Honor Motherhood

I came across a quote from Donald Winnicot that caught my attention.  In her blog, BrainPickings, Maria Popova writes: 

Winnicott calls for a recognition of “the immense contribution to the individual and to society” that “the ordinary good mother” makes simply by virtue of her devotion to the child, particularly in the early stages of infancy. He urges:

Is not this contribution of the devoted mother unrecognized precisely because it is immense? If this contribution is accepted, it follows that every man or woman who is sane, every man or woman who has the feeling of being a person in the world, and for whom the world means something, every happy person, is in infinite debt to a woman.

https://www.brainpickings.org: Pioneering Psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott on the Mother’s Contribution to Society

I wholeheartedly agree.  As a man, I cannot appreciate the full meaning of what it takes to be a Mother.  As the husband to a wife who has gone through labor 3 times, and as the father of a daughter who will deliver a baby tomorrow at 9:30 am, I stand in amazement of what they are willing to go through physically, mentally and emotionally to bring this new life into being.  My own mother went through this 10 times.  So, beyond these words of awe, of gratitude, and of respect and admiration... beyond these, there needs to be attitude and actions that match the words.  My actions are a true measure of how I feel.  I hope to be open to the subtle guidance (usually sub-conscious guidance) from my daughters, my wife and my mother on how to honor their sacrifice.

Truth - Science - Religion

As is evidenced in my career as a Mechanical Engineer, I am enthralled with science and technology.
I treat engineering problems as a search for truth: the best solution to a problem.
In recent browsing, I came across a thought that captivated my attention because of how it resonates with my own ideas.  This comes from the astronomer, Vera Rubin (a modern day pioneer).  She writes:

"We’re still groping for the truth. So I don’t really worry too much about details that don’t fit in, because I put them in the domain of things we still have to learn about. I really see no reason why we should have been lucky enough to live at the point where the universe was understood in its totality… As telescopes get bigger, and astronomers get cleverer, I think all kinds of things are going to be discovered that are going to require alterations in our theories… Science consists of continually making better and better what has been usable in the past."
Women in Science, Dark Matter, and Our Never-Ending Quest to Know the Universe. By Maria Popova

What fascinates me about this is her ability to put things "that don't fit in" somewhere in the category of things we still have to learn about.  And why don't we know about these things?  Because the required foundation has not been established.

For me, science and religion are not in opposition.  There are, among all the scientific truths we know, some concepts that could be interpreted as being contrary to the truth I understand, based on my religion.   I counter that we don't know everything about science.  And regarding religion, there is a lot that is "yet to be revealed".

When we stop being curious, we stop progressing.  In both science and religion, there are things I am curious about.  I cannot discard science because all theories are not proven.  Likewise, I cannot discard religion simply because all questions are not answered.  In each case, I have to put some questions "in the domain of things we still have to learn about."  In the meantime, I proceed to expand the foundation that will allow for more understanding - in both science and religion.  How?  By trial and error: experimentation.

As a way to find the truth, experimentation works in both religion and science.  I suppose the people who find the most conflict between religion and science do not understand that concept.  Or perhaps they believe that the way they live their life has no effect on their experiments.  While this may be true in the lab, it is not true in the religious lab of life.

As I continue to reflect on why so many people can only see conflict between science and religion, I realize that few people understand that God DOES communicate with us.  This I know: God loves me.  Everyone can find that out for themselves, and like me, build on that foundation of truth line upon line.  Hooray for TRUTH!

I value this thought:

"Conversations that clarify, improve, and expand or extend our thinking are respectful and uphold trust; attacks that just trash a work break the trust in which the work is shared. We want free speech, differences of opinion, and a field that doesn't have to be overly cautious. But trust abused silences people, and that is not free speech either!!!"
http://www.ruthmalan.com/ 

I want to refer to this in the future, so I thought it best to document the link here for easy access later.

Hiking again

On the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, winter is releasing its grasp, and spring is barely starting.
This little flower was along the AT between Gooch Gap and Woody Gap in the North Georgia Mountains.
We hiked 6 hours along the AT, from Coopers Gap to Woody Gap, in preparation for hiking El Camino de Santiago, in Spain.  The distance is shown as 8.4 miles in my old out-dated guide book.  I used Endomondo to track our route on my cell phone, and it measured 16.5 km (10.2 miles).  Being that the app was paused for 20-30 min. while hiking, I think we actually did a little more than 10.5 miles.  I had paused the application during a break at Gooch Gap shelter and forgot to restart it when I got back on the trail.


I learned yesterday that my Michelle had never seen the inside of a shelter on the Appalachian Trail.  Here's our picture at the shelter.

At Gooch Gap Sheter

 When we started the hike at Coopers Gap, which by the way, is at the tip of beautiful Gaddistown valley, it was very windy and cold.  The wind was literally roaring through the trees as we climbed the mountain out of the pass.  Michelle was grieving over the fact that our #1 son, who was hiking towards us, was wearing a windbreaker and no other sweater or jacket.  She regretted not giving him one of the pull-overs she was wearing.

At Coopers Gap
The road behind us goes to Springer Mountain, the start or end of the Appalachian Trail.
The other end of the trail is Mount Katahdin , in Main.

Once we got over the mountain top, it was much nicer.  As it turns out, num-one-son and his friend were hiking on the sunny, down-wind side of the mountain.  They never got cold.  This is the view they had during the first part of their hike.

They started hiking from Woody Gap and we started at Coopers Gap.  We met in the middle and exchanged keys.  Well, it wasn't quite in the middle.  They hiked much faster than we did, so they got to our car earlier than we got to numonesones.

We are sore today.  This pain has made me realize I should not invite anyone else to join us on El Camino de Santiago.  The pain is made tolerable when taking into account the reward.  In one regard, hiking is like fasting.  When it's done without purpose, it's just enduring pain.

In keeping with the theme of this blog, ZuttoZoom (always zoom), I start with this flower found on the grass in the old  Protestant cemetery in Penang, Malaysia.

We came across this place as we were wondering from our hotel to the shopping district known as "Little India".
One of the most interesting graves is that of Commodore Charles Grant, commanding His Majesty's Squadron in the East Indies.  Wikipedia will tell you that earlier in his career, Commodore Grant sailed under Sir Edward Pellew and later on his fleet included the HMS Sophie.

 

 It's not your eyes.  This image is slightly out of focus.

Fans of Horatio Hornblower will recognize these names.  I need to read the series again to see if Captain Grant was mentioned.  I wonder if C.S. Forester visited Penang.

The plaque in the image below was near the entrance.  There was an adjacent Catholic cemetery that we did not take the time to visit.

2015 Family Reunion

This is the family picture from our 2015 Whetten family reunion. Missing are Jeana, Julieanne, Cedric, Christopher and their respective families - although Julie is represented by Lindsay, with her husband, Adam.  This picture was taken about 30 minutes after the baptism of Carson, in the black vest.

Sciatica: Concluding Chapter

This is the end of the story about my issues with sciatica.  After the first epidural in January, I never experienced any dramatic improvements.  The pain has gone away but the muscle in my left foot will not support my weight when the heel first touches the ground.  But over time it has slowly improved.  I completed about 7 weeks of physical therapy; I began chiropractic therapy with a trusted friend; I began exercising 3-4 times a week during lunch.  There was a 2nd epidural at Emory Spine Clinic in the spring, followed by a CAT scan (my choice - but not necessary), and a consultation with a surgeon.  The surgeon said that in this case where there's no pain, there's only 10% chance the surgery would help and it would not be a simple surgery.  I asked what will happen?  He said the body will learn to compensate.  On the chance that something could have changed since the MRI in January, we agreed I should get another MRI.  I did.  He checked it out and came back with the same answer.  It will slowly get better and eventually I'll be going on long hikes and running again.  Thank you for your prayers on my behalf.

The end.
(Let's move on to more interesting things)