay low" for 3 weeks of inactivity, rest, and sleep, I jumped at this last chance to revel in nature while I worked up a sweat! Little Mountain is the last mound in the foothills of The Cascades, the last mountain boundary for The Skagit River Valley. So, I got to see the same tulip strips of colors from a distance, through which I had just wandered! I was so happy to see an American Bald Eagle soaring on the thermal currents overhead!
When we arrived at your postcard-perfect homestead, the cedar and pine fragrances overcame me! I was reminded of all the summers of my youth I had spent at "our family cottage" in Ontario, Canada. We really roughed it there, every summer on the lake. No electricity. No indoor plumbing. Just the wilds and clear skies and the critters! Victoria, it was love at first sight -- your little cottage in the woods was a throwback to my childhood and teen years! I knew this was going to be a special time of healing for me.
Victoria, you took time throughout my stay to listen to my health concerns and help direct me to the best course of action. Those sessions we sat in a group, they helped us to memorize "The 10 Energy Enhancers" and "The 10 Energy Robbers" so that we would know how "to provide the conditions for health" and "to remove the causes of disease." It helped, also to memorize "The 7 Stages of Disease" and their Correct Natural Hygiene definitions so that we would be reminded that the disease process evolves from simple exhaustion ("Enervation") to the last, dreaded stage of Chronic, Degeneration.
On a delicious side note, your "beverages" were amazing -- starting with the fresh watermelon juice you handed me at the Airport and before my Little Mountain hike to your special green drink those 3 days before my fast and our Beverage Tasting Parties after my fast!
I had the cutest loft bedroom. It had a double bed and a twin bed on one side of the staircase and an office set up on the other side. But since no one was checked in for the single bed, I had a huge, private room! I am from Tuscon. And perhaps the most wonderful part of this "geographical cure" was the woods, the green everywhere, the huge Skagit River, The Cascade Mountains, and -- THE FRESH, COOL, CLEAN AIR! Since Energy Enhancer #2 is "PURE AIR," I kept both of my bedroom windows open at night. And I loved to wake up to the sounds of the songs of birds in the morning. I've had asthma all my life. But the fresh air and the cleanliness of the cottage and endless hours of complete rest and sleep all helped set the stage for the cleansing and healing of my lungs during the fast. I didn't use my inhaler throughout my entire stay.
What came as a shock was my total lack of appetite -- even though the books did say that would happen! I expected to feel hunger pangs. But they never came! After 7 days, the water started tasting so sweet! What games the mind and body can play while fasting! You were very detailed in telling us what we might expect during our fasting, both the highs and the lows -- so we weren't caught off-guard. I think I was quite on the high-and-happy-and-energetic side during the fasting, but my toxins showed their faces once I broke the fast with cold sores and shingles! Your attention to slowly breaking the fast was key to our success. The introduction to juices in small quantities 6 times a day was the correct way to break the fast. After 2 days, you made sure we had access to numerous, different, fresh fruits and vegetables. And your "food preparation" -- not "cooking" -- classes were fun and informative! I especially loved your "Instead of Yogurt" demonstration! I had never eaten a perfectly ripe cherimoya before! It looked like a fat, round lizard -- but tasted wonderful! I liked the Cherimoya Instead of Yogurt with a hint of garlic along with the onion and lime to give it the fermented taste of yogurt without the dairy! I also loved our Italian Night with the vegetable spaghetti and raw marinara sauce! Your secret recipes for spices were amazing! The Instead of Coffee is my favorite, except I think it is a toss-up now that I received my Victory Veggie Vittles in the package you just sent me! (Never have used so many exclamation points in my life!)
After all is said and done, I think the 3 weeks I spent at your cottage retreat were 3 of the most life-changing weeks of my life! I know I got testy (to say the least) at the end of my stay. And I'd love to blame it on the fast and what I went through with you. But it was a combination of... going back to the real world after 3 weeks of wonderful solitude, hoping I can continue the healthy path you set out for me, missing my husband, knowing I would be missing your fresh air and rivers and woods -- AND YOUR GREAT MASSAGES!
On a happy note -- I have not had an alcoholic drink since returning to Tuscon. My husband and I still have our Friday nights on the patio. But we experiment with different, frozen, non-alcoholic drinks now -- like your frozen margaritas and daiquiris. I've created one with strawberries, bananas, and coconut milk -- all we need is a beach with palm trees!
Victoria, even though when I arrived you told me that my weight was "just perfect," I have worked to keep off the 10 pounds I left at your place. My husband and I are both eating raw, with a once a week slice of my homemade sourdough bread. (Sorry, but I can't give up our tradition.) MY HUSBAND LOVES YOUR PRODUCTS! He takes your dried tomatoes and Vittles to work every day and keeps saying, "You have to order more so we don't run out!" We've managed to fill our kitchen with new toys: the VITA-MIX, the 9-drawer Excalibur dehydrator, the Cuisinart 12-cup food processor, a mandolin, and an ice cream maker. (Pineapple-mint sorbet is our absolute favorite!) I haven't managed to find a spiralizer slicer yet, but the mandolin works in a pinch.
One last moment to share, Victoria, with our livefoodfactorfriends. On our last full day before our evening dinner at the picnic table, Mary and I went on a private adventure. that took much of the day. We walked up the South Skagit River Road and found a huge sand bar jutting out into the river. We packed a raw lunch. And before eating, we waded deep into the Skagit. Then ate and then we both fell sound, sound asleep! It was unbelievable. We had become "Wilderness Women" -- so at peace with nature that we could actually fall asleep in the wilds! We awoke to American Bald Eagles soaring above our heads, as if to say: "Well done, Ladies of Tuscon!" The tulip show was the opening nature highlight and these Eagles the closing. My words cannot describe my thrill in having gone back-to-nature!
VICTORIA, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! -- for all your healthy advice, endearing talks, trips up the Skagit River to The Little Alps of America, your beautiful cottage in the woods, your caring ways. AND LAST, BUT NOT LEAST, THAT GREAT HORSE HIGHJOY! MANY BIG BEAR HUGS TO YOU BOTH --
LOVE, Diane Boros.
I know there was one other huge, life-changing experience, Victoria. When I mentioned to you how strong Mary was in The Lord compared to me, you explained: "When it comes to spirituality, there is no good in comparing. The Lord runs a non-stop 'Come as You Are' party!" After our little talk toward the end of my visit with you, I started to read The Bible again. I did like you suggested. I just started with The Psalms and The Proverbs using your huge Bible with the big print you keep in The Library. I did not get intimidated by old-fashioned language or verses I could not understand, either, like you suggested. I just started with these 2 simple chapters, and I could follow nearly everything! Then, our stop at the miniature church alongside the highway in the mountains helped bring spirituality into the concrete! I am still reading here at home. I will do next what you suggested: read the 4 stories of the same events written from the 4 different perspectives of the 4 men-- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Thank you for providing the surroundings and gentle suggestions where someone like me can again find her spiritual roots and reintroduce Jesus and God and The Holy Spirit back into her life.
GOD BLESS YOU & THE HIGHJOY HORSE!
THANK YOU!
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