Happy New Year everyone! Anyone know where we can find Elizabeth's car that Meher Baba was riding in before the 1952 accident? It was a 1951 Nash Statesman like this one. Mark Trapanese in Wichita, as some others before him, has recently been looking for news of the car. He reports that calling junk yards around Prague has not worked and he has had the thought that with the VIN he could track it down through the Nash Club if it has been saved. Mark has had another thought; "let's get one like it!"

So keep you eyes open and let us know what you find out. You can reach me at my personal email address: artesian4@allegiance.tv.

The snow is finally melting after the big blizzard of '09 and we are basking in the sunshine of Baba's Love and... the warmth of the Oklahoma sun once again. Only slight freeze damage on a drain trap in the M house and January is looking good again.

Just got news from the road that a pilgrim couple are on there way across country to Ashville, NC (which seems to be a BL magnet these days!) We are looking forward with open arms for their arrival tomorrow as Meher Baba always sends such wonderful folks here!

Give us a shout with your new from around the world,
In Beloved Meher Baba's Heartland,

Ron
Co-caretaker

HO, HO, HO from Prague, America

So what’s new at Christmas time here at the Heartland Center in Prague, America? You might have heard that we had a Christmas Eve blizzard that buried Oklahoma, closed down everything! It has been beautiful but iced over ever since. Miriam and I were snug in Meher Baba’s Center house with a whole library of Baba books and videos (thanks to many generous givers over the last almost five years). The big news at AMBHC is that the M house (Mo house, Morrison house) next door is now at least semi-habitable. It has been re-wired, had the floor re-enforced and the heat and air re-installed. This year may be the time the second house gets re-furbished for pilgrim groups to come.

Speaking of pilgrims, we had a father and son drop by (whiz by really) the day before the storm hit. They were on their way to Myrtle Beach from California and wanted to outrun the weather. They had just enough time to drop in early in the morning, walk through the Burleson House and go out to Meher Baba’s accident site with me.

We have had a great year of pilgrims coming staying from 15 minutes to a week. We love how Baba sends people here and enjoy sweet moments with those coming.

Please drop us a note at the email address below if you are reading these messages, it would be nice to hear from you.

In Him,
Ron and Miriam

ambhc@allegiance.tv

Sweet Words of Encouragement from Bhau Kalchuri

Email from Bhau to Debbie and Peter Nordeen ("Daughter D." and "Air Compressor") about the Heartland Center

Debbie has just passed on this email that she and Peter received recently from Bhau Kalchuri, one of Meher Baba's last living men Mandali (close followers). It was slightly edited for personal content. Enjoy!

Beloved Avatar Meher Baba ki Jai!

My dearest Daughter D. and Air Compressor,

The magazine “Heartbeat,” that you sent is really very, very, beautiful. The pictures are so beautiful and all the contents in the magazine are very heart- touching. I find that you are doing such a work which will be well-preserved by His lovers and you will see: Heartland Center will become famous all over the world.

We are also trying to develop the site of the accident here in India. It was also horrible, but we cannot do anything because of the strict rules of the road and also it requires a lot of money. We also want to develop Mandla, but we could not do anything because money is not there. But now we have courage that Beloved Baba will see that it is all done and these places will become famous for His lovers to go there and to bow down.

They will be coming for Meherabad and Meherazad and when all these places are there also, they will come to know about these places. They will be going here and there and bowing down wholeheartedly and lovingly to serve His cause.

A great change will take place, and your work will be appreciated by all who love Baba. [...] So there is no question - everyone will take part in development. [...]

I feel as if I should bow down to the love of all those who are working in the Heartland Center, to you dear Daughter D. and Air compressor, my dear Sister Queen of Forest Garden [Jeanne Felknor], Miriam Rose and Ron Lansing, dear Saint John Poag, Jim Watson, Michael Ivey, Julia Margaret, Michael and Kathrin Burleson, Angela Lee Chen, Leah Johnston, Cliff Hackford, and all who have come to work and serve there. Their work is really most appreciated.

I bow down to all those, who go to Heartland Center, to see their love. After the opening of Myrtle Beach Center, Beloved Baba was passing through Prague, Oklahoma and the accident took place. Elizabeth was injured and also Mehera and Baba and they shed their blood there. What work Baba must have done there while shedding His blood!

I liked my Dr. Burleson and that their children would come to Baba, particularly Julia Margaret and Michael. Even in that state of His health while lying down in the bed in their hospital, Baba would play with them while in bed, and give them chocolate every day. Though they did not know who He was they would come everyday, very regular, and go to Baba direct.

Afterwards, on every Christmas Dr. Burleson would send Christmas greeting to Baba for years, and he stopped when he passed away. Christmas greeting to Baba he would send - very, very, sweet.[...]

With all love and Jai Baba to you, my dearest Daughter D. and Air Compressor and all dear ones there. [...]

From this year I stopped visiting the West and the East, and I just sit on the chair dictating, dictating so many things.

With all love and Jai Baba to you my Daughter D. and Air Compressor,

In His Love and Service,

Bhau

Back Again to Prague!

Hello friends of Meher Baba's Heartland Center,
Miriam and I are back from our trip to India. Thanks so much to Elizabeth and Hettie for standing-in while we were in Meherabad!

Actually it has been about a month since we got back. We thought that we did very well in not getting sick during our month in India, but, alas, I brought home an Indian infection that showed up a few days after we touched down and lasted until just this week! (a week of fever that about put me in the hospital, followed by very low energy, an outbreak of sores and fever blisters, boy was I ugly! I know TMI!) I am back to health and work now. Digging the grass up from the garden beds etc. Going to Cedar Rapids, IA for work on Monday.

Miriam is back at work in her medical clinic in downtown Prague. Things are going slow for her as people in our small town are slowing learning that there is another doctor in town and that she does weird long term health (and alternative) medicine.

Thursday was T day and Miriam's B day both. We hung out in the Center Library smelling the turkey cook and Miriam is putting together her favorite jig saw (a round butterfly puzzle). Miriam made eight pies with her friend Jean on Wednesday; it looked like they had a really good time and the place smelled great! Pies were yummy too! Lynn Wilhite, Jean and her husband Randy all came for dinner. We had planned for pilgrims to come also so we had a huge turkey; but alas left overs.

Fall is still wonderfully in progress here, sunny days, falling leaves and cooling nights. Prague is having its "Christmas in the Park" celebration tonight with hay rides and Christmas treats and cider from the church booths. It is nice to go over to the park (part of land donated to the city by Dr. Burleson) and meet neighbors and watch the kids enjoy it all. Miriam and Lynn really liked the draft horses that pulled the hay wagon last year.

Lots of little fix-it projects always need doing around the Center houses. We are keeping a list for us and for pilgrims who come and want to do some projects while they are here. Raj and Rashmeta were here in early November and they did a huge job of leaf raking and covering the AC units for winter; Thanks, thanks, thanks!!! (Oh, and Rashmeta made everyone a huge Bombay-style Indian fest!)

Also, we have room for pilgrims to spend time here during the Christmas/New Years holidays. We will be here and probably have another big fest meal to share!

Elizabeth's final thoughts

Greetings ...

I'm back at home now, reflecting on my caretaking time at the Heartland Center. As I sit to write something about the ending of my stay, I find myself a little wordless. My time there was rich, serene, healing - such a bountiful opportunity to be closer to Baba in daily life. I could spend time gardening (my gosh, those front beds look happy!) or cooking, reading or writing, visiting with the local folks or pondering Baba's plans for my life. But all of it was infused with the sense of being very intimately connected to a place where Baba was present.

Touching my forehead to the ground at the accident site was profoundly moving. I found myself drawn there almost daily - including one day when it was raining and all I could do was sit in my car and know I was "nearby" that blessed spot!). Gazing at the hospital, knowing our loved ones were right there spoke to my heart. And knowing some of the mandali were often in the very house where I was staying - it all was quite touching. Out there in the gently rolling farmlands of Oklahoma, Baba has given us a place to be close to Him in a very intimate, immediate way.

During my stay, the weather blew through in constant waves of change - sunny and bright, then days of rain, then plummeting temperatures towards the end. When I first arrived, the windows were all thrown open and it was a little too warm in the house - by the end of the stay, the furnace was on and I was scrambling for a borrowed jacket (thanks Miriam!). I enjoyed my daily walks around town - even had a few folks who I saw regularly while out on my walks and we'd exchange easy greetings. It's a lovely little town - don't miss the city park with it's pecan trees, innumerable benches and a creek running right through the middle of it. Lynn Wilhite and I viewed the quilt show during the annual Pumpkin Festival, and giggled at the pumpkins local kids had decorated (with anything and everything available - paints, sparkles, ribbons, curly strings ... anything!).

I want to add a note of thanks to the Board for the opportunity of staying at the Heartland Center. And a huge thanks to Ron and Miriam for making my stay there very smooth and secure - their direction and guidance regarding the tasks and upkeep were impeccably clear and easy to follow. Thanks for all the post-it notes! Hats off to Hettie, who'll be staying there for the next couple of weeks. I hope she also finds the quietude and intimacy I found there.

When you get the chance, make the trip to the Heartland Center and spend some days where our Beloved rested and recovered; reside for a while in the setting where the mandali cared for Him and watched over Him. It's a holy place.

- Elizabeth

Interim Caretaker Elizabeth's notes

I've been here in Prague for several days now, interim caretaking while Ron and Miriam have headed off to India. It's really been a remarkable experience - I find the peacefulness here at the Heartland Center reminiscent of the quietude of Meher Center; and the holiness very reminiscent of India. The house is lovely and serene, surrounded by huge trees and little flower beds and green lawns. The town is gentle and the people here seem so warm, so embracing.

I was warmly welcomed at a church pot luck last weekend that I went to with Ron and Miriam, and this weekend I'll get a chance to attend the local high school football game. I've walked all over town, and enjoyed the vast skies over central Oklahoma. One day, I found myself thinking: "Meher Center is near the ocean, but this place has oceans of sky." I could spend endless hours watching the billowing clouds scudding along up there. I was adopted for a couple of days by a sweet stray dog that was ecstatically happy to trot along next to me while I wandered around Prague - tail wagging, glancing up at me every few feet, full of joy. (The last time I saw her, she was trotting after a young boy who gave her some great pets in the park - maybe she found her human ...)

I have relished some long moments at the accident site, too. Yesterday, I went there and spent time sitting where Beloved Baba's body lay when thrown from the car. I noticed the sun getting hot on the back of my neck, and looked around for shade. Directly across the road, I climbed up an embankment and sat in a small circle of trees - hidden from the view of passing cars, but able to gaze down on His site for as long as my heart wanted.

Oh, I hope folks feel drawn to make a pilgrimage to the Heartland Center. Baba has blessed this place such a great deal of His Grace and Presence.

Jai Baba ...

Elizabeth

Off to India! Heartland Center in Capable Hands.

We (Ron and Miriam, co-caretakers) are off to India this next week for the month of October. We are leaving behind caretaker Elizabeth for the first two weeks and Hettie for the last half of the month. They will have the experience of soaking up the radiant feeling that Meher Baba left behind here in Prague in His hospital room and the stunning feeling at His accident site. There will also be some "fix-up" work going on across the yard at the M house while we are gone and the on-going care of the Heartland Center.

This year we have had so much rain and cooler weather in late August and through September that everything has grown wild! The grass on this now almost a 1/3 acre site seems to need constantly cutting. The yard shrubs are becoming tree and the Oklahoma strangle vines are trying to.... strangle them. It is the perfect time to visit however, now the rains are over, as the days are pleasantly warm and sunny with beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

So this weekend is really busy, just before we go, with pilgrims coming to stay over Saturday night, Elizabeth arriving on Sunday and our packing for the trip (oh, and I must mow the back yard one more time!)

Sweet Baba wishes to y'all!

Ron