No Puppies, Please!

It is wonderful that the season of giving is here again. Christmas holiday not only gives us time to reflect, and time to rest, it also gives us excuses to splurge a bit on ourselves, to surprise our loved ones on a lazy Christmas morning, and to make a long past due donation to a favorite charity. Luckily there are so many ways to show our love and appreciation for others. There are gifts in different shapes, size and uses. In lieu of tangible things, gifts can be in the form of promises such as offering elderly neighbors to shove the snow on their property. After all it is the gesture of giving that counts. Therefore, gifts in any shapes and forms are welcome in this festival season of the year.

However, we must never give live animals as Christmas presents. Owing a pet is a privilege that entails a lot of responsibilities that many of us are unable to commit to. Sometimes parents gave in to their children and let them have a four-legged pet they should not have. This is why there are so many precious former pets languishing in many animal shelters. We certainly do not want to add more to the abandoned pet population. So please think twice before deciding to give a live animal to your loved ones. - Ayee

Gift and Re-Gift

Santa Claus is coming!

This Christmas may be a lean and mean one for many of us. Even though we all have been good, our gifts from Santa this year may not be what we have asked for. But do bear in mind, a thoughtful gift is always the best one. It is the goodwill of giving that counts not what is in a glittery box.

The upcoming Christmas holiday will not only give us a sense of renewal. It will also bring us a much-needed respite from the gloomy news that we were subject to over the past several months.

I would say I am a very lucky person as far as gifts are concerned. I am grateful to my dear relatives and friends who had showered me with many gifts past and present. Unfortunately, some of the nicest gifts I ever received had no uses to me. This is why I like to "share" my gifts with others. So far I have been very good at matching the recipients with the re-gifts. In addition I do not do it clandestinely. I let my recipients know that I am sharing the gifts with them.

Now for financial and environmental reasons, this Christmas may be a good time to start re-gifting or giving smaller and simpler gifts to our loved ones. Happy Giving! - Ayee

Gabilan, the Red Pony

It’s Christmas. I should write about the happy celebration of the merriest season of the year. But I decided to write about a John Steinbeck's book, The Red Pony. It is about a ten-year-old farm boy, Jody Tiflin, who lost his red pony to strangles, an infectious disease. I wanted to write down what I thought I had learned from this sad story.

In this book, I feel the author illustrates how people react toward devastating losses. In addition, this story shows that bad things do happen to good people.

Gabilan was in an open corral enjoying a day of sunshine. But an unexpected down pour got it soaked wet and made it ill. The best cares the family’s experienced ranch-hand, Billy Buck, and Jody provided did not help the poor pony. It suffered a great deal before it died in few days. Both, Jody and Billy had the best interest of this young horse in mind. But the Mother Nature had the last word. She decided to give a young horse a cold and untimely shower. I can feel the pain this gentle boy and his friend suffered from their great loss of a healthy pet. This sad tale tells us bad things do happen to good people.

I nearly skipped the part of the book that tells what Jody did after he found his dead pony in the open yard. Of course, he was devastated. He killed the buzzard who was about to feast on the dead horse. What he did to that bird was so brutal. Perhaps this is what a devastated person will unconsciously do when facing the greatest pain of his life such as the death of his beloved pet. - Ayee

Simpler Life

Over the past few years, thanks to ample supply of easy money, we have spent, spent and spent on useless and redundant stuff. Imprudent lending practices are also guilty of damaging our otherwise reasonably sound financial system. This time the extent of financial losses around the world is humongous. They are in trillions. It will cause many of us unbearable hardship. In addition, it will take years before our economy can be restored to its old balances.

But there may be a silver lining under the gloomy cloud of an economic downturn. The current economy slowdown gives us some breathing room to rethink how should we adjust to this harsh reality from now on.

In a recession, many of us face the possibility of losing our jobs. The prospect of reentering the job market in a contracted economy is also very limited. To meet these challenges, we may want to tie our belts a bit and to live a simpler life.

It is also an opportune time for our governmental agencies to be frugal. They should spend less on administrative matters. So there will be some money left in the public coffers to spend on helping many innocent people who fall through the cracks under this man-made economic disaster. - Ayee