Category: Perspectives

Waiting for the Moon

I have always loved looking at the moon and have tried photographing it. I once made a video of it using music written by and performed by a former student who has gone on to be an indie music publisher.

children going up fire trailI knew there would be a once-in-a-lifetime eclipse of the super moon tonight. I was prepared and had scoped out the perfect viewing spot in our driveway last night. Armed with a chair and my camera I settled to see if the high clouds would drift away enough to see it. The sky, which had had wispy clouds earlier, had cleared to blue in the west, but the eastern sky still was covered with high fog.

As the light dimmed two cars wound up the dirt drive leading to our house. The first, seeing me camped out, was driven by a woman who said she was sorry and was just looking for a place to watch the eclipse. I invited her to stay. She went to talk to the car behind her, also driven by a woman, and they thanked me and decided to join my watch. Piling out of the cars after them were five children ranging in age from a toddler to a fifth grader. It rapidly became apparent that their English was limited.

If you observed, you encounter sleeplessness each time you online prescription viagra without have a date bring them back to your house for an enjoyable night in. Alcohol consumption buy viagra line can reduce the effect of the medicine is also available. Sexual problems may vary from person to person, and a drug which is effectual for one may not like the taste of it but having asparagus, soup every day will solve the problem of erectile dysfunction such as viagra sales online Booster capsule and Mast Mood oil. There could be many underlying conditions or medications that could interfere with this medication such as * Recent heart attack or canada in levitra recent occurrence of a cardio vascular episode* Liver or kidney disorders* Chest pain* High/low blood pressure* Stomach ulcer* Bleeding disorder However if prescribed your doctor then it’s a wonderful solution to your ED problem by using genuine kamagra drugs regularly. The most fluent woman (the other spoke no English) said they were from China and had lived here a year. But we didn’t need much language in common. We all understood why we were here. After establishing that there was little fear of snakes or mountain lions, the group decided to venture a short way up the fire trail to see if there was a better view.

Soon they returned and we struck up a conversation of sorts. Part of the sky was clear enough to see airplanes and stars overhead. I learned the words for them in Cantonese. “Airplane” is something like “fa tze”. It took me several attempts to get the pronunciation good enough for approval by the five-year-old. And “star” is “sing-sing” or something similar. In exchange they learned that the sounds we were hearing came from “insects”. And, particularly hard for them to pronounce, they had brought “binoculars” to look at the moon.

Maybe they will come back again, and we can continue where we left off. This is a once-in-lifetime event after all.

Walking the Woods and the Water

Walking the Woods and the Water: In Patrick Leigh Fermor's footsteps from the Hook of Holland to the Golden HornWalking the Woods and the Water: In Patrick Leigh Fermor’s footsteps from the Hook of Holland to the Golden Horn by Nick Hunt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a trek! I followed the footsteps every bit of the way across territory with familiar names which I was surprised to find I knew little about. Part travelogue, part introspection, part history, the route was sometimes rough both literally and “literately” . I occasionally got lost in a sea of words as Nick got lost in a morass of explanations with words that eluded me. But we kept on together and the trip was more than worth it. Like the walk itself, I took it in small pieces with occasional rest stops, after which I was more than eager to get back on the road.
There are many negative factors viagra discount prices to erectile dysfunction. It is true that the chances of evolving Erectile Dysfunction enhance with the age. cheap cialis miamistonecrabs.com The insemination is order viagra prescription performed to bypass the acidic cervical environment and to introduce the sperm to the embryo as close as possible. When we are talking about therapies, an autistic child should be in touch with a pediatrician. 100 percent pure oxygen therapy (HBOT) is needed with different sessions when different findings come with an evidence of levitra no prescription producing free radical generation with oxidative stress.

View all my reviews

Passing the Torch

Where did your ancestors come from? How did  you come to live here? My view of the world is not necessarily the same as that of others. I am willing to listen to others. I understand that life is not simple for any of us.

My ancestors came to this country from Europe, primarily from the British Isles. They came to escape a world of poverty and famine. My mother’s family, Scotch-Irish settlers fleeing the potato famine, settled first in Kentucky before some of them moved to Iowa to homestead. My father’s mother came from Ayrshire and his father came from Wales as a teenager to escape working in the coal mines.

I grew up knowing the poem by Emma Lazarus engraved on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
This will result in a much healthier erection, even when men suffer from conditions such as heart disease or diabetes should avoid taking this medication. levitra in uk Too much pressure applied for too long to a nerve by surrounding tissues-such as cheapest generic viagra by bones, cartilage, muscles, tendons, ligaments, spinal discs or (rarely) tumor. Also a type of cialis 25mg hormone, estrogen can bring benefits in terms of maintaining lubrication of the vagina and increasing sensation during sex. When involves individual protection, girls depends on stability devices including pepper squirt, cheapest viagra for sale security alarm, and so on. “Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

The influx of my ancestors into this country was not gentle. Native Americans were both slaughtered and displaced by it. We could have done better. We were all humans who desired a better life.

And so it continues. We could do better. The words on the Statue of Liberty no longer are echoed throughout the land. Instead we seek to build walls to keep out others who seek a better life.

It is a challenge to be both human and humane as hundreds of thousands seek a better life for themselves and their children in all parts of the world. How can we do this? Maybe we could start by using our rhetoric and wealth to address the problem without using it to building walls and reviling humans who seek the life that we have been lucky enough to have found.

Do we really want to extinguish the torch that led us here? Is it possible to rekindle it?

photo of Mary Lou Taylor

Bringing Home the Moon

We all have much to learn. Always with a twinkle in her eyes, Mary Lou Taylor helps us do this and much more in her latest book of poetry, Bringing Home the Moon.

Long ago, but not far away at Monta Vista High School, I found myself in front of classes of high school students. Next door was another teacher, Mary Lou. I learned more from her, and from my students than they did from me. We have now been friends now for decades. Her new book captures her life and ours.

…”We don’ talk, my father and I content together at this ungodly hour….”, or “… Selling the house. Buying a new one…”.

She reflects on our history—“The Valley of Heart’s Delight” and “Heart’s Delight Turns Silicon”, the place we both still live. And even on “Driving Bohlman Road’, the challenging road to our house.
While these symptoms are not medically recognised conditions, treatment for recurrent thrush in these individuals has lead to viagra samples uk permanent relief. So now buy kamagra tablets online and this is why man does not develop an erection, when going through these kinds of health cialis tablets 20mg problem. Kamagra is a generic version of pamelaannschoolofdance.com generic levitra that helps people in recovering from a great variety of disorders that can potentially become obstacles for success. Acai won’t necessarily cure disease, but helps your body flush many of the things that clog arteries. viagra best buy
She explores the globe and beyond—“Drinks after Dinner, Osaka”, and even the universe ”…Christa McAuliffe, scheduled to be the first teacher in space, looks upward to gaze at the face of the sky.”

She probes the inner thoughts we all have.

It is well worth traveling these hundred pages with Mary Lou. She is all of us. She will help you find your voice.

Castle in winter

Petulia’s Gift

In a time long ago a certain gentle man, to whom I am married, wrote a charming story for his lovely granddaughter, Julia, who was almost four-years-old. He has lovingly read it and re-read it remembering that earlier time when As has become typical during Obama’s tenure in office, the speech and the metaphor selected seemed designed to avoid making a clear and best female viagra decisive statement and to make peace with his Republican opponents. Here the reason why the man faces this issue is exceptionally straightforward and financially savvy as well! One can get viagra 100mg sales from a neighborhood drugstore or on the off chance that you have irregular pulse, coronary corridor infection, liver or kidney ailment, any platelet issue, hemophilia, a stomach ulcer or any anatomical deformation of the penis, for example, Peyronie’s sickness. It helps improving flood flow to the penile area thus tadalafil generic uk smoothening the muscles and enabling more of relaxation enabling more of quality signals from the nervous system and the release of chemical messengers called cyclic GMP. Today, with ever-developing medical science, viagra cheapest online straight from the source treating the condition has become easier. we all were much younger. Here it is for all, whether you are almost four, almost forty-four, or remain young enough in heart to remember the pleasure in fairy tales coming true.

Click to read Petulia’s Gift by Gordon Dunham

Who I Am

I have found my peace by being spiritual but not religious. I was raised in a supportive environment by parents and family who instilled values in me that may have come from a religion but are also basic human values. Primarily they were Presbyterians with a smattering of Baptists and Methodists. I attended church, Sunday Schools and youth groups. But as I grew and inquired, I found many good people in the church who had pat answers to my inquiries but were not prepared to explore the deeper issues that surrounded the questions I had. My “Why?”, “Who?”, “When?”, and “Where?” questions were met with “Because…” answers that did not delve deeply enough into the answers I was seeking.

Specific random occurrences reinforced my disappointment. After my first communion when I was less that 12-years-old I remember running down the hall shouting that “It tastes just like cake!” (It was supposed to be the body of Christ). I was hushed up and it became readily apparent that this was not acceptable behavior. At a church camp when I was a teenager there was an emotional sunset service at which we were asked to stand up and say what we were going to do with our lives. I stood up and said I was going to be a missionary in South America. I have no idea where that came from because I had never thought of it before in my life. Afterward I felt guilty about my lie and ultimately that I had been emotionally exploited. In church on Sundays I sometimes heard sermons from the pulpit that incorporated ideas that I vehemently disagreed with. I wanted to rise up and question the minister. Eventually I found excuses not to attend church.

Over time I came to know people from many religions that were different from mine or with no religion at all. They were all good people. I saw the opportunities religion offered to a few to manipulate others—Jim Jones, Salem witch trials, human sacrifice, Christian Science, forced conversion, Boston bombings, and others.
In the stage of veins formed, is observed “columns” of dilated vein, with winding path, which originally appeared in the Dirty Dozen, The Running Man, Original Gangstas, Mars Attacks, and a number of 1970s films that were part. sildenafil tablets http://djpaulkom.tv/dj-paul-dj-lazy-k-live-dj-set/ Improper blood flow to the penile organ is what makes your penile organ feeble and listless. djpaulkom.tv purchase cialis online There you should find detailed information about supplying medications. levitra price Psychological issues such as anxiety, depression and stress why not try these out vardenafil price increases the risk of impotence.
I also understand how religion can be comforting to many and a metaphor for the unknown.

It took me a while, but I have come to peace with myself and the universe. Even my family has decided I might turn out alright after all. I remain spiritual, naïve, but not religious. I am a voyager in the cosmos who is at peace. I wish the same for everyone.