Archive for July, 2008

I was late in submitting my writing assignment so I think it might be useful to post it up here for a change. I must say that it was rather difficult to write an essay with a limitation of 150 words.

“The disadvantages of the new technology”

The new technologies developed after the original was introduced, improvements made and the new players came into the picture. It is difficult to remember a time when computers or cell phones didn’t exist. Though they make our lives easier and more convenient, they are susceptible to complicate our lives and compel us to rely on them.

As the new technology continues to thrive, the opportunities for human contact have been diminishing. Many jobs are eliminated and replaced with the new automated computers and equipments. When the computers are down, the businesses abruptly cease and millions of dollars are lost within an hour.

Cell phones are the life-savers as an emergency arises; however, they have been held liable for an accident on the road. People become so absorb in their conversations that their abilities to concentrate on the driving become severely impaired.

The new technologies have both pros and cons in themselves. If we don’t treat them as though our lives depended on them, we will not be the victims of the new technologies.

There had been a lot of activities going on in my unfinished garage during a month of June and I happened to find a boisterous source. A clucking of a hen that was ready to lay egg indicated that another hen might be occupying her favorite spot. These hens are very rowdy when their times to lay eggs come. As I heard the noise coming out of one of my hens, my interpretation would be something like this, “Hey, are you done yet? Is it going to be long? I really have to go, you know!” It was like ‘first come, first serve’ scenario. “Sorry, I came here first so you have to wait, lady.” Their clucking would be carried on until their favorite spot was available. Once in a while I would see two hens sitting side by side.

One day I went in to my garage just checking how many eggs they had just laid and I saw the same hen sitting since morning. My guts feeling told me that she was in the brooding mood. As I reached close to her just to check how many eggs she had under, she began to pick on my hand. I also saw two short gray tubes with white caps lying near here. She kept moving them under her as thought those tubes were her eggs that needed guarding. Unless I moved to her to a safer place, she would indubitably be a nice supper of a raccoon or a possum. My husband arranged a palace-like for her comfort in a coop where no other hens could bother her. On that particular day, I counted 10 new eggs and decided to put them all in the nesting area we had just made for her. Mommy (I have been calling this hen for a while now) was very upset after my husband had carried her to a new brooding site. She had nothing to do with those eggs; moreover, she ran around screaming her little head off. It was really a chaotic scene. Since we couldn’t force her sit on the eggs, we were almost hopeless. Then it was like a blinking light popping up on my head, I ran back to my garage to grab those two tubes and put them with the eggs. Strangely, it may sound, my mother hen recognized the tubs and began to sit on the eggs willingly. Twenty-days later, I heard a peeping noise coming out from her body but couldn’t see a thing. The very next day, more sounds started to come out and I noticed the little heads close to her wings. Over all, seven out of ten eggs hatched. I saw two yellow chicks, one completely black (from head to toe), and four black-white chicks. They are so cute but I shouldn’t dare picking them up. Their mommy is very protective. It took her almost two weeks to realize that I’m always with food. The little ones started to have a taste for chopped fresh corn mixed with dry food and water. Their mother would make some kind of noise signaling them to eat.

The Greek Myth of Winter

In modern times, science has explained the causes of storms, floods, earthquakes, and disease, but ancient people were awed by these mysterious event. Perhaps to gain a sense of control, they created tales about the world around them. Since humans are congenitally self-centered, it was natural for ancient people to assume that the forces driving nature were just like themselves. Stories were told of gods who ate, loved, and hated just as we do, but on a larger scale. Because these gods had gargantuan powers, their smallest wish could mean disaster or good fortune for all the Earth. Amisanthropic god might send deadly storms; a philanthropic one might share the secrets of fire and food.

One ancient Greek tale of humanlike gods deals with the genesis of winter. The legend blames it on a common problem of the human psyche, a mother-in-law’s jealousy of her daughter’s husband.

According to the ancient Greeks, the Earth was once a warm, green paradise where the goddess Demeter provided summer throughout the year. But one day, Persephone, Demeter’s beautiful and vivacious daughter, wandered away from her friends to explore a flowered field. Unfortunately, Hades, the god of the underworld, was visiting the Earth and enjoying a panoramic view of the very same place. With one look at Persephone, Hades instantly fell in love. Unable to control himself, he carried her off to the underworld and made her his bride.

Pandemonium broke loose when world of Hades’ crime reached the other gods, Demeter frantically tried to get her daughter back, begging Zeus, king of the gods, to order her return. Although Zeus was renowned for his power, Hades, a maverick who resisted all control, refused to return Persephone.

In her desperation, Demeter forgot to provide the Earth with the warmth and sunshine vital to growing crops, and the world was plunged into winter. Plants began to die one by one, and when no viable crops were left, humans faced starvation. Through here personal sadness, Demeter was causing the genocide of the human race. Zeus appealed to Hades, who finally agreed to let Persephone return home, as long as she had not eaten anything.

What had Persephone been doing while Demeter was trying to release here? Sitting unhappily in the underworld, she had led a spartan existence, refusing all the luxuries that Hades offered. She had eaten no food – except for seven pomegranate seeds. Alas! Persephone had eaten only a nominal amount, but she had eaten. Hades did not have to let her go.

Zeus and Demeter quickly thought of another arrangement. For nine months of the year, Persephone would live with her mother, and for three months she would live with Hades. Just as Persephone’s life was divided, Demeter decreed that for nine months the earth would have warm weather, and for three months it would have winter. Although this arrangement was not perfect, it was a relief from endless winter.

And that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, winter began.