THE WORLD’S MOST UNIQUE BIRD
This is a Hoatzin. I took this picture in the Amazon jungles of Colombia, its native habitat. It has no genetic relationship to any other bird, and thus has its own family, the Opisthocomidae, and its own suborder, the Opisthocomi. Extensive DNA-sequencing demonstrates that “the hoatzin is the last surviving member of a bird line that branched off in its own direction 64 million years ago, shortly after the extinction event that killed the non-avian dinosaurs.”
The Hoatzin is the Dinosaur Bird, the only bird on earth directly descended from the dinosaurs. It makes weird noises – grunts, hisses, groans and croaks – no melodious birdsongs. It emits an awful smell due to its fermentation digestive system, and tastes just as awful so no one hunts it for food. Yet it is distinctively pretty in a hyper-funky way. Spend enough time exploring the Amazon, and you may be lucky to see one. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #186 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
KEEPING YOUR SANITY BY MANAGING STRESS WELL
Man should not try to avoid stress any more than he would shun food, love or exercise. - Hans Selye
It is common knowledge that too much stress is bad for us; yet stress is also a necessary and vital part of living well.
Anything that you do that involves challenging yourself, confronting situations that require your best efforts, or pushing yourself beyond your comfort zone will involve a degree of stress.
So it’s really important to understand that happiness is not the absence of stress. In fact, happiness or our well-being requires living with a degree of stress that we can manage.
And there’s new research that turns what we thought we knew about stress on its head – what’s most important for our health and well-being is not the stress itself, but what we believe about stress. Let’s think about that.
THE CARRICK-A-REDE ROPE BRIDGE
One of the most dramatic sights along the Antrim Coast of Northern Ireland is the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Originally built in the 1660s by salmon fishermen to get to their nets on the tiny islet of Carrick, it spans 70 feet across and 100 feet above the ocean waters surging below. It’s still used by the fishermen to this day. And while it’s been sturdily reinforced since it was a simple rope bridge, it’s still an invigorating experience to negotiate – especially in the wind and rain when I was there. Don’t pass it up if you’re ever in Northern Ireland. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #232 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
FLASHBACK FRIDAY – CANNIBAL TREEHOUSE
August 1977. High in the mountains above the source of the April River, a tributary of the Sepik in Papua New Guinea, I had a First Contact with an undiscovered tribe calling themselves the Wali-ali-fo. They ate “man long pig,” cooked human meat and lived in thatch dwelling built up in trees. Here I am in one with my Sepik guide Peter who got me here.
Peter translated a description of their practice: “When a man dies, we take a pig to his wife and exchange it for the body of the man. We take the body out into the forest and…cook ‘im eat ‘im. We do this so the man will continue to live in the bodies of his friends.”
Not something we’ll do but something we can understand, yes? These are people we could laugh and joke with, tell stories with, enjoy being with. A very different culture, but human all the same. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #148 Photo ©Jack Wheeler)
THE RESEMBLANCE
HALF-FULL REPORT 10/21/22
One of the favorites from their 1967 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, Getting Better is the theme of this week’s HFR… at last.
We’ve got 18 days to go before America’s Do or Die Day of Nov 8 – and while there still may be many a slip ‘twixt cup and lip, it’s looking good for the good guys, while those on the Dark Side of the Force are sliding into ever deeper gloom. Yes, for every day this week, it’s getting better all the time.
BIRTHPLACE OF A GODDESS
This is the Rock of Aphrodite – where Greek mythology says the Goddess of Love was born fully formed from the sea-foam surging around it – and makes Cyprus the Island of Love. It is south of Paphos on the island’s west coast.
Adjacent is the Temple Sanctuary of Aphrodite, where pilgrims came from every Greek city and kingdom for 2,000 years to worship her. The ancient Greeks prayed to Aphrodite more than any of their other gods, for she was the apotheosis of love, desire, and fertility or having children. Which explains why today couples travel from all over the world to get married here.
Folks have been living in Cyprus for a really long time. So long that they were the first people in the world to domesticate cats over 9,000 years ago. A Neolithic village has been unearthed called Choirokoitia that’s surprisingly sophisticated for being 8,000 years old. In Roman times, after Jesus rose Lazarus from the dead, he went to Cyprus -- there is a beautiful church, the Agios Lazaros, built over his tomb.
The Painted Churches of Troodos are adorned with magnificent medieval art. The ruins of a Crusaders’ fortress inspired the fairy tale castle of Walt Disney’s Snow White. I hope Cyprus’ inspirational history will inspire you to explore it someday. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #101 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
SKYE’S LINKS 10/20/22
Narrative Control vs. Reality
This week on Skye's Links, we look at the many cases where false narratives are being pushed hard to manipulate us,
We start with the radically left AMA and move on to issues in politics, society, freedom of speech, environment, energy, and investments.
The bad guys have that old will to power and expect complete obedience to the narrative. However, the Constitution, economic laws, and the Majesty of the Earth as a Testament to its Creator continue to foil those that would be our masters.
Come on over to Skye's Links. It's been a tough week for the propagandists.
PENA PALACE
Built as the summer residence of the Portuguese Royal family almost 200 years ago, Pena Palace stands atop the highest hill of the Sintra mountains with stunning views of the Atlantic Ocean far below.
Today a museum showpiece and World Heritage Site, it is one of the most spectacular castles in all Europe. I am here with your fellow TTPers completing another marvelous exploration of the wondrous land of Portugal. We’ll be here again next Spring - hope you’ll be with us. (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #231 photo ©Jack Wheeler)
TRANSGENDERISM, THE LEFT’S OFFENSIVE AGAINST WESTERN CIVILIZATION
Who among us could have guessed a few years back that today gender ideology would be the clearest, most divisive matter of contention separating the American left from the right? To those reasonably grounded in reality, the notion that gender is fluid, that a Supreme Court Justice would be unable to define the word “woman,” that men can give birth, and that children can and should be mutilated if they are confused about their own gender identity is not only sheer lunacy, it is barbaric.
But the left’s commitment to those ideas is total; it’s the hill on which they are willing to die. Those who disagree with them are vilified as transphobic, haters or terrorists. Trans activists may well be the least tolerant “community” in the country.
Recently, a young trans girl/boy posted a video of what five years of testosterone have done to her; she regrets her transition. The comments posted below her video are vicious. There are probably hundreds of similar regret videos but there are many more videos that promote gender transitions, even for the very young. Planned Parenthood promotes cross sex transition and has become a giant of the industry.
Matt Walsh, who made the film that asks “What is a Woman,” began taking the film to college campuses this past week, and shockingly, is filling auditoriums. But the events draw angry protesters, some of them Antifa, who scream and chant their profanities in their attempt to disrupt the screenings. They have not been successful.