Happier Times Ahead

For those of you who do not know what this is, it is the seed pod of the castor bean.  The castor bean plant has tropical type leaves and grows 7 to 8 feet tall.  Quite a beautiful plant. Do not be deceived by its beauty, the bean is very poisonous.

When I first started my blog in January of this year, I thought I would just be writing about dementia.  After two years of caring for my brother with dementia I felt I had a lot to tell and perhaps I could help another caregiver.  Most caregivers are in the midst of chaos, and so involved in the dementia process, they just blog to vent their frustrations.  I have given advice to some overwhelmed caregivers who blog.  I can only hope that advice helped them in some way.

Alas, after numerous posts on dementia I seemed to get more depressed with each post. I seemed to be reliving my stress, fatigue, sorrow, and several other emotions during my caregiver journey.  So, I began to post happier posts for my own peace of mind.

I am still dealing with problems even after placing my brother in a nursing home.  The responsibility is still mine to make decisions for the life of another human being.  I love my brother dearly and I miss him so much.  I never wanted to direct my brother’s life.  Who does.

So, I am off to posts on traveling, country living, gardening, cooking, animals, enjoying life, or maybe even telling old jokes:  “Why do ducks have web feet?  To stomp out forest fires. Why do elephants have big feet?  To stomp out burning ducks!” Ha

I cannot be upset or unhappy anymore, because I have a life to live and my brother’s life is disappearing. Dementia is the saddest thing I have dealt with in my entire life.  I lost my mother to dementia, and I am losing all three of my siblings to this dreaded disease. So, let’s all pray that a cure will soon be found.

Goosenecks of the San Juan River

Near the little town of Mexican Hat, Utah (populations 88) in the Southeastern corner of Utah you will find, “The Goosenecks,” on the San Juan River.  Its been quite awhile since I took this picture with a very cheap camera, taking 2 pictures and taping them together. By land across these goosenecks it is one mile.  If you follow The Goosenecks on the river it is four miles.  This area of Utah is flat and desert like and usually not an area that tourists visit.  But, it is worth driving through the area just to see The Goosenecks.

Utah is a fabulous state with unusual scenery.  Zion National Park in the Southwestern corner is well worth the trip.  The orange color of the sandstone rock is gorgeous.

Northern Utah around Provo, and Salt Lake City is  beautiful mountainous country. Be sure to visit the, “Great Salt Lake,” if you visit Northern Utah.

I lived near the Great Salt Lake years ago and have visited the entire state.  There is some wonderful, very rugged country in Utah.  It is a spectacular State to visit.

White Humming Bird

I captured these pictures of a white humming bird in my yard in Arkansas in the summer of 1993.  This is the only time in my life I have seen a white humming bird.  The pictures are inferior, but I hope you can at least say you saw a white bird!

The following close up picture I got off the internet to show you what they look like.

 

 

 

 

Sunny Skyz blog, facbook Pictures of Animals

 

 

ENJOY

An Experiment by the Washington Post – Music

A friend of mine recently sent me this story in an email. I thought it was well worth sharing.

Perception in Washington, D.C., at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time approximately 2,000 people went through the station most of them on their way to work.

After about 3 minutes: a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:  The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:  A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:  A 3 year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.  The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.  This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:  The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.  After l hour:  He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one applauded.  There was no recognition at all.  No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.  Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people priorities.  This experiment raised several questions: In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?  If so, do we stop to appreciate it?  Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . . How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?  Enjoy life NOW . . . it has an expiration date.

Nonsense Leads to Existentialism

I was sitting the other day watching the news on television.  After 20 minutes the words, stupid and nonsense popped into my head.  We call our t.v. sets in America, “Boob Tubes.”  Very appropriate name for a device I have often thought of throwing out into the middle of the yard!

I took the word, “Nonsense,” as I have often done before and opened the dictionary for the definition.  I follow through on words using a definition word from the word I begin with. This is a habit of mine.  I cannot decide if I am trying to extend my vocabulary or I am just weird.  Bear with me on this one, it is unusual.  If I lose you in the middle of this post that is fine, I totally understand.

NONSENSE:  Words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas, things of no importance or value,  meaningless, an idea that is absurd or contrary to good sense.  TRIFLES, ABSURD conduct, language or action.

TRIFLES:  Talk nonsense.  Something of little value, substance, or importance.

ABSURD:  Stupid, ridiculously unreasonable, unsound, lacking order or value.  The state or condition in which human beings exist in an irrational and meaningless universe and in which human life has no ultimate meaning.  EXISTENTIALISM.

EXISTENTIALISM:  (There have been numerous books, spanning centuries, written on this subject.  Existentialism was quite prevalent in the U.S. in 1941.)  A chiefly 20th century philosophical movement embracing diverse doctrines, but centering on analysis of individual existence in an unfathomable universe and the plight of the individual who must assume ultimate responsibility for acts of free will without any certain knowledge of what is right or wrong or good or bad.

Quite a world man has created for himself.  I did not know the word existentialism existed until I opened my dictionary.  I think we all need to clean up our act and be nicer, more kind, and discern between right and wrong, good and bad. I think God created a world, much better than anything man thinks he can create. ♥

So you see, Existentialism, of man seems to lead right back to Nonsense.

Quotes On This & That

There are a lot of quotes in this world.  Most of those that are recorded and remembered are spoken by famous people.  Here are a few quotes on different subjects.

Quotes about Women:

Leo Tolstoy:  When I have one foot in the grave, I will tell the whole truth about women.  I shall tell it, jump into my coffin, pull the lid over me and say, “Do what you like now.”

Oscar  Wilde:  One should never trust a woman who tells her real age.  If she tells that, she’ll tell anything.

   Mel Gibson:  I love women.  They’re the best thing ever created.  If they want to be like men and come down to our level, that’s fine.

Albert Einstein:  When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second.  When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour.  That’s relativity.

Quotes about Men:

Jeanne-Marie Roland:  The more I see of men, the more I admire dogs.

Oscar Wilde:  Women love us for our defects.  If we have enough of them, they will forgive us everything, even our gigantic intellect.

Quotes about Politics:

Will Rogers:  The trouble with political jokes is that often they get elected

Herbert Hoover:  Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the national debt.

Miscellaneous Quotes:

Steven Right:  If toast always lands butter-side down, and cats always land on their feet,  what happens if you strap toast on the back of a cat and drop it?

Elayne Boosler: I have six locks on my door all in a row.  When I go out, I only lock every other one.  I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.

David Letterman:  USA Today has come out with a new survey:  Apparently 3 out of 4 people make up 75 percent of the population.

Quotes about Life:

Bob Monkhouse:  Personally, I don’t think there’s intelligent life on other planets.  Why should other planets be any different from this one?

J. Krishnamurti:  You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it.  That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer and understand, for all that is life.