Whatever will be, will be.

The twins from Liberia spent most of yesterday at my house working on my computer, watching the SU game, talking, eating pizza and watching movies. At night, however, they called a friend and found a web page with a documentary on General Naked Butt, a war lord during the Liberian war in the early 1990s. As we watched the documentary, we wanted to turn it off - it was a bit too raw, but we watched it all. General Naked Butt, who killed, raped and ate human flesh during the war, is now a man of the cloth preaching the gospel. The film showed a lot of poverty and human conditions that we, in America, might find very difficult to comprehend.

I took the day as a karmic wake up call, and let the kids guide me through what their interests were. This online documentary blew me away (email me if you'd like me to send you a link...it is 57 minutes of harsh, brutal truth). The boys, however, showed me recent photos of their country and said the new government is making great changes for the people.

And General Naked Butt has changed his life. He wants goodness for the world in the ways he once knew evil.

The Giving Tree

I taught a tree once. He was a sapling and I met him, first, when he came to nature camp. Later, he was in my English classroom and I taught him for four straight years. In his senior year, he was a bit uprooted, but he remained strong and continued to grow.

Yesterday, I heard from this tree and got an update. He's been reading a lot and, because of this, he thought of me. It's been nine years.

I suppose teaching is garden work. You spend a lot of time in the soil, tending to the needs of every seed, dealing with the seasons and their weather, and doing your best to see every seedling will grow as it should. Later, when you hear back that such gardening paid off, it is the best karma in the world.

It's been hard moving out of the classroom and into theory and books. I miss adolescents and their thorns and beauty. I think of Shel Silverstein's book and I shall read it again real soon.

Have a great Saturday.

Karma floor

I discovered I have a bottom to this Karma Blog. Apparently, what I write registers with YouTube and at the bottom of this site, four videos link with what I've written and offer videos that may have something to do with the energy I type with words. If you scroll to the bottom, there are four videos that change according to my posts. Some of the videos are rather funny and it is interesting to scroll down to see what YouTube thinks I'm up to. You should give it a try. It is Karma's bottom feeder.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, My sister cares. She gives a ...

Out of the karmic blue, my sister Casey sent me an email to warn me that I should be wary of hiking at Green Lakes. Of course, this message comes after Baby and I spent Sunday there.

Above is the tick I pulled out of groin.

That is a lie. I have pulled ticks out before, but not this one.

Now, thanks to my sister's knowledge, I shall be wary of traveling two roads that diverge in the NY woods and cautious about State parks. Advice is karma, indeed....although, I think my mom had a tic growing out of her forehead once that looked like a banana tree.

McKarma on Its Way

In a ritual that has become attending a show in Homer with my sister and her husband on the third Saturday of January, we stopped for dinner at McDonald's.

Last year, I called to compliment the good coffee, but this year I called to complain about our frozen fries and messed up order. Bethany, the store manager, returned my call yesterday and offered me two free meals. I drove to her store redeemed her offer, which allowed me to feed a goalie from Sudan who I was dropping off at Soccer practice. Universal McKarma.

And I also received an email from Saucony wanting to know more details about my sneakers that can't contain my left toe. I sent it to them, but we will have to wait and see what comes next.

This is Your Life

Growing up, I remember catching occasional glimpses of the show THIS IS YOUR LIFE. What I always found fascinating is they caught some one off guard and did a story on them, in front of them, by bringing together a life time of memories. That's rather moving, actually.

And I think about how karma works here. Imagine stopping where you are, right now, and having ten or so people from your past come onto stage and share stories about you. Then, watching video clips and audio about your life, your memories are displayed in front of others. It would be somewhat surreal, but I think that it'd be really cool. Everyone should have such a moment.

I found this version of a modern show and it is part one featuring Simon Cowell of American Idol. I haven't watched it, but if you do, you can let me know how it is.

Ice-skating the trails in sneakers

In an early a.m. change of plans, I took Baby for a hike at Green Lakes State Park. I've never hiked this park, but my friend Tricia convinced me I needed to breathe and get away from my academic nerdiness of the weekend. I met her at 11, yesterday, and we hiked until 12:30.

The trails normally take 40 minutes to travel, but they were caked in thick ice from all the use of the last few weeks. The result was catching up on our lives while trying not to cut open our heads. We weren't the only fools, either, and many were being silly like we were, tip toeing as a means of not falling.

Even so, it was beautiful and I'm thankful for the opportunity to be outside, to walk and talk, and to contemplate how karma works in the world. At one point, I stopped and said, "listen to the geese. This is nature's music." I told her, I'm doing karmic chronicles this year and that the honking birds were good enough for an entry.

Following yesterday's post, I am now wondering if Saucony makes skates, however.