Magical Moment 364, "Notice"

In the early morning hours between sleep and consciousness, I heard a loud and constant “Scrape, scrape, scrape! Thud, thud, thud.” Too tired to care what it might be, I went back to sleep. The sound then made an appearance in a shallow dream I had, where my dog was digging a hole in the ground. I woke again, and still made no attempt to figure out where the noise was coming from, it was somewhere outside my window and that’s all that bothered to register.

I took my dog out for her morning walk, still sleepy eyed and in auto-mode, to find the noise was a young man scraping the inch and a half layer of ice off the stairs and sidewalks of our apartment building. He was using a metal garden hoe, that was the only thing strong enough to break through the solid sheet. It was then that I realized, he had been at this for hours! I also noticed a man, who I was fairly certain was a neighbor from another building, finishing up a conversation with the ice scraping boy. I wondered, could he be complaining about the noise? I walked by the ice scraper and muttered a soft, “Thank you for doing that.” What a job that must be.

We finished our walk and I headed back to my front door. That’s when I again saw the possible, familiar neighbor walking back towards the ice scraper. This time, he had Dunkin Doughnuts coffee with him, which he handed to the young man and demanded, “Take a rest my friend.” He then made his way back across the street. As he passed me, he gave me a sincere smile and said, “Good morning. Bet they don’t have weather like this in Texas.”

I smiled, taken back by the warmness in his demeanor. That’s when I realized in my daze, he was referring to our Texas license plates that we still have not switched to New Jersey (military exception). I started to understand, like I was slowly waking from a dream. And then I felt ashamed of myself. Ashamed that I hadn’t looked outside my window hours ago to see that a stranger was breaking his back to keep my neighbors and I from breaking our necks. Ashamed I didn’t think of offering him coffee. Ashamed that I didn’t know my own neighbor, and he knew me and where I was from! I was stunned to realize how much in my daily life that I see, but don’t take in.

I guess the old expression “stop and smell the roses,” means more than simply taking time for myself to relax. It’s not really about me at all. It’s taking a moment to observe, absorb, just plain notice the roses.

Magical Moment 625, "Thailand - the Elephants"

Needless to say, my favorite part of our Thailand vacation, was our week long volunteering at Elephant Nature Park ! The logging industry was banned in Thailand in 1989, leaving thousands of elephants unemployed. These elephants are now used for tourism. You may have heard of elephant shows featuring the animals playing soccer or painting pictures with their trunks. They are no doubt amazing to watch, but the sad truth is that these elephants have gone through a series of torture and abuse to "break their spirit" by their trainers. This short clip is very hard to watch, but it will give you an idea of what the elephants in captivity in the country of Thailand go through. The only elephants in Thailand who do not endure this, are the very few baby elephants who are first generation born in "safe captivity" at places like Elephant Nature Park. Every other elephant at this park has been brutally abused. Some have been blinded by their owners, le

Magical Moment 620, "Lilac Garden"

Eddie and I visited the Lilac Gardens at Ringwood Manor in New Jersey, a pristine and beautiful state park with 8 species of lilacs and several varieties within. We went on a rainy afternoon, which turned out perfect because the rain stopped for us when we got there, and began again as soon as we left. It also decorated the plants with gorgeous rain drops, adding to their beauty. And now for a quick game of "Where's Elizabeth?" And "Where's Eddie?" ~~Have a great weekend! ~~

Magical Moment 280, "The Eleventh Hour"

The Veterans Day Parade, NYC On July 29, 2001 , five exceptional men were honored by the President of the United States for their remarkable military service. They were involved in a top secret mission that required unfathomable intelligence and as a result, literally won a battle which was instrumental in winning the war. Not the war that was happening in 2001, not even the Gulf War. It was World War II, and they were the Navajo Code Talkers who were largely responsible for winning the bloody battle of Okinawa. The only problem with the ceremony was that just 5 remained of the original 29. Our country was too late in thanking the other 24, and nearly too late in thanking those 5 men. On March 10, 2010, three hundred women won the Congressional Gold medal for their outstanding war service. Unfortunately, 800 received the award posthumously. These were the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) of World War II, who devoted themselves to flying military aircraft like the B-26 and B-

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