Unexpectedly nervous...

Isn't it kind of weird to be nervous about a race that I have no intention of even trying to win? I find myself a bit uneasy about the Hurricane Half-Marathon next month, and I'm not sure why. My only goal is to finish, which I'm sure I will do, even if I have to walk the entire way. Of course, I have no intention of walking the whole way, only select portions (like maybe up the nasty hill.) The point is, I'm not running to place, or to measure myself against the other runners, but simply to do something challenging and be healthy in the effort. So why should I be nervous? Doesn't make sense, but here I am with little butterflies in my tummy when I think about the race. On the other hand, I am also very excited about it! My sisters are coming down to race with me, which I think will be very fun. And I'm thrilled to be able to say things like, "Yes, I'm a runner," and "I'm doing a half-marathon next month." A half-marathon? That is so cool! It gives me a sense of accomplishment like not much else ever has. This has been a challenge bigger than any physical one I have given myself before (except perhaps carry a baby 9 months and have a natural delivery. 5 times.) This challenge, unlike the baby challenge, relies entirely upon my motivation and hard work. Maybe that's why I'm nervous. I'm still a ways from the goal, and I really want to cross that finish line and prove that I was up to the challenge. Well, the goal is in sight. Just a few more weeks of work, and then the big final push to victory. I can hardly wait.
http://www.cityofhurricane.com/index.php?module=ibcms&fxn=current_events.halfmarthon

Is it healthy if it causes stress?

For the past several years I've been trying to be more healthy in my life. I've made changes in my eating habits and my exercise habits. I try to be cautious about chemical used in my home. I try to maximize nature's tricks and remedies, and minimize my dependence on artificial or synthetic substances. Over all I feel my life has been better for the effort. But I've run into a snag. A serious snag. A problem of proportions as to seem almost insurmountable. and that problem is....B.O.

You see, in my research I have come across discussions of the problems with aluminum ingestion. Although aluminum is not a heavy metal, it is right next to the heavy metals on the periodic chart, and is a very toxic chemical in the body. The AMA warns against cooking in aluminum pans because of the problem of aluminum leaching into foods. Aluminum has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease, a condition I absolutely would love to avoid. So, I'd like to minimize any risk factors I can. Here is the problem. Antiperspirants contain aluminum in the form of aluminum chlorohydrate. That is the active ingredient, the one ingredient that makes them effective. The aluminum chloride causes the pores to contract, which minimizes sweating. Voila! Dry underarms. Can you see where I'm going here? Underarm skin is very thin and delicate, and absorbs very well. It also tends to remain quite warm, which enhances absorption as well. So anything applied underarm is likely to be well absorbed. The aluminum is likely to be well absorbed. This is a problem if you are trying to keep aluminum out of your system. (There are also reports about problems with keeping your sweat in your body instead of letting it out as nature intended, problems with lymph nodes and cancer, etc.) So the logical course of action is to stop using anti-perspirants. Which I did. Now I'm miserable.

I thought it would be easy. My husband (who has Alzheimer's in his family) hasn't ever used anti-perspirants since I've known him. He only uses a deodorant, and he smells fine to me. He smells sweaty when he's been working, but it's not really unpleasant. So I jumped in feet first. I went looking for a simple deodorant. Surprisingly hard to find. There are several brands available for men, but none for women. I did find some Tom's of Maine which was not gender specific. $5.29 a pop, a big jump from my 99-cent Avon antiperspirant I was using. But what's a little money in terms of one's health, right? So I bought it and began using it.

Now I stink. I smell like body odor. I smell like sweat. It's driving me crazy. I don't know how long I can keep it up. I am not an everyday showerer. At least I didn't used to be. Now it looks like I will have to be if I don't want to offend every time I raise an arm. I don't mind smelling like sweat after the gym. I don't mind smelling like sweat after a run. And those are the times I shower. But I hate taking a shower, going to bed, and waking up smelling my armpits. I mean, how much can I possible sweat just lying there? I put on the deodorant and it actually seems to control the odor. For about 20 minutes. After that it's like the boy's locker room in my shirt. The people around me assure me that I'm being too sensitive, and they don't really notice any difference at all. I just don't know whether to believe them or not, because I sure notice a difference. About halfway through Primary on Sunday I was starting to worry about leading the kids songs because I could smell myself and wondered if they could too. I certainly don't want to drive the sweet children away from church because their Primary music leader stinks. How sad would that be? "Please don't make me go, mommy. It smells in there!!"

All right. I may be exaggerating a bit, but not much. It's tough. I have vanity about few things. I don't wear make-up. I spend about 2 minutes a day on my hair. I buy most of my wardrobe at Ross, Target, and Wal-Mart. I'm a pretty basic, what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of gal. But I have found I have vanity about odor. I don't want to smell. The question is, am I willing to risk my health to serve my vanity? I'm still undecided. I will probably stick it out a bit longer, and maybe try to find a deodorant that seems to hide the odor better. I think I will actually wear anti-perspirant on Sundays, not only to keep me comfortable, but also to keep from having to wash my Sunday clothes every time I wear them. And I will probably have to shower more often, even though it is hard on my skin and hair to do so. Mostly though, I'll just try to keep my head up, and my arms down.

Sometimes it gripes me...

According to my email this morning, the way for me to prove I am not ashamed of Christ is to forward an email to ten people. Not to live a righteous life. Not to search for and share the truth. Not to support widows and orphans, and give help to the needy, and lift up the arms that hang down. Not to raise my children in righteousness. Not to do my best to support all that is good and condemn all that is evil in the world. And not, I guess, to love God with all my heart, might, mind and strength. Just to forward the email. I don't mind the email, really. It had some beautiful pictures of Christ. And I love the person who sent it to me. But it really makes me frustrated (and a little sad, I guess) that people continue to put energy into doing these little things that make no difference to their eternal salvation. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe forwarding emails is the true way to God. I hope not, though, because if it is, I'm in trouble.

A glorious weekend

On Thursday night I went to a literacy group I hadn't attended before and had a nice time. It was a night to share our own recent reading list. Lots of opinions and discussion about a few books. I found it very enjoyable, but I always find it enjoyable to share my opinions about things (don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I lean towards the latter, but it's hard to change.) The reason I mention it, aside from wanting to share with the organizer and participants how much I enjoyed it, is to say that Jenny Chamberlain loaned 2 books to me that night, The Goose Girl and Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. The next day my friend Amy Heaton let me know I could borrow her family's copy of book 5 of the Fablehaven series, newly released and hard to come by without purchasing. I picked it up Friday evening around 6. Then, and this is the best part, I spent the entire weekend reading those 3 books. I was done by Sunday afternoon. How nice!! Now these books are juvenile fiction, written for older kids and teens, so they read very fast, but I even surprised myself with how quickly I was able to get through them. And my house didn't even fall apart. I didn't get the laundry done that I should have, but that could wait til this week without any harm done. I talked the kids into doing their Saturday work on Friday night so we could have the entire day Saturday to play with Porter and Eliza, who came over for a few hours. So while the kids did their work Friday night, I read. After the kids and my tired husband went to bed Friday night, I read. The next day our friends were here from about 8:30 to 5, and while they all played Nintendo, dressed up, designed marble tracks, played outside in the wind (for a short while - COLD!!), and watched Astroboy and Veggietales, I read. After they went home and I got home from the YW meeting, I read. Sunday afternoon after church, I read. I read and read and read. It was truly a glorious weekend.

Food Rules

I love food. I have done a lot of reading about various types of "cuisines" and healthy eating, etc. and have a set of beliefs regarding healthy food that diverges from the mainstream a bit. If you ever want to talk food, I love to do it. An author that I enjoy, even if I don't agree with him 100%, is Michael Pollan. He wrote a book I loved called The Botany of Desire, an examination of 4 particular plants' struggle to propagate, and how making themselves valuable to humans has helped them achieve that goal. (Doesn't that sound fascinating?) He also wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma, proposing that we humans make a decision every day that no other creature on earth has to make. What should I eat? Animals are driven by instinct regarding their diet, and can only eat what is in front of them. Even those that are able to exercise some choice, other omnivores like bears, for example, are still restricted by season and availability. You can only eat salmon when the salmon are running, and you can only eat blueberries during the week they are "on." The choice is still very limited. Humans, however, have managed to overcome almost all obstacles to eating whatever they desire. Has this made us healthier or wiser in terms of food? Interesting book. He has written other books as well. Because of his interest in human nature and diet, Mr. Pollan has done a lot of studying and researching various types of foods and the science behind them and has put together a little book that I love. It's called Food Rules.
It's a cute little 140 page paperback full of rules to follow if you want to be healthy. I think anyone interested in healthy eating would enjoy this book. Mr. Pollan advises choosing judiciously the rules that you think you can abide by, and here are a few of my favorites.

2. Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.

3. Avoid food products containing ingredients no ordinary human would keep in the pantry. (Ethoxylated diglycerides? Calcium propionate? Xanthan gum? If you wouldn't cook with it, don't let someone else cook with it for you.)

10. Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they are not. (Imitation butter, nonfat cream cheese, artificial sweeteners, etc. If it's not real, don't eat it.)

27. Eat animals that themselves have eaten well. (It's only humane to allow other animals the life that makes them healthy and happy - sunshine, fresh air, good natural foods. And, their optimal health translates to healthy animal products for us.)

39. (My Favorite!) Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself. (Want doughnuts? Make them yourself. Fried chicken, ice cream, or french fries? Cook them yourself. Chances are you will eat them far less often if you have to put forth the effort to cook and clean up.)

47. Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored. (Old wives test: If you are not hungry enough to eat an apple, your aren't really hungry. Food is a costly antidepressant.)

58. Do all your eating at a table. (Studies show you eat less when at a table than when you are focused on doing something else, like watching TV.)

64. Break the rules once in a while.

These are just a few of the "rules" Mr. Pollan proposes. They all make sense and it's fun to read and choose between them as you examine your eating habits and see where improvements could be made. I disagree with a couple of things he says (I always find something). At one point he lists a couple of traditional diets as examples of how vastly different diets can result in physically healthy populations, like the Inuits' diet comprising mostly seal blubber, Central American Indians eating mostly maize and beans, and the Masai tribesmen subsisting mainly on cattle blood, meat and milk. Then he concludes that one should, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Given his examples of diverse diets (along with research from Weston Price, among others) I think his conclusion ought to read, "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly unprocessed."
Plants are very good. I just think one can be just as healthy on more of a protein-based diet, IF (note the big if) one avoids all processed foods like refined sugars, processed flours, etc.
Now, I am not the best at practicing what I preach. We have cake from a mix occasionally, and I frequently (too frequently) make my bread from white flour, but I see what I want my family's diet to be, and I'm working to get there. This book gives some fun, concise rules to help me get there. I loved it. (It's available at the Hurricane Branch of the library. 613.2 Pollan)

Coming in April:

If you buy this dvd and share with me, I will bake you cookies and be your friend forever.

http://www.buy.com/prod/young-victoria/q/loc/322/214320922.html

A piece on peace

I read an interesting article in the March issue of the Independent. The article was titled Peace Treaty and was written by Janice Brooks-Nichter. I wasn't sure who this person was, but a quick google search gave me the scant information that she is an inspirational and motivational speaker who lives in Ivins. So I still don't know much about her, but she had a couple of things to say that I found enlightening.
One idea she discusses is how it feels to be at peace with yourself. She feels that she is at peace with herself and proposes that being at peace, personally in your life, is a different experience than she expected it to be, and probably different than most people would expect. She (and most of us, probably) expected being at peace to feel calm and soothed, quiet and passive. Her experience was the opposite.

The original definition of peace was to be without conflict, or the have the absence or cessation of war or hostility. The definition of being soothed or tranquil is actually a later definition of the word peace. But her point is: peace, true inner peace, is not passive. It is electric, full of energy. The author felt harmonious in heart and brain, in belief and intellect. Sparkling. Exuberant. Invigorated. This was a novel idea for me. I also had the idea that people with inner peace would be calm, quiet, soothing, almost passive. I thought I should feel those quiet things to truly be a person at peace with myself. Now I think I see more possibilities from inner peace. If I am at peace, I will be without inner conflict, I will have an absence of hostility towards myself or my beliefs or my actions. But be passive? No way. I can easily imagine I would be full of joy and love, and wanting to share that joy and love with fervor and determination. I would actively try to bring my peace to others by my service and my devotion, and by sharing my knowledge. It's really a nice image, this idea of an ebullient inner peace. I like it. And I think it's far more achievable for me than my previous ideal of calm, quiet contentment.

The other idea she shares that gave me pause was one of her steps towards achieving inner peace. The number one step Ms. Brooks-Nichter suggested was to forgive. I had heard the admonition to forgive all my life, and can see the importance of that step. I have tried very hard to forgive anyone that I have held a grudge against in an effort to avoid the consequent resentment cankering my soul. But then the author suggested that not only should we make a list of those who have wronged us, but that we also should make a list of those we may have wronged in our past and try to contact them to apologize. We should make the effort to make sure no one has a reason to hold a grudge against us. By not making that effort, we may be instrumental in jeopardizing someone else's long-term peace and happiness. This was a bit of a revelation to me. I have always tried to apologize when I have made mistakes, but in terms of looking back farther than, say, last month, I have only ever focused on myself forgiving others, not the other way round. I, apparently, have been very self-centered when it comes to forgiveness. "Who has wronged ME? Whom do I need to forgive? In terms of all those less enlightened souls who have sinned against ME, look how my magnanimous forgiveness will keep ME from suffering." My selfish attitude leads me to believe I may have wronged many more people that I had previously admitted to. I should try, and hopefully will try, to make more effort towards righting past wrongs, most especially the ones I may have committed.

The entire article was interesting to read, and helpful to me as I look for ways to reduce stress in my life and find more peace. I highly recommend it. (The Independent, March, 2010, page 5.)

last monday before SCHOOL AGAIN!!!!

Today was beautiful and sunny and gorgeous! Even with a serious sleep-deficit hangover from the Daylight Savings time change (it's for our own good!!), I managed to seriously enjoy most of the lovely day today. And how, you ask, did you manage to not seriously enjoy ALL of the lovely day today? Two words. Yard work. Yes, I got the kids out doing yard work today. Can I just say how much fun it is to supervise my unrestrained children in an activity that involves both the yard (read: dirt) and work (read: play.) Spring dirt is just too fun to leave in it's place. Apparently it needs to be not only dug and raked, but also thrown, pitched, tossed, lobbed, and essentially moved about through the air in as many ways as possible. And all that can only happen after you examine it carefully for worms and bugs. At least there was laughter, giggling, and general camaraderie. We did get a lot of weeds sprayed (well, I did, anyway). And we did fix the gate at the side of the house so that the back yard once again is able to contain children (well, I did, anyway.) And we did get the back yard raked of the remnants of last year's leaves (well, I did. You get the picture.) The one job the munchkins were truly helpful with was picking up last year's tiny pecans from our back yard pecan tree. I offered one penny per 10 nuts. I will end up paying out $3.35. Not a lot of moolah, and 3350 nuts in the trash. Wow, that's a lot of nuts! From the tree, I mean. Not the kids.

Finally Friday

I have been fighting some sort of a virus or something this week. I feel better today, but it's been a rough week. It feels like something I ate -lower intestinal discomfort, along with achy and tired. Did anyone else get sick after picnic on Tuesday? I guess since 2 of my kids have been unwell also, albeit with not identical symptoms, it seems most likely to be a virus of some sort. Finally had a full night's sleep last night, and today I'm actually able to stand up straight without the help of ibuprofen to kill the cramps. I have gotten a bit of reading done over the week. Finished Fablehaven 4 (anxiously awaiting #5 release next week!!), a book about the Smother's Brothers (if you haven't seen them, they are a hoot - look them up on youtube and watch some of their comedy/folk song sketches), a book about growing up the daughter of a serial killer (fascinating perspective, and one I never though about before), as well as making it halfway through a history of the "infamous" LeBaron clan by one of the inside members of that religion. Some interesting info percolating in my head. Russell's family is related to these LeBarons, although they had very little to do with that part of the family, as those cousins spent most of their time in the Mormon colonies in Mexico.
I've been to Colonia Juarez (in Chihuahua, Mexico) with a friend in high school. It was a fun trip, and I enjoyed it. Many very nice people there. I did get sick from eating some local popsicles and spent an afternoon truly wishing I could just curl up and die, but other than that it was a lovely trip. Colonia Juarez was a place in which the LeBaron's spent many years before the family moved a bit west to found Colonia LeBaron. So, interestingly enough, I've been much closer to the LeBaron history there in Mexico than has my husband, if only geographically. If I'd known whom I would eventually marry, I'm sure many people I met could have easily told me a great deal about the LeBaron's who had lived in their midst ( there are probably still some who do.) Life is full of coincidences.

Tuesday 10

I baby sat at the gym yesterday and the little girls wanted to watch Sleeping Beauty. I love that movie. It appeals the romantic in me. As we watched it, I thought about how the hero and heroine have so much potential, and it made me little sad. Strange reason for melancholy, no? They are young, they are privileged, and they are beautiful. A chance meeting in the woods has the possibility of being life-changing. So many possible choices, so many paths before each of them. Upon reflection, I think the bit of sadness I feel stems from a long-term, ongoing mourning for my youth and potential. Now, I hope you don't misunderstand me. I have made decisions I am at peace with. I truly love my life, my husband, my children. I would not change a thing. The loss that I mourn is not the alternate lives I could be leading, but the possibility of those alternate lives. When you are young and beautiful and privileged (as we all hope we are, right?) you can do anything. The older you get, the fewer opportunities you have for changing your life, for choosing alternate paths - even if you would never actually choose them. Sometimes I have a dream where something outlandish is happening, like I'm being courted by a prince, or I'm starring in a movie with my favorite actor, or I'm traveling the world on a whim, and then I realize, in the dream, that I'm 40 years old, I'm married and I have 5 kids and I can't possibly have the adventure I was about to have in the dream. Then I wake up. And there is always a little feeling of melancholy. I don't feel trapped or hard-pressed, just a bit sad for the death of possibility. Of course I will keep watching movies and reading books that put me in the middle of fantastic adventures and story lines, and I will enjoy them immensely. And although I will feel a little sad that I will never actually experience the reality of adventures like that, I will try to truly appreciate magic and beauty of the adventure I am living, the one that I chose.

Play Day

I had 2 play days wherein I made no blog posts. But I did read both the second and third books of Fablehaven, so the time wasn't totally wasted. I'm really enjoying this series, and I think I'll need to buy a boxed set as soon as a paperback one becomes available. I'm sure the kids will love it.
Today we went out to Sand Hollow, where the sand has blown across the road, and loaded a pickup full of that great red sand to bring home to our sandbox. We built the box last summer, and have just been putting off getting the sand.
Today Russ needed some sand for another project he was working on, so the time was finally right. It's done, looks beautiful, and the kids are having a great time. I hope the sand brought into the house will be minimal.
The best thing about the box we built is the hinged door on the top to cover the box when not in use. No kitty poop, or inches of dead leaves, or soaked and soggy sand from the rain. The doors latch to the porch railing when raised, and cannot be accidentally unlatched.

10 on Discovery

This morning I had to punish Katie for melting a plastic toy on top of the very hot wood stove. It's dangerous and destructive, not to mention stinky. I think a lesson was learned, hopefully the most important being stay away from the hot (HOT!) stove. A bit later I had to tell Lizzy not to drink directly from the milk jug!! Some of the things I find myself saying to my children seem so obvious to me. But I don't believe my kids are malicious or even particularly rebellious. Perhaps things that appear obvious to me...aren't. I started to think about how things become obvious to us, during the course of our lives. I know my parents used to get mad at me and my siblings quite often (whose didn't?). Although I don't remember many specifics at all, I'm sure there were many things similar to those for which I find myself frustrated with my kids. It only makes sense that the "obvious" things are actually learned through trial and error. Now, I'm sure we don't have to try everything, but I guess we need to try enough of certain types of things to then predict possible consequences from similar actions. My kids are just young enough to be near the bottom of the learning curve of "obvious" things. I should probably see these events in the context of a lifetime. Maybe this little insight will help me control the frustration level a bit, knowing that my kids are really just learning skills that will see them through the next 70-80 years of life.

Same subject, different angle: Do you remember the lessons you learned from those "experiments" you and your sibling performed as kids? Many have come flooding back to me during this journey of thought. Pepper sprinkled on a hot electric burner will ignite piece by piece in little flashes. Plastic doll hair will melt when held about 2 inches above a toaster that is turned on. You cannot iron tricot with an iron set to the cotton setting. It instantly melts, leaving an iron-shaped hole in the fabric. (I wonder if my mom ever noticed that robe went missing?) Also, you can get melted tricot off of an iron if you wait for it to cool down and then chip it off, flake by flake. The tape from an audio cassette will stretch from my house clear up to the elementary school, and beyond (How far beyond, I don't know, because by then enough cars had driven over the tape to break it, and I was late for school anyway.) Your brother can actually dial a number, and then hang up the phone without you seeing it, thereby leading you to believe he has called his teacher and confirmed that it is indeed a school holiday. Very few insects actually eat grass, despite the high hopes of millions of kids with grass and insect-filled mason jars. You really can catch things on fire with a magnifying glass and the sun. And last, but not least, you cannot, no matter how much effort you put into it, swing totally around the top bar of the swing set. Ah, the frivolous yet fascinating body of knowledge gathered in an active childhood.

Joy #8 - Elizabeth Ann

My Elizabeth turned 8 years old this year, in January. I have a hard time expressing how much she means to me. She is the middle child, and I have had a different and interesting relationship with her from her birth. She was as eagerly anticipated as any of her siblings. She was the first child I had at the birthing clinic in Centennial Park, which by the way was a wonderful experience I repeated with the two following children. And was she ever in a hurry to come. 3 hours from beginning to end of labor. I think she was finished being with me and ready to begin her relationship with her daddy. From day one she adored her dad. I fed and cleaned and cared for her during the day, but when Russell came home from work, my time was over. He was the snuggler and tickler and all-around pal whenever he was home. She and he have always had a very close, loving connection. Of all my children, she was the only true Daddy's Girl. He calls her his little monkey, and she just glows when he's around. Of course, I love her dearly, as well.
Lizzy (her preferred nickname) is full of life an enjoys almost everything she does. And her joy is infectious. Her smile seems to spread from her face to the faces of everyone around.
She is true to the stereotypical redheaded temperament, fiery and full of passion. She (like her sister Megan before her) has the ability to slay with just a look. At the same time, she is very tender and compassionate. She's a very loyal friend, and guards her relationships carefully. She feels things so very deeply. I love her so very much. She makes me work hard at motherhood, partly due to the challenges she presents to my temper, but also because I know I need to work hard to give her all the love/attention she needs and deserves.
She is beautiful and talented and artistic and passionate. She has so many great qualities I aspire to cultivate in myself.
She has been blessed to have a life full of good examples and so she eagerly chose to be baptized at 8 years old. As has become a tradition in our family, her dad performed the baptism, and then her Grandpa Mike confirmed her a member of the church.
It's so touching to see her striving to choose the right in her everyday life. She feels the Savior's admonitions to love and serve others very keenly and actively searches for ways to do that. I am blessed by her example and humbled to have her as a daughter. She truly makes me want to be a better person. What more could I possibly ask?

Monday, Monday...

I have really enjoyed the song Praan, by Gary Schyman (top of the playlist on my player today). I first heard it in this video "Where in the hell is Matt?", which went viral a couple of years ago and has been a huge hit online. Watch it in HD if you can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlfKdbWwruY
On the surface it doesn't seem momentous, or deep, or extremely important. But it is joyful, and moving, and just plain fun to watch. My kids absolutely love it.
"Praan" was composed by Gary Schyman specifically for the video. The lyrics are adapted from a Rabindranath Tagore poem, and the singer - Palbasha Siddique - was recruited from YouTube to sing these specific lyrics. She croons in Bengali.

Stream of Life
by Rabindranath Tagore

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

The poet talks of seeing all things in the world as participating in the same energy, the same stream of life. The video shows the filmmaker participating in the same dance the world over, with people from all countries and walks of life. Although perhaps frivolous in the face of world disasters like the Haiti earthquake, etc., there is still something deeply moving about this video. It illustrates the commonality between us all, and the joy of community and humanity. It seems so full of hope. So I share it with you, and hope you enjoy it as much as I do.