Sunday, September 1, 2013

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.


Sunday, July 21, 2013

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.

Saturday, July 20, 2013

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.



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.


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.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

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.

Monday, April 8, 2013

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.





Saturday, February 23, 2013

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


Thursday, January 10, 2013

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.
 

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

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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