tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75639218760191542092024-03-07T01:30:13.802-05:00~Upstream and Down~Life is a series of snapshots meant to be recorded in words. A writer and photographer shares hers. Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.comBlogger245125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-75280829714031645392019-05-17T19:08:00.001-04:002019-05-18T12:46:23.281-04:00One Winter Day in February!<br />
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It’s just a week that I have here, doing "farm duty" for
friends while they are in Maui avoiding the February weather. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Yay them! <o:p></o:p></div>
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And yay me too!</div>
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This is a week of respite...less than half an hour from home
and hubby—and cats. I can enjoy the best of both worlds.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My “chores” for the week:<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Gather the chicken eggs (my favorite part!!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Feed the chickens and ducks and give them fresh
water (It bothers me that they have to stay in their coop while family is away.
Makes sense, but I feel bad. Otherwise, this would be a favorite).<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Feed three feral cats (my other favorite thing!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Feed four alpacas and give them water (this is
becoming a favorite...)<o:p></o:p></div>
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Once done, that leaves plenty of
time to...<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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To WHAT, exactly? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
What DO you do with the free time you’ve always dreamed of
having...besides wasting it wondering what you’ll do with all that free time?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On day 1, I awoke early (for me)—7:30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s usually time to roll over for another
hour, but I lifted the shade and peeked out the window.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMV9gIlZqSAa3MgRleUf0DLXA4DPJ1A_FN5MJNiw7AmzJgPedPmxWgXKwIP_0sCnED04daD3zADAFNnowCTFz4qJ2fkKPIDYZJnotr6HmgRyBf4hgdxprH0XB9i6uxaewrOhQbtJ-GUY8/s1600/taunton+ps+-+1+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1128" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAMV9gIlZqSAa3MgRleUf0DLXA4DPJ1A_FN5MJNiw7AmzJgPedPmxWgXKwIP_0sCnED04daD3zADAFNnowCTFz4qJ2fkKPIDYZJnotr6HmgRyBf4hgdxprH0XB9i6uxaewrOhQbtJ-GUY8/s320/taunton+ps+-+1+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Wow!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I said it again from the kitchen.<span style="font-size: 12pt;">WOW!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyydenVhgr7mF63vMs5FkfAievYwYv_kxBBflP6HRO_V8q4tKtwJpNDnOI12N4IOnFJVyDo6v-M_RQVDCDUbhVJw9AF_Z6j_wku9Xpp2ouQXVovR_SAjY1-VM1VUR9tUQZg5UqGbR3s3k/s1600/taunton+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1260" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyydenVhgr7mF63vMs5FkfAievYwYv_kxBBflP6HRO_V8q4tKtwJpNDnOI12N4IOnFJVyDo6v-M_RQVDCDUbhVJw9AF_Z6j_wku9Xpp2ouQXVovR_SAjY1-VM1VUR9tUQZg5UqGbR3s3k/s320/taunton+-+1.jpg" width="251" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mist was clearing from the Taunton River and the sun was
painting the scene. I needed to get
outside and SEE it. Close up!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I threw my clothes on. Slammed feet in sneakers (skipped the
dam ankle brace) and left the house, jacket open (no hat scarf or gloves
despite the February chill), sneaker laces trailing. I know how fast the light
can change. The sun does not wait for late risers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The low morning light spun the grasses into
gold, while leaving the icy water a shadowy blue. Every direction I looked, the
sun made glorious with its rays. Geese flew in, honking with as much joy as I
felt.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-6vmLA-co347KeHzXwu7CSXQE5PV1YS6_0aSNWMOPyVIGujNuLmJrG2BZT97wtx7o961T3XFM1e0lbq8i84ofVVAmbb_6sCn3N6gbwjunMOVRcLCDJiM42CIG13Sb8P_PP-pzIlvkizm/s1600/taunton+ps+-+1+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1554" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-6vmLA-co347KeHzXwu7CSXQE5PV1YS6_0aSNWMOPyVIGujNuLmJrG2BZT97wtx7o961T3XFM1e0lbq8i84ofVVAmbb_6sCn3N6gbwjunMOVRcLCDJiM42CIG13Sb8P_PP-pzIlvkizm/s320/taunton+ps+-+1+%25284%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRumJ8haG4XwEljzAUzkxaR2b7dm1hwLodm8wcGSIR_xIeTKm_dyRY7JCaGYeUBRHOKS_5datRbfrmYo1OyF_sBmxqYZQvjSZr8VancbX_VANl7QZlk0yc-eJqvfDKhk9ovjivVh_dv8N/s1600/taunton+ps-+1+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="1600" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTRumJ8haG4XwEljzAUzkxaR2b7dm1hwLodm8wcGSIR_xIeTKm_dyRY7JCaGYeUBRHOKS_5datRbfrmYo1OyF_sBmxqYZQvjSZr8VancbX_VANl7QZlk0yc-eJqvfDKhk9ovjivVh_dv8N/s320/taunton+ps-+1+%25283%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiPSneWz5L6ygq4NY_iuNW-uqgvYG436DPy0hcxGDteQzo8UGv7P9cV8LIlRFnj0BG3sjubisXsAAbrMER4eFIO82OUbAtXtjh_s39IDqVxXlYuXT0oEVEYuVmo7yJjjZ3NMnQiMgToX2/s1600/taunton+ps-+1+%25285%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1107" data-original-width="1600" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitiPSneWz5L6ygq4NY_iuNW-uqgvYG436DPy0hcxGDteQzo8UGv7P9cV8LIlRFnj0BG3sjubisXsAAbrMER4eFIO82OUbAtXtjh_s39IDqVxXlYuXT0oEVEYuVmo7yJjjZ3NMnQiMgToX2/s320/taunton+ps-+1+%25285%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And with my iPhone in hand I snapped pictures, while
repeating my mantra: Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! For this was truly His
creation, his glory! And I knew he was saying, "Ha, ha, I got you out of bed early, didn't I?"<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>And truly, If this morning was all I did in my free time on the farm, it was so worth it!</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
***<br />
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> <i><span style="color: blue;">This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24</span></i></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br /></div>
Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-19364321437645226452019-05-16T16:17:00.000-04:002019-05-16T18:37:38.884-04:00Lesson from a Weed~<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="color: #bf9000;">If dandelions could talk, here’s what I think they might say:<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="color: #bf9000;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><i><span style="color: #bf9000;"> "</span></i></span><i style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Bloom where you’re planted, sink your roots deep. Smile in the sun, soak up the rain, and let the wind take you to new places."</span></i></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaq2gWGzMEHaHyYNdgM-MItW-y9o4AoubAD-e6kPm1wBFRoN1Sc10dvC-v8iREp_vNZwV0-gzlJIHHnj9QIztaQjXlY185_QCeqwkL7t9S2UvuDgzMF_43zbODGWE8aEIZbOmvS0SVLY_/s1600/dande+ps-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="1600" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaq2gWGzMEHaHyYNdgM-MItW-y9o4AoubAD-e6kPm1wBFRoN1Sc10dvC-v8iREp_vNZwV0-gzlJIHHnj9QIztaQjXlY185_QCeqwkL7t9S2UvuDgzMF_43zbODGWE8aEIZbOmvS0SVLY_/s320/dande+ps-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Dandelions are an early
spring food for bees. They are often the first flower a young child picks for
his mother and they provide a sweet moment for a mother to teach her child to
make a wish and blow away the seeds. They speckle landscapes with lemon-colored
glory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Common, and often disliked by
those in favor of perfect lawns, we trample over them with hardly a thought. All
this crossed my mind as I stood in this field of dandelions, most having gone
to seed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;">I had an hour to myself at a
retreat at a beautiful family farm on this day of unexpected sunshine and
warmth. I was looking for a moment of stillness. </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lw0U9F4egTiJKzSBkmSztbtOYP5WZFKKhYz-m6hQJXp69_CxavhsW71xZBLGwENMtNRwYX3q2h1hvjndF-KrRrEcIr14MSmJT1P0CQZuugn9_vq_OYpUN2Jq352lsIZ2HehJNNBtniU5/s1600/swans+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1557" data-original-width="1279" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9lw0U9F4egTiJKzSBkmSztbtOYP5WZFKKhYz-m6hQJXp69_CxavhsW71xZBLGwENMtNRwYX3q2h1hvjndF-KrRrEcIr14MSmJT1P0CQZuugn9_vq_OYpUN2Jq352lsIZ2HehJNNBtniU5/s320/swans+-+1.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; text-align: start;">I’d watched two swans,</span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgLaPzxELzBav0du5-ZWfVTvquPGIg8MRinE2xC6Blr1sFger0YLnl6_J2Ncsd9brFgXEZYP50pNbfO1ZjZAvphUF9c1jqhgovAIdZUzIhP_0F9DxYfgx_PD4tVJIClabCjZhPdjiiSuu/s1600/alpaca+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; text-align: start;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0OsvV5g9NWXzYzSDZBRGdqg1JttOAvglcm6pFGlUJ4ckSdeY0XcB9n3v_XZomsXMJT30awAd800PCZvQZax90Pv-F5-164o0_vU0JpMqFQxbb370wsr9Eh8s1bVQliX16BuEPWAen17h/s1600/alpaca+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl0OsvV5g9NWXzYzSDZBRGdqg1JttOAvglcm6pFGlUJ4ckSdeY0XcB9n3v_XZomsXMJT30awAd800PCZvQZax90Pv-F5-164o0_vU0JpMqFQxbb370wsr9Eh8s1bVQliX16BuEPWAen17h/s320/alpaca+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">visited the alpacas,</span><span style="font-size: 21.3333px;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXEnP7u27nERxZery3FlHYa5Xpk5Yron030vbSmDtNYP6gHmfhI4YKNsTJY6QnLlnxEbkHurv13bUbhbp2WjNRb_DhhRWp756IPMpWgdo36Eb-lDtvQRddKQwI889dvkPLvObmK47WAsV/s1600/chick+-+1+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDXEnP7u27nERxZery3FlHYa5Xpk5Yron030vbSmDtNYP6gHmfhI4YKNsTJY6QnLlnxEbkHurv13bUbhbp2WjNRb_DhhRWp756IPMpWgdo36Eb-lDtvQRddKQwI889dvkPLvObmK47WAsV/s320/chick+-+1+%25281%2529.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; text-align: start;">chatted with the chickens,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMhIquy5dV9oGISdIpjxn7eoPExlagPuQVxXIcnl2Nj-pjV2pklVzCAPupFJUJAmZQ_DpADJPLoHRfsJTKt1j4TGCHoPh7AFBIl9kEUsb634X4BuYbOU6NZDH8Pwox1JOMW_mY_P6Sg2q/s1600/kitty+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1600" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMMhIquy5dV9oGISdIpjxn7eoPExlagPuQVxXIcnl2Nj-pjV2pklVzCAPupFJUJAmZQ_DpADJPLoHRfsJTKt1j4TGCHoPh7AFBIl9kEUsb634X4BuYbOU6NZDH8Pwox1JOMW_mY_P6Sg2q/s320/kitty+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px; text-align: start;">tried to coax a kitty closer...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">...but I wanted to settle into peace and quiet. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 21.3333px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I spread my sweater on the
grass and plopped down on my belly so that the dandelions were at eye level. I
felt drawn back to childhood when lying on the grass doing nothing was not
considered a waste of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I looked at the dandelions,
really looked, really SAW them, for perhaps the first time in my life. They
were in all stages from blooming to dispensing seed. And in them, I saw God’s
magnificent care and perfect plan carried out in this lowliest of weeds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQYGV-pqHOKhkNN6S5gE-YRiTRcT_O673Obz3bLXtoLlnJ6Knlmw4oFftY1Wi8uvUbmwXDcv1h6iuyyUChbDlIO4ynoTUyP6-eE-vsyqXJIYZaN3viNCf9T0q8PqCk_xJj7m-nevFV1i8/s1600/dand+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikQYGV-pqHOKhkNN6S5gE-YRiTRcT_O673Obz3bLXtoLlnJ6Knlmw4oFftY1Wi8uvUbmwXDcv1h6iuyyUChbDlIO4ynoTUyP6-eE-vsyqXJIYZaN3viNCf9T0q8PqCk_xJj7m-nevFV1i8/s320/dand+-+1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">The yellow flowers were low,
hugging the ground—perfect for bees, which could forage for pollen beneath the
wind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As the yellow flowers aged and folded up to begin their job of producing seed, the stems of the dandelion began to grow taller.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;">By the time the seed
head was in full “lollypop” mode, the stems reached well above the ground. It
was there that the puffs of wind, even the gentlest breeze, could reach them
and lift the seeds, each on the lightest bit of fluff, to float to new spots and
begin plants of their own. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfeGbjg4a2A681ItwasLOkI2BV_lQF9rZowO53_pOpF5dqNVTkACJuopT9ilRtzWuqg_4tkLq82tsSg7pYXYqw_SUj0fQeaGYAB1EFoZea7OQZ9LacPtgDTv9Cx08TrfiDERRZ8O8iqSN/s1600/ai.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRfeGbjg4a2A681ItwasLOkI2BV_lQF9rZowO53_pOpF5dqNVTkACJuopT9ilRtzWuqg_4tkLq82tsSg7pYXYqw_SUj0fQeaGYAB1EFoZea7OQZ9LacPtgDTv9Cx08TrfiDERRZ8O8iqSN/s320/ai.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 21.3333px;">Had they not grown tall the wind would not have dispensed the seed far enough from the mother plants, creating competition for space in the soil.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmAYPKxTe7Zq9J5fUHLRCXaFe5xN3pvsDTSUTHrVxDocJOOF2ckeymkdfTjn03Xu3Fg-i01ezI9lVeLwSSjwzTHQZ58RxuGSs3vI60uoKtN9V9T8inkivQK17U0K24QoMQCtFfRh3uut6/s1600/ai+dandelion.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMmAYPKxTe7Zq9J5fUHLRCXaFe5xN3pvsDTSUTHrVxDocJOOF2ckeymkdfTjn03Xu3Fg-i01ezI9lVeLwSSjwzTHQZ58RxuGSs3vI60uoKtN9V9T8inkivQK17U0K24QoMQCtFfRh3uut6/s320/ai+dandelion.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XMvmCpqi3Y3WHyelcOa4KyZNS4EqYp0z6JawBFm_o8nyp74AlfnwmdEpFhZpmnRIR3CPTGn7y5MTsuc-b2xxth5fN2p7FXEj-IZc5aftn0FjFaC9bQ9Eb0OC8uMyCZqCtZoy7JQl3ZBa/s1600/ai+stars.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1361" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XMvmCpqi3Y3WHyelcOa4KyZNS4EqYp0z6JawBFm_o8nyp74AlfnwmdEpFhZpmnRIR3CPTGn7y5MTsuc-b2xxth5fN2p7FXEj-IZc5aftn0FjFaC9bQ9Eb0OC8uMyCZqCtZoy7JQl3ZBa/s320/ai+stars.jpeg" width="272" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I'm sure this is in science books somewhere, or easily Googled, but how nice to just discover it on my own because I took time to be still...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p>****** </o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><b>Some lessons I learned
from this small observation:<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p><b> </b></o:p></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">All creation points to God
and shows his detailed plan for each living thing right down to the commonest
of weeds.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">God cares and provides for
all creation to ensure continued and abundant life in future generations.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Each stage of life, from
birth to death, has purpose and value. Never assume you have less value in old
age than in youth.</span> </li>
<li><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-size: 16pt;">There is a planned purpose
for all living things.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Also, if you're over 60 and you've plopped down on your belly, getting back up on your feet won't be as easy as it was in childhood!</span> </li>
</ul>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-44892823701253920972019-01-31T10:09:00.001-05:002019-05-17T18:11:58.495-04:00A Continuum: the sands of time...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="author" cwidth="659" eza="cwidth:659px;;cheight:24px;;wcalc_source:child;wcalc:80px;wocalc:80px;hcalc:24px;rend_px_area:15816;" style="background-size: auto; color: #555555; font-family: Gotham, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 24.6875px; margin-bottom: 20px; max-width: 750px; padding: 0px; text-align: right;">
<i cwidth="0" eza="cwidth:0px;;cheight:0px;;wcalc_source:child;wcalc:80px;wocalc:80px;hcalc:24px;rend_px_area:0;" style="background-size: auto; margin: 0px; max-width: 750px; padding: 0px;">Anonymous</i></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Z72903Uk4U-6kZrJ00f2h7VAcpMb5bXMBMjy_NgWUvahWeKGPyGb60FHcddkkSNnJK0B5wmgf5u77up4JOq8zbm9LLcEOWRo9iAFN8Z8gJOTh3aI5oaMIlCYgjgBhm9vXQAPdEVzwO3C/s1600/sand+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="1600" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4Z72903Uk4U-6kZrJ00f2h7VAcpMb5bXMBMjy_NgWUvahWeKGPyGb60FHcddkkSNnJK0B5wmgf5u77up4JOq8zbm9LLcEOWRo9iAFN8Z8gJOTh3aI5oaMIlCYgjgBhm9vXQAPdEVzwO3C/s320/sand+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIxT89Sh2taDvTe-GvRoagXHXemWTB_hj96jxEbtRX4Cs1c7b6o8YkxDnkJ6ws_Bhqw_47Szc491Ft5viEEGt9PFVJ4rJ46yn7zm8mAv1WgF3C1Bk-2jn7QT3tKiqz5CmbsBAiz9xr4wk/s1600/eagle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="1600" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIxT89Sh2taDvTe-GvRoagXHXemWTB_hj96jxEbtRX4Cs1c7b6o8YkxDnkJ6ws_Bhqw_47Szc491Ft5viEEGt9PFVJ4rJ46yn7zm8mAv1WgF3C1Bk-2jn7QT3tKiqz5CmbsBAiz9xr4wk/s320/eagle.jpg" width="320" /></a>My 20’s: That runner’s high! I love it! I feel like my feet are
six inches above the pavement and I could just keep running and running forever.
I stretch my runs longer and longer for pure pleasure until I just have to turn
back--reluctantly. I’m empowered and kind of in awe of my energy.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My 30s: My pregnancy decade. Three kids. I jog behind a
stroller with the firstborn; walk with a toddler while pushing a stroller with
the second born; walk slowly with my third, stopping so he can drop pebbles
down the drain or pat the doggie.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I go on occasional
walks or slow jogs on weekends or days when my husband is home with all three
kids. But I often choose to nap. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q5_whcAFGcR9YMlghAq9RzKnbj2y9DTepT-joInnVDw6Vd9HFN_Bx-rO1fQm4EgefnjWkJG9ac5HWzquhE26e48izvaj0o4-VxwdHFzh5ajy70i2DftnjdzjiQ54N-arkj-jdhvLwNq3/s1600/old+pic+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q5_whcAFGcR9YMlghAq9RzKnbj2y9DTepT-joInnVDw6Vd9HFN_Bx-rO1fQm4EgefnjWkJG9ac5HWzquhE26e48izvaj0o4-VxwdHFzh5ajy70i2DftnjdzjiQ54N-arkj-jdhvLwNq3/s320/old+pic+-+1.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24IqKoertMpyQsNcxv3t6G8hUs-ZpekKmg5-pNTujgeQ1AHqPEA7uwVPcrQPHvbkOBrgeRTcK3RP33Q4RLZZJE_K7agokhkSOWtOeC100C3bqmHSqFtNANwCaSVTUQUu88wnEvo0VisdG/s1600/old+pic2+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="1600" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24IqKoertMpyQsNcxv3t6G8hUs-ZpekKmg5-pNTujgeQ1AHqPEA7uwVPcrQPHvbkOBrgeRTcK3RP33Q4RLZZJE_K7agokhkSOWtOeC100C3bqmHSqFtNANwCaSVTUQUu88wnEvo0VisdG/s320/old+pic2+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My 40s: My oldest babysits for thirty minutes so I can go out
for a walk. I call it my “by-by walk.” “Mommy’s going for a by-by walk,” I say
to soothe my youngest, who cries when I leave, until he catches on that I’m not
gone long. </div>
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He waves by-by out the window as I "power walk" down the side walk on
my prescribed route. I return home feeling like I’ve done my duty on behalf of
fitness. But where's the joy?<br />
<br />
And soon my youngest is running.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6f6cfdMwBk0D5VTbMgUmFJ2CvxhJlHU6oCHU7G1wrd2208HthZPTmogEhuO4bYS0ePDi6XPoIxZUOOaKxzD94C-nQ_Rk-94VAsh_YJHxvuv9oaQdyIZ86e__Bd1VLXi-KaqyYZDagNBQE/s1600/drun+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1408" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6f6cfdMwBk0D5VTbMgUmFJ2CvxhJlHU6oCHU7G1wrd2208HthZPTmogEhuO4bYS0ePDi6XPoIxZUOOaKxzD94C-nQ_Rk-94VAsh_YJHxvuv9oaQdyIZ86e__Bd1VLXi-KaqyYZDagNBQE/s320/drun+-+1.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtNSAQu2H1oD0TeXzaGdYV8Y0QQgwwpdgOXbz4AKHTC2wnoJB4IX_xvUifHTDI0Yo7tu6Di6cXJJNKFbHS6S1GcNIRBfLmtf0LH4JvDI2zTfpPbSERNpemY8FGSqGY2SChJKi8Df_ynDP/s1600/yada+yada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqtNSAQu2H1oD0TeXzaGdYV8Y0QQgwwpdgOXbz4AKHTC2wnoJB4IX_xvUifHTDI0Yo7tu6Di6cXJJNKFbHS6S1GcNIRBfLmtf0LH4JvDI2zTfpPbSERNpemY8FGSqGY2SChJKi8Df_ynDP/s200/yada+yada.jpg" width="150" /></a>My 50s: My husband has always been a jogger. We jog a
four-mile route around the neighborhood streets. I’m proud I can keep up with
him, mostly, and if not, he paces himself for me. I set him free the last half
mile or so. He’s in the house when I jog into the driveway. I take to walking
on the treadmill at the Y. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAJKRiYRR6yE0Iguy7N6r7CNp0C0aTZA-_dGKtfhj_4mfwBC9isB92u7QIIvCFt0cIBvGuWyGf8dke6OPQaLeoIEccP4PXqvXdX-voUbsfvtTCgwacZVe53Z9yBY0kVj-TLZVwyDtlItn/s1600/us+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1349" data-original-width="1600" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAJKRiYRR6yE0Iguy7N6r7CNp0C0aTZA-_dGKtfhj_4mfwBC9isB92u7QIIvCFt0cIBvGuWyGf8dke6OPQaLeoIEccP4PXqvXdX-voUbsfvtTCgwacZVe53Z9yBY0kVj-TLZVwyDtlItn/s320/us+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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My 60s: I begin this decade on a new fitness binge. I’ve gained weight and
become more sedentary, which I hate. I join a group at the Y to get in shape
and lose weight. I love the challenge. I can keep up with women decades younger
than me. I’m energized by the friendly competition, and sign up for a second
session, and then a third. I run hills and sprints. Wow! Feeling good!<o:p></o:p><br />
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Then my husband gets cancer! I crumble emotionally. I sleep
late. I don’t feel like exercising. All the weight I’ve lost comes back, and
more. I worry. For him. For me. For us both.</div>
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Then my ankle goes wonky--a tendon tear, bad mechanics—and I’m suddenly
wearing an ankle orthotic. I’ll need it for life my doctor says. I feel unplugged.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Vpha5O3bTTnDBiQo4p9Lya9aqM6g65KMhnhR0wvPkDNwpGLNYRXgSDFyG99JgygOmtWHSoSozNiizbxtGrpdG0TJpAuKwvSIAJpZZYSF60NL5CdrffTQeny9qf1T9qOOPbpClvhREHUh/s1600/feet+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1396" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Vpha5O3bTTnDBiQo4p9Lya9aqM6g65KMhnhR0wvPkDNwpGLNYRXgSDFyG99JgygOmtWHSoSozNiizbxtGrpdG0TJpAuKwvSIAJpZZYSF60NL5CdrffTQeny9qf1T9qOOPbpClvhREHUh/s320/feet+-+1.jpg" width="279" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNo5M34U3RrE1SOH4e2KM2JYQ1h4AfzxGNq5sD2lEzldhFO3At3hZfr9GTHe_CNpCfqqmqD43lUnh5aET6qNZ0SLC_V38CWjCN8ecRvWiPKPRM-Q4f04mkBulx2ieHrpRhk2XS9RT_WjDQ/s1600/stop+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNo5M34U3RrE1SOH4e2KM2JYQ1h4AfzxGNq5sD2lEzldhFO3At3hZfr9GTHe_CNpCfqqmqD43lUnh5aET6qNZ0SLC_V38CWjCN8ecRvWiPKPRM-Q4f04mkBulx2ieHrpRhk2XS9RT_WjDQ/s200/stop+-+1.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I won’t jog again; I maybe could, but really. Why? But I can still walk. I find peace in the
slower pace, peace in accepting the physical restrictions of aging.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvLfuDDqQ4aK4h1OKLaoErHHK_jJ5Rkc85Fsr1NZtFNmwfVCHBhYusxzexJFZ3xJIiOcr1kUyRSUglYIs3hbJrm0830-VeUwmPVpJKeLiDcsVRCMD-BB1lLQfLBf0RjgguIfCkzubkGhI/s1600/feather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPvLfuDDqQ4aK4h1OKLaoErHHK_jJ5Rkc85Fsr1NZtFNmwfVCHBhYusxzexJFZ3xJIiOcr1kUyRSUglYIs3hbJrm0830-VeUwmPVpJKeLiDcsVRCMD-BB1lLQfLBf0RjgguIfCkzubkGhI/s200/feather.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s
freeing.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Bittersweet, but freeing.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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There is no need to compete with others or myself. Or count my
steps. Or go fast..if I don’t want to. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I bring my camera along as I walk and
the sun points out photos for me to shoot. I meditate. I pray. I write stories
in my head. I solve problems. Solutions unfold with each footfall...as does
peace.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVBT0ujXG6pReEI8ZsvAy9Lx6KqnP5FNn0sxvbzmN1O883aDwWJx3fF8QGnl-cBIJ8FsRYLkW4TR2MyLmVLD-VUo_sAXBbpNDNbbQSY0LiUszjLkP9ow-nxG_FGbzM7pmzaNIaoZcjTZr/s1600/lotus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="936" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUVBT0ujXG6pReEI8ZsvAy9Lx6KqnP5FNn0sxvbzmN1O883aDwWJx3fF8QGnl-cBIJ8FsRYLkW4TR2MyLmVLD-VUo_sAXBbpNDNbbQSY0LiUszjLkP9ow-nxG_FGbzM7pmzaNIaoZcjTZr/s200/lotus.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LsDGc-7omYE_I_1DSjUbwf0Cn3aAINPEg-2wcF0fv54ODMj3l_OvU8QG23dqHJmBaMBrlxGNK7OLWTNt7iECmEkMWPJDO4AqdJ-M1SScUDl7P8NRJJELOdrohHS-KrtwkE3L4RMqaQUn/s1600/beach+-+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LsDGc-7omYE_I_1DSjUbwf0Cn3aAINPEg-2wcF0fv54ODMj3l_OvU8QG23dqHJmBaMBrlxGNK7OLWTNt7iECmEkMWPJDO4AqdJ-M1SScUDl7P8NRJJELOdrohHS-KrtwkE3L4RMqaQUn/s320/beach+-+1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">My 70’s--coming soon: I don’t know what the next decade will
bring. But if I’m fortunate, there will still be walks...on the beach, down
country lanes, in the woods. Alone or with friends who want to chat. With my
camera or not. Walks that heal the soul and clear the mind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG4Su6wWfyWfLjW0NZa7hFEUbwUEVS9RC69tHZ6MwaT_wFvRt5xFXpuw9FHI4ntPtFBOE9Ly3YuM5CjddHsDa6924HawIj3DOFnj0Ch3OHIhURojs5WITlApClimch0nXpzMHox7kW4Rj1/s1600/dog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="871" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG4Su6wWfyWfLjW0NZa7hFEUbwUEVS9RC69tHZ6MwaT_wFvRt5xFXpuw9FHI4ntPtFBOE9Ly3YuM5CjddHsDa6924HawIj3DOFnj0Ch3OHIhURojs5WITlApClimch0nXpzMHox7kW4Rj1/s320/dog.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">And, yes, I still run in my mind, at times...and wish I
could break into that remembered runner’s high. One does not forget the wings
of youth. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The key is finding joy and contentment on the continuum of life. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This
I discover as I walk in the frosty breeze on a sunny winter’s day.</span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--><br />
<br />
<br />Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-39381444063006185412016-11-20T14:30:00.000-05:002016-11-20T14:30:25.052-05:00Focus on the People~
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I recently took a road trip to Conowingo Dam in Maryland to photograph
the eagles that soar in to scoop up the fish that pass through the gates when
the water is released. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJ3JIBq4rf734W9BPsRkJfTN9q5C_niZ6yKe7c2aqaINF6I2OoyygMLmJwqgn6A03AugCqxqIdnUAmhIeoZiUaAOIoJQPmjWa0_dcrLOtu-O3smMGF5pQr_h4KkS5VaUpNsTDoBjymkUu/s1600/eagle+over+dam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifJ3JIBq4rf734W9BPsRkJfTN9q5C_niZ6yKe7c2aqaINF6I2OoyygMLmJwqgn6A03AugCqxqIdnUAmhIeoZiUaAOIoJQPmjWa0_dcrLOtu-O3smMGF5pQr_h4KkS5VaUpNsTDoBjymkUu/s400/eagle+over+dam.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The experience was wonderful--although it made me realize
what a novice I am at bird photography. I definitely would love to go back and
try again with the experience gained from the mistakes I made, including
(inadvertently) setting my camera to a “back button” focus setting that I don’t
use...and thus not being able to focus well... Grrr. (Thanks, Hunt’s Camera in
Hanover, for figuring out my mistake within five minutes...once I was home.)</div>
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Such is life, right? Taking pix is like fishing: you don’t
always make the catch.</div>
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EAGLES don’t always make the catch!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIViSBUPE-9L36pShnBeEWUg8X1SgY-gTOWhy6prWs2Y3KtNFf7Mvwc3cl1aRbHlPQGhkeY32vHfGH89cJCvJGq1GFcc3TSwp9Ekc7Lig_BUrmDM5iuSVij1yezNdwWFStjGvd3DoJaDC/s1600/the+one+that+got+away.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYIViSBUPE-9L36pShnBeEWUg8X1SgY-gTOWhy6prWs2Y3KtNFf7Mvwc3cl1aRbHlPQGhkeY32vHfGH89cJCvJGq1GFcc3TSwp9Ekc7Lig_BUrmDM5iuSVij1yezNdwWFStjGvd3DoJaDC/s400/the+one+that+got+away.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i> The One That Got Away~ </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i> </i></span></div>
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But here’s the thing...this trip was awesome! And not just
because of the photo opportunities (and despite my disappointment in the photo
results), but because of the PEOPLE my photo friend Pat and I met. </div>
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Life is all about the people. That’s what we should keep our
focus on. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">***</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQNX5jE8Vg0KWY0nfXX30lbVmsmy5MU5kylx0otuTodL800nrxddOjZH2qxJscIvJMWGHYChBwkRCEimdyEnvgp_Wd7XJnP0UG4SCOp92vd9Fdr-_3p1uqLe3nB07mjWgQ9GwI3XnkIkQ/s1600/camera+help.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJQNX5jE8Vg0KWY0nfXX30lbVmsmy5MU5kylx0otuTodL800nrxddOjZH2qxJscIvJMWGHYChBwkRCEimdyEnvgp_Wd7XJnP0UG4SCOp92vd9Fdr-_3p1uqLe3nB07mjWgQ9GwI3XnkIkQ/s320/camera+help.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="color: #cc0000;">I didn't ask his name, but this man spent a lot of time trying to help with the focus on my camera. He even went to find another guy he thought could help.</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzNn9LSiOD9BUA-oSUbdgX0-mCbwGsNPUQvBPq9BXfRzveuEWdu4Cpakt-HE8wWsW1uLxqfPE47mtcA3xsi8yCU1CJvXDRikjsDFKFXMb4sdL_ytpB7N0RUicpSt8O6QY1JcLAvNPF929/s1600/IMG_1429.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzNn9LSiOD9BUA-oSUbdgX0-mCbwGsNPUQvBPq9BXfRzveuEWdu4Cpakt-HE8wWsW1uLxqfPE47mtcA3xsi8yCU1CJvXDRikjsDFKFXMb4sdL_ytpB7N0RUicpSt8O6QY1JcLAvNPF929/s320/IMG_1429.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>This is Stevie, who got an alcohol wipe to wipe off the connections between my camera and lens. Didn't make a difference, but still.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKehu4mMa8DaPL4MaQdntKqgL0KKax3aP0FA8ArHL5cQ9la4R23xYvyxYlNvgUUsFP6nXsY_Ee-MUSzM8-HjNwLRq-NsEgKxAkG358OvFdsaOoWmOc7UVgaZ8UpZKinTosK-CvWWSglMHp/s1600/pat+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKehu4mMa8DaPL4MaQdntKqgL0KKax3aP0FA8ArHL5cQ9la4R23xYvyxYlNvgUUsFP6nXsY_Ee-MUSzM8-HjNwLRq-NsEgKxAkG358OvFdsaOoWmOc7UVgaZ8UpZKinTosK-CvWWSglMHp/s200/pat+and+me.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXCNUB5LCLkfyZD4LhSbIgDnJcwxlws4iqPV8BqfZOVnBaVyqip9TrTaEyi2ujfzbPNChwJrZbGGKWNlA4vecKvh5RPVA_vIvahfp0B9o0lkL7tbDWy2vSrstX-8t_tJwN2y0rXuBdKy4/s1600/us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkXCNUB5LCLkfyZD4LhSbIgDnJcwxlws4iqPV8BqfZOVnBaVyqip9TrTaEyi2ujfzbPNChwJrZbGGKWNlA4vecKvh5RPVA_vIvahfp0B9o0lkL7tbDWy2vSrstX-8t_tJwN2y0rXuBdKy4/s320/us.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>And thank you to the guy who took our picture to save us from the typical "selfie" look.</i></span></div>
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</div>
Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-79242025052087995582016-09-11T10:51:00.005-04:002016-09-11T15:17:54.936-04:00Nine Eleven, revisited~<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKOnf7gBaX29X1cZHCK6jbt4eKw3cx6aNSKP3xN3_0UWDichVYJEkbpc3HibDYvIcxxbeBVmVp1IGBjPOGgmotwhR0x2v9XtkobCI-e5gMUITbhfTjAR28vlGGZXgROJX6D43iutR0-KA/s1600/Clyde+and+K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmKOnf7gBaX29X1cZHCK6jbt4eKw3cx6aNSKP3xN3_0UWDichVYJEkbpc3HibDYvIcxxbeBVmVp1IGBjPOGgmotwhR0x2v9XtkobCI-e5gMUITbhfTjAR28vlGGZXgROJX6D43iutR0-KA/s400/Clyde+and+K.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Those of us who lived through the 9/11 attacks...</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>the World Trade Center,</i><br />
<i>the Pentagon,</i><br />
<i>the plane crash in a Pennsylvania field, a sacrificial
effort by citizens aboard to avoid the White House</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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...each have our own story to tell. </div>
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I was teaching a captive audience of fifth graders at
Hanover Middle School when my classroom door cracked open and a colleague
beckoned me to the hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a whisper,
she told me a plane had hit the World Trade Center Tower, then cautioned me not
to tell the kids. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I walked back into the classroom, dazed, scared, confused, making an attempt to cover the churning emotions, the fear. </div>
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Knowing so little...</div>
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<i>the first tower had not yet collapsed,</i><br />
<i>the second plane had not struck,</i></div>
<i>
</i><br />
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<br /></div>
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...it was easy to imagine that this was an all out attack on
the country, the beginning of a war on our continent.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHuqhOg5VmqjHeh-U766tZoTva9AGtYB4oovtWfnaNv5vYJoqgjmeFJNUKy2rm3qfM80J7G7yxYO0t7t5SEDiMQ5oEQ_7-nw_6p9WYRP5bn0lkF9fdHVf1Z8f4cqdTZNnlUUzE9HnmZLs/s1600/Cloud.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHuqhOg5VmqjHeh-U766tZoTva9AGtYB4oovtWfnaNv5vYJoqgjmeFJNUKy2rm3qfM80J7G7yxYO0t7t5SEDiMQ5oEQ_7-nw_6p9WYRP5bn0lkF9fdHVf1Z8f4cqdTZNnlUUzE9HnmZLs/s400/Cloud.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In hindsight, it was.</div>
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I was with a group of teachers huddled in the library
office, staring the dusty TV on its rolling cart, watching the scene unfold. We
stood in horrified silence, hands to our mouths, watching the slow motion
crumpling of the tower. The only words spoken were, “Oh my God!” Over and over...
</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>“Oh, my God!”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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I was more than 200 miles from the scene. A four-hour drive,
at least.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my heart leapt that
distance and I was right there.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We were ALL right there. </div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCq2-PXTFcCyaMJocFOhUTffkguO1FG0-thyphenhyphenDNCOX_CMKEUhv7yh1boSg4RGba1kQnyMTHyNcpOAbjHzgoKgaR8qb1NJVJDHNwPYHut9H51gekxKxK7l0uUBiJ6lLLSqdygG2vQbIJhib/s1600/Cloud+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcCq2-PXTFcCyaMJocFOhUTffkguO1FG0-thyphenhyphenDNCOX_CMKEUhv7yh1boSg4RGba1kQnyMTHyNcpOAbjHzgoKgaR8qb1NJVJDHNwPYHut9H51gekxKxK7l0uUBiJ6lLLSqdygG2vQbIJhib/s400/Cloud+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Despite the 15 intervening years, I can return to that day
instantly; my mind has not forgotten the horror I watched from afar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shared the terror and
the grief, although it was in no way the same as those who were there on the
island... </div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>covered in dust as they tried to flee with no way out but by
sea,</i><br />
<i>choosing to leap to death, rather than burn,</i><br />
<i>hearing sirens, crashing buildings, screaming people,</i><br />
<i>seeing bloodied friends...and maybe worse, not seeing
someone,</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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...or for those who lost a loved one. For them, I‘m sure the 15 years
dissolve in an instant and memory is still so immediate that it sears their
hearts daily.</div>
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<br />
<i>They can never forget.</i><br />
<i>Nor can we.</i><br />
<i>How could we?</i></div>
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Other posts... <a href="http://upstreamanddown.blogspot.com/search/label/memorials" target="_blank">Memorials</a></div>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-2217211216087749262015-08-19T14:19:00.002-04:002015-08-19T15:47:13.721-04:00Cancer is the asshole~<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTHo__LowHhP9ovdJv6Qh3b8CMJFyiE-mi0PGdU1n35UpkEylYxDGX3biF8lY6whoo6w4-Qnc2CG3hO8PoNFFw7_EqgD9_5Jt0C8pm95snQe8afkDn2T7n4Sqnnwu57yv_9lY2qnUj4qQ/s1600/B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="520" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTHo__LowHhP9ovdJv6Qh3b8CMJFyiE-mi0PGdU1n35UpkEylYxDGX3biF8lY6whoo6w4-Qnc2CG3hO8PoNFFw7_EqgD9_5Jt0C8pm95snQe8afkDn2T7n4Sqnnwu57yv_9lY2qnUj4qQ/s640/B.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;} </style><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Today was the first time in a
long, long time that I’ve called Bruce an asshole—and the first time since his
cancer diagnosis. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">How can you call some one
with cancer an asshole?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">After all, cancer patients
don’t feel good--they’re dealing with a deadly disease, there are all sorts of
worries, frustrations, and side effects and changes to their bodies, quality of
life issues... and all the other little quirky symptoms that I only find out about about when Bruce
tells his nurse. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrMvPsuts4UUyb2oFOD2n494U_uKMi3rSv9mO9V6q8mT1BE2lP5g7YJtBKbGcJCvB79Uxk_Wjme1djrkR1niTlO1Kd-hDNeaddDMinuX6xzjCkwhJyJFlf5CludesvJnJUc1g2JTfL_al/s1600/IMG_3917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLrMvPsuts4UUyb2oFOD2n494U_uKMi3rSv9mO9V6q8mT1BE2lP5g7YJtBKbGcJCvB79Uxk_Wjme1djrkR1niTlO1Kd-hDNeaddDMinuX6xzjCkwhJyJFlf5CludesvJnJUc1g2JTfL_al/s400/IMG_3917.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">I’m pretty patient and
understanding by nature, and all the more so now when he vents the inevitable
“<a href="http://www.cancer.net/coping-and-emotions/managing-emotions/coping-anger" target="_blank">cancer anger</a>” a little (or a lot).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Today he got impatient and
snippy, frustrated that we couldn’t merge our iCalendars—he hates when
technology goes awry. Who doesn't? For him, it's one more thing out of his control.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">He started to tell me what
I’d done incorrectly in the attempt to merge, and kept cutting me off when I
tried to show him what I did...which, by the way, was correct! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">“You’re being an asshole,” I hissed.
Not to his face, but I’m sure he heard me. I meant him to hear.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">He didn’t react. He knew he’d
overreacted. Later he apologized. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But still, it’s such a
balancing act. In “normal times” a little healthy anger has always been part of
our relationship. Isn’t that the way with many? It’s a spark that’s over as
soon as it flares.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">But cancer moves in, and when
the shock and horror of the diagnosis wears off and you get back to daily
living--enough to express anger, no matter how petty--it’s kind of feels weird. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><i>Really</i>, how <i>can</i> you call
someone with cancer an asshole? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Because sometimes he just IS.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">And sometimes I am, too. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">And so goes the battle--with
“<a href="http://www.curetoday.com/publications/cure/2012/summer2012/seeing-red-coping-with-anger-during-cancer" target="_blank">cancer anger</a>” tossed into the mix.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJUaEC393JDugTYfxsSS6ycsMT_d6OQqFrRx220WtJ_IXyuuknVBqDSJtIaej8ySAg_Y394NaGJpH1JWlTGag1Z1pke9YhxCNvLc9PIpMTucL41Zoa5p4DZ40R4U6nquB5PpsbHm0_UcI/s1600/IMG_3649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIJUaEC393JDugTYfxsSS6ycsMT_d6OQqFrRx220WtJ_IXyuuknVBqDSJtIaej8ySAg_Y394NaGJpH1JWlTGag1Z1pke9YhxCNvLc9PIpMTucL41Zoa5p4DZ40R4U6nquB5PpsbHm0_UcI/s400/IMG_3649.jpg" width="331" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Anybody can become angry--that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way--that is not within everybody's power and is not easy. ~Aristotle.</i></span></span></span><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aristotle.html" title="view author"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></a><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-80518482435058323742015-08-12T14:15:00.003-04:002015-08-19T22:08:00.686-04:00Leave my dream alone~<style>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Za9ZoEG7bux-zq6ddzfc9dwPaL-ZqEPmmB4Yj3b5BKJ5uMNp9l4whd3g6SRMdgLrGKQP7tMOSBPaI1Nu7bhhudzkKcYDSwsL0igE8RwY4teCY5yDPGJdov88pVq14bmzKFmebDXcSMtW/s1600/dreamy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Za9ZoEG7bux-zq6ddzfc9dwPaL-ZqEPmmB4Yj3b5BKJ5uMNp9l4whd3g6SRMdgLrGKQP7tMOSBPaI1Nu7bhhudzkKcYDSwsL0igE8RwY4teCY5yDPGJdov88pVq14bmzKFmebDXcSMtW/s640/dreamy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #674ea7;"><i>Why does the eye see a thing more clearly in dreams than the imagination when awake? ~Leonardo da Vinci </i></span></div>
<span style="color: #674ea7;"><i>
</i></span><br />
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During lunch with friends, one offered me her bag of potato
chips—she knows I’m addicted. I must have been in one of my rare and transitory
healthy phases, because I said no.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmGP1U5nWLGARzOjazoiwWPJHcHUM9PAKdF0S0qjkJKfE8TVBDX6BfW0nJpW7bczu2fGAZOdPTJbD0LxShVAuePIZVOkHVdCPtnN0x7gWyIOVWAfn7L75FZARwWWSvaSQvnUjm6uqlNGg/s1600/IMG_3923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXmGP1U5nWLGARzOjazoiwWPJHcHUM9PAKdF0S0qjkJKfE8TVBDX6BfW0nJpW7bczu2fGAZOdPTJbD0LxShVAuePIZVOkHVdCPtnN0x7gWyIOVWAfn7L75FZARwWWSvaSQvnUjm6uqlNGg/s200/IMG_3923.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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“Then take them for Bruce,” she urged. </div>
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<br /></div>
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“No, he doesn’t eat them any more...” Then, because of
the looks on their faces, I added “Oh, he stopped eating them before...” meaning
before his cancer diagnosis.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They knew what I didn’t say; one told me she was sorry to
hear; the other asked a couple questions... and all this prompted me to go into
my “We’re fine, he’s fine, I’m fine” mode.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But I decided to share my owl dream, and how it had revealed
to me that I was angry and feeling out of control--even though I’m fine, for all practical purposes!</div>
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<br /></div>
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I started in about seeing the owl, wanting to take photos, not having my camera...but
Lin interrupted me with a question: “What kind of owl?”</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now I like details, too, and tend to interrupt to get them
sometimes, so I told her: the head was a barn owl
and the body was a snowy owl.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHDPKhYWoIkVDrNJ9Ys2VEXY4ivVnAXt8kKTBVXOSrleGhN31A_suxrOTvL-xcE4AKlpW1gMn8HOo-V-aP9kekGGCWGGoLxj14AG8buIOGQVJE3wokTDvubysOww3UrdKCBrF8hGvXuVc/s1600/owl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHDPKhYWoIkVDrNJ9Ys2VEXY4ivVnAXt8kKTBVXOSrleGhN31A_suxrOTvL-xcE4AKlpW1gMn8HOo-V-aP9kekGGCWGGoLxj14AG8buIOGQVJE3wokTDvubysOww3UrdKCBrF8hGvXuVc/s320/owl.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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I resumed my dream-telling, but noticed that she looked sort
of alarmed: she pinched her mouth shut as if she were holding back a river of
piranhas, and her brow went all squiggly.</div>
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I got the feeling that dreaming about owls when one’s
husband had just been diagnosed with cancer was... maybe not such a good thing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As I continued the dream, Lin still looked tense. I touched her arm
and said, “What? Is that bad? Dreaming about an owl?”</div>
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<br /></div>
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She sighed and shrugged and opened her mouth. </div>
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<br /></div>
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“Don’t TELL me! DON’T answer that.” I sounded a little
deranged, but I subscribe to the head in the sand approach—what I don’t know
can’t scare me.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSEdxtBaQj-ngrHE3Jbu7RZrQjgZtH7KspcVMwDptGnOybRTSWE-NK-Dxwema5-0JuPpW6-uULCfJE5FrLzV3zen7SPmjosUj2M0Fbm25ljSCw5K9VHyWi_6mPHA4R5dOYxgwfchH0J5B/s1600/Head-in-Sand.GIF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipSEdxtBaQj-ngrHE3Jbu7RZrQjgZtH7KspcVMwDptGnOybRTSWE-NK-Dxwema5-0JuPpW6-uULCfJE5FrLzV3zen7SPmjosUj2M0Fbm25ljSCw5K9VHyWi_6mPHA4R5dOYxgwfchH0J5B/s320/Head-in-Sand.GIF" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
She kept quiet for a while as I continued the dream—my
frustration at not having my camera, the futile attempts to get a shot with my
iPhone.</div>
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<br /></div>
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“DID you get a picture?“ she asked.</div>
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<br /></div>
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“I couldn’t,” I said. “Everybody got in my way and the sun
was too bright.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Oh, well that’s good, then, GOOD that you couldn’t get a
picture of the owl,” Lin said,” relaxing a little.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I felt both relieved and, well, to be honest, a little
angry.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Really? I thought it was a dream, not a prophecy! It was my
subconscious telling me that, while I thought I was okay, I’m frustrated, sad,
and angry. I needed to realize that, and it took an owl to waken me to that
truth. I LIKE owls. I once collected owl figurines.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEyFAqcwDxbRuwffc2_8V_yk16B9E5aX9JqI2c_G2B5ITsUIfxU6l6_sIawDUlkWyWHEAWS0SSp9GyoMwcxvI_se8oDhXChdeKIvBtFeGF7h81togbgOf7mMfKATMVs1whNP1InIZe6Ul/s1600/dreamy+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJEyFAqcwDxbRuwffc2_8V_yk16B9E5aX9JqI2c_G2B5ITsUIfxU6l6_sIawDUlkWyWHEAWS0SSp9GyoMwcxvI_se8oDhXChdeKIvBtFeGF7h81togbgOf7mMfKATMVs1whNP1InIZe6Ul/s400/dreamy+%25282%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Later, I looked up “owls in dreams” and saw why she was
concerned. But I choose to think the owl was a conveyor of wisdom, rather than a
harbinger of death, because I think the best interpretation of a dream comes
from the dreamer.<br />
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And I haven't dreamed about owls since. </div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://upstreamanddown.blogspot.com/2015/08/dreams-do-tell.html" target="_blank">The dream post</a></b></span></div>
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For more stories on my blog, click the title "Upstream and Down" and scroll down to see more of the cancer journey...</div>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-56010002606212933592015-08-06T17:57:00.005-04:002015-08-12T12:46:17.482-04:00Dreams Do Tell~<style>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSgSDBkB_UC4uDE4Le2NKC7u-GM2Bxh3e3hE4huCOjidrJ8_TfEIKtYzi4jp3Hf3XLIPfxW2FY0V6pRLXgDDYWZWUhhlfj_NqAWXFMQt5Sx4PYn23p8Zi7wAy6tIT53UbU0UeZoGshuCZ/s1600/tree+composite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSgSDBkB_UC4uDE4Le2NKC7u-GM2Bxh3e3hE4huCOjidrJ8_TfEIKtYzi4jp3Hf3XLIPfxW2FY0V6pRLXgDDYWZWUhhlfj_NqAWXFMQt5Sx4PYn23p8Zi7wAy6tIT53UbU0UeZoGshuCZ/s400/tree+composite.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had a dream last night that stuck with me all day. </span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A friend and I were driving somewhere--she was a photo friend of mine—Lisa R—who moved away several years ago.</i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i> </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">She was driving and when she slowed down to turn into wherever we were going—a zoo? I yelled, "Stop, because LOOK! There’s an owl!" </i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A barn owl with a snowy owl’s body—so normal in a dream. </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheF415AFBPRvHjyRvaQ0YNqcxiw0dRwEBFPKByVQSSyv_z53uY_n4TDhwExfBOiFxf4egKM7fvmamfScnI8KNXup-BaegACME6dkNBNI4tvFuKJG7Iia0861hD7CbfPIAR-R71mv0ViMgF/s1600/owl+copy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheF415AFBPRvHjyRvaQ0YNqcxiw0dRwEBFPKByVQSSyv_z53uY_n4TDhwExfBOiFxf4egKM7fvmamfScnI8KNXup-BaegACME6dkNBNI4tvFuKJG7Iia0861hD7CbfPIAR-R71mv0ViMgF/s400/owl+copy1.jpg" width="341" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I was so excited, until I realized I didn’t have my camera... even though the sole purpose of our trip was picture taking.</i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We got out of the car, and I watched Lisa take pictures. I pulled out my iPhone to at least capture something, but people kept bumping into me and stepping in my way. And when I COULD see the owl clearly enough to snap a picture, the sun was like a fireball behind him and he was only a black shadow on my iPhone screen.</i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I cried a little in frustration, but stuffed the feeling down. I told Lisa I was so glad she had her camera and was able to get good pix.</i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But then I said, “Who am I kidding? I’m so mad!” And I let out a deep, long, angry bellow. A dam let loose and the flood waters roared.</i>
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</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I felt better...</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> .... </i></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLjH_PxxpX6s0AzKxtgi0zfGbe9vPSrYityVjU0l_CmOP0pFe3HTVi4bry_Iaz6rqifgPp84J4adyzoIxyyjhK74c0YHbdD39IWUZuBsM0Sx9xCDkWcCTwxT15v8-wh3rsiMmlqJXSpa9/s1600/B+and+me.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOLjH_PxxpX6s0AzKxtgi0zfGbe9vPSrYityVjU0l_CmOP0pFe3HTVi4bry_Iaz6rqifgPp84J4adyzoIxyyjhK74c0YHbdD39IWUZuBsM0Sx9xCDkWcCTwxT15v8-wh3rsiMmlqJXSpa9/s400/B+and+me.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">When I’m asked these days, since Bruce’s cancer diagnosis, how I’m doing, I always answer, “We're fine.” </span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It wasn’t until Bruce was diagnosed with cancer that I referred to myself as “we.” It just happened. I follow his lead. He tells me he’s fine. He’s not worried or anxious; he’s taking one day at a time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I am too.</span><br />
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">At least I THOUGHT I was until I had the dream. But the dream showed me how sad I am, and how frustrated at having no control. And that I’m just plain angry!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have no other public face but “fine.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But my dream told me the truth.</span><br />
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Cancer is NOT fine!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> </span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6QKTrr8WVok28zw54WXcEJUqW4Dj_8WgImmR8LXjqocMBm-D87MheW73CkmD0OTagx70IzxCwuLL5hJuaKDTqBs6DxHZ3NYWKG9wAkRz8_MYNvd9co_5scozLcXQqc6xz7srWjtoQoK6/s1600/pills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6QKTrr8WVok28zw54WXcEJUqW4Dj_8WgImmR8LXjqocMBm-D87MheW73CkmD0OTagx70IzxCwuLL5hJuaKDTqBs6DxHZ3NYWKG9wAkRz8_MYNvd9co_5scozLcXQqc6xz7srWjtoQoK6/s400/pills.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><i>"When someone has cancer, the whole family and everyone who loves them does too." ~ Terri Clark</i></span>
<span style="color: #741b47;"><i>
</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><i>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-32308946102252550902015-07-11T21:42:00.001-04:002015-07-11T22:40:01.209-04:00And so it begins~<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnRelpesnMve5I0Jq13w7bQe7ko8iW2mXTnybyQb1g6pfQkfAJ8GU5G9KZTKxzuKgAl8_rHdl34-UV_m55fKqmyZN6cFumwbzJ6_kZ2HsADyeFj7MBOO5kdCGs9W7uQMR5nvef7zs3liR/s1600/IMG_3075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMnRelpesnMve5I0Jq13w7bQe7ko8iW2mXTnybyQb1g6pfQkfAJ8GU5G9KZTKxzuKgAl8_rHdl34-UV_m55fKqmyZN6cFumwbzJ6_kZ2HsADyeFj7MBOO5kdCGs9W7uQMR5nvef7zs3liR/s400/IMG_3075.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I sit in the second floor waiting room at Dana Farber Cancer
Institute while Bruce is taken to a room to pee in a cup and have some blood
drawn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’d already peed in a jug for 24
hours and dropped that off to be analyzed for funky monoclonal plasma cells. They take his "vital signs"--height, weight, blood pressure.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOECP__P9nQDvUklxx2GT21PflktjJT76z2BvceS54jDNyn_kHpVWdnxp_aDHq9e1YZn-kaT3OEQ3tTwmddXMFC6nbT7pvQHQDKGg7YmLxODCEP3C9CkJVj55hR3-nVXNVwRr7GpuxS69T/s1600/IMG_2417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOECP__P9nQDvUklxx2GT21PflktjJT76z2BvceS54jDNyn_kHpVWdnxp_aDHq9e1YZn-kaT3OEQ3tTwmddXMFC6nbT7pvQHQDKGg7YmLxODCEP3C9CkJVj55hR3-nVXNVwRr7GpuxS69T/s400/IMG_2417.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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He’s back soon and we get coffee and ride the crowded
elevator to meet our nurse practitioner Mary, who will tell us what to expect
of this journey into cancer land. Whenever anyone gets off the elevator, I check
the floor chart to see what his or her cancer might be. Awful names! We get off
at “hematological carcinomas.” Seventh floor.</div>
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The end result of today’s visit is Bruce’s first shot of
Velcade and his first two oral chemo pills: Revlimid and Dexamethasone--the RVD
chemo treatment that makes Multiple Myeloma quake—we hope.</div>
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“One pill makes you happy and one pill makes you small. One
pill…something, something…” I can’t help singing this. I’m hoping B’s pills
provide the 1,2,3 punch we’ve been told they will to knock down this cancer.</div>
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And at 1:15 B is seated in the infusion chair and his
treatment begins—the first four-week cycle of a total of 15 cycles. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNy2vmHqKjDNHpaDSSxYVKNRXVO3huE8CmWhBWF9oKxIPUnzHTieuA1_o4xpuWaUvQy-jprN4MPUQ2Fscc7kY3dIzZW_2ucf-jCkkHDfR_O40rmzVb5IFciR2we8jrCqeFJhLkCRIdjQS/s1600/IMG_2418+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsNy2vmHqKjDNHpaDSSxYVKNRXVO3huE8CmWhBWF9oKxIPUnzHTieuA1_o4xpuWaUvQy-jprN4MPUQ2Fscc7kY3dIzZW_2ucf-jCkkHDfR_O40rmzVb5IFciR2we8jrCqeFJhLkCRIdjQS/s400/IMG_2418+%25281%2529.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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I never wear much jewelry, some days none at all. But today
while preparing for the first chemo visit to Dana Farber—Day 1-Cycle 1—I put on
earrings that were my mother’s--the ones my daughter wore on her wedding day for
“something borrowed”; an opal ring that was my grandmother’s; a birthstone ring
that Bruce gave me, and a necklace that my son Dave gave me for Mother’s Day. I
wouldn’t be alone. WE wouldn’t be alone.</div>
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And I brought this journal. Not sure whose it was. My father’s?
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It was empty. Now it’s not.</div>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-79946921502270999352015-06-28T18:03:00.003-04:002015-06-28T18:07:56.594-04:00Double Duty~<style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3n_gv4iRLZPI09HdphrIpTrTgYdMVZmUolxUCfCwZ2upPwH5gU8NQ7Q9lRGE_3g6X0HeLI1Ub-wN_9cL82EdvfPFZtkQCa4ZOnvxt7tDkAxYSROmFaWAm-Mhx30r0O6J_lR3x-05PPcd/s1600/floor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO3n_gv4iRLZPI09HdphrIpTrTgYdMVZmUolxUCfCwZ2upPwH5gU8NQ7Q9lRGE_3g6X0HeLI1Ub-wN_9cL82EdvfPFZtkQCa4ZOnvxt7tDkAxYSROmFaWAm-Mhx30r0O6J_lR3x-05PPcd/s400/floor.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">There are countless stories sitting in the upholstered chairs in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Dana Farber Cancer Center's waiting rooms</span>, feet resting on worn spots in the carpet, where so many other feet have rested in the past. Most stories will go untold.</span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">But sometimes a person opens up and shares a little.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Bruce and I were seated diagonally behind a man who was waiting to be
called for his blood draw. I noticed a little Chihuahua peering at me from
beneath the man’s legs; he was drinking<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from a PETCO watering dish. When the man scooped him up, I realized
there was a larger dog lying on the floor. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-vioYmcpJUaEGxgWCTwpLws5LW-sHV9imgIJ0mk_PSwNNvpj0mqi-3fynQX-YmNiNyXhB1IkUA5zJ19_fyUYRhQO7q5Voy4EFAK9MpjhkRAJwnNmZuKhcancTkd5M8sIr0h7gqXGOcFi/s1600/man+and+dog2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-vioYmcpJUaEGxgWCTwpLws5LW-sHV9imgIJ0mk_PSwNNvpj0mqi-3fynQX-YmNiNyXhB1IkUA5zJ19_fyUYRhQO7q5Voy4EFAK9MpjhkRAJwnNmZuKhcancTkd5M8sIr0h7gqXGOcFi/s400/man+and+dog2.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So I sauntered by to get a cup of coffee. Actually, I didn't care about the coffee; it was the dogs I wanted to see.The man
gave me a smile so I asked about the dogs, which, he said, are trained companion
dogs.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">He told me he was at one time a nurse, but he almost died on the job when
he unexpectedly passed out and had to be intubated. What a way to find out you're allergic to latex! He’s also allergic to peanuts and other chemicals.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">His big dog has been trained to detect signs of his master going into
anaphylactic shock from exposure to these substances up to a minute before he
might pass out. This gives him time to grab his Epi Pen and give himself a jab
of Epinephrine. The tiny dog that stays snuggled in his jacket has been trained
to flip out and sound a warning when he detects peanuts or latex. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNZSyW_LGhsRXJNS6FZv318cmKR2IzL8Av652_ZagQkcmoTMvC836PcZTq-PYrl4YVT01OP4BhIdGJAnR2smSGtSjFdcfAopBny_aW1_qMADBM2FUbrvEKoA2LzZsey_eZ9ZD1YAgmS2D/s1600/man+and+dog1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYNZSyW_LGhsRXJNS6FZv318cmKR2IzL8Av652_ZagQkcmoTMvC836PcZTq-PYrl4YVT01OP4BhIdGJAnR2smSGtSjFdcfAopBny_aW1_qMADBM2FUbrvEKoA2LzZsey_eZ9ZD1YAgmS2D/s400/man+and+dog1.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sometimes when you already have it rough, cancer gets tossed into the mix. Why is that? And sometimes there is still plenty to smile about. </span></div>
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</div>
Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-1269977644635167532015-06-23T21:19:00.002-04:002015-06-24T13:58:04.254-04:00Dana Farber, Here We come!<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Cancer is a stealthy
opponent, wreaking damage before you suspect its presence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7oarwA1LdhWxZDilVrsXPIVQoA7RDayvVYThO5XmtZPOflvSowyaibhkvPk57QBppZW4qzCMYF7NGF25FzOy0V0oSzRt2yJGgl5dNMBhYoA36fDmTmmKtOtOmea5hEEJPwhix40cc7EKV/s1600/me+B.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7oarwA1LdhWxZDilVrsXPIVQoA7RDayvVYThO5XmtZPOflvSowyaibhkvPk57QBppZW4qzCMYF7NGF25FzOy0V0oSzRt2yJGgl5dNMBhYoA36fDmTmmKtOtOmea5hEEJPwhix40cc7EKV/s400/me+B.jpg" width="337" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">The first inkling that Bruce
might be facing “something” was last summer. I was headed to the beach with a
friend, while he was headed to the doctors for his annual CT scan by his
cardiologist, who regularly checks the size of his aortic aneurism. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">We’d thought the aneurysm was
a big deal when it was first discovered several years ago! It was! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in effect, it was, if not life saving, the issue that got B into cancer treatment sooner than otherwise. For that, we
thank the dreaded aneurysm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">When I got to the beach I
decided to call B and see how his appointment went. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">“The good news,” he tells me,
“is that the aneurysm is stable; it hasn’t grown in size. But,” he tells me in
what sounds like a nonchalant voice, “the scan shows a spot on my tenth rib.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So I matched his nonchalant
tone, “Lots of times the spots turn out to be nothing—just shadows," I tell
him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">I stayed at the beach, went swimming, jumped
waves, and boogie boarded. I told myself that they ALWAYS find spots that
turn out to be nothing but shadows. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZz-zmYmooxtT4yk9HS-lGCFE5RnMKL1e8jx3t-KBsUv1PsMDSxaBbHCmNKBn93duyBjM0q1w8MU6g7fg0mbDuPaDFGNTMjp_VRaT8qzHIq9XcNEc-WQSUkx9ybXUrYOLH8PN3hghlFi2/s1600/beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuZz-zmYmooxtT4yk9HS-lGCFE5RnMKL1e8jx3t-KBsUv1PsMDSxaBbHCmNKBn93duyBjM0q1w8MU6g7fg0mbDuPaDFGNTMjp_VRaT8qzHIq9XcNEc-WQSUkx9ybXUrYOLH8PN3hghlFi2/s400/beach.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">B set up an appointment with
his primary care doctor and we were left to wait and wonder…and worry. But not worry
too much. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">But then B notices that the
cardiologist’s words on the paper documenting his aneurysm visit say “lesion.” Not
“spot.” Lesion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lesion is scary sounding
in a way that spot is not. Lesion is an ugly word.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">So the Google search begins:
bone lesions, lesions on the rib, spot on the rib, lesion on tenth rib… B is searching, I know. But
he says nothing. And I do the same. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksy2La8mGTa5OmcGPqLzPZKa4FU9TVL8YpVNWoa548GbXcbX8M_QEoIay1CYrhjbGp1aW5DbkfPckwQ0vRZ4S3csHJwW1wFTZ5DhZ3-sTpKB_D7iD5zpJssGIwbxGCmNle3wGDfkia2Uo/s1600/elevator+sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiksy2La8mGTa5OmcGPqLzPZKa4FU9TVL8YpVNWoa548GbXcbX8M_QEoIay1CYrhjbGp1aW5DbkfPckwQ0vRZ4S3csHJwW1wFTZ5DhZ3-sTpKB_D7iD5zpJssGIwbxGCmNle3wGDfkia2Uo/s640/elevator+sign.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">None of the possibilities for
bone lesions looks good. I wouldn’t know which one of the possible diagnoses might be the lesser of the
gruesome evils outlined and explained. It’s pretty clear at this point that all
roads lead to cancer. And none of them look good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And sure enough, tests confirmed multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Tom Brokaw's cancer ... incurable, but treatable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Thus, the journey begins. The big C. There's no getting off this train.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-64746553200802820662015-06-18T19:31:00.001-04:002015-08-12T14:20:44.486-04:00Doctor Perfect~<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdi9BF2RCsn_LxiBi3wNkVrEHTnRg2YiKAuWV4LXehQVnN6K5W1ixK-mNcwAFgmOsFFZcOjuVnVc5AUxxAYKu2t4tT_mtT4dZ1hMNMWUE91-qpNkBqcVs7ouHcClI77AqE-CC5UpfA0HLp/s1600/IMG_3075.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdi9BF2RCsn_LxiBi3wNkVrEHTnRg2YiKAuWV4LXehQVnN6K5W1ixK-mNcwAFgmOsFFZcOjuVnVc5AUxxAYKu2t4tT_mtT4dZ1hMNMWUE91-qpNkBqcVs7ouHcClI77AqE-CC5UpfA0HLp/s400/IMG_3075.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Bruce has treatments at Dana Farber every Thursday. Between his blood draw and infusion, we take the elevator to the third floor cafeteria for a late lunch. <br />
<br />
The fact that I spotted a doctor eating lunch was no big deal … except for one thing: he was striking! He was the absolute epitome of a “doctor,” the kind you see in TV ads—white coat, white hair, open, friendly expression, grandfatherly, a concerned expression while he reads information (about some patient awaiting a diagnosis, I imagined). And … he was reading on his lunch break, no less. Perfect doctor!<br />
<br />
I nudged my husband. “Doesn’t that doctor look almost like a FAKE doctor?” I asked.<br />
<br />
“What do you mean? He looks pretty real to me.” Bruce is very literal.<br />
<br />
“He’s real, obviously, but he looks exactly like the stereotypical person an advertising agency would cast as a doctor. Don’t you think?” <br />
<br />
Bruce agreed.<br />
<br />
When we got up to toss our trash, I followed Bruce right past Doctor Perfect.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDHQTaXa9hvOf78501viAF2YjA8gQLaIrFIkePSw6BQgqWYH3niZspKIKzSKL8rtBr0KtQO07nBmAETbN1jQXEkmVPdMCOomJRFS-6x3whYK4po5CTKkXLfBsaziTAyiUODuEsZWpPnhh/s1600/Dr+Bill+Welch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGDHQTaXa9hvOf78501viAF2YjA8gQLaIrFIkePSw6BQgqWYH3niZspKIKzSKL8rtBr0KtQO07nBmAETbN1jQXEkmVPdMCOomJRFS-6x3whYK4po5CTKkXLfBsaziTAyiUODuEsZWpPnhh/s400/Dr+Bill+Welch.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I was almost by him when I impulsively stopped and told him, “You know, you look like the kind of doctor who belongs in an advertisement.”<br />
<br />
I explained what I meant, and he grinned and said, “Let me tell you a little story.” <br />
<br />
So I stood and listened, trash in hand, while Bruce waited across the room by the trash barrel, shaking his head slightly in resignation. <br />
<br />
Long story short, Doctor Welch’s wife is an attractive older woman (according to him) and she had been encouraged to model. He accompanied her to one shoot, and whoever was in charge asked, “Who is that man? We want him, too.” <br />
<br />
So he consented to sign up, but being a doctor, he never found the time to go to a tryout (or whatever they’re called). But finally, he decided he’d make time for one shoot. <br />
<br />
“I wanted to give it a try once,” he said.<br />
<br />
When he went to the ad agency, they handed him a white coat and wanted him to portray (surprise!) a doctor. They had not realized he actually was a doctor, but the point is, he’s a doctor who looks exactly like we all want a doctor to look. And in this case, he got paid to look like one. Pretty cool!<br />
<br />
He consented to an iPhone photo (which doesn’t do justice to his blue eyes), and when I asked his name, he said, “Bill Welch.” Pretty humble, too. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-39476668441303401722014-02-01T21:53:00.002-05:002014-02-02T09:26:20.178-05:00The chase is on: It's not always about the photos...<style>
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I’m not a bird photographer, although that doesn’t mean I
don’t like to shoot good images of birds. I do! But when I get good shots, I
attribute it to luck--being in the right place at the right time—rather than a
natural birder’s patience.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rGcvrmunxbTO1UZSVTaWYr1NClmR6gj6jnfTrHR-_rXdu_qNo_HpTx5LWM3vzaFFoyDTlwhba2S9ykifaPZxhVSG0M8hmQaGv2cryI4Z1g6xBfBW9pNEnN4j_MkI6Z_YbGsyWOJpxf_v/s1600/bird%3F+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6rGcvrmunxbTO1UZSVTaWYr1NClmR6gj6jnfTrHR-_rXdu_qNo_HpTx5LWM3vzaFFoyDTlwhba2S9ykifaPZxhVSG0M8hmQaGv2cryI4Z1g6xBfBW9pNEnN4j_MkI6Z_YbGsyWOJpxf_v/s1600/bird%3F+sig.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Real bird photographers—and I know many--have far more
patience than I was born with. They’re willing to stand and wait for a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">long </i></b>time,
often in the freezing wind and cold or scalding summer sun, in hopes of seeing
a bird that has been known to make sporadic appearances.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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I’ll go and check out the place a bird is known to be,
always hopeful for a sighting, but if it’s not a lucky day, I’ll shift my focus
to what ever else I can photograph. I just can’t seem to settle down and wait.
Not sure why…but I just can’t. I want to keep moving.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Today, shortly after we’d arrived at Sachuest Point National
Wildlife Refuge, Bruce and I learned that the snowy owl had been spotted
napping in a tree. We’d never have noticed her had not all lenses and scopes been
aimed in her direction. She was far off, out of good camera range. So we walked
on, hoping for a closer look at the deer in the meadow. </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJMx_6Z63SUyrePTRc8yy4fuilUM6BgTV-fRGVnMNT13FW3jGkyWopL6VirXbd9-NzVTQCIZfnoiPSYVn-1fDzjo08B1-cvrfoMsoUQvQkh4Ge-w2OIPEWitUVKdA6LcYfkDNcrhQCMcn/s1600/distant+snowy+sig+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTJMx_6Z63SUyrePTRc8yy4fuilUM6BgTV-fRGVnMNT13FW3jGkyWopL6VirXbd9-NzVTQCIZfnoiPSYVn-1fDzjo08B1-cvrfoMsoUQvQkh4Ge-w2OIPEWitUVKdA6LcYfkDNcrhQCMcn/s1600/distant+snowy+sig+(1).jpg" height="221" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Snowy looks much closer through the camera lens.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9keMlgMFvByN33ZnmiEwi558GNcJ7t5_RGtcdfsEGRk-zEMHoCJKPwT2SCsFB3ItCNgNrsHJhk4UGX-qHhJYnAuBnaDydBJ0W7nBRQd4mWvf1FBeWtHBlZZB6D9I8vbEr70ChdkPxVW8/s1600/deer+looking2+sig+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr9keMlgMFvByN33ZnmiEwi558GNcJ7t5_RGtcdfsEGRk-zEMHoCJKPwT2SCsFB3ItCNgNrsHJhk4UGX-qHhJYnAuBnaDydBJ0W7nBRQd4mWvf1FBeWtHBlZZB6D9I8vbEr70ChdkPxVW8/s1600/deer+looking2+sig+(1).jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDSSrWdruzMaHNwuL-lijrTg4SXQ2a0Rxv6BF96ZPcqSSdT2uiZEv73rAEjVXppomLRhG2rtNNYreY3FPIhBXfTb7PNlArd5g27q4ncyQWQj4No94bJaR0O_sMcFJT6XdwDub-JufLuKv/s1600/deer+looking+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgDSSrWdruzMaHNwuL-lijrTg4SXQ2a0Rxv6BF96ZPcqSSdT2uiZEv73rAEjVXppomLRhG2rtNNYreY3FPIhBXfTb7PNlArd5g27q4ncyQWQj4No94bJaR0O_sMcFJT6XdwDub-JufLuKv/s1600/deer+looking+sig.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
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We passed a group of photographers waiting for a barn owl to
make an appearance, which he often (but not always) does later in the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We kept walking. Not that I don’t want to see
a barn owl. Of course I do, but…he wasn’t there.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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By the time we’d walked the trail loop and returned to
headquarters, birders and photographers were rushing to a spot overlooking the
meadow. So we followed. And sure enough, the barn owl had been sighted. </div>
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<br /></div>
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It swooped and caught a field mouse. This roused the snowy
owl and a harrier hawk, both of which chased after the barn owl, hoping it
would drop the mouse, I suppose. It didn’t. It was all over in less than a
minute, and took place at such a distance that I wasn’t able to get any sharp
images. </div>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8bnkfrDS3JkyGV0dU4dIobJohQ3frVC_zMsjyVKUd9due11yPkFq7VxNXQKvVeHcyrw5xBuNZoK2LmBPFIe92ymH9TpQ23ycYQ_duGnVpZVTC_cESvs1GtBJl8GymtxeRsCohTLEAhd3/s1600/chasing+the+barn+owl+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD8bnkfrDS3JkyGV0dU4dIobJohQ3frVC_zMsjyVKUd9due11yPkFq7VxNXQKvVeHcyrw5xBuNZoK2LmBPFIe92ymH9TpQ23ycYQ_duGnVpZVTC_cESvs1GtBJl8GymtxeRsCohTLEAhd3/s1600/chasing+the+barn+owl+sig.jpg" height="212" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Barn owl with mouse in talons, snowy springing into action, harrier hawk.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHm1ghC9-qBWk8GqlcVooWrKS8QH-d8d328u_LyBDV_8fL-mSugiDFR_nwjAN0lTj9EZ1FBaIKrz7-tU0BR4SNvHSrlXSkBf0FQQovab7ZN1mLjygWtBK__5cOGkIMtVbLZv4ZSYeOT7an/s1600/Chasing+the+hunter+sig+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHm1ghC9-qBWk8GqlcVooWrKS8QH-d8d328u_LyBDV_8fL-mSugiDFR_nwjAN0lTj9EZ1FBaIKrz7-tU0BR4SNvHSrlXSkBf0FQQovab7ZN1mLjygWtBK__5cOGkIMtVbLZv4ZSYeOT7an/s1600/Chasing+the+hunter+sig+(1).jpg" height="248" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But wow! Who cares?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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Sometimes it’s more about the experience—and thrill—of
seeing animals in the wild, than the quality of the photos you get. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What a privilege to see nature in action! And how nice to
have stumbled upon it at the right time—with no waiting!</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7614ujyia3BG3gr5hiS_XUBklPyQFDUUbLyGRdc8j50Cls7OinWS9WkxX_81XbptKrG5AmlOPMfPgQLcVF7LUxKXU4JUMQOzCUilnuXtlGcJoquUHbCxT1m2A2VUb6CPzkVBVXJiC53M-/s1600/snowy+landing+on+pine+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7614ujyia3BG3gr5hiS_XUBklPyQFDUUbLyGRdc8j50Cls7OinWS9WkxX_81XbptKrG5AmlOPMfPgQLcVF7LUxKXU4JUMQOzCUilnuXtlGcJoquUHbCxT1m2A2VUb6CPzkVBVXJiC53M-/s1600/snowy+landing+on+pine+sig.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>When the barn owl disappeared, the snowy landed.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
~~~~~</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way. ~ Aristotle</i></span></div>
<div id="r1PostCPBlock" style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; left: -99999px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="bqQuoteLink"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/aristotle165482.html" title="view quote">If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way.</a></span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aristotle.html" title="view author">Aristotle</a></span>
<br />
Read more at <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_nature2.html#uCZzzRO7vqwj2sUw.99" style="color: #003399;">http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_nature2.html#uCZzzRO7vqwj2sUw.99</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div id="r1PostCPBlock" style="background-color: white; border: medium none; color: black; left: -99999px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;">
<span class="bqQuoteLink"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/aristotle165482.html" title="view quote">If one way be better than another, that you may be sure is nature's way.</a></span><br />
<span class="bodybold"><a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aristotle.html" title="view author">Aristotle</a></span>
<br />
Read more at <a href="http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_nature2.html#uCZzzRO7vqwj2sUw.99" style="color: #003399;">http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_nature2.html#uCZzzRO7vqwj2sUw.99</a></div>
Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-91095319243069581782014-01-26T20:16:00.000-05:002014-01-26T21:36:04.159-05:00Hunting for the hunters~<style>
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With so many snowy owls in the region this winter, birders
and photographers have been particularly successful in spotting and shooting
(photographically speaking!) these beautiful birds. The well-known locales
where snowies have been sighted are big draws for hopeful viewers.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We’re hunters. We seek the thrill of seeing wild creatures
close up. We want to experience their beauty and dignity. We bundle up, drag
out our gear, and complain about the wind chill, all to witness the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">real</i></b>
hunters, whose survival depends upon their focus, their senses, their quickness—and
freedom from distraction. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Snowies are not easy to spot. Protective coloration works
like a charm, and despite being large, once they are patiently hunkered down,
scanning for rodents, they can be all but impossible to detect. Even in motion they fly low and are well camouflaged.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-eFFWOb_-ZtNO57kZ5J-OVx8mx-MZUaS_XFZxT0V7jZf3OBdi-c5tcCUlfDMMmyu0kc5h6Xjs-Oy-wAKwePB6qrL4YWbvaececWRtBfoh5Ip62PdHK98kCthZKkUUA7MwCWgsusho4qe/s1600/flying+snowy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-eFFWOb_-ZtNO57kZ5J-OVx8mx-MZUaS_XFZxT0V7jZf3OBdi-c5tcCUlfDMMmyu0kc5h6Xjs-Oy-wAKwePB6qrL4YWbvaececWRtBfoh5Ip62PdHK98kCthZKkUUA7MwCWgsusho4qe/s1600/flying+snowy.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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Your best bet in spotting one is patience and a pair of
binoculars … or watching for clusters of people. When someone spots a snowy, he
stares into the distance, and whoever comes along asks, “What do you see?” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNKqDnB_pVQxmKt8Lb1m3r4PHJr-CSzwClaVCWLPV77tHCezrND8Ez0BGfnwNgcDmhVbnHmUljMApF9h-cD8FSlkMIz6QMDGqmM7lNp-2G5PEtcGvvi3ooVV9xPS65_jj-q3O-MEeNw_v/s1600/Bruce+owl+hunting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNKqDnB_pVQxmKt8Lb1m3r4PHJr-CSzwClaVCWLPV77tHCezrND8Ez0BGfnwNgcDmhVbnHmUljMApF9h-cD8FSlkMIz6QMDGqmM7lNp-2G5PEtcGvvi3ooVV9xPS65_jj-q3O-MEeNw_v/s1600/Bruce+owl+hunting.jpg" height="272" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">And then <b><i>they</i></b> stand with the first guy until
the next person comes along and asks, “What’s out there?” And <b><i>she</i></b>
stays, and so on, until quite the group of owl paparazzi has formed.
</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Saturday, I was with my husband and was hoping <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">he’d</i></b>
see an owl, which is much more exciting than just looking at the photos I come
home with. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the road to the location
that had been successful for me a couple of weeks ago was closed. People
reported seeing owls, but they were so far out in the marsh they were invisible
to the naked eye. </div>
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<br /></div>
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It didn’t look hopeful. But the point is to enjoy what
nature gives you on any given day. So I snapped a picture of wild turkeys on
the roadside…because they were there and I had a camera. They foraged and paid
us no mind.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNV75UT9KXSxEpCyoHahy3OkxUsGUU63UTwnk4YgyAs527t2z1LrvsWZ4D1-2SXLWyMC_Dppt96njbLZzZAhphtbYvygbeJXz_KYxFcA9_kKnph5MvbA1g0JIFMeM_hr5rTpN6VkbLjrE/s1600/Turkey+profile+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNV75UT9KXSxEpCyoHahy3OkxUsGUU63UTwnk4YgyAs527t2z1LrvsWZ4D1-2SXLWyMC_Dppt96njbLZzZAhphtbYvygbeJXz_KYxFcA9_kKnph5MvbA1g0JIFMeM_hr5rTpN6VkbLjrE/s1600/Turkey+profile+sig.jpg" height="400" width="326" /></a></div>
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We watched a beautiful red-tail hawk ride wind currents,
while scanning for prey. Later he sat, all handsome, on a branch while a crowd
gathered beneath him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was oblivious
to the gathering paparazzi; there’s no time for distractibility when your life
depends upon a successful hunt.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbn2EwzaWuve0nZNHz1-cvfzbc4-pj6VN_mKauKWyUZQrxG-TL7ZpxJuG_d-VzcYp7RiqsAoVCS96arl3J_1BbAZou-i4tnHPkN8cWBh7ysRkIMol6iHJ6uTjNMV_t2lgAH_NVz3hVaI0W/s1600/flying+red-tail+hawk+plum+island+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbn2EwzaWuve0nZNHz1-cvfzbc4-pj6VN_mKauKWyUZQrxG-TL7ZpxJuG_d-VzcYp7RiqsAoVCS96arl3J_1BbAZou-i4tnHPkN8cWBh7ysRkIMol6iHJ6uTjNMV_t2lgAH_NVz3hVaI0W/s1600/flying+red-tail+hawk+plum+island+sig.jpg" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8f4BQHKCsDT1Ll58rwPkyG4RfyWICmhTpQeZmxnJjS9OYYixvkNvaOmjXJp3AWqVdLiz3LeiXmh3Ffq732_-ZpdVuTc39hEJ3jfv6Sl4mndKHRvneenlAqiKyz2tq4_E62soaO59ZeQk2/s1600/red-tail+hawk+on+branch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8f4BQHKCsDT1Ll58rwPkyG4RfyWICmhTpQeZmxnJjS9OYYixvkNvaOmjXJp3AWqVdLiz3LeiXmh3Ffq732_-ZpdVuTc39hEJ3jfv6Sl4mndKHRvneenlAqiKyz2tq4_E62soaO59ZeQk2/s1600/red-tail+hawk+on+branch.jpg" height="332" width="400" /></a></div>
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We pulled into a turn-off where there was a small cluster of
people. I stepped out of the car to see a people looking skyward. I swung my
camera up with just enough time snap a few shots of what turned out to be a
juvenile bald eagle before he took off for better hunting grounds. Did he
notice us? If so we were not of interest.</div>
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We headed further north to a spot where people said a snowy
had been hunting all day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And sure
enough, the snowy grapevine was correct. She was there…and so were the
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully the owl was separated
from the crowd by a drainage depression in the marsh, which prevented those who
push the limits from getting too close to the bird, forcing it to move on. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjPVGymwOppLQ-nLyp5WYot4z1NrMh7J3txYjdduSX21nOExkZb9bV78sWIXk5DOaMkvvkUBpXmdvQHBX_mu_yFGv2w13tzVLEw8TSHdSbDnAJRncFEsEL7SEHWzBNMDVBhmqzmRgXa3b/s1600/snowy+in+grass+(Salsbury+Beach)+sig+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjPVGymwOppLQ-nLyp5WYot4z1NrMh7J3txYjdduSX21nOExkZb9bV78sWIXk5DOaMkvvkUBpXmdvQHBX_mu_yFGv2w13tzVLEw8TSHdSbDnAJRncFEsEL7SEHWzBNMDVBhmqzmRgXa3b/s1600/snowy+in+grass+(Salsbury+Beach)+sig+(1).jpg" height="286" width="400" /></a></div>
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If I had to hunt for survival, could I tune out the
paparazzi?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not sure. And that
thought makes me all the more respectful of the wild creatures I observe. </div>
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I
wish everyone was.<br />
~~~~~<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><u><i><a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/41722.html" title="Click for further information about this quotation"><span style="text-decoration: none;">Keep close to
Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or
spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. None of Nature's landscapes
are ugly so long as they are wild.</span></a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>~<a href="http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/John_Muir/"><span style="text-decoration: none;">John Muir</span></a></u></span></div>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-21964975445480786972014-01-19T18:48:00.001-05:002014-01-19T22:07:55.329-05:00Robins in winter...<style>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve never seen a robin in the dead of
winter, but this year </span>I saw a flock chirping
together in a downtown Bridgewater tree while snow fell. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>When I saw another large
flock on Plum Island, I added robins to my “Google list”—a mental list I keep
of topics I want to know more about. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgxILH9SgGSZzRJ_NZdn0kA-1sJ3n8S7KIbfv8Uey9QunzLzv9nGeUfos0YRFf_twWHjp8j17S1ouyukRmfrxQ1W0E7bFQNorPnhVDAJ5Lp8tbn9IaY1ACJze_eSFpW18O_aPvNxJssKV/s1600/Robin+on+branch+(sig).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXgxILH9SgGSZzRJ_NZdn0kA-1sJ3n8S7KIbfv8Uey9QunzLzv9nGeUfos0YRFf_twWHjp8j17S1ouyukRmfrxQ1W0E7bFQNorPnhVDAJ5Lp8tbn9IaY1ACJze_eSFpW18O_aPvNxJssKV/s1600/Robin+on+branch+(sig).jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I’ve never paid much attention to
robins. They’ve always seemed aloof to me, hopping along by themselves with one
eye to the ground, scouting worms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before
the ground is frozen or snow-covered, they’ve flown south where the worms are
still churning the soil. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They follow the
worms, I thought. So why are they still hanging around?</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It turns out that the robins that
nested in my fruit trees <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i></b> flown south to a more
comfortable zone. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The birds I’m seeing now
have most likely come down from the Canadian Maritime provinces. Massachusetts certainly
provides more tolerable temperatures in the winter for these guys. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0pSv3gatAtXL7A9QE_31xkrpK2RKfA6M05B0qQbo_2G1dj9x94tgPj4c1zewMvwo_f6OuECh1T814x0-nXSO38K2R6KRNRNbNM4mH8Ifc1Za5CIJUeBMP7G8ZpuuruNSTPFa5BuG8sr1/s1600/Robins+tail+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd0pSv3gatAtXL7A9QE_31xkrpK2RKfA6M05B0qQbo_2G1dj9x94tgPj4c1zewMvwo_f6OuECh1T814x0-nXSO38K2R6KRNRNbNM4mH8Ifc1Za5CIJUeBMP7G8ZpuuruNSTPFa5BuG8sr1/s1600/Robins+tail+sig.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The robins clearly aren’t digging up
worm popsicles from under the snow and they aren’t the least interested in my
bird feeders. In fact, if a robin ate seeds, he’d have the same kind of tummy trouble we'd have if we ate nuts and bolts. </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What they <b><i>do</i></b> eat in winter is fruit and berries--this leads them to the woods and explains why we don’t usually notice them. But
with more people planting shrubbery with winterberries, we’re more likely to
<b><i>see</i></b> these “harbingers of spring” in winter.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSilNzK-bUmEkoKtXXeqQOySGC4UiSXAiSNBVK3hm8RjNWFcjTWr_NyWgPkafLUFVb_v3VWeVTUnshxtWfpRC76qjl9Z7qSEwOz2qPgC65NprbfcoHlzoI5y1_dT-IW0YBb4zPPTaOQGF-/s1600/Robin%2527s+meal+sig+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSilNzK-bUmEkoKtXXeqQOySGC4UiSXAiSNBVK3hm8RjNWFcjTWr_NyWgPkafLUFVb_v3VWeVTUnshxtWfpRC76qjl9Z7qSEwOz2qPgC65NprbfcoHlzoI5y1_dT-IW0YBb4zPPTaOQGF-/s1600/Robin%2527s+meal+sig+%25281%2529.jpg" height="317" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span>I’d always assumed the red berries were poisonous because I'd never seen a bird touch them in late summer or fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the fact is, the berries
are pretty bitter as they ripen, so the summer birds ignore them. Not until they’ve frozen and thawed
several times do they become tasty to birds. And that means the berries don't get eaten before the winter visitors arrive. Pretty cool how things work!</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One thing crossed off my Google list. One hundred ninety eight to go...</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">~~~~~</span></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: red;">The free bird thinks of another breeze </span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="color: red;">and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees<br />and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn </span></i></b><br />
<b><i><span style="color: red;">and he names the sky his own.</span> </i></b>~Maya Angelou<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-16533256164676395272014-01-12T18:39:00.000-05:002014-01-12T18:42:23.942-05:00The magic of winter...<style>
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I’ve taken plenty of cold, windy walks on snow-covered beaches, but I realized when a friend and I stood on the shore at <a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Parker_River/" target="_blank">Parker River National Wildlife Refuge</a>, watching thick, fluffy flakes fall, that I’d
never actually been on a beach <b><i>during</i></b> a snowfall. </div>
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Boy, have I missed something in all these years of living in the
Northeast!</div>
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I had my camera. Of course! And there was nothing I wanted
more than to capture the beauty of the landscape—the sweep of the ocean and the
rise of dunes with the beach between, softened and muted by the falling snow.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBruIjK_JmpBQk0ZI9MzvviSR3hH-PBosMdAj9CJZTo1If15s_MAiLPxbhb4RutNG4JOig4CiPrSpShiLLN52qoe5-upjonZdmJ7OFeJQ4G0IO5oxqcqRz74aapaDgDOZujAiul30QO81F/s1600/focus+on+flakes+sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBruIjK_JmpBQk0ZI9MzvviSR3hH-PBosMdAj9CJZTo1If15s_MAiLPxbhb4RutNG4JOig4CiPrSpShiLLN52qoe5-upjonZdmJ7OFeJQ4G0IO5oxqcqRz74aapaDgDOZujAiul30QO81F/s1600/focus+on+flakes+sig.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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But the purpose of our two-hour drive had been to get some shots of one of the several snowy owls that have settled on the Plum Island for the
winter. So I'd left my landscape lens in the parked car and had only my long lens on the
camera. This lens would give me the focal distance I needed to get the details of a distant owl,
but it would show only a narrow slice of landscape, not the snow-filled panorama I wanted at that moment.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGc0w3IHRcQEPtgIICNFuJNPTDeW2kvUHS01yyAxRvS6rAbqYhKmJQchX7PxKn15l0zrFPtA2IQgMSNbJ0hzJ8293CxE1PtDgm4E9H9ePbcnnLWkIq4bbK-3gEuQ5exz6YK5a_c7P11QJ/s1600/gull+on+snowy+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmGc0w3IHRcQEPtgIICNFuJNPTDeW2kvUHS01yyAxRvS6rAbqYhKmJQchX7PxKn15l0zrFPtA2IQgMSNbJ0hzJ8293CxE1PtDgm4E9H9ePbcnnLWkIq4bbK-3gEuQ5exz6YK5a_c7P11QJ/s1600/gull+on+snowy+beach.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Still...I snapped the shutter—it’s what photographers do--and
I <b><i>love</i></b> what the camera caught. Even a tiny piece of the bigger scene looks
magical. And if <b><i>that</i></b> had been the way the day had ended, I'd have been happy with just these images.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSplIFIa0CcsayN5UKPwlILA67fdcg__93GoI7A4Oj2k_ScYohO7g5HIWQcx9cGkZWLbLmjXPKGfPM7QT71RLJcoBudItlfeVw6dzydmA22WGicp-QfoXEWcYy3oLQplhUbOzSox-dTik7/s1600/snow+on+plum+island+beach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSplIFIa0CcsayN5UKPwlILA67fdcg__93GoI7A4Oj2k_ScYohO7g5HIWQcx9cGkZWLbLmjXPKGfPM7QT71RLJcoBudItlfeVw6dzydmA22WGicp-QfoXEWcYy3oLQplhUbOzSox-dTik7/s1600/snow+on+plum+island+beach.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Continuing the owl search, we started down a boardwalk. Plump birds bartered for space on the bare branches while waiting their turn for the berries on a nearby bush. When we got closer, we saw that they were robins--sort of an unnatural sight in winter--but there were dozens. I snapped away, hoping I caught some birds with berries in their beaks. If <b><i>this</i></b> was all we saw for the day, I wouldn't have a complaint in the world.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvd3jlRmsrnwcuuqmyerVvvedl1unENhJzSVhD2JTeEW5-uAAIIEMom0F_hr6dJTqzHm2J1gbxwUIDZyHXZ5VJCQ1Yhag9UdipbZ2qEZgL3qejjoGXqwd95mFiKLym6lJdVEOunMdLW8jf/s1600/Robin%2527s+meal+sig+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvd3jlRmsrnwcuuqmyerVvvedl1unENhJzSVhD2JTeEW5-uAAIIEMom0F_hr6dJTqzHm2J1gbxwUIDZyHXZ5VJCQ1Yhag9UdipbZ2qEZgL3qejjoGXqwd95mFiKLym6lJdVEOunMdLW8jf/s1600/Robin%2527s+meal+sig+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Then we hit the trifecta when we spotted the snowy owl on a jetty of rocks, slippery from melted snow and sea water. It was a tricky go, maneuvering slowly and carefully so as not to fall. The goal was not to scare the snowy, not to drop camera equipment, and not to fall and get hurt--in that order. We made it! The snowy posed for quite a while before getting bored and flying to the beach.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7hBYjjyG0hRAzhfw3Wykva_d3Oq4WPEiWJgcHwkmqIdFKH7DbC9aTfv_RhyphenhyphenaDs2niS5UH7wZSnHzVNFcBq1SP9-h2dfoAACPwuCxJPhSzZqL1ZXOJ4tFUeeUp2RU8xsxFmZA6kTJKDng/s1600/snowy+at+Emerson+Rocks+sig+square.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu7hBYjjyG0hRAzhfw3Wykva_d3Oq4WPEiWJgcHwkmqIdFKH7DbC9aTfv_RhyphenhyphenaDs2niS5UH7wZSnHzVNFcBq1SP9-h2dfoAACPwuCxJPhSzZqL1ZXOJ4tFUeeUp2RU8xsxFmZA6kTJKDng/s1600/snowy+at+Emerson+Rocks+sig+square.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So just when I thought I was as happy as could be, I got happier still!<br />
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A perfect winter day! And more to come!</div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.”
</i>~Sarah Addison Allen</span></div>
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<br />Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-30438727181393527362012-10-10T18:49:00.001-04:002013-05-25T12:45:14.038-04:00Now for the sad part...<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRkiCNmAaZQp7cvj0KWJErkDr0qLSRNVQbye7OM1EOW8KwktflUQLg8xTYYSGB6Ms3dyQDR6FRUydELy2SpJm7TBm-Sebwh6TRrrdBmDiq0WRk1b9g1SxcPurGyHIc1-nNPP15t4rSVzP/s1600/DSC_0223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiRkiCNmAaZQp7cvj0KWJErkDr0qLSRNVQbye7OM1EOW8KwktflUQLg8xTYYSGB6Ms3dyQDR6FRUydELy2SpJm7TBm-Sebwh6TRrrdBmDiq0WRk1b9g1SxcPurGyHIc1-nNPP15t4rSVzP/s320/DSC_0223.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I clicked open the email with “Hello from the past!” in the subject line to find a note from from a former student, Josh. How I
love hearing from former students. I remember Josh well: a little imp of a guy with a perpetual grin and a frizz of
curls and an insatiable curiosity. He played the saxophone…or was that his brother Matt? I think both. I’ll
let the email exchange speak for itself … </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: blue;"><i>Hello
Mrs. Douillette -<br />
<br />
Would you be, by chance, the same Mrs. Douillette who once taught at Cedar School
(at least, I think it was Cedar School?) in Hanover 30 years-or-so ago? If so,
I believe I was one of your fortunate students. I seem to remember spending countless
hours--and reams of magical tracing paper--gleefully working on projects about
dinosaurs and whales while under your tutelage. Happy days indeed.<br />
<br />
Anyway, if this is really you, hello! I'm sure I can conjure some more memories
of those heady days that will make us both feel much older!<br />
<br />Josh </i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">Hi
Josh!<br /> </span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="color: red;">You've reached the right person and I'm so glad to hear from you. I'm not<br />
the greatest at keeping track of time, but I'm guessing you must be late 20s,
early 30s (?). Am I close? I think I had you in the REACH program. ... I
remember you clearly, and you DID have a thing for dinosaurs! :>) Where are
you living now and what are you up to?<br />
<br />
Best,<br />
Mrs. D. (aka Ruth)</span></i></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp66MKY7cVYCUQM2qap4s2lkAr4rjRf1OuM2Jti9IkozywbtiFuU9DM759xUOcrdHVPMAJ0gIo802_xIk9feWSSoDFg0yM_3khyphenhyphen_nbcOSnkoUoIc_uuyC7NBS6JVLztPmHuhM10zJdT3Bx/s1600/DSC_0206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp66MKY7cVYCUQM2qap4s2lkAr4rjRf1OuM2Jti9IkozywbtiFuU9DM759xUOcrdHVPMAJ0gIo802_xIk9feWSSoDFg0yM_3khyphenhyphen_nbcOSnkoUoIc_uuyC7NBS6JVLztPmHuhM10zJdT3Bx/s200/DSC_0206.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>Well, sorry to say (for both of us) that I'm 41. That said, despite the fact
that my memory is such that I can't remember changing my kids' diapers, I
vividly remember that REACH class. My best friend at the time (and ever since)
was John Goff. Somewhere in his mom's house there is a cassette tape of John
and I recording some sort of presentation about dinosaurs or whales for the
REACH class. I remember that I had terribly laryngitis and that the school bell
kept interrupting us! John's a teacher in Maine now.<br />
<br />
</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>I have
to tell you that your class had a tremendous impact on me. I think about it all
the time. Just about everyone in that class went onto excel in life in one way
or another. You were the launching pad for a lot of successful kids, and I
can't thank you enough for making me feel like I could do things that were
creative and engaging, rather than just the ABCs. <span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>...</i></span></span></span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>
<br />
Now for the sad part - I share this not for any sort of sympathy or to be a
downer but, rather, because I was admiring your blog and wanted to show you
mine. Over the summer, I was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. I'm
currently in the middle of that fight (I just finished my first round of chemo
treatments). I've always been a writer on the side, so I decided to start a
blog about the cancer experience. I thought it would be an interesting,
real-time dissection of a life-changing event, and it has also proven to be
quite therapeutic. Anyway, if you want to check it out, <span class="object"></span>I'd love to know what you think about it.<br />
<br />
Josh</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Ahhh,
Josh. Big sigh. I was just getting a warm glow from your memories of my class
(Thank you.) and then the punch to the gut. Not at all the news I
expected to hear. ...</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">No need for the rest of my email. This isn't about me. I hope you visit Josh's blog, <a href="http://stagefoursarcasm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Stage Four Sarcasm</a>, to wish him well--literally-- and for a dose of his fantastic humor in the midst of crisis. </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">--- </span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">We all travel along on whatever road we find ourselves, but some endure rides bumpier than others. ~RD</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-51394744023051067832012-10-05T22:15:00.000-04:002013-05-25T13:13:05.880-04:00Mothers and butterflies...<style>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUlkkGq4aKivPTQB4J0dbYAQx40R_JPCNlcG6_ynsfE8pLZRdvgyJPqtkvI7htsLoiO_x2dwk2dYD7C49pYwW1TQjrLB6g2ajL0Zg8dTpCvvpDnKo6Bp2ZLbaCzShaLOntK3vK_eZvYpa/s1600/DSC_1409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSUlkkGq4aKivPTQB4J0dbYAQx40R_JPCNlcG6_ynsfE8pLZRdvgyJPqtkvI7htsLoiO_x2dwk2dYD7C49pYwW1TQjrLB6g2ajL0Zg8dTpCvvpDnKo6Bp2ZLbaCzShaLOntK3vK_eZvYpa/s320/DSC_1409.jpg" width="228" /></a>When I visited my 92-year-old mother at her assisted living
home, I thought of butterflies—the painted ladies I’d seen sipping the last
sweet nectar from the buddleia in my back yard. </div>
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Painted ladies don’t live long, and my 92-year-old mother
certainly has. So that’s not the comparison. And she certainly wasn’t sipping
anything when I walked into her room; she was sleeping in front of a blaring
TV. And neither was she painted. She’s never been much for make-up. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But nonetheless, painted lady butterflies that popped into
my mind as I watched her sleeping. </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>“Mom?” I said softly.</div>
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She startled and I could see in an instant that she didn’t
have a clue who I was. </div>
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<br /></div>
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So I told her. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s
Ruthie,” I said. </div>
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<br /></div>
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That’s always been enough for her face to blossom into a
smile of recognition. </div>
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<br /></div>
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“Ruthie!” she always exclaims with pleasure. </div>
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But this time her smile wasn’t convincing--she didn’t exclaim--and I could tell
she didn’t know who I was. </div>
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<br /></div>
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But she went with me anyway on a drive to the clinic to get
her blood drawn. She chatted pleasantly along the way. She only asked twice
where we were going and why.</div>
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<br /></div>
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On the way home I asked if she knew who I was.</div>
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<br /></div>
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“Not really,” she said.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I needed to know once and for all if she remembered me, if
not by sight at least by name. </div>
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<br /></div>
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“I’m Ruthie. Does that ring a bell?”</div>
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“I know it should mean something,” she said with a little
chuckle.</div>
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<br /></div>
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“But it doesn’t?”</div>
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<br /></div>
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“Not really.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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So, it’s final. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFLOc2bTC_ufN5MUReWdbM0NwjFkcjjPDSG-8bPM8I1xaQO8C-U7i6vYJgS2jDOkZat2pv4KRSCv45p6XrpaaBSnai3par6vWItx0NGn60U2p-iTM9wdvB6doiHdGcvSttXAZEzE84JXt/s1600/DSC_2480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVFLOc2bTC_ufN5MUReWdbM0NwjFkcjjPDSG-8bPM8I1xaQO8C-U7i6vYJgS2jDOkZat2pv4KRSCv45p6XrpaaBSnai3par6vWItx0NGn60U2p-iTM9wdvB6doiHdGcvSttXAZEzE84JXt/s320/DSC_2480.jpg" width="320" /></a>Now I know for sure I’ve been erased from her memory banks. It’s
been a long time coming and I’ve been preparing myself, even fooling myself
into thinking she DID still remember when it was pretty obvious that it was “not really.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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So it feels … okay. Expected. Sad.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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When I got home I look at the photos of painted lady
butterflies I’d taken recently trying to determine why they came to mind when I
saw my mother. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They butterflies were still beautiful, but tattered and torn, with
chunks missing from wing tips. They’d done a lot of living, these butterflies,
and it showed. Like someone else I know.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://upstreamanddown.blogspot.com/2008/01/if-tree-falls-and.html" target="_blank">If a tree falls...</a><br />
<br />
___<br />
<i><span class="huge">"If you're always battling against getting older, you're always going to be unhappy, because it's going to happen anyhow.</span>" </i>~ Mitch Albom<br />
<span class="bodybold">
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-662803612388414742012-01-04T17:33:00.004-05:002012-01-05T21:56:11.229-05:00Function over form~<style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnxKkxLlWZIiqLLo3KW8yIAlq_A-vgiSpJSEWNMv662_FI4h-2gvgbqInFBbJluMaDYTCXjMdbn1IL7oFAPGhsJgTpuW1wTJnHH6qyfrFOVedANqt86kTBfAeEd36NSFQc7TsQViZ2mG5/s1600/pews+and+window+sepia+w-sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtnxKkxLlWZIiqLLo3KW8yIAlq_A-vgiSpJSEWNMv662_FI4h-2gvgbqInFBbJluMaDYTCXjMdbn1IL7oFAPGhsJgTpuW1wTJnHH6qyfrFOVedANqt86kTBfAeEd36NSFQc7TsQViZ2mG5/s320/pews+and+window+sepia+w-sig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I spent the last day of 2011 with a group of photographers, taking pictures in <a href="http://saintanthonynewbedford.com/index.php" target="_blank">Saint Anthony of Padua Church</a> in New Bedford. The ornate interior, decorated for the Christmas season, was beautiful. Gleaming floors and polished wooden pews reflected color and light from stained glass windows and detailed carvings. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCozIdx3Qx_tlO8pmiTGsQrlOzxSNuPOcfm92gJJCSWPH9v-4Zke6qu5XZLCUaF2lH1fDwyCFemLVcwjTK19uq66oHrAnNm6XEItBuPSiIZ8D3RyAErMrvrGG1M8u9qlld9tqiGQSW4Kg/s1600/alter+symetrical+w-sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCozIdx3Qx_tlO8pmiTGsQrlOzxSNuPOcfm92gJJCSWPH9v-4Zke6qu5XZLCUaF2lH1fDwyCFemLVcwjTK19uq66oHrAnNm6XEItBuPSiIZ8D3RyAErMrvrGG1M8u9qlld9tqiGQSW4Kg/s320/alter+symetrical+w-sig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> Despite the color and detail available to shoot, I found myself drawn to the light that played through the rails of the drab stairway leading to the second and third levels of the church. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The stairs were off to the side of the foyer, easily overlooked by anyone intent upon entering the splendid sanctuary. Probably those who trudge up to the choir loft, which looks out over the gleaming center aisle in the nave, don’t give the stairs a second thought, but they are as necessary as the marble columns that support the arched ceiling. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocyqcaegdzzVgptvFk4U_DbyJR1VD_lO9sPkAGhqkGjj7-wqZNmKHDfdxbBynKt4mpG0mw6-4lFo3veClmPisoTaxuF4FoErzXVrBDc-LRycW-XRWyvHY-woRbwgVRI_apWp0qcV7Gt9P/s1600/stairs+w-sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocyqcaegdzzVgptvFk4U_DbyJR1VD_lO9sPkAGhqkGjj7-wqZNmKHDfdxbBynKt4mpG0mw6-4lFo3veClmPisoTaxuF4FoErzXVrBDc-LRycW-XRWyvHY-woRbwgVRI_apWp0qcV7Gt9P/s320/stairs+w-sig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"> A friend who saw my photos called the stairs “grungy and worn and burnished with age.” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And I thought … if we live long enough, we’ll all end up worn. But burnished? That’s something that comes only to those who allow the stresses of life to polish them, rather than scrape them raw. Not an easy thing. It comes, I think, from a willing acceptance of our purpose in life. As I said, not easy to accept that our function is ultimately greater than our form...especially in this world where glamor and glow distract us from inner beauty. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel92ogT_XhsbuBOKQE_l-bm5pY89d1T2t97ZerlgV-bzMaJq22591pI02ZX1OF9S6WXLJTeXZ_0UJW7cw3YLS5gZUBI48GGISTjiC47n7m8jt9HVqV9xvkSbYzlZAEDG83-hwC10U6n0S/s1600/stairs+going+upw-sig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjel92ogT_XhsbuBOKQE_l-bm5pY89d1T2t97ZerlgV-bzMaJq22591pI02ZX1OF9S6WXLJTeXZ_0UJW7cw3YLS5gZUBI48GGISTjiC47n7m8jt9HVqV9xvkSbYzlZAEDG83-hwC10U6n0S/s320/stairs+going+upw-sig.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">--- <b style="color: #660000;"><i> </i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="color: #660000;"><i>You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your souls's own doing. </i></b> ~ Marie Sropes</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #660000;"><i>It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic,</i></div><i style="color: #660000;"> </i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #660000;"><i>Of all things physical and metaphysical,<br />
Of all things human and all things super-human,<br />
Of all true manifestations of the head,<br />
Of the heart, of the soul,<br />
That the life is recognizable in its expression,<br />
That form ever follows function. This is the law.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal">~ American architect <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Louis Sullivan</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">---</div><div class="MsoNormal"><style>
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="color: #660000;"><i></i></b></div>Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-11629246037629366912011-11-23T17:04:00.002-05:002011-11-24T09:25:57.733-05:00Inside the box~<div class="MsoNormal">At Thanksgiving time, I always think back to my years as a young teacher. It was traditional to have students list all the things they were thankful for. But I was a think-outside-the-box teacher, and I urged them to think beyond what <i>I</i> thought were the obvious things to be thankful for. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yes, yes, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, I'd think, as I listed their comments on the board. Sure, food and pets. Yes, of course, your house. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Ii_r9_sYRfk3R-vkgB6AlY5Sc1DmTDQeNaeQb_lQnI8G2Lvzqa4XmGrzopE-reWbo0_AwcvRjupxcW5hid8626mg-0lgrVj578qSbS0SOiJrbpE8LQDEWnNrNPPd1syY0rANT3YyJw1B/s1600/Happy+Thanksgiving+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Ii_r9_sYRfk3R-vkgB6AlY5Sc1DmTDQeNaeQb_lQnI8G2Lvzqa4XmGrzopE-reWbo0_AwcvRjupxcW5hid8626mg-0lgrVj578qSbS0SOiJrbpE8LQDEWnNrNPPd1syY0rANT3YyJw1B/s400/Happy+Thanksgiving+%25281%2529.jpg" width="302" /></a> </div><div class="MsoNormal">"But what <i>ELSE</i>?" I'd ask. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">They were silent.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">For these seven- and eight-year-olds there really <i>was</i> nothing else. What they were thankful for fit neatly into the box. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">And I've come to realize this is true for me, as well. My box is full of the obvious blessings. What <i>ELSE</i> could I ask for? What else really matters?<br />
<br />
The blessings outside my box--and there are plenty-- are mere frosting on the cake...or should I say, stuffing in the turkey? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Happy Thanksgiving. May your boxes be full. May all your thorns have roses.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
---<br />
<br />
</div><a href="http://upstreamanddown.blogspot.com/2007/11/giving-thanks-for-you.html" target="_blank">Giving Thanks For *You* (2007)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_647038522"><br />
</a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="color: black;"><span class="quote">Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. </span><br />
<span class="quotesource">~</span></i><span class="quotesource" style="color: black;">Alphonse Karr</span> </div>Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-85629713970433561112011-11-01T21:50:00.003-04:002011-11-01T21:53:30.324-04:00Just for fun...<div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8zMdHPM6M71wsuMmJ4X405zLddlf5vGKTSDToJwKGQq4ryUrHh0NxAHqwZYx3hOcZcSKPEL_DZMVfAdeYp4ApMfrcSZdn3pGiOWRqRAtD3pem4K1Cu4q58bbeXKK4DVBPbUA82EzgagD/s1600/slurp+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc8zMdHPM6M71wsuMmJ4X405zLddlf5vGKTSDToJwKGQq4ryUrHh0NxAHqwZYx3hOcZcSKPEL_DZMVfAdeYp4ApMfrcSZdn3pGiOWRqRAtD3pem4K1Cu4q58bbeXKK4DVBPbUA82EzgagD/s400/slurp+%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Sometimes it’s fun to photograph something different, something playful, to take a break from landscapes and sunsets, as much as I love them. Fun to shoot something I could never do on my own. So I was happy to have the opportunity through the <a href="http://www.pdpcameraclub.com/" target="_blank">Plymouth Digital Photographer</a>’s club to do just that. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Roy Marshall, a member of two local camera clubs, did the prep work, setting up a sophisticated system that relies on perfect timing, with strobes designed to flash in time to catch the split-second of action--in this case, a splash of colored water.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxikgqRmNvRI5igadqiRggq_feKnGv9vBP1B3v5ohdUhL2PkVzE2xrdzO93oi1bUiQcTEehL3SXghqVeI_CHA4o5RT8kxzExJnUL95g5pegaRBitHnzSuzyE3fwD9s4LnxDdK2p3DzFW8/s1600/cheers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYxikgqRmNvRI5igadqiRggq_feKnGv9vBP1B3v5ohdUhL2PkVzE2xrdzO93oi1bUiQcTEehL3SXghqVeI_CHA4o5RT8kxzExJnUL95g5pegaRBitHnzSuzyE3fwD9s4LnxDdK2p3DzFW8/s400/cheers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Roy partially filled three brandy snifters with colored water and set them on a platform. About twenty of us stood behind our cameras, which were perched on tripods, and focused on the glasses. Then Roy pulled the platform up a short incline, and lights were turned out. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pbhA_3JwdCwq7TB1FWtIHo8W5ErPD5vCTXneTt9EEDZgBcdzJho3FEid04BO_C-f8cciLhD4ph2ts0sEJKc7dLZsVwJCyB6-7N992_4YIf7bhEJhYFBgoVRxmN-DbtfGs_ufCBrFTEW1/s1600/three+slurps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8pbhA_3JwdCwq7TB1FWtIHo8W5ErPD5vCTXneTt9EEDZgBcdzJho3FEid04BO_C-f8cciLhD4ph2ts0sEJKc7dLZsVwJCyB6-7N992_4YIf7bhEJhYFBgoVRxmN-DbtfGs_ufCBrFTEW1/s400/three+slurps.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
In this pitch-blackness, we clicked open camera shutters, using "bulb mode," which allowed the shutter to stay open until released. We waited for the platform to be released to slide down the incline and come to an abrupt stop. This triggered the high-speed flash to light the snifters so we could capture the resulting slurp of the colored water. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbvP70k_HhLAM7MMKuOp-mjI9caRHiCRA7H7bkwyDeSRVTB48TWIcOGQe2SmYAacdup6u3fLqDeW5RJCA8Srfk28ORxYxwfXgkpBK85q20yidf09ib4YJPl3PYhb4XFJQKxvEEPMeiIbY/s1600/glow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEbvP70k_HhLAM7MMKuOp-mjI9caRHiCRA7H7bkwyDeSRVTB48TWIcOGQe2SmYAacdup6u3fLqDeW5RJCA8Srfk28ORxYxwfXgkpBK85q20yidf09ib4YJPl3PYhb4XFJQKxvEEPMeiIbY/s400/glow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Fun. Different. Pretty cool!<br />
<br />
<i>Roy's Suggested Camera Settings<br />
• ISO 200<br />
<br />
• F Stop: about f/11 to f/16</i> <i><br />
<br />
• Manual focus</i> <i><br />
<br />
• No auto focus and Anti Vibration off</i> <i><br />
<br />
• Camera on Blub or able to have a 2 to 4 sec. exposure.</i> <br />
<br />
<br />
<span id="goog_61328273"></span><span id="goog_61328274"></span></div>Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-48708184638446187582011-09-15T23:11:00.002-04:002011-11-29T10:07:43.978-05:00Cause and effect ...<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal">A local man, Michael, was killed when the North Tower of the World Trade Center, where he worked on the 105th floor, collapsed on September 11, 2001. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQAUoHdcuYDiPL7KFo-egEXmiWf8JuipLyge0aLjE8_FNxmK5kFF9gwNgPK5QuS7mD47BntQdRiy4OExrkrRO8VszbFPlvYbjnokcT0KzZ-SovcIV7GDkqh7UaIB8uaP9DYOzlnHov157/s1600/michael.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoQAUoHdcuYDiPL7KFo-egEXmiWf8JuipLyge0aLjE8_FNxmK5kFF9gwNgPK5QuS7mD47BntQdRiy4OExrkrRO8VszbFPlvYbjnokcT0KzZ-SovcIV7GDkqh7UaIB8uaP9DYOzlnHov157/s320/michael.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>For the ten-year anniversary of 9/11, a monument in Michael’s memory was designed and built by an architect from his town, and was to stand somewhere in the section of the town cemetery dedicated to veterans. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div>The architect wanted two things: granite of a certain grey color that to him signified somber respect, and granite that was quarried in America. <br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He searched for granite wherever it is architects search, and eventually found just the grey he’d envisioned. And it was quarried in America -- Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to be exact – a perfect and symbolic touch for a 9/11 monument.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcBbGtGGdkKu7n3XLJ5lWM47Srfn7IXOkcA7gUR7XUtt6EY0q6T8xgPr3sDlJLdJwLoST63mnIy4wzDmG_MHD1FQk5DDdDryVJM_9vCm-0YDozfbv3LGY6xESn5Sp50S-tkaWHjgBTz1d/s1600/Iraq.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkcBbGtGGdkKu7n3XLJ5lWM47Srfn7IXOkcA7gUR7XUtt6EY0q6T8xgPr3sDlJLdJwLoST63mnIy4wzDmG_MHD1FQk5DDdDryVJM_9vCm-0YDozfbv3LGY6xESn5Sp50S-tkaWHjgBTz1d/s320/Iraq.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>It didn’t take long for those in charge of the 9/11 ceremony to pick the proper spot for Michael’s monument. It was placed just behind the Iraq memorial … because the attack on the World Trade Center had spurred another man from this town, Shayne, to enlist in the Marines. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Shayne served in Iraq, where he was killed, in effect, because of the attack that killed Michael.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I don’t know why it is that these connections have stayed with me since September 11th, when I covered the 9/11 ceremony for the paper. But I keep thinking about the links people share.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sometimes, as with Michael and Shayne, the connection is tragic. But I’d like to think that more often good comes to others through the unseen threads that stretch from person to person.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then there are the coincidental connections that tie up the ragged ends of loose threads in a more satisfactory way -- such as finding the perfect granite from a town that serves as a burial ground for passengers of United Airlines Flight 93. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This story, of course, begs for further examination of cause upon cause, decisions upon decisions, going way back that ended with these men, and so many others, in a cemetery.<br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
<i>"A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one." </i>~Heraclitus<br />
<br />
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/6yajpak">The rest of the story...</a><br />
<br />
---<br />
<br />
</div>Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-85070522235461637092011-08-18T22:07:00.002-04:002011-08-18T22:08:21.143-04:00Timing is Everything~<style>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvVU-UrYOkVNb9y6i1Kovbcu0P2TbYX-9f1PXyL8Q_0nkd7h72VHBE3-yV4AW6pgwN2rcd-W6JfQpeeDJ9pZkLtl-9q57xvx5RA-Krmuwg0k4eQMCQpqC-ajo2XNbwhzlDz3-Rx38y5Ed/s1600/cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvVU-UrYOkVNb9y6i1Kovbcu0P2TbYX-9f1PXyL8Q_0nkd7h72VHBE3-yV4AW6pgwN2rcd-W6JfQpeeDJ9pZkLtl-9q57xvx5RA-Krmuwg0k4eQMCQpqC-ajo2XNbwhzlDz3-Rx38y5Ed/s400/cat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">I was in Rockport recently, a picturesque North Shore coastal fishing town. It’s got a small artsy village where tourists roam the narrow street that leads to Bearskin Neck and a view of the ocean.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Bruce and I stopped to watch a cat hunting a grasshopper in a raised flowerbed, that bordered the roadway. The cat was quick. She darted and leaped, following the erratic hopping of the insect. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">When the cat looked right, the grasshopper leaped left, perching triumphantly on a zinnia. I thought briefly of scooping it into my hand and moving it farther away from the cat, who was still searching. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Then the grasshopper hopped onto my foot, but before I could walk away--taking it with me out of harm’s way--it made a dynamic leap into the street ... where an oblivious tourist immediately stepped on it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The crunch--like biting into a potato chip—stayed in my ears. The unexpected unfairness of it still lingers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The man continued walking; the cat went on hunting. And I was left to think that surely there was a moral to the story. Or at least a lesson. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But all my lessons seem too grim. This was only a tiny slice of a grasshopper's life, and why should I expand it to mean more than just unfortunate timing? A little good luck followed by bad. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Timing is everything.</div><br />
---<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_timing_of_death-like_the_ending_of_a_story/216466.html"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;"></span></a> <style>
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="color: #274e13;"><a href="http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_timing_of_death-like_the_ending_of_a_story/216466.html"><span style="text-decoration: none;">The timing of death, like the ending of a story, gives a changed meaning to what preceded it.</span></a> </i>~<a href="http://thinkexist.com/quotes/mary_catherine_bateson/"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">Mary Catherine Bateson</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-56200426948215665512011-05-09T21:51:00.002-04:002011-05-09T21:52:43.146-04:00A bird in the hand~<style>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncte38FRllF1leKGPlwAHhVyGK_p9KrRZiQ081qV_emN3XxpJPvn7tokWXZiiF4tS33eEKWr0p_I3iWfvqhDoif6CzxTQ3W3NAP614bvncTz6Sxsn2cLccYCvVHm_oaYxHM1Nvh8f-ZzE/s1600/bird+in+hand+2+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgncte38FRllF1leKGPlwAHhVyGK_p9KrRZiQ081qV_emN3XxpJPvn7tokWXZiiF4tS33eEKWr0p_I3iWfvqhDoif6CzxTQ3W3NAP614bvncTz6Sxsn2cLccYCvVHm_oaYxHM1Nvh8f-ZzE/s400/bird+in+hand+2+-+Version+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Recently I had the privilege of going with a group of photographers to a bird banding station in Plymouth—<a href="http://www.manomet.org/about-manomet/bird-observatory">Manomet Center ForConservation Sciences.</a> In the roughly forty years the center has been operating, the center has banded more than 350, 000 birds. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The coastal acres are thickly wooded. Fine mesh nets edge trails and capture low flying birds. Volunteers check the nets hourly and gently extricate any birds that have become entangled, then band them and send them on their way. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwvaMQNcebDNm78US4gI_Un0AoyawYglU99UkSZYwG5gNfmC5VeWTiraN8Se5PkPsKVWjsaH7zbsPsrTJTy8nT-aOYEi1yJ3ZRYD3bUe_xb5hLI_9yvDi4UFnQJydF1ABcF-81p_vBYZL/s1600/Netted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwvaMQNcebDNm78US4gI_Un0AoyawYglU99UkSZYwG5gNfmC5VeWTiraN8Se5PkPsKVWjsaH7zbsPsrTJTy8nT-aOYEi1yJ3ZRYD3bUe_xb5hLI_9yvDi4UFnQJydF1ABcF-81p_vBYZL/s400/Netted.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Because the staff knew we were coming—twenty of us with our cameras—they had held onto a few birds for us to photograph up close. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdroTzE5sdr2IX7kfqKRi7k9qkVMurJQ5Qq9ER6nPp6-rCPdMEirPRC1gwbkv3-Q7QERohLrpNgMl9H9TEZHJBdH3p7iwAja94cNVqIEmTb2mjW24W98Q-yNrDyrSIKHVi722YaRoo4EJ/s1600/Red+wing+cape+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfdroTzE5sdr2IX7kfqKRi7k9qkVMurJQ5Qq9ER6nPp6-rCPdMEirPRC1gwbkv3-Q7QERohLrpNgMl9H9TEZHJBdH3p7iwAja94cNVqIEmTb2mjW24W98Q-yNrDyrSIKHVi722YaRoo4EJ/s400/Red+wing+cape+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">What became quickly apparent was the personality of each species. Some are cooperative and preen for the camera, some are flighty and flustered at being the center of attention, some peck at the handler, and others resort to unusual postures, like the blue jay who bent its head at a ninety degree angle to its body and stuck his beak in the air, resisting gentle "rearrangement" attempts for the camera . Some just patiently await release.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-QtTQxNKdfoGHYRhFkHR3M_Kx4IB5YmQNNWyZ0XcwY5EX5XvD9zYjo8MLDT0GTAm71vNPdy6EzY7s1hSorZ4Ndpf2oksKR-gkgkCp6pqEswRvZJSH9wVhgXIGFk7FtyKXGTBGLgvFL_l/s1600/_DSC2901+-+Version+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-QtTQxNKdfoGHYRhFkHR3M_Kx4IB5YmQNNWyZ0XcwY5EX5XvD9zYjo8MLDT0GTAm71vNPdy6EzY7s1hSorZ4Ndpf2oksKR-gkgkCp6pqEswRvZJSH9wVhgXIGFk7FtyKXGTBGLgvFL_l/s400/_DSC2901+-+Version+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The birds were in the care of volunteers who know just how to hold them and what to expect. They are calm and measured and make no sudden moves to startle the birds. In fact there are several previously banded chickadees who’ve discovered that the food placed in walk-in traps is worth repeated capture and release from such kind souls.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM90k-BRz9dzgK9yQ5YcPevUTyV4mLQu-0SgKm5nLuUtkZhOFMPrBS_vQ7Q6pcLnnU9-f9WW798Q-lOpAGDK2TOX7myinKEOYW8YVaZFESI9XxUhOCGUlFsTguJ0QD_7AaqP2Ww4Gq6BSD/s1600/volunteer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM90k-BRz9dzgK9yQ5YcPevUTyV4mLQu-0SgKm5nLuUtkZhOFMPrBS_vQ7Q6pcLnnU9-f9WW798Q-lOpAGDK2TOX7myinKEOYW8YVaZFESI9XxUhOCGUlFsTguJ0QD_7AaqP2Ww4Gq6BSD/s400/volunteer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But as much as I appreciated seeing the birds up close, and as much as I recognize the value of the ongoing study of migrant birds, I couldn’t shake an uncomfortable feeling at seeing such wild creatures in human hands. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYKH1tkHS6W7OETtNYx-YiHmvavbK8icTK_nUYWhfsdDFxNRDkSesJrUV9lnf9JLnTtQFvDuPlD8ItpGVXimkxdWVx4KYayhG-kPfQk2ZJphSn9nO2HYvlUGG6l7Xkz4Au_SHPoQJjmgC/s1600/bluejay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilYKH1tkHS6W7OETtNYx-YiHmvavbK8icTK_nUYWhfsdDFxNRDkSesJrUV9lnf9JLnTtQFvDuPlD8ItpGVXimkxdWVx4KYayhG-kPfQk2ZJphSn9nO2HYvlUGG6l7Xkz4Au_SHPoQJjmgC/s400/bluejay.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">How would I do if a being many times my size clamped an ID to my ankle and then said, “Go in peace?” I'd probably be one of the species who peck at the handler. The birds seem none the worse for their momentary fear. I’d still be having nightmares…unless I was in hands as gentle and caring as those at Manomet. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTxKKrbxb9HmcH0RbejJ5S11QTi-6ZKyETTFICPdha9jX6e39uLxzkS2SsOkR2Gri4BE3rYVFiNEFLSBj06okwfRjTJ03J4489KDzZDibsJQpZ8s-b4RplILJcLsmiB8KoxBMNAX3UWM_/s1600/Just+before+flight....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoTxKKrbxb9HmcH0RbejJ5S11QTi-6ZKyETTFICPdha9jX6e39uLxzkS2SsOkR2Gri4BE3rYVFiNEFLSBj06okwfRjTJ03J4489KDzZDibsJQpZ8s-b4RplILJcLsmiB8KoxBMNAX3UWM_/s400/Just+before+flight....jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</style> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #0b5394;"><i>“<span style="text-decoration: none;">I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will...</span>” <span style="text-decoration: none;">~Charlotte Bronte</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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</div>Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7563921876019154209.post-63583884054096463382011-04-27T23:03:00.002-04:002012-01-04T18:07:08.604-05:00Sunrise... my new friend~<style>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgEpeiROw9j30TiXJsjWwKvk4iBUvkL5KVqJwn7TJgdCabuIyUDOL0Wt9t-N2dbJPsCqOg2E5UWkzeCLrQRKbEdMfUgTO6xHFTlUAwnoZryUddVox9_HUXHIOCz0SisR_78WLm7ele2UO/s1600/Bridge+before+sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCgEpeiROw9j30TiXJsjWwKvk4iBUvkL5KVqJwn7TJgdCabuIyUDOL0Wt9t-N2dbJPsCqOg2E5UWkzeCLrQRKbEdMfUgTO6xHFTlUAwnoZryUddVox9_HUXHIOCz0SisR_78WLm7ele2UO/s400/Bridge+before+sunrise.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Since I retired, I don’t often see the sunrise—by choice. No more setting my alarm. I wake when I wake, and it's usually well after the sun has broken the horizon.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">As a photographer, I know this cuts out the best light of the day, but what's wrong with sleeping late and going after the sunsets? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzdQZbNs1RE7uDT5uBdtoeh6YebHUWc8bZbzg5oNbmsrarByfUubUX4kxld7rKeBelikOoOM8t_cFo9uGbekkYNvKYTShv0w7uvIJUeuTio27pH5NlLS0N1fa6caRkMRRGBxmyCcJXnzJ/s1600/Before+the+rise+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzdQZbNs1RE7uDT5uBdtoeh6YebHUWc8bZbzg5oNbmsrarByfUubUX4kxld7rKeBelikOoOM8t_cFo9uGbekkYNvKYTShv0w7uvIJUeuTio27pH5NlLS0N1fa6caRkMRRGBxmyCcJXnzJ/s400/Before+the+rise+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Recently, I joined <a href="http://www.meetup.com/PlymouthPhotographers/">Plymouth Digital Photographers</a>, an online photography club that has frequent live meet-ups to shoot at various places in the area.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">A twice a year opportunity arose this week to photograph the Bourne Bridge and the Railroad Bridge with the sun rising beneath them both! The same alignment happens again in August, so I’ve been told.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOK6nfH8ho1gBdp54FL8GTCNnWtX7D7kER8FJGyFJm17OR1qRgA9r1bpN2WpCEZANjRpcBprj_9ob2p_PBmd8hNeZmEP03DMBeUxeTy4FBOgJ4UroEzDGY1x8PLFBrYOTthw1lSG_xdGF/s1600/Sunrise.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOK6nfH8ho1gBdp54FL8GTCNnWtX7D7kER8FJGyFJm17OR1qRgA9r1bpN2WpCEZANjRpcBprj_9ob2p_PBmd8hNeZmEP03DMBeUxeTy4FBOgJ4UroEzDGY1x8PLFBrYOTthw1lSG_xdGF/s400/Sunrise.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So when my alarm went off at 4 a.m., I dressed quickly, got my camera and tripod, and set off for Wareham, a town on the "mainland" side of the Cape Cod Canal-- a forty minute ride from where I live. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The forecast was iffy; it had rained off and on in the night. Who wants to wake early if the sun might stay in bed? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Still, I made myself go. And the sun more than rewarded me and the one other lady who showed up. Not only did we get some beautiful shots, we chatted over coffee and bagels afterward.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This early morning trip revived my love of early light. I just may set my alarm now and again. In fact, I'm sure I will.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZo3iXUgCVKomf_LRT0YlumiRfzlvQ1VIPYy9W_AT01UaMzGgMS56HL79_YB8VgSRiWjHfewZnBNlTAAw6-v2Bh3g_WlsuWhEtiJpHhhD_xATuTHc-3kviN5l4-SNmXbXz9i5SmEbp1_V/s1600/Toward+the+open+arms+of+the+sea....jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHZo3iXUgCVKomf_LRT0YlumiRfzlvQ1VIPYy9W_AT01UaMzGgMS56HL79_YB8VgSRiWjHfewZnBNlTAAw6-v2Bh3g_WlsuWhEtiJpHhhD_xATuTHc-3kviN5l4-SNmXbXz9i5SmEbp1_V/s400/Toward+the+open+arms+of+the+sea....jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal">Click on photos to enlarge.<br />
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<div style="color: #0b5394;"><style>
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</style> <i><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;">"The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never dried all at once..." ~John Muir</span></i> </div></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div>Ruth L.~http://www.blogger.com/profile/01008932486010118709noreply@blogger.com6