Last day of Chinese New Year Festival. A celebration of light. The most wonderful lanterns I've ever seen! Plus, always, a full moon!
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 07, 2009 09:41 AM, EST
Ally is doing well. She is tolerating her nighttime feedings like a champ. She gets about an ounce an hour pumped directly into her tummy. It seems to be helping her daytime appetite as well. She is eating more than she normally does while she is on the medicine. (It is still not as much as a normal 2 year old should be eating.) She is still taking Tylenol every 4 hours. When she wakes up in the morning and after her naps she is very stiff and it takes her about 20 minutes to be able to move around like normal. When we pick her up now she bends her legs so her knees are touching us and not her belly. The surgeon said it would feel to Ally like someone keeps punching her in the stomach. She said it would be about 5 days before it felt better. Today is day 5!
Please note the (now former) pResident's wrists. . . It seems as if he's wearing, ahem, "Freedom" cuffs. . . . Talk about real, abiding, contempt for the Oval Office. . . . [look, they made it an issue, not me]
Oh. Wait. You already knew that, right?
Nevermind.
"There should be a dress code of respect," Card tells INSIDE EDITION. "I wish that he would wear a suit coat and tie."
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2009 07:45 PM, EST
Ally's G-Tube was placed today. Things did not run smoothly, at all, today. I am too tired to give details now, but Ally is doing well, and of course she was a superstar all day. As long as everything goes well tonight she should be home sometime tomorrow.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2009 05:10 PM, EST
Ally and Daddy were home by 12:30 today! All of Ally's supplies had already been delivered. Daddy was taught how to work the G-Tube, so everything is all set for us to fatten up our kid.
Yesterday did not run smoothly. Everything was late and people were not telling us what was going on. It was frustrating and almost 1 year in I didn't want to deal with people who didn't understand our situation. The most helpful people to us yesterday were the receptionists. Those ladies were nice. Ally turned out fine and the end result was the G-Tube was placed. Ally is fine today and doesn't seem to have any lasting effects. She is on tylenol round the clock (that means waking up at 2AM) for 5 days. She enjoys having tubies again. We have to go back for a follow up on Monday afternoon. Hopefully she will have put on some weight by then!
Enjoy the rest of your week.
A long, long time ago I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while.
But February made me shiver
With every paper I delivered,
Bad news on the door step,
I couldn't take one more step.
I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside,
The day, the music, died.
So...
Refrain:
Bye, bye Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
Them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey 'n' rye
Singin this will be the day that I die.
This will be the day that I die.
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above,
If the bible tells you so.
And do you believe in rock 'n' roll?
Can music save your mortal soul?
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?
Well I know that you're in love with him
Cuz I saw you dancin' in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes
And I dig those rhythm and blues.
I was a lonely teenage bronkin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pick up truck
But I knew I was out of luck,
The day, the music, died.
I started singin...
Refrain
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be,
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me.
Oh and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while Lennon read a book on Marx,
The quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark,
The day, the music, died.
We were singin'...
Refrain
Helter Skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and fallin' fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.
Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance
Oh but we never got the chance.
As the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed,
the day, the music, died?
We started singin'...
Refrain
Oh and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.
Jack Flash sat on a candle stick
Because fire is the devil's only friend.
Oh and as I watched him on the stage,
My hands were clinched in fists of rage,
No angel born in hell
Could break that Satan's spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight,
The day, the music, died.
He was singin'...
Refrain
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play.
And in the streets the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken,
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most,
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast,
The day, the music, died.
And they were singin'...
Refrain
They were singin'...
"The Winter Dance Party" was a tour that was set to cover 24 Midwestern cities in three weeks. A logistical problem with the tour was the amount of travel, as the distance between venues was not a priority when scheduling each performance. For example, the tour would start at venue A, travel 200 miles (320 km) to venue B, and travel back 170 miles (270 km) to venue C, which was only 30 miles (48 km) from venue A. Adding to the disarray, the tour bus used to carry the musicians was ill-prepared for the weather; its heating system broke shortly after the tour began. Drummer Carl Bunch developed a severe case of frostbitten feet while on the bus and was taken to a local hospital. As he recovered, Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens took turns with the drums.
The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa was never intended to be a stop on the tour, but promoters, hoping to fill an open date, called the manager of the ballroom at the time and offered him the show. He accepted and the date of the show was set for February 2.
By the time Buddy Holly arrived at the ballroom that evening, he was frustrated with the tour bus and told his bandmates that, once the show was over, they should try to charter a plane to get to the next stop on the tour, Moorhead, Minnesota. According to VH-1's Behind the Music: The Day the Music Died, Holly was also upset that he had run out of clean undershirts, socks, and underwear. He needed to do some laundry before the next performance, and the local laundromat in Clear Lake was closed that day.
Flight arrangements were made with Roger Peterson, 21, a local pilot who worked for Dwyer Flying Service in Mason City, Iowa. A fee of $36 per person was charged for the single engine Beechcraft Bonanza B35 (V-tail), registration N3794N (later reassigned). The Bonanza could seat three passengers in addition to the pilot.
Richardson had developed a case of the flu during the tour and asked one of Holly's bandmates, Waylon Jennings, for his seat on the plane; Jennings agreed to give up the seat. When Holly learned that Jennings wasn't going to fly, he said, "Well, I hope your ol' bus freezes up." Jennings responded, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes." This exchange of words, though made in jest at the time, haunted Jennings for the rest of his life.[3][4]
Ritchie Valens had never flown in a small plane before, and asked Holly's remaining bandmate on the plane, Tommy Allsup, for the seat. Tommy said "I'll flip ya for the remaining seat." Contrary to what is seen in biographical movies, that coin toss did not happen at the airport shortly before takeoff, nor did Buddy Holly toss it. The toss happened at the ballroom shortly before departure to the airport, and the coin was tossed by a DJ who was working the concert that night. Valens won a seat on the plane.[3]
Dion DiMucci of Dion & The Belmonts, who was the fourth headline performer on the tour, was approached to join the flight as well; however, the price of $36 was too much. Dion had heard his parents argue for years over the $36 rent for their apartment and could not bring himself to pay an entire month's rent for a short plane ride.[5]
![[groundhog.jpg]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzUhIAnViZMZsNMkxafPPaVZF9mEVr-OzVugHCaBeuENkcSB3ID47fc_ZIYMDQQyJUrTHbjacBo5vHI9HGHFatv7ZGsOnJhqmrxTiaWQ66QwKHsIICqvpVv45GEO_8ieYLr0tR/s1600-h/groundhog.jpg)
A section of lunch counter from the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's is now preserved in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History
four young men, little more than boys, really, changed the world they, and I, lived in, forever. I was 18, and spent the next five years of my life wishing, somehow I could go, be there. I didn't. But many I loved, and have loved in my lifetime did. And thank you.
And most of all Thank You, Ezell A. Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan) (18), David Richmond (died in 1990), Joseph McNeil (17), and Franklin McCain (18).
How can Spring NOT start with a month with a heart in the middle?
Purple is Ally's favorite color.
Ally has had a super duper birthday so far. She has been a good eater, she is enjoying the MANY gifts and cards she has already received and she took 2 good naps today!
Her surgery to place the G-Tube is on Monday. When I spoke to the doctor she told me it would be first thing in the morning, which is good, because Ally can't eat before the surgery. Apparently first thing is 10:45 AM. Idiots....how dumb is it to schedule a G-Tube placement for a child who doesn't want to eat at 10:45 and make the child starve all morning. Sometimes people don't think, and that irritates me. Okay enough of that....
Ally is a twoa (too-a) today! We are going to try the cupcakes again (last year she wanted nothing to do with them, turns out because she had a massive tumor in her belly). We will take more pictures this weekend!
If you'd like to light a Birthday candle for Ally, go to this site:
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=ALLYS
Happy 4707!!
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar.
Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day. New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is brightest. In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.
Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal's year would have some of that animal's personality. Those born in ox years tend to be painters, engineers, and architects. They are stable, fearless, obstinate, hard-working and friendly. Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, Walt Disney, and Anthony Hopkins were all born in the year of the ox.
At Chinese New Year celebrations people wear red clothes, decorate with poems on red paper, and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend can drive away bad luck. The fireworks that shower the festivities are rooted in a similar ancient custom. Long ago, people in China lit bamboo stalks, believing that the crackling flames would frighten evil spirits.
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 2009 09:15 PM, EST
Here is a pic of what landed us in the hospital.
We finally made it home today, pulling in the driveway about 6:30. Ally decided to make things interesting by spiking a fever of 102.6 last night. They decided they needed to keep her for most of the day to make sure the fever did not come back. At 4:45, when they said they wanted to wait another few hours I asked to see the doctor. We were able to leave around 5:30!
Have a super rest of your weekend. Ally goes back to the hospital on Wednesday, just for a check in so she can start her meds again.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2009 11:23 AM, EST
We got news that Ally will be going home tomorrow! They just want to keep her here for one more night "just to be safe". Ally currently has an NG tube (goes from her nose to her tummy) pumping pediasure into her constantly. It will come out tomorrow, before we go home. We will be re-admitted to the hospital on February 2 for a G tube placement. She will need to spend 1 night in the hospital.
The silver lining to our admittance to the hospital this weekend is that the quarantine is lifted (for Grammie, Grampa, Aunties and Uncle) for today only. So they are all excited to pack into this tiny room to get a glimpse of Ally. The quarantine goes back on tomorrow until March.
listener's response:
'O Frabjous Day! Callooh Callay!!'
We could not be more pleased that the room that brought the worst news to you last year has also become today's Quarantine Free Zone. Seems symbolic of a turning point.
I am weeping and laughing in joy to think of Ally's peeps getting to SEE her again IN PERSON! Does this count as an Early Birthday or what?!
@>---- HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALL WEEK ALLY! @>----
Some day you will sit and read all these messages, perhaps as a teen getting ready to set off for college, and you will know and feel how loved and supported you are.
Party On, you guys! XOXOXXX
I wake and find the dark
Wait, and find the merest
blush of pink to the north
Reach toward you in the dim
fertile morning air
Go looking for your weather
In the dead that's winter,
seeking a day, a week with
no ice in it. One moment
where the green remembers
its past at last
Seeking heat, seeking flower
bower, dream. Sweet film
of sweat collecting on the
upper lip The soft explosion
of flower at stem's end
A small blue bird's warning call
Recalling, no, reliving, our
time together -- your hand
at my waist or elbow or breast
warm and living, giving
Heart exploding in that hand
Tomorrow now become this day
that day which must be lived in
What hope and joy imagined
or remembered
only real in this moment and no other
So today, at last, as every day
Today, we begin, again
Taking this first step
again
And again.
jjl
21 January 2009
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009 04:51 PM, EST
Ally has cellulitis. It is an infection of the tissue around her eye. Normally this requires a call in prescription and go home...but not with Ally! We are here until at least Saturday. She will be on antibiotics through IV every 8 hours. She has lost more weight, so they want to place an NG tube. This is a tube that goes down her nose to her tummy and formula or in our case pediasure is put through it. Ally has had 4 of these in the past, she has ripped out 3 of them (when she was feeling much less perky than she currently is). They are also talking about placing a G Tube. Which is a tube that goes right to her tummy and sticks out of her tummy (I think it requires surgery to place). This stupid eye thing is causing us too much trouble. The worst part is the room we are stuck in...550. The room where we learned of Ally's diagnosis, almost a year ago now, and because of her quarantine we are not allowed to leave it. I'll update tomorrow with more info as we get it.
Ally's Mommy writes:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009 08:06 AM, EST
Yesterday Ally woke up with a puffy eye. Her eye was about half closed. I called the hospital to make sure it wasn't some crazy side effect I should be freaking out over. They told me the medication she is on causes pink eye in over 40% of users. Ally's eye is not red, nor does it have any gunk on it....thus I don't think it is pink eye. It seemed to get better as the day went on. They told us if it was still puffy today to call her primary doctor. This morning Ally's eye was swollen shut. We have a call in to her doc. Daddy has today off (as he is working this weekend), so hopefully they will take her today. I will be sure to update as soon as we know more info on the mysterious puffy eye.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22, 2009 12:56 PM, EST
Ally is being admitted to the hospital because of her eye. I don't know any details. I will try to update this evening or sometime tomorrow.
When you're not quite two years old, in quarantine and recovering from so many cancer treatments,
this is a worry.
Ally's birthday is in 8 days.
Sure hope she'll be home and healthy for it!
Here is a photo of Ally obviously taken on Tuesday.
Her Mardi Gras necklaces seem rather poignant!
Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th U.S. president as Michele Obama holds the Lincoln Bible. AFP/Getty Images
My fellow citizens:
I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.
So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.
That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.
These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.
Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.
On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.
In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.
For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.
For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.
For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.
Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.
This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.
For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.
Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.
We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.
For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.
For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.
Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.
This is the price and the promise of citizenship.
This is the source of our confidence — the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.
This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.
So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:
"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."
America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.
