estacey
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
  Look what the (neighbor) cat dragged in

Glass "lizard", originally uploaded by estacey.

I noticed a tabby from the neighborhood sitting in my neighbor's yard on Saturday. Look at me, sitting there. Then it went to run away and seemed to be trying to pick something up to take with it. I went over to see what on earth he was trying to prance away with and found.. a snake.

Only Mark told me it wasn't a snake. It's a lizard. A glass lizard. With no legs. Big fat tongue. Very cute. :)

 
  If you ever want to feel like a jerk..

Torturing Elliot, originally uploaded by estacey.

Just bathe your cats.

Despite the $35 Frontline, I keep spotting fleas on my kitties. So before I gave them their next treatment, I decided I'd bathe the kitties and go over them with the flea comb.

Elliot: Was better than expected, even tolerating the post-bath blowdryer, but turned into a big, shivering pile of cat. He laid on his side when I put him there, stayed on his other side when I flipped him, and even seemed to cooperate when I was combing his little legs for fleas. After, I brought him into my bedroom. As I turned to leave the room, I turned around and said, "Hey, Elliot!" as I often do. He jumped off the bed and scooted under it. Hmpf.

Kitten: I was expecting to get some type of permanent scar from bathing Kitten, but she handled it surprisingly well too. She was scared of the water, but dealt with it, and also cooperated with the blow-drying. (Fluffy wanted NOTHING to do with the blowdryer and would have taken off my arm had I not let him go.) After the bath, I stood up with her and held her to my chest as I reached for the towel. She was clinging to me like a scared child would. Ahh, the guilt!

But now they both look beautiful and smell like baby soap and now have at least a few less fleas. Actually, the problem was much better than I had thought it would be; my Thanksgiving kitten was covered in fleas, so combing him down after the bath was pretty gruesome, but I only found a total of four or so fleas on both of my cats.

And both cats were sleeping with me this morning when I woke up, so I guess they don't hold a grudge. :)

 
  unnecessary
so today i'm reading in the south florida business journal that there is a new company that is selling car condos. that's right; spots to park your car that you pay for. indoor, secure, climate-controlled, luxe "studios" to store your car.

a few choice quotes:

"Envision them as secure, individual garages housed in low-rise, high-tech buildings, sort of a Fort Knox for expensive cars."

"One of the most repeated complaints from condo owners on the ocean and Intracoastal is that they don't have enough parking spaces for their extra cars.."

"An extra parking space at Las Olas River House in Fort Lauderdale costs $50,000 A single parking space at the Harbourage Place in Fort Lauderdale recently changed hands for more than $100,000."

"The first car condos are pre-construction priced from $155,000 to the $400,000s."

if you want to read about this ridiculousness, check out: parkplacecarcondo.com (warning: loud flash website)
 
  :D

Three-Toed Sloth, originally uploaded by The Horned Jew Lizard.

 
Monday, February 27, 2006
  Two mixed-race parents give birth to black & white twins
Black and white twins the Daily Mail
 
Friday, February 24, 2006
  Antarctic M

Walking home from work, originally uploaded by Antarctic M.

her pics are amazingly interesting.. LIVING in ANTARCTICA. you gotta be a masochist for that.. but it results in some awesome & penguin-y pictures!

 
  also

use your eye to shoot, originally uploaded by fubuki.

i find pics of people posing with guns incredibly annoying

 
  i am totally buying a bb gun

The names Hunter... James Hunter, originally uploaded by Baston.

they make them handgun-sized!

i figure it will come in handy in traffic and also in situations where i'm really, really mad and feel the need to do something. like when my old neighbors were shooting doves during the hurricane. or last weekend, when some little punks were throwing rocks at the pond coots and ended up hitting one. i had to go confront them and make sure they understood that, at least in one girl's opinion, harming an innocent little bird makes you a really pathetic man. but if i'd have had a bb gun, i could've REALLY proved a point - see how it feels?

so is this crazy talk? :)

hey, this kid could totally be the king of the hill kid if he were just blonde.

 
Thursday, February 23, 2006
  ack

Blue Fish, originally uploaded by disneymike.

apparently they eat parrotfish in seattle. bad!

sorry i been quiet. these be tryin' times right about now.

 
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
  Ridici-cute.
You Can't Make It Up: 50 ANIMALS IN CASTS
 
 
Treehugger: "Another Great Reason to Go Veg- They are Gassing the Meat


How do you tell if meat is fresh? Smell? Colour? Date stamp? You just lost one test- The Food and Drug Admin in the US allows supermarkets to pack red meat in carbon monoxide gas- just as your lips get a lovely shade of red when you leave the car running in the garage, the meat stays red and fresh looking for weeks. (the two pieces shown are both two weeks old, guess which one got the suicide treatment). It is supposed to be safe but the Consumer Federation of America and the advocacy group Safe Tables Our Priority say the bright red colour could mask spoilage and dangerous bacteria in older meat or meat that has not been kept at the proper temperature. Rep John Dingell of Michigan sez: 'It's just common sense that when consumers buy meat, they use color as an important indicator of its freshness...For F.D.A. to rely on a promise of some stamp on the package that says 'use or freeze by' is just naive.' Here is a project for Make- connect tailpipe to refrigerator and have better looking food. ::New York Times
 
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
  for the commitment phobic
wamu.org : The Diane Rehm Show : This Week

i listen to diane rehm every now and then.. but, you know, i can't be expected to remember every day at 10 to turn it on. well, it turns out the shows are archived online! yay! now i don't even have to listen to the political crap i don't wanna! faaabulous. the archives go back years, too.. so now i can be really picky. :)
 
  lovely saturday evening

Shuckers, originally uploaded by estacey.

 
  Sailing on Saturday

Trees!, originally uploaded by estacey.

Yay, I finally got on the water this weekend. It was very chill.. Except when we dropped the can of pringles and a rescue effort was put into place. Then later we saw 3-4 dolphins, which we followed around the bay for a bit. We got very close to them with the boat.. So, so, so cool.

 
Friday, February 17, 2006
  b-day gift!

ecosphere, originally uploaded by estacey.

i got dawny's gift today! yep, my birthday was january 23, but i won't complain, seeing as how i just got what i'm giving alli for christmas (2005) in the mail yesterday. :D

anyway, lookee, an ecosphere! i mentioned it ages ago on the blog.. she took note! i also had it on my google wishlist. i'll have to modify that, because i know y'all are rushin' to it and now you'll be stuck buying me the $500 dive computer. thank you, dawny! it's awesome! i don't even have to lie: i love it! what's really funny is that dawn was saying she thought of something to get me and she hoped i liked it and, if i didn't, i'd better lie. my mind wandered to the ecosphere.. but then when i was at her house, she quickly closed her closet door and said i shouldn't look in there. so i assumed it was in there, whatever it was. wrong!

it's really neat, this little globe. i have four little shrimps, too, but i cannot manage to get a picture of them as they are way too fast and, when i finally succeed at capturing them on, um, card, they're just a blur. so you will just have to trust me on this: i have four shrimp. i offered the naming rights to alli for her work fundraiser, thinking they could hold a raffle, but she passed, so let me know if you can think of anything. one's really big, and that's about the only distinction between any of them. oh, one has a bit of the green algae hanging off him. he can be greeny until it falls off, i suppose.

this weekend, i'm going sailing AND diving for the first time in months. and i actually have monday off, so maybe there'll be more diving then. yay! :)

today was absolutely gorgeous & perfect. let that continue through the fin de semana, please!

every once in a while, i suggest a video. now i suggest beyonce's "check up on it." the song is infectious.. and the video? well, if i were a boy, i would so have a crush on ms knowles. launch.com. go there.

 
  Check out this place
amazon_cares

They're caring for dogs in Peru's Amazon region. I found them on Flickr.. the girl who runs the place has some heartbreaking pics. I gave a little donation, and hope some of the rest of you feel inclined to give a little something.
 
Thursday, February 16, 2006
  :D

chuck e cheese, originally uploaded by dawny.

 
  Cute little spider

This reminds me of the long-legged spider currently living in my bathroom. I don't see him much, but sometimes get to rescue him from the bathtub in a panic after I turn the shower water on.

 
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
  My trip home

My cats are jerks., originally uploaded by estacey.

This pic was sent to me by Balu, who wanted to assure me that my cats were well occupied while I'm away at work, since I'm often calling them jerks as I'm walking out the door, jealous they get to sleep the day away.

Let's see.. Okay, my trip home:

I was happy to get to spend some one-on-one time with Kyle on Friday. When they're that young, it's hard to feel like you're getting any quality time with them.. they're a tornado of activity. But having to feed and dress and bathe and entertain him all day, that did it. He dragged me down on the bed to nap with him. Snuggled up happily with me. Would threaten to leave the bed every time I had to get up. Cried when I left the room from that point on that day.. :) (Not that I'm happy he cried, but I certainly felt special for a bit!)

That night, Dawny & Shannon & I went to see Vance Gilbert in concert. I luck out with getting to see Vance.. he was in Chicago the same weekend as me just before I moved to Florida, too. Now in La freaking Crosse the weekend I'm home for the baptism? Weirdo. We were a few minutes late getting out of the house (duh) so we had to wait until Vance finished his first song to sneak in. I was wearing my toque. "Nice hat," Vance said as I snuck through. It turns out my second-grade gym teacher was sitting in the front row with a toque 50x as goofy, and he had been picking on her from minute one of the show. Vance was great, and I highly recommend going to see him if he's ever nearby: VanceGilbert.com - go look! Dawny didn't know of him before the show and now she's a convert, as are her mom and baby cousin.

During the break, I heard a voice say my name. It turned out to be Ms. Garland! Yes, newspaper advisor and high school English teacher. It was great to see her again, and such a lucky break. She has my email address now, so maybe I'll get a Ms. Garland email sometime soon. :)

The girls and I went out for a couple of drinks after the concert at the Casino on Friday night, one of the only quiet bars we could find. I have to say, being cold has its good points: "home" (whether it's Kelli's or Kamille's that's temporarily acting mine) seems all the more cozy and going out for a drink takes on another dimension when you're ducking out of the cold to get there. So that was nice.

Now that we're all 28, we didn't last long in the bars.. I was probably the deciding factor there, but I didn't want to be out too late (I gots little ones to enjoy there and don't want to sleep in too much), so we went to Country Kitchen for a late dessert of ridicu-large chocolate cake and two hours of talking. Nice. :) By the way, Shannon, in case you forget again, I'm memorializing it here in the blog for you: Mike! His name was Mike! Oh yeah, La Crosse has a Hooters now. Woo-hoo, I bet my brother-in-law is happy.

Saturday.. mostly a blur.. a big, lazy blur.. It's easy to be lazy when you have a lump of baby that will happily take residence upon your chest and doze the day away. That Macy honestly just cannot get any cuter, with all that bubbling and cooing. Now, the mustard poop I could go without.

Sunday was the baptism. Me, in a church! Weird! I was approving of the service, wherein the pastor encouraged people to improve their lives by letting go of old grudges. I tried to forgive my mom for my various grievances, but was unsuccessful. I love her as she is now, but I can't lament the fact that we're not closer.

We saw eagles on the frozen Mississippi on the way home from church and turned the car around to get a better view. There were four or five and they're HUGE and BEAUTIFUL. And were probably making the flock of ducks swimming around in the freezing-cold water (how?) very nervous.

There was then a big family get-together of eatin' and present-openin'.. then I changed into as many layers of clothes as I could fit on me and spent the rest of the day snuggled up with Macy, Amanda, Kamille, and combinations of the three.

Monday, my last day home! Noteworthy bit is that we all went to Chuck E. Cheese, and Dawn brought her little cousin Madison. Then Dawn & I went to the bookstore and, where else, Wal*Mart. Spent some quality time in the driveway (well, on the street) and got home at 1:30 a.m... then I watched a movie.. asleep at 4, back up at 7.. ugh. Needless to say, when I got home last night at 6 p.m., it was more or less straight to bed.

Amazingly, I had a good time and I could have easily stayed longer. I'm very comfortable & at-home at Kamille's place, understandable since I used to live there. The cold only really got to me a couple of times, and I had a bit of cabin fever by the end, but it was all good. Maybe I can visit again this summer, to try to keep my Aunt-Stacey memories fresh in Kyle's & Macy's heads. Spend some time with my lovely sisters. Ahh, why does my family live so far away?

Mm, okay, I think that covers it.

Actually, it doesn't. I have been having such a bad year with pets.. Both the birds I had left died while I was away. #1 got attacked by a neighbor animal somehow, Balu informed me via voicemail during my trip. They'd been outside for two months with no incident, and then as soon as I leave.. bam! When I got home, I asked which was left. He said neither; the second died yesterday morning. I'm not surprised; they were a couple. That was my big heartache about the first one getting attacked.. I'm not exactly emotionally attached to the parakeets, but I felt horrible that one was living without the love of its life. The second probably died for that very reason. So now I am a birdless woman. What a weird feeling. Webster died of old age earlier this year and I gave Kili to a pet-sitter/vet office worker last week to keep her birds company, since I wouldn't make Kili live alone but I didn't want to take on another 15-year-lifespan noisemaker. So yep, birdless.

 
Sunday, February 12, 2006
 

SO CUTE., originally uploaded by estacey.

!

 
  Heehee, I went to church today

At Baptism, originally uploaded by estacey.

And now Macy is baptized. Hmm, I think that's about it. Also, it's cold here. 12 with the windchill. Twelve freaking degrees. And me in a skirt.

 
Saturday, February 11, 2006
  Ack

Me & Kyle - Thanksgiving 2004, originally uploaded by estacey.

I found this pic on Kamille's computer. Look how skinny I was!

I've had a few comments since I've been here that I look better now than I did last time I was here (this pic). I do not agree.

 
 

pictures feb. 2005 048, originally uploaded by estacey.

a few pics!

i'm actually having a pretty good time. dawny, shannon & i saw vance gilbert last night (www.vancegilbert.com - highly recommended) and went out for a drink & dessert afterwards. oh, we're such old folks.

yesterday i spent the entire day alone with kyle. he likes me!

this house is LOUD, so i can't really write.. wheee...

 
 

:), originally uploaded by estacey.

isn't she an adorable baby?

 
  ha ha ha

How do single mamas do it?, originally uploaded by estacey.

poor kyle

 
Friday, February 10, 2006
  hey, who's cold?
greetings from the great white north
 
actually, i don't think it was white until.. last night.  apparently it didn't snow even once in january.  (wisconsin, what's going on?)  but it started to snow last night.. on our way back from madison.. and now it is white and gorgeous outside.  :)  it made for an interesting, 30-mph drive home, but hey.. better pretty and cold instead of just plain ol' cold.
 
kelli, for some strange reason, is entrusting her son's life with me both today and sunday.  today we've had a bath and breakfast.  excitin' times.  :)
 
i have noticed one thing already - wisconsinites are NICE. it's true.  even the waitress at country kitchen who looked like a class A bitch was syrupy nice.  and the meth addict who checked us out at toys r us could not have been sweeter.  sort of a change from south florida, where people avoid eye contact and all unnecessary speech.
 
last night, my family had planned a belated birthday celebration for me, but thanks to the trip to toys r us and aforementioned bad weather, we were two hours late.  everyone was just kinda like, "hey, sup."  but amanda (who is tall and almost 13!) and macy (who is a tiny bundle of love) were there.  macy must be going through the stage the kittens did right after they opened their eyes - where they could not possibly be cuter.  i'm really just kind of in awe of how cute and cuddly she is.  pics later.. !  (right now, i'm on dialup.  eesh.)
 
 
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
 
Aerial Photographs of Mexico City (English) *

Awesome. The house projects are surrel, and check out that grey blanket of pollution. Ah, Mexico.

*Courtesy QualityPeoples.com
 
  Today flip-flops, tomorrow moon boots. With plastic bread bags for liners, of course.

Yep, heading home tomorrow. When I checked their weather this morning, it said that the temperature was 30, but it felt like 10 with the wind chill. Uhh. I haven't been in anything less than, say, 45 since.. Thanksgiving 2004. And that's the way I like it. (And mind you, 45 is only in the dead of night here when we're going through cold spells, and you know very well I ain't outside for that.)

They have snow, though. More snow tomorrow. And Friday. And Saturday. I can't remember exactly when I last saw snow, but I think it was probably in 2003.

But anyway, I'll be around.. and posting pictures, I'm sure -- Kamille has DSL. Yay! :)

 
 

My boy kittens, originally uploaded by estacey.

The cat mama sent me an updated pic of my boys. How cute are they ??? And they look nothing alike! Look how big Thor is! :)

I'm willing to bet Tarzan is his dad..

(Tarzan)

 
  this should've gone up on my birthday post

isn't alli a sweetheart, making sure my body parts are all well adorned? :)

 
 

quaker parakeet nest :), originally uploaded by estacey.

the picture i took today

 
  Feral quaker/monk parakeets do the NY-FL thing too
Wild Parrots of Brooklyn - a photoset on Flickr

Wow, New York has quaker parakeets too. Weird.



I was just out and about in Hollywood and quaker-watched for a bit. We have lots of quaker parakeets in South Florida, and I'm constantly noticing them, but it's just every once in a while I happen across a place they really seem to be thriving. Today, that was the Target parking lot.

You could hear them everywhere, and see them flying from tree to tree, chattering and gathering sticks and grasses for their nests in the palms, which look just like the picture above. It's very cool to them pop their cute little heads out of their big nests. All this awesome natural behavior, descended from escaped pets.

I snapped a couple of pictures before my camera battery went dead.. this is an all-too-common occurence lately, so I have bought a spare battery which hopefully will arrive before tomorrow. Anyway, I'll upload those later.

Cute little buggers. They seem to be living pretty harmoniously with the starlings; I often saw the starlings hanging around on their trees / by their nests, with no apparent consequence. I guess that's appropriate.. just a couple of ex-pats making friends. :)
 
  Something I find interesting while also nauseating.
The Wisdom of Parasites. The Loom: A blog about life, past and future

About a wasp. And a cockroach. And a scene from Alien.
 
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
  another weirdo sighting

crocs2, originally uploaded by estacey.

it seems like every time i go to the young circle dunkin donuts (that one you took chris to, bethy!), i always manage to spot a weirdo. a picture-worthy weirdo. today it was a woman that was.. oh, i dunno.. 55 or so? dressed as if she was 16. she had a white gypsy skirt on, with a white hippie top with sequins.. a jean jacket over it.. big hoop earrings.. then purple socks & high-heeled wooden sandals. seriously, the lady thought she was 16. i sat there and said a little prayer that i grow old gracefully, accepting my age along the way.

as i walked out, i realized that i was wearing a nice, black work dress.. and bright blue crocs. (i brought other shoes to work with me but have yet to have a reason to slip off these comfy ones.) i was probably someone else's weirdo sighting for the day! :)

 
  From the Sun-Sentinel
Crocodile commotion in Dania Beach

Crocodile commotion A saltwater crocodile suns itself next to a bench behind the Watermark Condominium in Dania Beach on Monday. The animal created quite a commotion and Florida Fish & Wildlife agents and the Broward Sheriff's Office were called into the residential area over a concern the croc was getting too close to an area where people walk. The crocodile eventually went back into the waterway and because it is an endangered animal, it was left alone. Residents say that three crocodiles, one measuring at least 12 feet, have been living in their waterways for years.

Dania! That's closeby! I could see a crocodile!


 
Monday, February 06, 2006
 

P2043975, originally uploaded by tiswango.

One of Matt's pics demonstrating what a good time we had.. :)

 
  Ha ha ha!

Pill-o Talk, originally uploaded by eitheror.

 
  The Lego Suicides

No, I Don't Have a Gun, originally uploaded by eitheror.

Very clever...

 
  Yay! A wedding!

Their flowers, originally uploaded by estacey.

Pics are up from Bill & Susan's wedding!

The day was rainy and cold.. considering the day before and the day after were gorgeous, that seems a little unfair. But, in true style, it turned out to be a really nice time. It even cleared up long enough for the newlyweds to get their pictures taken on the beach. :)

Anyway, enjoy the pictures..

 
  Look, it's Flat Cara!

Tortoise & Flat Cara, originally uploaded by estacey.

 
Friday, February 03, 2006
 
How killer whales trap gullible gulls - LiveScience - MSNBC.com

I like that these orca whales are coming up with ways to continue to be "predators" despite their captivity.. I gotta think of something that would work like this for Wiley the pacing coyote(?) at Everglades Outpost.
 
  Macy Baby

My Document Name.jpg, originally uploaded by tilson.

:D

Kamille scanned this for me. Can you tell? :)

 
  I hate it when I'm doing something innocent..
Liking looking for trophy clipart for a PowerPoint presentation, and come across something like this instead..
Zimbabwe trophy fees - Trophy Safaris Africa.

There should be some type of "Content Suitable For Assholes Only" warning on websites like this. Aggh, quote: "Any animal bagged or wounded must be paid for." I just don't get why someone would want to wound something. Why is that fun? Oh, causing suffering - it's a blast!
 
  ha ha ha
Short black hair - a photoset on Flickr: "Wow, these are bloody *old*. Taken back in 2001, when my lad and I were living in a townhouse with one of his mates.."

This guy is from Detroit. It says in the Salon article that he tries to affect a British demeano(u)r.. From what I see on Flickr, sadly, he does.. badly.
 
  A girl & his real doll
Salon.com Life Just like a woman

Back when I found John Frost's pics, I was telling Mark about it.. How this guy has this harem of mannequins and would pose them in party dresses, wedding dresses, businesswear, etc. How he would have them doing yard work, or falling down the stairs.. He then told me about an article he had read in Salon about men and their Real Dolls, and how the picture featured a man and his Real Doll(TM) playing video games together. Today I decided to find here.. so here you go..

Update: after reading it.. you know, I gotta say wow. Interesting article. And after looking at some of the owners' pages, e.g. this one... oh, how sad!
 
Thursday, February 02, 2006
  Stolen sea turtle eggs
ThaisNews

You know, this type of thing happens so often that I doubt y'all would know why I'd put it up here. But, reading this, it occured to me.. seriously, how can these guys survive? What more could we do to them? If a mama sea turtle returns to her natal beach to find that we haven't covered it in lounge chairs or "renourished" it with sand too dark or too rocky to be a suitable substrate, so she can actually lay her eggs.. then what? Then we steal her eggs. I mean, I understand 40 baht ($1 or so) per egg is a lot to poor Thai folks, but.. you just have to feel for the poor freaking turtles. Even if all goes well with the egg-laying process, only one hatchling per 10,000 makes it to adulthood.. so what happens when we keep interfering with the beginning numbers? And then, when the turtle isn't outsmarted by our ignorant seaside lights, makes it past the predatory birds and crabs, it winds up getting caught in a drift net, or hit by a boat propeller.. just all very sad. it's like we're setting up some too-difficult obstacle course for their survival. and they're just wookie cute little turtles - how can they outsmart us?

anyway, to balance out all this doom and gloom, now i give you.. baby sea turtles!


can you get any cuter?


aww :) look at 'em clamberin' for the moon.


oh, they make me happy :)
 
  bad internet dating stories?
through discussions with my roommate and other folks, it seems that everyone has a bad internet-dating story.. how about my commenters and lurkers?  i allow anonymous posts, so please post yours in a comment.. or if you'd like, you can email it and i'll post it.
 
  haha, mini's in heat

awww!, originally uploaded by batorre.

my little mini is of babyin' age now. weird.

 
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
  that guy's contacts are.. uh.. something as well

IMG_0073, originally uploaded by puppengarten.

 
  Yay! New pictures of our favorite mannequins!
Angie & Jennifer Become Close Friends - a photoset on Flickr : "Living together has made Angie and Jennifer become the closest of friends."

 
  Tollajackson
Years ago, my friend Tolanda had to say my whole name and it turned out that she didn't really know it.  "Stacey.. Tollajackson, or whatever."  We had a good laugh over it and I chalked it up to black girls from Miami probably not being real familiar with Norwegian last names.
 
Now, the weird thing is that I have been called "Ms. Tollajackson" THREE times in the past week, the last time today by the pharmacist at Walgreens.  Stacey Tollajackson.  Then again, I guess it's only two extra letters..
 
  Coolest birthday story
Mighty Girl

http://mightygirl.net/2005_10_01_archive.html#112993673572005418
 
I'm Stacey. I'm a 31(!)-year-old Wisconsin girl living in sunny South Florida. The highlights in my life are my lovely boyfriend, my aloof cats, my adorable/adoring stepdogs, my two lumbering tortoises, select family members, being outside, being underwater, taking pictures, yadda yadda. Stay tuned for lots of babbling!

Name:
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States

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Making a difference

A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish, and he spent much of his time exploring the seashore.

One day the boy learned there would be a minus tide that would leave the starfish stranded on the sand.

When the tide went out, he went down to the beach, began picking up the stranded starfish, and tossing them back into the ocean.

An elderly man who lived next door came down to the beach to see what the boy was doing. Seeing the man's quizzical expression, the boy paused as he approached. "I'm saving the starfish!" the boy proudly declared.

When the neighbor saw all of the stranded starfish he shook his head and said: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, young man, but if you look down the beach, there are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see. And if you look up the beach the other way, it's the same. One little boy like you isn't going to make much of a difference."

The boy thought about this for a moment. Then he reached his small hand down to the sand, picked up another starfish, tossed it out into the ocean, and said: "Well, I sure made a difference for that one!"


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