In their own words

I'll let this video speak for itself.

Flying

Last Wednesday was my son's first day of second grade. To celebrate, I took half the day off and picked him up from his early release time. We then visited a local Radio Shack and picked up a Flytech Dragonfly. This is an amazing toy and I highly recommend it. We modified the tail a bit and can now fly it around the house.

big

I used to say I was only bigoted towards bigots. It's all about looking for a sense of power over others. Power over others to stay safe and keep "mine" safe. If you are one of "my" friends, then you "belong" and you're "safe." If you do something that I view as threatening, however, I can excise you from "my" group and you are then one of "them" who are out to get some of "mine." If I give you the label of "bigot" then it's okay for me to treat you like "one of them", right? Left? Right? Moderate?

In an odd way, I'm glad I briefly spoke to the Cicada Killer killer last night. At least he heard from someone who had a different view. I hope it may plant a seed of thought for him. And of course, it's hypocritical of me to want to "kill" the guy for killing the killers...

when Jesus said Love your enemies, I'm pretty sure he meant don't kill them.

-Anonymous

So, yellowjackets are okay to spray, but Cicada Killers...? Where does one draw the line? When does that line vary?

Killers killed for disturbing the lawn

As my daughter and I were walking to the library to return some books this evening, we passed one of the yards where our family watched Cicada Killers buzzing about several evenings ago. A man I assumed to be the home owner was busy filling the holes with some kind of pesticide. To make a long story short, the guy first claimed the females would sting. I informed him it really wasn't supposed to be painful - only a pin prick and only if severely disturbed. He then replied that he didn't like all the dirt they dug up in his yard. As we talked, one of the females crawled out of a hole, completely covered in whatever pesticide dust he used. She flew up and away, passing between us. At that point I simply said, "Well, I guess that's a problem." and strolled away, knowing he wouldn't/didn't care about anything I said - his perfect lawn was more important than some fearsome, but harmless looking creatures. I really just wanted to scream, "What the (expletives deleted) are you doing?"and give the guy a taste of his own medicine. However, my wise mind won and my daughter was not exposed to watching her father do something violent to another person. (cue music...)

You've taken everything that you wanted
Broke it up and plundered it and hunted
Ever since we said it
You went and took the credit
It's been headed this way since the world began
When a vicious creature took the jump from Monkey to Man

~Elvis Costello, Monkey to Man

Granted

Next time you go for a walk, talk, and nosh on a snack at the same time, take a moment. Remember to be grateful your amazing body can coordinate all those activities without falling over or spewing what you're putting into your mouth before it hits your throat. We take so much of what our bodies do for granted. We're truly marvelous machines. Our daughter simply takes us beyond what we assume we can do - and that's a good thing, though stressful at times.

What's important?

Here I am, a health professional, complaining I don't make enough money to cover our family's medical expenses. Hmmm...

I'm grateful to have my mental health relatively intact. I'm grateful to live in a place where we have access to good health care. I'm grateful we won't go bankrupt from upcoming medical expenses. I wonder what the next half of my life will bring? Maybe I'm not even half-way there. If I work at it, maybe my own medical expenses can be kept at a minimum while maintaining decent health. What do I want my kids to learn from how I live my life day to day? Heck, what do I want to learn about myself day to day? How can I live my life in way that is fair and respectful to my child with Down Syndrome and my child who I can't keep up with?

Right here and right now, I'm just grateful to be able to experience all of this amazing thing called life.

Rain

We had our first gentle rain in over a week and a half last night and this morning. By one rain gauge, we received 2 inches over 10 hours. The previous rain was about two weeks before and the rain before that I can't recall. We've been in drought mode for much of the summer. It was so pleasant to go out and play in the rain and splash in the puddles this morning with the family.