I subscribe to

DailyOM - Nurturing Mind Body & Spirit (syndicated above), a daily e-mail to mull over. Today's was about how many of us are used to helping others (and as a librarian, I make a career out of it) but find it difficult to ask for help ourselves. I have to admit, I definitely fall in that category. I think maybe some of my current problems have taught me to ask for help more easily as well as to acknowledge when I make mistakes. Those are both very difficult for me, but I am learning. It also makes me appreciate help more thoroughly, and want to help others more intensely when I can.

So for those of you who have helped me, thank you. I reached out and you were there, and I appreciate it beyond words. I hope I can be there for you when you need me.

And as a postscript, let me add a special thank-you to the person last night who blinked their headlights in an effort to show a road hazard. I wouldn't have seen the family of ducks and their ducklings crossing Richmond Road at night. As it was, I hit the brakes and burnt rubber as I narrowly missed skidding into them or into the reservoir, but no harm was done, and I realised how close I came to killing other creatures and possibly myself, and it was a little scary. I had been driving somewhat on automatic, watching the cars but forgot that this time of year there are often wildlife that cross at that point. Since the one time I killed anything with a car (a cat) I was hysterical for quite some time, it's very good nothing bad happened this time.

Okay, so maybe I couldn't kill a chicken for food, if I nearly run off the road for ducklings, right? I've been debating that one for some time, wondering if I should start eating poultry in addition to the fish I do now. Let's face it, I even like worms and bugs and try not to kill them unnecessarily. I should probably be vegan, or at least ovo-lacto vegetarian without killing anything. I tend to be on the Buddhist/Jain kind of thinking in terms of killing other creatures.