So, this Mother's Day, please try to see your children the way I do: beautiful, healthy, and filled with promise. Remind yourselves of the mothers who will never get to do so many things you hardly notice, like take a walk, get a kiss, give their child a bear hug, sing a song, or play with a toy. Be mindful of how fragile this all is, and don't let the fear of uncertainty immobilize you. Let it lead you to love your children with clarity and joy and profound gratitude.

Mothering Cal - What I learned from parenting a terminally ill child.

"Your tax money at work" ~ via tywkiwdbi

The Is is the Was of What Will Be.

Scott Jordan Harris: Why I Love Mr. Rogers.

• Those who make your life easier — and those who make it harder.
• Those whose presence helps you perform better — and those whose presence makes you do worse.
• Those concerned about doing the work — and those concerned about getting the credit.
• Those who leave you feeling up — and those who leave you feeling down.
• Those who simplify — and those who complicate.
• Those who listen when others are talking — and those who wait when others are talking.
• Those who give — and those who take.
• Those who last — and those who fade.

America - the Grim Truth - one person's opinion and a bit of hyperbole but there's a ring of truth in it as well.

What we can't seem to accept is that the oil is leaking and we can't stop it. This doesn't fit the modern narrative in which we can fix anything if we get organized and throw enough money at it. An earthquake devastates Haiti? The world rushes to its aid. A tsunami wreaks havoc? Emergency teams descend. Swine flu? We get inoculated. The economy collapses? Bail it out ... But the oil keeps leaking. We learn it will leak for weeks, a month, two months, four months. It is leaking 10,000 barrels a day, 20,000, 40,000, 60,000 ... I have no idea what to do about the Spill. Do you? Does anybody?

Roger Ebert: Here's Another Fine Mess. Thoughtful commentary on an overwhelming disaster.

Every item we use in our daily life has a long, complicated history before it reaches us, and each item is attesting to the Buddha's teaching that we live here and now as a result of the inconceivable interdependence and interconnectedness in the limitless expanse of space and time.

Matches from Echo of the Dharma

Incivility is taking the place of facts.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion but not his own facts."
Daniel Patrick Moynihan

A front moved into the area last night bringing cooler weather from the north. The scent of Autumn is in the air, and along with the Halloween candy now appearing on grocer's shelves, it means Fall is around the corner.

A lady in my water aerobics class this morning remarked that when she finished exercising, she was going out to do "reverse Christmas shopping". This is a phrase I've never heard before, and Google (strangely) didn't have any links to its meaning. I'm assuming she either meant she was going to return some gift items or was going to redeem some gift cards.

There are 10^11 stars in the galaxy. That used to be a huge number. But it's only a hundred billion. It's less than the national deficit! We used to call them astronomical numbers. Now we should call them economical numbers.

Richard Feynman, physicist, Nobel laureate
(1918-1988)

*I went in to get a routine oil change for my car.
*The technician said it was time to rotate my tires.
*They discovered a nail in one tire.
*It was in a location where the patch would not hold well.
*They also noticed that all four tires had worn treads.
*The recommendation was to replace all four tires.
*Hence, the $700 oil change.

Your $x (whatever your reason for it) is not some fragile vase that is going to shatter the second you $y. It is as strong as you decide it is, and the boundaries are where you set them.

I re-set NINE clocks and TWO watches yesterday to get ready for the Daylight Savings Times switch. Now the experts are saying DST really doesn't save energy after all.

America, wake up: stop being "security sheep"

Six years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, airport security remains a theater of the absurd. The changes put in place following the September 11th catastrophe have been drastic, and largely of two kinds: those practical and effective, and those irrational, wasteful and pointless.

The first variety have taken place almost entirely behind the scenes. Explosives scanning for checked luggage, for instance, was long overdue and is perhaps the most welcome addition. Unfortunately, at concourse checkpoints all across America, the madness of passenger screening continues in plain view. It began with pat-downs and the senseless confiscation of pointy objects. Then came the mandatory shoe removal, followed in the summer of 2006 by the prohibition of liquids and gels. We can only imagine what is next.

We are close to Christmas and everyone is scurrying about trying to do their last minute shopping for gifts, food and other items. There are so many delicious, comforting, joyous moments in our life every day, but they are lost on us because we are often going too fast to savor them. Take a moment to answer the call of the joy in your life by sensing it and fully enjoying these little gifts that are there if you slow down long enough to grab them.

Here are a few...

This morning, when I was reading an important New York paper, I noticed an article on the dynamics of gift-giving. This article quoted a distinguished professor of sociology as saying that in every gift there is a reciprocal relationship, even if it is not conscious. In other words, when you are making a gift, you are expecting a gift in return.

Not only that, there are very subtle social gradations: gifts to longtime friends, to recent friends, to acquaintances, to possible benefactors. All these factors come into play when choosing the gift. No wonder shopping for gifts is so terribly time-consuming. No wonder people feel confused and inadequate about what to give.

But the spiritual approach is very simple. Whatever you give--it may be a check to a worthy cause, it may be clothes to a person who is cold, it may be food to the hungry, it may be medical help to the sick--do it without thinking of getting anything in return. Do it as a service to God, not reluctantly, but with joy.

Eknath Easwaran, "Words to Live By"

"The" Way vs "A" Way

1. Be thankful for what you have right now.
2. Today, and every day, deliver more than you are getting paid to do.
3. Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, learn your lesson and move on.
4. Always try to remember the best times in life are those you are missing by being in too big of a hurry.
5. Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts.
6. Live this day as if it will be your last.
7. Laugh at yourself and at life.
8. Never neglect the little things.
9. Welcome every morning with a smile.
10. Search for the seed of good in every adversity.

$5 Chocolate Bar

I took Ravioli to a Blessing of the Animals at a local church on Sunday. It was the birthday of St. Francis who is recognized for his commitment to animals and nature. It was a brief but pleasant ceremony, and Ravioli especially liked the home-made dog treats given out at the end!

Could and Can

There are lots of things you could have been, could have done, could have seen, could have known, and could have experienced. Yet nothing compares to the wondrous places youll go when you do what you know you can.

9/11 thoughts from the Bad Astronomy Blog:

I dont know what makes me sadder: that those people in the World Trade Center, in the Pentagon, and on Flight 93 died because of pointless dogma, pointless ideology or that their deaths have been so ruthlessly abused by those in power in our own country to further their own mad agenda based on pointless dogma and pointless ideology.

I had some packages to send off today, but I wasn't worried as they were all within my local area, so I headed off to the post office. I planned on using the Automatic Postal system many post offices now have, as I didn't have any special shipping need

Bad News: It appears I have gout in my left foot.  Good News: I got some pills from the doctor and the pain is going away quickly!

Bad News: It cost over $450 to replace the motor in the furnace.  Good New

I recently learned that in an average lifetime a person walks about 65,000 miles. That's two and a half times around the world. I wonder where your steps will take you. I wonder how you'll use the rest of the miles you're given.

In addition to the Canada Geese I heard flying over a couple of weeks ago, the crickets are now beginning to "sing" in the evenings. Also, all the Back to School ads are showing up, and the store aisles are full of school supply sales.

Your child, at birth, already has a deeply complicated relationship with his mother, and, for the first year, you are only a curiosity.

For a couple of years after that, an amusement-park ride.

Then, a referee.

And fina

The endangered joy of serendipity

The Buddha Project encourages people worldwide to participate by submitting photos of found Buddha, sacred Buddha, ancient Buddha, kitschy Buddha, handmade Buddha.

An archive of hundred

Snowbound by Gene Weingarten. This is a teriffic article from the Washington Post. Gene Weingarten traveled to Savoonga, Alaska to see what kind of st