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photo bt Gary D. Brune courtesy of The NFL Network, NBC and KHSL Channel 24.
I took this photograph off the television screen. This is the last scrimmage of the Red, White, and Blue game, which turned out to bring the New England Patriots to a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants and a perfect 16-0 regular season record. Since NBC showed this game from the NFL feed, it is the closest to America's Game.
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2007
The first snow of Winter 2007-08 started in my part of the world at about 10 pm, as shown by this bush.
I've been privy to an interesting debate over the last couple days in light of the Tiger incident on Christmas Night in San Francisco. The major proponent of this debate argues that all zoos, circuses and rodeos should be closed out of respect for the safety and respect of animals we keep imprisoned therein.
Furthermore, so this argument goes, the only way we should be able to learn about our natural world is through the intrepid explorers who dared to commit that world to video. If we want to know about a Siberian tiger, then we should pop a dvd into our player and watch the animal on our television.
The consequence of that particular philosophy is that the common man would only be able to directly interact with the natural world incidentally and accidentally as they travel about through their day. The birds would fly by, squirrels would scold one as they hide in trees, and a rare dear, lizard, or raccoon would flash by as their paths cross ours.
I have argued before that society has enough problems with interaction as people drive by buttoned up in their automobiles. They keep their windows rolled up so tight that the world is out there, just beyond the reach of the senses of those within that automobile. If we were to further follow this argument I cite above, then we would forever isolate ourselves from any opportunity to directly interact with Nature.
The zoo, as we may recall, is a direct descendant of what the ancient traveler and trader brought back from their travels to other lands. While in olden days, seeing tigers, elephants and other fantastic animals were the primary province of the rich, the zoos and circuses democratized that experience, and brought the natural world to the common man.
Technology may have democratized that experience to the point where where the original institution may have outlived its usefulness. However if the only opportunity that I might have to experience nature is through electrified silicon, then the only animals I will have to interact with are my two dogs, my cat, and a few Daddy Longlegs spiders.
Since we already isolate ourselves in our cars, imagine what life would be like when Nature is as close as our local video store. No wonder society is all messed up, we are forgetting what it is like to be human, and soon we may forget what being natural is like as well.
photo by Gary D. Brune Copyright 2007
Christmas in the neighborhood. Happy New Year to my readers
I published this letter on February 6, 2004 in the Chico News & Review in part to honor my late wife, Vicki Lee Brune, and in part to help launch the Think Red campaign of the American Heart Association. This will come up again in February
The first week of this month has come and gone, and very few people took notice of the "Think Red" campaign from the American Heart Association. I pray that next year more people will notice it and pay attention to the women's cardio health issues raised through this effort by the AHA.
Like the "Think Pink" campaign for breast cancer research, this initiative is designed to focus attention on another women's health issue--heart disease, which is one of the major but little known killers of women each year. I've been told that there hasn't been as much attention focused on this as this as men's cardiovascular problems. But on Feb. 6, I wore red and something special to my wife.
Even though she was prone to strokes, not one of the doctors she saw regularly shared the signs of this problem with her or me or specifically brought up the possibility of heart attack. So when a sharp pain shot across her back, we thought it was a muscle cramp and I tried to massage it away, the way I had with tight muscles before. That was on Tuesday.
Thursday night, it hit. She had a lot of sudden pain, and as she eventually rose from her chair, she had the grip of three men. Neither she nor I had any idea of what was going on. She was an insulin-dependent diabetic, so we thought it related to her blood sugar.
When insulin didn't work, I called the paramedics and got her to the hospital. Only much later did I learn that she had suffered a massive heart attack. Vicki Brune succumbed to it five days later.
As her husband and caretaker, the initial event caught me completely by surprise. I had no information to prepare me for the signs of trouble. She was my best friend, and if I had known what to look for, I might not be writing this today.
Information is the key here. From what I've heard, too many women ignore the signs of pending heart problems because nobody tells what to pay attention to. How many husbands or significant others feel helpless for just these same reasons? I miss my friend, but maybe the American Heart Association can get this knowledge out to women and make Feb. 6 a day to draw attention to this issue. And may there be no more widowers because the information isn't out there. Maybe if we all could think red for life, women and men could live to see a better tomorrow.
This article was printed from the Columns morrow. section of the Chico News & Review.
Yuck! Today is the last day of finals, the end of school for this semester -- five days before Christmas. In all my years of schooling, I've never had the two days come so close. This might be a good thing though as the rain passes us by up here.
Since all I have to celebrate with are two dogs and a cat that likes to cuddle, perhaps the lack of buildup time is a good thing. It gives me time to prepare for my special New Year's ritual, one I share here after 20 years of praying to the future.
Every year, on New Year's Day, I greet the day with new clothes, a complete outfit from head to foot. It is part of my simple New Year's wish – May the new year be better than the one we just left.
The one year I was unable to do this ripped my heart out. My wife, Vicki Lee Vaughn-Brune, 51, who I had known for 14 years, died from a massive heart attack. Because her cardiovascular event came without warning, I am now an advocate for the American Heart Association's annual Think Red campaign. More on this tomorrow.
photo by Gary D. Brune copyright 2007
Taken from the B-Line 40 bus detoured to Bille Road, Paradise at Noon today because of road construction on its normal route. The intersection of Skyway and Wagstaff had been tied up today because of construction so the Butte County buses had to take an alternative route which added about 15 minutes to their normal run.,