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Re-post from March 27, 2010: "Especially now when views are becoming more polarized, we must work to understand each other across political, religious and national boundaries." — Jane Goodall  by Betsy Seeton  by Betsy Seeton If this isn't a Gilded Flicker, please let me know! It might be a Northern Flicker? I'm just learning....  by Betsy Seeton  by Betsy Seeton When I first approached this bird it was on the ground digging. I'm guessing it was making a place for a nest. After it flew away and joined its mate in a nearby tree, I examined the ground and found a small cave like hole dug out of the earth. I'll have to read about these birds (I hope I have identified them correctly) and see if they have nests on the ground. I'm brand new to birding. What utterly fascinating creatures they are! So much beauty too. No bird belongs in a cage....
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A re-post from March 2010: Shake it off. Easy to say, not so easy to do. But it's key to inner peace, which is key to happiness. So much is out of our control. So much doesn't make sense. And a lot of injustice and unfairness surrounds us. Accepting that and learning to let go, truly and deeply let go, will help you through the rough times. I speak from experience. Lots and lots of experience. My hard earned letting go skills serve me on a daily basis. And yet there are still times I fail. It's something I find must be worked on constantly and quite consciously.  Here's something to practice on a daily basis. Begin by being aware of your thought process. How many times do you allow your thoughts to be negative? How many times do you go over something you said or that was said to you and allow the pain to wrap around you? How often are you judging and feeling anger, resentment, and frustration? Start to be aware of how your thoughts are linked to the emotions you're feeling throughout your day. Self awareness is the first step. The mind is very powerful. If you begin to rein in your thoughts when they go dark and negative, and stop them at the door, you'll also stop the rush of negative emotions. I'm not talking about creating a state of denial. But if the thoughts have no purpose other than reinforcing your feelings of being a victim, or of injustice and insanity, then why continue allowing them into your mind? Why entertain these thoughts?  A Good Attitude Goes A Long Way - by Betsy Seeton Accept the negative and focus on good thoughts. Your energy will change. Your energy will strengthen you. If something CAN be done about the negative things going on in your life, it will come from being positive and concentrating on what you can control and on things that feed your soul versus things that feed your pain and anger.  The Pond Painting - by Betsy Seeton Lakota Instructions for Living Friend do it this way - that is, whatever you do in life, do the very best you can with both your heart and mind. And if you do it that way, the Power Of The Universe will come to your assistance, if your heart and mind are in Unity. When one sits in the Hoop Of The People, one must be responsible because All of Creation is related. And the hurt of one is the hurt of all. And the honor of one is the honor of all. And whatever we do effects everything in the universe. If you do it that way - that is, if you truly join your heart and mind as One - whatever you ask for, that's the Way It's Going To Be. passed down from White Buffalo Calf Woman PLEASE VISIT THIS INSPIRING WEBSITE: http://www.sapphyr.net/gb/index.php  taken 3-30-10 Blue Heron - by Betsy Seeton “If I had only one single herb to depend upon for all possible health and dietary needs, I would chose the Indian spice turmeric,” says David Frawley, PhD, founder and director of the American Institute for Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, N.M. It is a spice, he says, that everyone “should get to know and live with.”  CINNAMON FOR: Balancing blood sugar and good for Diabetes 2 and preventative measures.  Also good for: Cancer, cholesterol problems, food poisoning, heart disease, hypertension, insulin resistance, polycystic ovarian syndrome, stroke, ulcer, vaginal yeast infection, wounds.  GINGER FOR: Quiets Queasiness  May also help prevent and treat: Arthritis, asthma, cancer, cholesterol problems, heart attack, heartburn, indigestion, migraine, morning sickness, motion sickness, nausea, stroke, elevated triglycerides.  TUMERIC FOR: Reduces Inflamation  May also help prevent and treat: Wide research shows that turmeric, taken as supplemental curcumin, is as effective and, in some cases, even more effective than pharmaceutical drugs — without their side effects. Curcumin proved to be more effective at reducing inflammation than over-the-counter aspirin and ibuprofen, and as effective as the more powerful prescription drug Celebrex. It also proved as effective in thwarting breast cancer cells as tamoxifen, a drug widely used to stop the spread or recurrence of breast cancer. These results are nothing less than astounding.  FENNEL SEED: Good for menstrual cramps and colic in babies.  Fennel flowerheads and seeds wikipedia photo May also help prevent and treat: Alzheimer’s, arthritis, cancer, colitis (inflammatory bowel disease), dementia, glaucoma, heart disease, high blood pressure, hirsutism (unwanted hair growth in women), stroke.  CORRIANDER FOR: Eases Digestive Discomfort Two of the volatile oils contained in coriander seed (linalool and geranyl acetate) are powerful, cell-protecting antioxidants. They’re probably behind many of coriander’s curative powers, including its ability to soothe digestive ailments.  It's an antispasmodic drug, relaxing the contracted digestive muscles that cause the discomfort of IBS and other “overactive gut” disorders. That same relaxing effect — working on arteries — may be one reason why the spice can help lower blood pressure, researchers suggest.   By Ilana Wiles, Mommy Shorts In the Huffingpost: "Having a 4-year-old daughter of my own, whose biggest fashion moment was putting a red bow around the waist of her green Super Soccer Stars t-shirt and calling herself "Peter Pan," I had a few questions for Angie. Namely... How much is done by you and how much is done by your daughter? The ideas are pretty much a 50/50 split, but Mayhem constructs a lot more than most people would probably believe. That's one of the best things about this project, I see her learning new skills every single day. At this point, she knows exactly how many sheets of construction paper she needs to make herself a top and a bottom. She can lay the entire thing out and tape it together all by herself. Definitely, the more complex designs have more of my time invested, but she's literally always beside me learning something new if she's not tearing or taping or gluing while I am." 
Angie Mother of Mayhem {age 4} | curator of #fashionbyMayhem | occasional blogger | other half of @keiserphoto http://www.fashionbymayhem.com 
by Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan
Centuries after Shakespeare wrote about King Lear's symptoms, there's still no perfect way to care for sufferers of dementia and Alzheimer's. In the Netherlands, however, a radical idea is being tested: Self-contained "villages" where people with dementia shop, cook, and live together—safely. READ FULL ARTICLE  Steps leading up to the ski jump  The judges' room at the ski jump site  Story/interview by Giles Clark - More at the bottom of this post.  A painting of Vucko, the official mascot of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, whose name means "little wolf," is seen at Zetra Hall, the onetime figure-skating venue.  The disused bobsled track on Mount Trebevic, near Sarajevo  Graffiti covers the neglected track.  A close view of graffiti on the bobsled track  Another timeworn Olympic logo on a street in central Sarajevo  Bushes have grown over stretches of the bobsled track on Mount Trebevic, near Sarajevo.  Vucko, Sarajevo's Olympic mascot, skis on the outside of Zetra Hall.  The disused ski jump on Mount Igman, near Sarajevo  The podium where medals were awarded near the ski jump site on Mount Igman  A view of the ski jump through broken windows  An abandoned hotel in Sarajevo's Olympic Village  The logo of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo is seen on a tower near Zetra Hall.  click to go to originating website By Giles Clarke Thirty years ago this week, the 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo, the capital of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ten years later, the Olympic site, the city, and its inhabitants were gripped in a ferocious war that still resonates today. As the Sochi Olympics wind down, I thought it would be a good time to travel to Sarajevo and visit the former Olympic sites. I wanted to meet people who were at the games and who also lived through the brutal three-and-half-year war that raged from April 1992 to February 1996. READ FULL STORY    Sod Roofed Cabin - photo by Betsy Seeton Until the late 19th century, sod or turf roofs were the most common type of roof on rural log homes in Scandinavia. These roofs date back to before the Viking and Middle Ages. After seeing this sod roof that I photographed today, it has me thinking about putting one on my tiny cabin in the mountains this summer. I had no idea until researching about them that they are all the rage. According to a Sept. 2012 article in Forbes, the green roof market alone grew by 115% in 2011. Their source was according to Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, a not-for-profit organization touting the benefits of turf roofing.  Pictured: Sod Roof cabin Montrose, Colorado - Taken February 18, 2014  DID YOU KNOW? The benefits of sod roofs are many. According to the EPA, green roofs insulate, filter pollution, reduce storm water run-off, and naturally cool the air, reducing what’s known as the “heat island effect.” [source]  CLICK TO GO TO INSPIRATIONGREEN.COM for more sod roof photos "Cool roofs, green roofs and hybrids of the two are all of the rage for city planners who want to do something about greenhouse-gas induced warming. They sound great but is it going to work?" READ MORE from Scientific blogging... Interestingly, white roofs are more "green" than green roofs. "White roofs are more reflective than green roofs, reflecting roughly three times more sunlight back into the atmosphere and therefore absorbing less sunlight at earth's surface. By absorbing less sunlight than either green or black roofs, white roofs offset a portion of the warming effect from greenhouse gas emissions." READ MORE 8 HOMES WITH LIVING ROOFS featured in ForbesWHAT DO VOLTAIRE, H.G. WELLS, EINSTEIN, LEONARDO da VINCI, PLATO & BETSY SEETON HAVE IN COMMON?2/10/2014 [Most people do not like the content of this blog.] I have not written a blog on being a non-meat eater since becoming one in 2010, coincidentally around the same time I diagnosed my own cervical cancer. In 2012, I gave up milk, and I absolutely loved milk, but I loved cows more and what has been happening in the dairy industry far outweighs my desire for milk. I'm also convinced milk isn't all that healthy for me. I have zero desire for it, which surprises me. I still eat eggs from chickens I've met, and only from humans I personally know to be good to their chickens. I don't know what took me so long to be in sync with my love for all animals. I don't know why I didn't long ago take a stand against killing animals to feed me. I was an animal lover for as long as I can remember. My earliest memory was at age three. It was the day we got the puppy I grew up loving like a sibling. I wish I better understood the years I lived in hypocrisy. I can call it that with hindsight, because that's what it was and I was a hypocrite. I was eating pork when pigs were living in crates, not able to stand or walk around. (I did quit pork first of all the meats when I discovered the horrors.) The terror chickens currently go through makes me shudder. And cows. Those poor creatures are mercilessly clobbered in the head and die horrendously painful deaths, not to mention the very sad lives most live before being murdered.  I even remember foolishly feeling glad I was an animal activist who still ate meat. I thought people would listen to me better because I wasn't one of them. It's a rationale I find embarrassing and ignorant now, yet it sheds light on helping me understand that many good people will continue eating meat without regret, and maybe even with pride and indignation. I did, so how can I judge or preach? I'm mostly a quiet vegetarian-almost-vegan. I don't make a big deal about it. I rarely bring it up. I don't like preaching about it, but maybe I should. Maybe I should find ways to educate, inspire and help bring change to the mass killings. Is my silence just another form of hypocrisy? Until writing this, it had not occurred to me I might be guilty of this. That's one of the many benefits of blogging. I learn things about myself. So .... I will give more thought to this issue and will let you know how that turns out. How Red Meat Changes Your |
 Betsy Seeton
I'm an artist, writer, photographer, private investigator and an activist in small ways.
"Turning indifference into making a difference."
MY PHOTO BOOK
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH NATURE is my new website devoted to my photography, books, and art.
  My LADYBUG book is filled with beautiful images & inspiring quotes. Click here for more info.
 All photos are for sale at Betsy's Art Gallery  Email Betsy   Amely-James KOH BELA is fighting child trafficking in Africa and throughout several continents. Read my interview with her.  CLICK FOR BEE PHOTOGRAPHY  Mahoot Elephant training in Thailand with Kaew,  Adorable French girl growing up in Africa with wildlife photography parents - more pictures of Tippi Degre  I visited the Tiger Temple in Thailand & later found out it is under investigation for tiger trafficking and animal abuse. Read full story. In 2015 it was raided. More than 100 tigers and protected bird species in Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua, popularly known as the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi province were impounded by authorities following complaints that the temple was alleged to engage in illegal wildlife trading.    photos for sale as greeting cards and framed prints or posters. Click to go to my online Art Gallery  "The moment one gives close attention to anything,
even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." ~ Henry Miller  FREETHEBEARS.ORG - Learn about bear farming and bear paw soup. This torture must end! DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS helps people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters or exclusion from healthcare.
 Connect with Jasper, The World Ambassador of Animal Rights & Welfare on Facebook! Read about life in the woods with Chippy & the crew...
What greater atrocity is there on this planet than to sell a human life and brutally force him or her into a life in the sex trade or endless labor? And how dare we abuse, kill and traffic animals in the name of profit... in the name of anything for any reason!
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