Will you be driving to the post office just before midnight tonight? Facing a long line of traffic at the drop-off box? And everyone grumbling and complaining? In honor of TAX DAY, this week I move my Thursday Thought quote to Monday, April 15. It’s a gentle reminder of what we’re paying for.
“I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
You’re at a lake and the ducks come swimming up near you. They must be hungry, and you have that crust of bread….DON’T DO IT!
Bread is bad for ducks because it fills them up but doesn’t give them any nutrition they need from plants. This is especially harmful for baby ducks. By replacing the nutrients they need for healthy growth and substance, bread can cause a permanent wing-deformity that makes baby birds unable to fly and adult birds sick and fat.
Read more in the Popular Science article Why you should never ever feed bread to a duck, then just enjoy the antics of the ducks on your next picnic and know you’re doing what’s best for them.
Maybe it’s because I enjoy a relaxing glass of wine at the end of a hectic day. Maybe it’s just the mood I’m in. Whatever. This cartoon gave me a chuckle.
Kill germs and save water: Squirt liquid soap into your palm. Add a little water (cold or warm, makes no difference except for comfort). Turn off faucet and scrub hands for 20-30 seconds (kills germs). Rinse and turn off water again.
[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]
One in every 110 U.S. kids has it, and 3.5 million Americans live with an autism spectrum disorder. Between 2000 and 2010, autism in our nation’s children increased by 119.4%, and it’s still increasing. In fact, autism is the fastest-growing developmental disability in the U.S.
You probably know someone with it but think of the person as “a little off” because you don’t recognize his or her autism.
This is good month to learn about it, because it’s National Autism Awareness Month. http://www.whathealth.com/awareness/event/nationalautismmonth.html gives an excellent summary of how autism affects a person, the characteristics you might notice, and how the American Autism Society is trying to spread the word about this condition with no known cause (no, vaccines don’t bring it on).
Another very good site is offered by Easter Seals, “Autism Signs and Symptoms,” including a list of behaviors with which you can evaluate your own child.
These sites are worth looking at, if for no other reason than they may lead people to be more tolerant and understanding rather than writing someone off as “odd,” “cold,” or “stand-offish.”
Today’s Thursday Thought reminds us how much good expressing care, concern, sympathy, and even righteous indignation do…and about how we act.
“All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.” — James Russell Lowell
Enjoy the fun of this April Fools Day, but, please, consider the person you’re pranking. We’ve all been the butt of cruel April Fools jokes that have humiliated us, or watched jokes pulled on others that were obviously an expression of the jokester’s prejudices, using the day as an excuse. These tricks not only feel bad but seem to give some legitimacy to cruelty and prejudices.
There are so many pranks that are harmless and so ingrained in our culture that few people are terribly embarrassed by them, like the Whoopie Cushion, switching the Push and Pull signs on a door, and putting hundreds of post-its all around someone’s office.
But something that is dangerous, will clearly mortify someone, makes a person look stupid, or is based on ethnics, gender, religion, or sexual orientation is not okay. And that means no posting of the victim online, which makes it even worse.
So, go ahead and enjoy the day. But be mindful of the person you’re pranking and how it will affect him or her. Remember that your joke reflects who you are as a person.