I came across a blog that asked women what man they would be if they could come back and live another life. Most of the responses were movie stars. (Imagine that.)
What was really funny, is that I posed the oppositie question to my husband. He found it quite difficult to think of an answer. For that matter, I struggled more too. Most of the women I admire overcame a great deal of adversity. It was a tough trick thinking of one whose life I would want to live.
I did eventually come up with a few names. What about you? Who would you be?
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Always a Good Read
Today I am adding
Adam Ash to my blogroll. Adam describes himself as "Your daily entertainment scout. Books, thoughts, laughs, and links from a lit-crazy NYC writer."
He tirelessly scours the net for thought provoking content, posting excerpts from books, mags, and rags, on politics, religion, feminism and sex. In addition, he offers a weekly dose of poetry to calm the soul and feed the spirit.
While some of his posts reflect on deep philosophy, often the content is racy, sexually explicit, and edgy.
It's not the kind of blog Aunt Bea would be reading to the ladies club in Mayberry, but for the rest of us, it's dandy literary candy!
Here is an excerpt of his work:
"THE QUESTION is not really why do you blog? But, which blogs do you read? What blog community do you count yourself in? I think blogging is a quest for community more than expression. I blog to put what I think out there, but mostly to share what I read. Look at my blogroll, those are my faves. I grab from them and over a 100 other places to put the most interesting stuff in front of you -- and in front of myself. Of course I have my own predilections: I like sex, dope, books, philosophy, futurism; I hate Bush; so you're going to get a lot of that. I also go off on my own rants, like the bit about marijuana that starts my long post about it a few posts down. There's a bunch of bloggers I love and count myself among (even though they don't necessarily know me), and it's my sincere hope that in reading what you read here, you will eventually end up reading the bloggers I love, too"
Monday, November 14, 2005
Modern Medicine
I went for my annual physical last week. It played out like this:
Scheduled with receptionist who confirmed my insurance
Saw Nurse
Saw Doctor
Met with Doc. Assistant re: RX, and test scheduling
Sent to lab to have blood drawn by a nice chit chatty lady
Scheduled pap test with OBGYN receptionist
Saw OB nurse
Saw OB Doc
Pap sent to lab to be tested by someone I will never meet
A computer calls me to say my "Pap results fall within normal limits. Press 1 to repeat this message."
Sent to riverside hospital for mamogram
-Sent to in take person who keyed in my entire financial history
-Sent to waiting room 1
-Greeter takes me to waiting room 2
-Met with Mamogram tech
- Results are sent to a doc I will never meet
Sent to Saint Anns Hospital for X-Ray and Echo Cardiogram
-Greeted by Welcome desk
-Sent to sign in desk
-Sent to in take person who keyed in my entire financial history
-Sent to Echo cardio receptionist
-Met with Echo Tech.
-Echo results were sent to a doc I will never meet
-Sent to X-Ray receptionist
-Met with X-Ray tech
-X-Rays sent to another doc I will never meet.
Sent to third doc for sleep apneia test
-Sent to in take person who keyed in my entire financial history
-Greeted by receptionist
-met with nurse
-met with Doc
This doc schedules me for a sleep clinic at another location with other techs.
Took RX to pharmacy
pharmacist tells me the drugs my Doc ordered are not on the list of meds approved by my insurance company and that I should get on the internet, print off the list of approved drugs and take the list to my doc asking him to write a new scrip.
So far, we are up to 28 people, not including the insurance people, the sleep clinic people, or the computer who called me and gave me the only useful information so far. This list also excludes many of the behind the scenes people who work for these institutions.
Does anybody wonder why health care is unaffordable?
The philosophy of REDUCTIONISM that has spurred the advances of modern medicine has run amok. It has reached a critical mass of reducing everything within the system. Balance is the key to all things. Western medicine must balance itself with HOLISTIC principles and put an end to this insanity.
If all of these people were trained as holistic wellness providers, I would have preventative healthcare twice a month year round. Studies show that prevention care is less expensive and more effective than crisis care.
Scheduled with receptionist who confirmed my insurance
Saw Nurse
Saw Doctor
Met with Doc. Assistant re: RX, and test scheduling
Sent to lab to have blood drawn by a nice chit chatty lady
Scheduled pap test with OBGYN receptionist
Saw OB nurse
Saw OB Doc
Pap sent to lab to be tested by someone I will never meet
A computer calls me to say my "Pap results fall within normal limits. Press 1 to repeat this message."
Sent to riverside hospital for mamogram
-Sent to in take person who keyed in my entire financial history
-Sent to waiting room 1
-Greeter takes me to waiting room 2
-Met with Mamogram tech
- Results are sent to a doc I will never meet
Sent to Saint Anns Hospital for X-Ray and Echo Cardiogram
-Greeted by Welcome desk
-Sent to sign in desk
-Sent to in take person who keyed in my entire financial history
-Sent to Echo cardio receptionist
-Met with Echo Tech.
-Echo results were sent to a doc I will never meet
-Sent to X-Ray receptionist
-Met with X-Ray tech
-X-Rays sent to another doc I will never meet.
Sent to third doc for sleep apneia test
-Sent to in take person who keyed in my entire financial history
-Greeted by receptionist
-met with nurse
-met with Doc
This doc schedules me for a sleep clinic at another location with other techs.
Took RX to pharmacy
pharmacist tells me the drugs my Doc ordered are not on the list of meds approved by my insurance company and that I should get on the internet, print off the list of approved drugs and take the list to my doc asking him to write a new scrip.
So far, we are up to 28 people, not including the insurance people, the sleep clinic people, or the computer who called me and gave me the only useful information so far. This list also excludes many of the behind the scenes people who work for these institutions.
Does anybody wonder why health care is unaffordable?
The philosophy of REDUCTIONISM that has spurred the advances of modern medicine has run amok. It has reached a critical mass of reducing everything within the system. Balance is the key to all things. Western medicine must balance itself with HOLISTIC principles and put an end to this insanity.
If all of these people were trained as holistic wellness providers, I would have preventative healthcare twice a month year round. Studies show that prevention care is less expensive and more effective than crisis care.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Whew! This one too me all day to write...
Wax Philosophic
By Kelley Bell
In old Europe, the individual was taught to believe that their personal worth was naught. They understood themselves to be insignificant parts of the whole. Just imagine a poor illiterate serf walking into one of the grand stone churches, during the middle ages. The massive scale of the walls, combined with the ornate trimmings, and holy reverence; the walls themselves spoke, loud and clear, to the impoverished masses:
You are tiny. You are irrelevant. GOD is ALL.
Behind this message, was the conflicting idea that each individual had a chance for redemption. The lowly serf could earn entry into the gates of heaven by taking a vow to Love God, by means of committing loyalty to the Church.
The Clergy taught these people that their lives were meaningless without God, and the Church was partially right. People who joined, found that there was indeed a spiritual component to life, that added a fourth dimension to the human experience. The dogma of the church brought meaning, order and hope in the form of entertaining stories and moral parable.
The Church served a purpose. It made it possible for the ignorant uneducated toiling masses, to enter the world of philosophy, and reap the rewards spiritual consciousness, without paying the price, of a lifetime of study. It also served a political purpose, as it used the pulpit to organize communities into coherent cooperatives of social order.
Along comes Renee Descartes, the mathematical philosopher, with his concept of The Mechanical Universe. The world, and everything in it, he argued, could be explained in terms of a machine, like a clock.
Clocks were a very new thing, and watching a clock tick off the seconds was an amazement; a changing force in society. Descartes mused on a Reductionist platform that turned the world on its ear. Illness was not a function of evil spirits infecting the unrepentant sinner in need of exorcism, but simply a function of a machine whose parts were broken. He did not need the church to explain the world to him; he claimed that he could figure that out for himself, through scientific observation of the machine.
This was a HUGE SHIFT for humanity, and a severe demotion for The Pope!
Secular Humanism was born from this idea. Secular Humanism is a Renaissance era philosophy of self-realization. It. advocates reason over religion, centering on the values, capacities, and worth of the individual. Scientific thinking flourished from the seed of this radical new worldview. Modern Medicine departed from spiritual shamanism, and turned to the mechanics of the body, looking at each piece and part of the machine. The philosophy of Reductionism took hold in the Age of Reason.
The Wax Argument was Descartes proof that "what I thought I had seen with my eyes, I actually grasped solely with the faculty of judgment, which is in my mind." He describes a piece of wax, its shape, smell, color, etc. Then he heats it with a flame. The wax changes, but he realizes that even though it is now liquid, it is still wax. His senses are describing something completely different from the solid, yet in his mind, he knows that it is still wax. Therefore, he concludes that he cannot use his senses to interpret the world. (Thus, we have the famous term, "To Wax philosophic.")
Descartes would love the more modern experiment where a scientist created a pair of glasses from two prisms, which caused him to see everything upside down. After about a week of wearing his Prism Spectacles, his brain figured out a way to reinterpret the data, and he suddenly began to see everything right side up, even though he was still wearing the glasses! When he took them off, his brain made him see everything up side down again. Slowly, over a period of days, individual objects, like cars and trees would flip back upright in his topsy turvy vision, and then eventually the whole world righted itself again.
What does this tell us about the way we perceive the world? It should tell us that our perceptions could be flawed, that nothing is concrete. It should teach us to question and test all of our beliefs, and then test them again.
The time has come for humanity to once again test its topsy turvy views, and turn things up side down. The mechanistic thinking of Descartes was wonderful in its era, and led us to where we are now. But what was once hailed as a grand new view of the universe, is now just another flawed system of thinking. Modern medicine would not exist without Descartes, but a mechanist view of the body is now revealed to be an oversimplification of living systems. The old mechanics of primitive machines have been replaced with nano chips and lasers. The world has changed, as it must. We must change with it. We can no longer hold on to our Reductionist, Mechanistic views, any more than the people of the Middle Ages could hold on to their supernatural views.
Plato's Theaetetus defined knowledge as “justified true beliefs”. One cannot be said to "know" something just because one believes it. A sick person, who believes he will get well, just might recover, but that does not mean that the belief is responsible for the healing. The belief lacks justification. Knowledge, therefore, is distinguished from belief by justification. We must use this questioning and justification principle to solve our problems, and that means reevaluating everything we believe.
I believe that we stand now at the beginning of a new age, a time when we are embattled in a war of ideas, struggling to determine which ones will stand up to Plato's Theaetetus, and which ones will diminish. Letting go is hard, as Galileo and Bruno could attest. These progressive thinkers were imprisoned and burned at the stake for daring to challenge the model of the cosmos promoted by The Church. The Church felt threatened, because such a shift of ideas would diminish its power. So the Church fought back. The violence we are seeing today mirrors the violence of the Inquisition. The people in power fear new ideas because they know that the power base will change. They cling to the old and push extreme fundamental views with violent fervor. It is violence based on fear.
We fear change. We fear the unknown. We fear any idea that threatens our beliefs. It is part of the human condition. Just as the abused child will emphatically defend the neglectful parent, society also clings to what it has known, without regard for what is best.
Religion has fought against the forces of secular humanism for centuries, to the benefit and detriment of us all. Both models have served humanity, and both have failed. Both have limitations. Here lies the dichotomy of the human condition. While we fear change, we also have a deep drive to expand our minds, solve problems, and go beyond all limitation. Maybe that is why we cling so desperately to God, for death is the ultimate limitation, and in our minds, we must transcend.
Systems Theory and Quantum Physics will be the next step of transcendence. Systems Theory teaches that we are all part of the whole. The tree can not live without the birds who eat its fruit, the bees who pollinate the flowers, the worms who till the soil, or the oxygen breathing mammals that surround it. The tree can not be seen as a mechanical thing in a Reductionist model. It must be seen as part of a huge interdependent living system. Quantum Physics teaches what the things in the system are made of, at a sub atomic level. Here we learn that everything is made from the same basic stuff: Atoms and electrons, and energy. We learn that this energy is not solid, not static, but dynamic. We learn that matter is not even a thing at all, but a probability, and oh, how that changes our perceptions of the world!
As science explores these realms, new ideas will filter into our shared perception of reality, and alter our belief systems. Our prism spectacles will not only turn things upside down, but inside out, and upside in. We will accept science as a way of explaining the Universe, and with this knowledge, we will again ask the age-old questions: Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is the origin, structure and meaning of life?
When we do this, we will find new answers, answers that will, (hopefully,) promote a peaceful cooperative, for a sustainable environment, with reverence for the human need to be part of a community. We will create new spiritual beliefs, built upon the synchronicity of science, and the epiphany of human experience. We will restructure our communities by replacing hierarchal models of control, with philosophies that flow in harmony with nature. This is the feminine principle. It is a model for humanity that tells us that we are part of the universe, just as the universe is part of us. It teaches that we are no more or less important than any other living thing, in spite of our limited point of view.
The time is near when we must leave the house of Our Father, and venture into the world on our own. We must find our own path, build our own home, give birth to new ideas, and watch the world evolve once again.
By Kelley Bell
In old Europe, the individual was taught to believe that their personal worth was naught. They understood themselves to be insignificant parts of the whole. Just imagine a poor illiterate serf walking into one of the grand stone churches, during the middle ages. The massive scale of the walls, combined with the ornate trimmings, and holy reverence; the walls themselves spoke, loud and clear, to the impoverished masses:
You are tiny. You are irrelevant. GOD is ALL.
Behind this message, was the conflicting idea that each individual had a chance for redemption. The lowly serf could earn entry into the gates of heaven by taking a vow to Love God, by means of committing loyalty to the Church.
The Clergy taught these people that their lives were meaningless without God, and the Church was partially right. People who joined, found that there was indeed a spiritual component to life, that added a fourth dimension to the human experience. The dogma of the church brought meaning, order and hope in the form of entertaining stories and moral parable.
The Church served a purpose. It made it possible for the ignorant uneducated toiling masses, to enter the world of philosophy, and reap the rewards spiritual consciousness, without paying the price, of a lifetime of study. It also served a political purpose, as it used the pulpit to organize communities into coherent cooperatives of social order.
Along comes Renee Descartes, the mathematical philosopher, with his concept of The Mechanical Universe. The world, and everything in it, he argued, could be explained in terms of a machine, like a clock.
Clocks were a very new thing, and watching a clock tick off the seconds was an amazement; a changing force in society. Descartes mused on a Reductionist platform that turned the world on its ear. Illness was not a function of evil spirits infecting the unrepentant sinner in need of exorcism, but simply a function of a machine whose parts were broken. He did not need the church to explain the world to him; he claimed that he could figure that out for himself, through scientific observation of the machine.
This was a HUGE SHIFT for humanity, and a severe demotion for The Pope!
Secular Humanism was born from this idea. Secular Humanism is a Renaissance era philosophy of self-realization. It. advocates reason over religion, centering on the values, capacities, and worth of the individual. Scientific thinking flourished from the seed of this radical new worldview. Modern Medicine departed from spiritual shamanism, and turned to the mechanics of the body, looking at each piece and part of the machine. The philosophy of Reductionism took hold in the Age of Reason.
The Wax Argument was Descartes proof that "what I thought I had seen with my eyes, I actually grasped solely with the faculty of judgment, which is in my mind." He describes a piece of wax, its shape, smell, color, etc. Then he heats it with a flame. The wax changes, but he realizes that even though it is now liquid, it is still wax. His senses are describing something completely different from the solid, yet in his mind, he knows that it is still wax. Therefore, he concludes that he cannot use his senses to interpret the world. (Thus, we have the famous term, "To Wax philosophic.")
Descartes would love the more modern experiment where a scientist created a pair of glasses from two prisms, which caused him to see everything upside down. After about a week of wearing his Prism Spectacles, his brain figured out a way to reinterpret the data, and he suddenly began to see everything right side up, even though he was still wearing the glasses! When he took them off, his brain made him see everything up side down again. Slowly, over a period of days, individual objects, like cars and trees would flip back upright in his topsy turvy vision, and then eventually the whole world righted itself again.
What does this tell us about the way we perceive the world? It should tell us that our perceptions could be flawed, that nothing is concrete. It should teach us to question and test all of our beliefs, and then test them again.
The time has come for humanity to once again test its topsy turvy views, and turn things up side down. The mechanistic thinking of Descartes was wonderful in its era, and led us to where we are now. But what was once hailed as a grand new view of the universe, is now just another flawed system of thinking. Modern medicine would not exist without Descartes, but a mechanist view of the body is now revealed to be an oversimplification of living systems. The old mechanics of primitive machines have been replaced with nano chips and lasers. The world has changed, as it must. We must change with it. We can no longer hold on to our Reductionist, Mechanistic views, any more than the people of the Middle Ages could hold on to their supernatural views.
Plato's Theaetetus defined knowledge as “justified true beliefs”. One cannot be said to "know" something just because one believes it. A sick person, who believes he will get well, just might recover, but that does not mean that the belief is responsible for the healing. The belief lacks justification. Knowledge, therefore, is distinguished from belief by justification. We must use this questioning and justification principle to solve our problems, and that means reevaluating everything we believe.
I believe that we stand now at the beginning of a new age, a time when we are embattled in a war of ideas, struggling to determine which ones will stand up to Plato's Theaetetus, and which ones will diminish. Letting go is hard, as Galileo and Bruno could attest. These progressive thinkers were imprisoned and burned at the stake for daring to challenge the model of the cosmos promoted by The Church. The Church felt threatened, because such a shift of ideas would diminish its power. So the Church fought back. The violence we are seeing today mirrors the violence of the Inquisition. The people in power fear new ideas because they know that the power base will change. They cling to the old and push extreme fundamental views with violent fervor. It is violence based on fear.
We fear change. We fear the unknown. We fear any idea that threatens our beliefs. It is part of the human condition. Just as the abused child will emphatically defend the neglectful parent, society also clings to what it has known, without regard for what is best.
Religion has fought against the forces of secular humanism for centuries, to the benefit and detriment of us all. Both models have served humanity, and both have failed. Both have limitations. Here lies the dichotomy of the human condition. While we fear change, we also have a deep drive to expand our minds, solve problems, and go beyond all limitation. Maybe that is why we cling so desperately to God, for death is the ultimate limitation, and in our minds, we must transcend.
Systems Theory and Quantum Physics will be the next step of transcendence. Systems Theory teaches that we are all part of the whole. The tree can not live without the birds who eat its fruit, the bees who pollinate the flowers, the worms who till the soil, or the oxygen breathing mammals that surround it. The tree can not be seen as a mechanical thing in a Reductionist model. It must be seen as part of a huge interdependent living system. Quantum Physics teaches what the things in the system are made of, at a sub atomic level. Here we learn that everything is made from the same basic stuff: Atoms and electrons, and energy. We learn that this energy is not solid, not static, but dynamic. We learn that matter is not even a thing at all, but a probability, and oh, how that changes our perceptions of the world!
As science explores these realms, new ideas will filter into our shared perception of reality, and alter our belief systems. Our prism spectacles will not only turn things upside down, but inside out, and upside in. We will accept science as a way of explaining the Universe, and with this knowledge, we will again ask the age-old questions: Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is the origin, structure and meaning of life?
When we do this, we will find new answers, answers that will, (hopefully,) promote a peaceful cooperative, for a sustainable environment, with reverence for the human need to be part of a community. We will create new spiritual beliefs, built upon the synchronicity of science, and the epiphany of human experience. We will restructure our communities by replacing hierarchal models of control, with philosophies that flow in harmony with nature. This is the feminine principle. It is a model for humanity that tells us that we are part of the universe, just as the universe is part of us. It teaches that we are no more or less important than any other living thing, in spite of our limited point of view.
The time is near when we must leave the house of Our Father, and venture into the world on our own. We must find our own path, build our own home, give birth to new ideas, and watch the world evolve once again.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Thought for the Day
"As Joseph Cambell said, “Follow your Bliss”. Exploration has risks, and I think they are worth it. But as I mature, I realize the memories of a thousand adventures mean little without friends and family to share your excitement."
-Garnet of The Glittering Muse
-Garnet of The Glittering Muse
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Elder's Meditation
"The honor of the people lies in the moccasin tracks of the woman. Walk the good road.... Be dutiful, respectful, gentle and modest my daughter... Be strong with the warm, strong heart of the earth. No people goes down until their women are weak and dishonored, or dead upon the ground. Be strong and sing the strength of the Great Powers within you, all around you."
--Village Wise Man, SIOUX
The Elders say the Native American women will lead the healing among the tribes. We need to especially pray for our women, and ask the Creator to bless them and give them strength. Inside them are the powers of love and strength given by the Moon and the Earth. When everyone else gives up, it is the women who sings the songs of strength. She is the backbone of the people. So, to our women we say, sing your songs of strength; pray for your special powers; keep our people strong; be respectful, gentle and modest.
Oh, Great One, bless our women. Make them strong today.
(My thanks to The Magical Maggie for passing this on to me and my blogger friends.)
--Village Wise Man, SIOUX
The Elders say the Native American women will lead the healing among the tribes. We need to especially pray for our women, and ask the Creator to bless them and give them strength. Inside them are the powers of love and strength given by the Moon and the Earth. When everyone else gives up, it is the women who sings the songs of strength. She is the backbone of the people. So, to our women we say, sing your songs of strength; pray for your special powers; keep our people strong; be respectful, gentle and modest.
Oh, Great One, bless our women. Make them strong today.
(My thanks to The Magical Maggie for passing this on to me and my blogger friends.)
Saturday, November 05, 2005
The Great Rudy Round-Up
I stepped on to my back deck with my little Rudy Bird on my shoulder, like I do every afternoon, to gaze at the trees, take in the air, and enjoy a moment of quiet serenity before the "Hour of Chaos" begins.
Every mom knows about The Hour of Chaos: The kids spring off the school bus, friends run through the house like a horde of midget Vikings, homework is protested, the kitchen is raided, snacks are served, puppies get loose, messes get made, rough housing resumes, boo-boos are band aided, and then I have to put on my commander hat and get it all under control before the hubby gets home.
The game is for the children and I to be sitting quietly at the table, going over schoolwork or doing a craft in a very "Ozzie and Harriet" sort of way when Daddy walks in the door. Picture the Cat in the Hat, and you will then comprehend "The Hour of Chaos."
So, I'm on my deck, "zenning" on the calm before the storm, when a gust of wind whooshed, and took my Darling cocktail by surprise. Rudy has never really learned how to fly. He sometimes flaps his wings and hops about, and even occasionally glides from his perch down to the ground, but flying? No, he has never gotten the hang of THAT whole business.
The gust hit, he spread his wings for balance, and it took him aloft like a kite in a hurricane.
"Squalk SQUALK!!!" (Scientific Translation: Mommy! HELP! I'm FREAKIN OUT HERE!)
He landed, rather clumsily, I might add, way up atop my neighbors roof, looking like Wiley E. Coyote testing his new Acme Flying Kit.
I ran out the gate after him, and of course, let my puppies get loose in the process. They burst into the street. The school bus arrived, and all H#ll broke loose.
Kids are streaming off the bus, puppies and children are running amok, traffic is stopped, the bird is squalking, and I am doing my best impression of Barney Fife.
I like my neighborhood, and all my neighbors, save for one or two. But dear Rudy ended up on the worst of all possible spots. This was the house that I'm sure you remember: the one all kids know, the one with the grumpy old man who hates kids and pets, and any sort of disturbance. Its that guy who turns out all his lights on Trick or Treat night, and pretends not to be home. It was the house of Boo Radley, and it seemed, no one was home.
The children gathered with fear in their eyes. The other neighbors all came out to see what was amiss.
"Should we get a ladder?"
"What if HE comes home?"
"Oh, of all the places that bird could have gone!"
We decided to wait while the children chased the puppies. "Maybe he will fly down."
Maybe, that is, if he knew how to fly.
For two hours, we waited, as a parade of onlookers came and went. One man said "You know, I could marry a woman like you. I love the constant drama around your house."
"Uh, Thanks, happy to entertain."
No one had Boo Radly's phone number or knew how to contact him. AND NO ONE wanted to climb on the Radley Roof.
Finally, as the sun began to set, I knew that I could wait no more. So I did what any sane person would do...
I panicked and called 911!
"911 Emergency."
"My bird is stuck on my neighbors roof."
"Um, This is the Sheriff Ma'am. We aren't trained for bird rescues."
"It's The Radley House."
"We'll send a squad car right away."
The Sheriff arrived, we extended the ladder, and the crowd watched with anticipation as I wobbly assended, wondering if I would succeed or end up ass-ended.
Just then, Boo Radly came out! He had been in there all along. He strode across the lawn like a rhinoceros in his bathrobe, commanding to know that was going on.
The Sheriff intervened, and soon Boo and the Sheriff are working together like Laurel and Hardey to steady the ladder and save the bird.
Amazingly and to the delight of all, our quest succeeded, the bird was saved, the puppies corralled, the children calmed, and we did it all before my hubby got home.
Boo even helped put the ladder away, bless his heart.
Every mom knows about The Hour of Chaos: The kids spring off the school bus, friends run through the house like a horde of midget Vikings, homework is protested, the kitchen is raided, snacks are served, puppies get loose, messes get made, rough housing resumes, boo-boos are band aided, and then I have to put on my commander hat and get it all under control before the hubby gets home.
The game is for the children and I to be sitting quietly at the table, going over schoolwork or doing a craft in a very "Ozzie and Harriet" sort of way when Daddy walks in the door. Picture the Cat in the Hat, and you will then comprehend "The Hour of Chaos."
So, I'm on my deck, "zenning" on the calm before the storm, when a gust of wind whooshed, and took my Darling cocktail by surprise. Rudy has never really learned how to fly. He sometimes flaps his wings and hops about, and even occasionally glides from his perch down to the ground, but flying? No, he has never gotten the hang of THAT whole business.
The gust hit, he spread his wings for balance, and it took him aloft like a kite in a hurricane.
"Squalk SQUALK!!!" (Scientific Translation: Mommy! HELP! I'm FREAKIN OUT HERE!)
He landed, rather clumsily, I might add, way up atop my neighbors roof, looking like Wiley E. Coyote testing his new Acme Flying Kit.
I ran out the gate after him, and of course, let my puppies get loose in the process. They burst into the street. The school bus arrived, and all H#ll broke loose.
Kids are streaming off the bus, puppies and children are running amok, traffic is stopped, the bird is squalking, and I am doing my best impression of Barney Fife.
I like my neighborhood, and all my neighbors, save for one or two. But dear Rudy ended up on the worst of all possible spots. This was the house that I'm sure you remember: the one all kids know, the one with the grumpy old man who hates kids and pets, and any sort of disturbance. Its that guy who turns out all his lights on Trick or Treat night, and pretends not to be home. It was the house of Boo Radley, and it seemed, no one was home.
The children gathered with fear in their eyes. The other neighbors all came out to see what was amiss.
"Should we get a ladder?"
"What if HE comes home?"
"Oh, of all the places that bird could have gone!"
We decided to wait while the children chased the puppies. "Maybe he will fly down."
Maybe, that is, if he knew how to fly.
For two hours, we waited, as a parade of onlookers came and went. One man said "You know, I could marry a woman like you. I love the constant drama around your house."
"Uh, Thanks, happy to entertain."
No one had Boo Radly's phone number or knew how to contact him. AND NO ONE wanted to climb on the Radley Roof.
Finally, as the sun began to set, I knew that I could wait no more. So I did what any sane person would do...
I panicked and called 911!
"911 Emergency."
"My bird is stuck on my neighbors roof."
"Um, This is the Sheriff Ma'am. We aren't trained for bird rescues."
"It's The Radley House."
"We'll send a squad car right away."
The Sheriff arrived, we extended the ladder, and the crowd watched with anticipation as I wobbly assended, wondering if I would succeed or end up ass-ended.
Just then, Boo Radly came out! He had been in there all along. He strode across the lawn like a rhinoceros in his bathrobe, commanding to know that was going on.
The Sheriff intervened, and soon Boo and the Sheriff are working together like Laurel and Hardey to steady the ladder and save the bird.
Amazingly and to the delight of all, our quest succeeded, the bird was saved, the puppies corralled, the children calmed, and we did it all before my hubby got home.
Boo even helped put the ladder away, bless his heart.
Friday, November 04, 2005
The Winds of Change
Change is the only constant.
In The United States of America, the winds of change are beginning to howl.
A new era is approaching. An era that will challenge the constitutional principles on which this country stands.
Be ready.
Our country has been led by "The Ol' Boys Club" for the past two centuries, but women, and people of color are infitrating the power structure, and influencing policy more than ever before.
This shift is part of the natural order. It will bring a much needed balance to the lop sided, agressive, ethnically abusive, patriarchal history our country.
The voice of the people will be heard. The values of a multicultural tapestry will be woven deep into the fabric of our laws.
Women will offer a matriarchial kindness and motherly wisdom to our policies.
It will change the face of our nation.
In the long run, it will be a positive change.
But be ready, for change does not often come without strife.
In The United States of America, the winds of change are beginning to howl.
A new era is approaching. An era that will challenge the constitutional principles on which this country stands.
Be ready.
Our country has been led by "The Ol' Boys Club" for the past two centuries, but women, and people of color are infitrating the power structure, and influencing policy more than ever before.
This shift is part of the natural order. It will bring a much needed balance to the lop sided, agressive, ethnically abusive, patriarchal history our country.
The voice of the people will be heard. The values of a multicultural tapestry will be woven deep into the fabric of our laws.
Women will offer a matriarchial kindness and motherly wisdom to our policies.
It will change the face of our nation.
In the long run, it will be a positive change.
But be ready, for change does not often come without strife.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Who Said this?
"I know that spirituality is never serene; meditation never silent; peace is never peaceful."
-Pete Townshend, from his blog: The Boy Who Heard Music
Nicely said Pete.
-Pete Townshend, from his blog: The Boy Who Heard Music
Nicely said Pete.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Urgent: Take Action Now
If you are against cruelty to animals, please click
HERE and follow the links to sign the petition.
WARNING: Link shows graphic photo of Dog Abuse.
Thank You
HERE and follow the links to sign the petition.
WARNING: Link shows graphic photo of Dog Abuse.
Thank You
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Culture of Life
Let’s say that we decide to promote a “Culture of Life.” We value life, we protect life, and we work hard to cure all human disease and illness.
Let’s assume that we are successful in this venture; that all our walk-a-thons and telethons and fundraisers enable our talented Scientists and Doctors to find cures for every known malady.
Human kind achieves its goal; the utopian ideal of perfect health and immortality!
Then what?
Massive over population, food shortages, eco systems being wiped out as billions of people swarm the planet like a plague of locusts.
Past wars over oil and religion will be remembered as petty skirmishes when compared to the epic battles over water, land and food.
Population growth is already at an alarming rate. Over fishing in the oceans is at the point where even the most common food fish are on the verge of extinction. Rain forests are disappearing. Entire cultures of people are starving.
If you read the Natty Bumpo stories about the early American frontier, you will note that the author describes the autumn sky as being “filled with so many migrating birds that they blocked out the sun.” I have never seen a sight like that. What I have seen is that each year the migrating flocks become smaller and smaller.
In China overpopulation is such a serious problem that laws are in effect, restricting each family to only one child. The results are tragic. Baby girls are killed, aborted, or abandoned by the thousands.
Folks, if you really believe in a culture of life, then you must think long term.
The actions we take now will determine the future for all mankind.
Live a life of passion and service,
and when your energies wane,
Welcome Death,
for it is the door that makes room for life anew.
Let’s assume that we are successful in this venture; that all our walk-a-thons and telethons and fundraisers enable our talented Scientists and Doctors to find cures for every known malady.
Human kind achieves its goal; the utopian ideal of perfect health and immortality!
Then what?
Massive over population, food shortages, eco systems being wiped out as billions of people swarm the planet like a plague of locusts.
Past wars over oil and religion will be remembered as petty skirmishes when compared to the epic battles over water, land and food.
Population growth is already at an alarming rate. Over fishing in the oceans is at the point where even the most common food fish are on the verge of extinction. Rain forests are disappearing. Entire cultures of people are starving.
If you read the Natty Bumpo stories about the early American frontier, you will note that the author describes the autumn sky as being “filled with so many migrating birds that they blocked out the sun.” I have never seen a sight like that. What I have seen is that each year the migrating flocks become smaller and smaller.
In China overpopulation is such a serious problem that laws are in effect, restricting each family to only one child. The results are tragic. Baby girls are killed, aborted, or abandoned by the thousands.
Folks, if you really believe in a culture of life, then you must think long term.
The actions we take now will determine the future for all mankind.
Live a life of passion and service,
and when your energies wane,
Welcome Death,
for it is the door that makes room for life anew.
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