"Longing For Peace"

I wanted to share this from a fellow blogger. She is a friend of a facebook friend. She lives in Israel. I think her thoughts say it all. Sometimes we don't really see the whole story. Check it out. God bless.

http://what-kt-did.blogspot.com/

D.

Phillis Wheatley

Tonight I read a few paragraphs on the poet Phillis Wheatley. I had read her poetry before and I thoroughly enjoyed it but I never pursued any in depth study. Tonight I read about her story.

From Poets.org:
"Phillis Wheatley was the first black poet in America to publish a book. She was born around 1753 in West Africa and brought to New England in 1761, where John Wheatley of Boston purchased her as a gift for his wife. Although they brought her into the household as a slave, the Wheatleys took a great interest in Phillis's education. Many biographers have pointed to her precocity; Wheatley learned to read and write English by the age of nine, and she became familiar with Latin, Greek, the Bible, and selected classics at an early age. She began writing poetry at thirteen, modeling her work on the English poets of the time, particularly John Milton, Thomas Gray, and Alexander Pope."

She was 8 years old when brought to America and "purchased as a gift for his wife". I pray that we have come far. I understand that America is the only nation on the face of the earth to have fought a war about slavery. Hundreds of thousands of people died so that we could abolish this curse.

I find it odd that slavery still exists in this world. It is a shame. Have we humans not learned anything?

other ideas

We have this house. It needs work. I still have yet to paint the family room, or trim the door, or install the floor boards. There are always more pressing things to be done. I would rather spend time with my wife, share moments with her than show my incompetence with a hammer. I would rather spend time with my family than make mistakes at handyman projects around the house.

The yard is full of weeds. The garden has not been planted. The trash in the yard not carried to the dump. I am not a very good carpenter, gardener, painter or handyman. I am lazy.

And yet, the heater works, the roof doesn't leak and the doors remain locked. My family is safe, well fed and, I hope, happy.

There are more important things in life than a green lawn or a showcased house. I cherish the quality time I can spend with my family.

Or maybe it is just a lazy man's rationalizations.

D.

Cell Phone in traffic.

Tonight I decided to celebrate the "almost end of Spring Break" with my daughter by taking the family out to dinner. My wife and I chose a nice seafood restaurant downtown that we had been wanting to take the kids. This meant driving the southern California freeways at rush hour. Our town is such that we would, luckily, be driving against traffic.

We left our house for the 20 minute drive to the restaurant. On the way there we were on the freeway. My kids created a new game. Catch the Cell Phoners and Texters. On the way to the restaurant, 15 minutes they spotted three individuals on their cell phones. I believe one was texting. This in a state where using a cell phone while driving is a moving violation. We were shocked.

On the way home, it was dark. We were on the freeway driving home and spotted 11 different drivers using cell phones. It is interesing. I guess they were all late for dinner.

Be careful out there.

D.

Earthquake, 7.2 Calexico, Mexico

We felt this earthquake this afternoon. I was just coming in from outside on the back patio. Most of my entire side yard is covered in concrete. My wife poked her head out the kitchen door and asked if I felt that. I said 'What?' She said 'earthquake'. I was in the doorway. I held on to the door jamb and I could fell the earth move. It lasted for a good 20 - 30 seconds. I have lived in California for the last thirty years and this was the most I have felt it shake. Pretty incredible.

No damage here at our house. Just kind of shaken up. I hope everyone is ok. I dare say there will be some damage in Calexico (about 110 miles south, southwest of here). I wish them well.

D.

Update: Upgraded to 7.2 mag. after a seismologist looked at the data. Two people dead in Mexico.

As an aside, people have commented on the differences of the death tolls between Haiti and this latest earthquake in Northern Mexico. Differences are in the construction of buildings, mostly because of the strength of concrete and its ability to withstand hurricanes. I think it is mostly a structural issue and not a cultural one.

Easter, 1993

To my daughter, 3 years old at the time. How much fun we had.

Orange and blue and yellow and red.
"make some green," you said.
Said I to you,
"I'll make them blue
and yellow, orange and red."
But you persist,
"Make some green," again you said.
"We have eggs of red and yellow,
eggs of orange and blue."
And you went on to name
the colors as you know 'em.
But I'll not make eggs of green
like a childhood poem.
"But," you said with glee,
"I like green."
But green eggs are not for me.

So now you sit
and make your face to pout.
And your mother says to me
"Make some green."
And I was much put out.


by David R. Normand
Author's Comments:
"We were having fun. I would have made green eggs for her anyway. It was our favorite book."