The 13 Ripple Effect
1. The finches are at the feeders sunning their feathered coats that have not turned yellow yet.
2. I can’t walk past a stick without sizing up it up and resisting the urge to pick it up for woodstove kindling.
3. I took THIS shot by sticking my camera out the open window of my car while driving and call it a “come as you are” shot.
4. Last week my grandsons went on an adventure walk with Hopa Joe. When they came across a dead rabbit that looked like it had been chewed up by another animal, Bryce (6) responded right away by saying, “That’s sad.” Liam, who is four, said, “I’m not allowed to look at that.”
5. You know you live in the country when you see a message on the Floyd Group Facebook page that says: If anyone sees Barry Rorer, tell him his pigs are loose.
6. I can almost hear the squeak in the word tweak.
7. It wasn’t long before I was wishing I hadn’t sold all my and gypsy shawls and flowing Indian-print skirts at our moving yard sale in Texas. But this was the MTV ‘80s and I was a Mother Earth News wanna-be homesteader in need of some LL Bean work boots and jeans. I read or heard a rumor once that the hippies that came to Floyd in the ‘70s and ‘80s were trust fund beneficiaries, but the majority of people I knew lived at or below-the-poverty-line. That was the trade-off we were willing to make to be home raising our kids, pursuing healthy natural lifestyles, living simply (sometimes off the grid) with land stewardship in mind. – From my contribution to Randall Well’s e-book Floydiana, titled Hippies are from California HERE.
8. Recent google searches: What ring finger do you wear your wedding ring on? When are the Grammys? When can I deposit money to an IRA Roth account? How many have died from vaccines?
9. The recent rhetoric from those pushing measles vaccine compliance has been so divisive and condescending that it reminds me of the Iraq War propaganda, when George Bush said ‘you’re either with us or against us.’ Confusing the measles with diseases like polio is like lumping marijuana with heroin. HERE is something I wrote about the link between vaccines and autism in 2011, after the rate of autism, which was practically unheard of when I was growing up, rose 57% in four years, from one in every 150 child being diagnosed to one in every 110. Now it’s one in 68.
10. Last night I dreamt that Joe and I were home together when we heard someone on the porch near the front door. We both looked at each other, surprised and confused. Did we forget we were expecting someone? Who could it be? A robber perhaps? We opened the door and discovered it was my 89 year old mother (who is currently in a rehab/nursing home). We were shocked! She was thin and frail but was somehow walking and somehow she got from Massachusetts to Virginia. The dream is particularly interesting because she has been telling me she was going to visit again, even though I knew in reality (because she is physically disabled and can’t walk on her own) that it wasn’t going to happen. The dream, which I had after writing THIS poem, made me think about an elder person’s ability to exist in between worlds at a certain point in their life.
11. We went to the gym over the weekend weekend, in other words, to Dogtown Roadhouse. – See HERE.
12. Sign seen on Facebook: It’s a shame that Brian Williams will probably be the only person ever punished for lying about Iraq.
13. THIS really turns me around.
____________Thirteen Thursday
February 12th, 2015 3:05 am
I love that photo of the clouds. I always size up sticks to see if they’re good for the puppy to play with.
February 12th, 2015 6:15 am
Finches, eh? Lucky you.
TGTF
February 12th, 2015 6:56 am
#6 how I love that world Tweak for sure
February 12th, 2015 8:09 am
I agree with #12. As a country, we have a lot to answer for.
February 12th, 2015 10:30 am
Vaccines are far less dangerous than the diseases for 99.9% of the population. Those who should not get vaccines, usually know. Most of these diseases can kill and vaccines do not.
February 12th, 2015 10:42 am
Vaccines have their place but there have been deaths from them, as well as serious injuries.
It’s generally believed that autism is caused by a combination of genetics and something environmental. The National Autism Association believes that vaccinations can trigger or exacerbate autism in some, especially those who are genetically predisposed to immune, autoimmune or inflammatory conditions. I think the over-confident claims about the safety of vaccines keep us from figuring out how to screen children at risk for vaccine injury and from making vaccines safer.
February 12th, 2015 11:20 am
love #5 and #12 so true, miss Brian already
February 12th, 2015 12:02 pm
“Come as you are” is gorgeous, but I don’t get the name. Pink Floyd makes perfect sense.
February 12th, 2015 12:19 pm
Oh, “Come as you are” refers to the fact that I had to stick my camera out the window and shoot because I was driving and the sky changes in a matter of minutes so you have to capture it while you can.
February 12th, 2015 1:05 pm
Hmm. So if the finches’ feathers haven’t changed does that mean a longer winter?
http://www.miaceleste.com/?p=526
February 13th, 2015 7:10 am
“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
February 13th, 2015 10:41 am
“It is generally believed…” “The National Autism Association believes….” When it comes to peoples’ lives I think we ought to forego “belief” and pursue the science.
February 13th, 2015 10:50 am
Agreed https://www.ringoffireradio.com/2015/02/cdc-scientist-still-maintains-agency-forced-researchers-lie-safety-mercury-based-vaccines/
http://healthimpactnews.com/2014/doctors-against-vaccines-the-other-side-of-the-story-is-not-being-told/
February 13th, 2015 5:23 pm
The one about your mother fascinated me.
February 15th, 2015 12:24 pm
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/straight-talk-about-vaccination/?page=1
February 15th, 2015 12:30 pm
the problem is not in the science but in the men doing the science…
February 16th, 2015 1:40 pm
And here’s a new live one: http://www.globalresearch.ca/vaccine-mccarthyism-what-if-the-vaccine-paradigm-itself-is-deliberately-flawed/5427768
And one of the best I’ve read so far: Here’s one of the best I’ve read: https://medium.com/@therebootedbody/bringing-much-needed-sanity-to-the-vaccine-debate-e143f089bfd1
February 25th, 2015 11:30 pm
Love the cloud pic. I noticed a couple weeks ago that our local finches are already turning yellow again, though the temps are still Arctic.