Last week I was delighted to receive an e-mail from a former student who also happens to be a blogger for Brookfield Now. Kyle Prast ("Practically Speaking") was Kyle Knapp when I taught at Shorewood High School. She wrote how she was looking forward to getting together with some of her friends, and her blog of July 8 shares some of the highlights with her readers.
I particularly liked the last four paragraphs of her blog where Kyle concluded:
"I have not giggled that much in a long time; however, life's road is never all laughs. There have been tragedies too: the death of a husband, siblings, and parents, and serious illnesses for some of us or our children. It makes you realize how precious life is.
"Good friends are precious too. The old saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed and the Girl Scout song, Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold. certainly hold true for me. Last summer, when I needed to sell my dad's Shorewood home, my 2 Shorewood friends pitched right in to help me hold the estate sale. They were there for me.
"Although we may be of differing religions, political parties, and economic status, the same good, solid core beliefs that brought us together in grade school and high school are still there.
To read Kyle's full blog, and some of her others, check out http://blogs.brookfieldnow.com/practically_speaking
Another one of my favorite bloggers is Philip Chard, who writes a syndicated weekly column, "Out of My Mind." (It appears every Tuesday in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. While browsing his website at http://www.philipchard.com, I found three inspirational quotes that bear repeating:
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson
"There are two things that we can count on in life: You will die and everything is going to change between now and then. How we adapt to and accept those things is the measure of how we lead fulfilling lives."
-- Joseph Ketner
"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
-- Helen Keller
Then, browing through Chard's blogs, I found some good advice he gave on February 5. (Wasn't that when gas was still below $4 a gallon?) His message: "Quit whining!" And he gave eight practical suggestions for all of us to deal with this problem -- which he, and others, call "an addiction."
1. Elect public officials who pledge to make America energy independent, and not with fossil fuels. Think innovative green energy.
2. Use public transportation, if you can. Or car pool, if you can. Or walk or ride a bike, if you can.
3. Purchase a fuel efficient vehicle — either a hybrid or a smaller auto with high gas mileage.
4. Go the speed limit. Speeding, rapid acceleration and late braking can decrease fuel economy by a whopping 33%.
5. Keep those tires properly inflated.
6. Avoid long idling and warm-ups.
7. Be efficient when you drive. Combine multiple errands into one foray, not several different ones.
8. Quit whining. It doesn't save fuel, but it helps clean up the collective emotional environment.
To read Chard's full blog, check him out at http://www.philipchard.com/page7/files/f369a8adfd5916173a5e931cc8db68a9-1.html
I'm off to Salt Lake City for a churchwomen's convention -- will do some blogging of my own when I get back.
