A Nose and a Chin

Nagging guilt has actually made me 

avoid the Cow for a while…

But, I found something that made me think 

and made me smile this morning.

Here’s a re-hash of the story 

I found this morning:

A lady in China never went to school… 

she was never taught to read or write.

She has cerebral palsy, 

so expectations were lowered for her. 

She can’t stand. She can’t use her hands.

And yet, she has published her own book… 

A book she wrote herself.

It’s titled: Greet You with a Smile. 

It took her three years to write this book. 

And, she wrote it using her nose and her chin! 

She typed the story on her ipad 

and her mobile phone.

She taught herself to read 

while watching television programs 

and by looking at a dictionary.

She has also written two short stories.

I love this quote from the author, Huang Yang: “Everyone encounters difficulties 

and setbacks in their lives. 

Some feel down about it 

and some solve it optimistically. 

Lying dead, or standing alive, 

it all depends on you.”

Huang Yang                             Photo credit: Women of China

While the news article calls Huang a girl, she is 28.

This is another story that proves that we should never set limits on what people can or can’t do.

Kindness of Strangers

I read an article today… 

about breast-feeding.

I’m not a mum. 

I’ve never breastfed a baby.

I’m a big supporter of it…

But I know how difficult it can be 

for some mums to feed their children.

I find it strange that women 

are judged and criticised

 for feeding their children in public. 

I imagine that, if their baby was left un-fed

 and was starting to really scream in hunger,

the people around the mother 

would throw angry glares her way – 

and some people would most likely 

abuse her for her noisy baby 

and the fact it is obviously hungry.

So, why judge when she does feed her child?

Most women are very discreet when feeding. 

Often, a child may be fed 

and no one around the mother 

would even notice. 

Let’s face it, she doesn’t want 

anyone staring at her breasts! 

And, there’s always the option 

for bystanders to simply look away!

I’d like to think that times 

are changing and women no longer

 sit in public toilets to feed their children.

I think we are a little more understanding

 and accepting, as a whole.

So, the article I read…

A mother was in a pizza restaurant

and she was feeding

 her child at the table. 

Worried she was breaking social taboos,

 she felt quite self-conscious 

and soon noticed 

the waitress staring at her. 

She continued feeding, feeling guilty

 and half expecting to be asked to stop.

When her child still didn’t settle, 

she left the table early 

and waited in the car 

while her husband paid their bill.

And here’s the good bit:

The waitress… the staring waitress…

She was so impressed 

by the lady feeding her child 

that she paid for part of their bill.

The mother’s name is Jackie. 

The waitress is Bodi Kinney. 

Bodi’s message on the bill was simple: 

I bought one of your pizzas. 

Please thank your wife for breastfeeding!!

Such a simple act… 

and yet, a huge reminder 

that hungry children should be fed 

and we should never 

stop a mother from breast-feeding.

Our actions are very powerful… 

this waitress has empowered 

a breast-feeding mother… 

and women everywhere. 

What a beautiful gesture.

Read the article here.

Shuffling

Driving... 

It's all 'smooth sailing' until 

something walks on to the road and stops traffic.

And that, brings me to the echidna...

Echidna – what kind of word is that, anyway?

The echidna is covered in

hollow spines.

photo credit

They have tiny eyes and poor eyesight.

They’re easy enough to catch though –

if you ever stumble across one in the wild.

They shuffle along...

...oblivious to the dangers

around them.

They’re not totally defenseless!

Once startled, their long claws 

might dig into the ground.

They hold on with such incredible strength

that it is almost impossible

to pull them out of the ground...

Not to mention working around their spines.

If the echidna cannot dig into the ground

they will roll into a ball.

Their softer belly will be protected

by a ball of spines.

photo credit

Dingoes, goannas and other predators

have to suffer a mouthful of spines

before reaching the echidna’s flesh.

A dingo with a mouth full of sores

caused by echidna spines

soon learns to leave the echidna alone!

And their tongue....

100 times a minute

that tongue sticks out.

It’s sticky so ants, termites 

and small bugs stick to it.

Back inside the mouth it goes,

covered in delicious echidna food!

There are no teeth in the echidna’s mouth

but hard palettes crush the insects.

I love that they have hairs

 among their many spines.

I love that they can live in the snow

and in the hottest parts of Australia.

I love that you can stumble

on them out in the bush.

I love their shuffle.

I love their colours.

I love that cars will slow

to almost a stop

when an echidna

is crossing a suburban road.

Knuckles

The Cow’s been pretty quiet lately…

I’ve been learning a little about cerebral palsy 

hands on learning… 

I know a bit more about it now, 

not necessarily the medical terminology 

but the impact it has on a little body.

So, when I heard about ‘Knuckles’, 

I was immediately curious.  

Why? Knuckles is a chimpanzee… 

a chimpanzee with cerebral palsy!

Knuckles lives at the 

Centre for Great Apes (in Florida)

after an entertainment group he had been with,

no longer wanted him. 

He was two when he arrived. 

It seemed that Knuckles had cerebral palsy. 

At the time of his birth, 

he suffered from a lack of oxygen. 

He had poor muscle control 

and was especially weak on the left side.

 He also had a lazy eye 

and didn’t appear able to focus on objects.

 At two, Knuckles should have been

 swinging from the trees, 

but he could not climb 

and had difficulty with walking.

He also had trouble feeding 

and needed help to eat. 

Hardly surprising, early testing 

pointed to a grim future,

with almost no expectations 

for improvements in Knuckles’ ability.

 And yet, steady progress was made. 

Volunteers gave Knuckles 

some extra time and 

occupational and physical therapists 

also worked with Knuckles. 

Now, Knuckles feeds himself… 

he climbs up and down steps… 

and uses swings to hang upside down.

 Sometimes, he joins 

the other chimpanzees in running games.

 Knuckles is very aware 

of his surroundings 

and loves being tickled. 

He is also very affectionate. 

Had Knuckles been born into the wild, 

I guess he would have 

slowly starved or been 

an easy target to another animal. 

But, he was taken in and loved. 

He was recognised as having cerebral palsy

 and his therapy and efforts have paid off.

Being that we are so closely related to apes,

 I guess its no surprise that they too, 

may have cerebral palsy.

Go to the Centre for Great Apes  

to find out more.

There are more pictures at the site, too.

Fairy Orchid

It’s been so long since I posted something… 

so, lets start back with something 

light and easy, something cute.

A flower… an orchid…

It’s a tiny people orchid! 

It only grows to 30cm. 

Unfortunately... it’s a European plant, 

which flowers in October and November. 

It’s a hardly little plant and tolerates frost. 

This little plant likes the sunshine, 

and why wouldn’t it… 

it’s flowers look as though they would 

like to dance in the sunshine. 

These plants grow in woodlands and meadows –

 which is perfect for the dancing flowers. 

This cool little plant is known as the Orchis italic… 

it’s the fairy orchid! 

I want one of these.

Second Place Winner

 

This is the name of a winner:  

Ivan Fernandez Anaya.

OK, he didn’t win…

He came second in the race,

and his coach may have been

unhappy with that…

but, really, he won.

During a cross-country race,

his goodness and

sense of fair play really shone.

The race was close to finished…

Ivan was coming second. 

Abel Mutai was winning…

but, Abel got confused

about where the finish line was…

He stopped running too early.  

He was still meters away

from the finish line.

As Ivan ran up to him,

 he saw the error,

and could easily have raced past

 and claimed first place.

He didn’t.

He ran right up to Abel Mutai

and pointed to the finish line.

 

He stayed behind Abel

until the race had been won.

Ivan claimed second and was

 immensely proud of his efforts.

Ivan later said:

“I didn’t deserve to win it”.

He explained:

“He was the rightful winner.

He created a gap that I couldn’t

 have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake.”

Because the two men had

little common language between them,

Abel’s thanks were quite simple

in words,

but heartfelt in meaning.

Ivan hopes that his decision

to let fairness

overcome the need for winning

might help children everywhere

to see what is really important.

Although Ivan came second…

it’s probably the best second place

 he could ever take.

Champion.

Ivan’s facebook page



A Cut Above

Guy Henry

Several months ago,

my young nephew met a man.

He met Dr Guy Henry.

Lucky!

Dr Guy Henry saved his life.

He cut my nephew open

– twice!

 

 

The second time,

he removed a chunk of cancer cells

from my nephew’s tiny body

 and then, carefully and neatly,

sewed him back together.

What an amazing job he has!

What an incredible thing he does!

Dr Guy Henry is a

specialist Paediatric Surgeon.

He’s been doing this

for over ten years.

I’ve never met Dr Guy Henry,

but I will always be grateful

for what he did…

and how well he did it.

My nephew’s scar is almost healed.

It’s almost perfectly straight.

 

Maybe, in a few years,

we might have trouble

even seeing the scar.

But, each time the sun shines

 the right way

and a glint of scar shines at me,

 I will send a quiet

“thank you”

to Dr Guy Henry.

Apparently, he loves

rugby and fishing –

but rarely has any luck

catching a fish.

I hope he catches

the biggest fish next time

 he drops a line in!   

Read more about him here.

 

New Beginnings

2012 brought some great things...

but, it was a long, tiring

and often... awful year.

But, it's gone!

 

Welcome 2013!

Here's to smiles, love, laughter

and great health!

Happy New Year!

 

And... in Thai:

สุขสันต์วันปีใหม่นะคะเพื่อนๆ

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