New experiences

Last night, my son and I joined my mother-in-law, her sister, and some family friends for July 4th festivities being held in our area. We live off of Lake Conroe, a huge man-made lake that was once a valley before it was filled with water. One of our friends, Linda, and her husband, Joe, own a pontoon boat and they were kind enough to offer its use for the fireworks show at another point on the lake. Where we were located, we would not have had a view of the display, so watching by some sort of watercraft was necessary. The water was choppy, as many residents were also making their way to the show; the lake is bulkheaded, and without a natural shoreline, the wakes that the boats create cause the lake's surface to become rough. Traditionally, boaters like to get close and the waterway becomes bumper to bumper with boats of different types and sizes. We stayed back, but were flanked by others who also opted to be towards the rear of the party goers (it just makes it easier to make your way home after the show is over).

During the entire experience, my son was contentedly in his grandma's arms, donning his first life vest, and taking his very first ride on the water. I was amazed at how naturally he took to being on a boat, with its movements going in every direction, and his ability to focus so intensely on the fireworks. He sat almost motionless with his mouth agape during the entire display. Normally, he's a bundle of energy, but he was so mesmerized by these new sensations that he was truly into the moment, sitting still the whole time. His father is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, and loves the water, too; his daddy would be proud! My son has not only proved himself able to ride on the water without getting motion sickness, but he has also proven to be a natural in the water. He has been taking swimming lessons as a safety precaution due to his love of water and his fearless nature. He has picked up on the basics of swimming so quickly, that he'll be swimming before this summer is over.

It struck me today that the older we get, it seems that we tend to lose that sense of wonder over new experiences to some extent and we take those experiences for granted. While we adults have plenty to teach the young, the young have much to teach us. Too bad we don't listen as well as we should.

The Bald Eagle

Last night, I offered some trivia on Independence Day. Today, though, I thought I would offer some facts about our nation's symbol, the Bald Eagle .

The Latin name for this majestic bird is Haliaeetus leucocephalus.

The Bald Eagle was officially declared the National Emblem of the United States by the Second Continental Congress in 1782. It was selected by the U.S.A.'s founding fathers because it is a species unique to North America. However, Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be our national bird, because he thought the eagle was of bad moral character. (Can you imagine a wild turkey for our national symbol? Today, we eat turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas! Some honor that would be!)

The feathers of a newly hatched Bald Eaglet is light grey, turning dark brown before it leaves the nest at about 12 weeks of age. During its third and fourth years, the Bald Eagle has mattled brown and white feathers under the wings and on the head, tail, and breast. The distinctive white head and tail feathers do not appear until they are about 4 to 5 years old. The beak and eyes turn yellow during the fourth and fifth year, and are dark brown prior to that time.

Bald Eagles are about 29 to 42 inches long and can weigh 7 to 15 pounds, having wing spans of 6-8 feet. This makes them one of the largest birds in North America.

Females are larger than males.

Bald Eagles residing in the northern U.S. are larger than those that reside in the south.

They have a life span of up to 40 years in the wild, and longer in captivity.

Bald Eagles live near large bodies of open water such as lakes, marshes, seacoasts, and rivers, where there are plenty of fish to eat and tall trees for nesting and roosting.

Bald Eagles have a presence in every state except Hawaii.

Bald Eagles use a specific territory for nesting, winter feeding, or a year-round residence. Its natural domain is from Alaska to Baja, CA, and from Maine to Florida. Bald Eagles that reside in the northern U.S. and Canada migrate to the warmer southern climates of the U.S. during the winter to obtain easier access to food, especially fish. Some Bald Eagles that reside in the southern U.S. migrate slightly north during the hot summer months.

While the primary food source of the Bald Eagle is fish, they also feed on: ducks, coots, muskrats, turtles, rabbits, and snakes. Occasionally, they feed on carion. When they swoop down to catch their prey, their talons possess approximately 1,000 pounds of pressure per square inch in each foot. Although they can carry off with their food in flight, they can only lift about half their weight.

Bald Eagles have been recorded at 44 m.p.h. in level flight.

Their diving speed is estimated at 75 - 100 m.p.h., and they can fly to altitudes of 10,000 feet ore more, and can soar aloft for hours using natural wind currents and thermal updrafts. They can also swim to shore with a heavy fish using their strong wings as paddles, but drowning is always possible if the fish weighs too much.

Bald Eagles are monogamous and mate for life, only selecting another mate if its companion dies.

Their nests are called "eyries." The nests become larger as the eagles return to breed and add new nesting materials every year. New nests average 2 feet deep and 5 feet across. Eventually, some nests attain sizes of more than 10 feet wide and can weigh several tons. The nests are rebuilt nearby when the old one is destroyed by natural means. They are made of twigs, soft mosses, grasses, and feathers.

Females lay 1 to 3 eggs annually in the springtime, and they hatch after about 35 days of incubation. Both parents share in the hunting, incubation, nest watching, feeding, and brooding until their young are strong enough to fly at about 12 weeks of age, when they become full-sized.

Only about 50% of hatched eaglets survive their first year of life.

In the 1700's, the Bald Eagle population was estimated at 300,000 to 500,000, but by the 1950's, the population had plummeted to less than 10,000 nesting pairs. By the 1960's, there were fewer than 500 nesting pairs. Humans were the cause of their decline by hunting and shooting, pesticides, poisons, and pollutants, destruction of habitat, contamination of our waterways and food sources, as well as the use of the pesticide DDT which caused the thinning of eagle egg shells, resulting in breakage during incubation.

Through the endangered species and environmental protection laws, as well as active private, state, and federal conservation efforts, the Bald Eagle population has been rescued from the edge of extinction. Our national bird was listed as Endangered from 1967 to 1995, when it was upgraded to Threatened in the lower 48 states. By 2007, the number of nesting pairs has increased from 500 in the early 60's to over 10,000 pairs. On June 28, 2007, they were removed from the Threatened list.

The birds are now protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Act, as they continue to face hazards. They continue to be harassed, injured, and killed by guns, traps, power lines, windmills, poisons, contaminants, and destruction of habitat.

A little July 4th trivia - Did you know?

For this holiday, I looked up some trivia on Independence Day and thought I would share what I found along with a little bit of history that we may have forgotten amid our daily cares:

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress. Thereafter, the 13 colonies embarked on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation.

Did you know...

The major objection to being ruled by Britain was taxation without representation. The colonists had no say in the decisions of English Parliament.

In May 1776, after nearly a year of trying to resolve their differences with England, the colonies sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress. Finally, in June, admitting that their efforts were hopeless, a committee was formed to compose the formal Declaration of Independence. Headed by Thomas Jefferson, the committee also included: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Philip Livingston, and Roger Sherman. On June 28, 1776, Thomas Jefferson presented the first draft of the declaration to Congress.

Betsy Ross, according to legend, sewed the first American flag in May or June 1776, as commissioned by the Congressional Committee.

Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.

The Liberty Bell sounded from the tower of Independence Hall on July 8, 1776, summoning citizens to gather for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence by Colonel John Nixon.

On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress, looking to promote national pride and unity, adopted the national flag. "Resolved: that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

The word "patiotism" comes from the Latin "patria," which means "homeland" or "fatherland."

The first public Fourth of July event at the White House occurred in 1804.

Before cars ruled the roadway, the Fourth of July was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by all the noise, and by the boys and girls who threw firecrackers at them.

The first Independence Day celebration west of the Mississippi occured at Independence Creek and was celebrated by Lewis and Clark in 1805.

On June 24, 1826, Thomas Jefferson sent a letter to Roger C. Weightman, declining an invitation to come to Washington D.C. to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It was the last letter that Jefferson, who was gravely ill, ever wrote.

Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826.

The 56 signers of the declaration of Independence did not sign at the same time, nor did they sign on July 4, 1776. The official event occurred on August 2, 1776, when 50 men signed it. The names of the signers were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the them. If independence had not been acheived, the treasonalbe act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.

Thomas McKean was the last to sign in January, 1777.

The origin of Uncle Sam probaby began in 1812, when Samuel Wilson was a meat packer who provided meat to the US Army. The meat shipments were stamped with the initials, U.S. Someone joked that the initials stood for "Uncle Sam." This joke eventually led to the idea of Uncle Sam symbolizing the United States government.

In 1941, Congress declared 4th of July a federal legal holiday. It is one of the few federal holidays that have not been moved to the nearest Friday or Monday.

Thirty places nationwide have "Liberty" in their names: Liberty, MO, boasts the highest population, while Iowa has the most places than any other state with four locations: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty, and West Liberty.

Eleven places have "Independence" in their names. The most populous is Independence, MO.

Five places adopted the name "Freedom." Freedom, CA, has the largest population among these.

There is one place named "Patriot." Patriot, IN.

There are 5 places with "America" in their names. American Fork, UT is the most populous.


"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." - The Declaration of Independence 4 of July, 1776.

The world of the unknown

There are many people who do not believe in the paranormal, which to me doesn't make a lot of sense. There is so much about human existence and our place in this universe that has yet to be understood much less discovered. Knowing so little about other planes of existence, it seems prudent to maintain an open mind. Just because a person has never experienced something paranormal doesn't mean that this world doesn't exist.

Myself, I do believe in the paranormal, as I've had some strange experiences in my life. The rest of my family has never had odd events take place for them, so they are convinced that entities such as ghosts are not real. For me, the subject of the paranormal raises interesting questions: What really happens after we die? Is there really life after death? Is there really a heaven and hell and to what extent do the religious doctrines that exist among various cultures of the world play a role in our perception of heaven and hell, let alone the beliefs pertaining to the mere existence of the paranormal? If there is an afterlife, to what extent is the afterlife affected by the lives we lead? Does the concept of reincarnation have any real substance to it, or is it simply a way for the human mind to try and rationalize what happens to the human spirit after a person dies? Can the events of daily life really be absorbed into the atmosphere and replay itself after the people involved have passed on?

For the above-mentioned questions, I remain fascinated by the paranormal, yet I keep a healthy respect for it, too. There are some actions that a person should never attempt if he is a novice at seeking answers from the other side. I feel that it is not wise to use a ouija board. Never antagonize a spirit unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences and already know what you're doing. The presence of good and evil does exist even in that ethereal world and one should never handle an evil entity alone or without experience. Respect the dead, you'll be among them soon enough and would want the same regard for your remains.

If anyone actually does read this entry, you may think me eccentric or just plain wacky, so be it. I think it is good to question the mysteries of human existence and to examine ones own mortality. Such thought can put Life into perspective.

I'm in the mood for a little Shakespeare today.

The difference between human perception and reality can oft be blurred. Life is full of illusion and as one veil of illusion is lifted, another veil always takes its place. There is a saying that goes: "What you see is what you get." However, experience has proven that this isn't always the case - what you see isn't always what you get. Shakespeare's The Tempest showcases the magic of illusion well. If life does not always show itself in true light, then we as the players should always be willing to forgive another when deception is found out. At the end of the play is Prospero's epilogue; with illusions now lifted, he asks for forgiveness from the nobles who initially started the string of illusions to exile him. Prospero has set the record straight and forgiven his captors, and he prays that they will do the same in return:

Prospero's speech:

"Now my charms are all o'erthrown,
And what strength I have's mine own,
Which is most faint. Now 'tis true
I must be here confined by you,
Or sent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my dukedom got
And pardoned the deceiver, dwell
In this bare island by your spell;
But release me from my bands
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my sails
Must fill, or else my project fails,
Which was to please. Now I want
Spirits to enforce, art to enchant;
And my ending is despair
Unless I be relieved by prayer,
Which pierces so that it assaults
Mercy itself and frees all faults.
As you from crimes would pardoned be,
Let your indulgence set me free."

Ice Cream and Happiness

When I was in high school, I had an English teacher who swore by the healing properties of ice cream. She always said that ice cream was the key to bringing a smile to a face and lifting a person out the doldrums. I think she's right. I've never experienced a moment where I didn't feel better after a few creamy scoops of ice cream...as long as it isn't vanilla. I've always found it too bland; it just doesn't have enough excitement in it. Give me plain chocolate, cherry cordial, mint chocolate chip, or some other concoction that involves chocolate and I'm a happy camper.

Another mood altering treat would be the push pops with the orange creme sherbet. I could devour a whole package of those. For my son, he'll have to settle for soy-based "ice cream," as he can't have anything with dairy in it. Too bad the flavors are limited to just chocolate and vanilla (at least to my knowledge). Lately, though, he's discovered the joys of Jell-O. There's something refreshing about cherry Jell-O on a hot day. I think it's time for a second bowl...mmmm.