'Suora Marianna' by Francesca Alexander

 

                                  ‘Suora Marianna’

Translated from the Italian by Francesca Alexander

 

Little children, will you listen to a simple tale of mine,

That I learned at San Marcello, in the Tuscan Apennine,

From an aged, saintly woman, gone to heaven long ago?

It has helped me on my journey, and as yet you cannot know

Half the wisdom stored within it, nor the comfort it can give;

But still, try and not forget it! You will need it if you live,

And some day, when life is waning and your hands begin to tire,

You will think of Marianna, and her vision by the fire.

 

In a convent, old and quiet, near a little country town,

On a chestnut-shaded hillside, to the river sloping down,

Dwelt a few of those good sisters who go out among the poor,

Who must labour late and early, and much weariness endure.

And the one who did in patience and in all good works excel,

Was the Sister Marianna, she whose story now I tell.

 

She was ever kind and willing, for each heavy task prepared:

No one ever thought to spare her, and herself she never spared.

All unpraised and all unnoticed, bearing burdens not her own,

Yet she lived as rich and happy as a queen upon her throne!

 

She was rich, though few would think it; for God gave her grace to choose,

Not the world’s deceitful riches, but the wealth one cannot lose.

There are many heap up treasure, but it is not every one

Who will take his treasure with him when his earthly life is done.

 

Was she beautiful? I know not.  She had eyes of peaceful light,

And her face looked sweet and blooming in its frame of linen white.

To the sick and heavy-hearted she was pleasant to behold,

And she seemed a heavenly vision to the feeble and the old.

 

She was happy when she wandered up the wandering mountain road,

Bearing food and warmth and blessing to some desolate abode,

Though the ice-cold winds were blowing, and her woman’s strength was tried;

For she knew who walked there with her, in her heart and by her side.

 

She was happy - oh, so happy! -in her little whitewashed cell,

Looking out among the branches, where they gave her leave to dwell,

In her scanty hours of leisure; for there, looking from the wall,

Were the dear and holy faces that she loved the best of all.

 

‘T was an old and faded picture, poorly painted at the best,

Of Our Lord, the Holy Infant, in His Mother’s arms at rest.

But her faith and loving fancy had a glory to it lent,

And the faces that she saw there were not what the artist meant.

 

And the wooden shelf before it she would often-times adorn

With the buttercup and bluebell, and the wild rose from the thorn,

Which she gathered, when returning, while the morning dew was bright,

From some home, remote and lonely, where she watched the sick by night.

 

So her life was full of sunshine, for in toiling for the Lord

She had found the hidden sweetness that in common things lies stored:

He has strewn the earth with flowers, and each eye their brightness sees;

But He filled their cups with honey, for His humble working bees.

 

But there came a time--poor sister--when her rosy cheek grew pale,

And her eyes, with all their sunlight, seemed to smile as through a veil;

And her step was weak and heavy, as she trod the steep ascent,

Where through weeks of wintry weather to her loving work she went.

 

‘T was a footpath, lone and narrow, winding up among the trees,

And ‘t was hard to trace in winter, when the slippery ground would freeze,

And the snow fall thick above it, hiding every sight and mark;

But she went that way so often she could climb it in the dark!

 

‘T was to nurse a poor young mother, by fierce malady assailed,

That she made the daily journey, and she never once had failed.

Now the short sharp days were over, and the spring had just begun;

Every morn the light came sooner, and more strength was in the sun.

 

All around the grass was springing, and its tender verdure spread,

Mid the empty burrs of chestnuts, and the old leaves, brown and dead,

Low and small, but creeping, creeping till it almost touched the edge

Of the daily lessening snowdrifts, under rock or thorny hedge.

 From the wreck of last year’s autumn, life awakened strong and new,

And the buds were crowding upward, though as yet the flowers were few.

 

Many nights had she been watching, and with little rest by day,

For her heart was in the chamber where that helpless woman lay;

There the flame of life she cherished, when it almost ceased to burn,

Praying God to help and keep them till the husband should return.

 

‘T was the old and common story, such as all of us can hear,

If we care to, in the mountains, every day throughout the year!

She who languished, weak and wasting, in the garret chamber there,

Had been once as strong and happy as the wild birds in the air.

 

She had been a country beauty, for the boys to serenade;

And the poets sang about her, in the simple rhymes they made,

And with glowing words compared her to the lilies as they grew,

Or to stars, or budding roses, as their manner is to do.

 

Then the man who played at weddings with his ancient violin,

With his sad, impassioned singing, had contrived her heart to win;

And one brilliant April morning he had brought her home, a bride,

To his farm and low-built cottage on the mountain’s terraced side.

 

‘T was a poor, rough home to look at, and from neighbours far away,

But with love and health and music there was much to make it gay.

They were happy, careless people, and they thought not to complain,

Though the door were cracked and broken, or the roof let in the rain:

They could pile the fire with branches, while the winter storms swept by;

For the rest, their life was mostly out beneath the open sky.

 

Time had come, and brought its changes, sunshine first, and then the shade,

Frost untimely, chestnuts blighted.  Sickness came, and debts were made;

Fields were sold, alas, to pay them; yet their troubles did not cease,

And the poor man’s heart was troubled thus to see his land decrease!

 

Fields were gone, and bread was wanting, for there now were children small;

Much he loved them, much he laboured ---but he could not feed them all.

So he left them, heavy hearted, and his fortune went to try

In the low Maremma country, where men gain or where they die,

With its soft and treacherous beauty, with its fever-laden air;

But as yet the fever spared him, and they hoped it yet would spare.

 

‘T was a long and cruel winter in the home he left behind:

Lonely felt the house without him, and the young wife moped and pined:

Still her children’s love sustained her, till this sickness laid her low;

When good Sister Marianna came to nurse her, as you know.

 

Week on week had hope been waning, as more feeble still she grew:

Marianna tried, but vainly, every simple cure she knew.

Then the doctor gave up hoping, and his long attendance ceased:

“I can do no more,” he told her; “you had better call the priest.

To her husband I have written; he will have the news today:

If he cares again to see her, he had best be on his way!”

Now the priest has done his office; at the open door he stands,

And he says to Marianna: “I can leave her in your hands,

I have other work that calls me; if tonight she chance to die,

You can say the prayers, good sister, for her soul as well as I.”

 

So they left her, all unaided, in the house forlorn and sad,

Still to watch and think and labour with what failing strength she had.

There was none to share her burden, none to speak to, none to see --

Save a helpful boy of seven, and a restless one of three,

And their little dark-eyed sister (she was five, and came between),

And a baby, born that winter, which the father had not seen.

 

Two days more!  Her friend lay sleeping, and she watched beside the bed:

In her arms she rocked the baby, while the Latin prayers she said,

Prayers to help a soul departing -- yet she never quite despaired!

Might not yet the Lord have pity, and that mother’s life be spared?

 

‘T was so hard to see her going --- and such a mother, kind and dear!

There was ne’er another like her in the country, far or near!

(So thought Sister Marianna.)  Yet to murmur were a sin.

But her tears kept rising, rising, though she tried to hold them in,

Till one fell and lay there shining, on the head that she caressed,

Small and pretty, dark and downy, lying warm against her breast.

 

She was silent; something moved her that had neither place nor part

In the grave and stately cadence of the prayers she knew by heart.

Then she spoke, with eyes dilated, with her soul in every word,

As to one she saw before her--- “Thou hast been a child, my Lord!

 

Thou hast lain as small and speechless as this infant on my knees;

Thou hast stretched toward Thy Mother little helpless hands like these:

Thou hast known the wants of children, then---Oh listen to my plea,

For one moment, Lord, remember what Thy Mother was to Thee!

 

Think, when all was dark around Thee, how her love did Thee enfold.

How she tended, how she watched Thee; how she wrapped Thee from the cold!

How her gentle heart was beating, on that night of tears and strife,

When the cruel guards pursued Thee, when King Herod sought Thy life!

How her arms enclosed and hid Thee, through that midnight journey wild!

Oh, for love of Thine own Mother, save the mother of this child!”

 

Now she paused and waited breathless; for she seemed to know and feel

That the Lord was there and listened to her passionate appeal.

Then she bowed her head, all trembling; but a light was in her eye,

For her soul had heard the answer: that young mother would not die!

 

Yes, the prayer of faith had saved her! And a change began that day:

When she woke her breath was easy, and the pain had passed away.

So the day that dawned so sadly had a bright and hopeful close,

And a solemn, sweet thanksgiving from the sister’s heart arose.

 

Now the night had closed around them, and a lonesome night it seemed!

For the sky was black and starless, and for hours the rain had streamed:

And the wind and rain together made a wild and mournful din,

As they beat on door and window, madly struggling to come in.

 

Marianna, faint and weary with the strain of many days,

On the broad stone hearth was kneeling, while she set the fire ablaze,

For the poor lone soul she cared for would, ere morning, need to eat.

“Now, God help me,” said the sister, “this night’s labour to complete!”

 

‘T was a meal she knew would please her, which she lovingly prepared,

Of that best and chosen portion, from the convent table spared,

Which she brought, as was her habit, with much other needed store,

In the worn old willow basket, standing near her on the floor.

 

On her work was much depending, so she planned to do her best;

And she set the earthen pitcher on the coals as in a nest,

With the embers laid around it; then she thought again, and cast

On the pile a few gray ashes, that it might not boil too fast.

 

But the touch of sleep was on her, she was dreaming while she planned,

And the wooden spoon kept falling from her limp and listless hand.

Then she roused her, struggling bravely with this languor, which she viewed

As a snare, a sore temptation, to be fought with and subdued.

 

But another fear assailed her -- what if she should faint or fall?

And tonight the storm-swept cottage seems so far away from all!

How the fitful wind is moaning! And between the gusts that blow,

She can hear the torrent roaring, in the deep ravine below.

 

And her head is aching strangely, as it never did before:

“Good Lord, help me!” she is saying: “this can last but little more!

O my blessed Lord and Master, only help me through the night--

Only keep my eyes from closing till they see the morning light!

 

For that mother and that baby do so weak and helpless lie,

And with only me to serve them, -- if I leave them, they may die!

She is better -- yes I know it, but a touch may turn the scale.

I can send for help tomorrow, but tonight I must not fail!”

 

‘T was in vain; for sleep had conquered, and the words she tried to say

First became a drowsy murmur, then grew faint and died away.

And she slept as sleep the weary, heedless how the night went on,

With her pitcher all untended, with her labour all undone;

On the wall her head reclining, in the chimney’s empty space,

While the firelight flared and flickered on her pale and peaceful face.

 

Was her humble prayer unanswered? Oh, the Lord has many a way

That His children little think of, to send answers when they pray!

It was long she sat there sleeping --- do you think her work was spoiled?

No, the fir-wood fire kept burning, and the pitcher gently boiled:

Ne’er a taint of smoke had touched it, nor one precious drop had been spilt;

When she moved and looked around her, with a sudden sense of guilt.

 

But her eyes, when first they opened, saw a vision, strange and sweet,

For a little Child was standing in the hearth-stone at her feet.

And He seemed no earthly infant, for His robe was like the snow,

And a glory shone about Him that was not the firelight glow.

 

And Himself her work was doing! For He kept the fire alive,

And He watched the earthen pitcher, that no danger might arrive

To the simple meal, now ready, with the coals around it piled.

Then He turned His face toward her, and she knew the Holy Child.

 

‘T was her Lord who stood before her! And she did not shrink nor start ---

There was more of joy than wonder in her all-believing heart.

When her willing hands were weary, when her patient eyes were closed,

He had finished all she failed in; He had watched while she reposed.

 

Do you ask of His appearance? Human words are weak and cold;

‘T is enough to say she knew Him ---that is all she ever told.

Yes, as you and I will know Him when that happy day shall come,

When, if we on earth have loved Him, He will bid us welcome home!

 

But with that one look He left her, and the vision all had passed,

(Though the peace it left within her to her dying hour would last!)

Storm had ceased, and wind was silent, there was no more sound of rain,

And the morning star was shining, through the window’s broken pane.

 

Later, when the sun was rising, Marianna looked to see,

O’er the stretch of rain-washed country, what the day was like to be,

While the door she softly opened, letting in the morning breeze,

As it shook the drops by thousands from the wet and shining trees.

 

And she saw the sky like crystal, for the clouds had rolled away,

Though they lay along the valleys, in their folds of misty grey,

Or to mountain sides were clinging, tattered relics of the storm.

And among the trees below her she could see a moving form,

‘T was the husband home returning, yes thank God! He came at last:

There was no one else would hasten up that mountain road so fast.

 

Now the drooping boughs concealed him, now he came in sight again;

All night long had he been walking in the darkness, in the rain;

Through the miles of ghostly forest, through the villages asleep,

He had borne his burden bravely, till he reached that hillside steep.

And as yet he seemed not weary, for his springing step was light,

But his face looked worn and haggard with the anguish of the night.

 

Now his limbs began to tremble, and he walked with laboured breath,

For he saw his home before him, should he find there life or death?

How his heart grew faint within him as he neared the wished-for place!

One step more, his feet had gained it, they were standing face to face.

“God has helped us!” was her answer to the question in his eyes;

And her smile of comfort told him that the danger had gone by.

 

It was morning now, fair morning! and the broken sunlight fell

Through the boughs that crossed above her, where the buds began to swell,

As down the sloping pathway, that her feet so oft had pressed,

Went the Sister Marianna to her convent home to rest.

 

It was spring that breathed around her, for the winter strove no more,

And the snowdrifts all had vanished with the rain the night before.

Now a bee would flit beside her, as she lightly moved along;

Or a bird among the branches tried a few low notes of song.

 

But her heart had music sweeter than the bird-notes in her ears!

She was leaving joy behind her in that home of many tears:

Hope was there, and health returning; there were happy voice and smile,

For the father at his coming had brought plenty for a while.

 

And she knew with whom she left them, for herself His care had proved,

When her mortal eyes were opened, and she saw the face she loved,

On that night of storm and trouble, when to help her He had come,

As He helped His own dear Mother in their humble earthly home.

 

As she went the day grew warmer; sweeter came the wild bird’s call;

Then, what made her start and linger? ‘T was a perfume, that was all:

Faint, but yet enough to tell her that the violets were in bloom;

And she turned aside to seek them, for that picture in her room.

 

Ack. ‘The Hidden Servants and other very old stories’

--- told over again by Francesca Alexander.

(Published by David Nutt, at the sign of the Phoenix, Long Acre, London.1911.)

 

*********************

Francesca Alexander was the daughter of an American artist and lived most of her life in Italy. A deeply religious woman, Protestant by upbringing, she had this to say about her work, “With regard to this present collection of ballads, I can tell its history in a few words. When I was a young girl many old and curious books fell into my hands and became my favourite reading (next to the Bible, and perhaps, the Divina Commedia), as I found in them the strong faith and simple modes of thought which were what I liked and wanted. Afterwards in my constant intercourse with the country people, and especially with old people, whom I always loved, I heard a great many legends and traditions, often beautiful, often instructive, and which, as far as I knew, had never been written down.” As she grew older Francesca gradually lost her sight, limiting her writing opportunities, but persuading her to adopt poetry in translating these many works, which she believed made the stories ‘vivid and comprehensible’ particularly for children, but also for older people. In her letter Francesca, who for most of her life worked as an artist, commented that “when the Lord took from me one faculty, He gave me another, which in no way is impossible. And I think of the beautiful Italian proverb: ‘When God shuts a door He opens a window.’ “

Cardinal Manning, when writing to Mr Ruskin in 1883 to thank him for a copy of Francesca’s ‘Story of Ida’, writes :---“It is simply beautiful, like the Floretti di San Francesco.  Such flowers can grow in one soil alone.  They can be found only in the Garden of Faith, over which the world of light hangs visibly, and is more intensely seen by the poor and the pure in heart than by the rich, or the learned, or the men of culture.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Smart Meters - be warned.

 On Tuesday 5th Sep 2023 the UK Parliament quietly approved a bill clearing the way towards forcing British citizens to have smart meters installed in their homes and for individual electrical appliances including; fridges, dishwashers, and washers to be fitted with smart functions (Source). The key to smart functionality is that these appliances can be operated externally “in response to load signals” which means that smart meters will soon allow for your energy to be rationed remotely or even cut off completely according to the Smart Tyranny coalition [Source]. 

Essential Upgrade

We are being put into a position where it will be hard to refuse as the state has plans to force non-compliant residences into having a smart meter installed or face a £15,000 fine. “The replacement of traditional gas and electricity meters with smart meters is an essential national infrastructure upgrade for Great Britain” we are told by the government which is promoting the use of a smart meter as a money-saving device. (source).

This may have enticed the 33 million homes and small businesses in Britain that already have smart and advanced meters installed, but individuals have felt pressured into having them due to relentless overzealous electricity providers who have been working to reach their companies’ “binding annual installation targets” to roll out smart and advanced meters since 2022.

Now their focus is on installing the smart meters in the remaining “non-smart” customers by the end of 2025, which can only mean they will now have to ramp up the pressure for us all to have them against our will.

They Do Not Deliver

Utility companies claim that smart meters deliver benefits to consumers — like access to more data, better services, and cost and energy savings through data analysis. And yet, reports from around the world repeatedly suggest that smart meters aren’t delivering on these promises, failing to make an impact on energy use.

One example, in the Netherlands, consumers are barely saving 1 percent on their energy bill — far under the projected amount.

Catastrophic Health Effects

Failing to deliver benefits is one thing — but smart meter radiation also comes with significant health and safety concerns. Smart meters are responsible for “catastrophic effects” on the health of individuals and animals, surely it is down to the individual to choose to take that risk just to save a few pounds?

Unsurprisingly, the government’s “Smart Meters guide for households” states that in fact there is “no evidence that the meters pose any risk to health” (source). We know there is.

They also claim that radio waves are likely to be “much lower than other everyday devices such as our mobile phones,” Again this is untrue.

Senior Nuclear Policy Lecturer at UCSC, Daniel Hirsch, is reported to have found that smart meters “can emit intense pulses of radiation more than 14,000 times EACH DAY.” has determined that wireless meters emit 100-150 times the radiation of a cell phone, thus, invalidating utility claims that the radiation is insignificant. (source)

That is just with the standard smart meters and reportedly they’re not as bad as smart meters in the narrowband mesh network. These new smart meters have to continuously emit EMF to keep up with the data transfer demands, according to the Sheild Your Body group.

This means we will be constantly exposed to EMF emissions, which can result in a range of health problems (source)

Of course, this is known to numerous health bodies, for example, according to the American Cancer Society “RF radiation is a possible carcinogen, and smart meters give off RF radiation, it is possible that smart meters could increase cancer risk.”

Even the World Health Organisation has declared that “Non-ionizing radiation of the kind emitted by smart meters is a class 2B carcinogen – the same category as DDT, based on cell phone brain tumor studies”

Also, an article in the peer-reviewed Journal of Neuroscience concluded that “EMF hypersensitivity can occur as a bona fide environmentally-inducible neurological syndrome.”

There is undoubtedly lots more, but importantly consumer experience has more than shown the dangers of having a smart meter installed, why are they being ignored?

The Task Force

On January 5, 2023, Arthur Firstenberg, from Cellular Phone Task Force wrote that five weeks previously, he had asked people to email the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission (PRC) about their experiences with smart meters.

What he received in response he described as “heartbreaking testimonies” that poured in from around the world, which included stories about “catastrophic effects on the health and lives of adults, children, the elderly, pets, farm animals, birds, wild animals, insects, worms, plants, neighbors, workers and entire communities.”

Below are excerpts and summaries of some of the 271 testimonies that are posted on the public comments page of the PRC’s website.

The Smart Meter Testimonies

Jennifer Andree is a New Mexico resident who was severely injured by a smart meter “that has completely devastated my life.” She is a nurse and a veteran who knew nothing about smart meters until she was injured by one. This occurred on Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. “For three and one-half months,” she writes, she slept with her head approximately one foot away on the other side of a wall from an electrical panel containing two electric smart meters. “Anything that carries an electric current or emits any radiation” now causes her headaches, brain fog, and internal burning.

“I can no longer tolerate living in an urban environment,” she writes, “so I have moved to South Dakota, to a cleaner environment in the country. Because of the harms I was exposed to, I am separated from my family, which has contributed to my suffering… I have a nursing license, but can no longer work in my profession.”

Maryann McCabe writes from the UK: “From the time [the smart meter] was turned on, I could not walk around in my flat, I could not write an email, I could not think and I could not sleep. It was an absolute nightmare until it was switched off.”

Harriet Greene, formerly of New Mexico, writes: “I was able to opt out and keep my old meter. Everybody I talk to who was forced to accept smart meters has complained of numerous effects.”

Lauren Bond writes, “Smart meters were installed in my building, and the radiation they emit inside apartments creates for myself, a constant burning pain to my skin.”

Jeanne Thompson writes from California: “My mother died of a massive brain tumor caused by a row of six Smart Meters outside her condo, on the wall where the head of her bed was. We discovered this after she had already passed. You can imagine my shock and horror at that realization.”

Dr. Linda Thomas writes, “I have seen hideous debility in adults and children secondary to Smart Meters being installed in my area.” These include absence seizures in a 2-year-old boy and chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia in his mother.

Mario Desira writes from Malta: “Back in 2017 my electrical meter caught fire and nearly caused a house fire. Luckily I was at home and intervened before anything worse happened.”

Persephone Maywald writes from California that she was diagnosed with suspected Parkinson’s disease a few months after a smart meter was installed, and that she later had the meter replaced and within a few weeks all her symptoms disappeared.

Simone St. Clare writes from California that since a smart meter was installed, there have been almost no hummingbirds at her feeders and a decrease in caterpillars in her garden.

Deirdre Novella writes from New York that her hair started falling out within a few months of a smart meter being installed at her place of work, that she was diagnosed with leukemia, and that she developed a lifelong allergy to electricity.

Sheila Reavill, who works as an electromagnetic radiation specialist (“EMRS”) in Georgia, writes that after smart meters were installed, “the smart meter signature I logged [on her radio frequency meter] in my bedroom was at the precise times I wake up at night”; that her next door neighbor and her neighbor’s daughter wake at the exact same time she does every night; that her border collie began having skin problems and would wake up whimpering at the exact same time also; and that she and her dog both wake up at that same time with diarrhea.

Rebeca Randle writes from California that while she had a smart meter she could not sleep and there were no birds; and that when the smart meter was removed, the birds came back.

Robert Workman, an EMRS in Missouri, writes: “I have confirmed injuries from wireless radiation and the Smart meter seems to be the most damaging to me and my clients. Once the ITRON electronic meter is removed many of my clients have an immediate response to an improved health. This meter has been torture to myself and others in St Louis, it is my professional opinion this meter kills all biological life.”

Health practitioner Diane Peterson writes from California that “For the majority [of people], they suddenly developed symptoms and only later discovered that the symptoms began immediately after the smart meter was installed.”

Sema Kelly writes: “My friend’s neighbor had a smart meter put in. She didn’t know it had such dangers, but soon found out her chickens in the yard had huge tumors growing on their throats and body. The eggs they laid were odd shapes and colors, and the chickens appeared to be tired, which was not ever seen prior to the installments of the smart meters.”

Andre Fayolle writes that a smart meter gave his family headaches, caused the animals, birds and insects to disappear, and caused a fire that burned down his house.

Karen Crenshaw writes from California that she had no knowledge of the dangers of smart meters until an Itron smart meter was installed on her house, after which she awoke abruptly every hour during the night, had uncomfortable ear sensations, acquired high-pitched tinnitus, and felt pressure in her chest.

Annette Lillig writes from the UK: “Everyone I know who [has a smart meter] has been negatively affected by them.”

Beverly Jennings writes: “In Capitola, CA an entire bank of smart meters burst into flames and started a fire and burned down an apartment complex.”

Margaretha Tierney writes from Australia that she became sick two weeks after a smart meter was installed and was sick for five years until she had it moved off her house.

Sarah Wild writes that she had heart palpitations, headache, and panic until her smart meter was removed. She writes that her 80-year-old neighbor “went from being extremely lively, active, outward-going to hobbling around and forgetful within 6 months” of a smart meter being installed and died within 18 months.

Dino DeBenetti writes from Ontario, Canada that after a smart meter was installed, his wife’s health and behavior deteriorated, resulting in their divorce. He also writes that he has attempted to hatch fertile chicken eggs in an incubator in his house twice since the meter was installed, with over 20 fertile eggs each time, and not one egg hatched either time.

Karen Blomquist writes from California that when smart meters were installed on her home she incurred inner ear damage, sleeplessness, anxiety, non-stop heart palpitations, and migraines, and fled her home after two months to save her life. She also reports that her pets all got cancer and passed away.

Tina Cada writes from Florida that although she opted out of a smart meter on her own home, “[o]n the day they were getting installed [in her neighborhood], I walked outside and had no idea where I was. I had the worst kind of disorientation. This reaction was ongoing and lasted for the first few months.” She reports vertigo attacks that have continued, and constant dry mouth, that her teenage son has dry mouth, headaches and sleep disruptions, that her neighbor’s dog suddenly got cancer and died after the smart meters were installed, that her cat started acting differently, and that all the bats disappeared.

Laurie Grams writes from Texas that she lives in an apartment complex and so could not opt out, and has had sleep problems and agitation since smart meters were installed.

Jennifer Wood writes from West Virginia that “I have literally known thousands of people over the past nine years or so who became so ill when smart meters were installed in their homes that they had to move just as I did.”

Elizabeth Foley Walsh writes from North Carolina that she knew nothing about smart meters until after one was installed in her home and she began having severe headaches, dizziness, and temporal lobe seizures the following week. She writes that she thought she was dying until she went camping one week and the symptoms disappeared; that her next door neighbor’s headaches began the same time hers did; that an elderly neighbor across the street began falling repeatedly immediately after their headaches began; and that when she finally moved to a location without a smart meter she “was stunned at the change in my health.” She observed that “the frogs disappeared the very summer after the smart meter went in”—the hundreds of frogs that previously inhabited the creek behind their back yard—and that all the house sparrows and starlings disappeared, and that squirrels were “suddenly tame and suddenly laying down ‘resting’ a lot. They seem to be panting and they seem to be sick.” She writes that she has had to leave an 18-year career in developmental epidemiology.

Rainer Grobe writes that on the same day a smart water meter was installed, his wife developed heart arrhythmia, very high blood pressure, and fainted, and that they had to remove the meter themselves, with both legal and financial consequences.

Kent Casady writes from Germany that he and his wife purchased a house with a smart meter, and when they moved in there were no insects, bees, butterflies or birds, and “[t]he dirt in the yard was dead.” After they had the smart meter removed, they had “earthworms in the soil, bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, spiders, and other creatures.”

Kimberly Webber, in Taos, New Mexico, writes that although they were able to opt out of a smart meter at their home, they were unable to opt-out at their place of business, and that “[w]e noticed agitation, irritability, depression, headaches, ear ringing and other symptoms from ourselves and our employees while in the work space.” They moved their business to a new location without a smart meter and “[a]ll of the symptoms have disappeared for us and our team.”

Ellen Habeck writes: “Until I researched the matter, I could not understand why I had such fragmented sleep, and would wake with severe tachycardia. I thought my heart would beat out of my chest. There was not sleep and no ability to function well in the morning after that.” Finally, “I looked and found the place I had moved to had a smart meter outside the bedroom wall.” She adds: “There is a neighbor who asked me why she thought she would feel unwell when working for hours in a particular room in her house. She also noted that any plants she put in that room died, where they had been thriving in other rooms. I looked and saw there was a smart meter directly on the other side of the wall of that room where she sat, and a neighbor’s smart meter pointing at fairly close proximity to that room.”

Arlene Griffin is a Santa Fe resident who briefly lived in southern California in 2019-2020. She writes: “I had no history of heart problems, but upon moving into a house in a development in San Diego County, I was jolted awake every night, feeling like what it would be like to be hit with defibrillator paddles. Once awake, my heart would alternate between pounding, racing, and skipping beats for the rest of the night, and I would shake for hours. I also developed eye issues—my eyes burned and were red and swollen. Each day I would feel better when I left our house, but each night the horrible symptoms would return. It was terrifying and exhausting… We hired an inspector who tested our house for RF/EMF radiation and found that the high readings were not coming from our property (we had an analog meter), but from our neighbor’s house. It so happened that her meter directly faced our bedrooms… Finally, in September 2020 I returned to New Mexico for good, and I have not had those heart symptoms here.”

Stephanie Dickerson writes from North Carolina that she is “currently suffering every single day and especially nights from the newly installed” smart meters in her neighborhood, and that “I have been forced from 3 previous home locations because of smartmeter installations… My heart rate has become dangerously high, my body temperature can not regulate, I experience constant vibrating in my torso and in my legs, my brain function has deteriorated and I can not sleep at all. This physical response to the newly installed smartmeters is life-threatening to me.”

Brenda Rogers writes from California that she “had to leave my home in a camper to find somewhere I could sleep” because of a smart meter, and that she had to abandon her home of 30 years.

Catherine Ralston lives in Taos. “A smart meter was put in at my address,” she writes. “I started having trouble sleeping at night. I started having headaches. I stopped waking up happy. My emotions were flatline. This happened quickly, over a couple of weeks. Someone told me about symptoms showing up in people after smart meters were installed where they live. I went looking for the smart meter. Then I moved my bed to a location in the building as far from the meter as I could put it, and slept with my head at the end of the bed furthest from the meter location. I slept through the night, and woke with no headache. I do not own the property and the owner won’t work with the electric company to give back the old meter. I feel blessed someone told me about the horrible impact the smart meters have on human health.”

Glenn Kikel moved to New Mexico from Colorado. He writes that when a smart meter was installed on their Colorado house, he developed tinnitus and his wife developed heart palpitations, and that both health problems ceased when the meter was moved.

Diane Craig writes that she “experienced severe tinnitus, tremors, short-term memory issues, and an area at the back of my neck at the base of my skull that was hot to my husband’s touch” in a 4-hour period after a smart meter was installed 10 feet beyond the head of her bed. They paid for opt-outs for both themselves and a neighbor in order to be well, she writes.

Alvita Armanavičienė, from Latvia, submitted this startling photograph of a bush standing just inches away from a smart meter:

Simone Bercu writes that she and her family left their homes in other states to come to New Mexico five years ago to escape smart meters. “The smart meters were devastating our small children and ourselves and the effects are still noticeable,” she writes.

Annie Mattingly, of Santa Fe, writes, “My daughter, living in another state, was away when a Smart Meter was installed on her house. Within days of her healthy arrival home, she became ill and now, several years later, she is still plagued with health issues and is only partially functional.”

M. L. writes from Pennsylvania: “When our meter started transmitting, I noticed two birds that had died within approximately 25 feet of it.”

Lukas Zillmer writes: “I have personal experience of bad sleep, waking up at night, waking up still tired from being exposed to the radiation by smart meters which made life almost unbearable.”

Simone Prince writes from British Columbia, Canada that her cat developed hyperthyroidism when a smart meter was installed on her townhouse, and that she herself changed from hypothyroidism to hyperthyroidism at the same time.

Arthur Firstenberg wrote: If you have stories to add and you have not yet sent them to the PRC, please email them to: New Mexico PRC <prc.records@prc.nm.gov>. Write “Case No. 22-00058-UT” in the Subject line. Be sure to also send a copy to me at Arthur@cellphonetaskforce.org. We need all the help we can get to preserve New Mexico as a refuge from smart meters, and as an example to the world. 

Arthur Firstenberg
President, New Mexicans for Utility Safety
President, Cellular Phone Task Force.

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We are one huge step closer to totalitarian control which is evidenced by the government’s new bill. Despite knowing what is good for us and what is extremely dangerous, our dictatorship of a puppet government is determined to take away our right to choose whether to risk our health by having a smart meter installed just to save a couple of quid.

Welcome to the New World Order, expect more of this authoritarian harmful control.