How could something so pretty smell so BAD?

DSC_0034 (2).JPG

I was talking with a friend and we had a short discussion of how pretty Bradford pear trees can be,,,but what an offensive odor they have!  How could this be….something so attractive to the sight be so offensive to the smell?

From Business Insider:

The fishy odor produced by the Bradford Pear is likely a combination of two amines called trimethylamine and dimethylamine, according to Richard Banick, a botanical manager at Bell Flavors and Fragrances. Although perfumers know what chemicals produce the fishy smell (trimethylamine is often used an indicator of how fresh a fish is) they can’t be certain what causes the odor of the Bradford Pear, said Banick.

Plants that produce volatile amines, some that smell like rotting meat, use the gas either to attract flies who will then spread the flower’s pollen, or to ward off insects that might want to steal the nectar, said Rodriguez.

Rodgriquez suspects that the volatile compounds in the Bradford tree are there as attractants, and not necessarily to repel pollinators.

Facebook Outage I Never Knew About Due to Hiatus

Reading about recent news events, it would appear that Facebook was offline nearly fourteen hours at some point over the past couple of days.  An outage that I wasn’t aware of, because I’m not on there.  Sounds like some people got to take a “break” without their permission.

 

2 hr 58 min ago

Facebook’s stock flails after major 14-hour outage

From CNN Business’ Jordan Valinsky

  • Facebook’s (FB) stock fell nearly 3% in early trading following a massive outage.
  • Some users weren’t able to access Facebook and other platforms owned by the company, including Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp for at least 14 hours.
  • It’s believed to be the social network’s biggest-ever interruption.
  • The disruption is likely to upset advertisers that spend large amounts of money to reach potential customers on Facebook platforms.

 

Additional information about outage:

FB Outage Story courtesy CNN

Daily Readings for Thursday, March 14th

24 Hours a Day

Meditation for the Day

Persevere in all that God’s guidance moves you to do. The persistent carrying out of what seems right and good will bring you to that place where you would be. If you look back over God’s guidance, you will see that His leading has been very gradual and that only as you have carried out His wishes, as far as you can understand them, has God been able to give you more clear and definite leading. You are led by God’s touch on a quickened, responsive mind.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may persevere in doing what seems right. I pray that I may carry out all of God’s leading, as far as I can understand it.

 

Language of Letting Go

Trusting Ourselves

Trust can be one of the most confusing concepts in recovery. Who do we trust? For what?

The most important trust issue we face is learning to trust ourselves. The most detrimental thing that’s happened to us is that we came to believe we couldn’t trust ourselves.

There will be some who tell us we cannot trust ourselves; we are off base and out of whack. There are those who would benefit by our mistrusting ourselves.

Fear and doubt are our enemies. Panic is our enemy. Confusion is our opposition.

Self-trust is a healing gift we can give ourselves. How do we acquire it? We learn it. What do we do about our mistakes, about those times we thought we could trust ourselves but were wrong? We accept them, and trust ourselves anyway.

We know what is best for us. We know what is right for us. If we are wrong, if we need to change our mind, we will be guided into that – but only by trusting where we are today.

We can look to others for support and reinforcement, but trust in ourselves is essential.

Do not trust fear. Do not trust panic. We can trust ourselves, stand in our own truth, and stand in our own light. We have it now. Already. We have all the light we need for today. And tomorrow’s light shall be given to us then.

Trust ourselves, and we will know whom to trust. Trust ourselves, and we will know what to do. When we feel we absolutely cannot trust ourselves, trust that God will guide us into truth.

God, help me let go of fear, doubt, and confusion – the enemies of self-trust. Help me go forward in peace and confidence. Help me grow in trust for you, and myself one day at a time, one experience at a time.

Thoughts on First Week of Social Media Sabbatical

Image result for no facebook sign

 

So it’s been a full week since the beginning of Lent and my hiatus from any sort of social media.  As I thought, it’s not always easy to get away from certain habits and this has been no exception.  You don’t realize how much time you spend doing something until you’re no longer doing it.

I do miss seeing what friends are up to and certain posts that were inspirational to myself and others.  I did include a link to my usual two inspirational posts each day and am aware that some are making use of them.  I’ve continued to take pictures of various things like sunrises and coffee cups, but it’s quite different when you don’t get a lot of feedback on what you’ve posted.  Only one FB friend has made a comment on my WordPress page about my missing status messages.

I still can find myself using technology pretty regularly.  I check my work and personal email fairly often and my WordPress stats as well.  But these aren’t constantly changing like social media are, so it’s pretty much a fruitless effort most of the time.  I am on a dating website, but this too offers very limited interaction with anyone the way social media does.

I will have to say there are certain parts of FB and the like that I don’t actually miss.  But for the most part, what I sought out to peruse was uplifting and many times of good humor.  And that I do miss.

I wish I could say that I’ve started some more constructive habits, like housecleaning and like, but such is not the case.  I need to do some decluttering and definitely need to start exercising more.  Perhaps week two of my sabbatical would be a most-excellent time to do this.

So those are my thoughts for now….let week two begin on a good note!

David Lee