Seamus Heaney April 13, 1939- August 30, 2013

Doubletake 

Human beings suffer,
they torture one another,
they get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
can fully right a wrong
inflicted and endured.

The innocent in gaols
beat on their bars together.
A hunger-striker's father
stands in the graveyard dumb.
The police widow in veils
faints at the funeral home

History says, Don't hope
on this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
the longed for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea-change
on the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles
and cures and healing wells.

Call the miracle self-healing:
The utter self-revealing
double-take of feeling.
if there's fire on the mountain
or lightning and storm
and a god speaks from the sky.

That means someone is hearing
the outcry and the birth-cry
of new life at its term.

The World´s Largest Cave

Sơn Đoòng cave (hang Sơn Đoòng, "Mountain River cave" in Vietnamese)[1] is a cave in Vietnam and the biggest known cave in the world.  It has a large fast-flowing underground river inside.

Sơn Đoòng Cave was discovered by a local man in 1991. The local jungle men were afraid of the cave for the whistling sound it makes. It was not until 2009 that it became public after a group of British cave scientists conducted a survey.

the spoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFN32_nqT8

“Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.”

Buddha

Proof - Western Civilization Doomed! Miley "Degrades" Foam Finger.

'She degraded an icon!' Foam finger inventor Steve Chmelar is angry as Miley Cyrus 'misrepresents' his creation.

OMG! What has she done!!
(Miley used the icon hand in a lewd way at VMA awards.   So the inventor is thinking " I created this absurd thing and you misused it "). 

Gotta give her credit.  Who would've thought that someone could make the hand more absurd? Takes some kind of talent.  And I can't imagine that drunken college students and sports fans would ever misuse the "finger"  Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2406472/Miley-Cyrus-degraded-icon--Foam-finger-inventor-Steve-Chmelars-fury.html#ixzz2dUto7VCD

reflections

The salt flats in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia have mineral deposits which  create the world's biggest natural mirror that stretches 6,500 miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2MOXksZ2UE

"I always have a full-length mirror next to the camera when I'm doing publicity stills. That way, I know how I look." Marilyn Monroe 

largest sunflower stats

Tallest plant: 
25 ft. 5 ½ in. (7.76m) tall grown by M Heijms in Oirschot, Netherlands in 1986.

Largest head: 
32 ¼ in. (82 cm) diameter grown by Emily Martin in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada in 1983.

Most flowers: 
837 flowers on a single plant grown by Melvin Hemker in Saint Charles, Michigan, USA in 2001.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMOec6tK8ps

Helen Keller  "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do."

the atheist and the bear

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that evolution had created.

"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!", he said to himself. As he was walking along the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned to see what the cause was, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charging right towards him. He ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing, He ran even faster, crying in fear. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.

At that moment, the Atheist cried out "Oh my God!...." Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, "You deny my existence for all of these years; teach others I don''''t exist; and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"

The atheist looked directly into the light "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?" "Very well," said the voice.

The light went out. The river ran again. And the sounds of the forest resumed. And then the bear dropped on his right knee ..... brought both paws together...bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful."