Ethereal

Summer Sky - Late Afternoon
Originally uploaded by walterhertman.

This was taken in late Summer '05, and I thought I'd share it. Comments welcomed.

DWI - Driving While Insane

Does driving a motor vehicle make people insane? It sure seems like it.

According to the Automobile Association of America (AAA), which conducted a study of more than 10,000 incidents of violent aggressive driving between 1990 and 1996, agressive driving resulted in more than 218 deaths and 12,610 injuries. How many more went unreported?

Ten years after the fact, the problem seems to be reaching epidemic proportions.

But why?

There are any number of reasons the study cites, mostly involving impaired emotional driving such as:

Impatience or Inattentiveness

Power Struggle

Recklessness/Road Rage

I have even witnessed many instances of aggression which involved drivers with small children (in child seats) as passengers.

Don't they realize they are jeopardizing their children's safety, as well as their own? Do they just not care?

Whatever the reasons for their recklessness, it pays for the rest of us to be highly attentive when driving, even when traveling only a short distance. Keep yourself safe from becoming a target by following the basic rules of the road, and by avoiding retaliation against aggressive drivers.

Also, avoid making obscene gestures, flashing your brights, tailgaiting (or braking hard while being tailgated), and stay off the phone while driving. However, it's always wise to keep a cell phone handy, should you need to call for emergency help.

Why can't we all just (be courteous) and get along?

The Gift That Keeps Giving

Sir Winston Churchill said it most succinctly: “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” With the winter holiday season fast approaching, I was reminded of this basic truth during a local networking function.

I learned, for the first time, of a unique charitable organization called Heifer International. Don’t start holding your breath for the punchline.

There isn’t one.

This organization really exists, and their mission, lofty: To end world hunger and poverty, and to promote caring for the earth.

To help achieve this mission, Heifer International has developed a list of “global initiatives” which, among other objectives, would help communities “preserve their ability to support themselves by protecting their land,water, and other natural resources,” and by “providing small loans to help people start and expand tiny business that yield big benefits for families.”

A large part of their “Agroecology” effort provides livestock to families and communities. The animals could then be used to provide milk, eggs, and other food staples for the benefit of the entire community. Recipients must promise to breed the animals and give away a percentage of offspring to another family or community in need. And so on.

So, as you prepare your grocery lists for the wonderful Thanksgiving Day dinners many of you may be planning (or attending), keep in mind that for less than the price of the side dishes, you can “teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime.” And that is its own kind of thanksgiving.

www.heifer.org

Doing My Chores

My self-cleaning oven tried to murder me today.

Until this afternoon, I'd never even known how one works. Cooking in it is easy. Bake, broil, warm; I seem to have enough on the ball to do that much. But the concept of an oven which cleans itself seemed foreign. After all, no other appliance I own can boast such amazing feats of cleanliness. The idea, though, was appealing and fascinating.

A quick internet search turned up www.howstuffworks.com, a wonderful site which would prove useful for finding answers to any number of perplexities. It turns out that "Question #559" deals with the whole oven issue quite thoroughly.

In working its magic, the oven superheats to about 900 degress Fahrenheit, turning every little burnt piece of crud stuck inside to ash. The process takes about 3 hours. It also creates a bit of smoke -- say. . . oh, I don't know. . . about enough to suffocate a small village. These things should come with a spare oxygen tank.

In fact, the smoke was robustly pouring out of every window and door I had opened, as if trying to escape its own acrid fumes. I thought the neighbors might call the fire department, but realized their concern was likely subdued by the pity they surely felt for my imagined dinner guests. Maybe they'll drop by later with leftovers. . .

But I digress.

Somehow, I managed to escape without succumbing to either smoke inhalation or carbon monoxide poisoning. If only someone would invent "self-cleaning dishes," my life would be complete. On second thought, I'm not a very good swimmer.

Happy-Sadness

Have you ever been melancholy and elated at the same time? It's a strange dichotomy which seems to be visiting me this evening.

One of my college professors once told me that everything in life is happy-sad. At the time, I thought he was crazy. Now I know better. Strangely enough, I'm comfortable in that psychic space, like wearing an old pair of soft, faded jeans.

It's not even like I am trying to hail a different emotion, content instead to stay curbside and watch them variously speed past or stop to pick up other passengers along the way.

No, this place is just fine.

It is assurance of my humanity, of my imperfectness. Besides, in this moment, there really isn't anyplace else I need to be.