A few weekends ago we went to the UC Botanical Garden up at UC Berkeley for a talk and tour of the cycads in the garden. I was amazed at what a spectacular garden it is and would highly recommend a visit. We saw many other wonderful plants as well as cycads such as this one. What wild and wonderful prehistoric plants these are. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycad
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
This I believe
Although I would prefer to have national leaders who are the most intelligent people that nyone can find for their jobs, even more important is that our leaders should be people who bring out the very best, the most noble ideals in all of us.
They should help us to feel that we should do what is right for all of the people of the world.
They should help us to trust people who are different from us rather than making us fearful and suspicious of them.
They should help us to get along better with each other and see that we have common ground with all people now matter how different they be from us.
Yes I know that it is a dangerous world out there and there are some people in the world who do not have the best intentions for their fellow beings, but I still believe that the vast majority of people in the world want the best for their fellow beings and will act to promote that if they are not put in untenable situations that make it difficult to do so.
They should help us to feel that we should do what is right for all of the people of the world.
They should help us to trust people who are different from us rather than making us fearful and suspicious of them.
They should help us to get along better with each other and see that we have common ground with all people now matter how different they be from us.
Yes I know that it is a dangerous world out there and there are some people in the world who do not have the best intentions for their fellow beings, but I still believe that the vast majority of people in the world want the best for their fellow beings and will act to promote that if they are not put in untenable situations that make it difficult to do so.
Writings From My Mother's Notebook
My father died about two months ago and since then several of my co-workers have died untimely deaths.
Many things have been roaming around in my the past few months and one of them is this passage that my father printed out for me a few years ago that he had found in my mother's notebook. It was dated 5/8/97, about 7 months before my mother passed away.
I still miss my mother and I definitely miss my father very much now. And I miss all of those friends and relatives who have gone before me. I am still very much in the midst of that but this does help at least a tiny bit and I think that it will help more as time goes on and the good times return.
"I used to think that you could never become/grow to be good at handling death. Each death gets harder to bear, not easier, and the pain and grief begins to extend to partings as well. But it now seems to me that that's precisely what being good at handling death is.
When my father died I was eleven, no one close to me had died. I cried and I knew that my life was changed forever. I had no knowledge of forever, or the rest of my life. Now, when someone I love dies, I feel the whole layer cake of grief, the heavy strata of emotions, and I know how long I will feel that loss. I also know that I don't need to be afraid that I will forget them, even though I may think of them less often. What this does is to --?--What does it do, huh? The pain is more exquisite now but I feel freer to grieve- less guilty about enjoying my life in between times of grief. "
Many things have been roaming around in my the past few months and one of them is this passage that my father printed out for me a few years ago that he had found in my mother's notebook. It was dated 5/8/97, about 7 months before my mother passed away.
I still miss my mother and I definitely miss my father very much now. And I miss all of those friends and relatives who have gone before me. I am still very much in the midst of that but this does help at least a tiny bit and I think that it will help more as time goes on and the good times return.
"I used to think that you could never become/grow to be good at handling death. Each death gets harder to bear, not easier, and the pain and grief begins to extend to partings as well. But it now seems to me that that's precisely what being good at handling death is.
When my father died I was eleven, no one close to me had died. I cried and I knew that my life was changed forever. I had no knowledge of forever, or the rest of my life. Now, when someone I love dies, I feel the whole layer cake of grief, the heavy strata of emotions, and I know how long I will feel that loss. I also know that I don't need to be afraid that I will forget them, even though I may think of them less often. What this does is to --?--What does it do, huh? The pain is more exquisite now but I feel freer to grieve- less guilty about enjoying my life in between times of grief. "
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