The mini war in Fort Hood is no different than the bloody skirmishes over the past hundreds of years on dark Belfast street corners. This week's senseless killing in Texas is just like the random acts of violence in Indian marketplaces and tech parks, where bombs take the lives of innocents. Wherever, whenever we hear of such shootings, our hearts ache over the insanity of it all...the families ripped apart, the holes torn in the lives of mothers, wives, children, husbands, fathers.Saturday, November 7, 2009
Living in Love; How I Work for Peace
The mini war in Fort Hood is no different than the bloody skirmishes over the past hundreds of years on dark Belfast street corners. This week's senseless killing in Texas is just like the random acts of violence in Indian marketplaces and tech parks, where bombs take the lives of innocents. Wherever, whenever we hear of such shootings, our hearts ache over the insanity of it all...the families ripped apart, the holes torn in the lives of mothers, wives, children, husbands, fathers.Sunday, November 1, 2009
Following the Sun, Again

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Closed for the Season
I've just hung up my sign, "Closed for the Season."What's closing?
Friday, May 15, 2009
The World Welcomes President Obama's Leadership

Sunday, May 10, 2009
Happy Nursing Mother's Day

A couple of weeks ago, I saw an article on the internet that provided me with the only reason I can think of to wear an under wire bra:
The woman, who lives on the West side of
The bullet struck the under wire on the woman's bra and that saved her from a more serious injury, police said.
"It did slow the bullet down," said
The woman, who was not identified, was treated at a nearby hospital. The suspects in the shooting drove away.
While breast cancer is a major killer of women worldwide (400,000 annually) we still don’t know what causes it. Close to 40,000 women die in the
I wonder about tight bras, especially ones with wires, causing lymph to pool and sit, full of waste and toxins, in the fatty breast tissue. The lymphatic system is the body’s sewer system. It is meant to flow, to pull all that is no longer of value from our cells, tissues, organs, and blood and dispose of it!
What if, in the name of glamour, women are unknowingly creating a dirty, scummy poisonous pond on the chest?
Beyond my suspicions around the under wire’s link to cancer, I am sorry any woman consciously chooses to wear something so uncomfortable. In my thirties, when I thought I was my breasts, I owned a few of these torture devices. Ask any woman who wears one, she’ll tell you one of the main reasons she hurries home each night is to free herself from its strangling clutches.
All last week, though I doubt it was an intentional build up to Mother’s Day, the media obsessed on Miss
Am I the only person who remembers the life giving purpose of breasts? Not for pushing up or out, photographing or filming. Mammary glands are for feeding babies. Ask any of those wonderful lactation consultants who help young mothers.
On this Mother’s Day, I thank my own mother for nursing me, giving me such a great, healthy start on this Earth. I thank my now grown son, for the privilege of feeding him the same way, launching him into the world with strong immunity and an excellent ability to heal. May more babies spend time on their mothers’ breasts. And may the media and under wire bra manufacturers let breasts be!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sharing Our Vermont Home in India
Indian hospitality is so over the top, unless you experience the graciousness, you can't possibly imagine it. Returning from my three plus weeks in Hyderabad to Bangalore, my suitcase is full of gifts, many from people who do not have $13 a month to buy groceries. I'm not kidding.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Cheerleading Dreamers
Visiting with hundreds of brown eyed children and teens here in Hyderabad during this season’s Youth Camps, I learn their names and then ask, “What are your dreams for your life?”(Visiting a joyous family in their hut. Hindus, they recently shaved their heads for religious reasons. I wonder, would I be able to smile as they do, living in the slums?)
Raised in the poorest conditions, few of these kids appear to have considered their dreams.
Looking to India’s high earning 20 and 30 year olds for an answer, many boys and girls reply, “IT (information technology), engineering, computer software.” But are these professions what most teens are passionate about or even possess any natural ability for doing?
This past three weeks, I have been volunteering with the Care Foundation for Children and Aging, an international charity that supports more than 250,000 worldwide. My family sponsors children in India; we’ve had sponsorees in the Philippines and Guatemala, too.
What makes CFCA unique and successful is that it focuses on educating children and their mothers. Mothers who have learned a trade and bring needed income to the family view the world more positively, and are a great asset to the family. We all know the power of an encouraging parent, teacher, coach or other authority figure in our lives. I still salute my eighth grade English teacher, Mary Vinton, who told me, when I was 14, “Of course, you are a writer.”
When I consider what small contribution I can make in the lives of India’s children, I believe identifying and underlining their strengths, talents and interests can be a great gift. Beyond sending $30 a month to children through CFCA, we sponsors pray for and uplift poor families, knowing their health and well being will shape a large part of beloved India’s future.

(Mr. and Mrs. George Reddy with daughter Mary, of Hyderabad We learned yesterday Mary passed her exams and is now a medical doctor! Our family joins Mary's celebration, as my husband was blessed to fund her medical school education.)
If you saw Slumdog Millionaire and were moved by the plight of slum children, why not move from merely watching the life of India's poor to improving it? Families who live in slum housing that is smaller and far less comfortable than an old van or SUV await your love and attention.
Oh, let us all remember the power of encouraging words, and express them often! While I wish I was heading up the Gates Foundation, my resources are limited….fortunately, my capacity to cheerlead dreamers is limitless.
