A Nose and a Chin

Nagging guilt has actually made me 

avoid the Cow for a while…

But, I found something that made me think 

and made me smile thismorning.

Here’s a re-hash of the story 

I found this morning:

A lady in China never went to school… 

she was never taught to reador write.

She has cerebral palsy, 

so expectations were lowered for her. 

She can’tstand. She can’t use her hands.

And yet, she has published her own book… 

A book she wrote herself.

It’s titled: Greet You with aSmile. 

It took her three years to write this book. 

And, she wrote it usingher nose and her chin! 

She typed the story on her ipad 

and her mobile phone.

She taught herself to read 

while watching television programs 

and bylooking at a dictionary.

She has also written two short stories.

I love this quote from the author, Huang Yang: “Everyone encountersdifficulties 

and setbacks in their lives. 

Some feel down about it 

and somesolve it optimistically. 

Lying dead, or standing alive, 

it all depends on you.”

Huang Yang                             Photo credit: Women of China

While the news article calls Huang a girl, she is 28.

This is another story that proves that we should never set limits onwhat people can or can’t do.

Kindness of Strangers

I read an article today… 

about breast-feeding.

I’m not a mum. 

I’ve never breastfed a baby.

I’m a big supporter of it…

But I know how difficult it can be 

for some mumsto feed their children.

I find it strange that women 

are judged and criticised

 for feeding their children in public. 

I imagine that, if their baby was leftun-fed

 and was starting to really scream in hunger,

the people around themother 

would throw angry glares her way – 

and some people would most likely 

abuse her for her noisy baby 

and the fact it is obviously hungry.

So, why judge when she does feed her child?

Most women are very discreet when feeding. 

Often,a child may be fed 

and no one around the mother 

would even notice. 

Let’s faceit, she doesn’t want 

anyone staring at her breasts! 

And, there’s always theoption 

for bystanders to simply look away!

I’d like to think that times 

are changing andwomen no longer

 sit in public toilets to feed their children.

I think we are alittle more understanding

 and accepting, as a whole.

So, the article I read…

A mother was in a pizza restaurant

and she wasfeeding

 her child at the table. 

Worried she was breaking social taboos,

 shefelt quite self-conscious 

and soon noticed 

the waitress staring at her. 

She continued feeding, feeling guilty

 and halfexpecting to be asked to stop.

When her child still didn’t settle, 

she left thetable early 

and waited in the car 

while her husband paid their bill.

And here’s the good bit:

The waitress… the staring waitress…

She was so impressed 

by the lady feeding herchild 

that she paid for part of their bill.

The mother’s name is Jackie. 

The waitress is BodiKinney. 

Bodi’s message on the bill was simple: 

I bought one of your pizzas. 

Please thank your wife for breastfeeding!!

Such a simple act… 

and yet, a huge reminder 

that hungrychildren should be fed 

and we should never 

stop a mother from breast-feeding.

Our actions are very powerful… 

this waitress hasempowered 

a breast-feeding mother… 

and women everywhere. 

What a beautifulgesture.

Read the article here.

Shuffling

Driving... 

It's all 'smooth sailing' until 

something walks on to the road and stops traffic.

And that, brings me to the echidna...

Echidna – what kind of word isthat, anyway?

The echidna is covered in

hollow spines.

photo credit

They have tiny eyes and pooreyesight.

They’re easy enough to catch though–

if you ever stumble across one inthe wild.

They shuffle along...

...oblivious to the dangers

around them.

They’re not totally defenseless!

Once startled, their long claws 

might dig into the ground.

They hold on with such incrediblestrength

that it is almost impossible

to pull them out of the ground...

Not to mention working around theirspines.

If the echidna cannot dig into theground

they will roll into a ball.

Their softer belly will beprotected

by a ball of spines.

photo credit

Dingoes, goannas and otherpredators

have to suffer a mouthful of spines

before reaching the echidna’sflesh.

A dingo with a mouth full of sores

caused by echidna spines

soon learns to leave the echidnaalone!

And their tongue....

100 times a minute

that tongue sticks out.

It’s sticky so ants, termites 

and small bugsstick to it.

Back inside the mouth it goes,

covered in delicious echidna food!

There are no teeth in the echidna’smouth

but hard palettes crush theinsects.

I love that they have hairs

 among their many spines.

I love that they can live in thesnow

and in the hottest parts ofAustralia.

I love that you can stumble

on them out in the bush.

I love their shuffle.

I love their colours.

I love that cars will slow

to almost a stop

when an echidna

is crossing a suburban road.

Knuckles

The Cow’s been pretty quiet lately…

I’ve been learning a little about cerebral palsy 

hands on learning… 

I know a bit more about it now, 

not necessarily the medical terminology 

but the impact it has on a little body.

So, when I heard about ‘Knuckles’, 

I was immediately curious.  

Why? Knuckles is a chimpanzee… 

a chimpanzeewith cerebral palsy!

Knuckles lives at the 

Centre for Great Apes (in Florida)

after anentertainment group he had been with,

no longer wanted him. 

He was two when hearrived. 

It seemed that Knuckles had cerebral palsy. 

At the time of his birth, 

he suffered from a lack of oxygen. 

He had poor muscle control 

and was especiallyweak on the left side.

 He also had a lazy eye 

and didn’t appear able to focuson objects.

 At two, Knuckles should have been

 swinging from the trees, 

but hecould not climb 

and had difficulty with walking.

He also had trouble feeding 

and needed help to eat. 

Hardly surprising, early testing 

pointed to a grimfuture,

with almost no expectations 

for improvements in Knuckles’ ability.

 Andyet, steady progress was made. 

Volunteers gave Knuckles 

some extra time and 

occupationaland physical therapists 

also worked with Knuckles. 

Now, Knuckles feedshimself… 

he climbs up and down steps… 

and uses swings to hang upside down.

 Sometimes,he joins 

the other chimpanzees in running games.

 Knuckles is very aware 

of hissurroundings 

and loves being tickled. 

He is also very affectionate. 

Had Knucklesbeen born into the wild, 

I guess he would have 

slowly starved or been 

an easytarget to another animal. 

But, he was taken in and loved. 

He was recognised ashaving cerebral palsy

 and his therapy and efforts have paid off.

Being that we are so closely related to apes,

 I guess its nosurprise that they too, 

may have cerebral palsy.

Go to the Centrefor Great Apes  

to find out more.

There are more pictures at the site, too.

Fairy Orchid

It’s been so long since I posted something… 

so, lets start back withsomething 

light and easy, something cute.

A flower… an orchid…

It’s a tiny people orchid! 

It only grows to 30cm. 

Unfortunately... it’s aEuropean plant, 

which flowers in October and November. 

It’s a hardly littleplant and tolerates frost. 

This little plant likes the sunshine, 

and why wouldn’tit… 

it’s flowers look as though they would 

like to dance in the sunshine. 

Theseplants grow in woodlands and meadows –

 which is perfect for the dancingflowers. 

This cool little plant is known as the Orchis italic… 

it’s the fairyorchid! 

I want one of these.

Second Place Winner

 

This is the name of a winner:  

IvanFernandez Anaya.

OK, he didn’t win…

He came second in the race,

and his coach may have been

unhappywith that…

but, really, he won.

During a cross-country race,

his goodness and

sense of fair play really shone.

The race was close to finished…

Ivan wascoming second. 

Abel Mutai was winning…

but, Abel got confused

about where the finish line was…

He stopped running tooearly.  

He was still meters away

from thefinish line.

As Ivan ran up to him,

 he saw the error,

and could easily haveraced past

 and claimed first place.

He didn’t.

He ran right up to Abel Mutai

and pointed to the finish line.

 

He stayed behind Abel

until therace had been won.

Ivan claimed second and was

 immensely proud of his efforts.

Ivan later said:

“I didn’t deserveto win it”.

He explained:

“He was the rightful winner.

He created a gap that Icouldn’t

 have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake.”

Because the two men had

littlecommon language between them,

Abel’s thanks were quite simple

in words,

butheartfelt in meaning.

Ivan hopes that his decision

to letfairness

overcome the need for winning

might help children everywhere

to seewhat is really important.

Although Ivan came second…

it’sprobably the best second place

 he could ever take.

Champion.

Ivan’s facebook page

?

A Cut Above

Guy Henry

Several months ago,

myyoung nephew met a man.

He met Dr Guy Henry.

Lucky!

Dr Guy Henry saved hislife.

He cut my nephew open

– twice!

 

 

The second time,

he removed a chunk of cancer cells

from my nephew’stiny body

 and then, carefully and neatly,

sewed him back together.

What anamazing job he has!

What an incredible thing he does!

Dr Guy Henry is a

specialist Paediatric Surgeon.

He’s been doing this

forover ten years.

I’ve never met Dr GuyHenry,

but I will always be grateful

for what he did…

and how well he did it.

My nephew’s scar is almost healed.

It’s almost perfectly straight.

 

Maybe, in a few years,

we might have trouble

even seeing the scar.

But,each time the sun shines

 the right way

and a glint of scar shines at me,

 I willsend a quiet

“thank you”

to Dr Guy Henry.

Apparently, he loves

rugby andfishing –

but rarely has any luck

catching a fish.

I hope he catches

thebiggest fish next time

 he drops a line in!   

Read more about him here.

 

New Beginnings

2012 brought some great things...

but, it was a long, tiring

and often... awful year.

But, it's gone!

 

Welcome 2013!

Here's to smiles, love, laughter

and great health!

Happy New Year!

 

And... in Thai:

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Photo Source

Into the Spirit of Things

Festivus

This has to have something

to do with Christmas,

right?

I just wrapped

acouple of presents

and now feel

much more christmasy!

I even wrapped a couple

of“gag” presents – such fun!

I’ve just sat down

with a glass of bubbly –

a present…

and the Carols in the Domain sing-fest

is about to begin.

I’m going to watch

and hum along to the carols…

I’m going to get

a little more festive.

I’m sotired… so tired!

But, today…

my Christmas present

to myself turned up.

I nowhave to new lounge chairs!

Woohoo!

They go beautifully

with my brand newfloors.

My house smells different –

and a little funny

(new flooring will dothat, I guess!)

and my house looks very different.

 I love it!

It’s time to get festive!!