Saturday, January 29, 2011

"Life" is "Cool"! "Love" Life!







Photos taken by Harley Dufek in Cozumel, Mexico
Photo of Rebecca Dufek compliments of reknowned world underwater photographer Bonnie Pelnar of Underwater Colours
"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing." - Agatha Christie
(quote taken from the the book "Living a Five Star Life" by Betty Mahalik, a Simple Truths publication http://www.simpletruths.com/ )

I love life! Even though I have seen my share of struggle through cancer, sickness, disappointment, heartbreak, frustration, and uncertainty, I am still very happy to be glued to the earth. When you live with brain tumors or an incurable disease or condition, down periods are part of the territory. But the nice thing about that is that it opens you to the opportunity to appreciate life with vivid splendor, inquisitive curiosity, and marvelous wonder.
I was recently watching the "Life" documentary series - similiar to "Earth" and "Blue Planet", both of which I happily own. Every little detail of watching plants miraculously burst forth from the ground, vines sprawling up trees exceeding 100 feet, the survival of species of invertebrates in the darkest and hottest depths (750 degrees F) of the ocean or the coldest flourishing under 8 feet of ice in Antarctica, all intrigue and amaze me! What an incredible gift to have the opportunity to live on earth to witness life in its magnificence!

Although I love the mountains, the woods, botanical and floral gardens, and the seashore, the underwater world is my favorite and the reason I became a scubadiver. I SO LOVE to just hover over or under something - such as in the photo you see, and become absorbed in being the respectful observer of the niches of other creatures.


the sign for "love" - a thing and not a person: http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/LOVE/3828/1

the sign for "cool": http://www.signingsavvy.com/sign/COOL/7/1

NOTE: This is not the way we sign cool in Seattle. As a matter of fact I have never seen it signed that way. How we sign it is you take your open dominant hand with your fingers spread apart like the hand sign for "5". Then you bring your hand up to your chest with only your thumb touching your body while the other 4 fingers point out away from your chest. Then wiggle your 4 fingers vigorously. "Cool" dude! :)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey! this is the first time i've visited your page. fyi, that ''cool'' IS the cool i use. i'm a transplant from the east, and seeing the nw ''cool'' threw me off, certainly--i'd never seen THAT cool!

Pete said...

I use both! Though I tend to "remember" to use the 5-finger thumb-to-chest version over the crooked index finger at cheek version. And the cheek version I know is slightly different from the one in the video. But then, Philly signs are supposedly weird/unique :)