Please Keep Sweden Out Of It!

Dear President Trump and Fox News:

Swedes were left scratching their heads for the second time in less than a week as their country continues to enjoy an unlikely turn at the national spotlight. The latest culprit? A man interviewed by Bill O’Reilly on Fox News on Thursday identified as a “Swedish Defense and National Security Advisor” who turns out to be completely unknown to pretty much anybody in the country’s security or defense circles.
Read the rest here: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/02/26/fox_news_interviews_fake_expert_on_sweden_to_warn_about_immigration_threat.html

According to Dagens Nyheter,  Sweden’s largest newspaper, this so-called (yes, I know, the president’s favorite phrase) this so-called expert left Sweden in 1994 and no one has heard of him since. Just like no one heard of the riots that the president said had recently taken place in Sweden.

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I'm getting really, really tired of this nonsense. For the first time in my 54 years in this country, I'm getting homesick, yes, for Sweden. A country of caring people, a country that has taken in more refugees per capita than any other nation. Of course there are problems, but not of the magnitude this administration and its preferred TV-station, Fox News, are claiming. Overall, Sweden's refugee program is considered to be a success. And the Swedish crime rate is declining.

So, would you please leave Sweden out of your attempts to scare us all. Is it too much to ask for empathy and respect for those who are different from us? Is it too much to ask for protection of the civil rights of all people in this country? Is it too much to ask for affordable health care for all? Is it too much to ask for fair treatment of refugees and immigrants from countries that scare you? 

Home of the Brave!

Sunday Morning Reflections - Sydney, The Bearded Dragon, R.I.P.

I don't know how you can forget to post a thing like this, but I did. I wrote it as soon as I found out that Sydney had died this past January. All I can say is that I must have had a serious and long-lasting Senior Moment. Believe me, I will never forget Sydney, I just forgot that I hadn't posted this, my tribute to Sydney, the Bearded Dragon. 

Once upon a long time ago now, I fell in love with a scaly little critter named Sydney. I met him at the Donkey Rescue in 2007 or 2008. Rachael had rescued him and he was to live with her for the rest of his very, very long life. Last week, Sydney passed away. Rachael told me and I teared up. You see, Sydney was a very special little animal and I learned from him that all animals have personalities, feelings, preferences, and those we introduce into our homes deserve our care for the rest of their lives, barring circumstances beyond our control. 

Rachael named her educational program after Sydney and he taught countless children and adults about respecting and caring for their pets. I can't explain it, but I loved Sydney so much that even though I had not seen him for about nine years, I cried when I heard of his passing. 

I'm holding Sydney and Rachael is holding Adelaide. Winter 2008-09.

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Dear Sydney, you were so special and I will always love you and I will never forget you. You lived a long life, you were an ambassador, you helped to educate countless adults and children. You were the best. Rest in peace, sweet Sydney. Your auntie Inger

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Brave Bessie Coleman - Do You Know Who She Was?

I first posted Bessie Coleman's remarkable story during Black History month, 2012.


We all know about the Tuskeegee airmen and their amazing record of service during World War II, but did you know that the world's first black aviator was a woman? Her name was Bessie Coleman 1892-1926. Bessie grew up in Texas, one of thirteen children to a Native American father and an African American mother. She was a highly motivated young woman, who, when she decided she wanted to fly, found that all aviation schools in the U.S. were closed to her because of her race, gender, or both. 

On the advice of Chicago Defender publisher Robert Abbott, Bessie Coleman went to Europe, where she was trained by both French and German aviators. She earned her pilot's license in 1921 and got her international pilot's license a year later. After she returned to the United States, she became an exhibition pilot. She was an inspiration to countless young people in her career as a barnstormer and speaker on aviation. She appeared in air shows across the country and became known as Brave Bessie.

Bessie wanted to open an aviation school for black youth, but before she could reach her goal, she was killed in an accident in Jacksonville, Florida. The controls of her airplane jammed and she was thrown from the cockpit as the plane spun to the ground. It's estimated that 10,000 people attended her memorial service in Chicago. Bessie Coleman's career may have been brief, but she was an inspiration to many in the early days of aviation.

Thirty Years Ago

Thirty years ago today, Errol and I got married. I forgot about this day last year, but not now. So I wanted to let you know, you my blogger friends who have been so kind and supportive. 

I'm writing this the day before and I'm tearing up. I must be the most crying Swede in the world. We are a stoic people, most of us. 

I will be OK, because I am. I am a woman, I am strong, and I know it is good to let the tears come when they need to.

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." ~ Kahlil Gibran

Sunday Morning Reflections

Our niece, Monique, gave me a present for Christmas, called A Prayer for Every Day, 2017. It includes prayers from every religion, as well as words of wisdom from great men and women across centuries and the world. This is where I found the words from Lincoln that I posted on his birthday last Sunday. 

Since so many of you felt comforted by Lincoln's words, and since Washington's birthday is coming up, I thought I would see if his birthday would have more wise words for me to share. This is the prayer I found there: 

"Lady and Lord, bless my country. Guide its governors, show them the path to take, make their actions conform to the way of nature. Knit together the many peoples into one tribe; unite us, make us a family, as indeed we are under your loving gaze." ~ Prayer for a Nation

The publishers selected this prayer for Washington's Birthday, but didn't say where it originated. 

Spring Is In The Air

but winter isn't over yet.

So I hope my new little neighbor will be OK.

Can you see the cow say: Come to mama, little one?

It's amazing to see new life like this, I think. 

How they know what to do, taking steps so early, walking on unsteady legs.

Success at last. The cow guided the calf over to that small bush you see to the left where they both laid down to rest awhile. 

More soon....

Sunday Morning Reflections

 on Lincoln's birthday.....

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." ~ Abraham Lincoln

Yellow Clouds At Sunset

One evening in December I looked outside and saw these gorgeous clouds. Since I wasn't blogging at the time, I had no one to share them with. 

One reason I'm glad to be back. Enjoy!

This is my favorite.

Have a nice weekend, everyone.