Planning on a hike through a forest or visiting a pristine lake? Maybe going on a picnic? Keep this little chart in mind.
Archive for June 29, 2019
Good Idea from the Animal World
Sometimes animals have some very good lessons to teach us, as in today’s Thursday Thought.
Family–Personal Note
I’m excited. Family I love very much is coming for a week’s visit in a few days. We haven’t been physically together for two years. Phone calls, emails, and texts just aren’t the same.
Anticipation of the visit has had me thinking a lot about family, whether blood-related or friends we consider family…how much of an impact they make on our lives. They’re there, if only in spirit, in my joys and sorrows, to bounce ideas off of when I’m making a decision, to agree to disagree with on issues and concerns, to remind me to take better care of my health (because it matters to them), to respect me as a person, to let me be me and still love me.
Dear readers, I wish for all of you FAMILY!
For People with Foot Pain
Are you over age 70? If so, are you among the half whose feet hurt? Or over 24 and among the 24% in that age group with foot pain? Yes, you can go to the doctor (a good idea). But it helps to know the causes and ways to prevent, lessen, or get rid of it. The AARP article How You Can Fix Those Aching Feet offers some good insight to this.
A Good Time To Tell Them What You Think
Seems like those Presidential candidates don’t have a clue! Like all they want is to get elected. They don’t seem to care about injustices caused by our broken penal and immigration systems. It’s okay to try kids as adults, then throw them into adult prisons to harden and learn new criminal skills. Homeless, elderly, disabled people–all that matters is money and power, not lives and human dignity. If an issue strikes a moral chord with us, we should exert our influence. Now is the time to contact those candidates, letting them know what’s important to us and what they need to address if they want our vote. Remember, too, that they read newspapers, so write a letter to the editor. And social media, so post there. If you get a positive response, encourage others to express their opinions. If a candidate won’t listen, give your vote to someone who will.
Saving Can Be Cool in the Summer
Here are a few hints to keep your house–and so yourself–cool this summer: 1) Open up the window coverings when sunlight isn’t streaming through, then close when the sun hits the windows. 2) Use light-colored, loose-weave mesh shades to let in light and keep out heat. 3) Apply reflective (also called low-emissivity, or “low-e”) coatings to the outside of windows. Then, sit back, relax, and enjoy the comfort, knowing that, by not using your AC, you’re saving energy and money.
[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.]
Open Up Your Senses
Summer is here! No school. Vacation. More sunshine and, hopefully, less stress. More outings with the family. It’s an excellent time to be thankful for all we have. Like our senses. They allow us to enjoy life and, if we’re open, experience the God of our belief all around us. The embracing warmth of sunshine. The calming fragrance of Jasmine. The sea’s salty tang on our tongues, reminding us of friendship and brotherhood. The humbling sight of a giant redwood. The call of the crane to freedom. And that feeling we get when we relax in our favorite garden spot and allow our surroundings to envelop us. Nature is a wonderful gift. We should always appreciate it, respect it, and protect it.
Why Are We Overrun by Immigrants?
A new United Nations report has an answer. It points out that almost 71 million people have left their home countries, not because they want to but because that’s the only way they and their children can escape persecution, violence, and war. That’s approximately 1 in every 108 people living on this planet. We’re seeing them flee to our country, but so are other countries (ask Germany).
What’s wrong with us? Can’t we work harder toward peace? Get rid of world leaders who are egomaniacs, narcissists, power-hungry, greedy, or killing people in the name of God? Can’t we work on ourselves and our attitude of “We don’t care, because we’re fine here?”–an attitue that leads us to complacency and acceptance of violence and hatred we see in our daily lives?
Can’t we remember that, after all, we are a family of human beings?
Beware those Doggy Eyebrows
Come on, now, dog-lovers. We all know that our furry friends manipulate us. Now science has proven it. It seems that dogs can move their eyebrows whenever they want to, making their eyes bigger and reaching into our hearts (really a hormonal reaction). In fact, they move their eyebrows more often when making eye contact with humans than they do when engaging in their all-time favorite activity–eating. They know it gets to us, and they have a deep need for eye contact with humans, a need that wolves, their relatives, don’t have.
Read about the study done by a team at University of Portsmouth’s Dog Cognition Centre, published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, titled The Science of Puppy Dog Eyes.
