"If plants could be credited with reasoning powers, we would marvel at the imaginative ways they bribe or ensnare other creatures to carry out their wishes. And no more than when we consider the strategies devised for the dispersal of their seeds." -Jane Goodall
I was reminded of this sentence as my family took a walk one fresh, clear, spring evening. No child (or adult) can resist the whimsical lure of the dandelion to send a puff of seeds sailing into the air like little, miniature umbrellas. Especially, my sweet, little girl. Weeds are her bouquets of choice these days, and each little yellow flower she spots in the grass is a treasure to be picked.
Included services for a single $700 plane ticket:
- Flight across the country
- A seat on the plane
- An additional charge if you actually want to bring stuff
- Mandatory pictures taken of you naked
- Frisking (if you're lucky)
- Body search and delousing- oops- wrong list
- Peanuts
- Random searches of your stuff (if you're lucky)
- Luggage being handled with the utmost care and respect
Isn't flying the best? It's the only service in America in which you pay hundreds to thousands of dollars to be treated like an inconvenience.
This was my daughter's 2013 NCAA Tourney bracket. It gave my bracket stiff competition- and yes, I actually filled one out. How'd your brackets do?
Last night, my son was reading to me out of "The Book of Mormon". He read a verse that contained the word 'idleness'. The footnote for the word led him to the Topical Guide. When we looked up 'Idleness' in the Topical Guide, the words 'procrastination', 'apathy', and 'laziness' were suggested synonyms. These are words that make me uncomfortable. Then my son started asking questions to obtain a better understanding of what qualifies as idle behavior. Questions like:
"Say you're one of those people who likes to sleep a lot. (Done) And say it's the weekend and you don't have any special occasions. Would sleeping in the morning be idle?"
or
"Say you're up all night working on a science project and you don't go to bed until 1:30. Would it be idle to sleep in really late?"
I will not lie. I had no idea how to answer these questions. I wondered why my son was condemning me. I honestly wanted to teach my son good values. On the other hand, I wanted to reserve the right to sleep in every now and then on weekends without answering to my son.
We had a good discussion about how important sleep is for our bodies, and times when it's good to sleep a lot- like when you're sick. But then he wanted examples of when sleep is idleness. I was not ready to betray my good friend Sleep. Nor did I want to take on the title of Hypocrite. I lamely responded with indirect answers. It didn't work, my son was on a quest for truth. Then, I realized it was way past his bedtime and informed him that he needed to go to bed and we could talk about it later. What a wonderful lesson in procrastination.... I'm concerned that my name might be included next to it in the Topical Guide.
