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WITandWISDOM(tm) - June 17, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. - Sir Winston Churchill Source: Colorado Comments, http://coloradocomments.com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: One summer, on the coast of Alaska, a pair of spectacled eiders nested about forty feet from a pair of Arctic loons. The story that I am about to relate is amazing for a number of reasons, but primarily because adult Arctic loons will normally eat baby ducks. The fact that the two nests were this close together was unusual, since the adult eiders are quite able to protect their young against any attempt on the part of the loons to harm them. The location of the nests were noted by an ornithologist studying in the area. Both nests were occupied by their respective pairs of adult birds when visited on July 6 and again on July 13. But on July 27 the ornithologist found a very interesting situation. For reasons unknown, the five eider ducklings, which had hatched in the meantime, were being attended by the pair of adult loons. The eider parents were never seen again, and the loons had produced no young of their own. The adult loons were observed to care for the ducklings just as they would care for their own. They fed them from the nearby pond, they called softly to them but clucked loudly when there was danger. The baby ducks would go running to mother and father loon when the adoptive parents called. Occasionally a duckling would climb up onto the loon's back and stand like a little captain on a proud ship as the loon paddled around the pond. These birds of widely different and usually antagonistic species seemed to have no trouble at all communicating with each other, and the adoptive family seemed to be as happy and peaceful as any family could be. Source: Glimpses of God's Love by James A. Tucker and Priscilla Tucker, Copyright (c) 1983 by Review and Herald Publishing Association, http://isbn.nu/0767904249 Submitted by Nancy Simpson ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Things a Mom Doesn't Want to Hear I swallowed a goldfish. Your lipstick works better than crayons. Does grape juice leave a stain? The principal called... But DAD says that word all the time. What's it cost to fix a window? Has anyone seen my earthworms? I painted your shoes pretty, huh Mommy? The dog doesn't like dressing up in your clothes. Source: Web Evangelism, http://www.web-evangelism.com/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: U.S. Supreme Court justice, Sandra Day O'Connor, whose son, Brian, 43, summitted Mount Everest on May 25 despite her strenuous objections that the trip would be too dangerous: "So you can see how much my opinion matters when it really counts." Source: Sports Illustrated, June 9, 2003 ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Guangming, China (Ananova): A 12-year-old Chinese girl, Zhang Wanqing, was the only suitable blood match for her father who was suffering from leukemia and needed marrow transplant surgery. But doctors warned the frail girl could not safely give the required amount of blood, reports the South China Morning post, quoting Guangming Daily. She radically altered her diet and put on 33 pounds in just two months. She was then safely able to donate two-and-a-half pints of blood to her father who underwent a successful operation and is now recovering in hospital. Source: White Board News, http://www.joeha.com/whiteboard/ |