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 |  Impromptu writing, whatever comes...on writing or whatever the question of the day is. |
    I've been blogging all through my days without knowing that it was blogging; although, this isn't necessarily the only thing I do without knowing what I'm doing. Since I write on anything that's available around me, my life has been full of pieces of scribbled paper flying about like confetti. I'm so happy to finally have a permanent place to chew the fat.  So far my chewing the fat is on and off.  Maybe, I lack teeth. Feel free to comment, if you wish.  Thank you very much, Cindy, for this honor and the beautiful graphic.  This Blog Continues in "Everyday Canvas "    |
| My son tells me, in his state, (should I snitch and say NY?) a certain legislator's hubby got a 95 mph speeding ticket. What a shame or should I say what a nasty thing to happen to a nice guy! But no, it isn't just that. There's more to it and it is rather nightmarish. In our world of murky moral grays, the speeding ticket got transformed into a parking violation. Such magic! I can surely understand that we should be charitable to our law-breakers, especially if they belong with the members of the ruling party, since nothing is really black and white in this world. It is our fault that we want to relish a black-and-white tale, with villains to loathe, victims to pity, injustice to condemn. Everything should be the opposite, like: gray tales, victims to loathe, villains to applaud, justice to condemn. This reminds me of another case, when a certain preacher was indicted of defrauding his followers out of their savings. He raised his hands and chanted. "Regardless of the truth, Hallelujah!" |
| On this planet, we must all be drama queens. Those who know of bombs, nukes, and things say that the nuke thing the nutty one in North Korea played with was a 550-ton-yield nuke, at best. It is probably a few hundred times smaller than what most other nation who needed to show muscle experimented with in the past. Remember our friends in Pakistan and India? Of course, the science of seismology shows that Kim can do it. No big deal, anyone with a jumbled brain can harm anybody if he puts his mind to it. Just recall the box cutters. The din isn't whether Kim Jong-il will do the dastardly deed or how or when he will do it. It is the reaction he evokes in the world. We are just as titillated as in the OJ trial or the Monica business or any other media event whether it has a direct consequence or not. I believe Kim should be watched as they put some of the mentally ill on suicide watch; after all, we don't want the sick hurt themselves, but there is no need to be so alarmed for other nations. If I hear correctly, the nations that surround North Korea are making the most noise about this. If they are so shaken by this, maybe they could stop sending Crazy Kim the uranium bullets that he shoots about just to have fun with. Yup, the crazies and the juveniles pop stuff to scare people. When I was a child, I used to pop paper lunch bags that made a big sound and startled everyone. The drama queens in the house always thought that someone shot someone else with a gun. Others knew I was vying for attention. And as far as attention goes, isn't it helpful that this happened right before the elections here?  Shouldn't this unacceptable North Korean action make us not rock the boat of our tough-talking administration, which will now try to scare us with its escalating rhetoric? Oh, really! |
| Robin Givens' and Paula Abdul's books, both memoirs, are first in line to be mentioned in the book columns in most newspapers. What shocks me is that these books are not even out, yet. I bet Hemingway didn't get such ado before his books were distributed. Is it the name recognition, the bimbo factor, or our insatiable need for cheap gossip? I tend to go with the last. But real writers are a very forgiving bunch. They forgive these things, even worse ones. I think writers are the Amish in the world of professions. Talking about the Amish and forgiving, these folks have taught us a lesson or two, during the last few days. Who else but the Amish could forgive the killer of their children? Not only that, they attended his funeral and embraced his family. Could I do that? Probably not, but then I am in this culture, even if for a split second or two I felt like going to live among them, I wouldn't; I couldn't. I love my computer and my creature comforts way too much. I still admire the Amish, though. With any other group it would be lawyers, suing, court trips, months of media frenzy etc. Somehow this culture of ours, unlike the Amish, has learned to cloak vengeance with the word justice, which makes me wonder if the concept of justice isn't getting mixed up with the dollar sign. Something to ponder about. |
| Some days, human beings are too difficult to figure out. Maybe this goes with my thick-headedness, but who'd have known that some warped guy would take hostage ten little girls in a school and try to do away with them? This happened, yet, in the Amish Lancaster. The killer was not of the Amish, but obviously, a pervert and a psychopath. I mean I can't fathom who'd want to hurt the Amish. When we were traveling in Lancaster county, I refused to go on a tour to see the Amish. It felt like I would be intruding. Also, they are not like some kind of a spectacle as in a circus or a zoo. We, as a nation, have to learn to respect people and I mean, everybody. This last comment is an aside; however, we turn people who are slightly different than us into spectacles and I believe we expose them to a lot more harm. Of course, with all the crazies running berzerk in this country, we're all exposed, but when gentle people are harmed, it makes the pain even deeper. Obviously, this killer is mentally sick and his family had nowhere to go. I always believed closing the state hospitals had been wrong. They were doing a service to the public. Why not open them again? At least, some people could be taken off the streets and could get some free help. Human beings are not easy to decipher and even harder to love some days, but we can still keep trying. My pain number two: Mark Foley. This is the guy from my district. I voted for him. My husband and I met him, shook hands, talked. We found him to be very gentle, very dedicated, and very nice. How could we be so blind? How could the Republican Party, or any other Party, and anyone in the nation's capital city be so blind? Being single is okay. Being gay is okay. Being in the public arena is okay. Plus, I am not so self-righteous as to think that nobody should make a mistake. We all make mistakes. I make tons of mistakes every day, but they are attention-deficit mistakes, unplanned mistakes, human mistakes. In this case, not the mistake itself (only because I am not privy to all the details and neither would I go looking for them), but the hypocrisy surrounding it rattled my nerves. Another thing that rattled my nerves are the talk show hosts on Fox news who claim that the relationship was consentual; therefore, Foley should not be blamed too much. Excuse me? The kid was underage. The kid was working under the direction of a so-called adult. Moreover, the so-called adult was in a supervisor position, by which the kid could be intimidated. And the so-called adult headed the committee overseeing what could be done for child protection and working against internet stalking problems. Well, when I vote, I always divide my ticket anyway, because I vote for the people, not their party. This time, the division may be bigger and I haven't missed a vote in my life. |
| I can bet they will. Maybe with lots of editing, but they will. Very soon. At least, eventually. We cannot close our minds to blogs. After the invention of the internet, they are the most explosive bits of current information even if sometimes they bite. If not the actual news, they give information on who we are and how we act as human beings. They are our cyber melting pot and a prerequisite for any marketing effort in any smart business. According to research, many internet surfers stop and read them. Their percentage is slightly higher than the voter percentage in the US. Now, I think, that is something. Speaking for my self, I am addicted to travel blogs with photos. A strange thing, but I feel like I know these bloggers for they reach to me from the screen to grab me by the hand and take me along in their journeys. It is probably because I used to travel a lot and loved it, since I was younger then and could bear the rigors of out of country travel. Nowadays, we still travel but inside the USA, since the world has become such an unfriendly place. Never before in the history of mankind, the public's voice through global conversation had become so loud. During the last election time, blogs created quite a sensation and probably they changed a mind or two. It is estimated that there are close to ten million blogs on the net and their numbers are increasing. Blogs discuss all kinds of things: poetry, law, food, travel, politics, children, religion, you name it. No more can the companies keep anything like their practices and employee benefits secret from consumers. Mass media no more can swing anyone's opinion, since mass media has become masses' media. The advertisement agencies no more can fool people for they are facing extinction with the advent of buzzmarketing. It is true that blogs are written haphazardly. They are subjective and filled with glaring errors. Sometimes, they are even nasty, dirty, disruptive, and unfair. Still, they are the people's voice, our voice, and the racket we make is mightier than thunder and more effective than any belief system. The blogs are here to stay and there is hope for the world. |
| Cry your heart out and watch what you eat, Popeye, and don't try to flex your muscles, since your upper arm may not pop up anymore. Recently, it is unfortunate that spinach has become public enemy number one. The news says the fresh spinach, which is the culprit, was packed under a few different companies' titles and it came from the same region, California's Salinas Valley, to be exact. Why this happened and what the findings are so far, we are not informed. The only thing we know about this is that it is the E-coli that causes the fatalities. Not much more. If the hygiene and the washing of the leaves are to blame, the companies have no excuse. If the fertilizing of the crops are to blame, maybe, that should be looked at. If human error or nature's freakiness are the reasons, then we should be able to overcome these things. There is a third possibility. Although it is a far-out one, it makes me shudder. What if E-coli was introduced to the crops on purpose? After all, we're living in dangerous times and we've got enemies. I hope not, if not for our sake then for their sake. I never trusted the fresh, supposedly washed salad stuff that comes in bags. Once or twice I bought a bag, only to wash it again before serving. Talking about food, we went out to dinner with a few people last night. We all had a nice time, except the ordering took a little time and caused a few laughs afterwards. The reason is us; that is, my husband and I. What is the norm for us was little known by this crowd and that provided the entertainment. This was why: Usually I am the first one to choose what I want and my husband the last. He is so funny that way. "Shall I give you a few minutes more?" the waitress asks and he nods. Then, after everyone has chosen what they want and closed their menus, he feels guilty. He still hasn't chosen, mind you! By this time, the waitress is back to take the orders. Everyone is giving their orders. When his turn comes, he points at me and says, "I'll have what she's having." This never fails, unless I have ordered something peppery. Then, I warn him that what I ordered may burn his tongue. So, he points to any one thing on the menu and asks for it. When our children were young and we went out to dinner as a family, our older son--the one who is bossy--would ask him to order first. "Mom, you don't order, until Dad orders!" When the two of us go out alone, we always get the same food and the same comment from the waitresses. "Oh, you guys are so easy!" Are we? |
| Just when I thought I had heard it all... Take an easy breath. What I am going to tell did not happen in WC, but in a northern state. No, not in NY either. We're safe...well, somewhat. Someone got incensed about a court case and wrote a blog about it. This person had nothing to do with the court case, but he had read about it in the daily papers. After he published what he had to say, some people wrote comments to his blog. Then, in a day or two, he got a subpoena to appear in the court, and when he did, he was viciously attacked by both sides of the case, not because of the original blog but the comments that were there, some or all by people he didn't know. I guess he was thought to be responsible by other people's thoughts. I don't know about other blogging sites, but luckily, WC has a remove comment function. Not that we will need it here with the nice and decent WC members, but it is a relief to know we are protected. This sort of thing, you'd think, would happen in a religiously fundamental country or in a country under a communist regime. Not here in a US State! I thought blogs were an easy way to publish one's thoughts on the Web, as long as they didn't cross over ethical lines. Some people must be taking blogs way too seriously. |
| I swear this is a true news from India. A farmer called the police to complain that malevolent ghosts allegedly controlled by his neighbors were torturing his family and stealing his chickens. At first, the police--like me--laughed, but a judge in India's northeastern state of Assam saw little humor in this. Instead of laughing, he ordered police to get to work and find the culprits. Where are the ghost busters when they are needed and just how one can investigate ghosts? The only malevolent ghosts that bother me every night are not set off by my neighbors but my overworked grey matter, chiding me why I didn't finish this or that, not realizing that I have set up far too many chores and duties. In other words, ghosts come about because I have bitten more than I can chew. Even on days, when my chores are finished, the ghosts of unfinished stories and badly drawn characters haunt me until, laughing at my ghosts and my silly self, I fall asleep. A writer's day is never done if the writer extends herself too thin. Still, I love my ghosts and my life. I bet I'd have no joy in life if it weren't for my ghosts. |
| My husband and I are home for the afternoon, at least partially. He is listening to the United Nations General Assembly. Kofi Annan said, "Only global action through the UN will resolve world's greatest challenges." I had to laugh. When was the last time that happened? I know there were many resolutions passed, but could they ever enforce them! It is still a good thing that there is a meeting of the world's nations even though it doesn't serve much. I think private efforts like Save the Children etc. work better than anything United Nations tries to do. Even Unesco does not help the children in the countries considered black sheep by the general rule. In 2002, if I am not mistaken, UN put out a list of accomplishments in Afghanistan. That list was probably meant for Kabul only and not the entire country. I just read a Scot's walk through Afghanistan in the winter of 2002 and the tribal rules, bloody vendettas, and all the human rights violations were going on throughout the country while the UN was blowing its victory horn. The book is, "The Places in Between" by Rory Stewart, to be exact. I am not against the UN, quite the contrary. The existence of such an assembly is a hope for the future; however, let's not take it as a cure-all. Probably no power can control so many different varieties of being that exist in the world. Some nations, some beliefs, and some accustomed primitive methods accept no interference from the outside world. UN is there in name only and as a signal to everyone to show that we care. As to being an actual power, it is a joke. Maybe in time it will strengthen and that is our greatest hope for world peace. |
| Today, I baked bread for old times' sake. Until about a couple of decades ago, I used to bake bread every Sunday as my kids watched and screamed with excitement, "The yeast is now foaming, Mom!" Why did I do it? The first reason was because I loved the smell of baking bread to permeate through the entire house. Second was probably because I was much younger and such chores did not feel like chores but a delight to me and to the entire family. About ten years ago, I bought a bread maker and baking the bread became a non-chore again. Nowadays, because both hubby and I watch what we eat and we eat a lot less bread, my bread baking became an occasional thing, like an antique vase one rarely uses but views it from time to time. Instead of bread, we could just as easily eat wheat kernels or a wheat cereal, but bread is different. Bread is special. Bread has air holes and is soft inside.It tastes good; smells great when fresh; and you can make better sandwiches with it. To tell the truth, I never understood the sandwiches that came in so-called wraps. Gandhi said: "There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread." Maybe that is why I love bread. It connects me to humanity. |
| "Mom, don't you want to go to space?" That is my 36 year-old son talking or should I say babbling like a four-year old. I must do something to my kids that their brains shrink when they see me. Or could it be that they want to (pow!) send me to the moon? This discussion came about because a rich Iranian-born lady has reserved a seat in the first "successful" (!) privately financed manned trip into space, called SpaceShipOne, backed by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. Each seat costs 40 million dollars. What I have in dollars is confined to my billfold and I am not Iranian born. In addition, I am the kind who sits at the computer as long as time allows and the rest of the time moves about to do only the most needed things. It would be a sight...just to watch me take the rigors of training, the cramped conditions, and the spaceship jetlag. The news said: "We have a lot of white male astronauts," said George Whitesides of the National Space Society, a nonprofit group that advocates space travel. "To have someone different is great. It enables girls and women to identify more with space and talk about being a space explorer someday." I have yet to explore my own house, thank you. As to my son, I think I'll get him a dinosaur picture book for his 37th birthday. |
| I had to laugh. Never a dull moment around here. I guess there is a first for everything. They say we had an earthquake this morning. It is true that I felt something, but I thought it was my aging body and not our aging earth. The earthquake was category 6 on the Richter scale and it originated in the Gulf of Mexico off Tampa. According to United States Geological Survey, the last great Florida quake took place near St. Augustine, St. Johns County, Florida, in 1879, January 12 with the intensity of cat. 6. The way they describe it is: "Plaster was shaken down and articles were thrown from shelves at St. Augustine and, to the south, at Daytona Beach. At Tampa, a trembling motion was preceded by a rumbling sound. Felt from a line joining Tallahassee, Florida, to Savannah, Georgia, on the north to a line joining Punta Rassa and Daytona Beach, Florida, on the south. Two shocks occurred, each lasting 30 seconds." Today's quake was a bit more daring one, although there are no faults around Florida to the best of scientific knowledge. Today's news says: " The quake, with a magnitude of 6.0, came from about 6.2 miles (10km) below the Gulf surface, about 250 miles (405 km) south-southwest of Apalachicola, Florida. The tremor hit at 10:56 a.m. EDT (1456 GMT) and was felt in parts of Florida, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama. Media reports from Tampa, Florida, said residents reported feeling their buildings vibrate for up to 20 seconds. USGS geophysicist Jessica Sigala said residents along the Gulf and as far north as northern Georgia reported feeling the ground shake but there were no reports of damage or casualties on land. Sigala said there also had been no reported damage to oil rigs in the Gulf. The USGS said there was no danger of a tsunami. Quakes in the Gulf are infrequent and Sunday's was the largest of more than a dozen shocks that have been recorded in the area in the past 30 years. Before the Sunday quake, the most recent in the area were a 5.2 tremor in February and a 4.4 in October 2003. Sigala said the quake area is not located on a geological fault but rather in the middle of the North American plate. The quakes could be caused by the release of long-term stress under the plate, she said." Oh well, we have to rival California in more ways than one, and not just with oranges. |
| I don't know if this means the hurricanes are dying down in the Atlantic or what, but El Niño is back according to the Climate Prediction Center. Unfortunately, some people will still be hurt in the Pacific front. El Niño is a pattern of warm weather that rises off the coast of Peru, a part of a shift in the global climate. As a result, some wind patterns over the Atlantic rip apart tropical storms and hurricanes; although, that will result in a busier hurricane season in the Pacific, and in general, bad weather around the world. El Niño will mean rainy winter in South Florida. Plus, it won't totally leave hurricane-weary people like me alone, because even during the El Niño period, one or two major hurricanes may hit Florida and the Gulf region. A recent reminder of hurricane history is Andrew, which happened during an El Niño period. Still, I can't help but rejoice for the promise of having a few quiet hurricane years down here in Florida, since we had our share of broken structures and blue-tarped roofs. Still, worse off than us was New Orleans. Maybe the weather will cut us a slack at least until the levees are made stronger. Maybe we can take down all our hurricane shutters before the season ends, but we won't, because we know better. |
| I have a sticker that says, "I voted--I made Freedom Count." Nice and dandy, but Florida has a big mouth with feet stuck in it. I thought, after our elections were made world-famous with our pregnant chads, we would be more careful. I guess I expected too much. I don't know what happened to the "Help America Vote" Act. It seems in Southeast Florida they are making the voting harder. My husband and I went out under the drenching rain to vote for the primaries in the same place we always vote: a congregational church in the corner of Sidonia and a very busy thoroughfare. Since the church had a back entrance that was accessible from many other side streets, we and other people, too, tried that one as customary. I have never missed to vote in any election in my life--except one when we went out of the country suddenly and we couldn't get an absentee ballot--and ever since we lived in our present house, this church was our election place where we voted. They always let voters drive on to the grounds of the church from the back entrance, because coming in from the main thoroughfare is always difficult. Not this time, they didn't! Somehow it was decided that back entryway, which has most of the parking spots, would be off limits to the voters. Under that blinding rain after making couple of U-turns in that thoroughfare, we entered into the front yard of the church, which had several parking spaces all reserved for the disabled. There were only two parking spaces for other cars. Most of the cars had parked on the soaked grass. One person had difficulty getting his car out because his back wheel got stuck in the mud. Anyhow, we waited until someone came out of one of the two good parking spaces on the concrete and took that space. Probably only 20% of the people vote in primaries as it is. Why do they make it so difficult for those who vote? This wasn't only us though; from what we heard later, really weird things happened to other people. They made someone else vote as an independent while he was a registered democrat. With another one, they made him come back later because they couldn't find his registration at the moment. I know we live in the weird state of Florida, but does it have to be this weird all the time? |
| "When I talk to the camera, mate, it's not like I'm talking to the camera, I'm talking to you because I want to whip you around and plunk you right there with me. " Steve Irwin Someone irreplaceable passed on, today. A sting-ray killed the crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin. Irwin, 44, was snorkeling at Batt Reef, a part of the Great Barrier Reef about 9 miles (about 15 kilometers) from the town of Port Douglas, when he was killed by a stingray barb that pierced his chest, according to Cairns police sources. I used to watch him on Animal Planet, entertaining and educating the public while he jumped on the backs of wild animals like alligators, crocodiles, Komodo dragons, all kinds of snakes big and small, but today luck ran out, and while he was filming a documentary on stingrays, he swam over a startled large ray that whipped its barbed tail upwards into his chest. He died instantly. Steve Irwin was a very special person whose energy and enthusiasm empowered the public to better understand and become involved in conservation and science. He once said, "See, I've always seen Jacques Cousteau as a hero, mate. He's a legend - like my dad, just a legend. And so what he did for conservation in the '60s through the '70s was just phenomenal." What Steve Irwin did was phenomenal, too. A demi-god is the meaning for the word hero. Steve Irwin was a hero for wildlife and conservation, highlighting the plight of threatened species and he died doing what he loved best. We should all be that lucky. |
| I have been walking around, feeling mad today. This rarely happens to me. The reason: Al Qaeda issued a new videotape Saturday along with a man identified as an American member of the terror network, inviting Americans to convert to Islam. Okay, let me tell you one thing. If those guys really wanted to change anyone's mind about anything, maybe they could have tried sweetness first. They could catch more with honey than vinegar. It is obvious that this is something else, some tenet that tells them to tell the opposition first and strike later. Isn't it too late now, since they have already struck over and over? They must be doing this to get more people to follow them. Second, even if I were a muslim, I would convert to atheism or any other thing in the world in order not to be counted in the same group as those despicable people. They should not even address us, since they hurt innocent people, attacked our country and knocked down our buildings. They made everyone in the world walk on edge and they have brought the greatest shame to their own religion. Just why can't we get these people once and for all? |
| Ernesto hasn't arrived yet; that's why I can still log on. The rains started coming in the night. It will pass over us in about four hours they say. At the moment, it is over Miami. Ernesto has fizzled out and it is not a hurricane anymore, but a regular tropical storm. It will leave Florida from Daytona Beach tonight and will go on the Atlantic to strengthen and hit the Carolinas. I hope it is as merciful with them as it is being with us. Actually, I am glad it changed direction and came over us instead of going into the Gulf, because it would have become a much stronger hurricane over the long stretch of warm waters, and heaven forbid, it could mess with New Orleans again. This much we can take. We are sort of used to it, too. After all, Florida is the lightning capital of the world and we are used to wind gusts and power outages of short duration. This morning the news said that the shutters may not be necessary because of the mildness of the storm, but we are keeping them closed, just in case that something happens and the insurance company denies insurance because the shutters weren't closed. We opened the living room's sliding door shutters, which wouldn't matter because living room faces the closed porch. Then, I dared to open the kitchen window's shutters. Some people in the neighborhood did not put up their shutters. The events are proving them right, but I don't like to take too many chances with such things. Better be safe and overly prepared than be sorry later. The cute thing was, this morning, because there were no golfers on the golf course, nine Sandhill Cranes were on the sixth green. They must have sensed that the frogs would be out with all this rain. Sandhill cranes are huge birds. Some stand at four to five feet tall and they are not afraid of people. Sometimes, they come and ask for bread. Once, a sandhill crane took a piece of bread right out of my hand and I wasn't even giving it to him. He approached on his own. Over the last weekend, I went to the library and borrowed several books. When the electricity goes, I can read. There's good side to everything. |
| They say Ernesto's big show won't be the wind so much, but the water. Luckily, we have flood insurance, and if you don't consider the entire South Florida a flood zone, then we are not in a flood zone, except for the proximity of a canal and few smaller waterways. With all the storms we've been through, we've never been flooded so far. We've been wind swept and wind damaged, but no water has ever come in, even into my living room, which has a sunken floor. For readying up the place, my husband and I spent the weekend cleaning around and oiling the contraptions inside where the shutters go. Then, yesterday, my son came and put up the shutters that need to be carried and put up. A few windows and all the sliding doors to the porch have accordion shutters. We leave them to the end. If we don't, the house becomes too dark. Then, today, I spent a good part of the morning, emptying the closed porch. We only have an outdoor set of table and chairs to bring in. We can do that when the rain starts or once I catch my breath, whichever comes first. Now, it is sunshiny out and awfully warm. It always gets like that before a storm. The animals are the first to sense something is brewing. All the salamanders and other tiny animals want to come into the house with me. I'm having one heck of a time shooing them away. Lol! Early in the morning, I went out to the storage room and brought in the big plastic garbage containers and filled them with water. I bought these containers for hurricane purposes only. After each hurricane season, I keep them wrapped in several layers of plastic bags after cleaning and sterilizing them. I filled several other containers with water, too, and left them in the three bathrooms inside the house. One of the worst results of the hurricanes is that the tap water can become contaminated for days and even brushing one's teeth becomes dangerous. This hasn't really happened to us, except for a day or two once, but there is always a first time for things to go bad for days or weeks. We don't have a generator. Some people bought the ones on wheels or installed them in ground. Since neither hubby nor I are too great with mechanical/technical stuff, I'm afraid of generators. For one thing, they make too much noise. Second, several people have died or were badly injured trying to get them working. I think, better safe than sorry. Thus, when the electricity goes (and it will surely go), the electricity goes. Period. Just in case, to get my WC fix, I took out the old Dell laptop and recharged its battery, which lasts only about one hour, that is if the cable connection is there (it won't work anyway since the main modem works with electricity), or else, I hope the telephone lines stay put, since we still keep the old ISP. We have flashlights, batteries, radios and a small battery-operated TV. We got drinking water and food enough for a month. The refrigerators are working at their coldest at the moment and we have lots of ice stored. All the laundry is done and the dishes washed. I picked up a few of the larger oranges from the orange tree, but left the others. The ones I picked will mature inside and if the wind gets the fruit, at least I'll have a few reminders. When I was picking them, I saw a bird's nest among its branches, which wasn't there a few months ago. I just hope the baby birds have grown up and flown away. Just in case, I didn't touch the branches or the fruit around the nest. We used to have several beautiful citrus trees, but 2004 hurricanes did away with them. Now we have only this tree left and a half of another tangelo, which cannot bear fruit anymore after getting damaged so extensively. Oh well, as the mystics say, this too shall pass. This one will be a category one hurricane at best. It isn't much, since we are now at the height of the hurricane season. What may come after Ernesto, until November, may become more of a problem. |
| Now that hurricane Ernesto has shifted towards us, there isn't much else to do but laugh it off. During the recent years, I've been doing a lot of laughing because of the hurricanes that have either threatened us or smacked us about. My husband, too, laughs things off. I'm glad he's that way or any other man would be terribly annoyed with me. Imagine the sky's falling (and I mean literally) but Joy is laughing. Lol! I think laughter is a sign of life, although sometimes with the change of one letter, sign becomes sigh. Even so, laughter helps. Laughter eliminates boundaries between people, aids moods, and helps people cope with stress and grief. In addition, laughter needs a bit of sensitivity in its usage, since it has a potentially cruel side if it is used to mock, discriminate, or shame people. Still, if one doesn't use it like a hacksaw to murder other peoples' psyches, laughter may serve as the best upper when facing difficult situations. I don't know who counted, but they say an average adult laughs 15 to 17 times a day, at the most; a child 140 plus times. This should tell us something or other. I saw this at a website: "Life should be enjoyed... not endured." Yes, I agree. Plus, laughter helps. It is like gas for a car. Not that I am as fast as a car, and neither do I need gas in my body, but I need to laugh...a lot. Anyhow, while we kept laughing, hubby and I cleaned our hurricane shutters today. If not Ernesto, it will be some other wind blowing our way soon enough. |
| Wobbly balance and walking problems in people who don't show signs of cognitive impairment may be harbingers of the onset of Alzheimer's disease, a magazine says. Whoa! Does that statement include babies? Joking aside, some of us are wobblers from birth on. My husband always complains that, while walking, I drift and step in front of him. On the other hand, he shoulder-bumps me from the side. Watching us walk together must be a sight to behold for other people along our way. For all I have noticed, nobody walks like soldiers marching. If they did, that would be really ridiculous. Walking feels like the most normal physical activity, since one doesn't even realize one is doing it. If he did, he would feel self-conscious and then wobble. Due to the abundance of the elderly in our region, walking is a major sport and a pasttime. I may drift and wobble along, but I, too, walk every day--not by choice but by doctor's orders. Since most of the time the weather here is intolerably warm, my walking takes place mostly in the mall, and I am a person who hates shopping. One question about walking keeps coming up in my mind where walking is concerned. In fast-paced cities like New york and Chicago, people always walk to places and sometimes hurriedly. Shouldn't that make them the healthiest? But, no. The studies show that in cities where people walk the most, the heart disease rate is the highest. One good thing about walking without getting distracted by the goodies offered so "reasonably" by most merchants is that one gets to watch people. Being a lifelong people-watcher, at least, I enjoy myself while walking. While I enjoy looking at people, my husband loves to talk incessantly. I have a feeling he chooses his topics carefully, so we can vary our pace and slow down during the exciting parts of the conversation. Most walkers, though, are not like us. They take their walking way too seriously. They buy walking shoes. They wear special clothing. They acquire a special persona by wearing headphones or talking on the cellphone; their walk is serious, fast, and goal-oriented. They act as if they are unaware of other people or the area they are in. They might as well be treading upon the red, sandy soil of the planet Mars. The definition of a healthy walk is: "a purposeful, brisk walk undertaken on a regular basis." I have heard that phrase "brisk walk" mentioned so many times, as far back as I remember. Carol Burnett who always tickled my funny bone comes to mind. I wonder what brisk walk is. Is it something like tea? Because I remember a commercial on brisk tea, also. Anyhow, my walk cannot be brisk, although I am a tea drinker, but I walk everyday. Maybe there exists a group of people who drink tea while they walk. Who knows! |
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