Age

"Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.
People grow old by deserting their ideals.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;
as young as your hope, as old as your despair."

~General Douglas MacArthur

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Stress Buster

Just in case you are having a rough day, here is a stress management technique recommended in all the latest Psychological journals. The funny thing is that it really does work and will make you smile...

1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.

2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.

3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.

4. No one knows your secret place.

5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.

6. The soothing sound of a gentle water fall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of the person you are holding underwater.

There!! See? It really does work. You're smiling already. Feel free to forward this if you know others who might benefit from this.
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Too Funny

I just love this! If you've been reading here for any length of time you know how enchanted I am with nutrition, and the affect of proper nutrition on our bodies. I wrote here and here about the topic last year.

So of course, looking at the daily news feeds today, an entry titled "Healthy Habits That Aren't" caught my eye. I'm reading through the article, not surprised to see that washing our hands in antibacterial soaps is no better than using regular soap, and can even be worse. Nor am I surprised to read that low-fat/fat free diets aren't all that good for us, and that perfect posture is not better for our backs than reclining. Nor was I surprised to read that taking anti-oxidants in pill form doesn't help us at all and can actually harm us (must EAT the anti-oxidant rich food, can't take the shortcut with pills!)

I WAS surprised though to read that carrots (Vitamin A) are not as good for our eyes as we've been led to believe. Now of course, Vitamin A is good for eyesight and other things, so I had to read more to find out what the article was saying. Here's an excerpt:

If you think these vegetables will improve your vision, think again. While carrots do contain vitamin A, which is a major player in keeping your eyes working properly, you really only need a small amount of it—and no matter how much vitamin A you consume, it’s not going to magically eliminate your need for glasses. In fact, if you eat too much vitamin A, you can end up with a toxic—although not usually fatal—reaction. The idea that more carrots means better vision might actually be a relic of a World War II-era military disinformation campaign. According to the online World Carrot Museum, British intelligence began spreading the myth during the blitz as a plausible explanation for why their fighter pilots were suddenly able to spot Nazi planes at night. In reality, the British had simply developed a better radar system and didn’t want the enemy to find out about it.

That is just too funny! One of the greatest modern-day beliefs about the power of good nutrition on the body turns out to be the result of keeping war secrets! I LOVE it. :)

I also never knew (nor dreamed) that there was such as thing as the World Carrot Museum. I'm sure I'm just way too easily entertained, because this whole thing has really tickled my funny bone! :)

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Saturday Ramble

There's just something about trains. When the Amtrak whizzes past not far from the house it's a barely noticeable sound, and quickly gone. Although when I hear it I still get little goosebumps. I have traveled by train and enjoyed it a lot.

But when the freight trains rumble by the house, it's much louder, and for a much longer time. The sound stirs such funny feelings within me - very poignant nostalgia, and thoughts of me as a little girl in my Grandmother's old Victorian house in a small town in Ohio, and falling asleep in the summer with the 10 foot tall windows open and the sounds of small town life the lullaby I drifted off to. Feelings of longing and wondering, of changing and new things, and a whole big world out there waiting to be discovered.

Decades later here in Maryland I lived with my then husband on the other side of this town. We had tracks on that side of town too, and they had many street crossings to make. So as one of the freight trains passed by there was a series of whistles, the mournful moan a counterpoint to my busy and hectic life. The tracks there are located along a ridgeline, and echo across the valley to the other side. Most easily heard at night, taking me right back to my small-town home away from home at Grandmother's house.

Since the tracks behind my house here are primarily for Amtrak, there are no crossings, and no whistles from the occasional freight trains. But the rumble alone is enough to take me back, I don't have to hear the whistle. So it seems there's just something about trains in general rather than the train whistles.

I wonder if this is tied in somehow to my delight and obsession with new roads. I also wonder if this is related to my need for constant change and improvement. I know that desire for and comfort with change is not typical of other people, I just know that I always want to be a better version of myself, and seek for a better version of life for myself and those around me. Is that somehow my sense of what trains give? I don't know. It seems perhaps too convoluted. Maybe I'm applying 8 lane highway thinking to a 1 lane dirt road concept. (I'm good at that.)

I just know that when I hear a train, freight or high speed, with or without whistle, I get funny, gooey feelings inside. I feel squishy and have a sense of longing and need. Longing and need for what I couldn't possibly say. Which is why I'm trying to sort this all out.

Could just be the sense of the unknown, or something exotic and different. I really don't know. I'm not dissatisfied with who I am or what my life is, I don't need new and different. I enjoy new and different, but I'm also fine without it. I just don't understand this longing. Perhaps it's something from my childhood. I do know my Grandmother's house had a profound impact on me. It is this amazing 13 room old Victorian house with a porch swing and ghosts in the attic and all kinds of wonders old and new for my childlike mind to understand.

I had to have a front porch on the last house (the one the ex had built for me,) so I could hang a porch swing, sit, watch, and listen to the world like I did many years ago in a town almost 500 miles away. Sadly, this cottage I bought for son and me after the divorce has no front porch, and my porch swing languishes in the basement of Mom's house. The house she just sold so she can move in with my sister, so I need to decide what to do with my swing. It might help me decide what to do with the swing if I can figure out what it is about the porch swing and trains that stirs such feelings and longings in me.

I don't know. Sometimes blogging helps me discover answers as I write - not this time. Maybe some of you can help. And if not, I also know that all will be well, one way or the other, in time. It's ok not to know.

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I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself...

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RUN!

In 2009 the government will start deporting all the mentally ill people.



I started crying when I thought of you.

Run my little crazy friend, run!

Well, what can I say?? Someone sent it to me, and darnit, I'm NOT going alone !!




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Thought For Today

Blessed are those who can give without remembering

And take without forgetting.

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