Sold! Sold! Sold!

Final Sales Agreement Reached On Property

A final agreement is in hand for the sale of a property me and my ex-wife own in Warren, Pennsylvania. After two weeks of negotiating a price and resolving several side issues, the deal is done with the transfer of money-for-land set for July 31, 2006.

The price was right, although several thousand dollars below market value. After paying off the outstanding mortgage, the ex and me will split a sizeable amount. Considering the current depressed state of home sales locally and nationwide, this went fast, mostly because the buyers and paying cash.

I’ll move on with the two cats to a one-bedroom apartment, which is much easier for me to handle physically.

The Road to New Hope
Almost time for me to leave,
get on the road to new hope.
Turn away the sadness within.
Point my face to the Eastern sun,
Grab the cats, smile, move on.

Adjust mind and body.
Ease the physical burdens,
Quell the emotional distress.
Heal pain, embrace renewal.

Leave this cozy Ivy-covered brick
Once hostel for two living life‘s dream.
Now cloistering one in bitter-sweet memories
Where walls weep with disappointment

Three decades of commitment diminished
Another’s mind set on a quest for Original Happiness.
Vows disregarded, spirit shattered, dreams dead-ended,
Is this earthly fulfillment weighted by an Original Offense?

Civil authorities cut God’s sealed bond
Man’s paper decree official, firm and final?
Reckoning still due in the High Court.
Where Almighty Justice rules everlasting!

The road to new hope offers promise.
Straight ahead toward a brighter horizon?
Pathways for inner peace, enlightenment?
Is the best is just down the road?

A Blond for the Ukraine!

Tymoshenko Seeks Gas Deal Review

By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer The Moscow Times
with Sergei Chuzavkov / AP

A victorious Yulia Tymoshenko posing after the announcement of a government coalition deal in Kiev on Thursday.

Bloggers insert: Yulia joins a distinguished group of Blonds in Power worldwide who have brians as well as beauty including, Angela Merkel, German Chancellor (although Angela is kind of a frumpy frau); Michelle Blanchete, president of Chili; Sandra Froman, president of the National Rifle Association, among others.

While she is not yet Ukraine's prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko on Thursday began outlining what she wanted to do once in office, beginning with revisiting a Russian gas deal forged after supplies were halted in January.

"I think all issues on gas supplies to Ukraine now require further deep revision and review," Tymoshenko told the parliament in Kiev.

Tymoshenko stressed that "all new relations with Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan should be built on a friendly basis."

But sources close to the Kremlin immediately homed in on Tymoshenko's remarks, warning of a wider energy conflict.

"It is another wake-up call for Europe," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said. "Realization of the threats voiced today is the path to a new gas crisis."

Political analyst Sergei Markov said: "If Tymoshenko does revise the gas agreements with Russia, this could lead to a widescale war that would engulf the whole of Europe."

Analyst Gleb Pavlovksy added that Tymoshenko was "trying to blackmail Russia and Europe. ... Taking advantage of its transit location, Ukraine wants to steal gas."

Tymoshenko personally announced the formation of the new government -- including her bloc, which is named after her; the Socialist Party; and President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine -- at the parliament's Thursday session.

Not a Blond!

Noto Bene: I usually reserve this space for profiles of blonds who have been distniguished as the "first woman/female to achieve this position of power. But I'll make an exception for this important appointment. If you want to see the latest Blond in Power scroll down to find the first woman president of the National Rifle Association



Nevada Bishop Chosen 1st Female Episcopal Leader By RACHEL ZOLL
AP Religion Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Nevada Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori became the first woman picked to lead an Anglican province Sunday when she was elected presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, a groundbreaking and potentially divisive step that comes three years after the denomination ordained an openly gay bishop.

Standing before cheering delegates to the Episcopal General Convention, Jefferts Schori said she was "awed and honored and deeply privileged to be elected." Outgoing Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold was at her side as she was introduced after closed-door balloting.
and could even splinter _ the already difficult relations between the American denomination and its fellow Anglicans.

Episcopalians have been sparring with many in the other 37 Anglican provinces over homosexuality, but a female leader adds a new layer of complexity to the already troubled relationship.

Only two other Anglican provinces _ New Zealand and Canada _ have female bishops, although some allow women to serve in the post.
Still, there are many Anglican leaders who believe women should not even be priests. Those opposed to female clergy often cite the unbroken tradition of male priesthood in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions, and in the Anglican Communion until about 30 years ago.

At the General Convention where Jefferts Schori was elected, delegates have been debating whether to appease Anglican leaders by agreeing to temporarily stop ordaining gay bishops.

In 2003, the Americans shocked the Anglican world by electing the first openly gay bishop _ V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. Placing a female bishop at the head of the denomination may further anger conservatives overseas and within the U.S. church. And Jefferts Schori voted to confirm Robinson.
"I will bend over backward to build relationships with people who disagree with me," she pledged at a news conference.

Whether that will be enough will play out in the months ahead. The Rev. Canon Chris Sugden, a leader of the Anglican Mainstream, a Church of England conservative group, said Jefferts Schori's election "shows that the Episcopal leadership is going to do what they want to do regardless of what it means to the rest of the communion."

Episcopal bishops elected Jefferts Schori on the fifth ballot. She collected 95 votes, with 93 others split between the rest of the field _ six candidates, all men. Other General Convention delegates confirmed the choice.

Gasps could be heard throughout the vast convention hall when Jefferts Schori's name was announced. The Rev. Jennifer Adams from Western Michigan, speaking from the floor, called Jefferts Schori "a woman of integrity, consistency and faith. I have no doubt her election as presiding bishop will be a gift to our church."

Yet several delegates said they feared the global consequences.
"I can't

Essay on man & animal

Close Encounters Leave Memories, Affirm Connection With Nature.
by John R. Evanetski

Those close encounters of a spontaneous kind with Nature and its creatures form satisfying and lasting memories, lift the spirit, and affirm a connection between man and animal. Coming unexpectedly upon wildlife and their life in the wild is an intimate experience.

Rounding a turn on a forest trail and meeting a fawn deer eye-to-eye is an exercise in mutual trust. Many yearling deer have had no contact with man; likewise for many hikers, hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts. So, that first sighting for both man and animal is a time of curious wonder requiring an unspoken assurance from both that this meeting is without malicious intent. The parting is done with a sense of respect and acknowledgement that man and animal can co-exist without threat or worry, if they choose.

Spotting ‘possum feeding on the leaves of a sapling tree under the lush green canopy of an Eastern hardwood forest is a study in eating efficiency. Slowly they turn, leaf by leaf , meticulously examining each specimen with near clinical precision. Slowly they dine, taking small bites, chewing, re-examining, chewing, re-examining. Meal ends, slowly they descend, one hand-hold at a time, calmly sliding through the groundcover, unfettered in their conquest.

Listening to coyotes call to each other as they run almost reckless along the rocky ridge tops of the Western mountains, or observing a Bull Elk unabashedly splash through an alpine meadow while bellowing his distinctive bugle, is a study of contrasts.

At times the coyote sounds what seems a lonesome cry, a hungry howl, waling the woes of a solitary existence. At other times, this wild dog sings with joy for the camaraderie of life with the pack, content with being himself, wild and free.

The massive bull elk is a family man. Enjoying as much the social companionship of the female as obedience to the instinctive drive for continuance that is bourn from the need, and hugh desire, to procreate the species. But it is the breathe and scope of his size that belies the near-hollow whistle of the bull’s bugled note.

For the human, it’s a matter of awareness, that of being attuned to the sounds of nature, widening the eye to catch that faint shadow, flaring the nostrils for a telltale scent, which reveals the wonders of the woods and its inhabitants.