One of my chief delights in the warm months is watching the hummingbirds that flock to our feeder. They cluster around the feeder, competing for the nectar it provides, swapping out places at the feeding stations. They're always pretty competitive, even if there are only two at the feeder at the time. I wonder that they don't get hurt as they dive down at each other. The competitiveness rivals that of ten year old boys on the playground, only the hummers are in a fight for life-sustaining resources instead of the top of the climbing bars. Sometimes I count as many as ten or fifte ...continued...

Start Writing! How To Write A Novel ...continued...

Why does it go through my mind in slow motion? All the memories. Things that were kept tightly sealed ia my imaginary box and put away in my imaginery closet. Trying to keep busy in order not to think, not to remember. But it doesnt help. Dont´t get me wrong they are all not bad memories. Alot of them are good ones but for some reason the bad ones are easier to remember. On my way to work I thought I was running late but as usual i am on time. All my l ...continued...

The first thing in that I can remember is sitting on a stool in my grandfather's house. We were gathered around the fireplace. The stool was a homemade affair, built square and a bout 24 inches tall. Which was about the same height as I was. The room was lit with kerosene lamps whose soft glow competed with the fireplace to light the room. It was about an even match. I was playing with a piece of kindleing about two feet long and about a half inch square. It had been split from a fat pine stump and was hard as iron. For what ever reason I decided to hit him on the head a ...continued...

As a part of a division 1 college cross country team, I am true thankful for the opportunity that others could only wish for... Unfortunately, theres always a dark side to everything that happens in my life. As a freshman, I ran terribly. I was nervous, scared, and always depressed. I was varsity but with terrible times. I grew and matured as most college kids do and by my sophomore year I was leading the team. I consistently ran in the low 19s and led the team with an iron will to win. The down side is that my coach despises me because I am not the type of athlete who sucks up or lays at some ...continued...

Trouble! I felt so loney when i sitting my bed. i took out a big fat black marker and scibbled with it on wall. My mom didn't noctice it, but my dad did, he gasped and started to laugh, i was misunderstood because my dad is laughing i ran away from dad. but nonthing happed. ...continued...

In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we create but by what we refuse to destroy. (John Sawhill, former president of The Nature Conservancy) A reflection of ourselves Our national parks and preserves are located in all regions of the country (Our National Parks), but they are in need of help. From budget cuts, discussed previously, to climate change this remarkable American creation, which goes back more than 100 years, is under threat in the 21st century. Shrinking available water supplies affects ecosystems and species survival. Non-native plants, insects, snakes ...continued...

I regard the Hi-B bar to be a family gem. It must be treasured, jealously guarded and passed down the generations. Established in 1923 and originally named The Hibernian, my father must have been a patron of this establishment since its first beginnings. He was born in 1897 and spoke fondly of his time spent here, sometimes before and after a visit to Cork opera house. In the 1930’s he moved to England with the Ford motor company but a visit to the Hi-B was a mandatory part of our annual summer pilgrimage back to Cork. The Hi-B is situated on the first floor of the junction of Oliver ...continued...

Staying home alone was popular long before the movie. In the country, when there were only two choices: a. go fishing with my parents until the wee hours of the morning, or b. stay home alone, I pretty much always chose to stay home alone. I needed my alone time since much of the fishing trips were about my Mom and Dad gritching at each other over which eddy to fish or how going to shore was too costly to the numbers of fish to be caught. Staying home alone meant that i could listen to the Whiper Will without interruption. The frog ...continued...

On a beutiful sunny day in March 1978, my husband, Charlie Gordon, left the RAF and we returned with two young daughters to his home town on the Northumberland coast, dominated by a large caravan site, local people so nice and friendly. The sun would soon go behind the gather storm clouds &nb ...continued...

For my cultural event I went to an event called Feed My Starving Children in Libertyville, Illionois. I attended this event on Tuesday April 11th. Feed My Starving Children was a cultural event that felt like a great fit. I volunteered and had a chance to learn about different cultures and what their struggle was like in terms of children lacking food sources. We first walked into the building where we were greeted and told to sign in, grab a hair net and gloves, and to take a seat. Once everyone was seated there was a speaker who greeted us. There was a large amount of volunteeers th ...continued...

To get these posts out every night is quite an ordeal. The cold saps battery power so quickly you can watch the meter tick away. Every piece of electronics needs to be warmed against the body to restore power, then used quickly. We generally collaborate on our posts then, just before dinner, we will hook up all the various devices and start the long process of uploading our posts. I have to admit it is a pain, but something we both look forward to every night in our tent. I believe Mike is going to write about the noise we heard last night so I won't go into great detail, but I will tel ...continued...

Chicken or Dare I have a history with chickens. Not a good history either. As a matter of fact, the appearance of a leg of chicken on my plate brings me flashbacks of a long ago visit to my great grandmother’s farm during one of our frequent trips to Smithville to visit. We called our great grandmother Ganny. Her real name was Zelma Lizzie Christine Franz Kunkel. My older cousin inspired the name Ganny since he was the oldest of our generation. There wasn’t anything magical abo ...continued...

After review of the course syllabus, learning goals, and the results of my self-assessment, my learning goals for the rest of this course are: 1. To gain more knowledge about numerous cultural beliefs, practices, attitudes, and ways of communicating as to better understand how this effects people’s view on medicine so I can become more aware of how to best serve patients of all different cultures in my future. 2. To understand my own cultural experiences and how these influence biases that I possess and work to overcome these biases to become a more culturally competent ...continued...

North Pole ...continued...