The Green Thing - Be careful of what you think you know.

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, “We didn’t have
this green thing back in my earlier days.” The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

She was right — our generation didn’t have the green
thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the
plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby’s diapers because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts –wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right; we didn’t have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house –not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But
she’s right; we didn’t have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead
of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink
of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of
buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a
razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because
the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back
then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from
satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

 But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then?

 Please share this with another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smartass young person.of the state of Montana . In the kitchen, we blended and remember: Don’t make old People mad.

 We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off.

Ziggy Marley YouTube Video (acuostic guitar version)
Life has come a long way since yesterday I say
and its not the same old thing over again I say
just do what you feel and don’t you fool yourself I say
cause I can’t make you happy unless I am I say I say I

Got to be true to myself got to be true to myself

Day in day out I’ve asked many questions I say
only to find the truth it never changes I say
if you don’t deal with it it keeps killing you a little by little I say
call me selfish if you will my life I alone can live I say I say I

Got to be true to myself got to be true to myself

I don’t care if it hurts I’m tired of lies and all these games
I’ve reached a point in life no longer can I be this way
don’t come crying to me I too have shed my share of tears
I’m moving on yes I’m grooving on well I’m finally free

Got to be true to myself got to be true to myself

Here’s another posting from Daily OM called “Moving Through Darkness” that I’m excited to share with you

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In life, most of us want things to go to the places we have envisioned ourselves going. We have plans and visions, some of them divinely inspired, that we want to see through to completion. We want to be happy, successful, and healthy, all of which are perfectly natural and perfectly human. So when life takes us to places we didnt consciously want to go, we often feel as if something has gone wrong, or we must have made a mistake somewhere along the line, or any number of other disheartening possibilities. This is just life’s way of taking us to a place we need to go for reasons that go deeper than our own ability to reason. These hard knocks and trials are designed to shed light on our unconscious workings and deepen our experience of reality.

Often it takes something major to wake us up, to shake us loose from our ego’s grip as it struggles to maintain an illusion of control. It is loss of control more than anything else that humbles us and enables us to see the big picture. It reminds us that the key to the universe lies in what we do not know, and what we do know is a small fraction of the great mystery in which we live. This awareness softens and lightens us, as we release our resistance to what is. Another gift gleaned from going to these seemingly undesirable places is that, in our response to difficulty, we can see all the patterns and unresolved emotional baggage that stand in the way of our unconditional joyfulness. Joy exists within us independently of whether things go our way or not. And when we don’t feel it, we can trust that we will find it if we are willing to surrender to the situation, moving through it as we move through our difficult feelings.

We can take our inspiration from any fairy tale that finds its central character lost in a dark wood, frightened and alone. We know that the journey through the wood provides its own kind of beauty and richness. On the other side, we will emerge transformed, lighter and brighter, braver and more confident for having moved through that darkness. www.Dailyom.com

The Whale… If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spiderweb of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same. May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude. I pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit.***

This article was forwarded to me by JC, isnt it beautiful?

My dad, H.R. Waggoner, retired after twenty five plus years in data management now lives in a small town in Rusk, Texas on many, many acres of property that he cares for.  He works out regularly, eats healthy and grows a beautiful garden.

The picture taken was of us on the Oregon coast.  What a happy day.

Recently he took the tests to get a commercial driving license so that he could drive a school bus.  Super sweet.  He studied and endured over four written tests, a physical exam, drug and driving test.

When I’m well into my retirement years, I hope and pray that my mental and physical stamina will be such that I’m motivated to keep moovin’ and groovin.

Here’s to my dad and his fantastic 74 years, may I be so lucky.

Today as I was parking my car on my way to coffee meeting I spotted one of my favorite people; a street vendor selling copies of Street Roots, a publication from a nonprofit organization that creates income for people experiencing homelessness and poverty.  

I could not wait to get over there and get my copy.  As I approached the man with a bundle in his arms he turned and walked away.  He was briskly two steps ahead of me so that he could go hold the door open. 

I thanked him and we exchanged more than money for reading materials but people just being people.

For every paper Donovan sells for a dollar, he keeps seventy five cents,  twenty five cents goes toward the cost of printing.

Thank you Donovan.  You are another sweet reminder to keep it real.

With all kinda “pomp and circumstance” I share with you that Mary Gregoire is now the Chief Inspiration Officer of the Wild Women Society! How cool is that? 

Mary Gregoire stepped in as our Chief Inspirational Officer and I will stay on as host and chair of the Society Committee. 

Mary has been at every party.  She is amazing and bright with a heart-led commitment to keep the Wild Women Society groovin’ in the same true spirit it was built on.  This girl is dialed in and I can’t wait for Wild Women VI!…and the show will go on.

“Making the beginning is one-third of the work” ~ Irish Proverb ~

Happy Birthday, Dr. Martin Luther King.  Happy Birthday!  Of all of the selfless, heroic and astounding acts you chose on behalf of many, I specifically thank you for the following words.

“A individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of humanity.”

Beautiful.

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

                                                                                                              ~Jimi Hendrix~

Last week I was a guest on a show hosted by Francine Raften called “Tell Me About it” on the Earth2World Internet, network.

The week before the show I hoped, actually prayed that it had been cancelled.  I even sent Francine a note telling how happy I would be a guest on the show another time.  HA!  All of that back peddling was futile.  

Here’s a link to the show http://bit.ly/A0doGE I was so nervous…totally dying, and of course, in the end it was a hoot!

I remain thankful for this opportunity to conquer a fear and again witness first hand how this particular emotion is false evidence appearing real.