3394 Respect your brain

The library notified me that there was a book waiting for me that I had requested (placed a hold several weeks ago when someone else had it checked out). I had no recollection of the book, and didn't remember when or why I requested it. The title? Making a good brain great, by Daniel G. Amen, MD. Hmmm. Looks like I needed it, doesn't it?

I leafed through it and noticed the chapter on brain injury. In 1989 my daughter was in an automobile accident--hit by a drunk driver while waiting at a stop sign. I think I blogged about it some time back. Since you aren't told much on the phone at 3 a.m. except to come to the hospital, I was fully expecting to claim a body when we got there. Even as I type this, my heart rate has soared from the stress of remembering that awful night. She was in ER with a concussion, but was sent home after a few hours. She had years of trouble resulting from that "mild concussion" and a huge hassle getting the other driver's insurance company (Nationwide) to pay up. She started stammering, was depressed, tested very low on IQ tests (done for the court), and developed debilitating migraines. She told me the other day that she had a few sessions with a neuropsychologist (also court ordered) who taught her some cognitive skills to work around the injured area. Even today, she will occasionally use what he taught her if she feels a migraine coming on, and her speech cleared up and she's her old self at problem solving and intelligence.

So I was interested to read in Dr. Amen's book that many people have had brain injuries and don't know it--particularly from falls and sports like biking, snowboarding, sledding and skating. He writes:

"A concussion or mild "traumatic brain injury" (TBI) is far more than just a bump on the head. According to the American Academy of Neurology, "There is no such thing as a minor concussion." A study from UCLA found that "the level of brain glucose use in people who suffered mild concussions was similar to that in comatose, severely brain-injured patients. . . Even mild head injuries result in major changes to the brain's metabolism and could make victims susceptible to more serious damage from a repeated blow."

Dr. Amen advises parents to never let their child knock the soccer ball with his head--heading drills, in which a child's head is knocked repeatedly, are of greater concern to pediatricians than is the occasional head-punt in a game. A study of adult soccer players found 81% had impairment of attention, concentration, memory, and judgment when compared to non-players of similar age and circumstances. He says football players are struck in the head 30-50 times per game and regularly endure blows similar to those experienced in car crashes.

Dr. Amen, who has seen over 30,000 brain scans, says: "I would not let my children hit a soccer ball with their heads, play tackle football, or snowboard without a helmet. I encourage my own kids to play tennis, golf, table tennis, and track. Your brain matters. Respect and protect it."

traumatic brain injury

Monday Memories--Remembering Mother

January 24 will be the seventh anniversary of my mother's death. I remember getting the call at my office in the library at OSU and the overwhelming feeling of desolation and abandonment. But also I felt relief. She had died as she lived--with peace and dignity. Here's what I wrote about her in 2004 when her second cousin Marianne who lived in Iowa (their grandparents were siblings) returned a batch of her letters to me.

"I didn’t wait until Mother's death to canonize her as some have done with their parents. I've always known I had an exceptional mother (well, not counting those awful teenage years when I knew everything and she knew nothing!). And I've never known anyone who thought otherwise. She was, however, a rather private person, kept her own counsel, I think is the phrase. Didn't dabble in controversy. Didn't gossip. Didn't argue. So her letters from 1975 to 1998 are less than forthcoming. Weather report. Crop report. Grandchildren report. Health report (as they aged).

Each year Mother wrote Marianne promises or near-promises to travel to Iowa so they could see each other in person, but as far as I can tell from the letters, this only happened for Thanksgiving in 1988, although the Iowans did visit in Illinois in the late 70s.

Since Marianne was her cousin and also Brethren, she did share some thoughts on their common heritage on Christmas: "[at a 1978 retreat] no one of Brethren background could recall Christmas trees except at our country school programs. Most of us hung up stockings as children. Christmas dinners with relatives and programs at church and school seemed bigger than our present celebrations. Gifts were mostly homemade. We had lots of fun and excitement as we remembered."

She fretted a little on Memorial Day 1975 that she and her sister were the only ones left to place flowers at the grave sites of parents and brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, something their mother had always done. In 1987 she recalls visiting in Iowa her great Aunt Annie as a young child--"the comb honey served at meals and the fat feather mattress we slept on reached with a little foot stool. I wish I might have known them at a later age when memories wouldn’t be so dim and one could appreciate more."

Finally, in 1998, Mother writes Marianne that "I try to tell Amy (granddaughter, early 30s) stories about the family [learned from Marianne's mother] so someone remembers how the George family spread out and came west."

Remember to pass along those family stories to your children and grandchildren. Monday Memories is very useful for that.

View More Monday Memories Participants
My visitors and those I'll visit this week are:Anna, Becki, Chelle, Chelle Y., Cozy Reader, Debbie, Friday's Child, Gracey, Irish Church Lady, Janene, Janene in Ohio, Jen, Katia, Lady Bug, Lazy Daisy, Ma, Mrs. Lifecruiser, Melli, Michelle, Paul, Susan, Viamarie.

3392 A spanking law proposed

Democratic assembly woman of California, Sally Lieber, wants an anti-spanking law. As near as I can tell, she has no children, but is a "guardian" of a cat which is very smart. What do you want to bet she believes in "a woman's right to choose" and all sorts of animal rights. OK to kill the little duffers if it's inconvenient for them to be born, but not swat their bottoms if they're smacking another kid in the head with a shovel on the playground. I just love the consistency of liberals, don't you? Spanking bill

15 questions to ask if you want to marry

These questions appeared in the New York Times. Maybe we were too young, but I don't think we asked any of them--we sort of went on faith that the other was a good person--and being a woman I just figured I change what I didn't like. We talked about short term stuff--what was his draft number, should we rent a furnished or unfurnished apartment, which one of us would use the car and which would take the bus. Was there enough money for the first month's rent. However, we married young. If you are 35 or 40, there's a lot of water under the bridge and mountains out of molehills to cross, so you'd better ask some questions. I've rearranged them for my priorities based on over 40 years experience, and added my comments in brackets. All these questions are asked only if you believe you truly love the person, of course.

December 17, 2006 New York Times
Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before Marrying

Relationship experts report that too many couples fail to ask each other critical questions before marrying. Here are a few key ones that couples should consider asking:

9) Have we reached a clear understanding of each other’s spiritual beliefs and needs, and have we discussed when and how our children will be exposed to religious/moral education? [Is she/he a committed Christian? Does she/he commune on the golf course or with a congregation and clergy?]

6) Can we comfortably and openly discuss our sexual needs, preferences and fears? [Does she/he expect a cohabitation probationary period before marriage--a sure route to divorce? If she/he has been unfaithful, will it change?]

2) Do we have a clear idea of each other’s financial obligations and goals, and do our ideas about spending and saving mesh? [How much debt does she/he have? Is she a shopaholic who needs to spend for mental health? Does he/she gamble? Has she/he been looking to the future or just likes to spend as you go?]

1) Have we discussed whether or not to have children, and if the answer is yes, who is going to be the primary care giver? [Does she/he already have children; what kind of parent is she/he; will you be expected to be a parent or just a stand-by babysitter with no say; what are the custody arrangements?]

11) Do we value and respect each other's parents, and is either of us concerned about whether the parents will interfere with the relationship? [Is he/she in a family business? Do her/his parents live close? Are her/his parents married to each other? Are there siblings?]

3) Have we discussed our expectations for how the household will be maintained, and are we in agreement on who will manage the chores? [Whose standards will determine "fair," or "clean," or "on time."]

4) Have we fully disclosed our health histories, both physical and mental? [Does she/he have health insurance? Unpaid medical bills? Preexisting conditions for which you'll be responsible? How much time spent with a shrink?]

5) Is my partner affectionate to the degree that I expect?

8) Do we truly listen to each other and fairly consider one another's ideas and complaints? [Don’t forget the non-verbal communication--sulking, slamming doors, driving like a maniac, flirting, procrastinating, etc.]

10) Do we like and respect each other's friends? [Does she/he even have friends or are you it?]

12) What does my family do that annoys you? [Get over it.]

13) Are there some things that neither are prepared to give up in the marriage? [Does he/she hate your hobbies and leisure activities? What about your pets?]

14) If one of us were to be offered a career opportunity in a location far from the other’s family, are we prepared to move? [Are your job skills and training readily transferable to another geographic area? Mountain guide in Iowa; scuba diver in Nebraska, for instance.]

15) Does each of us feel fully confident in the other's commitment to the marriage and believe that the bond can survive whatever challenges we may face? [How many times has she/he been married and what's your limit?]

7) Will there be a television in the bedroom? [Huh? Is this a which way to roll the toilet paper question or a sex question?]

3390 One more thing I have to remember

Folic Acid.

"A randomized, placebo-controlled trial has shown daily folic acid significantly improves cognitive performance in older adults — specifically as it relates to memory and information processing.

The study, which included 818 subjects aged 50 to 70 years who were folate deficient, showed that those who took 800 µg daily of oral folic acid for 3 years had significantly better memory and information processing speed than subjects in the placebo group.

Furthermore, serum folate concentrations increased by 576% and plasma total homocysteine concentrations decreased by 26% in participants taking folic acid compared with those taking placebo." Medscape story here. “Effect of 3-year folic acid supplementation on cognitive function in older adults in the FACIT trial: a randomized, double blind, controlled trial” Lancet 2007; 369: 208-216.

Three years of treatment with folic acid conferred on individuals resulted in the performance of someone 4.7 years younger for memory, 1.7 years younger for sensorimotor speed, 2.1 years younger for information processing speed, and 1.5 years younger for global cognitive function.

World's Healthiest Foods chart
World's Healthiest Foods site has an article on the important of Folate. Calves liver is right at the top. Yuck. I don't kill or eat babies.

My vitamin supplement has 400 mcg, but that's obviously not doing the trick, since I can't remember what mcg stands for. Let's try some of my lunch mixtures, of which I would mix maybe 1/4-1/2 cup of each: corn: 76 mcg per cup; greens (either collard or turnip) 177 or 170 mcg per cup; bell peppers 20 mcg per cup; tomatoes 27 mcg per cup; black beans 256 mcg per cup; onions 30 mcg per cup; brown rice zero. Looks like black beans are the winner if I avoid the liver.

I'm guessing that senior vitamins will increase the folate content (currently at 400) if this research continues to be so positive. It's obviously very difficult to get 800 mcg just through eating.

folate
healthy eating

3389 What they were saying 70 years ago

"The farm family [previous paragraph was on divorce rate being much lower in rural areas] remains also the cradle of the nation, whereas the urban family is its grave. Births have declined so rapidly in the cities that urban populations are no longer reproducing themselves. Without the migration of rural youth into the cities to make up the deficit of necessary births, cities would find their population depleted by two-thirds within a century, assuming that the rate of decrease will remain what it now is; and as a matter of fact the trend is to a greater and greater decline." . . .

"Among social institutions that touch upon the material well-being of people, postulate high moral qualities, and produce rich social by-products, few, if any, are the equal of private property. Basic to peace, order, and progress is the security of private property. On this account, Pope Leo XIII, almost fifty years ago, in his celebrated encyclical, Rerum Novarum — On the Condition of Workingmen, developed at length arguments in behalf of private property. 'The law, therefore, should favor ownership,' he wrote, 'and its policy should be to induce as many people as possible to become owners.' "

Aloisius Muench, Bishop of Fargo, North Dakota, Catholic Rural Life Objectives, St. Paul, 1937, pp. 16–19. Annals of American History, accessed Jan 21, 2007.

3388 Common sense consumption, pt. 1

We'd better develop a taste for it, because the lefties, greenies and tree huggers are hooking up with socialized medicine and Democrats for more regulations and laws about food.

If only solvent white people were obese, we'd be safe from the food police. But unfortunately for all of us, non-white and poor individuals are more obese than wealthier and Euro-gened folks. I'm a retired WASP (Irish-German-English 9th generation American) with a decent pension, two homes and investments. No one cares if I'm fat (and I'm not).

Even Asians, who can skew our academic and educational achievement graphs and statistics, pack on the pounds by the second or third generation of living in the USA. It's world wide, and it is primarily economic, but because Europe is about a decade behind us in weight gain, and there are fewer fast food restaurants and less marketing to children there, we're told these are the reasons. (We've been in Germany, Austria, Finland, Estonia and Russia in the last two years, and I can assure you they are gaining on us even without a McDonald's on every corner.) I'll tell you what I think the reasons for USA obesity are in pt. 2.

Just keep this in mind. Lawyers are salivating. Sociologists and anthropologists are rubbing their hands with glee waiting for the grant money. Foundation CEOs, people with zero regulation and accountability, see a steady income stream--if only they can get on the obesity bandwagon. And the medical community--looking at 20 million of us with diabetes--to say nothing of stroke and heart problems--well, you're giving them a very nice lifestyle. And Congress is gearing up. Hear the distant parade music? Folks, all we have to do to stop the biggest invasion of our wallets and privacy in the history of this country, is eat less and move more--shed those pounds you wrote about in your New Year's resolutions. Don't let the government take your French fries and Twinkies. Be pro-active!!!! Dump them on your own.

Source of irritation: JAMA 297:1:87 (January 3, 2007)

3387 Finally, some snow!

Our neighbor across the creek and ravine (we can wave at each other when there are no leaves on the trees) told me today that after they moved here from New Orleans after the hurricane, they agreed with one of their neighbors to outfit a riding mower with a snow plow for their shared use on their huge drive-ways. It was ready three weeks before Christmas--and the huge investment sat in the garage with nary a snow flake in sight. Finally today it is snowing. We should have a total accumulation of 3". They are ecstatic!

Before the big three

there was still hatred in the region. Backstory. My New Year's resolution, made because of a man I met New Year's Day at a coffee shop, is to read The One Year Bible (NIV). It's January 21 and so far, I haven't missed a day, which makes this a more successful resolution than most. So, I'm still in Genesis, the book with all the great stories. These stories are some of my earliest memories. As I read, I can hear the scrape of wooden chairs on the basement floors of the two Illinois churches (Mt. Morris Church of the Brethren and Faith Lutheran in Forreston) I attended as a child and see my faithful Sunday School and VBS teachers in my mind's eye. Even so, every time I read them I see something new.

In today's passage (Gen 42:;18-43:34), Joseph is welcoming back to Egypt his brothers who had sold him many years back (they don't recognize him, but he knows who they are). This is their second trip to get grain for their families and father Jacob (renamed Israel) only this time they had to bring along Benjamin, Joseph's full brother. Joseph, who is very well placed in the government, prepared a banquet for the brothers, who are terrified, because they have no idea what is going on. Joseph had to momentarily leave and collect his wits because he was so emotionally overwhelmed at seeing Benjamin. OK. That's the setting.

"After he had washed his face, he came out, controlling himself, said, "Serve the food."

They served him by himself, the brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, for that is detestable to Egyptians."

God had not yet chosen the Jews (he had, but they hadn't been told); Jesus was in the plan but not yet revealed; and Mohammed who would investigate both Judaism and Christianity for a replacement of the pagan gods of the region, was many centuries away. And still there was hatred.

Happy birthday, First Baptist.

3385 Deadline for passports

Just as it wouldn't occur to me to go to the public library for a very loud Playstation guitar game for middle schoolers, I didn't know I could apply for a passport at a public library.

There are 9,000 individual sites such as post offices and libraries accepting applications for passports. At present 27% of Americans have passports and next Tuesday is the deadline if you plan to enter or leave Canada, Mexico or the Caribbian. It used to be a driver's license or birth certificate would do.

Too bad, isn't it, that we're not as careful with illegals as we are with our own citizens. Currently, boarder guards who try to stop illegals, go to jail and the perps go free.

passports
public library
Playstation guitar hero

3384 How the left led

Dinesh D'Sousa writes in the LA Times OP ED:

"Pundits on the left say that 9/11 was the result of a "blowback" of resistance from the Islamic world against U.S. foreign policy. At first glance, this seems to make no sense. American colonialism in the Middle East? The U.S. has no history of colonialism there. Washington's support for unelected dictatorial regimes in the region? The Muslims can't be outraged about this, because there are no other kinds of regimes in the region. U.S. support for Israel and wars against the Muslims? Yes, but the U.S. has frequently fought on the side of the Muslims, as in Afghanistan in the 1980s or in the Persian Gulf War.

But in a sense the liberal pundits are right. The U.S. made two gigantic foreign policy blunders in recent decades that did sow the seeds of 9/11. What the liberals haven't recognized is that these blunders were the direct result of their policies and actions, and were carried out by Democratic presidents — Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton."

I don't know how useful it is to look back 10, 20, 30 years and point fingers, because hindsight is always 20/20. Even so, it is odd that Jimmy Carter still displays timidity, awe and even a strange respect for the Iranians even with the benefit of history and their role in bringing him down. And Clinton dawdled and dabbled, but didn't act. But it's a mess now, and we're part of it, which makes it our obligation to not abandon the people we pledged to help. Our left wing still has no plan to counter Bush's build up except maybe to withold money which will be pretty rough on our troops.

Muslims are blowing up each other; that won't improve if we leave. At least at this stage in their history--and Islam is a much younger religion than Judaism or Christianity--their wrath is for their co-religionists. If they have so little respect and love for a fellow Muslim and countryman, imagine what they'll do to one who converted to Christianity after years as a Muslim, like Barack Obama.

3383 Friday Family Photo

This is family in a larger sense. This is an unidentified photo of a Church of the Brethren congregation in 1917, celebrating some sort of a clean life meeting, perhaps a revival? "Our aim a new life and a clean life" says the sign on the right. The building's sign says "Church of the Brethren Preaching 11 a.m. 7 p.m., several lines I can't read, then "All Welcome." It appears to be summer time--or at least May or June--from the clothing, open windows and doors and trees.



This photo is in a collection of a 3rd cousin. We don't know what congregation or who might be a relative. I'm posting it in hopes that someone among the Brethren will recognize the people or the building. The cousin is a descendant of Daniel Weybright and Nancy Kinsey Weybright of Ohio, but so are several hundred other people, and doesn't know the origin of the photograph. But because it was saved and passed down (unidentified), we're assuming there is a family connection.

Note to self: label your photographs and date them.

Church of the Brethren
old photographs
genealogy

Which Children's Author Wrote You?

Laura Ingalls Wilder
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3381 Does this ever happen to you?

Eggs-actly! As I've mentioned here numerous times since the end of September, I needed to lose 20 lbs--gained since we got broadband and I started blogging. I've lost 18 pounds, the last one pound taking six weeks, and am eating healthier with more fruits and veggies than ever in my life. I don't have a physical until early March, so I figure I can do 2 more pounds before the blood pressure and cholesterol checks. I'm in size 8 slacks, and there's no cleavage hanging over the top of my necklines, so if it never happens, who cares? But I digress.

Eggs weren't on my list of food triggers to avoid, but everything I enjoy with them was--cheese, toast, butter, jelly, muffins, bagels, bacon and so forth. So I just hadn't eaten an egg since September. Tuesday I cooked a very nice ham. It was far more than we could safely eat in a few days, so I asked my daughter to stop by on her way home from work and pick up a generous package. Still too much ham; and our son didn't stop as he sometimes does on his day off so I couldn't give him any.

Brilliant idea! I'll make an omelet for dinner like I watched being prepared on the Good Morning America show. I grilled some onion and red pepper and chopped up a bunch of the ham. I found a skillet I hadn't used for awhile, sprayed it, dashed in some olive oil and put in 5 eggs mixed with a little milk (GMA said water). When it looked firmed up I gently placed my ham and veggies on one-half, just like I saw on TV. Then I carefully folded the other half over it. At this point, it diverged a wee bit from the chef's version on GMA. It didn't want to move; only went half way. Oh well. I put some bread in the toaster for my husband. Then after the omelet firmed up a little I cut it in half and moved the halves to our dinner plates. Ooops. My goodness. Sort of messy. Sure didn't look at all like the one on TV.

After grace, my husband look at his less than lovely omelet and said quietly, "I had eggs for breakfast."

Omelets
eggs
food triggers
healthy eating
dieting

Poetry Thursday #3

Today’s poetry challenge is to reuse a line from another blogger’s poem which has been posted at the site, and then leave one of mine for someone else to use. There were about 40 possibilities when I stopped by to look, and I chose the line “resting in a clean white bowl.” [Megan] I carried the sentence with me on a scrap of paper. At one point, I was going to fill the bowl with steaming ears of sweet corn, and then write a lament about ethanol--preferring not to see golden grain streaming out tail pipes. But it was truly an awful impulse and I squelch it.

When I was at the library yesterday I noticed there were 30 cookbook titles on the new book shelf and another 18 in the nearby nutrition classification. Certainly overkill in a society concerned with obesity. (The more variety, the more you eat.) I jotted down a few titles, on the same scrap with my line--i.e., "The Kitchen Diaries," and "Wrestling with gravy." Today when I got out my clean white bowl, it was filled to overflowing with gravy! Gravy has been on my list of foods to avoid for the last 3 months. I moved the word “resting” to another line.

The Kitchen Diaries

Wrestling with gravy
in a clean white bowl
my finger wipes a smudge
on resting lips.
I swoon.
My tongue is pleased
to hold a moment of
sensuous memories
from waiting hips.

3379 Is Ireland in our future?

I know it's in our past--I've been doing genealogy this week.

After meeting with his Cursillo group, my husband poked his head in my office and said, "How would you like to go to Ireland?" "Who's going?" I asked. "The priest at Jim's parish takes tour groups, and this would be the week of our anniversary," he said. "Well, why don't I look it up at the Alumni Association site and see if they are offering anything," I suggested. "I really like their format."

When the mail came today, guess what dropped through the slot? A brochure. University of Illinois Alumni Association sponsored tour to Ireland, 12 days covering both my birthday and our anniversary. And I hadn't even looked it up.

Seems like a sign, don't you think?

3378 A beautiful quilt story

Two weeks ago this Saturday the Visual Arts Ministry of UALC hung a quilt show at our Mill Run location. I'm looking forward to seeing the descriptions and stories that go with each quilt, prepared by the leader of the group. But nothing can match Daddy's Roses sensitive retelling of this lovely quilt from the 19th century.

3377 Even I was shocked by this

Recently, someone left a comment at one of my critiques of the direction of public libraries saying I wasn't a very good researcher [i.e. what liberals and humanists say when you don't cite their favorite pundits or sources]. But Tomeboy always digs deep and finds things I wouldn't even notice--like his analysis of the American Library Association's bibliography on homeschooling. I've been critical of ALA (I've never been a member), but even I was shocked. It's a fine report as always, Mr. Tomeboy.

In 2002 Midwinter in New Orleans, ALA's Association for Library Service for Children voted to establish a Home School Task Force to;

...investigate what action or activities, if any, ALSC needs to take to meet the needs of children's librarians serving home-schooled children and their families....

The product of this resolution? An exhaustive bibliography comprising of one internet resource, two books and two articles. The latter four published in the last century. Need I mention the breadth and timeliness of ALA's Task Force on the Environment page?

A middle school student probably couldn't get away with this! I'm almost afraid to check the Environment bibliography. I've seen homeschooling reports and resources at my public library, although for its size and focus on other topics (movies, cookbooks and scrapbooking) probably not as good as it could be based on local interest. Although this might explain why my PL's science fair reference shelf for children is so out of date (by 20-25 years in some cases).

Tomeboy speculates on why ALA would do such a poor job for an important topic. Might it be that about 70% of homeschoolers are evangelical Christians and ALA is hostile to religion?

homeschooling
libraries
bibliographies
American Library Association

3376 Looks like a crouching cat

This is a screen capture of my statistics for the past year for Collecting My Thoughts. Sort of looks like a crouching or sleeping cat outline. See the perky ears on the left, then the rounded back on the right. Oh, you don't see it? Well, I also like to paint when I'm not blogging, and am working on a poetry assignment which is much tougher than either painting or blogging. This week we're supposed to use a line from someone else's poem (at the Poetry Thursday site) and work with that.


I've been blogging since October 2003 and have written about 4,220 entries at this login (8 blogs), and about 30 at another blogger account (2), and about 450 at my LIS journal/weblog. I'm so over-blogged that blogger.com hasn't been able to move me to beta blogger. I've deleted perhaps 50 or so entries that after they were up for a bit, I didn't like. However, I don't know if they ever go away or are floating out there trying to connect. I changed the name of one of my blogs after it was up for about 3 months--that's a mess, try not to do that. I've blogged about what I blog about. I'm nearing 140,000 hits/visits to this site. I don't have site meters at all my blogs--and some I rarely look at. My Family Tree Maker stopped me in mid-19th century relative yesterday to tell me that I'd just hit 3400 entries in that. So I stopped and googled a 3rd cousin once removed and found she is a lawyer in DC who has argued cases before the Supreme Court. Don't we live in amazing times for information and communication?

Prayer Request

Not much blogging today. This is a photo of my brother's grandson and his daddy, who has been injured. About 10 days ago he was working on the ranch he manages in northern Illinois and got a small thorn in his palm, but being a hard worker continued with his chores. The hand became inflamed, and then dark streaks were running up his arm, so it was off to ER. He's had a week in the hospital with powerful antibiotics, but whatever pathogen is attacking him, they haven't been able to identify it or stop it completely. He's home now with my niece doing the IV drip and he daily goes back to have the open wound repacked.

But the nightmare continued.

While he was still hospitalized, some of the horses got out. Most stayed near the barn but two went out to the road where they were hit by a car with three people, all seriously injured about 4:30 in the morning. One horse, the ranch owner's, was killed on impact, and the other, my niece's horse, had to be put down from his serious injuries. She cradled its head and said good-bye. Tears are running down my cheeks as I think about her then rushing off to the hospital to tell her ill husband before he saw it on the news.

Please pray for my family and the injured family from Leaf River.