The Blog of littleduckie

This really is just a collection of random thoughts from the last two weeks, so don't expect a coherent narrative!  :)

From a couple of weeks ago:  I was sitting in a new park on my street that was created (built?) after I moved away eight years ago, thinking my usual Pagan, tree-hugging thoughts, and I remembered an episode of "Law & Order" or "CSI" or one of those crime shows that I saw a few years ago.  The murder victim in that episode was a young, unidentified African boy.  The boy's country of origin was identified by looking at a mineral profile of his body, then matching it to a region of the earth with the same profile.  As we grow up, we actually take the land into ourselves and it becomes a part of us, not just in the sense of food being used to build our tissues -- we share the mineralogical profile of our homes (assuming that we spend a significant part of our childhood in one place, as I did).

And I thought . . . and I know this sounds nutty . . . I thought, maybe this is why I feel more peaceful on this land than I do anywhere else.  It is a part of me.  It is IN me.  I am a walking piece of this land. 

From yesterday:  I really, really hate overhead power lines.  There is a huge, majestic oak tree across the street from me -- it is incredibly beautiful.  I wouldn't be surprised if it was over 100 years old.  I'd love to have a picture of that tree, but more than half of its height is above the damned power lines, and there's no angle from which to take a picture that wouldn't show them.  Someone with artistic ability could sketch it or paint it, and avoid the lines that way, but I can't do it.  :(

From today: I went to see my brother's new house for the first time today.  His girlfriend has a cat, and my brother warned me that the cat was kind of mean.  But I petted her a little & reassured my brother that animals love me.  A little while later, kitty came out to the kitchen where we were talking, and I picked her up.  When my brother saw me holding her, he said she NEVER lets strangers pick her up.  About ten minutes later, when she made a little noise in her throat, I let her down, because I knew she'd had enough.  Like I said, animals love me.  :)  I think it's because they recognize people who have a genuine goodwill toward them.  I respect them.  She could see that.

Also from today: I discovered that on certain a social networking site that doesn't allow you to hide your location, you can at least limit it to a US state.  Say you live in Detroit, but don't want to disclose that.  A Michigan zip code begins with a 4, so you can just type in 40000, and the site won't be able to match it to a city, and your profile will only show that you're in Michigan.  Some sites will verify that your zip code actually exists and matches the city you say you're in; others apparently either don't check, or only check that it is a plausible one for your state. 

I mention this only because I believe we should have complete control over our private information online.  I wanted to sign up for a site that my ex uses, but I don't want to interact with him on there, and I don't want him to find me.  (I don't even have his URL anymore, so no, I'm not doing anything sneaky -- I just wanted to feel free to be myself without him watching me.)

It seems like I had something else to share, but I can't remember it!  Ah, well, I'll post it later if I think of it, and get extra points.  :)

Luv,

Duckie