tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-315620082024-03-13T22:55:27.069+11:00happy chattercecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.comBlogger687125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-53912582062150670202020-04-13T23:22:00.002+10:002020-04-13T23:25:48.465+10:00this staying home thing could be transformationalSomewhere along the way I taught my little guy about savouring. I don’t remember when exactly, and I’m not particularly good at doing it myself, but it was a lesson he took to heart. Often, just as I’m about to gobble down my last delicious mouthful of honey-drenched crumpet, he will look reproachfully at me over the top of his quarter-eaten, jam-covered crumpet and say, “Cec! You didn’t savour it!” And I will guilty admit that, indeed, I did not savour it, before praising him up for his excellent savouring skills. He often blows me away with his ability to hold back, hold on, delay gratification and relish every little morsel of his sweet treats. It is surely remarkable for a boy his age to be able to do that? At least I find it remarkable.<br />
<br />
Savouring has to be a perfect example of mindfulness, doesn’t it, if mindfulness is deliberately choosing to notice something? Savouring is taking the time to be very present in the moment and feel all the feels - the tastes, the sights, the smells, the sounds - and appreciate them. (That would be the main difference to mindfulness. Mindfulness suspends judgement and notices what is, without deciding whether it is good or bad. Savouring adds an element of pleasure to the noticing.) Savour - squeeze every last drop of goodness out of the moment and hold it close to your heart. It’s a way to identify the good that is around us when sometimes we can’t see it through the mess of life.<br />
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I am reading Julia Baird’s book “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52541673-phosphorescence">Phosphoresence. On awe, wonder & things that sustain you when the world goes dark</a>.” (Could there be a more appropriate book for this time. Or a more beautiful cover?!). She sees savouring as one way of getting through dark times. And there’s research to prove it. There is also research that shows the richer people are, the less likely they are to savour life’s pleasures. Julia Baird quotes Jordi Quiodbach: “experiencing the best things in life... may actually mitigate the delight one experiences in response to the more mundane joys of life, such as sunny days, cold beers and chocolate bars.” Or as Julia puts it, “a sense of pleasure can be dulled over time by repitition and abundance”. Too much of a good thing means we stop enjoying the good things.<br />
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Which makes me wonder if our enforced isolation might present us with an opportunity, not just a loss. I’m putting this out there tentatively, because I know I write from a place of safety and privilege. For many, isolation is placing them under stress and in danger. I do not want to minimise the horror and upheaval of this time. <br />
<br />
But for those of us whose needs are met at this time, maybe our senses will be heightened by this isolation. Perhaps in being deprived of many of the things that give us pleasure and meaning, we can better savour the goodness of our lives. As our sensory overload is reduced, is it possible we will notice more, appreciate more, enjoy more? Not just when we are released from our homes and can sally forth into the world once more, but right here, right now in the four walls of our houses.<br />
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Maybe in staying home, we will rediscover some joy of living, right when we think much of the joy of life has been taken from us.<br />
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I hope so.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-43919484810231250622020-04-11T21:06:00.000+10:002020-04-11T21:06:05.885+10:00i’m stuck at home so may as well blogHere we all are, at home to keep COVID-19 at bay.<br />
<br />
Such a strange turn of events, I don’t seem much able to get my head around it.<br />
<br />
I mean I understand it, of course. A new coronavirus jumped across to humans in China towards the end of November last year, and we have no immunity to it so it’s spreading rapidly from person to person, and many people have a mild illness, but some people develop a severe illness that means they need hospital and may even die, and because so many of us will catch this novel virus, that means lots of people will need hospitalisation and our health systems may well be overwhelmed, in fact that is what is happening in Italy, Spain, the UK, and the USA. So to stop the health system in Australia from being oversubscribed, we are all ordered to stay home to slow the spread of the virus so less people need hospital all at once.<br />
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It all makes sense, and I’m happy to stay at home to ‘flatten the curve’. I certainly don’t mind having extra time to do lots of jobs I never usually get to. Like today, I pulled the plastic cover off the dining table and scrubbed both sides of it and sat it in the sun to dry. An excellent job to do. I was hoping the sun would flatten it out a bit so we have less annoying lumps on the table. But it’s April and the sun isn’t really strong enough for that these days. I’m still glad I tried though. It’s been on my list of things to do for a long time. Extra time at home isn’t all bad.<br />
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But I still can’t get my head around it.<br />
<br />
I admit to being a little bit happy capitalism is getting a kick up the butt. The government is throwing fists full of money around to keep the economy ticking over. Please don’t think too much about how they are doing it in a way that still says the economy is king, using businesses as their vehicle to get the money out there rather than giving it straight to the people. Turn a blind eye to the insistence commercial landlords support commercial tenants, while there is minimal assistance for residential tenants. And best to ignore the way they are still racist and pejorative in their treatment of people from other lands... Just try and focus on how good it is that they are recognising people need money. I mean, they’ve (temporarily) increased Newstart to a figure that makes living more achievable! Haven’t they even changed the name of the payment to “Jobseeker”? They’ve decided people without jobs aren’t all bad, they’re just a victim of these cursed COVID-19 circumstances. They’ve had to make some pretty dramatic shifts in ideology to help people get through these crazy times and I love it.<br />
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But I can’t get my head around it!<br />
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I’ve been trying to do my bit to help other people keep going. Can you imagine being a restaurant or cafe and all of a sudden your business is entirely lost? Crazy, crazy stuff. So we’ve upped our takeaway intake to support those incredible businesses that have been flexible and adaptable and creative and innovative. They amaze me with their ingenuity and fleet footed decision making. But it’s weird you know - driving through dark, quiet streets with so few cars on the road. Parking right out front of the eatery before ducking in quickly and keeping our distance from each other.<br />
<br />
What the hell? How did we end up like this? I still can’t get my head around it.<br />
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And at home. Schooling... or something. Work... or something. This isn’t what I signed up for!<br />
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My head gets it all. I totally understand. But my heart, my feelings, my soul? All stuck back in that other life, pre-COVID-19. Sure, there are things I hope change because of this, so many things. But I feel like I’m spinning on my axis and can’t stop and get my balance. Everything is out of whack and I’m OK and not OK all at once.<br />
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Will I ever get my head around it?<br />
<br />cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-51115437925023295702018-02-16T10:22:00.001+11:002018-02-16T10:22:55.839+11:00are they talking about me?!I've just read 'Big Little Lies' by Liane Moriarty. Gobbled it up in one weekend, not because I'm four years behind the rest of the world in discovering it's a cracking story, but because it really is a cracking story. Filled with so many little observations of life that are just spot on. Insightful about human nature and what makes us tick. And as I said, a cracking story. I was bleary eyed for work on Monday because I had to know who did it. Heck, I couldn't put it down because I didn't even know who had died, leave alone who did it!<br />
<br />
Anyway, I began to wonder if Liane Moriarty modelled Madeline on me. From the moment she jumped out of her car at the traffic lights to give the teenagers in front what for over texting while driving to her indignation over... everything. Madeline is me. I am Madeline. (OK, I've never actually got out of the car to tell someone off for using their phones, but I've been mad about it inside my car. And I have stalked up to a group of teenagers who threw litter on the ground in City Park, snatched up the rubbish and told them tartly that littering is not OK, it's just not OK).<br />
<br />
Page 239 was the clincher. The whole page. Change the name, and it is me.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"She didn't know how to <i>be</i> around Abigail anymore. It reminded her of trying to be friends with an ex-boyfriend. That studied casualness of your interactions. The fragility of your feelings, the awareness that the little quirks of your personality were no longer so adorable; they might even be just plain annoying.<br />
<br />
"Madeline had always played up to her role in the family as the comically crazy mother. She got overly excited and overly angry about things. When the children wouldn't do as they were told she huffed and she puffed. She sang silly songs while she stood at the pantry door, 'Where oh where, are the tinned tomatoes? Tomatoes, wherefore art thou?' The kids and Ed loved making fun of her, teasing her about everything from her celebrity obsessions to her glittery eye-shadow.<br />
<br />
"But now, when Abigail was visiting, Madeline felt like a parody of herself. She was determined not to present to be someone she wasn't. She was forty! It was too late to be changing her personality. But she kept seeing herself through Abigail's eyes and assuming that she was being compared unfavourably to Bonnie. Because Abigail had chosen Bonnie, hadn't she? Bonnie was the mother Abigail would prefer. It actually had nothing to do with Nathan. The mother set the tone of the household. Every secret fear that Madeline had ever had about her own flaws (<i>she was obviously too quick to anger, often too quick to judge, overly interested in clothes, spent far too much money on shoes, she thought she was cute and funny when perhaps she was just annoying and tacky</i> {emphasis is mine}) was now at the forefront of her mind. Grow up, she told herself. Don't take this so personally. Your daughter still loves you. She's just chosen to live with her father. It's no big deal. But every interaction with Abigail was a constant battle between 'This is who I am, Abigail, take it or leave it' and 'Be better, Madeline, be calmer, be kinder, be more like Bonnie'."</blockquote>
Inside my head, I tell you. It was a bit of a worry actually, thinking that if Madeline was the murderer, perhaps that said something about me. No spoilers here - if you haven't read it, I recommend the book. And it may well have been Madeline who knocked another school parent off. Or it may not have been. Ha.<br />
<br />
[In other news, I'm feeling good about reading a book last weekend, because I've set myself a goal of reading a book a month this year... I wasn't meaning novels when I set the goal, but I'll take it. Got myself off Facebook enough to take in some dubious literature. And now I've blogged about it. Two goals ticked off. Winning. Kind of. Now I'm off to find the TV series somewhere.]cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-4159295587710500212018-01-10T09:54:00.003+11:002018-01-10T09:54:41.604+11:00before facebook i...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Read books</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looked at the sky</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cooked cakes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wrote letters</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knitted jumpers</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had more time </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walked</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kept a journal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hunted out information for myself </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tidied up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grew vegetables</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Made cards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reflected on who I am and where I am going</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weeded the garden</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had coffee with friends</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dusted the house</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wrote a blog</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Borrowed books from the library </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Had original thoughts</span><br />
<br />cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-13366459230576007162018-01-02T18:21:00.000+11:002018-01-02T18:21:01.627+11:00Happy Birthday to me!Another new year, another birthday almost immediately afterwards. So much opportunity for reflection in two short days.<br />
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I've had a lovely day. Frank put a present out for me before I awoke, we went to the raspberry farm for lunch, the boy wrote me several sweet birthday notes and so many friends have sent me cards, gifts and lovely messages on facebook.<br />
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Here's the thing though. Birthdays feel a little self indulgent to me. I'm not that special and I've had enough birthdays to make the day feels like it's just a day. I indulge myself by asking that I not have to cook... then spend the day feeling a bit guilty about how much money gets spent on eating out. (No one else cooks much around here)<br />
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I feel the love from other people, so it's not anyone else's problem. It's me.<br />
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I'm still figuring out if I'm healthily humble and realistic about my place in the world, or if my birthday discomfort is yet another faulty signal from my busted sense of self worth. Maybe it's both? <br />
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I remember someone asking why we celebrate birthdays - it's not like they are any great achievement. Stay alive for another 365 days and you've made it back to where you started, another birthday. They are kind of inevitable. Someone else told me that nobody in one of the more populous countries of the world thinks they are specially chosen to change the world and leave a mark - they are one of more than a billion and they are tiny. Maybe my birthday discomfort has grown from these snatches of conversation - I'm no great person for surviving another 365 years, and in a world of seven billion and counting, I'm just one of the crowd.<br />
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I don't want to sound ungrateful - I've loved every message and greeting and wish and card and restaurant meal. They have given me a sense of connection and place. Thank you for every bit of love and care you have sent. I'm feeling the love. (But I did three loads of washing, stewed the rhubarb, made a cake and folded the washing to keep my feet on the ground. It's not all about me, even on my birthday.)cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-79177246838925926082018-01-01T14:59:00.001+11:002018-01-01T14:59:31.320+11:00Happy New Year!After four years of neglect, I am still able to access my blog account. Piles of spam aside, keeping the same email address and mobile number has worked for me on this occasion. <br />
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Hello happy chatter, and welcome back to the world of blogging.<br />
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It remains to be seen how long I stick with this, but one of my intentions for 2018 is to get back into writing. I've missed it. A personal journal might be a better place for most of my jumbled thoughts, but I like writing with readers in mind, so I'm officially kicking off again.<br />
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And since it's new year, here are some of my other intentions:<br />
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- have a go at yoga (a suitably broad intention - even if I just watch one YouTube vid... I've had a go)<br />
- use less plastic (I've gotten a bit slack in this department. I plan to sew some calico bags and get serious about reducing my plastic bag usage)<br />
- clear out stuff from <strike>the recesses of my mind</strike> our overflowing cupboards <br />
- practice more self-compassion (my revelation of 2017. I want more to be revealed) <br />
- mark the progress of time and the effect of life more deliberately (write, write, write...) <br />
<strike>- be a nicer person</strike><br />
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I'm sure a few other intentions have formed in my mind over the last few days, but alas, I have forgotten them. They'll come to me again... maybe by the time they do, I will have already worked my way through the above list. (Kidding - that cupboard clearing is going to take all year at my pace)<br />
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Anyway, Happy New Year. May 2018 be productive and fruitful and uplifting.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-48085681665366665092014-01-02T18:38:00.000+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.612+10:00a little birthday perspectiveIt's happened - I have officially entered the last year of my thirties... my fortieth year even. Woah.<br />
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Apart from wondering when this all happened, I have also been worrying about whether I look as old as I am, or (heaven forbid) perhaps older than my age! Over the years many have thought me younger than I am, but lately not so much - a bit too much grey hair, a few too many crinkles at the edges.<br />
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Whatever anyone else thinks, I feel I don't know myself anymore, my face isn't what it used to be... I just don't look young anymore and I've lost my bearings. This has been bothering me so much that I, a strong advocate of graceful greying and 'original highlights', have even been contemplating dying my hair. Because that will make me younger. Ha.<br />
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I'm not sure which I find more confronting, the signs of aging or my obsession with them. I've never been one for hiding my age - what is the point of being coy when we're all on the self same journey? I am the age I am and no point pretending to be eternally 21. What is there to be embarrassed about? Time passes, I get older, so do you. It's all very simple. To find myself so caught up with appearances is, frankly, disappointing. I thought I was better than that! I thought I was brave and strong, practical, and not given to (too much) superficiality, yet here I am quivering over an ever increasing head of grey hair, constantly assessing those around me to measure how I look for my age in comparison to them, considering giving up talking and smiling in order to preserve the smoothness of the skin around my eyes and mouth. What is the source of such ridiculousness?!<br />
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I have a few thoughts on what my angst may stem from. The first is not having children but wanting them. I am fast running out of time - if I look older, I must be older, and that does not bode well for those ovaries and their precious eggs. Some romantic part of my brain seems to think that if I keep looking young then I just might be young and that baby is suddenly more likely. Ah, the games the mind does play.<br />
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The other source of my angst is probably the obsession of our society with eternal youth. You just don't see many women who look their age sashaying their way around our screens and magazines. Now I'm not one to spend a lot of time looking at screens and magazines, but the values of our culture have still seeped their way into my brain such that I feel a whole lot less worthy if I look older. I look at a world full of young women and I want to shout at them,
'Don't just walk around without noticing how fabulous you look. You are
young and lovely. Your skin is smooth, your hair lush, your eyes
bright. It won't last, so relish it while you have it!' I also look around and see a plethora of gorgeous women (and men, but mostly I compare myself with women) who are aging gracefully and I think they look lovely and just right. Age doesn't detract from their beauty. But somehow, when it is me we're talking about, I worry that I might not be aging gracefully. The rational part of my brain knows this is ridiculous, but I can't seem to help it. In short, I have double standards.<br />
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Today I discovered something of an antidote to my obsession with appearances. I bumped into a work colleague I haven't seen for a few years. We were buying fruit and vegetables next to each other and she turned to say hello, only I couldn't really understand her because her words slurred so much. I thought she told me she had had a stroke and I was hopeful for her recovery, but once she gave up on my poor abilities to decipher her words she pulled out a note pad. She hadn't had a stroke, she has motor neurone disease and has resigned from work because she is dying. Slowly yes, but whichever way you look at it she is dying. I cried after we said goodbye. It was quite a shock to see her like that. She might be in her fifties but she only has such a short time left. Where is all my worry about appearances now? Relegated to the dust bin I hope - people in the real world, outside of the movies and magazines, get sick and deteriorate and die, sometimes when they are old and sometimes well before their time. When it all boils down, appearances don't count for that much really. I'd rather be fit, healthy, grey haired and wrinkled than disintegrating or dead. When you put it like that I have a whole lot to be thankful for.<br />
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Yesterday I read something else that also gave me pause. I found it in 'Art as Therapy' by Alain de Botton and John Armstrong, part of a discussion about the moral messages of art.<br />
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Moral messages - messages that encourage our better selves - can be found in works of art that seem, initially, to have little interest in 'saying' anything to us. Take a Korean moon jar. Aside from being a useful receptacle, it is also a superlative homage to the virtue of modesty. It stresses this quality by allowing minor blemishes to remain on its surface, by being full of variations of colour and having an imperfect glaze and an outline that does not follow an ideal oval trajectory. Impurities have found their way into the kiln, resulting in a random array of black dots all over its surface. The jar is modest because it seems not to mind about any of this. Its flaws merely concede its disinterest in the race for status. It has the wisdom not to ask to be thought too special. It is not humble, just content with what it is. For a person who is give to arrogance or anxiety about worldly status, and who frets about recognised at social gatherings, the sight of such a jar may be intensely moving as well as encouraging. Seeing the ideal of modesty so clearly may make it obvious that one is in exile from it. All the same, here it is, waiting for us in the jar. It would be understandable if a person who was at heart sincere and good, whose arrogance was only a habit built up to protect a vulnerable part of themselves, shouls, as they contemplated the moon jar, find themselves yearning to make a change in their lives under the aegis of the values encoded in a piece of ceramic. (2014, p42)<br />
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The words that struck me most were these: <i>The jar is modest because it seems not to mind about any of this... It is not humble, just content with what it is.</i> I dearly want to be like this. At the moment I am caught up in minding all my seeming imperfections which aren't really imperfections. I grieve the loss of youth while forgetting the pleasures of increasing age such as a broadened outlook on life. (This is exacerbated by not having had children to mark the years and remind me of their passing.) I don't want to waste the rest of my life moaning that I am no longer young. I want to not mind about any of this, to be content with what I am - grey hair and all.<br />
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So as I stare down the path of the next year to the big 4-0, I'm going to work at giving myself permission to stop worrying about the aging process. Whether I can do this is a whole other question, but for now I'm going to embrace every one of my 39 years and who they have made me to be. I'm alive and a whole lot bigger and wiser and better than I was the day I was born. That's something worth celebrating!<br />
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<br />cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-85631181129563005122013-08-20T22:30:00.000+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.834+10:00reason for voting green #7: liberal party policies are unconscionable and labor aren't much betterTo be honest, I've pretty well zoned out of the 24/7 political news cycle. My facebook feed keeps me up to date with policy announcements via a range of groups, and when I feel like it, I check in with twitter. The daily policy announcements of the various political parties is little more than a dull hum in the background.<br />
<br />
That being said, I am aware of the policies Labor and the LNP have been announcing lately. One that stands out in my mind is LNP's policy on asylum seekers. Here is their policy (as taken from the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/policy/asylum-seekers/">ABC asylum seeker policy webpage</a>):<br />
<ul>
<li>Establish a military-led response to border protection called Operation Sovereign Borders</li>
<li>Direct Navy to turn boats back when safe to do so</li>
<li>Mandatory detention for all boat arrivals</li>
<li>Offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island</li>
<li>Reintroduce temporary protection visas</li>
<li>Boost capacity on Nauru to house 2,000 people, eventually up to 5,000</li>
<li>Impose behaviour protocols on asylum seekers on bridging visas</li>
<li>Prioritise claims of asylum seekers in refugee camps over claims of boat arrivals</li>
<li>Maintain refugee intake at 13,750 per year</li>
</ul>
The temporary protection visas the Coalition intends to issue would last for three years, after which a refugee would have to have their situation reassessed (so much for cutting red tape). If the security situation in their home country is assessed as having improved - back they go. Family reunions will not be allowed, and refugees will not be allowed to work - except they may work for the dole.<br />
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Labor policy isn't much better. They will do this (again taken from the<a href="http://mandatory%20detention%20for%20all%20boat%20arrivals%20all%20asylum%20seekers%20arriving%20by%20boat%20will%20be%20sent%20to%20png%20for%20processing%20and%20settlement%20no%20asylum%20seekers%20arriving%20by%20boat%20will%20ever%20be%20settled%20in%20australia%20offshore%20processing%20on%20nauru%20and%20manus%20island%20and%20possibly%20other%20sites%20within%20png%20expand%20manus%20island%20detention%20centre%20to%20accommodate%20up%20to%203000%20people%20increase%20refugee%20intake%20to%2020%2C000%20per%20year%20excise%20the%20mainland%20from%20australia%27s%20migration%20zone/"> ABC asylum seeker policy webpage</a>):</div>
<ul>
<li>Mandatory detention for all boat arrivals</li>
<li>All asylum seekers arriving by boat will be sent to PNG for processing and settlement</li>
<li>No asylum seekers arriving by boat will ever be settled in Australia</li>
<li>Offshore processing on Nauru and Manus Island and possibly other sites within PNG</li>
<li>Expand Manus Island detention centre to accommodate up to 3000 people</li>
<li>Increase refugee intake to 20,000 per year</li>
<li>Excise the mainland from Australia's migration zone</li>
</ul>
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These policies make me unspeakably mad. Both claim to be based on 'compassion' - they want to stop the asylum seekers coming to Australia in dangerous boats. Well that must be the first time anyone in the western world takes responsibility for someone else's actions. Usually we try and worm our way out of taking responsibility for anything... but here, suddenly we feel so responsible for these people's lives we try and stop them taking a risky journey to our fair shores. I smell a rat. Both parties are telling big, stinking lies. Their main motivation is not stopping people dying at sea - they just want to appeal to the red neck voter who is scared of asylum seekers. The whole 'ethical' argument is ridiculous. "Oh, we're so worried about them we're going to treat them like second class citizens, keeping their lives in never ending limbo, settling them in third world countries. We can treat them badly, because what we really want is their safety." What a load of codswallup! The end does not justify the means, maleficence is maleficence whether the goal is beneficence or not. (And I'm sorry - I've never walked in these people's shoes. What gives me the right to tell them they are better off staying where they are, rather than jumping on a leaky boat and risking a perilous journey to safe shores? We really have no idea what their every day life must be like!)</div>
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<br /></div>
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Here's some bible verses about the topic:</div>
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Exodus 22:21 Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner...</div>
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Leviticus 19:34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.<br />
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Deuteronomy 24:17 Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice...</div>
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Deuteronomy 27:19 “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.”<br />
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I've scratched the surface of verses relating to the way a foreigner should be treated. The whole bible is a story of sharing goodness with the many. Way back when, God spoke to Abraham and said all nations would be blessed through him (Genesis 18:18). We are not meant to hold our blessings close to our chest just for ourselves. They are to be shared with those who are in need, including foreigners who come to us. And it isn't just an Old Testament deal... Jesus made it pretty clear he wasn't just interested in serving his own people. He healed a Canaanite woman's daughter (Matthew 15:21-28), threw demons out of a Gerasene (Mark 5), and healed a Roman soldier's servant (Luke 7:1-9). Jesus was into sharing blessings.</div>
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LNP policies on asylum seekers make me want to weep. They are cruel and heartless. They appeal to all that is wrong in our society. They go against biblical values. Labor policies are little better. I absolutely cannot vote for a political party that takes the stance of these two parties.</div>
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So, another reason I'll be voting Green is because Labor and LNP policies on asylum seekers are unconscionable. </div>
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(And I haven't even touched on the whole issue of push factors, international people movement, our contribution to war in the countries asylum seekers are coming from... the <a href="http://greens.org.au/safer-pathways">Greens policy on asylum seekers </a>sees the bigger picture and seeks to address many of these issues.)</div>
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cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-41565583003349340852013-08-13T22:16:00.000+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.541+10:00reasons for voting green #6: proactive action on povertyFollowing on from yesterday, the Greens' policies aimed at addressing poverty and inequality in the world extend well beyond foreign aid. They have a whole raft of policies to address poverty, and they can all be found categorised<a href="http://greens.org.au/policy-platform?field_policy_category_tid=17"> here</a>. <div>
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I like the sound of their policies a lot. Here are a few of them:</div>
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- Ban gambling on kid's TV</div>
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- Cut housing waiting lists</div>
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- Dollar bet limits</div>
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- Homelessness</div>
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- Housing</div>
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- Social services</div>
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- Getting smart on crime</div>
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I've read a couple of their information pages and I like their whole new approach. 'Getting smart on crime' is a play on 'Getting tough on crime' and it focuses on proactive prevention rather than dealing with crime after the fact. I've always been keen on the idea of prevention, whether it relates to health or risk management... or crime. Their policy for dollar bet limits is another example of the Greens' intention to be proactive rather than reactive.</div>
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After (briefly) outlining the biblical emphasis on addressing poverty yesterday, I won't add more to it today. (Rest assured though, that I could. Poverty and compassion are key biblical themes) Suffice to say that I like the Greens' approach to dealing with poverty. They have thought about many aspects of poverty in Australia (and the world) and developed a broad suite of policies to address them. Once again their policies line up with biblical principles.</div>
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I'm voting Green because they have a proactive plan for reducing poverty.</div>
cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-250134732613814572013-08-12T22:15:00.000+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.529+10:00reasons for voting green #5: foreign aidIt's been a busy few days around here, but now it's time to get back into analysing why I'm comfortable voting green this election.<br />
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As I mentioned <a href="http://happychatter.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/reasons-for-this-christian-voting-green.html">last post</a>, last Thursday night Frank and I went to a 'Make Poverty History' forum and heard from each of our local candidates about their party's policy on foreign aid. To quickly review: The Hon Geoff Lyons (Labor member for Bass) outlined the work of Australia's foreign aid around the world and reiterated Labor's policy of meeting the Australian commitment to give 0.7% GDP by 2016/17 to help meet the Millennium Development Goals. Mr Andrew Nikolic (Liberal candidate for Bass) outlined how important a role the military play in the provision of foreign aid, and stated the Liberal policy of focusing foreign aid on our local Asia-Pacific region because this will have the greatest benefit for us in terms of peace and stability. Ms Lucy Landon-Lane (Australian Greens candidate for Bass) pointed to the Greens' ongoing commitment to increase Australia's foreign aid to 0.7% GDP by introducing levies on mining companies and the big banks.<br />
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I was pleased to hear what Australia's foreign aid is achieving (here's a <a href="http://www.micahchallenge.org.au/assets/pdf/Thankyou-Australia-Postcard.pdf">postcard from Micah Challenge</a> with a very brief summary of achievements - click through to the second page for the figures), but it is disappointing that Labor thinks our promise to give 0.7% GDP can be continually pushed back to suit our own economic needs. I was pretty appalled by Andrew Nikolic's constant reference to the military and by the way he linked foreign aid with national benefit for Australia. I wonder if it can even be considered aid if our national interests are the main motivation for our giving, rather than a compassionate response to extreme poverty in any part of the world. I find the Greens' policy most aligned with what the bible has to say on helping the poor.<br />
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Here's a very brief overview of a few of the things the bible has to say about the poor.<br />
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In Leviticus 19 and 23, Israel is given instructions to leave some fruit in their vineyards and grain in their fields for the poor and foreigners to gather after the harvest. Deuteronomy 15 has quite a lot to say about helping the poor - debts are to be cancelled at the end of the seventh year (v1), help those you come across who are in need, open your purse to them (v7,8), give freely and spontaneously (v10), and always be generous to those who are poor and hurting (v11). Psalm 140:12 says God is on the side of victims and cares for the rights of the poor. Proverbs 14:31 says God is insulted when the poor are insulted, but God is honoured when people are kind to the poor. Proverbs 28:27 exhorts the reader to be generous to the poor. In Luke 4 Jesus proclaimed that he had come to bring good news to the poor, and (in a widely sweeping, unreferenced, broad brush stroke) the ultimate biblical vision for the transformation of all things is a world in which there is no sadness, pain, hunger, thirst, exploitation or poverty.<br />
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The biblical ideal is for the poor to be treated with respect, and compassion, and ultimately that poverty will be overcome. The Greens' foreign aid policy dovetails beautifully with this biblical ideal.<br />
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I'll be voting Green because the Greens have a policy of giving to the poor in other countries because it is the right thing to do.<br />
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(I realise this is a very, very, very brief overview... with more minutes in a day I would expand further. If it interests you - go dig into the <a href="http://greens.org.au/policies/overseas-aid">Greens Overseas Aid policy</a> and the bible. It's all very interesting.)cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-44361762382319974832013-08-08T23:35:00.004+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.554+10:00reasons for this christian voting green: i have a super local candidate! (#4)Tonight I went to a 'Make Poverty History' forum of local candidates for the Bass electorate. I'll be really honest with you... it wasn't a game changer for me. My primary vote and preferences remain as they were prior to the forum. That's OK. It was well worth going in order to see and hear each of the candidates live and in person.<br />
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Here's my run down of the evening.<br />
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The forum was chaired by the Hon Don Wing AM. <br />
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Kathryn Martin (Make Poverty History) spoke on the <a href="http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/">Millennium Development Goals</a> (MDGs) and the need for Australia to increase foreign aid from the current 0.35% GDP to its promised 0.7% GDP if the MDGs are to be met.<br />
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The Hon Geoff Lyons MP (Labor) presented an overview of the projects Australia's foreign aid budget has been directed towards. Our aid is doing great things - I really appreciated hearing about them. Mr Lyons also reaffirmed Labors commitment to increasing the foreign aid budget to 0.5% GDP by 2016/2017.<br />
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Mr Andrew Nikolic (Liberal candidate) began by detailing how personally knowledgeable he is on the topic of foreign aid, having distributed aid in multiple locations around the world while a member of the military. He went so far as to suggest military spending was akin to foreign aid in many situations. Mr Nikolic presented the idea that any Australian foreign aid should be spent in our own Asia-Pacific region, where it will have the most benefit for us in terms of increasing our security and border control. He argued that foreign aid cannot and should not be increased until the Australian economy is strong - we must be in a strong financial position before we can be generous to others. We may also need to increase our military budget and intervention in nearby countries for our own peace of mind, for while there is poverty in these countries they are unstable and present a threat to us. On numerous occasions Mr Nikolic emphasised the importance of evidence based policy, citing statistics and what he perceived as Labor government failings in their management of the economy. (Got to love a bit of political point scoring whenever one has a platform to do so. To be fair, Mr Lyons pointed out some perceived Liberal failings on one occasion I can recall, but he mostly managed to stick to presenting either a Labor policy or his personal perspective on world poverty and foreign aid.)<br />
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Ms Lucy Landon-Lane (Greens candidate) reiterated the importance of meeting the MDGs by increasing Australian foreign aid to 0.7% GDP, both because it will improve the lives of billions of people and because we said we would. She pointed out that well directed foreign aid might be a way to help people live happily in their own country rather than needing to risk a dangerous journey here as asylum seekers. Ms Landon-Lane pointed out that some of what the government claimed was foreign aid was instead wrongly classified military spending in Afghanistan. She spoke of the need to move beyond narrow, short term high economic growth strategies and instead reinforce the balance between economic, social and environmental dimensions.<br />
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Both Ms Landon-Lane and Mr Lyons talked about the importance of climate change mitigation in the fight against poverty, since it is the poorest countries in the world who will be most effected by climate change.<br />
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Lucy Landon-Lane was the stand out speaker in my opinion. She came across as relaxed, well informed and caring. Geoff Lyons isn't the world's best public speaker, but he was sincere and I really appreciated hearing of some of the specific differences Australian foreign aid has made. Andrew Nikolic was relaxed to the point of slick, overly concerned with the role of the military and defence in foreign aid (and every area of government policy by the sound of it), and more concerned about the plight of poor struggling Australia than the poor struggling to survive on $1.25 a day. He certainly ticked all the Liberal boxes, decrying regulation on multi-national countries (although this was probably realistic in the context of the question he was answering), and placing the comfort of Australians before the needs of those in other parts of the world who live in poverty. Based on their speeches and responses tonight, I'm comfortable with the election choices I have made.<br />
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On a more personal note, Frank and I have known <a href="http://candidates.greens.org.au/Bass">Lucy Landon-Lane</a> for a few years now, through our involvement with 'Pulp the Mill' peaceful protests. She is someone I admire - a warm, calm, spiritual, intelligent person who is self-aware and lives in a very thoughtful, deliberate way. Perhaps it is impossible to maintain that kind of character in politics, but I would love to have a person like Lucy representing me. Realistically, Lucy is unlikely to be elected to parliament, which is a shame. <br />
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Yes, I know... you have a different candidate from me so perhaps you don't think this one reason for voting Green applies to you. But let me encourage you to get out there and meet your candidates or listen to them in person at political events in your electorate. The media doesn't always present them fairly or accurately and seeing them live, unedited and in the flesh may help you decide who to vote for.<br />
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Anyway, I'm voting Green because I have a fantastic local candidate who would carry herself well in the maelstrom of federal politics.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-4654822868562155852013-08-07T22:49:00.001+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.561+10:00on being christian and voting green (#3)Do you have a philosophical, moral, religious or ethical yard stick against which you measure a political party? Is there one issue you consider a deal breaker when choosing who to vote for? Is there a line which, upon being crossed by a political party, prevents you from voting for them? My answers would be: yes, yes and yes. With caveats. <div>
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I grew up in a house of black and white. There were rules and lines and we all knew where we stood - basically do everything Dad said, or else. However, the older I get, the less I see the world as black and white. I don't think I've succumbed to sepia or murky grey, more that my world has filled with fabulous colour, variety, contrast and nuance. I still have a few non-negotiables, but it takes a lot of pushing before I'll resort to them... although thinking about it, I probably pull them out more often than I think. Maybe I just don't bang on about them so loudly as I once did. (Is this the point to apologise to my fellow high school students for my many painful attempts to convert you?)</div>
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I suspect this is one of the reasons I am comfortable with voting Green. They aren't Christian, and don't claim to be. My understanding of their history is that they have been actively anti-Christian, though this understanding comes from hearsay rather than personal research or experience. Looking at this through the good old black and white glasses - they cross the line and shouldn't be voted for. But swap the glasses for the nuanced outlook, and the line moves. Actually, more than the line moving, it splinters into multiple lines. Last night I wrote about one of my lines (justice). Others include environmental sustainability, foreign aid, renewable energy, asylum seeker policy... I have a lot of lines and I hope to write about more of them over the next few weeks.</div>
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Would I like it if the Greens embraced people of faith? Absolutely. I've always found it strange that 'progressive' groups who claim to be about justice and openness, freedom and choice on the one hand, are anti-religion and discriminatory in their rhetoric towards those of faith on the other hand. I'm not thinking so much of the Greens here as New Internationalist. They write country profiles, judging them on indicators of freedom around homosexuality and political persuasion. They almost never comment on religious freedom - or, as more often the case may be, the lack of religious freedom. This strikes me as rather hypocritical, but I guess Christianity has done itself no favours through history. When it was the dominant religion in the West it did a pretty good job of restricting the freedom of anyone who disagreed. Perhaps the progressive groups consider it time for some payback.</div>
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So, I would value a greater openness towards, and respect for people of faith on the part of the Greens. However, this is just one of my political party yard sticks, and it isn't the biggest one. Sure, I'm a school chaplain and a vote for the Greens is effectively a vote against my job, which is a bit of a shame. (If I thought they were going to get into power I would be lobbying them hard on the school chaplaincy issue. I might do that anyway.) But to me, they embody enough of what God is about (see <a href="http://happychatter.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/how-christian-can-vote-green-2.html">yesterday's post</a>) for me to vote for them. They tick the boxes in many areas that matter to me more than that they be pro-Christian.</div>
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That reminds me of another issue I have with much of today's Christianity. We have this overweening sense of entitlement, because we are right. On everything. Full stop. Because the Bible is the Word of God and it tells us everything that is right and wrong. And if we are right, then everything and everyone else is wrong. We can also dictate how everyone else should live and demand the law ensures everyone lives the right way. Because we are right. Back to that black and white thing.</div>
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I just don't see it that way. I choose to try and live my life in light of the lines I believe can be drawn from the bible. I don't see why someone who doesn't believe the bible should be brow beaten into my way of living. Of course there are universal morals and ethics that help keep order in society, and the bible may well have been a major influence in the values we hold as a society, but I don't expect others to live by the standards I hold for myself. (Heck, I can't even live by them myself sometimes!) So if the Greens aren't Christian, that's OK.</div>
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Here's another thought. Even though the Greens aren't Christian and don't make any claim on being at all influenced by Christianity, there is still goodness to be found in their beliefs and policies. I know I've said this before, but there is still a Christian ethic in what they stand for. This flies in the face of much of the dogma I grew up with. Christianity seemed to think that because it was right and good, it was the only place where goodness could be found. I remember my Dad saying in all seriousness that certain people were Catholic, 'but I think they are really Christian.' He seemed surprised that goodness could be found outside of protestant evangelicalism. When I talk to some people, they seem to not want to vote Greens because they aren't Christian - and they can't be good if they aren't Christian. They trip over their lines in the sand.</div>
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If you are a black-and-white, line in the sand, yard stick kind of a person, you may think this post is one big exercise in justification by an obviously back slidden Christian. I can live with that. One of my favourite bible passages is Romans 8:1, 'There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus'. My faith journey has caught me by surprise in many ways, and sometimes it scares me (what if I really <i>am</i> back slidden?!). Mostly though, I love my faith walk and I love God. I trust God helps me to stay true.</div>
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In the meantime, I'm voting Green because I think their positives outweigh their lack of religious beliefs.</div>
cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-25647925074947189982013-08-06T22:20:00.000+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.533+10:00how a christian can vote green #2What do you think of when you think of the Greens? One of the first things that comes to mind for me is their commitment to social justice. It is possible I think of their commitment to justice before an image of trees or wilderness pops into my mind. Head over to the Greens website and <a href="http://greens.org.au/about">social justice</a> is listed as one of their core beliefs.<br />
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Well, what do you know... justice seems to be one of the things God is pretty passionate about too. In fact, justice is frequently used of God and the work God does in the world. Check out <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/">Bible Gateway</a> for a whole <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=justice&version1=NIV&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no">raft of verses</a> about justice. Here are a few:<br />
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For the LORD is righteous, he loves justice. (Psalm 11:7 NIV)<br />
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. (Psalm 103:6 NIV)<br />
I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. (Psalm 140:12 NIV)<br />
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Like I said yesterday, I'm not presenting exegesis here and I don't have time to explore the theme of justice as it is presented in the whole bible. Suffice to say, it is super important. So important that someone who cut all the verses about justice out of their bible wasn't left with very much. Others have done the reverse, highlighting every passage that relates to justice and printing a special <a href="http://www.biblesociety.org.au/discover-the-bible/bible-matters/poverty-justice-and-the-wholly-bible">Poverty and Justice</a> edition of the bible.</div>
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Looking at Jesus' work in the Gospels is enlightening. He constantly defended and healed the outcasts on the fringe of society - 'unclean' women, lepers, children, prostitutes. He made it clear what he thought of riches (they'll stop you getting in to heaven). Jesus lived and breathed justice in all he did. Isaiah said of him:</div>
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He’ll set everything right among the nations.<br />
He won’t call attention to what he does<br />
with loud speeches or gaudy parades.<br />
He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt<br />
and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant,<br />
but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right. (Isaiah 42:3-4 MSG)</blockquote>
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Yesterday I mentioned my love of the biblical vision for a transformed world. That vision is wholly tied up with justice. The Old Testament prophets called for it (Amos 5:24 "...let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream!"), Jesus said he was the one who would bring it (Luke 4:16-21), and in the end there won't be people with nasty power running around hurting others (A very loose paraphrase of Isaiah 11:6).</div>
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God's love of justice goes beyond God's personal characteristics, Jesus' activities, and the future transformation of the world. It extends to everyone. We are all instructed to act with justice. The bible makes it pretty clear that people who are righteous promote justice, live justice, love justice. Proverbs 29:7 is a quick example: The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern. A more well known passage is Micah 6:8,</div>
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But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,<br />
what God is looking for in men and women.<br />
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,<br />
be compassionate and loyal in your love,<br />
And don’t take yourself too seriously—<br />
take God seriously.</blockquote>
The bible is left, right and centre filled with justice. If I want to say I'm following God, living God's way, and working for God in the world... I better be acting justly. I'd better have a heart for the poor and powerless. I'd better not be too greedy. I'd better be doing everything I can to see that justice is done.</div>
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It doesn't take much of a critical eye to see that our national conversation is not much coloured by justice. Kick out the boat people, give employers extra power over their employees so they can make more money, reduce the financial support for single mothers, keep pensioners and the unemployed living at the poverty line etc, etc... I'd say both major parties are pretty much tarnished with the same light-on-justice brush. Meanwhile the Greens consider justice one of their four core beliefs. (Wikileaks are also running with a 'justice' platform)</div>
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"But they support abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage," I hear you splutter again, and while I hope to write more on those topics later, that argument just doesn't wash with me. If I think of the Greens' policies on these matters, I think even they are motivated by justice. They reach a different place from me, but at the core of the Greens is a desire for people to have freedom and rights, rather than being dictated to by those who have power and status and money. My conclusions on social and moral issues may not fully align with the Greens, however I respect the approach they have taken in making their decisions. Their motive and heart is good. In the grand scheme of things, justice matters to God. It matters so much that it is a major theme of the whole bible, it is the end game we are aiming for at the end of time. Justice should matter to people who follow God. For me, it trumps issues of personal morality. </div>
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That's my second reason for voting Green. I'm voting for justice.</div>
cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-44026869734678507422013-08-05T21:35:00.002+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.545+10:00why i'm a christian and voting green. #1<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday Kevin Rudd named the election date and called Australians to the polls on Saturday 7 September 2013. Since I have pretty well already decided who I will be voting for, I immediately began to unhappily resign myself to five weeks of media predictions and hoopla. And then I had an idea...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I plan to vote Green. Barring a cracking independent putting their hand up in my electorate, I can see no other choice. This doesn't sit well with some people. They consider the Greens anathema. "One cannot be a Christian and vote Green," they say, since the Greens support abortion, euthanasia and gay marriage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I count myself in the Christian camp, although I tend to lurk on the fringe of it because I struggle with the baggage that comes with that tag, but for now it will do. I attempt to follow Jesus well, I love the biblical vision of a transformed world, and I live for seeing that vision come to fruition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So here I am, a Christian who votes Green. How can this be?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let me tell you how. Every day until the election I am going to give a reason for voting Green. I may even quote a Bible verse or two. They may be out of context. I make no apologies for this - I do not claim to be an exegetical queen and I have absolutely zero aspirations to be one. Verses I quote will be an attempt on my part to capture the essence of an aspect of my faith. They will not be used in the tradition of evangelical apologetics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, the ground rules have been laid. Let's go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Greens are a principled party. They state where they stand and stick by it. They cannot be bought by corporations or businesses and they are not swayed by public opinion and polling results. If they believe in something, they believe in it, and that's that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This reminds me of Jesus. In Matthew 22:16 he was described as a man of integrity who wasn't swayed by others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another time, Jesus himself said: "Let your 'yes' be 'yes'." I quite like how The Message paraphrases this. (Remember, I am not making any exegetical claims here, so I can quote from The Message. Besides, my understanding is Eugene Peterson translated The Message directly from the Greek anyway, and that's good enough for me)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions... Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong. (Matthew 5:33-37 MSG)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus makes it pretty clear that you should say what you mean and not engage in trickery or manipulation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> book of James says something similar:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you. (James 5:12 MSG)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The principled manner in which the Greens conduct themselves demonstrates a steadiness the biblical writers consider desirable. When the Greens stand for something, state what they believe and why, and refuse to give in to those who would try and drag them away from their belief, they reflect the character of God. (Big claim I know, but I think there is a case for arguing this)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was musing on the principled nature of the Greens, asking if this is a trait peculiar to them or whether it might be shared by other parties? Labor have been a bit all over the place of late, switching policies and principles to boost their chances of winning this election. The LNP did come to mind briefly, however, I can't shake the impression they also will say whatever is necessary to win votes. For example, they know there is an element of our society who are afraid of asylum seekers and in response they loudly proclaim they will 'Stop the Boats'. There isn't much truth in this as far as I can tell - it has more to do with scaremongering and playing to the lowest common denominator in society. By running with this policy, the LNP are ignoring international factors beyond Australia's border and pandering to what (some) people want to hear. Their willingness to value votes over principle has been further demonstrated this week by their</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-02/coalition-to-support-gonski-school-funding/4861102" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">backflip on the Gonski reforms</a>.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The LNP have a semblance of principled behaviour, but if you scratch beneath the surface you will find these principles are based on what they believe people want to hear. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Both Labor and the LNP are writing policies that are politically expedient. This is not principled, instead it is a cynical attempt to capture votes at the cost of standing for truth and sticking with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For me, the Greens* stand head and shoulders above the two major parties when it comes to having principles and holding to them. This helps me settle my vote on them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">* I know there are a several other parties in the 2013 electoral mix. Wikileaks seem to be in a similar vein to the Greens, but at this stage they don't have any candidates in Tasmania, so I don't feel the need to address them and their policy platform.</span></div>
cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-62815275839411100082013-07-19T17:10:00.002+10:002014-05-23T16:29:20.686+10:00(wrinkles) on my faceI've always been fascinated by changes that occur as a result of ageing. I like to listen to people speak when they are out of sight, and from the quality of their voice have a ballpark guess of their age. Singers' voices changes over time too - <a href="http://www.katemillerheidke.com/">Kate Miller-Heidke</a> made reference to this in an interview of hers I read. As her voice matures she creates different sounds and effects that wouldn't have previously been possible.<br />
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And then there are faces. Ah yes, those ageing faces. Laughter lines, crows feet, furrows... the sands of time make their mark. Not that I don't like it. As the somewhat unwanted lines set up home around my eyes I've been making sneaky observations of women around me, sort of measuring up their lines against mine and figuring out who might be older or younger, or who <i>looks</i> older or younger. For all my obsessive checking, I'm yet to see a woman's face I don't find attractive. Their lines are beautiful, whether contained around their eyes, or extending to their whole face. Ageing adds a depth and beauty I like very much. Which isn't to say the smooth, young faces aren't beautiful - they are dewy and lovely - rather that beauty comes in many lines and forms and ages. Maybe I could add a caveat or two, but there seems no limit to where beauty can be found in a human face - which might explain why 'In Your Face' by Dr Bryan Mendelson (2013 Hardie Grant) stuck in my craw.<br />
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'In Your Face' caught my eye on the library because it sounded like other books I've read in the 'investigative journalism' vein. Books like 'Breasts. A natural and unnatural history' by Florence Williams (2012, Text Publishing), or 'Swindled. The dark history of food fraud, from poisoned candy to counterfeit coffee' by Bee Wilson (2008, Princeton), both fabulous books. Perhaps if I had noticed 'In Your Face' was written by a plastic surgeon, I might have realised it was no plastic surgery expose. Instead I waded into what turned out to be a 221 page defence of the humble facelift.<br />
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Not that the book was all bad. I found the history of plastic surgery presented by Mendelson quite fascinating, if fairly one sided. None of the gruesome failures so vividly described in the history of breast augmentation detailed by Florence Williams here. Or tales of death by lead white make up as recorded in 'Colour: Travels through the paintbox' by Victoria Finlay (2003, Sceptre). Mendelson traced a safe history of plastic surgery from its ancient, humble beginnings in India, to the duelling days of the 1500s and facial reconstruction in the era of post WW1, before describing the plastic surgery of today. What began as the relatively simple creation of skin flaps from the cheek being placed over the nose, developed into the use of skin flaps from the arm. In this case, during the time it took for the skin to develop a blood supply at its new location, the flap remained connected to its old site by a thin strip of skin. This required wearing a rather uncomfortable looking contraption designed to hold the arm next to the face for several weeks. These days plastic surgery on the face is highly sophisticated indeed. Gone are the super tight face lifts of the seventies and eighties created by firmly pulling the skin back over the face. Today surgeons mine under the skin and fascia of the face, working their way around sagging ligaments and into structural spaces hidden far below the surface. In these deep spaces, they fix tight sutures that lift the face where it needs it most. By Mendelson's account, observing the changing face mid-surgery is a beautiful thing.<br />
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And this is where, in my view, 'In Your Face' fails - it is based on a narrow vision of beauty. Dr Mendelson admires beauty and it is a recurring theme of his book. Chapter 4 begins with a lovely quote from Christopher Morley, "In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty." While reading this, I found myself caught up in Mendelson's treatise. He argues hard for the importance of beauty, citing research and statistics on just how miserable life is for those who society doesn't count as beautiful due to facial disfigurement or unusual features. Frankly, they have a tough time of it - they earn less, have less friends, and are generally discriminated against. They stand out in a crowd, and feel constantly conspicuous. For many, the endless torment leads them to withdraw from life. <br />
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I certainly can't argue with anything Mendelson said there. I've been blessed with pretty good looks, and at times I have felt this working in my favour. I've also wondered what it is like to not be considered beautiful by society, and occasionally (evolutionary theories aside) I've mused on the silliness of judging people based on appearance - as pretty as some of us might be, we can not take a whole lot of credit for it. We did well in the genetic lottery of appearances and we should be humble about it. <br />
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It seems to me, Mendelson and I look at the same faces and reach completely different conclusions. He sees a case for plastic surgery and I see the need for society to re-examine and deepen its value base, although in reality, Mendelson's surgical solutions seem more achievable than a recalibration of society's beauty values, given our current obsession with external appearances.<br />
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Beauty values. That brings me right back to my disagreement with Dr Mendelson. While I see beauty in faces of any age, 'In Your Face' is laced with emotive value judgements about ageing. Take this example, "An ugly neck, and there are surprisingly a lot of them about, can completely detract from an otherwise attractive face. This happens at any age, but for most people the neck is associated with ageing" (p164). Wrinkles on your neck? Ugly. "In a young person there is a smooth expanse of skin that flows evenly from the lower eyelid across to the cheekbone. In an older person the segments of the junction are revealed, with a drooping bulge below the eye and the loss of the attractive smoothness" (p160). Attractive smoothness? Really? A young person has attractive smoothness while the older person has a drooping bulge? Value judgement. <br />
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Mendelson seems particularly concerned with the way ageing makes a person look tired. Very tired. All the time. Of course, it couldn't be that they simply are tired. No. A tired appearance is the result of the deep facial ligaments sagging, and that drooping bulge below the eye. Looking tired is apparently one of the inevitable effects of ageing. Here more emotive language sneaks its way into Mendelson's descriptions of the experience of ageing. It is 'bewildering' (p60), 'frightening' (p61), a 'frustration' (p61) and 'continues unabated' (p69).<br />
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Mendelson is well prepared for those who argue that aging can be graceful and beautiful - only younger people who have not experienced ageing make these claims, he says. Those caught in the throws of an exponentially ageing face are too busy looking in the mirror in shock, facing the reality that they no longer look tidy or like their real selves (I kid you not - an ageing face looks untidy according to page 60). Older people never argue one can age gracefully because they simply cannot reconcile their own tired looking faces with the young person they know still lives inside them.<br />
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I'm glad I read 'In Your Face'. It was interesting and informative. However, it was also biased and one sided, filled with value laden judgements from one perspective. (According to Dr Mendelson he wrote with a necessary bias in response to the constant bad rap plastic surgery receives in the media) <br />
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I have talked about ageing with a number of older friends and relatives. Several of them told me they used to worry about the effects of ageing on their looks, now they think more about its implications for their health. From where I stand, they seem to have made a successful, graceful transition into looking older with style. And without plastic surgery.<br />
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And me? Sometimes I catch myself looking in the mirror and wondering if I'm looking more tired than normal. Then I remind myself that I am what I am. I still observe the faces of people of all different ages, noticing the impact of ageing, the drooping skin and stretching ligaments... and I still find beauty there. Put the two together and I guess that means my tired look is quite beautiful. Mendelson can write what he likes - beauty is so much bigger than anything he thinks.<br />
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<br />cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-67171730899118650512013-04-01T18:09:00.003+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.709+10:00rhubarb rhubarb rhubarbI read somewhere in chicken-message-board-land that it is possible a clutch of chicks could have as many as 80% roosters. I didn't believe it, or at the very least, I didn't believe it would happen to us.<br />
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As it turns out, I was right. We did not hatch 80% roosters. We have, however, in raising two clutches of chicks, had the pleasure of rearing seven roosters and three hens.<br />
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I should rephrase that. It hasn't really been a pleasure, it's been a downright nuisance.<br />
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On the bright side, we are not overwhelmed by 13 hens pumping out eggs every which way. (And since our hens have a propensity to nest under a different bush in any of three yards every couple of weeks, this is a very good thing)<br />
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So. In January 2012, seven fluffy, beautiful chicks hatched - our first ever clutch. Technically they were two clutches, since we'd placed six eggs from a neighbour underneath one unexpectedly clucky hen and one under the other. They had been evenly spread until I observed one hen wildly dirt bathing for an extended period. Being concerned the developing chicks might die without their adopted mother warming them, I whisked several eggs away from her and stowed them under the other hen. In the end all the chicks hatched and we housed them and their mothers in the coup to protect them from hawks and cats.<br />
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Four months later we had five roosters crowing day and night, night and day. Someone complained to the council, but we were already onto it. A quick ad on gumtree, and three roosters were dispatched to someone who promised to sit quietly with them before, ah... well... um (there is no nice way to say this)... cutting their throats and eating them. I didn't really care if they were going to be eaten. Once we (finally) caught them all and stuffed them into a box, they couldn't crow in my backyard any more and that's all that mattered.<br />
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So there were two, but in suburbia, two roosters is still two too many. We had the bright idea of phoning a friend who lived on a farm. 'Yes,' he said. 'We'd love two roosters! We've just built a new chicken enclosure!' Just that easily we packed Gaylord and Focker off to their new home. Last we heard, they were leading all their hens astray, sleeping high in the trees rather than in the hen house and staging escape attempts at regular intervals. (We breed them feral here - all our chickens decline their coup and sleep in the trees. One is even sleeping in the bush outside our back door at present.)<br />
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The two chicks who turned out to be hens (Maisy and Elsie) have definite bantam leanings. They are small, lay delicate little eggs and go broody at the drop of a hat. In twelve months they must have both been broody six times each. Considering we don't really need any more chickens, it's all rather annoying. Still, breaking the broodiness from these hens takes several days, and they pine for their eggs terribly, and Frank is tender hearted, so sometimes we let them sit. That is how we ended up with another three chicks. (The mother wasn't so great and a couple more chicks hatched but died, and a few tried to hatch but weren't kept warm enough. They also died.)<br />
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It turns out that two of the surviving three were roosters. Sigh. What to do with another two roosters? Pluck up the courage and kill them ourselves? I'd like to give it a go, but it sounds like a lot of hard, potentially messy work. (Although the bloke who took the last three assured me he could pluck a chicken in 6 minutes.)<br />
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The situation was eventually taken out of our hands. We woke up one warm morning to a dead rooster lying peacefully in the yard. He'd barely begun to crow, though we had named him Brewster. (The other is called Speckles, and the hen is PJ, short for Plain Jane)<br />
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The only thing I can think of is this. Rhubarb leaves were eaten some number of days before, perhaps as long as two weeks before. Quite a lot of rhubarb leaves were eaten. I was a bit worried, but every one appeared to be OK. The chooks kept doing what chooks do (eating, pooing and laying eggs) and I forgot about it. I did notice that Brewster was pooing strange, runny poos that didn't looks quite right for worms. I meant to google them (gotta love chicken message boards) but forgot about it. Frank came in one evening and said he was suffering from the heat... and he turned up dead the next day.<br />
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At that point I did google rhubarb and chicken poo. Turns out that chickens are indeed affected by the oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves. It causes kidney failure in them (as it does in humans) and kidney failure leads to strange, runny, brown poos... and death. Poor Brewster. (Not poor Cecily, though! I thought it was a rather sad but convenient solution to our rooster problem)<br />
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So now Speckles rules the roost. He has puffed out into all his rooster glory and willingly crows to the world that he is the king of his castle. He mates with the smaller hens although the larger girls still think of him as a chick. I suspect that if he keeps up with calling them over for food, however, he might just win them over too. That is unless he dies too... today, we discovered the rhubarb leaves, eaten back to the veins. I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-24293829250146889802012-11-30T22:59:00.002+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.525+10:00why poverty?I had a funny story to tell you tonight. I relayed it to Frank over tea tonight and it seemed perfect for the blog.<br />
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Then we watched <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/abc2/201211/programs/ZX8704A001D2012-11-30T213044.htm">'Why Poverty? Welcome to the world'</a> on ABC2, and it's driven the funny story from my head. Plus after <a href="http://www.whypoverty.net/en/article/278">watching a show about babies being born</a>, and often dying, around the world... a joke doesn't seem appropriate somehow.<br />
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There were the usual shocking statistics about infant mortality rates in Africa (82 in every 1000 babies born in Africa dies before their first birthday), but did you know the maternal mortality rate has worsened in the USA in the last twenty years? I find that rather astounding - the <a href="http://www.therichest.org/world/worlds-largest-economies/">world's largest economy</a> has the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1383244/America-WORST-maternal-death-rate-industrialised-nation.html">worst rate of maternal mortality in the developed world</a>.<br />
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I'm incredibly grateful to have been born in Australia - we have the second lowest rate of infant mortality in the world. And if I should end up having a baby, even as an older mother I'm in good hands... Australia has the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/apr/12/maternal-mortality-rates-millennium-development-goals">fourth lowest rate of maternal mortality</a> in the world.<br />
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If I can get iview to work with our current internet service to play <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/docs">iview</a>, I think I'm going to watch the other <a href="http://www.whypoverty.net/">'Why Poverty?'</a> episodes (there has been one every night this week). It's always good to be reminded of how incredibly blessed I am, and to revisit what I can do to contribute to the redistribution of the world's resources so everyone has a fair go in life.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-55073635092144317712012-11-29T22:21:00.002+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.642+10:00my second rate lifeOne of the teachers at school is about to go on maternity leave. It's a poignant event she thought might never come. As is usual, all the staff brought baby gifts and morning tea for a celebration today. The last one was held a month or so ago and a baby girl has since been born. I avoided going to that event by hanging out with the kids, but today I felt I should be there.<br />
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The whole thing must have been weighing on my mind because I dreamed about it last night. It all ended in tears when I walked out of the room crying about not being pregnant myself, but it was only a dream, and at least it reminded me to get up and get a present out of my present drawer (yay, one thing less in there) and cook something for the morning tea.<br />
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Of course everyone was talking about babies when I came into the staff room today. This one is pregnant and so is that one, and did you know she is too?, and everyone seems to be pregnant now don't they? Just the kind of conversation I love being around for. Then the teacher came in and everyone rejoiced with her for having made it this far.<br />
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The formality was a brief speech by another member of staff before the official handing over of two baskets stuffed with baby gifts. "Well done for making it this far... etc, we have journeyed with you all the way..." Then the clincher: "The best of your life is starting now."<br />
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Right then. Meaning Cecily the loser, who doesn't have a child? Cecily, the one with the second rate life who can't experience the best because she hasn't had a baby?<br />
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Thanks a bloody lot.<br />
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I left pretty soon after that.<br />
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Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure this person would be horrified to know what effect their words had. But that's the whole point. People don't think about what they say a lot of the time. And I just suck it up all the time. But if you think I'm becoming a recluse or avoiding you... maybe it's because you said something bloody awful and stupid. Don't worry. Even my mum does it. And if my dad would stop asking me 'any more news?' all the time, things would be a whole lot better too.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-52429011889294214542012-11-28T22:09:00.000+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.619+10:00traffic lights and human natureI found myself musing quite a bit on traffic lights as I drove to and from work, although I'm not quite sure why. I like to follow traffic rules, especially when they are going my way. I like green lights all the way through town. Sometimes I can even make it all the way to work with only one red light. Fabulous! Not so fabulous the red light after red light I experienced on the way home this evening.<br />
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After stopping multiple times already, there I was sitting in a right hand lane waiting and waiting to turn. This is Tasmania, mind, so I probably waited one minute, but it seemed like an age. First there were the ambling pedestrians, then a string of cars turning left from the other direction, and then the lights turned amber. The 4WD in front of me quickly turned right and I hot footed it around after them, right on their tail, sneaking around in a rather daring and flagrant dash through what quickly became a red light. It was a little disconcerting when the 4WD then turned into the gated police station car park and I realised I'd made my out of character running of the lights right behind a police officer. Ho hum. I seem to have gotten away with it. (Perhaps they had <a href="http://www.examiner.com.au/story/1151721/drama-on-launcestons-streets/?cs=94">bigger fish to fry</a>. I was rather tame by comparison.) Not five minutes later I caught myself grumbling about a car doing... um... exactly what I had just done. Funny how it's OK when I do it, but not OK when someone else does.<br />
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My traffic light musing was around the angst lights create in me. (Should I discuss this with the psychologist also?) I get grumpy when the lights turn red on me. I feel cheerful when they go my way.<br />
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How stupid! Traffic lights are traffic lights. They keep traffic flowing freely and easily (most of the time), and I'm grateful for that. It could be as simple as, 'Oh, the lights are red and now the others get a chance to get to where they are going', rather than a crazy, 'OH, those darn lights are RED again, and now I can't get where I want to as quickly.'<br />
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I think I'm over analysing, but why do we always want to get through the lights before they turn red? Or is it just me? (I'm thinking not, since people run red lights all the time)<br />
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It's like driving on highways. I sit on the speed limit and a car might sit behind me for twenty kilometres, also doing the speed limit. I don't slow down, but all of a sudden they speed up and over take me... and sit in front of me, both of us on the speed limit again. I catch myself doing the same thing, as if I can only sit and let someone else be dominant on the road for so long.<br />
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Then there are the people doing well below the speed limit on single lane highway. There is no way to overtake them until the overtaking lane comes along - at which point they speed up to the speed limit meaning I have to break the speed limit to overtake them.<br />
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I'm a bit too obsessed with speed limits and traffic rules, I know. (In many ways I am non conformist, but when it comes to road rules I am totally a rule follower) It strikes me that something interesting is going on on our roads. I suppose if some one was to explore things in evolutionary terms, they might trace it back to a distant past where the need to be dominant was crucial for survival. We're all surviving pretty well these days, but the drive to dominate remains, and we act it out on the roads with our need to be first, and fastest, and most blessed with green lights. Could be that's a long stretch, but hey... these are the things I muse on as I drive around the place. Better that than admit I'm a selfish git who just wants everything to go my way!cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-14526037137190170482012-11-27T22:19:00.002+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.521+10:00she was onto something after all...Last Christmas we were visiting my mother-in-law. We were gathered around the table sharing small talk, and I was flattening out a lolly wrapper and fiddling with it.<br />
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"You're a nervous person, aren't you," she stated, "Fiddling with that wrapper."<br />
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"No." I replied, "I just fiddle and make things. I'm always making things."<br />
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She nodded her head in that 'I'm agreeing with you to keep the peace, but I don't really agree with you' kind of a way, and I kept flattening and folding the wrapper.<br />
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Fast forward through the year and here I am, ten months into what has turned into a very lengthy journey with a psychologist. One of the surprising discoveries for me was the extent to which anxiety rules my emotional world. I've hidden it well, often from others (except my mother-in-law, it would seem) and definitely from myself. I remember the session when it all clicked into place for me - a cold breeze of shock and amazement hit me as my Johari window was flung open wide. <br />
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Me? Anxious? No way!<br />
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Yes. Way. <br />
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And now that I'm aware of it, I stumble across it all the time, influencing a decision here, holding me back there. It's not crippling anxiety, but it has limited me a lot more than I've ever been willing to acknowledge. I've discovered a lot of my interpersonal interactions are mediated by anxiety and my subconscious defences.<br />
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My mother-in-law picked it up (I don't want to give her too much credit, but you know... maybe she did see things I couldn't). The psychologist picked it up too, quite early on. Perhaps my reports of almost constant dizziness, and high blood pressure, and being jolted awake with the awfulness of knowing I may never have children, and the spasms in my back were a give away? I remember him talking about fear and hope and asking me to come up with things I hoped for. I really struggled with that - my hopes seem so unlikely. It never occurred to me that I was in the grip of fear.<br />
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Three months later I had my 'Johari window' experience, and three months later again we have finally started doing relaxation. It took that long to get over my worry about closing my eyes and relaxing. I've done it twice now, although deciding whether I wanted to do it again yesterday took some doing. Relaxation seems such a waste of time for a talker like me - I only get an hour a fortnight. There's a lot to discuss! But after almost a year of talking, I think I'm almost talked out. I'm just going over the same old ground now, and that gets a bit tiresome and tedious. I need some circuit breaking action, and as he said, I have an agitated mind a lot of the time - relaxation could be a key to turning that around. So I relaxed and visualised a beautiful scene and journeyed to places in my mind while he talked calmly in the background. You could almost call it hypnosis. (All those terrible things I was taught were evil - visualisation and hypnosis. Turns out they are rather helpful and freeing and not evil at all.) I may be imagining this, but I've felt a calmness and stillness in my mind since yesterday. Not completely still, but less... agitated. I like it and I'm going to keep fighting the fear and doing it until I've achieved what I need to. Whatever that is - I'm hoping I'll know when I get there.<br />
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And who knows... maybe when I visit my mother-in-law next month I'll sit quietly and still, no fussing, fidgeting or fiddling. <br />
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And then she can tell me what a calm person I am. And I will agree whole heartedly because I will be.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-46945282948549166962012-11-26T22:56:00.001+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.595+10:00on and on and on... internet updateWriting this month hasn't worked out quite as I had hoped. It was supposed to be a way of kick starting my writing, but mostly I feel like I've been cobbling something together at lightening speed. The odd post has been thoughtful and deep, but a lot of them are fillers ensuring I meet the NaBloPoMo requirements... which I failed anyway due to a stupid internet company.<br />
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Speaking of which, they rang me again today. The tech team, that is. Asking me if I had cancelled my service with the company. Um. Yes. Totally.<br />
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Turns out, no, I had to speak to the sales or cancellation department or something (who would know which it is - I rang enough times to discover that it didn't matter which menu number I pressed, I still got the same person on the other end). I spoke with Blake, who turns out not to be the supervisor Blake I almost wept on the phone to the other night. This evening's Blake read through the records of previous conversations and said they had recorded I still had to pay the ETF. That would be early termination fee. I sincerely hope he misread that. Anyway, he said that was crazy, since I've had not service, and he would make sure I didn't have to pay. I dryly advised him that if I received a bill for early termination I would be going straight to the ombudsman. He again assured me he would make sure it didn't happen.<br />
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I'm not holding my breath, but hopefully that was the last dealings I have to have with that company. He said their codes had been removed from our line. I still have a phone bill to come and that should be it. Of course I'll keep you posted if it all turns nasty... I already have an ombudsman reference number from last week.<br />
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And now, to change the topic completely. Here is something I found on the <a href="https://open.abc.net.au/posts/i-am-peter-i-am-an-artist-and-a-writer-97dn3cf">ABC Open</a> page today. It's really beautiful.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/53264226?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="400"></iframe>cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-73376966292694817682012-11-25T21:44:00.001+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.722+10:00music, musicPhew! That was a weekend and a half! After carols on Friday night, and the quilling workshop yesterday, today it was the <a href="http://www.voxharmony.org.au/">Vox Harmony</a> Musical Moments concert. It was all a bit of fun. I like having a life, even if it's a little busier than I prefer. I think it's all part of the 'fullness of life' I was raving on about a few days ago.<br />
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I was going to write about the Musical Moments concert, but I found <a href="http://happychatter.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/permission-to-be-average.html">a post</a> I wrote about it last NaBloPoMo so I'll save myself the effort - I pretty much want to say the same things this time around anyway! We sang different songs this time around, we fluffed bits here and there, we cheered the young ones, we felt proud. It was good.<br />
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Now I just need to decide if I want to audition for 'Chicago' next week... I haven't even seen it (unless you count watching it on the plane without headphones in), which could be a bit of a problem. The idea is tempting but I'm not sure if a) I can sing well enough to even get into the ensemble or b) I'll have time. But tempting, yes. Maybe I'll go find a copy and educate myself!<br />
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(Oooo I think I'm gonna try. Maybe)cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-89055758655519913302012-11-24T22:30:00.002+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.839+10:00just a dayI'm not stuck for words, but I haven't really thought about what to blog today... so there's not much coming to mind. Here's a run down of my day instead:<br />
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Slept in after watching Mamma Mia until late last night<br />
Ate breakfast<br />
Final preparation for quilling workshop this afternoon<br />
Walked to town<br />
Accidentally stumbled across the Christmas Parade - you couldn't really miss it, I'd just forgotten it was on<br />
Bought a nice summery black dress for the choir concert tomorrow afternoon<br />
Ran the quilling workshop. Three takers and they all did some lovely quilling. I even managed to almost finish another one because the group was so small.<br />
Agreed to run several more workshops next year (yay)<br />
Walked home<br />
Internet surfed<br />
Read a book<br />
Ate tea very late<br />
About to crash into bed<br />
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Exciting stuff. <br />
<br />cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-77296007405839610432012-11-23T16:51:00.003+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.801+10:00breast careSome time ago I picked up a bra at the op-shop for $1. What a steal, hey?! One buck for a bra that would have cost me at least $50 new. It was unfortunate the tag had been cut out and I couldn't tell the size, but it looked about right, and it was in such good nick and... well, you can't really go wrong for a dollar can you? And when I got home and tried it on it almost fit if I ignored that it was a little tight. It looked fine under all my bulky winter clothes which hid any give away bulges, so I wore it and rejoiced at my spend thrift purchase.<br />
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I can't even remember where I first read about it, but the library has a good book called <i><a href="http://www.florencewilliams.com/node/29">Breasts: A natural and unnatural history</a></i> by Florence Williams. The book begins with a couple of chapters on the evolutionary history of breasts, and (even if you're not into evolution) they provide a fascinating conversation around the main purpose of breasts - sex objects designed to attract a suitable mate to ensure the continuation of the human race, or lactation, which also ensures the continuation of the human race, albeit in completely different fashion?<br />
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Williams leans towards lactation holding the greater significance, but there's no denying the sexual power of breasts, especially in our sex saturated society. Enhancing their sex appeal with implants is consequently big business. Williams outlines the history of boob jobs from the first fumbling attempts using injected paraffin (unfortunately the paraffin melted in the sun and translocated to different parts of the body where it led to hard lumps and infections) to the silicone and saline of today (which may also lead to hard lumps and infections). It isn't a pretty story, but so convinced were some doctors that breast enlargements were necessary, they even created a new disorder. Micromastia. If small breasts have a diagnosis, you must need breast implants mustn't you?<br />
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The book goes on to explore changes in the breast during puberty. Girl's are developing bigger breasts a full year earlier than the average age when I was a teenager - which isn't that long ago for such significant changes to have taken place. The jury is out on why this is occurring, but it could be to do with the artificial (chemical) hormones swimming around us these days. <br />
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Those nasty toxic chemicals are believed to have other effects too, like increasing rates of breast cancer. And since we're having kids older on average, or not at all, our breasts are at increased risk of being affected by the chemicals stored in breast fat tissue. <br />
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When it all boils down, there are so many factors at play in the cause of breast cancer (genetic factors cause only around 10% of breast cancer) that scientists can't give any definitive answers on how to reduce risk. Breasts seem to be very sensitive to environmental toxins (they store the toxins in their fat), and since we're living longer and getting breasts earlier, the toxins sit in our breasts for ages and so the risk of developing breast cancer is increasing and increasing. I'm not sure if that is depressing or reassuring. Maybe both? The longer I live the more at risk I am, but there's not a lot I can do about it so stop worrying? <br />
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There's a whole lots more in the book, and all of it was fascinating, informative and entertaining - well worth a read. <br />
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Bras did get a mention in passing, since there have been suggestions that ill fitting, too tight, underwired bras may increase the risk of breast cancer. From memory, there wasn't any research evidence to back this up. But just in case, today I went and bought myself two new, well fitting bras. Actually, I'm not sure if reading <i>'Breasts'</i> was my main motivation. The arrival of warmer weather and the consequent uncovering of previously hidden bulges may have tipped me over the edge. Whatever the cause, I looked at myself today and could not bear to wear that one dollar bra another moment. Judy fitted me out at Judy's Body Fashion, and either she has a fantastic manner or I've suddenly outgrown my self consciousness and am not embarrassed to be fitted. Or both. I walked out $119 poorer but with two great looking and well fitting bras. If there is any truth in the possibility of ill fitting bras increasing breast cancer risks - I've just defended myself against that one! <br />
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Now to get rid of all the furniture laced with flame-retardant. Good luck with that!cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31562008.post-75683205007787867642012-11-22T22:44:00.001+11:002014-05-23T16:29:20.786+10:00beautyThere's a bunch of beautiful, beautiful roses sitting on my bench. Delicate pink petals with a dusty pink rim, they come from our neighbour's garden. He gave Frank the bunch on Saturday, and they've opened up and filled the kitchen with sweet, delicious scent.<br />
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We don't have any flowers worth cutting, although I do eat them from time to time. The marigolds and nasturtiums that is.<br />
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Anyway, I thought I might make some muffins for him and his family in exchange. A way of saying thank you for the beauty he dropped into our world.cecilyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944264862462890029noreply@blogger.com1