SSA Blog #011     By Michelle Drew     November 14, 2005

Happy Monday to all. We spent the weekend exploring the north loop of Yellowstone, and once again were simply awed by the magnificent beauty of the scenery and the wildlife. We actually rode in the middle of a herd of buffalo for about a mile. The creatures were calm and beautiful. Robert kept his wits about him while driving, and I spoke to them while taking pictures. It was simply thrilling. The pictures will be up soon after we go through them. Sadly, we hear that they will begin to hunt the buffalo again for the first time since 1991. As a non-hunter, it is so painful to think of these magnificent creatures becoming trophies on walls.

Our time out here has been quite rewarding. We have found the locals friendly and happy to fill us in on local history and sights. If you are like us and had never considered this area for a vacation, we urge you to rethink. It is impossible to understand the vastness and enormity of the ranges, the buttes and the mountains without
seein and experiencing it for yourself. We do hope that you take the opportunity to check out a most valuable and fascinating piece of American history.

All Good Thoughts

Expect everything in life to take longer than you think - except life itself.
Hilary Price

Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring about right results.
James Allen

Hold up to him his better self, his real self that can dare and
do and win out . . . People radiate what is in their minds and
in their hearts.
Eleanor H. Porter

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.
Hal Borland

Inspirational Thoughts

LISTEN LOUDER by Steve Goodier

A man realized he needed to purchase a hearing aid, but he felt
unwilling to spend much money. "How much do they run?" he asked the
clerk.

"That depends," said the salesman. "They run from $2.00 to $2,000."

"Let's see the $2.00 model," he said.

The clerk put the device around the man's neck. "You just stick this
button in your ear and run this little string down to your pocket," he
in­structed.

How does it work?" the customer asked.

"For $2.00 ­ it doesn't work," the sales­man replied. "But when people
see it on you, they'll talk louder!"

As you know, most communication prob­lems are not due to people
talking too softly. Un­for­tu­nately, we are not always good
listeners. Do you know that people will pay hun­dreds of dollars an
hour for no other reason than to have someone lis­ten to them?

Psychologist Carl Rogers said, "A person's real need, a most terrible
need, is for someone to listen…not as a 'patient' but as a human
soul." To listen well is to respond to a great human yearning.

One small child put it like this: "I'll try to listen louder." What
might happen if you "listened louder" today?

Picture of the Day - Flaming Gorge

flaming Gorge, Utah