Author Archives: shirleymclain930

About shirleymclain930

I am a retired RN, I am currently writing my second book. My first one published in November 2010, called "The Tower", which has recently been revised and the ebook is back on Amazon. The hard copyand cover paper books will be available soon. I'm enjoying my retirement to the fullest. I like the graphic adventure and travel and make friends. I have 4 dogs and they are like having a house full of three years olds. They are, a large part of my life and I can not imagine not having them.
Apr29

A Redneck

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Below is the definition of a Redneck from Dictionary.com.  The problem with this definition is it’s not complete.  Being a Redneck is a way of life for many people in the United States.  My son is a Redneck and very proud of the fact, but if he fits in any part of this definition it would be he is from the South and he’s white from the rural working class.

 

red·neck

[red-nek]  Show IPA Informal: Often Disparaging.

noun

1. an uneducated white farm laborer, especially from the South.
2. a bigot or reactionary, especially from the rural working class.  adjective
3. Also, red-necked. narrow, prejudiced, or reactionary: a redneck attitude.

 

Redneck’s can be very ingenious and extremely creative when it comes to something they want. How about a Redneck Pool?

Redneck’s are the butt of many good jokes and cause a lot of hysterical laughing.  People in the states probably know who Jeff Foxworthy is, but for those of you who don’t. He has made is living off of Redneck jokes. He had the line “you could be a Redneck if,”. Then he would add what ever punch line he wanted. Now everyone seems to know a Redneck joke.

The Hillbilly and the Mirror
After living in the remote wilderness of Kentucky all his life, an old hillbilly decided it was time to visit the big city.

In one of the stores he picks up a mirror and looks in it. Not ever having seen one before, he remarked at the image staring back at him, “How about that! Here’s a picture of my daddy.”

He bought the mirror thinking it was a picture of his daddy, but on the way home he remembered his wife didn’t like his father. So he hung it in the barn, and every morning before leaving for the fields, he would go there and look at it.

His wife began to get suspicious of these many trips to the barn. One day after her husband left, she searched the barn and found the mirror. As she looked into the glass, she fumed, “So that’s the ugly bitch he’s runnin’ around with.”

 

 Redneck ceiling fan     Redneck flower pots

Redneck Ferris Wheel

 Redneck mailbox

 

 

Cheap Beer, Loose Women, keeping America from being 100% literate, Nickelback, Jesus, Kentucky…. BOOKS!? THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN!, large guns, NASCAR is a sport? DAMN RIGHT IT’S A SPORT!, and pure American ingenuity.

This man fathered half of Kentucky using only this gun, a bucket of stinkbait and his cousin.This man fathered half of Kentucky using only this gun, a bucket of stinkbait and his cousin.Welcome to the West Virginia Olympics, this man is the Michael Phelps of whatever the fuck this is. Welcome to the West Virginia Olympics, this man is the Michael Phelps of whatever the fuck this is.

Just The Facts

  1. The primary source of everything for the redneck is Wal-Mart. The runner-up is Jesus.
  2. Rednecks think Chuck Norris facts are not only relevant, but real.
  3. If it weren’t for rednecks, Dale Earnhardt Jr would probably be on welfare.
  4. Pepsi actually sent dentists to Kentucky because small children kept losing teeth to Mountain Dew
  5. Instead of further education, rednecks illegally dig for coal on the side of interstates or sell tomatoes.

What Makes One a Redneck?

The first step of becoming a redneck is having a lower intellegence level than everyone around you and just not giving a fuck. Then, to continue on your path, you must find others who share the same sentiment. Once you have a group together, you then should discuss important issues of the day, such as Ford vs. Chevy or whose truck can outpull the others’, or most importantly, who got to fuck your cousin before you did and how you’re gonna have to “Open up a six pack of whoop ass” on them. It is also important to hold antiquated beliefs about society such as hating interracial marriage due to the fact that “you don’t see a red squirrel out there fucking a grey one.” Also, you have to have some sort of eccentric habit such as drinking moonshine until you actually shit yourself, or chewing tobacco until you have no teeth left, then you must gum it. Once you have these things down, you must purchase a large truck with no real purpose except for muddin’, a gun that is probably illegal but your neighbor, Bubba, was using it to scare his mother-in-law/aunt, and most importantly, you must have at least two sets of camouflaged outfits that have to be constantly dirty. After that, all you have to do is like NASCAR and Lynyrd Skynyrd and congratulations, you have become a redneck.

Somewhere in Middle America, a man just ejaculated and didn’t know why.

How Do Rednecks Fit In With Society as a Whole?

In short, they don’t. However, they will often insist that they do and demand to be heard. Loud is the redneck way. The redneck philosophy is that progress is scary, and things presently suck. The only times that were good were “back in my daddy’s days before this computer bullshit”. They then spend their entire lives striving to live like that. Most rednecks shun technology (outside of television and AM radio of course) and say such hilarious things as “The computer will be the ruination of this world”, and everyone’s favorite, “If you let them queers get married, Jesus will come down and rain hellfire on your sinnin’ asses”. Rednecks also hate diversity of any sort. Anyone or anything that challenges their way of life should “get their asses whooped and go to Canada”, or “tell it to my gun”. Regular Americans feel the ripple of the redneck effect in daily life through the inspirational messages of Miley Cyrus, NASCAR interrupting their Saturday afternoon reruns and outdated movies, and seeing such noble characters as Larry the Cable Guy and Jeff Foxworthy on television constantly. How does it feel knowing Larry the fucking Cable Guy makes more money than you could ever hope to? Yeah, if that didn’t suck already… Sarah Palin almost became vice president. What have you accomplished in your life?

 

http://www.cracked.com

 

 

Apr16

Carlsbad Caverns

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    When I was a five year old, my parents and I went to Carlsbad New Mexico to see Carlsbad Caverns. It was an experience that stuck in my mind like glue. I remember it all as if it was yesterday. It would be sixty years before I returned to that area.  At my childhood visit, they had some of the walkways concreated but some where made of wood.  About half way down, they made an announcement that the lights would be going out and all children where to sit on the walkway for safety. When those lights went out, I’d never seen anything as black.  I remember my mother constantly comforting me by lletting me know she was holding onto me and wouldn’t let go.

After the lights came back on we continue our way down the path. I remember seeing a pool of clear water which contained fish.  The guide said they were blind from being in the black cave. Those fish are no longer there. They were not mentioned when I was there a few years ago, so I have no idea what became of them.

When we arrived at the last room open to the public, the park service was selling boxed lunches. I got a sandwich, chips and a Coke. Then my parents had a discussion on whether they wanted to walk out of the cave or ride the elevator. They decided to do the elevator. That was quite a sensation to my little stomach. The elevator didn’t seem very quick to me at the time. My last visit it moved just fine.

That evening we went to the Bat Cave and watch millions of bats turn the sky black as they emptied the cave to go on thier nightly foraging for food. That day so many years ago was a big adventure for that little girl.  I hope someday you are able to see this wonder. Below is information about Carlsbad with a few pictures. 

Carlsbad Caverns National Park is a United States National Park in the Guadalupe Mountains in southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave, Carlsbad Cavern.  Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natural entrance or take an elevator from the visitor center.

The park entrance is located onUS Highway 62/180approximately 18 miles (29 km) southwest ofCarlsbad, New Mexico. Carlsbad Caverns National Park participates in theJunior Ranger Program.[3]The park has two entries on theNational Register of Historic Places:The Caverns Historic Districtand theRattlesnake Springs Historic District.[4]Approximately two thirds of the park has been set aside as awilderness area, helping to ensure no future changes will be made to the habitat.

Carlsbad Cavern includes a large cave chamber, the Big Room, a naturallimestonechamber which is almost 4,000 feet (1,220 m) long, 625 feet (191 m) wide, and 255 feet (78 m) high at the highest point. It is the third largest chamber in North America and the seventh largest in the world. The largest chamber in the world is theSarawak ChamberinMalaysia.[5]

Capitan reef

250 million years ago, the area surrounding Carlsbad Caverns National Park served as the coastline for an inland sea. Present in the sea was a plethora of marine life, whose remains decomposed into a reef growth.[6]Unlike modern reef growths, the Permian reef containedbryozoans, sponges, and other microorganisms. After thePermian period, most of the water evaporated exposing the reef to salts and sediment that encapsulated the reef. Tectonic movement occurred during the lateTertiary period, uplifting the reef above ground. Susceptible to erosion, water sculpted the Guadalupe Mountain region into its present-day state.[7]

Speleogenesis

Carlsbad Caverns National Park sits in a bed oflimestoneabove a layer of groundwater; below the groundwater are petroleum reserves (part of theMid-Continent Oil Field). At a time near the end of theTertiary period,hydrogen sulfide(H2S) began to seep upwards from the petroleum into the water table. The combination of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen from the water formedsulfuric acid:

H_2S + 2O_2 = H_2SO_4

The sulfuric acid then continued upward, aggressively dissolving the limestone deposits to form caverns.Gypsum’spresence within the cave is a confirmation of this process’s occurrence, as it is a byproduct of the reaction between sulfuric acid and limestone.[6]Once the acid bath drained from the chamber,speleothemswere able to grow within the cavern. Erosion processes occurring above ground created the natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns within the last million years. Exposure to the surface has allowed for the influx ofairinto the cavern. Rainwater and snowmelt percolating downward into the ground pick up carbon dioxide; once this water reaches a cavern ceiling, it precipitates and evaporates leaving behind a small mineral deposit. Growths from the roof downward formed through this process are known asstalactites. Additionally, water on the floor of the caverns can contain carbonic acid and generate mineral deposits by evaporation. Growths from the floor upward through this process are known asstalagmites. Different formations ofspeleothemsinclude columns,soda straws, draperies,helictites, andpopcorn. Factors like ambient air temperature and rainfall affect the rate of growth ofspeleothems, as higher temperatures increase carbon dioxide production rates within soil. Color ofspeleothemsis determined by the mineral that the formation is made of.

History

From a young age,Jim Whiteexplored the cavern with his homemade wire ladder. When he grew older, most people did not seem to believe such caves existed. He gave many of the rooms their names, including the Big Room, New Mexico Room, Kings Palace, Queens Chamber, Papoose Room, and Green Lake Room. He also named many of the cave’s more prominent formations, such as the Totem Pole, Witch’s Finger, Giant Dome, Bottomless Pit, Fairyland, Iceberg Rock, Temple of the Sun, and Rock of Ages.

The town of Carlsbad, which lends its name to the Cavern and National Park, is in turn named after theCzechtown formerly known by theGermannameKarlsbad(English spellingCarlsbad) and now known by theCzechnameKarlovy Vary, both of which mean “Charles‘ Bath[s].”

Until 1932, visitors to the cavern had to walk down a switch back ramp-sidewalk that took them 750 feet below the surface. The walk back up was tiring for a lot of visitors. In 1932 the National Park opened up a large visitor center building that contained two elevators that would take visitors to the caverns below. The new center included a cafeteria, waiting room, museum and first aid area.[8]

Legislative history

  • October 25, 1923 – PresidentCalvin Coolidgesigned a proclamation (1679-Oct. 25, 1923-43 Stat. 1929) establishingCarlsbad Cave National Monument.[9]
  • April 2, 1924 – President Calvin Coolidge issued an executive order (3984) for a possible national park or monument at the site. [10]
  • May 3, 1928 – a supplemental executive order (4870) was issued reserving additional land for the possible monument or park.[11]
  • May 14, 1930 – an act of theUnited States Congress(46 Stat. 279) establishedCarlsbad Caverns National Parkto be directed by theSecretary of the Interiorand administered by theNational Park Service.[12]
  • June 17, 1930 – PresidentHerbert HooversignedExecutive Order 5370reserving additional land for classification.[13]
  • November 10, 1978 –Carlsbad Caverns Wildernesswas established with theNational Parks and Recreation Act(95-625) signed by PresidentJimmy Carter.[14]

 

“ … a limestone cavern known as the Carlsbad Cave, of extraordinary proportions and of unusual beauty and variety of natural decoration; … beyond the spacious chambers that have been explored, other vast chambers of unknown character and dimensions exist; … the several chambers contain stalactites, stalagmites, and other formations in such unusual number, size, beauty of form, and variety of figure as to make this a cavern equal, if not superior, in both scientific and popular interest to the better known caves … ”

 

Named rooms

Rock of Ages in theBig Room, photo byAnsel Adams, c. 1941

On the tour route

Outside the entrance to the caverns.

Outside the entrance to the caverns. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Outside the entrance to the caverns.

Balloon Ballroom
Located in the ceiling above the main entrance hall, this small room was first accessed by tying a rope to a bunch of balloons and floating them up into the passage.
Bat Cave
A large, unadorned rocky passage connected to the main entrance corridor. The majority of the cave’s bat population lives in this portion of the cave, which was mined for bat guano in the early 20th century.
Bell Cord Room
Named for a long, narrowstalactitecoming through a hole in the ceiling, resembling the rope coming through the roof of a belfry. This room is located at the end of the Left Hand Tunnel.
Bifrost Room
Discovered in 1982, it is located in the ceiling above Lake of the Clouds. Its name refers to a Norse myth about a world in the sky that was accessed from Earth by a rainbow. The room was given this name because of its location above the Lake of the Clouds and its colorful oxide-stained formations.
Big Room or The Hall of the Giants
The largest chamber in Carlsbad Caverns, with a floor space of 357,469 square feet (33,210 m2).[15]
Chocolate High
A maze of small passages totalling nearly a mile (1500 m) in combined length, discovered in 1993 above a mud-filled pit in the New Mexico Room known as Chocolate Drop.
Green Lake Room
The uppermost of the “Scenic Rooms”, it is named for a deep,malachite-colored pool in the corner of the room. In the 1940s, when the military was testing the feasibility of Carlsbad Cavern as an emergency fallout shelter, the Green Lake was used to look for ripples caused by a nuclear bomb test many miles away. None appeared.
Guadalupe Room
Discovered by a park ranger in 1966, this is the second largest room in Carlsbad Caverns. It is known for its dense collection of “soda straw”stalactites.
Hall of the White Giant
A large chamber containing a large, white stalagmite. Rangers regularly lead special wild-cave tours to this room.
King’s Palace
The first of four chambers in a wing known as the “scenic rooms”, it is named for a large castle-like formation in the center of the room.
Lake of the Clouds
The lowest known point in the cave. It is located in a side passage off the Left Hand Tunnel. It is named for its large lake containing globular, cloud-like rock formations that formed under water when the lake level was much higher.
Left Hand Tunnel
A long, straight passage marked by deep fissures in the floor. These fissures are not known to lead anywhere. The Left Hand Tunnel leads to the Lake of the Clouds and the Bell Cord Room.
Mabel’s Room
A moderate-sized room located past the Talcum Passage in Lower Cave.
Mystery Room
A large, sloping room located off the Queen’s Chamber, named for an unexplained noise heard only here. A small vertical passage at the far end connects it to Lower Cave.
New Mexico Room
Located adjacent to the Green Lake Room and accessed by means of a somewhat narrow corridor.
New Section
A section of fissures east of the White Giant formation and paralleling the Bat Cave. New discoveries are still being made in this section.
Papoose Room
Located between the King’s Palace and Queen’s Chamber.
Queen’s Chamber
Widely regarded as the most beautiful and scenic area of the cave. Jim White’s lantern went out in this chamber while he was exploring, and he was in the dark for over half an hour.
Spirit World
Located in the ceiling of the Big Room at its highest point (an area known as the Top of the Cross), this area is filled with white stalagmites that resembled angels to the room’s discoverers.
Talcum Passage
A room located in Lower Cave where the floor is coated withgypsumdust.
The Rookery
One of the larger rooms in Lower Cave. A large number ofcave pearlsare found in this area.
Underground Lunchroom
Located in the Big Room at the head of the Left Hand Tunnel. It contains a cafeteria that was built in the 1950s, and is where the elevators from the visitor center exit into the cave.

Tourist information

Carlsbad Caverns sees an average of 407,211 visitors every year.[2]The highest attendance seen in a year was 876,500 visitors in 1976.[16]As of 2011, a total 41,654,278 visitors have entered the park. Peak visitation typically occurs on the weekends followingMemorial Dayand theFourth of July. Free admittance for self-guided tours is often granted on holidays such as Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, National Park Week, andVeterans Dayweekend.[17]Camping is permitted in the back country of the park, but a permit is required from the visitor center.

One of the extra events hosted by the park is the viewing of a bat flight. A program is given in the early evening at the amphitheater near the main entrance prior to the start of the flight, which varies with the sunset time. Flight programs are scheduled fromMemorial Dayweekend through the middle of October.[18]Optimal viewing normally occur in July and August with the advent of baby bats in addition to the normal migratory bats. Morning programs are also hosted pre-dawn to witness the return of bats into the cave. Once a year, a bat flight breakfast is held where visitors can eat breakfast at the park prior to the morning return of bats.

At various times throughout the year, star parties are hosted by the park at night. Rangers host informational programs on the celestial night sky and telescopes are also made available. These parties are often held in conjunction with special astronomical events, such as atransit of Venus.[19]

Recent exploration

In 1985 a very distinctive method of exploration was invented. In a dome area 255 feet (78 m) above the Big Room floor not far from the Bottomless Pit, a stalagmite leaned out. Using abalsa woodloop withhelium-filledballoonsattached, the explorers—after several tries over several years—floated a lightweight cord that snagged the target stalagmite. Once the cord was in position up, over, and back to the ground, a climbing rope was pulled into position, and the explorers ascended into what they named The Spirit World.[20]A similar, smaller room was found in the main entrance corridor, and was named Balloon Ballroom in honor of this technique.

In 1993, a series of small passages totaling nearly a mile in combined length was found in the ceiling of the New Mexico Room. Named “Chocolate High”, it was the largest discovery in the cave since the Guadalupe Room was found in 1966.

The Bottomless Pit was originally said to have no bottom. Stones were tossed into it, but no sound of the stones striking the bottom was heard. Later exploration revealed the bottom was about 140 feet (40m) deep and covered with soft dirt. The stones made no sound when they struck the bottom because they were lodged in the soft soil.

Other caves

The park contains over 117 caves.[21]Three caves are open to public tours. Carlsbad Caverns is the most famous and is fully developed with electric lights, paved trails, and elevators. Slaughter Canyon Cave[22]and Spider Cave[23]are undeveloped, excepted for designated paths for the guided “adventure” caving tours.

Lechuguilla Caveis well known for its delicate speleothems and pristine underground environment. Guano mining occurred in the pit below the entrance in the 1910s.[24]After gaining permission from the national park managers to dig into a rubble pile where wind whistled between the rocks when the weather changed, cavers broke through into a room in 1986.[24]Over 120 miles of cave passage has been explored and mapped.[24]It has been mapped to a depth of 1,600 feet (490 m), making it the deepest limestone cave in the U.S.[24]To protect the fragile environment, access is limited to permitted scientific expeditions only.[24]

[edit]Bats

English: Mexican (or Brazilian) Free-Tailed Ba...

English: Mexican (or Brazilian) Free-Tailed Bats, Tadarida brasiliensis, emerging from Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mexican Free-Tailed Bats emerging from the natural entrance and flying to the nearest water

Seventeen species ofbatslive in the park, including a large number ofMexican Free-tailed Bats.[25]It has been estimated that the population of Mexican Free-tailed Bats once numbered in the millions but has declined drastically in modern times. The cause of this decline is unknown but the pesticideDDTis often listed as a primary cause. Populations appear to be on the increase in recent years but are nowhere near the levels that may have been historically present. A study published in 2009 by a team fromBoston Universityquestions whether large numbers of bats were ever present at the caverns.[26]

Many techniques have been used to estimate the bat population in the cave. The most recent and most successful of these attempts involved the use of thermal imaging camera to track and count the bats.[27]A count from 2005 estimated a peak of 793,000.[25]

The Mexican Free-tailed Bats are present from April or May to late October or early November.[28]They emerge in a dense group, corkscrewing upwards and counterclockwise, usually starting around sunset and lasting about three hours.[29](Jim White decided to investigate the caverns when he saw the bats from a distance and at first thought they were a volcano or a whirlwind.)[30]Every early evening from Memorial Day weekend to mid October (with possible exceptions for bad weather), a ranger gives a talk on the bats while visitors sitting in the amphitheater wait to watch the bats come out.[28]

 

 

Apr14

My Grandgoats

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OK, I admit it I’m not the goat’s grandmother, but I am the mother of the owner of this small group of Mini Nubians.  My daughter has gotten into the goat breeding business with both feet along with my son-in-law and grandson. They are breeding the stock to gain a  milk producing, polled (hornless) variety. They have one level to go before they can register the breed.

My daughter is also having visions of riches from selling the hand lotion and body cream she makes from the milk. It’s fabulous stuff. There is something in that goats milk that nourishes the skin. (I’m sorry I got side tracked.)

She is also selling the bottle fed babies to keep her herd at a small size.  She has one more female (Vee) to deliver shortly. In fact it should be sometime in the next week.  She and my grandson always get excited when a new baby arrives. It’s always the cutest of any she has had before. I have to say she loves her goats.

Below is an overview of Mini-Nubian Goats followed by pictures of the herd.

 

Mini-Nubian Goats

 

The miniature Nubian Dairy Goat is the result of a cross between a Nigerian Dwarf buck and a Nubian doe.   The goats maintain the looks, high percentage butterfat content, and  mild flavored milk of the Nubian in combination with the smaller size of the Nigerian.

In height, the Miniature Nubian falls between the standard Nubian and the Nigerian Dwarf. Mini-Nubian Goat does normally stand from 22-25 inches at the withers and weigh under 100 pounds.   Bucks can be larger with a height up to 27 inches and weigh under 135 pounds.

As one of its most distinctive features, the Miniature Nubian maintains the long drooping ears of the Nubian. They also possess the Nubian’s docile temperament, sweet disposition, and wonderful milk characteristics. Miniature Nubian Goats have an average milk production of 1525 pounds in 305 days; that is about 5 pounds or 2 quarts of milk daily. Although small, they aredairy goats with production capacity and teats long enough to get your hands on.

The Miniature Nubian is an experimental breed registered through the International Dairy Goat Registry (IDGR) and the Miniature Dairy Goat Association (MDGA).   A nicely conformed Miniature Nubian should have a long body, a wide escutcheon for good udder attachment, a wide rib cage for carrying kids, a straight top line, a slightlyroman looking nose and long pendulous ears

Miniature Nubians come in a wide range of colors and  patterns. They are friendly, hardy, medium size utilitarians that provide a lot of very healthy milk for their size and unparalleled brush and weed control.  Kids grow quickly and although they are not used for meat much, extra buck kids still make good meat. The Miniature Nubian Goat provides a little something for everyone and is ideal for landowners who are attempting to produce their own food on just a few acres.

 

goat3This is Oreo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

             This is Izzy kissing Mike

goats      Peppers is the white one and Taps is the black billy. Vee is standing on the building. They do love to climb (including cars).

Goat5         This is Carmel.

goats6

 

 

 

 

Demon Biting Mike. He’s such a cute little thing (not).

Goat7       This is Vee, she is the one that will deliver her kid in the next week or so.

 

 

Mar28

New Love: A Short Shelf Life

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Newlove

If you fell in love, you know what a driving force “new love” can be. I was one of those people who only wanted the “new love”, and it took me a long time to figure out it was never meant to stay.  Needless to say, long-term relationships were not my strong point at that time in my life. This article tells you why you have that need to hear his or her voice, spend every waking minute thinking about them and what could be. Now that I’m much older and can’t even start to fathom how I wanted “new love”. I’m smarter now (I think), and I don’t want that insanity any more.

New Love: A Short Shelf Life

  IN fairy tales, marriages last happily ever after. Science, however, tells us that wedded bliss has but a limited shelf life.

American and European researchers tracked 1,761 people who got married and stayed married over the course of 15 years. The findings were clear: newlyweds enjoy a big happiness boost that lasts, on average, for just two years. Then the special joy wears off and they are back where they started, at least in terms of happiness. The findings, from a 2003 study, were confirmed by several recent studies.

The good news for the holiday season when families gather in various configurations is that if couples get past that two-year slump and hang on — for another couple of decades — they may well recover the excitement of the honeymoon period 18 to 20 years later, when children are gone. Then, in the freedom of the so-called empty nest, partners are left to discover one another — and often their early bliss — once again.

When love is new, we have the rare capacity to experience great happiness while being stuck in traffic or getting our teeth cleaned. We are in the throes of what researchers call passionate love, a state of intense longing, desire and attraction. In time, this love generally morphs into compassionate love, a less impassioned blend of deep affection and connection. The reason is that human beings are, as more than a hundred studies show, prone to hedonistic adaptation, a measurable and innate capacity to become habituated or inured to most life changes.

With all due respect to poets and pop radio songwriters, new love seems nearly as vulnerable to hedonistic adaptation as a new job, a new home, a new coat and other novel sources of pleasure and well-being. (Though the thrill of a new material acquisition generally fades faster.)

Hedonistic adaptation is most likely when positive experiences are involved. It’s cruel but true: We’re inclined — psychologically and physiologically — to take positive experiences for granted. We move into a beautiful loft. Marry a wonderful partner. Earn our way to the top of our profession. How thrilling! For a time. Then, as if propelled by autonomic forces, our expectations change, multiply or expand and, as they do, we begin to take the new, improved circumstances for granted.

Sexual passion and arousal are particularly prone to hedonistic adaptation. Laboratory studies in places as far-flung as Melbourne, Australia, and Stony Brook, N.Y., are persuasive: both men and women are less aroused after they have repeatedly viewed the same erotic pictures or engaged in similar sexual fantasies. Familiarity may or may not breed contempt; but research suggests that it breeds indifference. Or, as Raymond Chandler wrote: “The first kiss is magic. The second is intimate. The third is routine.”

There are evolutionary, physiological and practical reasons passionate love is unlikely to endure for long. If we obsessed, endlessly, about our partners and had sex with them multiple times a day — every day — we would not be very productive at work or attentive to our children, our friends or our health. (To quote a line from the 2004 film “Before Sunset,” about two former lovers who chance to meet again after a decade, if passion did not fade, “we would end up doing nothing at all with our lives.” ) Indeed, the condition of being in love has a lot in common with the state of addiction and narcissism; if unabated, it will eventually exact a toll.

WHY, then, is the natural shift from passionate to compassionate love often such a letdown? Because, although we may not realize it, we are biologically hard-wired to crave variety. Variety and novelty affect the brain in much the same way that drugs do — that is, they trigger activity that involves the neurotransmitter dopamine, as do pharmacological highs.

Evolutionary biologists believe that sexual variety is adaptive, and that it evolved to prevent incest and inbreeding in ancestral environments. The idea is that when our spouse becomes as familiar to us as a sibling — when we’ve become family — we cease to be sexually attracted to each other.

It doesn’t take a scientist to observe that because the se# in a long-term committed monogamous relationship involves the same partner day after day after day, no one who is truly human (or mammalian) can maintain the same level of lust and ardor that he or she experienced when that love was uncharted and new.

We may love our partners deeply, idolize them, and even be willing to die for them, but these feelings rarely translate into long-term passion. And studies show that in long-term relationships, women are more likely than men to lose interest in sex, and to lose it sooner. Why? Because women’s idea of passionate sex depends far more centrally on novelty than does men’s.

When married couples reach the two-year mark, many mistake the natural shift from passionate love to compassionate love for incompatibility and unhappiness. For many, the possibility that things might be different — more exciting, more satisfying — with someone else proves difficult to resist. Injecting variety and surprise into even the most stable, seasoned relationship is a good hedge against such temptation. Key parties — remember “The Ice Storm”? — aren’t necessarily what the doctor ordered; simpler changes in routine, departures from the expected, go a long way.

In a classic experiment conducted by Arthur Aron and his colleagues, researchers gave upper-middle-class middle-aged couples a list of activities that both parties agreed were “pleasant” (like creative cooking, visiting friends or seeing a movie) or “exciting” (skiing, dancing or attending concerts) but that they had enjoyed only infrequently. Researchers instructed each couple to select one of these activities each week and spend 90 minutes doing it together. At the end of 10 weeks, the couples who engaged in the “exciting” activities reported greater satisfaction in their marriage than those who engaged in “pleasant” or enjoyable activities together.

Although variety and surprise seem similar, they are in fact quite distinct. It’s easy to vary a sequence of events — like choosing a restaurant for a weekly date night — without offering a lot of surprise. In the beginning, relationships are endlessly surprising: Does he like to cook? What is his family like? What embarrasses or delights him? As we come to know our partners better and better, they surprise us less.

Surprise is a potent force. When something novel occurs, we tend to pay attention, to appreciate the experience or circumstance, and to remember it. We are less likely to take our marriage for granted when it continues to deliver strong emotional reactions in us. Also, uncertainty sometimes enhances the pleasure of positive events. For example, a series of studies at the University of Virginia and at Harvard showed that people experienced longer bursts of happiness when they were at the receiving end of an unexpected act of kindness and remained uncertain about where and why it had originated.

Such reactions may have neuroscientific origins. In one experiment, scientists offered drinks to thirsty subjects; those who were not told what kind of drink they would get (i.e., water or a more appealing beverage) showed more activity in the portion of the brain that registers positive emotions. Surprise is apparently more satisfying than stability.

The realization that your marriage no longer supplies the charge it formerly did is then an invitation: eschew predictability in favor of discovery, novelty and opportunities for unpredictable pleasure. “A relationship,” Woody Allen proclaimed in his film “Annie Hall,” “is like a shark. It has to constantly move forward or it dies.” A marriage is likely to change shape multiple times over the course of its lifetime; rebuilding it is a must, so it can thrive.

The good news is that taking the long view on marriage and putting in the hard work has calculable benefits. Research shows that marital happiness reaches one of its highest peaks during the period after offspring have moved out of the family home.

The nest may be empty, but it’s also full of possibility for partners to rediscover — and surprise — each other again. In other words, an empty nest offers the possibility of novelty and unpredictability. Whether this phase of belated marital joy lasts, like the initial period of connubial bliss, for longer than two years is anybody’s guess.

Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and the author of the forthcoming book “The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn’t, What Shouldn’t Make You Happy, but Does.”

  • Article by SONJA LYUBOMIRSKY

 

Mar27

The Best Of Times

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televisionWhen I watched this video I knew I had to share it. It is so full of memories for those of us raised in the 50′s and 60′s and will show the younger folks some of what they missed. Whoever put this video together did a great job. The music is great and it reminds me of how much I miss that time. It also reminds me that what goes around comes around. Parents didn’t like the music then and I sure more than a few don’t like today’s music. Isn’t it wonderful to know that Rock N Roll didn’t pull us all down to the pits of hell as everyone thought.

The old TV shows brought a smile to my face. Remembering my Saturday mornings with Rin Tin Tin, The Micky Mouse Club and so many more. I still like to watch Roy Rogers and the Cisco Kid on cable.

I do hope you enjoy this video as much as I did, so you can go back to those days, if only for a few minutes.

The Best Of Times Part Two.

Mar24

The Broken Zipper

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  Click Here:  The Zipperzipper2

The Broken Zipper – Funny Baptist

Since this is Sunday morning, I thought I would share a video with you that will get your day off to a good start. There’s nothing like laughter to get you on the better side of your day.

This video was made by a Baptist preacher with the story being told to his congregation. Enjoy.

Mar7

The Big One

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The striped bass is the main piscivore of the LSZ

The striped bass is the main piscivore of the LSZ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do we have any fishermen on FanBox?  In case you missed it on line, the state striped bass record has been broke in Alabama and could possibly be a world record but that will take a while to find out.

James Bramlett went fishing at the request of his wife because she was going to be keeping him busy for a few days.  He went to the Black Warrior River on February 28,2013 and came home with this 70 pound fish. The previous state record was 15 pounds lighter. You can do the math.  What is the largest fish you have caught?

As for myself, I was deep sea fishing off the coast of the Big Island, Hawaii and caught a 130 pound yellow fin tuna.  That little fish took over an hour to get in the boat and that was with someone helping me. That was my first and last deep sea fishing expedition.  I’d go back in a flash but so far it hasn’t happened. I’ll be content catching my bass and catfish out of my pond and think about the big one I caught.Bass Record catch bass oklahoma record bass world record bass4 Bass5

English: Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Franç...

English: Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) Français : Bar rayé (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mar4

Slowly Swallowing Us

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English: A sinkhole in Oman Deutsch: Eine Doli...

English: A sinkhole in Oman Deutsch: Eine Doline im Oman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not going to write about the mechanism by which we ingest food. I want to spend a little bit of time writing about the earth opening up and swallowing us mere mortals. I feel so bad for the family that lost their son and brother down a sinkhole in Florida.

Sinkholes are one of the biggest fears my home town of McAlester Oklahoma has due to all of the mining that went on during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The majority of the area has mine shafts running underneath. If one has occurred, I am not aware of it at this point in time.

I remember as a child seeing pictures of a house in Alaska in which the ground opened up and the entire house went down into a very big hole. You could at least see the roof. That was due to an earthquake. I think it was the late 1950,s when it happened. Growing up in California I was not surprised when the side of the road fell off due to the ground giving way because of so much rain.

The Bible even tells us in Numbers 16:32 KJV: “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that [appertained] unto Korah, and all [their] goods.” From that verse it sounds like the earth was opening up and swallowing people and things back then. Science tells us that sinkholes are very common when the foundation underneath the dirt is limestone and it washes away over time. That’s a very non scientific interpretation of an action that can take thousands of years.

Some sinkholes are caused by nature, but many more are caused by man’s activity.

Decline of water levels -

drought, groundwater pumping (wells, quarries, mines)

Disturbance of the soil – digging through soil layers, soil removal, drilling

Point-source of water – leaking water/sewer pipes, injection of water

Concentration of water flow – storm water drains, swales, etc.

Water impoundments – basins, ponds, dams

Heavy loads on the surface – structures, equipment

Vibration – traffic, blasting

So as with most of our other problems we are contributing to them in a major way. Is there anything we can do to help ourselves? The obvious would be not to build houses over limestone, and stop doing everything I’ve listed above. Somehow I just don’t see that happening. I think most of us will stay oblivious to what is going on underground. I know I don’t think about the ground dropping out from underneath me, do you?

sinkhole2 sinkhole4 sinkhole5images sinkholes-picture-3

Mar1

Are You Thankful?

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bigstock-Man-holding-arms-up-in-praise--14031791“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.” Oprah Winfrey. From the online dictionary thank·ful

Adjective
  1. Pleased and relieved: “they were thankful that the war was finally over”; “I was very thankful to be alive”.
  2. Expressing gratitude and relief: “a thankful prayer”.
Synonyms
grateful – appreciative – beholden
Most of us are now working to achieve our desires. Jim Rohn, inspirational speaker said his key phrase is “Learn to be Thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” We must learn the lesson of being thankful for what we have if we are to be a success in our life.  Without being thankful no doors or windows will open for you. I am a beleiver in God and without thankfullness, I truely beleive that no blessings can come our way.
Think about what you have to be grateful for, your parents, your spouse, your children, your job, your car ect. ect. Even those that think they have very little can find something to feel grateful about. Do you have good health? Are you thankful for your health? What would it be like if you didn’t have it. Maybe you are very ill, you can be thankful you have another day with your family and friends.
The Bible says, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18
This is an article by Jim Rohn that sums up thankfulness for him. If nothing else it should give us all something to think about.

To appreciate the uniqueness of our own experiences that has brought us all here, together. For the countries we represent; we have freedom and liberty. These are extraordinary times, about eleven years ago the walls came tumbling down, in Germany, and it started a wave of democracy and freedom like the world has never seen before. We as a country and as a world have so much to be thankful for. Always start with thanksgiving; be thankful for what you already have and see the miracles that come from this one simple act.

Now thankfulness is just the beginning; next, you’ve got to challenge yourself to produce. Produce more ideas than you need for yourself so you can share and give your ideas away. That is called fruitfulness and abundance. Here’s what I think fruitfulness and abundance mean – to go to work on producing more than you need for yourself so you can begin blessing others, blessing your nation and blessing your enterprise. Once abundance starts to come, once someone becomes incredibly productive, it’s amazing what the numbers turn out to be. But to begin this incredible process of blessing, it often starts with the act of thanksgiving and gratitude, being thankful for what you already have and for what you’ve already done. Begin the act of thanksgiving today and watch the miracles flow your way.

The video is Where are you Christmas? with some tough pictures to look at, but it is a reminder of how thankful we should be for the life we have.
Feb23

Is It a Government Conspiracy?

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Meriwether Lewis

I watched a television program last night that totally fascinated me. It was about Meriwether Lewis. Those of you who are not familiar with him, I will tell you a little about his background. He was born on August 18, 1774 in Charlottesville, Virginia. He became a soldier, served under William Clark who he later picked to be co-charge for the great exploration of the west, authorized by Thomas Jefferson.  Meriwether started out as the personal secretary to President Jefferson, but Jefferson gave him another job to explore the Louisana Purchase and  westward.

President Jefferson also gave them a mandate to see if there were signs of Welch occupancy in the west. Since Lewis had served under William Clark, they knew each other well. The two gathered their supplies and other men and left for the unknown in May 1804.

Meriwether Lewis kept journals of everything he saw during his mission. He retured in May 1806.  Documentation along with drawings showed President Jefferson what was seen on the journey.

Three years after returning home, Meriwether was going back to Washington DC with his Journals  He was staying at an Inn on the Natchez Trace. The Trace was a well used 440 mile trail from Mississippi to Tennessee.  At the Inn on October 12, 1809, a couple of gun shots were heard and Meriwether Lewis was found dead. He had one shot in the abdomen and one through the head, with blew part of the skull off exposing the brain. It was ruled as a suicide.

Since that time there has been a theory that the United States Government had him killed because he had found something during the expedition that would threaten the United States right to the lands west of the Mississippi. Such as the Welch having been there before which would give England the right to the land.

Pages had been torn from his journal and were never seen again. Lewis was a Mason and had his apron in his pocket. When they removed it, it was blood spattered. The apron is on display in Montana. Blood samples were taken and it has been shown that it came from two different men and not Meriwether Lewis.

I think it’s fascinating to know that even back when the country was new that a National Hero could have been killed because of knowledge he had that could harm the government. It’s something we will never know for sure but does make for a good story.