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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 2, 2000 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Storms make oaks take deeper root." - George Herbert Source: Thought for Today, thoughtfortoday-subscribe@egroups.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: I was walking down a dimly lit street late one evening when I heard muffled screams coming from behind a clump of bushes. Alarmed, I slowed down to listen and panicked when I realized that what I was hearing were the unmistakable sounds of a struggle: heavy grunting, frantic scuffling and tearing of fabric. Only yards from where I stood, a woman was being attacked. Should I get involved? I was frightened for my own safety and cursed myself for having suddenly decided to take a new route home that night. What if I became another statistic? Shouldn't I just run to the nearest phone and call the police? Although it seemed an eternity, the deliberations in my head had taken only seconds, but already the cries were growing weaker. I knew I had to act fast. How could I walk away from this? No, I finally resolved, I could not turn my back on the fate of this unknown woman, even if it meant risking my own life. I am not a brave man, nor am I athletic. I don't know where I found the moral courage and physical strength — but once I had finally resolved to help the girl, I became strangely transformed. I ran behind the bushes and pulled the assailant off the woman. Grappling, we fell to the ground, where we wrestled for a few minutes until the attacker jumped up and escaped. Panting hard, I scrambled upright and approached the girl, who was crouched behind a tree, sobbing. In the darkness, I could barely see her outline, but I could certainly sense her trembling shock. Not wanting to frighten her further, I at first spoke to her from a distance. "It's OK," I said soothingly. "The man ran away. You're safe now." There was a long pause and then I heard the words, uttered in wonder, in amazement. "Dad, is that you?" And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest daughter, Katherine. Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as you ever can. - Author Unknown Source: HumorG, Humor_G-subscribe@onelist.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: At his request, each morning three-year-old Ray's mother pinned a bath towel to the back shoulders of his size two T- shirt. Immediately in his young imaginative mind the towel became a brilliant magic blue and red cape. And he became Superman. Outfitted each day in his "cape," Ray's days were packed with adventure and daring escapades. He was Superman. This fact was clearly pointed out last fall when his mother enrolled him in kindergarten class. During the course of the interview, the teacher asked Ray his name. "Superman," he answered politely and without pause. The teacher smiled, cast an appreciative glance at his mother, and asked again, "Your real name, please." Again, Ray answered, "Superman." Realizing the situation demanded more authority, or maybe to hide amusement, the teacher closed her eyes for a moment, then in a voice quite stern, said, "I will have to have your real name for the records." Sensing he'd have to play straight with the teacher, Ray slid his eyes around the room, hunched closer to her, and patting a corner of frayed towel at his shoulder, answered in a voice hushed with conspiracy, "Clark Kent." Submitted by Bunni ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: "Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets." - Yogi Berra ~~~~ "I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either." - Jack Benny Source: Awesome Quotes, www.coolnewsletters.com via http://www.witandwisdom.org ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Where are the largest flowing ice streams on Earth? . . . The greatest glaciers of the Northern Hemisphere are puny trickles next to the vast ice rivers that flow off the Siple Coast into the Ross Ice Shelf of West Antarctica. The five giant ice streams there are up to fifty kilometers wide (31 miles), 1000 meters deep (3280 feet) and hundreds of kilometers long. Huge ice sheets that hardly flow at all surround these vast streams. While the surrounding ice sheet moves maybe a meter per month, the ice streams can move at more than a meter per day. Why do they move so fast? The secret is what's underneath. While most of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet sits on solid rock, the Siple Coast ice rivers rest on a thick layer of wet, warm, slippery mud. The heat comes up from the Earth itself, melting the bottom layer of the ice, and the movement of the ice grinds the bedrock into fine mud. Many giant ice streams were discovered by radar mapping surveys: http://explorezone.space.com/archives/99_10/19_antarctic_map.htm Source: The Learning Kingdom, Copyright (c) 2000, www.tlk-lists.com/join/ via http://www.witandwisdom.org |