Space Goddess

Below is a link to Earth Clock, which shows what our current lifestyle is doing to our environment—socially, culturally, and phsyically:

http://www.poodwaddle.com/clocks3.htm

Below is a press release from Virgin Galactic:

VIRGIN GALACTIC HERALDS ‘THE YEAR OF THE SPACESHIP’ WITH THE UNVEILING OF THE DESIGNS OF SPACESHIPTWO AND WHITE KNIGHT TWO

You’ve done the crossword puzzle; Sudoku is not your thing; you’ve anesthetized yourself on Bejeweled; now what?

Play freerice.com!

Warning label: Play at your own risk. Side effects include: improving the health of those who are malnurished; increasing your vocabulary; doing something for others while playing a game; inner satisfaction of being able to contribute to life.

Apply for a Passport or review the one you have.  Now wasn’t that a great, simple resolution? No food to weigh, clutter to organize, or daily aerobic exercize!

You may recall the fiasco that ensued when people suddenly realized they needed to have a passport to travel to destinations that previously only required a certified birth certificate, etc. Our Senators and Representatives even had appointed staff members whose sole function was to assist you in expediting your passport application through the issuance process. Next, Congress delayed the implementation date of the new law requiring valid US Passports for travel in the Western Hemisphere by auto or ship. Anyone traveling by air has needed a passport for quite some time.

Now Congress and the Department of Homeland Security are at it again. The latter wants the law implemented some time this summer while the former slipped some verbiage into an omnibus spending bill requesting the law not go into effect until June, 2009. Now, add in the reaction of the countries/islands you are planning to visit and you get total confusion. Many small Caribbean countries are unaware of the proposed delays and are currently requiring travelers to carry a valid US Passport. In short, you can get several different “opinions” on whether you’ll need a passport for your travel and the catch is that this is not a multiple choice test.

I can assure you from experience that within the US and in countries abroad I’ve received different answers to what seemed to be simple questions. For example, when flying internationally, how many carryon bags can a person bring? Oh, and what constitutes a carryon bag? Since the suspected bomb assembly scare occurred in London, the Brits have banned travelers from carrying more than one “carryon” (Is a purse a carryon? It depends on the agent checking you through security, the agent checking your boarding pass, etc). Now we are allowed to carry 2 bags in Great Britain. The problem is that sometimes these changes in law don’t filter to the “Powers that be” at airports who actually can keep you from boarding a plane.

I’ve heard people explain that they aren’t planning to leave the US in the foreseeable future. If I could accurately foresee the future, I’d pick next Saturday’s Powerball numbers and retire! Why wait until you’re ready for a vacation outside the US, then find that you need a passport and because of the beaurocratic nightmare of the passport process, you won’t be able to secure one?

Other things to consider for those of you smugly gloating because you already have a passport: When does your passport expire? Most countries require you to carry a passport that is valid for AT LEAST six months after your travel dates. How many blank pages do you have in your passport? Many countries require Visas and that you present a certain number of BLANK Visa pages in your passport.

So, do yourself a favor—get a Passport or renew your Passport today!

I am filled with gratitude today! I am sitting on my bed with my two dogs blanketing me as I gaze outside at a winter wonderland—you know, one of those scenes where the sun’s rays bounce off the freshly fallen snow. I have so much goodness and love in my life and have been blessed with so many varied and rich experiences. I’ve met brothers and sisters around the world (in Ravello, Stratford on Avon, Jerusalem, Raiataia, Helsinki, Cairns, St. Petersburg, Agra, Valparaiso, Luxor, Fernandina, Kuala Lumpur, the Great Barrier Reef, Whistler, Shanghai, Cusco, Kansas City, Ushuaia, and Anguilla—to name a few) who have taught me the meaning of words such as grace, hope, and love. Some have taught me about gluttony, greed; about apathy, disdain; about war, AIDS, and death. All have left an imprint on my soul that have led to the joy I have today. You see, I am a member of the Lucky Sperm Club! I had no control over choosing my parents, my homeland, and the abundance of food, healthcare, and education. It is not enough for me to “feel” grateful because I’ve learned that my feelings are not facts! Today I know that gratitude is an action word. How can I do “gratitude?” To give daily—time, hugs, a phone call, money, stuff—is my way to thank God for all the incredible gifts I have received. Some days I am more miserly than others and I discover I’ve slipped back into the world of ME. That is okay today because I am, day by day, becoming a better Giver and less of a Taker. Many days I treasure the fact that the journey is the destination. Becoming a member of the Lucky Sperm Club was a gift—as simple as that—a gift that has taken me years to unwrap and treasure.

Dear Earth 

I have spent far too many days, months, and years being selfish and thoughtless. I have loved exploring this planet and now I have the opportunity to help people see you in a whole new way—from space! One of my hoped for outcomes of space travel is an increased awareness of you, our precious Earth. People will be able to see that fragile,thin blue line, our atmosphere, the only thing protecting us and keeping us alive. Maybe that visual awareness will make a difference in how we treat you.

I have littered, consumed, and self-pampered beyond reasonable limits. Did I believe that what we do in the name of consumer excess to destroy you is not my problem? I don’t think I ever consciously gave you much thought. That perhaps, is the most glaring example of “not my problem.” Sure I’ve bragged about some of your wonders—the moon sparkling on the Pacific Ocean in the Galapagos, the amazing precision and longevity of Macchu Pichu, the vast Rift Valley in Kenya, Victoria Falls, the azure sea on the Amalfi coast, the red rock walls in Sedona. Yet, only recently have I taken action to pay attention to what I do to you and to change my behavior to what I can do for you. Have I cruised on ships that have, in the past, dumped their garbage? Have I demanded fresh towels and linens at hotels—just because I can? Have I left the lights on in my hotel room because, after all, I’m not paying the light bill? Guilty on all counts.

One important step I’ve taken is to have our company, Great Getaways, join Sustainable Travel International http://www.sustainabletravelinternational.org/.  As a business, we are recycling more, using less paper, and we are educating you, our fellow travelers, on how to lessen the footprint we leave when we travel. We encourage purchasing carbon offsets and we support green travel.

We do not own the Earth; we are its caretakers. The actions I take today will not by themselves change the world; think, though, the power of all of us can, drop by drop, create a sea of change. Will you join me? Please post your ideas to help the greening of our planet.

Not my problem? Read below:

A mouse looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package; what food might it contain? He was aghast to discover that it was a mouse trap! Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse warned, “There is a mouse trap in the house! There is a mouse trap in the house!” The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me; I cannot be bothered by it!”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mouse trap in the house!”

“I am so sorry, Mr, Mouse,” sympathized the pig, “but there is nothing I can do about it but pray; be assured that you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow, who replied, “Like wow, Mr. Mouse, a mouse trap; am I in grave danger? Duh!”

So the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected to face the farmer’s mouse trap alone. That very night a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a mouse trap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she didn’t see that it was a venonous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife and the farmer rushed her to the hospital.

She returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. His wife’s illness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; in fact she died and so many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide meat for all of them to eat.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think that it doesn’t concern you, remember that when even the least of us is treatened, we are all at risk.