Category Archives: Wise Words

Tired of Intolerance? How Giving a Book Can Help:

books, perspective, travel, Wise Words

“A book is the most effective weapon against intolerance and ignorance.”

– Lyndon Baines Johnson

Some of my favorite things: laughing with good friends; a thought-provoking book; travelling with my family; a cold glass of dark beer; the sound of waves crashing on the shore; peace, quiet, and a fireplace; a glass of red wine; rain at the beach; raucous laughter; a guy with a guitar; body surfing all day; a challenging morning of yoga.

As I thought about two of my perennial favorites, travel and reading, I wondered this: isn’t reading a form of travel, in its own way?

Think about it.

When we open one of those books that invite us in, that still make us think long after we turn the last page, we look outward. Our self-centered focus falls away as we immerse ourselves in the lives of the characters. The same thing happens when we wander the alleys of a new place or explore ancient ruins—all at once we come face to face with our very small place in this very big world.

How about Jeanette Walls’ The Glass Castle? Or Pearl S. Buck’s The Good Earth? Have you read them? (If not, what are you waiting for?!) Powerful books like these transport us to places we’ve never been; they connect us to people whose life experiences are fundamentally different from ours. When we read them, a schism forms between our pre-conceptions and reality. What we thought we knew to be true begins to shake. And shift.

Whether we’re transported by pages or vehicles we forget, for awhile, the problems and issues that loom large in our everyday lives. Our minds are free to see things anew.

Do you have a book you’d recommend that opened your eyes or changed your mind?

(Image from FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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Can Travel Change the World?

life, perspective, travel, Uncategorized, Wise Words, , ,

When I think about where to travel next, I think of this quote by Susan Sontag:

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

I’m smiling now, just reading her words.

Here are a few protests I hear against travel:

  • It’s too expensive.
  • It’s too difficult to plan.
  • I don’t have anyone to watch my kids.
  • There’s plenty to see here.

To which my responses are:

  • Travel doesn’t have to be super expensive. Yes, it costs money. But if you can afford to hit the amusement park and go out to dinner, it’s do-able.
  • It’s not difficult. It can, however, be time consuming.
  • Take your kids with you!
  • Have you seen all of it?

I have a dear friend who has no interest in international travel, and I simply can’t get my mind around that idea. But even if you’re with her, travel doesn’t have to mean cafés in Europe or safaris in South Africa. It doesn’t even have to mean flying on a plane. Some of the most beautiful places in the world are right here in our country. If you’re willing to drive, you can find them.

I’ve written (too much?) about my perceived benefits of travel: travel with kids, without kids, travel as a kid.  And I didn’t even mention the obvious: to relax and enjoy ourselves without the weight of our usual day-to-day responsibilities. And although relaxing is important, my experience is that it’s rarely the sole benefit of time in a new place.

There are so many different cultures and landscapes right here in our country, within each region, even, that I’m not sure we can ever experience all of them. But my biggest argument for trying is this: Compassion. Understanding. Grace.  It’s a big world, filled with millions of people’s lives and thoughts and experiences. Imagine what it would be like if we all learned from each other.

I’m not sure if travel can change the world. But I know it can change your life.

Agree? Disagree? Why do you travel?

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Welcome Home from the Caribbean (Or How to Rescue Abandoned Baby Birds)

pets, Wise Words

I’m interrupting the Wise Words series for this breaking news…

photo by Lin Pernille Photography via flickr

If, early on a Monday morning, you walk outside and hear the sweet sound of new baby birds chirping, it will make you smile. “The world is good,” you will think.

If later that Monday afternoon those baby birds are still chirping, but now sounding desperately hungry, you’ll begin to worry. You’ll start keeping your eye out for mama bird. But you won’t see her.

On Tuesday morning, you still won’t see her. Or Tuesday afternoon. By Tuesday night, the baby birds won’t sound so quite so chirpy. You’ll begin to wonder about the goodness of the world.

On Wednesday morning you will rise early and go straight outside to listen for chirps. You’ll hear them! They’re still alive, no thanks to mama bird, who has either flown the coop or met her match in the neighborhood cat.

By Wednesday afternoon, you’ll begin to feel desperate, right along with the chirping birdies. You’ll recruit your tallest son to climb a ladder and peer down into the basketball hoop post, where the aforementioned negligent mama made her nest. The smell from the nest will be bad. Your son will report that at least one bird is dead. He won’t volunteer to inspect any further.

For all your bravado in the rest of your life, you won’t even pretend to be able to stomach peering at a dead bird. You’ll worry that it’s the mama, who flew down into the post keep her chicks warm, and found herself stuck beneath the fat, metal bolt.

You’ll call a friend, whose husband is in town this week, unlike yours. She won’t answer. You’ll call another. She won’t answer either.

You’ll Google. You’ll consider feeding them wet dog food. You’ll wonder how to accomplish this without actually looking at a dead mama bird.

Soon enough, you’ll walk over to your neighbor, explain your dilemma, and he will be your Knight in Shining Armor. He’ll spend the next hour climbing up and down a ladder trying to save the baby birds, who are rather far down in the post, with long spoons and tongs and other kitchen accessories. His brother will arrive, dapper in the kind of plaid shorts I love. Together they will hatch a plan until, finally, the brother will plunge his hand way down into the post, pluck the 3 living baby birds from the nest, and place them into the small cooler you’ve pulled from the garage.

I know it’s hard to believe, but what will happen next is this:  You’ll put that cooler into your car, and drive 75 miles an hour on the highway, in a dark, stormy, downpour to the home of a woman who does animal rehabilitation and rescue. You found her on Google.

Operation Baby Bird Rescue

You’ll also call another friend and ask her to pick your son up from the movie theater. Thank goodness she agrees. She’s nice that way.

And that, my friends, is how my week back from the islands began. If you should ever start a Monday this way, I suggest Googling “animal rehabilitator,” just in case.

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