Yak Attack

SS: Chance Encounters

Chance encounters?  Is it chance?  or is synchonicity a better term?  I rather think that 'chance' encounters were meant to be, synchronicity, and are not just 'chance'.   I have had a few of these – and they usually occur in different parts of the world than where I think they should.  For example, when I was in high school, my high school band went to Europe.  One day in Dublin, Ireland, some friends and I were walking along Mary's Street, browsing through antique stores.  In several of the shops, I kept looking at a particular man, and he at me.  We both seemed to recognized each other, but this was my first trip to Ireland, so who could this man be?  And, no one else I was with seemed to recognize him.  He probably just looked like someone I knew.  Maybe he thought I was flirting...  who knows?  So about a month later, I was back at my summer job working at the Dairy Queen on the University of Oregon campus.  That man walked in!  We both looked at each other and laughed!  Weren't you just in Dublin? we asked at the same time. 

Then, two or three years ago, I was in  the Denver airport, walking down the B concourse between flights, returning to Portland, Oregon from a class in Albuquerque.  And I saw this woman – 6'4” tall.  It couldn't be!  It had to be.  How many women are 6'4" tall?  But wait, where am I?  I looked around.  I had this brief, sudden panic of not knowing which country I was in, let alone which city or which airport.  This is one of my friends from China, Ann...  very distinguishable – who wouldn't be at 6'4”?   I thought I must be in China at Beijing International Airport – or somewhere, but Denver was all wrong.  My friend, Ann, and I had seen each other in China only six months previously.  So I walked up to Ann, and said, Are we still in China?  We laughed, had a good 15 minute catch up before we had to go to our respective planes, traveling to different cities, both in the Pacific Northwest.

For further Chance Encounters, go here.

My Favorite Flags

A young man in Nepal shows off his national flag.

Prayer flags near our project site.

 

My favorite flag.  Hoisting the flag at Fry's Supermarket, Yuma, AZ, 2002.  Photo from the internet.

Happy Independence Day, USA!!!

Someone has way too much time on their hands...

SS: Guide

Earlier this week, I 'celebrated' the one-year anniversary of my accident.  A wide range of thoughts went through my head that day, and I experienced a variety of emotions.  I thought about the details of the accident.  My conclusion at the end of the day was, I am thankful that the dog didn't tear out my throat. 

As I thought about the details, I realized that there had to have been two angels present that day, not just the one that I knew was there.  When the dog charged, I ran backwards and then fell as he lunged at me.  My first thought was, “You can't pass out!”  Then there was that myriad of thoughts going through my head simultaneously, such as, “oh, my arm”, “oh, my back”, “where is the dog?”, “oh, my arm”, “oh, my back”, etc., etc.  And then I heard a voice say, “Pull up your feet”.  I never thought about who said it, I was just obedient.  As I pulled my feet up, I realized two things:  first, the dog couldn't reach me with my feet pulled up, and second, my legs weren't paralyzed even though I had felt that electric shock in my back when I fell. 

Thinking back on this, I knew that an angel had pulled me back when I fell, so that the dog couldn't reach me.  And it occurred to me later, that another angel had to have been holding the dog back, because when I looked to see where the dog was, if my legs had been out straight, the dog would have been having my legs for lunch and the bones to pick his teeth with!  And there was enough time on the ground after I fell, and before I pulled my feet towards my body for the dog to demolish my legs.  And I came away without the dog touching me.  OK, several bones broken in my arm, back and pelvis, but the dog didn't have a chance to devour me.

How fortunate am I that I had two guardian angels with me that day.

And now, bright and early tomorrow (Friday) morning I will have the metal plate and screws removed from my arm.  They have been with me for ten months now, and I just don't need them anymore.  Besides, my body just doesn't like hosting foreign invaders.

This has been a year like none other.  I am thankful that I have had good medial care in the States.  I am thankful that I had one hour today when my back didn't hurt.  May there be many more of these to come!  (this was the longest period of time without pain during the past year)  I am thankful that the Tibetan mastiff wasn't successful in guarding his territory.  And I am thankful for my two guardian angels!

For more 'Guided' stories, go here.

Inserted photo is of a folded paper card I made this week.

For further information on my accident, you can read these posts:

http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/07/adventures-and-.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/07/the-saga-contin.html

There have been other posts of updates through the past year:

http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/08/ss-decisions.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/08/surgery.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/08/recovery.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/09/ss-hello.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/10/ss-powerful.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/10/ss-my-dream-job.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2007/12/ss-walk.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2008/02/10-minutes.html
http://yakattack.typepad.com/yak_attack/2008/03/ss-the-experime.html

The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm.

- Victor Hugo

Good News

Earthquake in China, typhoon in Myanmar, political problems in the Sudan, etc., etc.... In these days with so much trouble in the news, finally, here is some good news:

21 May 2008.  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Two New Zealand pilots whose plane ran out of fuel landed on a wing and a prayer, literally, local media reported on Wednesday.               

Grant Stubbs and Owen Wilson from Blenheim, at the top of the South 
 Island about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Wellington, were in a
microlight plane when the engine cut out.

"When you're in a microlight if you crash, you usually die. I turned to O B (Wilson) and he said we had no fuel," Stubbs told the Marlborough Express newspaper.

"I asked what we should do. He said: 'You just pray Grant.'"

Stubbs said he prayed to God to get them over a ridge and they finally landed in a small grassy area, and beside a 20 foot high sign saying "Jesus is Lord -- The Bible."

SS: Sore or Soar?

Sore AND Soar

My heart is sore today, as many of the people I love and care about are hurting and many, many of them have physical and emotional sores. China has been hit by a devastating earthquake. At the time of this writing...

20,000 dead

65,000 injured

45,000 trapped

130,000 rescue workers

... escalating death told may reach 50,000

My heart is soaring today, especially when I heard that many of my teammates are allowed to go in to the most affected areas to help the hurting people of China.

My heart is sore when...

...schools with hundreds of children have no survivors...

...a 7-story hospital collapses, and there are no survivors...

...most of the dead at this time are children.... in a country with a one-child policy...

My heart soars when...

...one child walks out of a school where 700 have died...

...China's media is so open as to the extent of this disaster...

...a rescue worker holds onto a grieving parent, with an embrace that can only mean, “I understand”...

For other Scribbles about Sore/Soar, go here.

Award

I Love You This Much Award

I feel so honored to have received this award from my blogging buddy, Jen. Her words are so kind, and I feel so undeserving of them. Jen said, "I honor the ladies of these blogs because they are always compassionate, honest, and "real" and I love their blogs!" And to me specifically, she said, "Yak Attack for her selflessness. She has to be one of the most unselfish beings I have ever come across. She is a therapist in one of the poorest countries of the world and her stories are filled with love."

So thank you dear Jen, for your lovely comments. I will do the same, and pass on the award to some other bloggers... But I need to wait until some stuff dies down a bit, namely the China earthquake disaster, as I am trying to see how I can help from here. I will come back to this and pass it on... Thank you again.

Another Disaster in China

2008.5.12, 2:29 pm a devastating earthquake hit Sichuan Province of China. My friends in Chengdu said that they all ran out into the street as their apartment building shook for more than three minutes. Bookcases were knocked over, pictures fell off of walls, and bricks fell from the ceiling of their bathroom, leaving large holes. They were all OK, other than pretty shook up. Aftershocks are plentiful, over 80 within 24 hours, which leaves them fearful. Other friends spent the night on the street, as their building swayed throughout the night. They had many opportunities to meet new neighbors. Infrastructure is upset, so travel to affected areas is difficult. My friends said that 20% of the damage was in Chengdu, while 57 miles away, more than 10,000 people have died, and another 10,000 are injured, and 80% of the buildings were destroyed.

A Sichuan University student took this video on his cell phone:

My heart and prayers go out to the people in China, especially in this devastated area. Farther northwest, the Tibetans are still trying to dig out from the 37-day blizzard. It just never seems to stop...

Cinco de Mayo

Most people don't know that back in 1912, Hellmann's mayonnaise was manufactured in England. In fact, the Titanic was carrying 12,000 jars of the condiment scheduled for delivery in Vera Cruz, Mexico, which was to be the next port of call for the great ship after its stop in New York.

This would have been the largest single shipment of mayonnaise ever delivered to Mexico. But as we know, the great ship did not make it to New York. The ship hit an iceberg and sank, and the cargo was forever lost.

The people of Mexico, who were crazy about mayonnaise, and were eagerly awaiting its delivery, were disconsolate at the loss. Their anguish was so great, that they declared a National Day of Mourning, which they still observe to this day.

The National Day of Mourning occurs each year on May 5th and is known, of course, as Sinko de Mayo.