MOSAIC: Fiber on a mission

Click on the link below and you can see what we are doing to help out.  That seems to be my mission is to find places where we can help.  Maybe in a small way, in the background and trying to be effective.  The Gainesville Times, our local newspaper got it right.  The Gulf of Mexico may be in peril and the citizens and their remote lovers of the beaches are coming together. Booms of pantyhose are being stuffed by volunteers.  Stuffed with alpaca fiber.  It works!The gulf stream is going to get that oily blob and move it where she wants, but the panhandle of Florida will be ready!

http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/article/33260/

Wild life will adapt.  Remember when there was so much discussion ove4r the Corps of engineers taking mandatory draws off Lake Lanier when we were in such drought? We were below pool level and they had to keep a minimum downstream to afford the luxury of life to a snail.  We would be interested to know where that snail plays into the food chain of the marshes for smaller species and fish, which become food for the bigger ones.  They all have to adapt to changes in environment. That is what they and we do; that is what is called evolution.  Some environmental changes are temporary, some accidental and some permanent. There is perfect balance if a population does not outgrow its food supply.  Malthus has a theory about this.  The consequences of a population outgrowing its food supply is quite detrimental; almost as if there were no food supply.  War, pestilence, famine and death. It is a cycle. 
I had a heavy feeling this PM.  Our friends who were vacationing in Maine lost a dear friend in a kayaking accident off the coast on Sunday.  One was from Hoschton. There was a Facebook plea for prayers, but they found the kayaks on Sunday and the girls on Monday.
Also, our cousin Deborah had three horses that were gifted from her father, George Bishop (Waccamaw Pottery founder)/or born to her from that seed .  Lightening struck all three at once in that horrible storm Sunday evening.  It is tough loosing an animal, but the last physical vestige of your father's influence can be heart-breaking.

William is 7 weeks old and he saw his great-grandmother on Tuesday. She is 87 and he was perfect, as usual...
More pieces?

"KAPUT"

"Kaput" is the word the old Namibian resident medicine man said to me as he waved his hand in front of his throat signifying "the end".  It was the signal that a zebra foal had given me  her last breath of life.  For you see, her mama was accidentally killed and she was orphaned at only a few weeks of age.  She had managed to fare for herself but you could tell her body score was low and her digestion was off.

The PH took her back to the farmhouse.  After scrounging around the compound, I found a baster (I could not find a baby bottle) and made up some electrolytes, sugar and water to give to her but it was to no avail.  She was too weak and frightened.  She succumbed in my arms on that lonely fall morning in July of 2008.  I cried as if my heart would break, I was inconsolable.  That day has haunted me, for her size so reminded me of the crias playing in our front pasture here in Georgia..  I am way too tender-hearted to be a livestock manager, but that is what I do!

My husband, bless his heart, made arrangements for her to be brought to the USA to be prepared as if she were in her normal setting, alive and full of zeal.  The taxidermist ( Wilderness Taxidermy, Franklin, NC) did a superb job.  Kaput, as we named her, is in our den and is in a  very robust demeanor that a zebra can ever be. I had collected baggies of red desert sand every where I went over the last eight visits to Africa and the artist was able to take that sand and adhere it to the base over the papier machie'
You see, I know that every living thing has an inner part that  God designed.  When the life of a being is over, that spirit has a place. Sometimes we humans are so locked up that only God knows our inner being.
Reflect back on a previous post I wrote of the role of the human in the balance of wild life.  That post was a preface to this story so you would understand. Here again we played an integral role in one of God's precious beings.

Feel free to pass these writings along to a friend who might would like to read them.

Today has been a day of reflecting and planning.
Bought the heirloom tomatoes for the pots on the deck.
Prayers offered to Charlotte, for her Daddy passed on Sunday AM
Prayers for Mrs. Peeples, my in-law counterpart in Anniston, AL. May she find comfort and peace.
Hugs to Carrie and Craig.
And to William and Heather; hope your bond was strengthened and fun today.
A few more precious stones to add.......

One of the pieces-AFRICA

Having gone to Africa for eight times now, I discover something magical about the primitive, yet connectivity of the people of the desert. They are reddish brown, with dark hair and perfect white teeth.

These people are the color of the Kalahari sands. 
Our mode of travel on most of these journies has been on the train.  The Rovos Rail to be exact.  On these travels we learned of the balance of nature.  The role of the hunter and the prey.  One of the most interesting of balances is the sole, lonesome, end of a career breeding bull of the antelope species.
Once his duties have been fulfilled in making the future generations of a particular species secure, and with the advent of a younger, stronger, more agile and cunning opponent, the bull go to a life of solitude.  Once these bulls are isolated from the herd, they then become desired prey; for the meat is delicious. 
Into the picture now comes the educated and trained Professional Hunter (PH) who identifies the most vulnerable who happen to also have the most prized set of horns.  On the balance of the equation comes the hunter who pays tremendous fees just to enter the arena of stalking, plus the trophy fees if one is secured. The real bonus is that the  local people have a dance of joy and thanksgiving for the harvest of fresh meat, delectable organs and casings for presevering. They have employment for their skills at tracking, skinning, and preserving the mount. The women-folk have employment as laundress, cook, houskeeper for the Great White Hunter.
I explain all of this for I had a previous misconception of what happens on a hunt in Africa.  I summarily obtained the knowledge that the hunter is one step ahead of the cheetah or the hyena, who sometimes take a prey just for the devil of it. The end of life is much more tranquil having a choice made for them.
The hunter becomes part of the balance of nature.  My favorite part of the study of the antelope species is that veterianrians are somewhere in the mix.  The measuring of horns, the girth, estimated weight and general conformation is necessary information for a country to know who well its natural inhabitants are doing.  These trophies are examined for parasites, stomach content and evidence of scarring from battles of yesterday.  I appreciated the ritual that the PH does with chosen trophy.  Prayers are offered up for his past life of fulfillment; grasses and water are place in his mouth for food for his journey and always respect for photography that yields only the  best poses.  This is not taken lightly.  This is one big piece of my mosaic in life's lessons learned in a far away place.

Next piece: "Kaput"

MOSAICS- how abstract shapes make up a whole!

Title of the new version of pieces of my thinking to share with you is called MOSAICS.  We all are made up of little bits and pieces of experiences, happys, sads, good stuff, bad stuff, wish I had of, why didn't I?
I heard a song by an smokey-voiced artist who is coming to Spoleto. The two liner that caught me was  " let me in ; or let me go!"
That is how I feel about a lot of stuff.  It is sort of an "in" or "out" .
Love it or leave it.  If you do not feel passionate about something, do not let it clog your mind or sap you of your good thoughts and thus get it off your mental plate.

There are a lot of little abstract thoughts and happenings that make up the whole being.  I will share with you some profound discoveries that have passed through my life that just might help you over a hurdle.
It is said that no man should be an island unto himself.  So, seek out the wisdom of your elders and make new mistakes, not ones that have already been tried and a result is known. Sometimes the situation in life is that folks who have had experiences never open up thus you never get the advantages of their wisdom.  My husband is like that.  He is so full of good stuff, but he is a slammed up tight, like a clam, kind of guy.  Every once in a while he will let go with something profound.  When he does, I will share it.
For instance, he finished a book this afternoon on the battles during WW-I.  He had a furled brow and said, " a lot of men were killed in those battles".  He said ,"if the USA had not been there to help, the French and English might still be throwing rocks at each other! "Think about the ramifications of that.
Also, think about would life be if the Knights of Malta had not stopped the Muslim ships through the Straits? We would all be a different color for sure!
The image to the right is globe on my piano that has all the continents and countries in different semi-precious stones.  This is Africa.  Look on the lower left and the green jade is Namibia with Tiger jasper making up South Africa.  These two countries are part of my mosaic.
What are your abstract pieces?