Walking on two legs!

 I had just finished a 6 or so mile bike ride in a foreign city. I parked the thing and joined my cousin for tea and sweets on his first floor apartment. We talked and enjoyed the view of poplar trees and the pleasure boats on the water in front."Well, it's time to go and get to my next "appointment". The question is:Where are my bicycle keys?"

I rushed down the steep stairs and aimed my eyesight on the bike. "Ah, I left them there!" With that realization, I backed away wanting to say a "See you later!" The backing away I didn't do so well. A slightly raised sidewalk stone square made me stumble. Yes, I broke my fall, but the femur top portion of  my leg was the victim. Observers nearby called 911 and the ambulance with cheerful personnel drove me to a nearby hospital.

"Walking on two legs" without assistance of at least one crutch will not be possible for many months to come. Now, looking from my handicapped position at the casually walking public: All those pedestrians take the miracle of "walking" totally for granted.  For the time being I can only long for that state.

A better way to participate: "Citizens Assembly" vs Social Media

 Ever heard of the phenomenon “Citizens Assembly”?

It may well be a COUNTER to what comes to us via the Social Media.

So, let me explain the basics of “Citizens Assembly” (CA) and it is 

best done with a real life example:

Ireland is predominantly Roman Catholic and several years ago

its government took it upon itself to address  the Abortion issue.

For that, government decided to “invite” public input.

So all representatives went to their respective county/district and

assembled a representative sample of the district’s population in

a conference hall and the subject was presented, discussed and

argued. The folks there were asked to present their opinion and 

“defend” such. At the conclusion of the assembly, the citizens vote 

was taken and with its conclusion the District Rep. went back to 

Halls of Government and the results were tallied and to everyone’s 

surprise the end result of all was that now there is allowance for 

abortion, which seemed very unlikely in this R.K-country.

WE too need to listen to the voice of the public, our Citizens! 

The real voices! Not the electronic ones!

Do we, in the U.S. have such system somewhere?

Surprise: Yes, we do!

Our judicial system has “Jury Duty”, where members of the public

listen, debate and judge cases. The judge is the arbiter and reads

the final judgement = a form of Citizens Assembly.

An expert on C.A. is a man by the name of David van Reybrouck,

who can be found debating this subject (in Ireland) on the internet.

_______________________________________________________

It is so Special that ...

 I am sitting on my front porch with a book called “Remember” by Lisa Genova, and I do not know whether what the book is outlining has anything to do with the following but …

I am sitting on my front porch with a book called “Remember” by Lisa Genova, and I do not know whether what the book is outlining has anything to do with the following but …

Yes, I am reading quietly, the sun is hidden on the right side of my house and the sky is spotless blue. The sparrows dart around in my front yard and occasionally visit the bird feeder. They quibble
in the front bushes with noisy squirrels in the background. A Downy Woodpecker lands on the 
feeder and after a pauze pecks away at the fat and seed combination. Satisfied it flies off to a tree
branch nearby.
Then, a  distinct “train”-noise comes-in from the far side. It comes suddenly,  fast and determined. I can’t see anything, but the waving tree limbs are holding on for dear life. It is just a moment and then the calm returns and the described scenery above repeats itself, kind of. After a bit of a pauze
the next “train” rushes on by.
See, one cannot see the "noisy train", the air, the wind and still it is all around. Pretty “WOW!”
You should try it! Especially the silence afterwards is kind of stunning - so distinct!
If you don’t have a front porch, take the bike/car and experience this on a park bench nearby.

By the way, the squirrels made their weird sound because of a stray cat - I chase them away, because I prefer this region to be for birds and other “wild” life.

I thought you’d like to know!
MJP

Friends of Music Virtual Concert

Friends of Music Virtual Concert: pOn Saturday February 27th three musicians from the String Division of Furman University with Dewitt Tipton Organist and Music Director at St. John recorded a concert of chamber music for you our pari

2020 Year in Review

Join us 11am today for The Nativity of our Lord

Talking about Unsustainable!

When was the last time you have been in a nursing or elderly care “home”? Or maybe I should ask: “When was the first time?”

OK, a couple of suspected facts:

Many of the nursing homes, rehabilitation centers for the elderly and elder care facilities 

are listed of the NY Stock Exchange! These places are first: Profit Centers!

These homes send “patients” to the hospital for bladder and other infections and then upon return can bill Medicare for substantially higher fees for those elderly people;

The number of these people in “need” of end-of-life care will hugely increase by 2030 and thereby the cost of such care and the burden on the tax payer will increase with leaps and bounds.

These facts alone are kept away from the classroom and kitchen table. No one - well, pretty much so, has family discussions on what to do at end of life! Why not?

IT is a subject (End of Life) just not talked about. We Ooh and Aah about babies, but don’t come with what we do when life is - for all practical purposes - OVER! We, the people keep people alive, if that is what it is, because we don’t want to say

“Good Bye!”

                                    I repeat: We love to say “Hello!” and hate/avoid saying “Good-Bye!”

We, yes we tax payers, allow many of the very elderly people to be “stuffed” in “homes” and then leave the caring to minimum wage earners and we, ourselves are going to the beach or the movies!

Doesn’t this picture appall the reader?

If so, why don’t we talk about this?

If you are willing, contact: Maarten at maartenjp@mac.com

or join Compassion and Choices (compassionandchoices.org)