What's your secret for a long happy life?

Oil on Canvas ~ Paul Tijerio

 

A woman walked up to a little old man rocking in a chair on his porch. "I couldn't help noticing how happy you look," she said. "What's your secret for a long happy life?"

"I smoke three packs of cigarettes a day," he said. "I also drink a case of whiskey a week, eat fatty foods, and never exercise."
"That's amazing," the woman said. "How old are you?"
"Twenty-six," he said.

It Felt Love

How did the rose

Ever open its heart

And give to this world

All its beauty?

It felt the encouragement of light

Against its being,

Otherwise,

We all remain

Too frightened

Hafiz

Growing Up Adirondack Style

I grew up in a small town in upper New York state called Glens Falls , New York in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains.

I remember our first house on Putnam road. It was a 4 bedroom home; 2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 down.

My mother and father slept downstairs which left us kids upstairs by ourselves. We had no A/C then, neither did we have fans. I still vividly recall the summer months, in my bed, the sweltering heat, my body sticking to my sheet, hoping for a breeze to blow through my open window. But for me it was just the season and I did not complain.

After all it was summer and vacation from school was the best part. There were 4 of us home when I was born. I was the youngest of 6, my oldest brother was 20 years older than myself and I have a sister 21 years my senior. They were on their own making their way when I came along. We had one guest room, downstairs, that my mother always kept specially prepared when ministers would visit. My parents were devout in their faith and church was an integral part of our life style. This made a visit from our ministers very special and often they would spend a night or two.

Our home was a part of a developing neighborhood in the late 50’s. Half the houses on Putnam Road, at that time, were only partially built and we used to play in the cellar holes nearby. It was a quiet place and was located geography in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. These mountains stretched northward about 200 miles to the Canadian border and as I grew up I spent countless days fishing and hiking through these mountains. The small lakes and ponds in this region were carved out by glaciers and were spring fed, clear and cold. In those days I preferred the cold mountain lakes to any pool, which to me seemed like bath water by comparison.

The winter months in retrospect were harsh but as a young man it was a time for snowshoeing, skiing, and ice fishing. In midwinter we would backpack into the mountain lakes to ice fish by the light of huge bon fires on the ice.

Then there was college and relocation to the city of Albany, New York about 70 miles to the south. For the most part my visits north were for short visits after that; then back to class, internships or jobs.

Life has a way of going forward all on its own and although my life now is very different from the way I grew up I still look back with fond memories of friends, snow, mountains, miles of natural xmas trees; their fur bows laden with heavy snow, and many hours of the best fish stories you ever heard.

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season filled with treasured memories , happiness and joy.

World View of Global Warming

The Snows of Kilimanjaro, which give their name to a short story by Ernest Hemingway and his film adaptation starring Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner, have been a symbol of romanticism that has engulfed the African continent for centuries. But in recent years have also become a symbol of climate change.

 

A new study in the permafrost of the highest mountain in Africa, published today in the journal 'Proceedings of the National Accademy of Sciences' (PNAS) reinforces this idea. The research findings reveal that the glaciers located both in the crater on the slopes of the summit of Kilimanjaro could disappear within 20 years if nothing is done to reverse the current trend of global climate warming.



 

Portage Glacier 1914

Portage Glacier 2004

Glaciers across Western China and the Tibetan Plateau are shrinking, threatening more water shortages

In northern Guangdong, farmers who had good wells now must carry water past dried up fish ponds.

China is the rousing giant of global warming. It stands as a developing nation outside the guidelines of the Kyoto treaty, yet with more than one billion people and a huge energy-gobbling economy, it is one of the most influential countries in climate change.

Greenland's huge icecap, second only to Antarctica, is also showing signs of change, although measurements are preliminary. Outflow glaciers like this one on the central east coast, as measured by NASA airborne radar and laser, appear to be thinning and flowing more rapidly. The National Climate Data Center (NOAA) reports that 2002 saw the greatest measured surface melt of Greenland ice in 24 years of satellite records. Two deep ice cores from there provide a detailed Northern Hemisphere climate record extending beyond the last ice age.

Some of us are adjusting nicely..

Hummm  I wonder where the man is that was sitting in that chair......