Three year old Marty didn't know what to think of the tiny brother Russ who his mom (me) brought home from the hospital just a few weeks ago.
A few years later found a wintertime visit of these same brothers and mom to Disneyworld.
Three year old Marty didn't know what to think of the tiny brother Russ who his mom (me) brought home from the hospital just a few weeks ago.
I'm a reader. I'm currently listening to a book as an audio recording...49 hours long. But I've already got 10 hours under my belt. Hope I can renew it from the library when my 13 day check-out period expires!
What's this long book? The latest (I think) in the Outlander series by Diana Galbadon. "Go Tell the Bees that I am Gone." The first 10 hours have been interesting, catching me up on events that I hadn't read about. It mainly takes place in the wilderness of the North Carolina mountains at the time of the American Revolution. I wonder what the volume before this one was. I have read all the long heavy books that came before, either in order, or close enough whenever they were available at the library. That must have started 15 years or so ago.
So yes, I may have re-read a few of them. Then there were 5 seasons of TV shows of the Outlander series, on Prime streaming TV. I kept waiting for another season, because these only covered up till they came to North Carolina. There is time travel, and Scotland and its citizens, and some French characters as well. English and Americans are in there too.
OK, that's my book report for the day.
I've noticed that I only capture and share sayings that have to do with my life. Whenever they are talking about raising the next generation...like parenting tips...I skip over them.
When I raised my first son my instruction manual was Dr. Benjamin Spock's book, "Baby and Childcare." I was new at relying upon medical doctors and drugs, so I learned how they could help, and when they couldn't. And of course doing things by the seat of my pants, as they say. Later I was glad to have other parents as friends who went through similar things that we did. But I didn't rely upon my own family of relations to give me answers. I am sorry now that I did things so "independently" as I'm sure I could have learned a lot from my parents and in-laws. But we had limits on our relationships, as to what I would accept of their "advice." Part of that was their religious attitude against using doctors.
All of these thoughts were triggered by a saying on Facebook ...
Now I don't give any of my children or grandchildren advice. I support each of them in their own chosen paths. And I listen if they wish to share their problems sometimes. That doesn't happen often, since we communicate through distances. Thank heavens for texting, emails, facetime, and 'no-extra-charge' long distance calls!
So I am what I am. And very thrilled with plans to see some family members soon. More about that later.
Today's quote:
Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like. —Lao Tzu
More Taoist thoughts to consider today!
Catching up with some Earth Day facts (which wouldn't download for me yesterday!)
From CBS Sunday Morning 4.21.24
Painted by Anton Otto Fischer, "On the Yardarm Furling the Mainsail" Only someone who had been there could have painted this!
Grace O'Malley. I've always enjoyed considering this woman's life. Here's a bit of history, perhaps some myth merged into it.
Grace O’Malley was a member of a powerful Irish clan who was well-known for its pirating of ships and trading with foreign countries. Grace, although a woman in the male-dominated sixteenth century, became a prominent pirate. She was known for her stubbornness and leadership abilities, and most of her crew willingly followed her lead.O’Malley’s trading ships often pirated the English’s ships, but she offered the English several hundred fighting men to appease their anger. Grace O’Malley’s trading took her to ports throughout Europe and continued to grow her wealth, power, and prestige. Although on the high seas constantly trading and fighting, Grace O’Malley had several children.O’Malley was a pirate queen, and at the height of her power, she commanded hundreds of men and many ships. She met and spoke in Latin with Queen Elizabeth I, perhaps the only contemporary woman with more power than Grace. Supposedly, O’Malley refused to bow and accept a title of nobility because they were equals. Grace O’Malley died in 1603 and proved that women can beat social norms and become a legend in their own unique way.“There came to me also a most famous feminine sea captain called [Grace O’Malley]...This was...[the most] notorious woman in all the coast of Ireland.” —Sir Henry Sidney
What about quantum mechanics?
Not sure Einstein really said that, but it's a good thought. We're certainly all connected, moved by the same energies as the Universe.
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules requiring municipal utilities to remove several specific chemicals within the PFAS family from water supplies.
PFAS refers to a large group of industrial chemicals. The new regulations target a handful of the best-studied PFAS, which have been linked to certain cancers and birth complications.
Virtually all Americans have measurable amounts of PFAS in their blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Public health advocates across the country have been calling on federal and state governments to regulate PFAS in drinking water for years. Melanie Benesh of the Environmental Working Group characterized the EPA’s decision as “life changing.”
Benesh told PBS NewsHour’s William Brangham that PFAS contamination in the United States is pervasive, and that the new regulation is the most efficient way the federal government can reduce the public’s exposure to these hazardous chemicals.
Source: Science on PBS Newshour
Isn't April Poetry Month?
My dear friend, Annelinde Metzner shared her poems from "Feminism and Religion's" blog publication, Ifetayo's poems.
She introduces them thus:
For a number of years, I’ve been staying at the St. Helena’s Island, South Carolina home of Ifetayo White, Reiki Master, teacher of doulas, and healer in many modalities. I am always deeply healed by Ifetayo’s presence, and by the island itself. This island near Beaufort is the home of the Gullah people, who have kept their land since Reconstruction according to a legal system called “Heir’s Property.”
The spirits are strong here, and I’ve tried to capture some of the essence of the island and of Ifetayo, in these poems. In the first, I describe Ifetayo’s wonderful healing room. The second features the Grandmother Tree, one of the live oaks covered with Spanish moss, so prevalent in the Low Country. The third features the Resurrection Fern, which appears brown and almost dead on the limbs of the oaks, but springs into vivid greenness after a rain.
"The Healer's Home" begins: (see more through the link above)
This was posted on Facebook last week. Then there were comments saying these were entirely different people in this photo.
So it's interesting, a few guys were squatting, I wonder why with a photo. And the man on the right looks like he decided to not be in the picture at all. Then of the guys in chairs, the one wearing a white shirt decided to look at his boots, thus hiding his face with his hat brim. They all probably were dragged out into the sunshine by the photographer, from the nice dark saloon behind them!
Today's quote:
You've probably all seen them before.
But these extraordinary machines/dolls are just so wonderful.
I'm sharing the link from fellow blogger, irisflavia. This was a few years ago. But art is timeless
Today's quote:
Risk itself is a process of constant unfolding. And taking risks is the process of peeling back the layers of what you are and who you want to be. |
PHOEBE ENG |
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It was a quick in-an-out trip down the mountain.
I didn't even go to my favorite grocery (Aldy's) or stop for lunch anywhere (and there are soooo many wonderful places to eat!)
I just went to the doctor, came on home. Perhaps feeling under the weather, as they say.
And as I walked into the Asheville Pulmonary offices, this greeted me. I pulled out the handy dandy phone to capture this luxurious dogwood.
And stopped at a light I had the opportunity to capture these wonderful tile roofs of The Cathedral of All Souls. One of these day's I'll try looking inside these unique buildings.
My pulmonologist visit was a normal 6 month check in about COPD and bronchiectasis. I've been doing fine using the two machines that help...one to help me cough up stuff using a saline nebulizer treatment, and a C-PAP to help me breathe from sleep apnea. I did say I was feeling really lethargic, taking more naps, and just feeling low energy. Dr. Stashinko listened to my lungs and heard congestion, so is trying me on an antibiotic for 10 days. I've sure taken a lot of them in the last few years, and wish that I hadn't needed them so often. But I do have a bit more energy now after the first few days!
I've been in Physical Therapy to hope to improve or at least retain posture where my head is not bent so far forward (the good old sign of aging, or something to do with vertebrae.) So far I've improved my range of motion of my arms, which still do not go straight over my head. But yesterday I was on that huge ball sitting and doing some motion from my hips. I'd already done some sit/squats to the chair. But when I got up from the ball I felt like I had sea legs...seriously, remember when you get off a boat and dry land seems to heave around you? I clumped into the chair nearby and that was the end of that session. Even resting didn't cure it though. I kind of loose-jointed-walked to elevator, car, then home. Eating a banana and sitting with a cup of coffee did help.
And sitting here I just checked, yes, I can walk around now a bit more securely. Perhaps a bit of low blood-sugar also I'm thinking. Isn't it fun being old and thinking about all this? About 50 years ago, I was more concerned about the clothes I wore and my hair and makeup!
Today's quote:
Taught from their infancy that beauty is woman's sceptre, the mind shapes itself to the body, and roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison.
-Mary Wollstonecraft, reformer and writer (1759-1797)
This is Maria Popova, a young genius editor of The Marginalian Newsletter. She was the MC for various talented creative people who gave their own poetry or that of famous others. Maria also gave a wonderful historic narrative of astronomy as it developed. The Greeks, for instance, didn't have the word for science (and she told when it was adapted) but the Greeks left all these musings to philosphers.
My stills from the video of several presenters:
Notes from April 8 Eclipse Day
Walked over the parking lot, then the wood slatted deckway with my cart of laundry. Said hi to John, the paraplegic diabetic who has a little long haired dachshund named John Wayne. John loves to sit in his reclining chair in the sun and just bake. He listens to his little radio/phone while sunning. I teased the dog that he should be thrown in the washing machine with my wash...just kidding. The laundry room was empty, and I started my one load for now. I have a lot more that needs to be washed, but I'm still low on energy.
I excused myself from the rocking chair group on the porch in the shade, who seemed to enjoy saying it was Judgement Day, and all kind of strange things. I said that was interesting, and went home. Took a photo of the pink dogwood across from my front porch. It's been silhouetted against the sky most times I've tried today.
Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. |
HELEN SCHUCMAN |
Art by Josephine Wall
Well, of course.
If you worry about climate change at all, it affects your mental/emotional well being..
"The physical impacts of climate change are easy to see — storms that destroy homes, droughts that cripple farms and heat waves that kill... [and more!]
But what’s less apparent is the toll that climate change is taking on our mental health. More than two-thirds of people in the U.S. say they have experienced eco-anxiety, according to an American Psychological Association poll. Nearly half of young adults (ages 18-34) say the stress they feel about climate change affects their daily lives..."
It’s important to remember that these painful emotions are an entirely reasonable response to what’s happening. They’re a sign that we care and that we’re paying attention, not a sign that something is wrong with us...."
Research shows that collective action — participating in action to make this better, alongside other people who care — can help reduce feelings of depression related to climate anxiety and bolster feelings of hope and solidarity.
Actively participating in climate solutions is a potent reminder that solutions do exist. There’s so much we can do to contribute to the world we want..."
Many people feel like climate change is an existential crisis, and personally meaningful spiritual practices — whether it’s your faith, meditation, spending time in nature — can help ground you in difficult times.
And finally, I would say, be prepared. We all know that extreme weather is here to stay. Having an emergency plan can really help ease anxiety and help us cope more skillfully and calmly in moments of crisis. "
These quotes are from an interview with mental health expert Elizabeth Bechard of Moms Clean Air Force by the Environmental Defense Fund, "Climate Change and your Mental Health," by Shanti Menon, April 4, 2024. It arrives in my inbox from "Vital Signs, the latest climate stories to make you think and give you hope."
RESOURCES
Art by Josephine Wall