The other day as I was walking home, I was behind this guy who was bundled up for a blizzard while jabbering on the phone.  The outside temperature was a comfortable 66 degrees.  But what you see with the guy bundled up is normal for people who live in this climate.  When the temps get below 70 F, everyone dons their cap, scarves and gloves.  Same as Ethiopia whose weather is similar to Brazil’s. _______________________________________________________________

Here is something interesting …

During the past 5-6 months, I kept having a run-down feeling that I couldn’t shake, like I was coming down with the flu.  Normally when I had this, I would pop 3-4 pills of ibuprofen and a gram of vitamin C, and within twenty minutes it was gone.

But at this time, that didn’t work.  I had to get some of those probiotics “gummy bears” to help get me back to normal, and even those only lasted a few hours.

And since I had the run-down feeling both in Brazil and Texas, I determined it was nothing I was eating.  So, what could it be?

When you take to time to “listen” to what your body tells you, a great deal is learned.  The only thing that I have not changed was my underarm deodorant.  And I remembered that I switched to a particular scent about the time the persistent “trashed out” feeling raised its ugly head.

So, I switched to a different scent, and the trashed feeling seemed to subside.  After a week or so, I tried the deodorant again, and sure enough, I felt like crap throughout the day.

That’s bizarre, right?

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Remember my dear little friend Hiwot in Addis Ababa?  She was the nursing student who served us pizza while she was going to nursing school.   We had fun talking and joking with her, even invited her to our house for dinner a few times.  While Terese helped her to have the courage to deliver her first baby, I just joked about it.   Here is a picture of her with Terese. Then she became a doctorate student in Sweden and then England.  This is what she looks like now:I have no other word except “stunning!”…. and what you see here is what many Ethiopian women look like.   If I was 30 years younger, I would fly to England and bring her home to Mom.

But seriously, when I see a picture of her smiling, I feel good inside knowing this Beauty was a simple, but a most enjoyable part of our lives for a few years.

Carry on my most beautiful friend.  Life wants to hold you close to her bosom.  Keep smiling and accept all that she offers you.

Dwaine