I had drinks with Charlie Rose last night.  I didn't even remember it until I was on the floor doing my Pilates while last night's taping of his nightly interview show was playing and I looked up and saw his face and it was exactly the same expression I saw in my dream. I don't know exactly what my attraction to him is, but I tape his shows every week night and many times go to sleep watching them.  And when I wake up at 5:30 am and don't want to stay awake, I find one of his shows with men talking and it lulls me back to sleep. Charlie is a comfort to me.  He is also inspiring to me.  He does such extensive research, is so apparently knowledgeable about the topics his guests talk about, that I am in awe of the time and energy it ta...

One of my granddaughters gave me the idea for this article. She asked for some suggestions for a dessert she was making for a Pot-luck dinner with an Indian Theme. When I used to visit schools, one of the first questions I was asked was...What did Indians eat? The Three Sisters (Maize (Corn). Squash, and Beans, were the most commonly grown vegetables for many of the native people. They complimented each other as the bean vines climbed the corn stalks and the squash grew in between the stalks to keep out the weeds. According to many origin stories, they, along with tobacco, were the gift of First Woman (Mother Earth), to her children. They first grew from her body after she was buried. Before the people had to depend on wild plant...

Things have been a little fraught at GG Towers so it was a great delight to find ghost egg boxes in local shops.  By ghost egg boxes we mean the plastic ones that are slowly replacing the pulp packaging ones we have grown up with. The reason for the change, well the powers that be have wanted to get rid of pulp boxes for some time now as they were seen to be host to bugs that cause sickness when an egg breaks and the contents seep into the pulp box.    The new plastic boxes are lighter, tougher and have a low carbon foot print. One of the users is Oaklands of Shropshire who have a delightful lady of words Becca, who told me that the company are pleased with the cartons and other plastic pots they use for yoghurt and other grocery item...

Note:  I originally wrote this in May, 2010, and hadn't posted it on Copperstrings.  Since I wrote another post on a similar subject, I went back and decided to add this one to my Journals. Today I learned that Hollis Burns, a guy I knew in high school who was sixty-three years old died yesterday.  He had apparently played golf Sunday afternoon and gone home, and was found sitting in a chair holding a newspaper.  This guy looked healthy the last time I saw him.  He was only a year older than I.  It made me think about how little control we actually have over our lives.  We think we control things, we think we make things happen.  But do we really? How much of what we experience is beyond our influence?  Did Hollis have a fear of d...

I've been thinking about dying lately.  People in Japan are facing death as I write this.  One woman talked about her father being employed at a nuclear power plant, and he was staying to try to minimize the damage because he already knew he wasn't going to get out of there alive. Ten years ago, people in the towers in New York faced death with no recourse, and from all accounts, they bravely did everything they could. And I have clients come to me so depressed, so distraught with how things are going in their lives that they wish they could just die. I've felt that way myself.  A couple of years ago, facing my worst financial disaster, part of me just wanted to die so I wouldn't have to feel so much shame and pain. And we watch ...

I am lucky enough to be in The States at the moment and spent the week-end with some dear friends in New Jersey.   On Saturday, we visited the New Jersey Shore at Cape May, a beautiful Victorian seaside resort not far from Philadelphia.   After a great, out of season walk on the beach in the sunshine, we were standing by the Ocean and spotted a flock of what must have been several hundred small birds flying in formation on the edge of the water. It was phenomenal to watch as the birds moved in perfect unison, twisting and turning this way and that and catching the light as they turned in a joyous ‘dance’.   We must have watched them for 20 minutes or so and were captivated by them.   It was as if they were putting on a display espec...

Storm shadow It may seem like a glamorous name for the latest sports car on show at the Paris motor show but don’t be fooled by the sleek name. This little contraption really does kick up a storm and does 0-60 in record time; in fact this is the name of one of the missiles dropped on Libya by British military war planes to destroy key military installations. It was even shown on TV how these missiles did there job of destroying what we were to believe was Libyan military bases.  Shown from the RAF Tornados pictures during pre-dawn raids last night it seems easy to accept that the glow over the target was a missile costing hundreds of thousands of pounds going off within feet of its target.  It all seems terrifying to know what j...

The World Wildlife Fund has again asked us to join millions across the globe for EARTH-HOUR 2011. On Saturday 26th March at 8.30 pm (UK time) they want the global skyline to be plunged into darkness for the world’s biggest call for action on the threats facing our planet.  Less than 10 Days to go! Show you care about tackling the climate change and protecting our natural world. It’s a message to world leaders that they need to take urgent action and a reminder to us all that we only have one planet earth! Why don’t you register to take part at wwf.org.uk/earthhour One Hour-One World-Our Future.

Late last night I was winding down about to go to bed when I got a call from a friend who was channel surfing and had run across the Tucson Festival of Books on CSPAN and discovered a panel of three people from the 1960s era talking about their experiences.  The man on the panel was Mark Rudd, there to talk about My Life with SDS and the Weathermen.  SDS stands for Students for a Democratic Society and Mark was famous for having led the sit-ins at Columbia University in 1968, fanning the fire of the growing student movement (which we all called The Movement). It is so interesting to see someone you haven't see in 40 years and both recognize him and remember so much about him.  I was a member of SDS back in the late 60s.  For those o...

I am stunned wordless by the disaster in Japan. The images, their pain and loss is beyond comprehension. I want to pray for them but words fail me. What do I ask? Lord give them strength and courage. As I see images of the disaster, words seem inadequate. A ship tossed about like a toy, cars thrown about with people within, all science technological progress helpless in the face of nature's fury. People who a moment before would have been happy, sad, angry, hurt, working towards their next prized possession; some irritated at things not going their way; let down at people not understanding them -- either not their the next moment or comprehending the horror of what they had lost in a few moments. What do I learn from this moment? Al...