The geese were doing their daily walk past the backside of our building and directly below our deck. Sometimes, if there are a few leftover slices of bread, I will break the bread in as many pieces as possible and feed the geese. This practice is actually frowned upon and every park has a sign explaining why feeding the geese is detrimental to them, by slowing the process of natural selection, and to us, by griping about how many dang geese there are. Anyway, every so often, I feed the geese.
One of the three ponds, (aka, city lakes) is just to the right of our dwelling and it adds to our backyard view looking like we are somewhere in the middle of the woods. While I was feeding bread to the geese, I thought that I should share a slice or two with the many fishes that live in the pond.
Our deck has a ceiling and the section that runs right above the railing is adorned with many a hanging plant, bird feeder and shiny things. One of these shiny things is a beautiful wind chime given to me by my oldest sister, Lela. It is made out of slices of colored wine bottles that have been melted just long enough to deform their shape. Since it is entirely made out of glass, it is not to be left out in strong winds. Our building sits at some odd angle so it rarely gets any wind on the deck and therefore, the wind chime is safe....
So, I have this great idea to wing a piece of bread over to the pond. It's not that far away and I figure if I throw it like a Frisbee, put a little tilt on it so it makes it between the trees, it should hit the water. The first slice did not make it and landed on the bank. I have no idea if the second slice made it to the water or not because when I let loose with a throw of a lifetime, it was followed by something that sounded like a gunshot...even my husband jumped.
I had managed to hit the bottom of my beautiful wind chime and in doing so, I broke two pieces of it. I hit it so hard that we have yet to find all the pieces and I'm not sure the rest of those pieces didn't disintegrate.
Lela and my other sister, Blanche, are coming for a visit this fall. Those are not their real names, but names of two of our fathers' sisters. If you had the privilege of knowing the original Lela and Blanche, you would understand why their names are so suiting for my siblings. I have contacted the company that makes these gorgeous wind chimes and hopefully I can get it repaired before my sister duo arrive. In the meantime, I shall not try to feed the fish.
Friday, July 28, 2017
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
The Cardinal Rule
Spring has sprung and summer is chugging its way through the calendar year. The many species of birds have raised their brood and some will raise more than one this season. The bird feeders have been a constant form of entertainment. Not only for myself, but even my husband and Runtly, the ever so entertaining Jack Russell Terrier, enjoy them.
The last few days, there has been a constant tweeting around the feeders. It starts in the morning and does not stop until dusk. It is a high pitched tweet and tends to be hard to ignore. After some investigation, the source of the ruckus belonged to one lone bird...a young female cardinal.
This young bird has followed her father around for days screaming "Feed me! Feed me!". When he flies off, she is in hot pursuit and her constant shrill can be heard even in the distance. This male cardinal should have grey feathers by now, but he does not. He is patient and shows her the same thing over and over again. The feeder. There it is, eat. Or, here are some small insects, learn how to catch them. Watch, as I eat the seeds from the dogwood tree.
Recently, in the news, there was a story about five teenagers who stood and watched a person, who was screaming for help, drown. Not only did they watch, they videoed the event, laughed and made fun of the person. They never offered help, called for help, or told anyone about it. The way it was discovered is because they posted their video on a social media network.
As I read about this story, I wasn't sure what bothered me the most. The story itself, or the many comments that said the teens did nothing wrong. We could all sit around and talk about the things they could have done, but that will not change the outcome. But, it makes me wonder just how they became so callous, so insensitive, to watching another human being die.
Yes, it could have something to do with all the violence they have been exposed to through TV and video games, but I think we all know children who have spent many an hour watching and playing who would have tried to do something to help, at least that is my hope and opinion.
Could it be the parents, or lack of parenting? It brings me back to the cardinal. The male cardinal stayed diligent to the rules by which his very survival is made possible. It is necessary to teach the young how to feed themselves, how to take care of themselves in order for their species to continue. Perhaps humans need to do the same.
The last few days, there has been a constant tweeting around the feeders. It starts in the morning and does not stop until dusk. It is a high pitched tweet and tends to be hard to ignore. After some investigation, the source of the ruckus belonged to one lone bird...a young female cardinal.
This young bird has followed her father around for days screaming "Feed me! Feed me!". When he flies off, she is in hot pursuit and her constant shrill can be heard even in the distance. This male cardinal should have grey feathers by now, but he does not. He is patient and shows her the same thing over and over again. The feeder. There it is, eat. Or, here are some small insects, learn how to catch them. Watch, as I eat the seeds from the dogwood tree.
Recently, in the news, there was a story about five teenagers who stood and watched a person, who was screaming for help, drown. Not only did they watch, they videoed the event, laughed and made fun of the person. They never offered help, called for help, or told anyone about it. The way it was discovered is because they posted their video on a social media network.
As I read about this story, I wasn't sure what bothered me the most. The story itself, or the many comments that said the teens did nothing wrong. We could all sit around and talk about the things they could have done, but that will not change the outcome. But, it makes me wonder just how they became so callous, so insensitive, to watching another human being die.
Yes, it could have something to do with all the violence they have been exposed to through TV and video games, but I think we all know children who have spent many an hour watching and playing who would have tried to do something to help, at least that is my hope and opinion.
Could it be the parents, or lack of parenting? It brings me back to the cardinal. The male cardinal stayed diligent to the rules by which his very survival is made possible. It is necessary to teach the young how to feed themselves, how to take care of themselves in order for their species to continue. Perhaps humans need to do the same.
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
How Long?
In the world of archaeologists, they tend to agree on one thing, that civilized civilization has been around for about 5000 years. There does not seem to be any room for debate on this subject, that is just the facts as they state them.
There is a theory, although most archaeologists would call it a "pseudo" theory, that civilization has been around much longer. This centers around ancient Egypt. There are some who believe the pyramids of Giza may date to several thousand years earlier. One of these theories takes a look at the Great Sphinx of Giza. The Sphinx was carved out of a solid piece of limestone. The limestone around the Sphinx was cut into huge monolithic blocks, some weighing over 200 tons (400,000 pounds). These blocks of stone were then used to build a temple that sits next to the Sphinx. The sides of the Sphinx have been damaged by erosion. The erosion looks like it has been caused by water. The problem with this is the fact it has not rained enough to cause the type of flooding, or erosion on the Sphinx, for several thousand years. This suggests that the Sphinx, along with the Great Pyramids of Giza, could possibly be over 10,000 years old. If this is true, it throws a wrench into what we have been spoon fed over the years as truth and a re-writing of history would need to be done.
Back in 1963, a place in Turkey was noted to possibly be from the neolithic era, which is the same era of the pyramids. In 1994, an archaeological dig was started and from that dig was found Gobekli Tepe. This place has been dated to at least 11,500 years ago and no one is arguing about the date. It truly is nearly 12,000 years old and may prove to be even older. It has beautiful ornate carvings and huge monolithic stones that have been cut and set with such perfection that even today, it is impossible to slide a piece of paper between the joints.
So, we are to believe, that where we are, right now in the history of mankind, we are the smartest and most technologically advanced human species to ever grace the face of the earth.
Watching an hour of Epic Fails on youTube pretty much throws that theory right out the window.
There is a theory, although most archaeologists would call it a "pseudo" theory, that civilization has been around much longer. This centers around ancient Egypt. There are some who believe the pyramids of Giza may date to several thousand years earlier. One of these theories takes a look at the Great Sphinx of Giza. The Sphinx was carved out of a solid piece of limestone. The limestone around the Sphinx was cut into huge monolithic blocks, some weighing over 200 tons (400,000 pounds). These blocks of stone were then used to build a temple that sits next to the Sphinx. The sides of the Sphinx have been damaged by erosion. The erosion looks like it has been caused by water. The problem with this is the fact it has not rained enough to cause the type of flooding, or erosion on the Sphinx, for several thousand years. This suggests that the Sphinx, along with the Great Pyramids of Giza, could possibly be over 10,000 years old. If this is true, it throws a wrench into what we have been spoon fed over the years as truth and a re-writing of history would need to be done.
Back in 1963, a place in Turkey was noted to possibly be from the neolithic era, which is the same era of the pyramids. In 1994, an archaeological dig was started and from that dig was found Gobekli Tepe. This place has been dated to at least 11,500 years ago and no one is arguing about the date. It truly is nearly 12,000 years old and may prove to be even older. It has beautiful ornate carvings and huge monolithic stones that have been cut and set with such perfection that even today, it is impossible to slide a piece of paper between the joints.
So, we are to believe, that where we are, right now in the history of mankind, we are the smartest and most technologically advanced human species to ever grace the face of the earth.
Watching an hour of Epic Fails on youTube pretty much throws that theory right out the window.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Tree Tops
Back in the day, when I was a youngster, there were two trees I spent a great deal of time climbing. One was a cherry tree located in our backyard and the other was an apple tree located in the neighbors' yard. I do not think either tree was very tall, but as a child, I felt like I was high enough to touch the clouds.
Recently, our youngest daughter and family came for a visit. As we discussed entertaining activities to occupy our time together, the topic of zip-lining came up. For those unfamiliar with that term, a zip-line is a long cable that is usually attached between two large trees and one end of it is always higher than the other. The objective is to get on the high side, put a pulley wheel on the cable and ride to the low side. Easy. Simple. FUN. Riding a zip-line sounded like lots of fun and even my husband was up for the event.
We arrived at this adventure park and followed one of the young staff members to the training area. As we walked into the forest on a carpet of wood mulch, reality began to do a double backwards somersault. There in the high boughs of the trees were staggering amounts of platforms, wires, ropes, bridges and swinging walkways. This was not just going to be a zip-line experience, this was an obstacle course 30 feet off the ground.
As I seem to be at that delusional point in my life where I believe everyone who is my age is older than me, along with not wanting to let the grandkids think "G" didn't have what it takes anymore, I was nearly giddy as the staff member explained the gear. The gear consisted of a harness of webbing that had to be put on like a pair of footed pajamas. After the harness was on, it had to be tightened. I had to have assistance getting in the harness and since there seemed to be more of me than that of harness, I had to have assistance getting all the straps tight. Still, not to be outdone, I listened attentively to the instructions about how to keep oneself always attached to the cables. We did a short test run on a small course that was only a few feet off the ground and after everyone had accomplished it, we where off to the main platform.
There were eight different levels of "difficulty" to choose from and they all started from the main platform. The platform was about 20 feet off the ground and there were two choices as to how to ascend. One being a huge cargo net that draped down the side to the ground and the other was a makeshift ladder with the rungs placed about three feet apart. Since my legs are nowhere close to being three feet long, the ladder was out. I could imagine myself trying to climb those rungs and pitching forward off the first one, only to be found hanging in a most unsightly manner. Everyone scampered up the cargo net like squirrels and I lumbered along the edge of it since that was the only part with the least amount of sag.
Once on top, it was time to choose a path. Not paying too much attention to the choice made, I simply followed my husband, who was and still is, part squirrel. The first two legs of this journey where not too bad. I diligently placed the safety lines from one cable to another and made my way across a couple of suspended board walks. Thinking this was going to be a piece of cake, we arrived at the next leg and the silence of the tree tops was broken by our youngest granddaughter. She was not happy and I suddenly knew why. This next jaunt was like walking a tight wire without the tight. She had followed her father about to the halfway point and she could not go any further. I'm still not sure how she did it, but she climbed up the backside of her dad, hung on to his neck and he made it to the next platform. I watched as my husband, aka Mr. Squirrel, made his way across the wire, then it was my turn.
This wire had rope sidewalls. There were ropes that were about handrail level and then they attached to the wire at about every four feet and I will guess the whole thing was at least 20 to 25 feet in length. I placed my safety lines to the cable that ran over the top of my head and stepped out on the wire. I tried to do the stealthy walk I had just witnessed and on the third step, the cable was going one way and I was going the other. This is the sort of movement that, if not gotten under control quickly, leads to momentum and lots of it. I then tried to tuck the rope handrails up under my arms for balance and that did not work either. I finally resorted to pushing my safety lines ahead of me, hanging on to them for dear life, and pulling the rest of me to that point. It was the longest 25 feet of my life. When I arrived at the end, my husband reached out to help me to the platform, looked me in the eye and said, "That was hard." I agreed with him although there was a different answer echoing in my head.
Two more obstacle paths later, we arrived at the first zip-line. I do not think I had ever been so excited to jump out of a tree as I was then. Sailing through the air to the next tree was a welcomed relief to what I had just endured.
When I got to the ground, one young staff member asked me if I was going to be alright. I must have looked like I was standing at death's door because he asked me the same question three more times. He even went and got me a bottle of water because I did not think I could actually walk to get it myself.
Four bottles of water and one Gatorade later, I was back to my old self. As the rest of our group went on to try more levels, they told me I had actually done the second hardest course. The first level was right above where I was sitting and I watched the climbers struggling along. I was convinced I could do that level too, but, maybe some other day.
Recently, our youngest daughter and family came for a visit. As we discussed entertaining activities to occupy our time together, the topic of zip-lining came up. For those unfamiliar with that term, a zip-line is a long cable that is usually attached between two large trees and one end of it is always higher than the other. The objective is to get on the high side, put a pulley wheel on the cable and ride to the low side. Easy. Simple. FUN. Riding a zip-line sounded like lots of fun and even my husband was up for the event.
We arrived at this adventure park and followed one of the young staff members to the training area. As we walked into the forest on a carpet of wood mulch, reality began to do a double backwards somersault. There in the high boughs of the trees were staggering amounts of platforms, wires, ropes, bridges and swinging walkways. This was not just going to be a zip-line experience, this was an obstacle course 30 feet off the ground.
As I seem to be at that delusional point in my life where I believe everyone who is my age is older than me, along with not wanting to let the grandkids think "G" didn't have what it takes anymore, I was nearly giddy as the staff member explained the gear. The gear consisted of a harness of webbing that had to be put on like a pair of footed pajamas. After the harness was on, it had to be tightened. I had to have assistance getting in the harness and since there seemed to be more of me than that of harness, I had to have assistance getting all the straps tight. Still, not to be outdone, I listened attentively to the instructions about how to keep oneself always attached to the cables. We did a short test run on a small course that was only a few feet off the ground and after everyone had accomplished it, we where off to the main platform.
There were eight different levels of "difficulty" to choose from and they all started from the main platform. The platform was about 20 feet off the ground and there were two choices as to how to ascend. One being a huge cargo net that draped down the side to the ground and the other was a makeshift ladder with the rungs placed about three feet apart. Since my legs are nowhere close to being three feet long, the ladder was out. I could imagine myself trying to climb those rungs and pitching forward off the first one, only to be found hanging in a most unsightly manner. Everyone scampered up the cargo net like squirrels and I lumbered along the edge of it since that was the only part with the least amount of sag.
Once on top, it was time to choose a path. Not paying too much attention to the choice made, I simply followed my husband, who was and still is, part squirrel. The first two legs of this journey where not too bad. I diligently placed the safety lines from one cable to another and made my way across a couple of suspended board walks. Thinking this was going to be a piece of cake, we arrived at the next leg and the silence of the tree tops was broken by our youngest granddaughter. She was not happy and I suddenly knew why. This next jaunt was like walking a tight wire without the tight. She had followed her father about to the halfway point and she could not go any further. I'm still not sure how she did it, but she climbed up the backside of her dad, hung on to his neck and he made it to the next platform. I watched as my husband, aka Mr. Squirrel, made his way across the wire, then it was my turn.
This wire had rope sidewalls. There were ropes that were about handrail level and then they attached to the wire at about every four feet and I will guess the whole thing was at least 20 to 25 feet in length. I placed my safety lines to the cable that ran over the top of my head and stepped out on the wire. I tried to do the stealthy walk I had just witnessed and on the third step, the cable was going one way and I was going the other. This is the sort of movement that, if not gotten under control quickly, leads to momentum and lots of it. I then tried to tuck the rope handrails up under my arms for balance and that did not work either. I finally resorted to pushing my safety lines ahead of me, hanging on to them for dear life, and pulling the rest of me to that point. It was the longest 25 feet of my life. When I arrived at the end, my husband reached out to help me to the platform, looked me in the eye and said, "That was hard." I agreed with him although there was a different answer echoing in my head.
Two more obstacle paths later, we arrived at the first zip-line. I do not think I had ever been so excited to jump out of a tree as I was then. Sailing through the air to the next tree was a welcomed relief to what I had just endured.
When I got to the ground, one young staff member asked me if I was going to be alright. I must have looked like I was standing at death's door because he asked me the same question three more times. He even went and got me a bottle of water because I did not think I could actually walk to get it myself.
Four bottles of water and one Gatorade later, I was back to my old self. As the rest of our group went on to try more levels, they told me I had actually done the second hardest course. The first level was right above where I was sitting and I watched the climbers struggling along. I was convinced I could do that level too, but, maybe some other day.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Freedom
Freedom. In this country, freedom takes the form of an umbrella, under which many a person may toss their hat.
We are free to hop in the car and drive thousands of miles, in whatever direction we choose, with out road blocks or check points. We are free to express ourselves in a variety of ways, be it a work of art or as simple as the clothes put upon our backs. We are free to speak our minds. We are free to dream and turn those dreams into realities. We are free to worship any deity, without the fear of persecution. There are so many freedoms, it may be nearly impossible to name them all.
Having this much freedom also calls for great responsibility. We must take great care of our freedoms so they can be passed on to the next generations. We must learn to respect freedom and not use it as a door mat. Freedom should be set high on a pedestal, to remind us to treat it with compassion and to handle it as if it where a piece of fine crystal.
In this country, the great melting pot of the entire globe, freedom is like a bubbling spring. We can admire its beauty and we may sip from its sparkling waters. Let us not forget the price that was paid, in order for that water to be free and let us not waste a single drop.
We are free to hop in the car and drive thousands of miles, in whatever direction we choose, with out road blocks or check points. We are free to express ourselves in a variety of ways, be it a work of art or as simple as the clothes put upon our backs. We are free to speak our minds. We are free to dream and turn those dreams into realities. We are free to worship any deity, without the fear of persecution. There are so many freedoms, it may be nearly impossible to name them all.
Having this much freedom also calls for great responsibility. We must take great care of our freedoms so they can be passed on to the next generations. We must learn to respect freedom and not use it as a door mat. Freedom should be set high on a pedestal, to remind us to treat it with compassion and to handle it as if it where a piece of fine crystal.
In this country, the great melting pot of the entire globe, freedom is like a bubbling spring. We can admire its beauty and we may sip from its sparkling waters. Let us not forget the price that was paid, in order for that water to be free and let us not waste a single drop.
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