Another funny Berlitz commercial

One of my favorite commercials

Embracing the Great Outdoors

Daniel and I took the dogs for a romp in the park for 45 minutes today. I would like this time to be logged in our journal under "leisure time spent outside: spring & summer." In this blog you will find captivating pictures of Sam relieving himself next to the pond, Frodo looking ecstatic after chasing the ball, an attempt at a family picture, and pictures of the general natural splendor. Enjoy.

Stewards of the Earth

You may have already heard about the giant pacific trash patch that is being accumulated by "gyres" or strong currents of wind in the ocean.

The garbage heap is made up mostly of plastic, a product that never decomposes, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. The result is a sort of ocean minestrone soup. Fish and birds eat the plastic thinking it is food.

Plastic bags look like jelly fish. Seals get caught in old nets and chains. I saw a scientist dissecting a dead fish whose entire stomach was filled with plastic.

Here is a bird that died because of all the trash that was unable to move through its digestive system. I apologize for the graphic picture. But imagine what the bird felt like.

Aside from the impossible sum of money cleaning up the heap would require, doing so is impossible because small fish and ocean life would get killed in the process. Scientists say the only way to improve it is to stop letting trash come down from rivers and dumps into the ocean. What does this mean? Well, recycling would help a lot! Right now only 5 percent of the world's plastic is recycled so we have a long way to go. If only for the selfish reason that you might be eating something that has tiny bits of filthy trash in it, consider recycling. God gave us dominion over his beautiful creation to tend and keep it, not trash it. The earth is not ours to destroy.

For a synopsis on the giant pacific trash patch, read how stuff works.

To end my discussion on this topic I shall close with a joke that made me laugh for about 5 minutes when I heard it on TV last night. Brace yourselves. I intend to be highly offensive (please note facetiousness here)....

The giant pacific trash patch. It's like a huge Sarah Palin: Taking up space and killing wildlife. Muahahah.

Speaking of Sarah Palin, I saw a picture of her office in a magazine recently. She has a giant bear carcass strung over her couch (head included), a deer head on the wall, and a dead Alaskan snow crab on her coffee table.

What do you think, should I send Sarah this T-shirt? The right to arm bears....a footnote to the 2nd amendment, perhaps? Wouldn't it be fabulous if the bear's family could exact their revenge on their lost relative?

Can dogs get lyme disease?

In light of our recent tick fiasco, I thought it fitting that I post this article. Look at what we found in the news yesterday. Seriously!!

Lyme disease reports in Washington region grow April 8, 2009 - 9:56am
WASHINGTON (AP) - Reports of Lyme disease in the Washington region have grown in recent years, more than doubling in Virginia and Maryland from 2006 to 2007, the last year for which data are available.
Reports nearly doubled in the District, tripled in Howard County and quadrupled in Montgomery County. Loudoun County recorded half of all cases in Virginia.
Loudoun County health director David Goodfriend says the black-legged ticks, commonly called deer ticks, that carry the disease are taking hold in the Potomac region.
If caught early, most cases can be treated quickly. If not, the disease can bring heart and joint problems as well as Bell's palsy.
The first sign in about 70 percent of cases is a bull's-eye-like rash three to 30 days after a bite.
___
Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com (Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Reports of Lyme disease in the Washington region have grown in recent years, more than doubling in Virginia and Maryland from 2006 to 2007, the last year for which data are available.
Reports nearly doubled in the District, tripled in Howard County and quadrupled in Montgomery County. Loudoun County recorded half of all cases in Virginia.
Loudoun County health director David Goodfriend says the black-legged ticks, commonly called deer ticks, that carry the disease are taking hold in the Potomac region.
If caught early, most cases can be treated quickly. If not, the disease can bring heart and joint problems as well as Bell's palsy.
The first sign in about 70 percent of cases is a bull's-eye-like rash three to 30 days after a bite.
___
Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com

Tend and keep the earth

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend [dress, KJV] and keep it" (verse 15).

Tend (Hebrew 'abad) means "to work or serve," and thus referring to the ground or a garden, it can be defined as "to till or cultivate." It possesses the nuance seen in the KJV's choice in its translation: "dress," implying adornment, embellishment, and improvement.

Keep (Hebrew shamar) means "to exercise great care over." In the context of Genesis 2:15, it expresses God's wish that mankind, in the person of Adam, "take care of," "guard," or "watch over" the garden. A caretaker maintains and protects his charge so that he can return it to its owner in as good or better condition than when he received it.

Explanation from:
http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/156/Dominion.htm

Daniel has Lymes disease

....just kidding! We had a discussion about this at Paul's Birthday lunch last week. Since then I have pulled three more ticks off the dogs, one of which was so deeply lodged in Sam's head that it left a big bloody scab.

Last night Daniel went to CVS and got a gel which you put on the dogs' back and is supposed to keep the fleas and ticks at bay. After a few hours the dogs, especially Frodo started acting bedonnered (loco, crazy). We put them in the box to go to sleep and they cried all night. Finally D woke up this morning and washed off the gel.

Frodo has calmed down a bit but has been pacing and panting all day, rubbing his back up against everything. Just a bad reaction I guess.


They got hair cuts a couple of weeks ago, which is good considering the ticks this season. They were super-cute with their long hair though.




Shaggy Sam on the daybed




Shaggy Fro on the daybed




Shaggy Fro on regal pillow

Chic Living

After five years of living with a ginormous, second hand couch, we finally decided to get a couch that fits the size of our apartment. Check out our new couch and chair. They are Calvin Klein (I know--fancy shmancy) and are quite comfortable. I thought the chair was kind of cool--like a big cube.