Not many of us see a benefit from being immortal. But most of us do want to live a long life, provided that we can remain somewhat healthy and active. The odd-looking naked mole rat might offer humans a way to do that. This, how shall I say it, not really attractive little rodent might unlock the keys to living longer and a way to prevent cancer.
Every animal has its unique characteristics and traits. But the mole rat is a particularly unusual creature. I think, in many ways, they look like teeny-tiny Sharpei puppies, but with buck teeth.  The rat's body is adapted for a life spent underground.  Those protruding teeth are used for digging and their lips seal behind their teeth to prevent the rate from ingesting the dirt while they dig. And while this little guy isn't blind, their eyes are small with poor visual acuity. Their legs are short and thin but they can move forward and backward with the same ease. Mole rats aren't totally bald. They have very little hair, though, and they lack a layer of insulating fat below the skin. They average in length from only three to four inches (8-10 cm) and weigh a whopping 1.1 to 1.2 ounces (30-35 g). They love togetherness and live in colonies of 200 to 300 individuals in the dry grasslands area of East Africa. As a rule, mammals are warm-blooded, meaning they are thermoregulators able to maintain body temperature despite external conditions. But while the naked mole rat is considered a mammal, they are cold-blooded thermoconformers. "When a naked mole rat is too hot, it moves to a deeper, cooler part of its burrow. When it's too cold, the rat either moves to a sun-warmed location or huddles with its pals."
While humans start to lose brain cells after only 60 seconds without oxygen and will suffer permanent brain damage after three minutes without it, the little mole rat can survive 18 minutes in an "oxygen-free environment without suffering any harm." They also live in an environment that is 80% carbon dioxide and 20% oxygen. Humans would die from carbon monoxide poisoning under those conditions.
But here is where these little critters get really interesting...and how studying them might show scientists how humans can live longer. The naked mole rat doesn't die from old age.
While the average garden-variety rat can live up to three years, the naked mole rat lives 32 years! "Both naked mole rats and humans have DNA repair pathways not present in mice. Another reason mole rats may outlive mice is that of their lower metabolic rate."
Don't get me wrong. Naked mole rats aren't immortal. They just don't die from old age. They die from predators and from illness. "However, mole rat aging does not adhere to the Gompertz law describing aging in mammals. Research into naked mole rat longevity may help scientists unravel the mystery of the aging process."
Add to that fact, the naked mole rat resistance to cancerous tumors, and you have a combination of traits worth taking a second look at. And while they do get sick and die from illnesses, they are highly resistant to tumors. "The only malignancies discovered in naked mole rats were in captive-born individuals, which lived in a much more oxygenated environment than rats in the wild." Want even more mole rat weirdness?
Mole rats neither itch nor feel pain. Their skin lacks a neurotransmitter called "substance P" that is needed to send pain signals to the brain. Scientists believe this might be an adaptation to living in poorly ventilated species, where high levels of carbon dioxide cause acid to build up in tissues. Further, the rats don't feel temperature-related discomfort. 
Whether or not the naked mole rat offers human scientists a glimpse into what might cause immortality, these weird little mammals are extremely fascinating to study. 
I hope you've enjoyed learning about the Heterocephalus glaber, otherwise known as the naked mole rat. Please join me back here tomorrow for a look at kites on National Kite Flying Day. Until then, I wish you         PEACE.

https://www.thoughtco.com/naked-mole-rat-facts

I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights. I had a major blow out with a good friend of mine. What started out as a lively discussion, soon escalated into a full-on war of words. I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but hit upon a hot-button issue and before we knew it, we were saying some dreadful things to each other, trying to make our case and change the other's mind. it wasn't working. Then, to add insult to injury I came home and got into yet another raging battle. This one was with me. And it was far worse than the one I had with my friend. I laid awake most of the night going over the entire argument again and again. each time looking for a different outcome. It always ended the same way. Why couldn't he just see that I was right and he was wrong? Let's just say that the conversation with myself wasn't a very pretty one. I said some dreadful things to myself. But maybe I deserved to hear them. I'm a terrible frog.
Today is Wednesday and that means getting up extra early so I can have time to prepare breakfast for my wise friend and teacher. I hope Dharma can help me with my problem. I don't want to lose my friend over this and I desperately need some sleep. While the sun was just being to peak over the horizon, Dharma hopped onto my lily pad. He was in a jovial mood, as always, and he could see I wasn't yet fully awake. After we exchanged the minimal "Good morning," we sat down to a simple repast. Dharma knew I was tired and upset so without much preliminary chatter, he asked what was troubling me. I told him my horrible tale and the even worse night. I sat, rather dejectedly, waiting for his pearls of wisdom to pour forth. I didn't have to wait long. "Tadpole, the frog who flees at the right time can fight again. We've all be caught up in fighting a losing battle. Knowing when to cut your losses and move away when tensions escalate can prove to be a very valuable tool to have. Not only do we fight the battle with someone else, we then fight it all over again with ourselves. That endless 'would have, could have, should' have mental conversation we have with ourselves at three in the morning, only makes the situation worse. And it is the toughest battle of all for us to hop away from with our dignity still intact."
​Dharma was right. I was beating myself up pretty good. I was bloodied and battered. I can go and apologize to my friend and hope he forgives me, but how am I supposed to get past the demoralizing chatter in my head? What follows is Dharma's insightful suggestions.
When you find yourself in a losing battle, whether it's with another person, or staying too long in dead-end job or relationship, or even working on a project long after it's become abundantly clear its too big for us to ever finish, most of us hate to admit defeat and throw in the towel. But failure to do so can mean a loss of other opportunities and even a loss of happiness. Dharma says the biggest reason why we all do this is what he calls the "sunk costs." Sunk costs are the resources that you've put into an endeavor that you can't get back out; time (sometimes it years) or money wasted that could have been used elsewhere. "Putting in a lot only to end up with nothing to show for it is just too awful for most of us to seriously consider.  We worry far too much about what we'll lose if we just move on, and not nearly enough about the costs of not moving on  - more wasted time and effort, more unhappiness, and more missed opportunities.  So how can we make it easier to know when to cut our losses and live to fight another day?
Dharma suggests that we learn to focus on what you have to gain, not on what you have to lose. You might call this promotion focus. When we think about our goals in terms of potential gains, we automatically (often without realizing it) become more comfortable with making mistakes and accepting the losses we may have to incur along the way. Prevention focus, on the other hand, puts all the attention on what we have to lose. We think about our goals in terms of what we could lose if we don't succeed, we become much more sensitive to sunk costs.
The next step is kindness and self-compassion. Why is it we can forgive ours but we have such a hard time forgiving ourselves? We all do this. We expect far more from ourselves than we do from others. We say things to ourselves that we would never dream of uttering to someone else. We call ourselves stupid. We tell ourselves that we're unworthy somehow and that we deserve whatever horribleness happens to us. Our mental battles at three in the morning are proof that we don't treat ourselves with love and respect. Most of us would never call up our boss at that hour and start berating him or her, would we? Yet we do it to ourselves all the time. It's not easy reversing years of this behavior, but it can be done, often with baby steps. if you wouldn't say something to another, don't say it to yourself. Forgive and learn from the mistake, then move on. Making ourselves the whipping boy helps no one.
The final step can be the easiest; learn which battles are worth fighting and which ones aren't. We each know what is most important to us. The people, causes, and projects that we know are battles worthy of us are the ones we fight. All the rest? Walk away from. Even with those we deem as necessary, it is still important to know when enough is enough. Learning when to "hold 'em and when to fold 'em" isn't just great advice for playing poker. It works well for life, too.
After Dharma left, I let his message digest in my brain. I felt quite a bit better and, after calling my friend to apologize, I apologized to myself. It wasn't easy to do. But, Dharma assured, it does get easier with practice.  Maybe I'm not such a terrible frog after all.
Now, I think it's time for a well-earned nap.
I invite you back here tomorrow for a look at immortality and the lessons we can learn from a very odd-looking creature. Until then, I wish you
                                                                       PEACE.

​https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-science-success/201102/how-cut-your-losses-when-it-s-not-working

I like words. If I didn't, I wouldn't have chosen to become a writer as my occupation.  And while choosing your words carefully is important, words can also be fun. Some words are fun to say and other can have fun meanings. Oxymorons fall into this last category. For those of you not familiar with oxymorons, the dictionary defines it as "A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction with each other." Oxymorons can also be referred to as a paradox. Writers have used them for centuries as a way of describing "life's inherent conflicts and incongruities." In speech, they can lend a sense of humor, irony, and even sarcasm. Common examples might be jumbo shrimp. falsely true, a living death, cruel kindness, etc.
Even the word oxymoron is oxymoronic itself. Let me explain. The word is derived from two Greek words. The first, "oxys" means sharp while the second word, "moronos" means dull or stupid. This is to say that both parts of the word are contradictory in nature. A "minor crisis" is a phrase that we often use and is a prime example of an oxymoron. Only choice is another common oxymoron that, when broken down, shows contradiction. Do you have a choice, meaning two or more, options or is there only one? It isn't a choice if you have only one, right? You get the idea.
​Here's a list of some of my favorite oxymorons.
Alone together
Awful good
Bittersweet
Clearly misunderstood
Civil war
Crash landing
Deafening silence
Deceptively honest
Exact estimate
Freezer burn
​Friendly takeover
Good grief
Icy hot
Lead balloon
Living end
Loosely sealed
Loyal opposition
Open secret
Original copy
Paper tablecloth
Plastic glasses
Poor health
Random order
Resident alien
Sad smile
Same difference
Small crowd
Steel wool
Student teacher
Terribly good
Unbiased opinion
Wise fool
Working vacation
How many of these terms do you use regularly? I bet you can think of am bunch more, as well. Oxymorons are difficult to understand for those who are just learning English. But once English students become fluent, it's easy for them to recognize oxymorons for the figure of speech that they are. As the textbook author Richard Watson Todd said, "The true beauty of oxymorons is that, unless we sit back and really think, we happily accept them as normal English."
That does it for me today. Please stop back by tomorrow for a review of my weekly lesson with The Dharma Frog.  Until we meet again, I wish you
                                                                        PEACE.

​Nordquist, Richard. "100 Awfully Good Examples of Oxymorons." ThoughtCo, Dec. 4, 2018, thoughtco.com/awfully-good-examples-of-oxymorons-1691814.

The calendar may say that's February, but the weather here in Lily Pad is screaming "Its Spring!" over the weekend, I went for a long hop along the shores of The Great Swamp and I saw a dozen signs that spring is here. Daffodils were in blossom, along with a few flowering trees. The birds were singing and building their nests. The temperature is unseasonably mild and, among the many flowers I saw was a cluster of stunning irises. irises, to me, are one of the most beautiful flowers. With their wide array of colors and their tall stature, they often make the focal point of many gardens.
With winter weather still prevalent in many places around the globe, I thought it might be fun to bring a taste of spring to those of you who might be experiencing grey skies, snow, and freezing temperatures. Today, I thought we'd spend a little time taking a look at some fun facts about irises.
1.  There are between 260 and 300 species of irises.
2.  Irises take their name from the Greek word meaning rainbow. If you're into Greek mythology, you probably know that the Greek goddess of rainbows is named Iris.
3.  Iris isn't just the common name for this species of plant, it is also its scientific name.
4.  Most species of irises originated in temperate parts of Europe and Asia.
5.  Although irises can be found in diverse ecologies, it is predominately found is dry, semi-desert. or colder rocky mountainous areas. Other habitats include grassy slopes, meadowlands, bogs, riverbanks and, of course,  the shoreline of The Great Swamp.
6.  Humans have been cultivating irises for thousands of years.
8.  Irises come in many shapes, sizes, colors, and forms. The sword-like foliage is pretty even when the flowers are not in bloom.
9.  Irises are perennial plants which means that they can survive more than two years in the wild.
10. Stems can reach in height from 8 to 38 inches (20 to 96 cm) depending on species.
11. Irises produce 3 to 10 sword-shaped leaves arranged in a clump or cluster.
12. Each stem can produce nine to twelve flowering buds and each flower lasts only about three days. Irises bloom in the spring and summer months and attract various insects needed for pollinating the flowers.
13. Irises symbolize eloquence. Purple iris is symbolic of wisdom and compliments. Blue iris symbolizes faith and hope. Yellow iris symbolizes passion while white iris symbolizes purity.
14. Giardino dell'Iris in Florence, Italy and the Presby Memorial Iris Garden in Montclair, New Jersey are the two largest gardens in the world dedicated to the cultivation of irises.
Happy Monday, everyone, and I hope this brief glimpse into spring has brightened your day, no matter what weather you may be experiencing. Please stop back by tomorrow for another "informative" blog on something or other. Until then, I wish you warmth, love, and
                                                                       PEACE.

​http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-irises/

I promised you a slightly weird blog today and I hope that I can deliver on my promise. It's a subject that I don't think I've ever written about. I'm not even a fan of it but, nonetheless it is celebrated today and I figured, why not take a look at this childhood favorite. Today is, of course, Bubble Gum Day.
I hope it "burst your bubble" to learn that bubble gum can be a good thing. Yes, I know that it's bad for human teeth and that it gets stuck on everything, including in your hair but on this one day, bubble gum actually does some good. Bubble Gum Day helps supports schools and the charities they support. How does this sugary stretchy gum do that? In schools that celebrate Bubble Gum Day, students pay 50 cents to be allowed to chew gum in class. The money is collected and is donated back to the school and/or its favorite charities. Pretty cool, eh? I know my little brother's class raises a ton of money this way and the tadpoles and froglets really enjoy being able to chew gum while they're in school. It's only one day a year and most moms agree that it's a great way to get kids interested in helping out good causes.
Long before chewing gum formed bubbles, ancient humans chewed bits of resin from trees. All around the world, people collected the resin substance from available trees and used it for not only for dental care but also for enjoyment. 
After decades of failure by inventors before him, Walter Diemer created the first bubble-producing gum in 1928. Mr. Diemer worked for the Fleer Chewing Gum Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His crazy invention was marketed at Double Bubble and it is still available today. In my mind, if you want to chew bubblegum, it ought to be Double Bubble. The original is still the best.
On 24 April in 2004 a student named Chad Fell from the Double Springs High School in Haleyville, Alabama blew a record-breaking bubble using three pieces of, you guessed it, Double Bubble bubblegum. Just how big was his bubble? It measured an astounding 20 inches in diameter (50.8 centimeters)!
In 2006 children's author Ruth Spiro founded Bubble Gum Day as a fun way for kids to participate in school fundraising. How to celebrate? Grab some gum and a few quarters, chew away and raise money for your local school. Don't forget to post pictures of your big bubbles on social media using #BubbleGumDay.
That does it for me this week. I hope you have a little fun this weekend. Do your plans include a Super Bowl party? I'm not a football fan, but I do enjoy watching the great commercials that get debuted each Super Bowl Sunday. Whatever your plans include, please stay safe and I invite you to join me back here again on Monday. Until then,
                                                                       PEACE.​

February is upon us and that means Valentine's Day. But the shortest month of the year has a lot more going for it than just this one special day. To prove my point, just check out all the awesome days for February, 2019!
February Calendar
1.  National Freedom (from slavery) Day, National Get Up Day, National Baked Alaska Day, National Serpent Day, National Wear Day, National Bubble Gum Day.
2.  Groundhog Day, National Heavenly Hash Day, National Tater Tot Day.
3.  National Day The Music Died, National Carrot Cake Day, National Missing Persons Day, National Women Physicians Day.
4.  National  Football Hangover Day, National Hemp Day, National Thank A Mail Carrier Day, National Homemade Soup Day, National Create A Vacuum Day.
5.  National Weatherperson's Day, World Nutella Day, US Safer Internet Day.
6.  National Lame Duck Day, National Girls and Women In Sports Day, National Frozen Yogurt Day.
7.  National Periodic Table Day, National Send A Card To A Friend Day.
8.  National Boy Scouts Day, National Kite Flying Day.
9.  National Pizza Day, National Toothache Day (weird thing to celebrate, right?), National Bagel Day.
​10. National Home Warranty Day, National Umbrella Day, National Cream Cheese Brownie Day.
11. National Make A Friend Day, Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day, National White Shirt Day, National Shut-In Visitation Day, National Peppermint Patty Day, National Inventors' Day, National Clean Out Your Computer Day.
12. National Plum Pudding Day.
13. Break Up With Your Carrier Day, National Cheddar Cheese Day, 
14. National Organ Donor Day, National Ferris Wheel Day, National Cream-Filled Chocolates Day, and, of course, Valentine's Day.
15. National Gumdrop Day, Singles Awareness Day, National Caregivers Day, No One Eats Alone Day.
16. National Almond Day, National Do A Grouch A Favor Day.
17. National Random Acts Of Kindness Day, National Cabbage Day.
18. National Battery Day, Presidents Day.
19. National Vet Girls ROCK Day, National Lash Day, National Chocolate Mint Day.
20. National Cherry Pie Day, National Love Your Pet Day (Isn';t this every day??).
21. National Grain-Free Day, National Sticky Bun Day. (Odd that they'd pair these two together....)
22. National Cook A Sweet Potato Day, National Skip The Straw Day.
23. National Banana Bread Day, National Dog Biscuit Day, National Tile Day, National Toast Day.
24. National Tortilla Chip Day. (This is a great day to make up your own special holiday!)
25. National Chocolate Covered Nut Day, National Clam Chowder Day.
26. National Pistachio Day, National Tell A Fairy Tale Day, Spay Day USA. (This is a super important day for all pet owners!)
27. National Strawberry Day (Is it me, or is this a weird time of year to celebrate this?),National Polar Bear Day, National Retro Day.
28. National Public Sleeping Day, National Chocolate Souffle Day, National Floral Design Day, National Chili Day, Rare Disease Day (USA), National Tooth Fairy Day.
That's a bunch of fun and worthy celebrations to cram into one short month! Which days will you choose to celebrate? After I make my final decisions, I'll head over to the Land of Lily Pad Party Store and get all my supplies. Please stop back by tomorrow for a unique Friday blog. Until then, my friend, I wish you
                                                                       PEACE.

I can't believe it's already Wednesday again. The days are just flying by.  We've had a little cold snap here in Lily pad and I found myself not really wanting to get up this morning. Wrapped up in a nice warm leaf, I laid in bed thinking about Dharma and what I could cobble together for our breakfast. As soon as I figured out what I was going to make, I dragged myself out of bed, went for a quick swim to dust myself off, then headed for the kitchen to prepare our simple meal.
Dharma arrived right on schedule and quickly poured himself a cup of freshly-brewed tea. He poured one for me, too, and as we warmed ourselves up, he thoughtfully asked me, "Tadpole, why do most humans think they know everything? You have many human friends and I'm hoping that you can help me understand why it is that people have such a hard time accepting learning from the experience of others." Honestly, I had to scratch my head on this one because I didn't have a clear answer for him. "Sir, I don't know why. But you are right. Many humans believe that they're experts in everything. It seems that they have great difficulty in admitting, even to themselves, that they don't know all there is to know." Dharma smiled a little. "Son, one frog's head cannot hold all the wisdom. And your human friends would do well to learn from us." And so began our breakfast and my weekly lesson.
Dharma explained that while it's good to learn from our own experience, it can be even more beneficial to learn from the experience of others. It is often more efficient, as well. Many others before us have traveled down the road we're on. And while no two paths are exactly the same, there are usually enough similarities that the problems they've encountered and the solutions they've found can help us accelerate our own progress. 
I was reminded that discoveries and inventions develop in an exact fashion.  Humans start with the existing body of knowledge and then advance from there.  If everyone felt they had to discover everything for themselves, society would never have evolved from the Stone Age. Humans. and more than a few frogs, believe that it's best to simply learn things for yourself. Dharma agrees, but only to a point. "Although self-discovery is certainly beneficial, my boy, ignoring proven cause and effect scenarios experienced by others wastes time and is a pathway to frustration." I can see where he's going with this and I wanted to know more. "Teacher, what is the best way to learn from others? Maybe those in my circle of acquaintances don't have the experience I need. What then?" "Good question, Irwin. The first step, and often the easiest way to learn from others is by reading and researching the subject you need help with. Countless books have been written on every subject imaginable. Whether you want to lose weight but don't know which diet and exercise plan will work best for you, or you want to know what kind of wood to purchase to build a bookcase, you can find that books will be an invaluable resource. And don't forget the internet. A world of knowledge is available with just a few strokes on your computer's keyboard. But keep in mind that much of what is found online is erroneous. Be discriminating with your choice of sources.
If you still need more information, check out local classes or seek a mentor in your area who is an expert on the subject you want to learn. Working with an authority in a particular field is a great way to acquire lots of experience quickly. Another way to learn is by joining a group or association. Let's say you want to know about bird-watching. Your local library can help you find a local group that will be very happy to have you as a new member. Humans, frogs too, love to talk about their favorite subjects. By joining a club, you'll have many opportunities to learn from the collective experience of the membership.
Spend time enhancing your experience on a regular basis and you will be surprised how quickly your knowledge grows.  Be proactive.  Go out and find the experience you need.  Practice applying what you learn.  Knowledge is effective only when it’s utilized. 
Dharma had this to say on learning from others. "Gaining experience is fun.  It keeps your mind sharp.  It makes life more interesting.  As your experience grows, you are in a position to expand on what you have learned.  Other people’s experience provides you with a great foundation from which to reach higher goals." Wise words from a wise frog.
In summary, don’t waste time learning from your own experiences. I mean, really, do you want to spend your time reinventing the wheel? Acquire an edge by learning from what others have already been through.  Whatever your goals may be, there are those who have a lot to teach you because they have already hopped down your path. Another valuable lesson from Dharma.
Please join me back here tomorrow for a look at the February Calendar of Special Days. Until then, Dharma and I wish you           PEACE.

​http://www.presspublications.com/opinionscolumns/146-dare-to-live-without-limits/8521-learn-from-the-experience-of-others

By now, we all know that working out helps our bodies stay strong and healthy. Exercise is good for our heart. And a good fitness routine keeps us feeling and looking our best. But what about the brain? We don't do much to keep that organ in shape and with all the social media junk being hurled at it daily, it can seem like our brains are turning to mush. But we can change that and today is a good day to start a brain fitness progress. And have some fun while we're at it. Today is National Puzzle Day.
It doesn't matter what kind they are; jigsaw, word searches, trivia, brain teasers, or Soduku. Doing puzzles gives our brain a workout. The best part is that no special clothes or membership is required! Studies have shown that working on puzzles utilizes both sides of the brain. Left-brain thinks logically and follows sequence while the right brain is creative, intuitive and emotional. When you try to put together a jigsaw puzzle, you harness both the brain powers. Puzzles improve our memory, cognitive function, and problem-solving skills. Word searches and crossword puzzles help build a better vocabulary, as well. Puzzles also help physical health by lowering our breath rate, reducing heart rate, and lowering blood pressure. Working on puzzles helps to stimulate us creatively and helps stimulate visualization. Research has shown that staring at the same image for long periods of time has the same effect as meditation; inducing calming and bringing peace of mind. Who knew that puzzles could do so much?
The origins of jigsaw puzzles date back to the 1760s when European map makers pasted maps onto wood then cut them up into small pieces.  John Spilsbury, an engraver and mapmaker, is credited with making the first jigsaw puzzle in 1767. The dissected map has been a successful educational toy ever since. But a great deal has changed in the 250 years since the birth of the map puzzle. Children's puzzles have moved from strictly educational into the world of entertainment with puzzle subjects as diverse as animals, nursery rhymes, and modern superheroes. The biggest surprise to Mr. Spilsbury and his fellow puzzle-makers might be how adults have embraced the "puzzling" over the last century.
Puzzles for adults emerged in the turn of the Twentieth Century. By 1908 it was a full-blown craze in the United States.  Since puzzles made of wood had to be cut one piece at a time, the cost of $5 per 500-piece puzzle in 1908 was far beyond the means of the typical worker who was, at that time, earning $50 a month. "High society, however, embraced the new amusement. Peak sales came on Saturday mornings when customers selected puzzles for their weekend house parties in Newport, Rhode Island, and other country retreats."
The next few years, however, brought significant changes to the puzzle industry. Parker Brothers, the famous game manufacturer, introduced figure pieces into its Pastime brand puzzles. Figure pieces made puzzles a bit easier to assemble. But the fascination with pieces shaped like dogs, birds, and other recognizable objects more than offset the somewhat reduced challenge. Second, Pastimes and other brands moved to an interlocking style that reduced the risk of spilling or losing pieces. Pastime puzzles were so successful that Parker Brothers stopped making games and devoted its entire factory to puzzle production in 1909. Following this craze, puzzles continued as a regular adult diversion for the next two decades.
With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, puzzles for adults had a resurgence in popularity, reaching its peak in 1933 when sales reached an astounding 10 million per week! Completing puzzles gave people a sense of accomplishment when it was hard to come by otherwise. The national unemployment rate was rising to about 25%.  With job-loss and incomes depleted home entertainment replaced outside activities like going to restaurants, nightclubs, and movies. Puzzles were becoming more affordable and "many of the unemployed architects, carpenters, and other skilled craftsmen began to cut jigsaw puzzles in home workshops and to sell or rent them locally. During the 1930s craze for puzzles, drugstores and circulating libraries added puzzle rentals to their offerings. They charged three to ten cents per day, depending on size."
So how can you celebrate today? Spend time putting together a jigsaw puzzle with a friend, or grab a cup of coffee and complete a Sudoku or crossword puzzle. Use #NationalPuzzleDay to post on social media. If you don't already work on puzzles, today might be a good time to start!
Tomorrow is Wednesday and that means my friend and mentor, The Dharma Frog will stop by for another life lesson. Please join me. Until then, I wish you all
                                                                       PEACE.

https://www.puzzlewarehouse.com/history-of-puzzles/
​https://memoryjoggingpuzzles.com/why-jigsaw-puzzles-good-for-the-brain/

For some reason or other, humans and we frogs to I dare say, think it is wrong to hide our darker emotions. We want everyone, friends and strangers alike, to see our sunny and happy disposition. And while focusing on being happy has an upside, certainly, ignoring the darker side of ourselves can have lasting repercussions.
There is a desire in each of us to avoid what's unpleasant. I venture to say nat none of us gets up in the morning with the aim of finding all the bad stuff in the world. We don't have to, for it has a way of finding us. But having some unpleasantness in life is part of being alive. But avoiding unpleasant emotions—rather than accepting them—only increases our psychological distress, inflexibility, anxiety, and depression, diminishing our well-being. "New research suggests that when we turn toward our cravings we are actually less likely to engage in addictive behaviors; when we turn toward our physical pain, we are less likely to be trapped in cycles of chronic pain; when we turn toward our sadness, we are less likely to be stuck in depression; and when we turn toward our anxiety, we are less likely to be paralyzed by it and can find it easier to bear," says Dr. Beth Kurland in her new book, Dancing on the Tightrope. Learning to embrace these dark emotions, facing the unpleasantness in our lives, can bring not only a significant reduction in our anxiety but also give us the ability to experience the joys of life more fully. Facing our darker side allows us to grow in our ability to trust that we can handle life's challenges. 
If we want to live more fully and be our most authentic selves, we need to turn towards our pain, not try to suppress it. But what can help us get there? Experts say that mindful awareness, self-compassion, and acceptance are the keys.
1.  Develop a willingness to open the door. "Imagine that you are opening the door and welcoming your emotions in, to come and have a seat somewhere in the room. You can picture this seat as close to or as far away from you as you like. From this perspective, you can take a gentle and curious look at what is there. Often people will picture their emotions as having some kind of color, shape, or form; sometimes they envision their emotions as cartoon characters or as younger parts of themselves. Part of the practice is simply to accept whatever arrives." And while no one really wants to let in anger and sadness, when we let it in whatever arrives and look at it from a distance with curiosity, we can explore it and become less fearful of it.
2.  Take a curious look at whatever walks through the door. Experts say to be mindful of what walks through the door. Putting a name to it can help; anger, jealousy, fear, sadness, etc. it might sound simplistic, but humans don't always pay close attention to what they are feeling. They just know it doesn't feel good so they tend to just ignore it. When that happens, the unpleasant feeling has a way of growing and taking over their life. It can be beneficial to see these emotions as temporary guests in our home. You can do this by saying, "In this moment I am feeling....."
3.  Give yourself the gift of compassion. many of us (humans and frogs too) have been taught to view unpleasant emotions in a negative way; showing sadness or fear is a weakness. We mistakenly believe that if we are angry or jealous we are somehow bad. How often have you told yourself, or maybe someone else to "Buck up" when they're feeling one of these dark emotions? But I can tell you that they are only dark because they've been kept in the closet for far too long! How about instead of "bucking up" you tell yourself that it's okay...maybe even natural...to feel this emotion? Self-compassion has been linked in many recent studies to well-being. Treating ourselves with a little loving-kindness can go a long way toward helping us cope with difficulties we face. 
While embracing our darker emotions takes courage and bravery, using "The Door" technique can help each of us open the gift that is waiting on the other side. Each time we practice "being with our darker emotions" we grow in our capacity to face head-on the challenges that each of us will face at some point. We may not think of our dark emotions as being gifts, but learning to accept them is truly a gift that can make our lives more pleasant in the long run.
My weekend was super-fun and I trust that yours was, as well. And even though it's Monday, it's wonderful being back on the job. Please stop by again tomorrow; I have good stuff to share with you all week long! I wish you a great start to your week.
                                                                   PEACE.

ttps://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_happens_when_you_embrace_dark_emotions?

At the end of yesterday's blog, I said that today's blog would be seedy. And indeed it is. Tomorrow is National Seed Swap Day. This day occurs annually on the last Saturday in January. Seed Swap Day came into being in January 2006 after the first annual Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchange was held. After the event's success, seed swaps were held in other cities and National Seed Swap Day was born.
I can hear you now saying, "Irwin, what does this have to do with me? I'm sure not a farmer."  I can see how this might look on the surface. But really anybody, no matter where they live can grow something. Maybe it's fresh herbs in a kitchen window box or a few small pots brimming with sunny marigolds. It's fun to grow things and fairly easy to do, even if you have a brown thumb. Heck, I have no thumbs and even I can do it! So why should we swap seeds? When you attend a seed swap event, you have access to a greater variety of seeds. Many of the interesting seeds that pass from hand to hand at a seed swap (or online) can be hard to find in traditional seed catalogs. Cost can be a factor, too. When you've been doing this for a while, you'll end up with more seeds than you need. Thus, you can swap them for something new to you...often for FREE!
Here's what you need to know about swapping seeds. Like everything else, there are a few simple rules to follow. 1.  Trade only heirloom seeds. Hybrid seeds are created through cross-pollination and therefore rarely yield the same kind of plant the following year. Heirloom seeds, hower, are open-pollinated which will produce the same characteristics season after season. That's why heirloom tomatoes taste the best! And be sure to label your seeds. If you grow more than one kind of herb, flower, or vegetable, be sure and label your seeds as soon as you collect them. Otherwise, you probably won't remember which one is which.
if you're interested in swapping seeds, here are some of the best places to do that. Or just to learn more.
​1.  American Horticultural Society. these folks have been coordinating seed exchanges for over 50 years!
2.  Dave's Garden (davesgarden.com) - A thorough resource for all things gardening.
3.  Local seed swaps -m Check with your local garden society or local public library for events near you.
4.  GardenWeb.com - Another great resource for all things gardening.
5.  Seed Savers Exchange - These folks claim to have the largest online seed swap. If you're looking for something odd, here's the place to find it!
6.  Social Media Sites - Check out Facebook, Nextdoor, and Reddit
Looking for seeds and, perhaps, starting a few indoor plants is a great January weekend activity. And especially fun if you have children!
This does it for me this week. I hope you have a super-duper weekend, whatever you have planned. please join me back here again on Monday. Until then, I wish you
                                                                     PEACE.

​https://www.towergarden.com/blog.read.html/en/2016/1/seed-swap.html