Gas prices soaring in your area? Check these sites out:
www.gasbuddy.com
www.fuelcostcalulator.com
hugs--
Tawny
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
I've written before about the wonderful folks at the Human Kindness Foundation. www.humankindness.org If you haven't checked out their website, or orderred some of their reading materials, or even some of Bo's music, you really should get to it.
I received the most recent edition of A Little Good News, their newsletter, in the mail on Saturday, August 27th. Obviously it was written and printed weeks before that. In this issue Bo Lozoff has written an article that is most worthy of your attention. I am posting it here so you have an opportunity to read it. Any typos or other mistakes are mine as I am hand typing it.
.........................
Finding The Kigdom Of Heaven In Profoundly Negative Times by Bo Lozoff
Dear Family,
Practically everyone I know is having a hard time. Hard times usually seem to involve personal issues or strugles. The point of this writing is to encourage you to back up a few steps from the appearances, and look at the underlyig energies instead. A little perspective can go along in helping us to make peace with what may be widespread hardships that aren't likely to go away any time soon; problems that will keep shifting from one object to another as we keep thinking we've solved them.
When ten peope are exposed to the same cold virus, each may catch the cold in different ways, because our vulnerabilities differ. One of us may sneeze and cough while another is sick to his stomach. My back may ache for a week while you may lose your voice. One of us may get mildly ill while others become severely ill. One may get a secondary bladder infection or kidney problem. The same germ has invaded us all but it doesn't look the same by the time it gets through with us.
I use this phenomenon happening around the world in the largest sense possible. The "virus" is, to put it simply, a lot of ugly karma ripening at one time and merging. The way we have been treating each other and the planet's resources for thousands of years is simply catching up with us from so many directions that it has merged into an enormous tsunami of profoundly negative energy that engulfs the world. Ecosystems, cultures, nations and individuals may exhibit countless different
symptoms from this wave of energy, but we all share the fact of it. It is simply the age we were born into.
Just like we are born into the benefits of accumulated inventions and discoveries, we also inherit the curses: the withered vitality of nature, global warming and unpredictable winters, fiercer wars around the world with bigger stakes and mor harmful weapons, dimenishing innocence in our children, an abscence of ethics or integrity in our political leaders at home and around the world. In short, we have inherited a planet and a species that grants us better health, longer life, more astounding gadgets, and is also way out of balance and seriously ill. The various components of our imbalances and illnesses have now, in our generation, become intricately intermingled around the world. If you think that the extinction of the dodo bird is not connected to the tension in the Middle East or to the growing number of American teenagers who are murdering thier parents and schoolmates; if you think that oil prices and attention deficit disorder and and an epidemic of depression have nothing to do with each other; then you're not getting my point. Earth itself is struggling, and therefore we, its creatures, are bound to struggle on her surface as well.
In our own nation, our "manifest destiny" came at a price of genocidal destruction of the Native American civilization. Then our roads and cities were built upon the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans and Chinese and others. Once all that was in place, our consumer economy has depended upon the wanton destruction of clean air, water and other natural resources we need for our well-being. Isn't it reasonable that we would someday have to pay the piper for these tunes we have so foolishly and carelessly played?
On any given day, RIGHT NOW as you read these words, the amount and kinds of suffering in our own nation and around the world are literally too horrific to imagine. Children are being beaten, raped and sold; hopeless, listless kids are toiling in sweat shops as slaves; soldiers are killing and being killed by the thousands; hundreds of millions of refugees nd others are starving, many of them foraging through garbage dumps to feed their babies; government-paid assassins are stalking their prey without the slightest twinge of conscience; world leaders and corporate giants are conspiring to do truly evil things that would astonish us; guards are brutalizing prisoners; convicts are gang-raping young imates while they scream in pain and horror; BILLIONS of sweet, innocent animals are being tortured and killed in the name of medical science, cosmetic testing, and factory farming; tens of millions of lost, hopeless people are taking anti-depressants or mood stabilizers to get through the day--truly, the litany could go on forever and sap all of our energy to merely read the words.
Human and animal suffering are truly unimaginable. Add to this the sufferng of mountaintops, rainforests, oceans, rivers, lakes, and skies as they lose their vitality to ustain us on this beautiful little blue/green planet that we have seen gleaming like an innocent jewel in space.
So what's the point--"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," or "count your blessings," or "let's all give up and jump off a cliff together"? Not at all. My point is simply that we can each become a more conscious participnt in this tremendously difficult era we all share. The early Christians would call it "claiming our portion of the cross". If the planet is engulfed with suffering, why would you or I be exempt from our share? Why would we want to be?
This is truly a time to 'think globally and act locally." In other words, think globally enough to understand the deepest source behind the diffculties we face, and accept what we cannot change. Then deal with our personal and local difficulties as best we can, without any underlying sense of uniqueness or victimization or "unfairness" that often accompanies our problems and makes them worse.
Back to our example of the common cold, if my symptoms are mostly backache and yours are mostly nausea and someone else's are mostly chills and fever, we may require different remedies and different ways of making ourselves comfortable. Yet for the most part, however we treat our symptoms, that virus is still going to run its course for about a week. Of course, if someone doesn't pay any attention at all to being sick, doesn't stay warm and dry, doesn't get any extra rest or lots of fluids, that person's cold may last a lot longer and even turn into something worse, like pnuemonia.
This hapens a lot with other forms of suffering as well. If we resist our struggles through denial, ignorance, fear or anger, our portion of the cross may snowball far beyond what life has allotted us. If we don't waste our energy like that, we refrain from makng things worse, and we can even make things better for ourselves and others as well.
If we make peace with the FACT of suffering--which coincides with the Buddha's First Noble Truth--then our challenge is mainly to find ways to help ourselves and others ndure this hellacious virus we are all suffering from and not keep making things worse. B making peace, I mean first accepting that this worldwide tsunami of negative energy is a sad but true, logical consequence of humanity's deeds. It's not just chaos or bad luck, not an uncaring God or the supremacy of the Devil. Prophets
and sages and scholars and scientists have been warning us forever to change our ways, and we haven't. So let's not quibble now over who was to blame. The future has arrived and we all need to deal with it.
Once we accept the fact that lifemay continue to be hard for us and our childen, then it stands to reason that we want to take a look at the best "home remedies" we can find so we don't let this cold develop into pnuemonia. What I'm calling the "cold" is the part we must accept. What we can prevent as "pnuemonia" is dragging ourselves, our families, our communities and the world down even quicker through discontent or griping. the home remedies are the lifestyle we choose. What's the one you most believe in as a psitive response to negative energies?
I beliee in some of the simple principles handed down in every age and culture--take care of mind, body and spirit, and love thy neighbor (the whole world) as thyself.
Obviously it's a good idea to take care of our bodies with diet and exercise, and refrain from harmful substances like cigarettes and other drugs. How do we take care of our minds? Our spirits? Our neighborhoods? Our world?
Living according to the highest principles and for the highest good couldn't hurt. We can keep our minds relatively quiet through meditation, and refrain from mind pollutants such to much television or computer use, too many violent movies or pornographic images, too much useless anger over things we can't control--things like that. Respect our mind's need for proper input and restraint.
We can feed our spirits through making sure w take time for beauty--the beauty of nature, of music and other arts, literally taking time to smell the roses and to notice the sky. We feed our spirits by lessening our owndesires and fears and paying more attention, in a constructive way, to the world around us.
We can lift up our neighbors, communities and the world by engaging in a lifestyle and livelihood that helps rather than harms, something we feel good about rather than something we'd hate for our kids to follow us into. We can drive less to reduce pollution, live more simply to reduce consumerism,waste less to reduce the amount of garbage in the world.
Remember, none of these suggetions are for the pupose of saving the world or trasforming this cosmic tsunami of negative energy into a joyful "new age" where everyone shares and all is as it should be on Gumdrop Lane. That's not going to happen in the forseeable future. Tensions are increasing around the world, not decreasing. We're running out of oil, which will be a profound shift for civilization in our own lifetime. My suggestions are simply for the purpose of doing our best, for bringing relief and comfort and slowing down the degredation. Nothig
less than Grace is going to turn it round.
It is alsouseless to argue over whether these are the End Times or the Dawn of the Golden Age. For our work on an everyday basis, it doesn't matter. The Kingdom of Heaven is right here, right now, a simultaneous reality that isn't the least bit polluted or depleted or worn out. It's not in time, and therefore is not dependent on anything but itself. there is no past karma to be purified, because there is no past. There is nothing to wait for, because there is no future. Jesus said "The
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." It's right here--not in time and space, but in our respect, our humility, our submission to God's commandments to love and care for each othe and all of creation.
Being in the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't mean we're having constant fun or are perpetually smiling. St. Stephen was in the Kingdom when he cried,"Father, please don't hold this against them," referring to the mob who was at that moment stoning him to death. Most of the original Apostles were tortured, imprisoned or executed. They suffered. But they suffered with their hands in His!
Heaven is far more profound than our childish image of a place where everything is rosy. The Kingdom of Heaven is a softness, a prescence, an equilibrium, apeace that surpasses understanding. It is the reality that dawns on us when we are living as we were created to live; when our priorities are in place; whenwe are treating all of creation as we were created to treat it. the Kingdom of Heaven is a sense of connection to the Divine Forces which make even the worst wordly catastrophes seem
trivial, fleeting.
Imagine two people confronted by a barking dog. One was raised with dogs, the other has a phobic fear of dogs. Tw people facing two very different realities. Both must figure out what to do about getting past the dog, but the fearful person is liely to make things worse, isn't he? The dog-friendly person has more of a chance to understand why the dog is barking and to learn from the dog itself how it needs to be handled. this is how you and I can be in a suffering world. When we primarily
reside in the Kingdom, we still must get past all the barking dogs and we may even occaionally get bitten like anyone else, but we tend not to make things worse through fear and selfish agendas.
If the world is at the dawn of a new golden age, the best way we can prepare for and hasten that transition is to live in the Kingdom, with a reverence for all creation and total devotion to God's highest principles. If the world is instead coming to a bitter end, then the best way we can prepare for and slow down that denise is to live in the Kingdom, with a reverence for all creation and total devotion to God's
highest principles.
Any "Age" is still in time, and all times will end. Eternity is not in time, and therever has no beginning or end. Things Eternal are beyond our ability to discuss or understand. Like Joseph Campbell said,"Eternity is not just a long time!" But we touch Eternity when we enter the Kingdom, and something deep inside us knows everything is oay, and we gradually see that we have the capacity to be "in this world but not of it", to occupy a total paradox in our daily lives. The mind reels and staggers under his paradox but the Heart grasps it perfectly and feels no paradox at all. Yes, this is now it's supposed to be. Oh Lord, it's so simple and clear.
This is all too much to take in and digest in one sitting. Just accept your burdens in solidarity with all the rest of us, and deal with them honorably. Keep your every deed and impulse life-affirming; reject selfishness. Make room for nature and things of beauty in your life. Do not lose your sense of wonder. Reject despair. Let your heart be aware of the world's pain; reject denial. We do not have to sugarcoat the
truth in order to live fully with lots of spirit and even occasional joy. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, "Never give up." That's all.
,,,,,,,
Remember, check out www.humankindness.org.
hugs,
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
I received the most recent edition of A Little Good News, their newsletter, in the mail on Saturday, August 27th. Obviously it was written and printed weeks before that. In this issue Bo Lozoff has written an article that is most worthy of your attention. I am posting it here so you have an opportunity to read it. Any typos or other mistakes are mine as I am hand typing it.
.........................
Finding The Kigdom Of Heaven In Profoundly Negative Times by Bo Lozoff
Dear Family,
Practically everyone I know is having a hard time. Hard times usually seem to involve personal issues or strugles. The point of this writing is to encourage you to back up a few steps from the appearances, and look at the underlyig energies instead. A little perspective can go along in helping us to make peace with what may be widespread hardships that aren't likely to go away any time soon; problems that will keep shifting from one object to another as we keep thinking we've solved them.
When ten peope are exposed to the same cold virus, each may catch the cold in different ways, because our vulnerabilities differ. One of us may sneeze and cough while another is sick to his stomach. My back may ache for a week while you may lose your voice. One of us may get mildly ill while others become severely ill. One may get a secondary bladder infection or kidney problem. The same germ has invaded us all but it doesn't look the same by the time it gets through with us.
I use this phenomenon happening around the world in the largest sense possible. The "virus" is, to put it simply, a lot of ugly karma ripening at one time and merging. The way we have been treating each other and the planet's resources for thousands of years is simply catching up with us from so many directions that it has merged into an enormous tsunami of profoundly negative energy that engulfs the world. Ecosystems, cultures, nations and individuals may exhibit countless different
symptoms from this wave of energy, but we all share the fact of it. It is simply the age we were born into.
Just like we are born into the benefits of accumulated inventions and discoveries, we also inherit the curses: the withered vitality of nature, global warming and unpredictable winters, fiercer wars around the world with bigger stakes and mor harmful weapons, dimenishing innocence in our children, an abscence of ethics or integrity in our political leaders at home and around the world. In short, we have inherited a planet and a species that grants us better health, longer life, more astounding gadgets, and is also way out of balance and seriously ill. The various components of our imbalances and illnesses have now, in our generation, become intricately intermingled around the world. If you think that the extinction of the dodo bird is not connected to the tension in the Middle East or to the growing number of American teenagers who are murdering thier parents and schoolmates; if you think that oil prices and attention deficit disorder and and an epidemic of depression have nothing to do with each other; then you're not getting my point. Earth itself is struggling, and therefore we, its creatures, are bound to struggle on her surface as well.
In our own nation, our "manifest destiny" came at a price of genocidal destruction of the Native American civilization. Then our roads and cities were built upon the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans and Chinese and others. Once all that was in place, our consumer economy has depended upon the wanton destruction of clean air, water and other natural resources we need for our well-being. Isn't it reasonable that we would someday have to pay the piper for these tunes we have so foolishly and carelessly played?
On any given day, RIGHT NOW as you read these words, the amount and kinds of suffering in our own nation and around the world are literally too horrific to imagine. Children are being beaten, raped and sold; hopeless, listless kids are toiling in sweat shops as slaves; soldiers are killing and being killed by the thousands; hundreds of millions of refugees nd others are starving, many of them foraging through garbage dumps to feed their babies; government-paid assassins are stalking their prey without the slightest twinge of conscience; world leaders and corporate giants are conspiring to do truly evil things that would astonish us; guards are brutalizing prisoners; convicts are gang-raping young imates while they scream in pain and horror; BILLIONS of sweet, innocent animals are being tortured and killed in the name of medical science, cosmetic testing, and factory farming; tens of millions of lost, hopeless people are taking anti-depressants or mood stabilizers to get through the day--truly, the litany could go on forever and sap all of our energy to merely read the words.
Human and animal suffering are truly unimaginable. Add to this the sufferng of mountaintops, rainforests, oceans, rivers, lakes, and skies as they lose their vitality to ustain us on this beautiful little blue/green planet that we have seen gleaming like an innocent jewel in space.
So what's the point--"Stop feeling sorry for yourself," or "count your blessings," or "let's all give up and jump off a cliff together"? Not at all. My point is simply that we can each become a more conscious participnt in this tremendously difficult era we all share. The early Christians would call it "claiming our portion of the cross". If the planet is engulfed with suffering, why would you or I be exempt from our share? Why would we want to be?
This is truly a time to 'think globally and act locally." In other words, think globally enough to understand the deepest source behind the diffculties we face, and accept what we cannot change. Then deal with our personal and local difficulties as best we can, without any underlying sense of uniqueness or victimization or "unfairness" that often accompanies our problems and makes them worse.
Back to our example of the common cold, if my symptoms are mostly backache and yours are mostly nausea and someone else's are mostly chills and fever, we may require different remedies and different ways of making ourselves comfortable. Yet for the most part, however we treat our symptoms, that virus is still going to run its course for about a week. Of course, if someone doesn't pay any attention at all to being sick, doesn't stay warm and dry, doesn't get any extra rest or lots of fluids, that person's cold may last a lot longer and even turn into something worse, like pnuemonia.
This hapens a lot with other forms of suffering as well. If we resist our struggles through denial, ignorance, fear or anger, our portion of the cross may snowball far beyond what life has allotted us. If we don't waste our energy like that, we refrain from makng things worse, and we can even make things better for ourselves and others as well.
If we make peace with the FACT of suffering--which coincides with the Buddha's First Noble Truth--then our challenge is mainly to find ways to help ourselves and others ndure this hellacious virus we are all suffering from and not keep making things worse. B making peace, I mean first accepting that this worldwide tsunami of negative energy is a sad but true, logical consequence of humanity's deeds. It's not just chaos or bad luck, not an uncaring God or the supremacy of the Devil. Prophets
and sages and scholars and scientists have been warning us forever to change our ways, and we haven't. So let's not quibble now over who was to blame. The future has arrived and we all need to deal with it.
Once we accept the fact that lifemay continue to be hard for us and our childen, then it stands to reason that we want to take a look at the best "home remedies" we can find so we don't let this cold develop into pnuemonia. What I'm calling the "cold" is the part we must accept. What we can prevent as "pnuemonia" is dragging ourselves, our families, our communities and the world down even quicker through discontent or griping. the home remedies are the lifestyle we choose. What's the one you most believe in as a psitive response to negative energies?
I beliee in some of the simple principles handed down in every age and culture--take care of mind, body and spirit, and love thy neighbor (the whole world) as thyself.
Obviously it's a good idea to take care of our bodies with diet and exercise, and refrain from harmful substances like cigarettes and other drugs. How do we take care of our minds? Our spirits? Our neighborhoods? Our world?
Living according to the highest principles and for the highest good couldn't hurt. We can keep our minds relatively quiet through meditation, and refrain from mind pollutants such to much television or computer use, too many violent movies or pornographic images, too much useless anger over things we can't control--things like that. Respect our mind's need for proper input and restraint.
We can feed our spirits through making sure w take time for beauty--the beauty of nature, of music and other arts, literally taking time to smell the roses and to notice the sky. We feed our spirits by lessening our owndesires and fears and paying more attention, in a constructive way, to the world around us.
We can lift up our neighbors, communities and the world by engaging in a lifestyle and livelihood that helps rather than harms, something we feel good about rather than something we'd hate for our kids to follow us into. We can drive less to reduce pollution, live more simply to reduce consumerism,waste less to reduce the amount of garbage in the world.
Remember, none of these suggetions are for the pupose of saving the world or trasforming this cosmic tsunami of negative energy into a joyful "new age" where everyone shares and all is as it should be on Gumdrop Lane. That's not going to happen in the forseeable future. Tensions are increasing around the world, not decreasing. We're running out of oil, which will be a profound shift for civilization in our own lifetime. My suggestions are simply for the purpose of doing our best, for bringing relief and comfort and slowing down the degredation. Nothig
less than Grace is going to turn it round.
It is alsouseless to argue over whether these are the End Times or the Dawn of the Golden Age. For our work on an everyday basis, it doesn't matter. The Kingdom of Heaven is right here, right now, a simultaneous reality that isn't the least bit polluted or depleted or worn out. It's not in time, and therefore is not dependent on anything but itself. there is no past karma to be purified, because there is no past. There is nothing to wait for, because there is no future. Jesus said "The
Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." It's right here--not in time and space, but in our respect, our humility, our submission to God's commandments to love and care for each othe and all of creation.
Being in the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't mean we're having constant fun or are perpetually smiling. St. Stephen was in the Kingdom when he cried,"Father, please don't hold this against them," referring to the mob who was at that moment stoning him to death. Most of the original Apostles were tortured, imprisoned or executed. They suffered. But they suffered with their hands in His!
Heaven is far more profound than our childish image of a place where everything is rosy. The Kingdom of Heaven is a softness, a prescence, an equilibrium, apeace that surpasses understanding. It is the reality that dawns on us when we are living as we were created to live; when our priorities are in place; whenwe are treating all of creation as we were created to treat it. the Kingdom of Heaven is a sense of connection to the Divine Forces which make even the worst wordly catastrophes seem
trivial, fleeting.
Imagine two people confronted by a barking dog. One was raised with dogs, the other has a phobic fear of dogs. Tw people facing two very different realities. Both must figure out what to do about getting past the dog, but the fearful person is liely to make things worse, isn't he? The dog-friendly person has more of a chance to understand why the dog is barking and to learn from the dog itself how it needs to be handled. this is how you and I can be in a suffering world. When we primarily
reside in the Kingdom, we still must get past all the barking dogs and we may even occaionally get bitten like anyone else, but we tend not to make things worse through fear and selfish agendas.
If the world is at the dawn of a new golden age, the best way we can prepare for and hasten that transition is to live in the Kingdom, with a reverence for all creation and total devotion to God's highest principles. If the world is instead coming to a bitter end, then the best way we can prepare for and slow down that denise is to live in the Kingdom, with a reverence for all creation and total devotion to God's
highest principles.
Any "Age" is still in time, and all times will end. Eternity is not in time, and therever has no beginning or end. Things Eternal are beyond our ability to discuss or understand. Like Joseph Campbell said,"Eternity is not just a long time!" But we touch Eternity when we enter the Kingdom, and something deep inside us knows everything is oay, and we gradually see that we have the capacity to be "in this world but not of it", to occupy a total paradox in our daily lives. The mind reels and staggers under his paradox but the Heart grasps it perfectly and feels no paradox at all. Yes, this is now it's supposed to be. Oh Lord, it's so simple and clear.
This is all too much to take in and digest in one sitting. Just accept your burdens in solidarity with all the rest of us, and deal with them honorably. Keep your every deed and impulse life-affirming; reject selfishness. Make room for nature and things of beauty in your life. Do not lose your sense of wonder. Reject despair. Let your heart be aware of the world's pain; reject denial. We do not have to sugarcoat the
truth in order to live fully with lots of spirit and even occasional joy. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama said, "Never give up." That's all.
,,,,,,,
Remember, check out www.humankindness.org.
hugs,
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Monday, August 29, 2005
Sunday, August 28, 2005
You know how people are always telling you to be mindful when you're cooking and to be sure and wash your hands after you touch raw chicken, and to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold? If you ever thought they were just being worry warts or a pain in the butt, well, they weren't, it's the truth and it is so important.
I went to a party yesterday afternoon when the power was out at my houseand I couldn't talk with you. There were probably 100 people there, 25 of them children.
The woman who did the cooking for the party, well, she must have forgotten the above mentioned cooking rules because 90 per cent of the people who attended the party were stricken with food poisoning (vomitting and diarhea). It appears as if the chicken wings were the culprit.
Me, I didn't get sick. Why? I didn't eat anything. My plan was to stop and get Chinese food on the way home. Had I gotten sick, along about Wednesday when I would have been back to my old self, I would have had to go and pay that trifling woman a visit, if you know what I mean.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
I went to a party yesterday afternoon when the power was out at my houseand I couldn't talk with you. There were probably 100 people there, 25 of them children.
The woman who did the cooking for the party, well, she must have forgotten the above mentioned cooking rules because 90 per cent of the people who attended the party were stricken with food poisoning (vomitting and diarhea). It appears as if the chicken wings were the culprit.
Me, I didn't get sick. Why? I didn't eat anything. My plan was to stop and get Chinese food on the way home. Had I gotten sick, along about Wednesday when I would have been back to my old self, I would have had to go and pay that trifling woman a visit, if you know what I mean.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Saturday, August 27, 2005
What a day this has been!
Okay, around 1:35 this afternoon the power went out at my house. Not because of a storm, nope, the weather was lovely. A bit warm, kind of humid, but no thunder or lightening or high winds. No one else on my street lost power, just me. Some way, some how, the power line that runs from the pole to my house fell down.
When I spoke to the electric company they said someone would be out shortly. A supervisor came by, assessed the problem, told me I didn't need to stay home, just leave the side gate open so the work crew can get in, the power will be back on in no time at all, the next available crew is mine. Sounded good to me. The house was too hot to hang out in anyway.
I got home at 8:30 pm and the power was still out. Hmmm. Called the electric company back, was told someone would be by in a little bit.
Woke up at 2am, still no power. This time the electric company told me they had no estimation for what time my power would be back on, not to worry, my food would keep in the freezers and refrigerators for 12 hours if I left the doors closed. Terrific, I said, because we're going on 13 hours.
A few hours later, my power was restored by a very kind electric company employee. Fortuately, the refrigerators and the freezers stayed cold and I didn't even lose an ice cube!
Obviously it's pain in the butt to be without power. But what got me was it's not like there had been violent weather in the area and the work crews were over taxed.
If you called me today and the phone just rang and rang and rang, well, now you know why.
Tawny
248-615-1300
Okay, around 1:35 this afternoon the power went out at my house. Not because of a storm, nope, the weather was lovely. A bit warm, kind of humid, but no thunder or lightening or high winds. No one else on my street lost power, just me. Some way, some how, the power line that runs from the pole to my house fell down.
When I spoke to the electric company they said someone would be out shortly. A supervisor came by, assessed the problem, told me I didn't need to stay home, just leave the side gate open so the work crew can get in, the power will be back on in no time at all, the next available crew is mine. Sounded good to me. The house was too hot to hang out in anyway.
I got home at 8:30 pm and the power was still out. Hmmm. Called the electric company back, was told someone would be by in a little bit.
Woke up at 2am, still no power. This time the electric company told me they had no estimation for what time my power would be back on, not to worry, my food would keep in the freezers and refrigerators for 12 hours if I left the doors closed. Terrific, I said, because we're going on 13 hours.
A few hours later, my power was restored by a very kind electric company employee. Fortuately, the refrigerators and the freezers stayed cold and I didn't even lose an ice cube!
Obviously it's pain in the butt to be without power. But what got me was it's not like there had been violent weather in the area and the work crews were over taxed.
If you called me today and the phone just rang and rang and rang, well, now you know why.
Tawny
248-615-1300
Friday, August 26, 2005
I'm starting to think the house next door to me is jinxed. Remember me telling you monthes ago how Dave and Diane, the previous owners, had had their house repossessed by the bank? Then some guy bought it, spent a ton of money rehabbing it, and put it on the market for an outrageous price, which he never got, not even when he attempted to auction the house off. Then a really nice youg couple with three little children rented it.
Today on my way out to the post office to pick up the mail (okay, and to go garage sale-ing!), I saw the couple next door being evicted. All of their belongings were out on the front lawn, the wife was crying and the husband was trying to figure out what to do. According to them, they've been paying the rent by cashier check but the landlord says he hasn't been receiving it (?).
I'm no lawyer and I don't even play one on tv. My Uncle David isn't a lawyer either but he did a gazillion years in prison and he knows something about the law, so I called him up and he came right over. He was able to broker a deal with the landlord for them to give them time to straighten the mess out.
By dinner time their furniture was back in their house, their kids were home from school and playing happily outside, and all appeared to be well.
And when I was garage sale-ing this afternoon I found an incredible bargain. For the teensy sum of $1.00 I am now the proud owner of a mint condition LeCreuset baking pan!
Tawny
248-615-1300
Today on my way out to the post office to pick up the mail (okay, and to go garage sale-ing!), I saw the couple next door being evicted. All of their belongings were out on the front lawn, the wife was crying and the husband was trying to figure out what to do. According to them, they've been paying the rent by cashier check but the landlord says he hasn't been receiving it (?).
I'm no lawyer and I don't even play one on tv. My Uncle David isn't a lawyer either but he did a gazillion years in prison and he knows something about the law, so I called him up and he came right over. He was able to broker a deal with the landlord for them to give them time to straighten the mess out.
By dinner time their furniture was back in their house, their kids were home from school and playing happily outside, and all appeared to be well.
And when I was garage sale-ing this afternoon I found an incredible bargain. For the teensy sum of $1.00 I am now the proud owner of a mint condition LeCreuset baking pan!
Tawny
248-615-1300
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
I didn't want to mention this earlier for fear I'd jinx it, but the weather has been absolutely lovely since Sunday the 21st! No obnoxiously high heat, no raging humidity, just pure blissful comfort!
On Monday, to celebrate this new turn of weather events, I went into full cooking mode, something I haven't done for several monthes.
I wanted to roast a turkey but had no clue as to where to find a fresh/not frozen bird spur of the moment, so I settled for two gloriously plump chickens. For sides I made dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans and collard greens with smoked turkey. And I had cranberry sauce. Oh, it was just too wonderful! I cooked enough to insure that I had plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.
Today it's a bit warmer than it's been all week, but it's still good. The humidity is really low and that's what seems to make the difference.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
On Monday, to celebrate this new turn of weather events, I went into full cooking mode, something I haven't done for several monthes.
I wanted to roast a turkey but had no clue as to where to find a fresh/not frozen bird spur of the moment, so I settled for two gloriously plump chickens. For sides I made dressing, gravy, sweet potatoes, green beans and collard greens with smoked turkey. And I had cranberry sauce. Oh, it was just too wonderful! I cooked enough to insure that I had plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.
Today it's a bit warmer than it's been all week, but it's still good. The humidity is really low and that's what seems to make the difference.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Saturday, August 20, 2005
As was expected, the mechanics at Northwest Airline walked off the job at 12:01 AM. The morning news showed them walking the picket line.
The airline says not to worry, they have replacement mechanics in place to service the aircraft and keep everything working properly and safely.
I don't know if it's just me because I was born and raised here in Michigan, but those aren't 'replacement workers', those are scabs. And scabs are low lifes. They rate right up there with the no-good-folks who cross picket lines.
In school we learned that thanks to the efforts of those who came before us, those who were willing to struggle and put their lives on the line, sometimes even perishing in their efforts to form unions, we all had better working conditions and fair wages.
We learned, and we see it almost daily in the news in developing nations and third world countries, particularly those the US has an interest in, that big business and corrupt governments will do anything to stop union organizers in their tracks, even murder them. Why? Because the Man (those who run things) knows that when we are one lone voice crying out in the wilderness, no one can hear us. But when we organize, when two and three become dozens, hundreds, thousands, then they are forced to listen to us. Then we have a voice strong enough for them to hear. Then we have power.
I realize that times are tough here in the US these days. Lots and lots of people have been downsized at work, lots have lost their jobs. I realize that if you have a family to feed and clothe you need an income. But.
But it's wrong to take another persons job when they are fighting to better their working conditions. It is wrong to be a scab. The people walking the picket line don't like you and, whether you realize it or not, the people who hired you, your 'new replacement bosses', they don't like you either. Nobody with any sense likes a scab.
I was taught never to cross a picket line. Never. For example, years ago when I was living at home with my parents, one of the grocery store chains went out on strike. Their business fell off as few wanted to cross their picket lines. In an effort to lure shoppers into their stores and generate revenue, they ran an incredible meat sale. While some were tempted to cross the line and partake of the low prices, my
parents did not.
I hear people say all of the time, even some of my friends, 'well, maybe they don't want to work for x-dollars per hour, but I do'. Okay, so let's say you scab and you take their job while they're on strike. When the strike is over and the workers return to their jobs, you're out of there. Scabs don't get to stay. Or, let's say when the strike is over, none of the original workers return, and the scabs becme the permanent workers. At some point you're going to want a raise, or better healthcare, or ?. Is management going to negotiate with a scab? Hardly.
What I'm trying to say here is, it is just down right wrong to take another persons job. It is wrong.
There is no honor in being a scab.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
The airline says not to worry, they have replacement mechanics in place to service the aircraft and keep everything working properly and safely.
I don't know if it's just me because I was born and raised here in Michigan, but those aren't 'replacement workers', those are scabs. And scabs are low lifes. They rate right up there with the no-good-folks who cross picket lines.
In school we learned that thanks to the efforts of those who came before us, those who were willing to struggle and put their lives on the line, sometimes even perishing in their efforts to form unions, we all had better working conditions and fair wages.
We learned, and we see it almost daily in the news in developing nations and third world countries, particularly those the US has an interest in, that big business and corrupt governments will do anything to stop union organizers in their tracks, even murder them. Why? Because the Man (those who run things) knows that when we are one lone voice crying out in the wilderness, no one can hear us. But when we organize, when two and three become dozens, hundreds, thousands, then they are forced to listen to us. Then we have a voice strong enough for them to hear. Then we have power.
I realize that times are tough here in the US these days. Lots and lots of people have been downsized at work, lots have lost their jobs. I realize that if you have a family to feed and clothe you need an income. But.
But it's wrong to take another persons job when they are fighting to better their working conditions. It is wrong to be a scab. The people walking the picket line don't like you and, whether you realize it or not, the people who hired you, your 'new replacement bosses', they don't like you either. Nobody with any sense likes a scab.
I was taught never to cross a picket line. Never. For example, years ago when I was living at home with my parents, one of the grocery store chains went out on strike. Their business fell off as few wanted to cross their picket lines. In an effort to lure shoppers into their stores and generate revenue, they ran an incredible meat sale. While some were tempted to cross the line and partake of the low prices, my
parents did not.
I hear people say all of the time, even some of my friends, 'well, maybe they don't want to work for x-dollars per hour, but I do'. Okay, so let's say you scab and you take their job while they're on strike. When the strike is over and the workers return to their jobs, you're out of there. Scabs don't get to stay. Or, let's say when the strike is over, none of the original workers return, and the scabs becme the permanent workers. At some point you're going to want a raise, or better healthcare, or ?. Is management going to negotiate with a scab? Hardly.
What I'm trying to say here is, it is just down right wrong to take another persons job. It is wrong.
There is no honor in being a scab.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Friday, August 19, 2005
In case you didn't know, Eminem, the rap star, is from the metro Detroit area. Kid Rock, Bob Seger, Aretha Franklin, just to name a few, are from around here too. Because these celebrities, and a host of others, are local, we read a lot about them in our newspapers and we see them on our local tv news reports.
For example, a while back one of the major Detroit newspapers ran a story about how Aretha Franklin doesn't like to pay her bills. And then there was the tv news story about her zillion dollar mansion, not the one she lives in, but the one she uses for storage (!), caught fire and burned to the ground. There was much speculation that one of her sons torched it, but nothing could be proved.
Last weekend Eminem concluded his Anger Management tour with a concert in Detroit at Comerica Park. Today the news reported that he had a problem with sleeping pills and had checked himself into rehab. Then they said that he was at the rehab place in Brighton, Michigan.
So what do ooodles of his fans do? They head for Brighton, approximately a 45 minute drive from Detroit, and try to get in to the place to see Eminem!
After one fan showed up drunk in an attempt to get himself admitted so he could visit with Eminem, now the Michigan State Police are patrolling the rehab grounds and word is that if you try to get in, they'll handcuff and arrest you.
I'm not a big Eminem fan. I don't like rap. But if I did, and if Eminem was one of my favorites, I sure as heck would not bother the man while he was trying to kick sleeping pills in rehab. Nor would I show up on his porch, like a good many of his fans do. What is wrong with these people??
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
For example, a while back one of the major Detroit newspapers ran a story about how Aretha Franklin doesn't like to pay her bills. And then there was the tv news story about her zillion dollar mansion, not the one she lives in, but the one she uses for storage (!), caught fire and burned to the ground. There was much speculation that one of her sons torched it, but nothing could be proved.
Last weekend Eminem concluded his Anger Management tour with a concert in Detroit at Comerica Park. Today the news reported that he had a problem with sleeping pills and had checked himself into rehab. Then they said that he was at the rehab place in Brighton, Michigan.
So what do ooodles of his fans do? They head for Brighton, approximately a 45 minute drive from Detroit, and try to get in to the place to see Eminem!
After one fan showed up drunk in an attempt to get himself admitted so he could visit with Eminem, now the Michigan State Police are patrolling the rehab grounds and word is that if you try to get in, they'll handcuff and arrest you.
I'm not a big Eminem fan. I don't like rap. But if I did, and if Eminem was one of my favorites, I sure as heck would not bother the man while he was trying to kick sleeping pills in rehab. Nor would I show up on his porch, like a good many of his fans do. What is wrong with these people??
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Here is an interesting website:
www.msnusers.com/theblackandgreyforum
While only Michigan prison guards are permitted to post, anyone may read their message boards.
If you would be interested in reading further about the Michigan prison escape I wrote about on the 13th, look under 'incidents'. Not only have some guards weighed in on their thoughts regarding the escape, but there are reprints of articles from newspapers local to the area where the escape occurred.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
www.msnusers.com/theblackandgreyforum
While only Michigan prison guards are permitted to post, anyone may read their message boards.
If you would be interested in reading further about the Michigan prison escape I wrote about on the 13th, look under 'incidents'. Not only have some guards weighed in on their thoughts regarding the escape, but there are reprints of articles from newspapers local to the area where the escape occurred.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Saturday, August 13, 2005
This past week there have been two stories on the news about prisoners that caught my attention.
The first one occurred here in Michigan. A male prisoner serving a life sentence while housed at the maximum security prison in Baraga, Michigan escaped with the assistance of, as further investigation has discoverred, two female food service employees he worked with in the prison kitchen.
The prisoner, the media has reported, has a history of escapes, as well as a history of being caught within a few days. He and one of the food service workers were found in northern Wisconsin a few days after the escape. Thankfully no one was killed or injured.
Obviously he's back in prison, probably with an additional 5 year sentence for escape tacked onto his life bit. And, hopefully, he'll be in segregation for some years.
The two women--the one who ran with him, as well as the one who helped them get out--now they're looking at a prison bit too.
The other prisoner escape story that caught my attention happened in Tennessee. Another prisoner with a history of short lived escapes, this one was serving a 35 year sentence. Upon leaving the court house he was 'liberated' by his gun toting wife, a former prison nurse, who shot and killed one of the prison guards involved in his transport.
They were found several days later, the wife suffering gunshot wounds sustained during the 'liberation'. Odds are good they may be facing the death penalty.
It's no secret that I have a soft spot in my heart for prisoners. I have spent a lot of time behind the walls of various prisons in Michigan and around the country. I have met and come to know hundreds of prisoners, along with their wives, children, mothers, etc. They are people just like you and me, with the same wants and desires that we have. There but for the Grace of God, it could be you or me spending our lives in the joint, seperated from our loved ones.
What keeps running through my mind is what in the world were these women thinking? If these men loved them, I mean really and truly loved them, and I am sure these women thought they were loved, they never would have involved them in anything like this.
What was gained by these break outs? In todays world it's not as if they could have realistically expected to spend the rest of their lives free and undetected. America's Most Wanted would have made their faces and names household words.
Now there's a family down in Tennessee that's minus their husband, father, maybe grandfather. An innocent family that is going to grieve for a very long time.
Now there's two more people headed for death row in Tennessee. And their families are suffering.
Now there's two more people headed to prison here in Michigan.
What was everybody thinking?
Tawny
The first one occurred here in Michigan. A male prisoner serving a life sentence while housed at the maximum security prison in Baraga, Michigan escaped with the assistance of, as further investigation has discoverred, two female food service employees he worked with in the prison kitchen.
The prisoner, the media has reported, has a history of escapes, as well as a history of being caught within a few days. He and one of the food service workers were found in northern Wisconsin a few days after the escape. Thankfully no one was killed or injured.
Obviously he's back in prison, probably with an additional 5 year sentence for escape tacked onto his life bit. And, hopefully, he'll be in segregation for some years.
The two women--the one who ran with him, as well as the one who helped them get out--now they're looking at a prison bit too.
The other prisoner escape story that caught my attention happened in Tennessee. Another prisoner with a history of short lived escapes, this one was serving a 35 year sentence. Upon leaving the court house he was 'liberated' by his gun toting wife, a former prison nurse, who shot and killed one of the prison guards involved in his transport.
They were found several days later, the wife suffering gunshot wounds sustained during the 'liberation'. Odds are good they may be facing the death penalty.
It's no secret that I have a soft spot in my heart for prisoners. I have spent a lot of time behind the walls of various prisons in Michigan and around the country. I have met and come to know hundreds of prisoners, along with their wives, children, mothers, etc. They are people just like you and me, with the same wants and desires that we have. There but for the Grace of God, it could be you or me spending our lives in the joint, seperated from our loved ones.
What keeps running through my mind is what in the world were these women thinking? If these men loved them, I mean really and truly loved them, and I am sure these women thought they were loved, they never would have involved them in anything like this.
What was gained by these break outs? In todays world it's not as if they could have realistically expected to spend the rest of their lives free and undetected. America's Most Wanted would have made their faces and names household words.
Now there's a family down in Tennessee that's minus their husband, father, maybe grandfather. An innocent family that is going to grieve for a very long time.
Now there's two more people headed for death row in Tennessee. And their families are suffering.
Now there's two more people headed to prison here in Michigan.
What was everybody thinking?
Tawny
Friday, August 12, 2005
Despite the fact that the online blog company that hosts my blog has just recently finished doing a lot of maintenance work, I am atill unable to access my account and post. Fortunately for me, my best friend is still posting my writings for me. While I appreciate her assistance, I sure do wish I could do this on my own.
Tawny
Tawny
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Last night a chemical plant in Romulus, Michigan, a town juts south and west of here, caught fire. Despit numerous explosions, flames and fumes that soared hundreds of feet into the air, mass evacuations of businesses and homes, and a fire that is still burning some eighteen hours later, there have been no fatalities. And that is a very, very good thing.
Not so good is the fact that, despite numerous chemicals on hand at the plant, chemicals that in their own natural state have the potential to be harmful to people, animals, and life as we know it, and now that they are burning, exploding, and combining with each other to make new Frakensteinish combinations, the folks from the EPA say that the air quality is good. Good? How in the world can the air quality be good when all of those poisons have been unleashed into the air that we breathe?
It makes me wonder if the EPA folks maybe got too much of that multi-chemical concoction into their sniffers and now they're tripping.
Residents in the surrounding communities are reporting that they observed a black plastic "rain" last night. The hospitals and doctor offices are treating people for breathing difficulties and skin conditions. Evacuees are still not permitted to return to their homes.
And the EPA still says the air is okay to breathe. Yeah, right.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Not so good is the fact that, despite numerous chemicals on hand at the plant, chemicals that in their own natural state have the potential to be harmful to people, animals, and life as we know it, and now that they are burning, exploding, and combining with each other to make new Frakensteinish combinations, the folks from the EPA say that the air quality is good. Good? How in the world can the air quality be good when all of those poisons have been unleashed into the air that we breathe?
It makes me wonder if the EPA folks maybe got too much of that multi-chemical concoction into their sniffers and now they're tripping.
Residents in the surrounding communities are reporting that they observed a black plastic "rain" last night. The hospitals and doctor offices are treating people for breathing difficulties and skin conditions. Evacuees are still not permitted to return to their homes.
And the EPA still says the air is okay to breathe. Yeah, right.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
If you called me tonight between 9 and 10 PM EST you caught my answering machine and no, contrary to what my message said, I wasn't talking to someone else. I lied, sorry.
I was watching Six Feet Under on HBO. Oh my goodness, that was quite the episode! I have been a faithful fan since it first aired a few years ago. Unfortunately, and this grieves me something fierce, there are only two episodes left. This is the last season for the show.
HBO and I go steady every Sunday evening. I love the series they produce. Oz, the show set in a maximun security prison, was my first brush with HBO Sundays, and I've been hooked ever since.
I can't wait until the Sapranos are back on. And Deadwood, And The Wire. I don't know about Carnivale, that's a really bizarre one.
I also like the HBO documentaries. They've done some outstanding ones on drug addicts and hookers. And the one about the elderly woman that was raped, I can't recall the name of it, but it was inspiring. Despite the horrible thing that had been done to her, she was nonetheless eloquent and matter-of-fact as she spoke of it, and she persevered in having the fellow responsible for it inprisoned.
If you don't have HBO, well, you're missing out.
Cable Tawny
I was watching Six Feet Under on HBO. Oh my goodness, that was quite the episode! I have been a faithful fan since it first aired a few years ago. Unfortunately, and this grieves me something fierce, there are only two episodes left. This is the last season for the show.
HBO and I go steady every Sunday evening. I love the series they produce. Oz, the show set in a maximun security prison, was my first brush with HBO Sundays, and I've been hooked ever since.
I can't wait until the Sapranos are back on. And Deadwood, And The Wire. I don't know about Carnivale, that's a really bizarre one.
I also like the HBO documentaries. They've done some outstanding ones on drug addicts and hookers. And the one about the elderly woman that was raped, I can't recall the name of it, but it was inspiring. Despite the horrible thing that had been done to her, she was nonetheless eloquent and matter-of-fact as she spoke of it, and she persevered in having the fellow responsible for it inprisoned.
If you don't have HBO, well, you're missing out.
Cable Tawny
Friday, August 05, 2005
Now listen, I don't want to hear anything like, "Wow Tawny, I didn't realize things were so tight for you that you had to...." Okay? And I'm serious.
If you're like me, you end up with sliver of soap, the remnants of the bars of soap you use to wash your face and hands with, or to lather up with in the shower.
Maybe you pitch yours out after they get too small to easily hole onto. Me, I save the little pieces in a plastic container until I get a bunch of them.
Then, and this is where it gets interesting, I put the slivers in a microwaveable container. I add enough water to cover them, and I nuke them until they melt. Next, I take them from the microwave, stir it up real good, then add more water, stir, nuke, repeat. After it cools for a couple of hours, if it's totally liquified, I pour it into a pump-type liquid soap dispenser. If it set-up, sort of like Jello, then I add more water, nuke, stir, cool--until it's totally liquified.
I just can't see throwing out perfectly good soap. I think it's wasteful. And when you melt the old bars down, you end up with a nice rich liquid hand soap. And it didn't cost you anything except a little water, a little electricity, and a little bit of time.
Tawny's Household Hints
If you're like me, you end up with sliver of soap, the remnants of the bars of soap you use to wash your face and hands with, or to lather up with in the shower.
Maybe you pitch yours out after they get too small to easily hole onto. Me, I save the little pieces in a plastic container until I get a bunch of them.
Then, and this is where it gets interesting, I put the slivers in a microwaveable container. I add enough water to cover them, and I nuke them until they melt. Next, I take them from the microwave, stir it up real good, then add more water, stir, nuke, repeat. After it cools for a couple of hours, if it's totally liquified, I pour it into a pump-type liquid soap dispenser. If it set-up, sort of like Jello, then I add more water, nuke, stir, cool--until it's totally liquified.
I just can't see throwing out perfectly good soap. I think it's wasteful. And when you melt the old bars down, you end up with a nice rich liquid hand soap. And it didn't cost you anything except a little water, a little electricity, and a little bit of time.
Tawny's Household Hints
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Have you been watching the new storis on the starvation in Niger, on the African continent? According to the news services, Niger is the second poorest country in the world. After seeing how horrible things are in Niger, I'm afraid to ask which nation is the poorest.
If I remember correctly, a year ago the world knew that starvation was coming to Niger. I believe it's been said that 10 million dollars could have saved the lives and health of the people of Niger. 10 million dollars.
Okay, 10 million dollars is a chunk of change. I don't have that much money and you probably don't either. Odds are good that no one reading this blog will make that kind of money in a lifetime.
The US is spending a fortune on the wars in Irag and Afghanistan.
Isn't is something that we have more than enough money to kill people, but not enough money to save them? Or perhaps we simply don't consider those people worth saving? It never seems to bother our national conscience to either actively or passively contribute to the death of those with dark skin. I wonder, if this had been a western European country, if the end result would be the same.
Tawny
If I remember correctly, a year ago the world knew that starvation was coming to Niger. I believe it's been said that 10 million dollars could have saved the lives and health of the people of Niger. 10 million dollars.
Okay, 10 million dollars is a chunk of change. I don't have that much money and you probably don't either. Odds are good that no one reading this blog will make that kind of money in a lifetime.
The US is spending a fortune on the wars in Irag and Afghanistan.
Isn't is something that we have more than enough money to kill people, but not enough money to save them? Or perhaps we simply don't consider those people worth saving? It never seems to bother our national conscience to either actively or passively contribute to the death of those with dark skin. I wonder, if this had been a western European country, if the end result would be the same.
Tawny
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
It's another hot day here in paradise. The folks on the weather shows say this is one of the warmest summers we've had.
For as much discomfort as I've had this summer with the high temperatures and humidity, I think a lot about the homeless and about how difficult this must be for them. While I don't have any type of air conditioning in my house, I do at least have fans, one or two in each room. And I have the luxury of taking numerous showers, as well as change my sweaty clothes for clean ones as often as I feel the need to. The homeless don't even have that. For them it's always hot and miserable.
When I'm feeling hot and sticky, or my stomach hurts or my chest hurts from this oppressive heat, I try to remember it can always be worse. And I try to remember to ask God to please help those who are truly suffering from the heat.
Sometimes we just get so caught up in our own problems and drama that we forget about others. If we all tried better at that it could only help the world and everyone in it.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
For as much discomfort as I've had this summer with the high temperatures and humidity, I think a lot about the homeless and about how difficult this must be for them. While I don't have any type of air conditioning in my house, I do at least have fans, one or two in each room. And I have the luxury of taking numerous showers, as well as change my sweaty clothes for clean ones as often as I feel the need to. The homeless don't even have that. For them it's always hot and miserable.
When I'm feeling hot and sticky, or my stomach hurts or my chest hurts from this oppressive heat, I try to remember it can always be worse. And I try to remember to ask God to please help those who are truly suffering from the heat.
Sometimes we just get so caught up in our own problems and drama that we forget about others. If we all tried better at that it could only help the world and everyone in it.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Monday, August 01, 2005
So, here we are, August 1st, several weeks since my last entry. Why have I been silent for so long? Well, I'll tell you, it's not out of choice. All of a sudden I have a problem accessing the blog site. They, the blog site, say it's due to a "cookie functionality problem" on my part. After endless e mails with the blog site, I am still no cloer to resolving the issue. After endless emails with webtv/msntv, I am still no cloer to resolving the problem. So, now a friend of mine of posting for me. I write it, email mail it to her, and she puts it on the blog site. Thank goodness for good friends!
hugs--
Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
hugs--
Tawny
www.tawnyford.com
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