Exploring the Small Things

What’s on my mind?

Contaminated water, pipelines, watersheds, aquifers; Yellowstone River, Ohio River, Lake Michigan; our oceans; Standing Rock and peaceful, prayerful resistance everywhere; religions and spiritual beliefs. How many times must my mind circle these topics daily?

Protecting our water is a life-preserving necessity. Join me by protesting the action of the 1% who push the pipelines, fail to clean up the oil, saltwater and fracking residues, and dump oilfield sludge into our oceans; and refuse to respect the holiness of the life-giving waters and sacred land.

Protest with prayer and peace; write letters, call a political figure, attend meetings, donate time or money to legitimate causes. Efforts from all who believe in protecting our environment make widespread differences.

Sitting at my sister’s kitchen table with a glass of tap water and I wonder about the safety. What a conundrum…a gal needs to drink.

Which brings me to another mind shuffling topic; the bottled water industry, but that is for another day.

I Corinthians 13….Love is patient; love is kind…

A Bible truth that our country can use about now. The hurt and anger that the United States is experiencing will only be resolved through kindness, tolerance, and peace. Armed presence during peaceful, prayerful demonstration teaches our children to mistrust the very values we preach.

We teach about kindness and love and the power of prayer. What good are the teaching and preaching when a rifle is held up against the peace loving and prayerful as we see in Standing Rock and other peaceful demonstrations?

As the world watches the United States watch Standing Rock, North Dakota;  fresh water, food, medical and adequate sanitation is removed from the  women, children and men of the protesting tribes. Nations with names that few of us have heard, but proud of their heritages, descend on Standing Rock in a show of solidarity.

As these natives protest, some are attacked by dogs, pepper spray and handcuffs for minor skirmishes and for speaking the truths of oil pipeline hazards. The dangers to water systems in direct line of pipeline construction, corporate greed and potential law enforcement overreaction are also dangers to native protesters.

Native Americans from the world are descending on Standing Rock in solidarity. Where are the white environmentalists?

The blog world recognizes the potential for confrontation but where are the whites?

Does the news community edit white faces in a bronze skinned sea?

Is Standing Rock another Wounded Knee where loss of lives counted in the hundreds of women, children, and men? Not an original question, I am sure. But a question that needs asking many, many times.

i spent the last two hours trying to get my wordpress password changed…what a challenge

A little thing that really bothers me: rejection.

Dear Andrea Kassner,

Your application to become an Examiner has been reviewed. Unfortunately, we are unable to bring you aboard at this time. We base our criteria for acceptance on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, quality of writing and knowledge of topic.

Thank you for your interest in writing for Examiner.com.

Best,

Examiner.com

Trying to stay hopeful. It’s hard to be thirty at heart with a 50+ body style and look. Without much experience in the workforce, I find it difficult to start at the beginning…again. However, I hope for the best; then, I mail out another resume.

 Jo Dees There is just the right job out there for you – just be patient and it will come. 

People covet crystals; brilliant stones, eye-catching, without
flaw.  Diamonds and gems glint on a hand,
encircle a neck or wrap around an ankle or wrist.    Crystals, such
as, diamonds, garnets, emeralds and many others are the “crystal habit.”

Scientists describe
crystals by color, shape and size.  These
elements of form are the “crystal habit,” or the “crystal form.”  A crystal’s form occurs when water or other
fluids combine with elements such as gypsum or carbon.  Along with heat and pressure, each compound
forms a particular type of crystal with a particular type of hardness or
softness. Gypsum produces one of the softest and most fragile crystals.  Pure carbon, extreme heat and pressure form the
hardest material known to man, the diamond.

From the
deepest parts of the earth, a crystal will travel to the surface.  The earth rumbles and quakes, giving birth to
crystals.  Volcanoes and earthquakes
provide heat and pressure.  The rest is
up to Father Time.

Gemstones sell according to its “habit.”
They emerge from the earth, rough looking and untamed.  The size of crystal will vary.  Sometimes, they will measure in fractions of
carats, and occasionally, a crystal will measure in numbers of feet or meters.   With flakes of many colors found in deserted
mines, to clear-colored gypsum crystals found in Mexico, the crystal’s size may be
modest or gigantic.

Diamonds and other gem’s weight measures
in carats. One carat equals two hundred milligrams. Most folks are familiar
with the carat as related to diamonds. However, on January 25, 1905, while
mining in South Africa,
a 3,106-carat diamond appeared, glimmering in the mine wall.  After completing the excavation, the miners
unearthed an uncut rough diamond weighing 1.33 pounds.  Christened the “Cullinan” after the mine
owner, the Cullinan is the largest diamond ever found.

Most people can visualize the Cullinan
diamond as the size of an adult’s hand.  However,
visualizing a clear crystal the size of a two-story house is much more
difficult.  The giant crystal phenomenon
exists in the mines south of Chihuahua,
Mexico. The Giant Crystal
Caves of Naica form from
gypsum and water.  The largest Naica crystals
exist in caverns that are three hundred feet long and measures more than thirty
feet tall, fifty plus tons.  The Naica
crystals are the largest in the world.

From South
Africa to Mexico,
in one habit or another, people cherish and worship crystals. Coveted jewels that
begin in the earth, misshapen and grungy, earth reveals its treasure. Then jewelers
bring out the luster and value of diamonds, garnets, and sapphires as well as
the habits and desires of the world’s customers.

Americans have a
longstanding fascination with  the
mystique of the wild mustang horse and wild burros that roamed freely.
Originally, the mustang horse was of the Spanish conquistadors and Iberian
horse breeds brought to the American continent. Then, lost, released or stolen
from competing conquistadors. Spanish conquistadors, Native American tribes
horse culture and the western horseman known as cowboys produced horse breeds
that became the legend representing courage, intelligence, strength, and
spirit. However, with the advent of the automobile, a cowboy did not need a four-legged
ride.

In the past, the wild
mustang horse and wild burros roamed freely. Spanish conquistadors and Native
Americans collected these wild horses into bands. Then the conquistadors and
the Native Americans would trade which helped to develop the mustang horse breed.

The thunder of the
pounding hooves was heard miles away. Natives and conquistadors would through
villages pillaging whatever was valuable to them But the farmers and ranchers
knew their crops would be trampled, hay supplies depleted, and the domestic
horses assimilated into the wild horse bands. The western horseman began to
gather the bands of horses and sort the scrubs which I believe became the bands
of mustang horses.

The ranchers feared the
wild mustang stallion. The mustang horse was known to infiltrate a domestic
herd to increase the wild mustang horse stallion’s harem. Ranchers believed
that domestic mare bred to a wild mustang horse ruined the mare and would not
deliver a pure breed horse ever after.

The stallions of the wild
mustang horse protected and pushed the wild horse herds in migration across the
deserts and plains searching for food and water.. The wild horse stallion also
had to fight to maintain his status as well as his band of mares. A powerful
mustang stallion with the greatest number of wild mares was the patriarch in
the hierarchy of his herd.

For many years ranchers
and western horseman who favored the American quarter horse breeds, and they
would put together a wild mustang horse and wild burro round up. They gathered
great herds of mustangs and wild burros, corralled them. Then, loaded the wild
horse and wild burro into railroad boxcars, headed to the slaughterhouses or
the ranchers just killed the mustangs and wild burros while confined with no
understanding of the conquistadors spirit inside. The wild horses and wild
burros of North America were slaughtered by
the hundreds and thousands.

Following World War II, the
plight of retired military horses, from proud draft horse breeds, became a
protection issue. The usual reward for the military horse was termination.
Their treatment of these American war heroes helped focus on the wild horse
issues. The issues, of the wild mustang horse and wild burro became a heated
topic. The farmers, ranchers and western horseman coming back from the war saw
mustang horse and wild burro herds overtaking pasture land and water holes.

In contrast, there are
those who recognized the need to protect the American history’s mustang horse
derived from a proud horse culture of the Spanish conquistadors. Wild horse
protection organizations began seeking protection for this long line of
American-spanish horse  breeds. Terms of
protection were organized with the United States federal government in
particular, the Bureau of Land Management.

The American wild horse
organizations began by seeking protective laws for the wild horse. What developed
from the horse enthusiast’s activism was a mustang horse and wild burro
protection act allowing the wild horses and wild burros to return to freedom.

The federal government began
allocating tax dollars to guarantee the safe control of the wild mustang horse
and wild burro. Horse foundations formed to encourage wild mustang horse and
wild burro adoption programs that allowed wild mustang horses to return to freedom.

Another remedy for the
mustang horse was the creation of a safety zone, called a sanctuary. Allowing
the free roaming of the wild mustang horse on public lands did not satisfy
ranchers because their cattle and domestic horses also ran free with open land
policies. then came the formation of sanctuary such as wild horse island state
park sanctuary, mustang island, wild horses ranch sanctuary, island state park,

However, even with horse
organizations for the protection of the North American mustangs are a problem
for the western horseman ranches, and their wild burro and mustang horse round
up in conjunction with BLM. The United
States government allows the thinning of the
wild horses to protect public lands from overgrazing. The BLM then collects the
mustang horses and puts them up for adoption. These new practices help
eliminate the cruel slaughter of the mustang horse by hunting. Ranchers are no
longer able to corral and shoot them in confined places. Instead of massacring
the mustang horse, they now must provide sanctuary.

The Spanish conquistadors
came to America
in search of the Fountain of Youth. What the conquistadors left behind was the making
of a horse breeds legend equal to the wild horses spirit ofAmerica.

The Mohawk hairstyle is the first thing I notice about the boy in the cafeteria. His hairstyle is three inches tall and extends from his blonde eyebrows to the fuzzy nape of his neck. With his soft wavy ash blonde hair and dark brown tips, the hairdo suits him.

Brown and wide open, his eyes glint with humor. The smile of this ten-year-old boy is dimple-to-dimple, bright and beautiful.

I fall in love with this young man as I would a grandchild.  He is adorable.

We met at the local warehouse cafeteria as I held a greasy-cheesey slice of pizza. Looking around for a table, I saw one in the corner.

The boy and I arrived at the white vinyl table at the same moment.

He and I look at each without worries.  In seconds, we sense a common competitive streak.

I believe he sees a trustworthy grown up who feels no anger towards this serendipitous situation. Peering at each other, we see the humor.

Our eye-to-eye contact seals the feeling that we are kindred spirits without age barriers sharing a forever moment.

In an instant, I take a risk. I raise my fists in a overly dramatic old-fashion boxing stand. After all, I am somewhat old fashioned. With fists raised, I challenge the boy.

Without hesitation, the boy in the cafeteria raises his arms and hands in the perfect karate block and parry stance, and that smile.

The interaction takes a few more seconds.  Within that moment of fun and camaraderie, I know the table is his.  I surrender graciously and ask, “How many are in your group?”

His reply is puckish yet respectful.  Raising a handful of fingers, he says, “Five.”

That’s it.  All is lost. With a warm feeling toward him, I say, “Okay, young man, you win.”  I walk away from the white vinyl table waving a wiggly finger good-bye.

He waves back. With a little more than a few ticks of a clock, he is pointing with
enthusiasm towards a vacant table in the middle of the room.  “Hey lady, there’s one for ya!”

I love him for his good heart, and his enthusiasm. With my melting heart and blushing face, I return to him a thumbs up.

The ten year old, whose name I may never know, rewards me with that vibrant smile. He is happy.

My steps are lighter. My shoulders lose the slouch. My day becomes more carefree.  The boy is a gift.  I am happy.

I will never forget the cafeteria boy.