Up the Sunbeam

-- Snow . . . wind . . . sleet . . . ice . . . cars crumpled and off the road . . . planes staying put . . . snow plows that can't keep up . . . power outages and people trying to stay warm--that's one story on the news today. Clashing mobs . . . anger . . . rage . . . demands . . . tanks in the streets of Cairo . . . Molotov cocktails lighting up a night darker than dark . . . bullets firing in the air, at least for now--that is the other big story of the day. There are a host of other stories too. None of them hold out hope for tomorrow to be better than today. So where can we look that will not drive us to distraction or depression, or both? Is there anything right with the world on this very turbulent day? Is anything alive? Is anything good growing? Photo Courtesy of freebigpictures.com When I was a little girl, it was snowdrops--beautiful white flowers that would bravely push their lovely heads up through the powdery British Columbia snow, heralding that spr...

Last time I wrote about how speedy time is and how hard it is to slow it down. Well, that is only half the story. Time is also exasperatingly slow! Slow? Yes! Time creeps like the slow-motion mechanics of a never-in-a-hurry turtle. Think it doesn't? Think it only goes too fast and you never have enough of it to get everything done on time? Well, think again. Remember the summer you were 6 and you were waiting for Christmas? Time creeps. How about 10 miles down the road on a 3-day car trip to Grandma's house--"Are we there yet?" Time creeps. Have you ever had a migraine? Time creeps. Remember the last hour of every spring-fever school day in high school? Time creeps. What about standing in line at your favorite ride at Disneyland? Time creeps. Let's see . . . pregnant and past your due date? Time CREEPS. Ever been in a waiting room, hawk-eyeing the door for the surgeon to bring what you pray will be good news? Time...