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There's
an article in the LA Times from a few days ago about how the quicker pace of life makes making time out for reading more difficult to find. It's well worth reading in its entirety, but this part I particularly liked:
Reading is an act of contemplation, perhaps the only act in which we allow ourselves to merge with the consciousness of another human being. We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking us to make them part of ourselves.
From the Nature & Health Newsletter Issue 14 August 2009:
She might have pulled your hair when you were little; however, Ulster University researchers say that having a sister increases your odds of having a happy life. Their study found that both men and women who had at least one sister scored significantly better on tests for optimism, achievement, and resilience. Why? Co-author Professor Tony Cassidy explains, "The presence of girls in a family is strongly linked to better communication, which is fundamental to health, while boys have the opposite effect."
I'm H-A-P-P-Y, I'm H-A-P-P-Y,
I know I am, I'm sure I am,
I'm H-A-P-P-Y
Australian Poem
Dusty red roads for mile after mile
Paddocks stretching far and wide
Stands of trees row after row
The golden sun burning the crisp brown dirt
The sun slipping under the horizon.
by Ishbel
Out to dinner tonight.
We had a lovely meal out with our grown up friends on Saturday night. In the end it was just Janet and Sharon that joined us, Steven had the 'flu (a cold) coming on and we left him at home doing the ironing!
On Sunday morning I picked Ishbel up from Zanny's sleepover party and she and I headed for Sharon's. Sharon had invited Ishbel to go up to Megalong Valley where Holly keeps her horse, Wilga. Holly is away on a school camp but Wilga still needed to be fed and brushed and so on. Ishbel jumped at the chance and those two headed off together.
Meanwhile I picked Catherine up on the side of the highway and she and I visited the Grower's Market at Blackheath before heading down into Megalong Valley to catch Ishbel and Sharon up. Somehow Catherine and I ended up shovelling horsey poo for the afternoon! Ishbel got all the fun stuff to do and quickly made herself scarce. We got 4 big bags of poo for Catherine to take home to her garden.
While we were there Sharon introduced us to Russell who was there with his 10 year old daughter, Savannah. Savannah has a pony, Dexter, and they were kind enough to offer to let Ishbel have a ride. So Russell took her down to a covered arena and gave Ishbel a 'proper' riding lesson for 20 minutes or so - little girl heaven.
See the Flickr slideshow of our day here.
On the way home we popped in on Catherine's friends Michelle and Ben and gave them a gift of a bag of horsey poo. (Michelle is on your crew at Faulco RFS, Karen). A traipse round their garden and a cup of tea later and we discovered I couldn't reverse out of their driveway!!! I rang my brigade Captain, Steve. I knew he would know what to do and he's got a monster 4WD of some sort (it's a brown one). Luckily he was home and was round within 10 minutes - in uniform!! I told him the uniform wasn't necessary - he'd been at a course all day - he said - I think he sleeps in it myself.
Lazy morning this morning then shopping with Ishbel who had a gift to choose for her friend Zanny who turns 9 the day before Ishbel. I have just dropped The Girl off at Zanny's for a birthday party and sleepover.
So Ian and I are going out with Janet, Steven and Sharon to the chinese restaurant at Wentworth Falls for an adults only dinner. Feeling very grown up!!!
Went to RFS training this afternoon. Only 3 of us turned up so we couldn't do the trail cutting I'd expected. So we ended up going down one of the fire trails for a drive in the Big Red Truck, did some map work and weather work and THEN I GOT A DRIVE OF THE BIG ED TRUCK. Whoooooooo hooooooo!
THEN, coming out of the track, we heard Winmalee responding to a smoke sighting on our patch. Got back to the station and we got sent out to assist. As it turned out the fire was down on the plains but we had a nice ride down another track!
Rob and the dogs just hanging out together
Josie relaxing - maybe she fell asleep reading . . .
I had an appointment with Dr Jayamohan (Dr JJ) at the Cancer Care Centre yesterday afternoon and he has told me they don't need to see me again and, Dr Taper having said the same when I saw him earlier in the year, they have discharged me. Cured!
Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before theAfghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.
She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to, and are happy to, maintain the old custom.
Ms. Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, 'Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?'
The woman looked Ms. Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation said, "Land Mines."
Moral of the story is (no matter what language you speak or where you go):
BEHIND EVERY MAN, THERE'S A SMART WOMAN!
