Suggling Snakes

Who knew snakes could be so cuddly?



Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle
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A Blessing

Shortly after our engagement, Mr. H and I were at Bellevue Square in a stationary shop. He was at one rack and I was at another with my back to him as we quietly read through greeting cards. Out of nowhere, a Buddhist nun with shaved head and grey robe took my hand, then reached out and took my soon-to-be-husband's hand and placed them together. She said a few words we didn't understand followed by "Very Happy," squeezed our hands, bowed, and walked out of the store. We turned to each other and at the same time said, "We've been blessed." Then, hand in hand, we ran out of the store to follow her. Up and down the mall we searched, but she was no where to be seen.

I've always wondered why she chose us. I don't know why I just remembered that story, it comes back to me from time to time. She was right, we are very happy. And very thankful for her blessing.
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Bird Bath: the Eagle Edition

I grew up in Alaska with lots of bald eagles around, but I always pause to appreciate them when I see them. I've had the pleasure of watching them in all sorts of different behaviors, but this is the first time I ever watched an eagle take a bath. Granted, this took place in a zoo, and animal behaviors can be different in captivity. I still thought it was pretty cool to watch.

He would splash his wings around in the water and even repeatedly dunk his head under water to splash it up over his body. At first I thought maybe he was just trying to cool down, then I remembered that I was wearing a winter coat.









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This is my contribution to Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta



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What Fuels Your Vote?

My goodness the hate mail has been flying around this past week. Lies, hate and bigotry are all alive and well in America, my friends, and for some reason, they're congregating in my email in-box. I had to read through my spam box just to take a break from the nastiness in my in-box.

I don't like to do this in my blog, but I want to take a few moments to talk about religion because, out of all the nastiness I received in my in-box, by far the most inaccurate and hateful messages were from the evangelical Christians in my life.

I was raised in an extremely conservative christian church by an extremely conservative family. It wasn't until I became an adult and experienced other churches that I really began to understand that the term "God's Love," a term that was thrown around every day throughout my childhood, really is supposed to mean love. Fear ruled the day. Christians, I was taught, were supposed to be fearful, to live their lives in fear.

So let's talk about fear, because most of the hate mail I've received this past week has been motivated by fear. Anytime a work is translated, including the bible, the translator has to make millions of decisions about which words to use. And words change meaning by their use over time. The word fear, for example, can be understood to mean respect (as in fear God), or it can be understood to mean the source of hate (as in fear everything you don't understand). My belief is that fear, as commanded in the bible, is intended to mean fear-respect rather than fear-hate (check out I John, 4:18-21). The best way to counteract fear-hate is knowledge. Real knowledge, not just assumptions fueled by emotions. Do some research. Study the issues. Use real sources rather than the chain hate mail that lands in your in-box.

Two great quotes from early in the last century come to mind:

"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."

and

"I have seen the enemy, and it is I."

Muslims are not the source of evil in this world, the source of evil is the fear that resides in our own hearts.

So I'm asking you now: is your vote fueled by fear and hate, or is your vote fueled by compassion and knowledge? Vote your conscience, but ask yourself first: what rules your conscience? Do you have peace in your heart or fear? Do you have to lie to make your case? Do you avoid research because it causes you to question your decision? Do you get all of your information from others whose lives are ruled by fear and hate?

The definition of bigotry is fear based, unreasoning attachment to one's own belief, with narrow-minded intolerance of differing beliefs. Let's let go of fear and bigotry for a day, and give our minds and hearts a bit of a workout.

Just think about it.
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Skull Sticks

This just seemed like an appropriate picture to post for Halloween. I took this photo at the University Street Fair last spring.
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Baby Update - Week 17

At week 17 of 40, we're nearly halfway through this pregnancy. We had a doctor appointment on Friday that went very well, although the doctor was concerned that I haven't gained any weight and I was told I need to eat more. She used the doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat. I didn't cry during any of the sonograms, but for some reason, listening to that heartbeat made me well up with tears. Perhaps just because I had my eyes closed which made it possible for my imagination to take over.

Things changed over the weekend when I started feeling a great deal of discomfort. After several calls to the consulting nurse and a handful of tums, the consulting nurse sent us to the ER on Sunday afternoon. By this time the discomfort had graduated to excruciating pain. After 5 hours in the ER, they determined that I have gall stones. Baby is fine. Now I'm on a non-fat diet. They gave me some pain and anti-nausia medication and told me to call my doctor in the morning. I have an appointment to see my doctor today to figure out how we will treat this moving forward. It may just be a watch your diet and wait and see kind of thing as they really don't want to operate during the pregnancy.

I'm still in some pain but feeling much better now, although completely exhuasted. My big task for this week is getting caught up on all the homework I fell behind on over the past several days.
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Do You Really Think the Same Conservative Tactics Will Solve this Mess?

The belief in Trickle Down Economics contributed to this problem, it is not the solution.

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