Japan - grace under fire

I feel a great deal of national and spiritual chagrin when I compare how the Japanese are responding to disaster to how we as Americans, especially those who claim Christianity, have responded in our troubled times. 


My friend, Sue, stated it well on her blog.  I recommend the read.   click here


Contemplate the following:
10 THINGS TO EMULATE FROM JAPAN


1. THE CALM

Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2.THE DIGNITY

Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY

The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.

4. THE GRACE

People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER

No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE

Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS

Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING

The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA

They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10.THE CONSCIENCE

When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left

quilt report

Photos of my latest finished quilt.  With the funding by sisters and sweat by me, this quilt was made as a group gift from us sisters for Tim and Kristi's wedding shower last month. 



Basted and fresh on the quilting frame

 I wanted to add additional stitching, so had the quilt back and took a few shots of the finished product.

the intern in Cleveland

News from the youngest son...

February 25:

Two or three weeks ago, the interns toured the SLOPE facility (something to do with Simulated Lunar O??? P??? Environment). It's where they test vehicles and, as you can see, tires for use on the moon and Mars or even Venus. The tire I'm behind on the left is an exact replica of the titanium Lunar Rover tire used 50 years ago on the moon. Besides not wanting to deal with pressurized tires in space, rubber would not be able to survive the radiation and extreme temperatures experienced in space. On the right is the next generation metallic spring tire being developed by Goodyear to support NASA's future missions. The room we are in contains large sand boxes containing dust, sand and rocks that perfectly imitate that seen on the moon and Mars for testing of these tires and designs of the next generation of vehicles.



At the NASA Glenn Research Center, we have a special interest in the Oscars on Sunday. The daughter of one of the researchers in the Materials and Structures Division has been nominated for an Oscar for the second time in Sound Editing. She was first nominated for The Dark Night a couple years ago and is up again for her work on Inception. See her bio at the internet movie database link here:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0386567/ She often does her work at George Lucas' Skywalker Sound. http://www.skysound.com/bio/lora_hirschberg.html

03/02/11
Note: 
She did get the Oscar.