August kinda snuck up on me this year. Usually we take a little vacation in July and get out of town. But this year we are having to cut back – like most everybody I know. So we stayed around here all through July and just went to the pool when we needed to take a break.
Can you believe it’s June already?
It’s Monday and it’s also the first day of June. Where has the last 5 months gone. Breanna and I were just talking about how fast this year seems to by flying by. I have heard about the high temperatures here in Arizona but this is my first summer here. The heat is different here than at home. I’m told it’s the lack of humidity that keeps it from feeling as hot as it is. I guess I see for myself soon enough since it’s almost summer now.
What’s up with this swine flu?
It seems lately that you are hearing more and more about swine flu. They are starting to call it a pandemic. What the heck does that mean for us? Is it something we really need to worry about or what? I don’t know anyone that has it and as far as this area, I haven’t heard about anyone having it.
When the news uses words like ‘pandemic’, to people like me, that sounds like we should all run to our doctor and get a shot or soemthing to prevent getting it. I’m not so sure they’re helping people not to panic about it, you know what I mean? They should speak in simple English and not cause people to panic. The panic can cause far more than the flu I bet!! I may be wrong but that’s my opinion.
In like a lion, out like a lamb
Coming from the south there are all kinds of ‘sayings’ like ‘If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.’ That seems to be the case this year for sure because the beginning of March was awful. It was cold, nasty and even snowed. Well it’s beautiful today so that old saying held true this year. I never paid much attention in years past to see if it was true then or not. That might be something I try to keep track of to see if that and other ‘old sayings’ have any truth to them.
Oh guess what, a couple of guys did get laid off last Friday. Man I hated that for them too. I just hope I’m not next but if I am, I’ll make it someway. I always seem to land on my feet and sure hope that continues!!! The unemployment rate across the country is at it’s highest since I was pretty young. Breanna and I have been saving as much as we possibly can from the little side jobs I get here and there so that money might hold me over if I should get laid off. Cross your fingers for me that I’m not next.
This is awful news
Here I am worried that I might lose my job and the good people of Alabama suffered a terrible fate. Two tornadoes touched down in the town of Magee. Thank God there was no loss of life but a lot of people lost absolutely everything. With the economy like it is, what a crying shame that this has to happen now of all times. Boy does my heart go out to all of the people affected by this terrible storm.
I guess I should be thankful that even if I do lose my job, I at least have side work that I can do. These people don’t hardly even have a town left in which to work in. There was one person that had to be airlifted to the University of Mississippi in Jacksonville and my thoughts and prayers are with them and their family. I wish them a speedy recovery.
Pink elephant?
I have always heard of people that get highly intoxicated seeing ‘pink elephants’ and thought it was funny but there seems to be an honest to goodness pink elephant in Botswana Africa. Imagine that! Things like that really amaze me. Nature is one of the wonders that I am very interested in especially when it’s something unusual like this pink elephant. I just had to share this story with you. I hope it amazes you even half as much as it amazed me.
A baby pink elephant was sighted in the African country of Botswana on Friday by a filmmaker for the BBC as he was filming for a wildlife documentary. The cameraman took photographs of the elephant when he noticed it in a herd of around eighty elephants in the Okavango Delta. According to experts, it is most likely an albino, an occurrence that is very rare among African elephants.
“We only saw it for a couple of minutes as the herd crossed the river”, said Mike Holding, who spotted the elephant. “This was a really exciting moment for everyone in camp. We knew it was a rare sighting – no-one could believe their eyes.”
“I have only come across three references to albino calves, which have occurred in Kruger National Park in South Africa,” said ecologist Mike Chase, who is in charge of the Elephants Without Borders conservation charity. “This is probably the first documented sighting of an albino elephant in northern Botswana. We have been studying elephants in the region for nearly 10 years now, and this is the first documented evidence of an albino calf that I have come across.”
The ecologist said that the condition might make it hard for the animal to survive for very long. “What happens to these young albino calves remains a mystery. Surviving this very rare phenomenon is very difficult in the harsh African bush. The glaring sun may cause blindness and skin problems,” he noted.
However, he added that it still might be possible for the elephant to survive, as it appears to be adapting to the condition: “Because this elephant calf was sighted in the Okavango Delta, he may have a greater chance of survival. He can seek refuge under the large trees and cake himself in a thick mud, which will protect him from the sun,” Dr Chase noted.
“Already the two-to-three-month-old calf seems to be walking in the shade of its mother. This behavior suggests it is aware of its susceptibility to the harsh African sun, and adapted a unique behavior to improve its chances of survival.”
I started young
I had my first job at 12. I carried out trash for a local small restaurant back home. They paid me $10 a day to carry out the trash and pick up the parking lot. I would do this about 3 to 4 times a week. I was making up to $40 a week and thought I was on top of the world. Finally I could buy some nice tennis shoes like everyone else wore. I could get myself a skate board like everyone else had and I could even buy some clothes that were more like everyone else’s.
See, there were three of us kids and I was the youngest. The oldest was my brother and had a sister between us. I got my brothers hand-me-downs mostly to wear. Since he was 6 years older than I am, some of his clothes weren’t what the other kids were wearing at that time. You know what I’m saying? I looked different and felt different too. I was a very angry kid and rightfully so most of the time.
I hated school. Then one day I walked into Mrs. Daye’s class and things began to change. On not overnight by any means but every time I was sent to her, she always told me she had faith in me. She knew I was going to make something out of myself. Because of her, that’s what I began to believe too.
So here I am working 50 hours a week doing anything from laying block for the foundation, roofing, framing and anything else they need help with. I’m learning new things all the time and reaching higher and higher so I can be someone I can be proud of.
Hello world!
Well here I am on the Internet. I sure hope Mrs. Daye happens across this. She believed in me when no one else did. I would love for her to see that I kept my promise to her and I am making something of myself. Growing up on the streets makes you tough in a lot of ways. Some ways you wish you weren’t so tough in and she helped me see that it’s okay to care about something or someone just because.
She asked me to promise that even if I didn’t finish high school, that I would at least get my GED, which I did and moved to Arizona. I had always dreamed of living here. It’s about as far away from my family as I can get and I love the dessert. I had worked odd jobs in the housing industry and now I work for a company that builds houses and I absolutely love the style of houses out here too. I’m sort of a jack of all trades and the master of a couple anyway.
I guess maybe there’s a little bit of adventurer in me too since I moved out here not knowing anyone or anything about the area other than there were desserts here. I can’t see myself anywhere else now. I hope you stop by from time to time.