SinkHole in Guatemala - Shocking!

Guatemala has been going through terrible times recently...If you've been watching the news you will know that they have had volcanic eruptions, tropical storms and what not.

Looking at scenes of the devastation and suffering in that place, is heart-wrenching...

Today, I saw this...

Apparently, this is not photo-shopped! It's real, very real. A really huge sink hole right in the middle of town!

Did you even know that was possible? I thought we had solid ground under our feet, and, the Earth, along with the gravity and everything, has got us totally covered! But LOOK at this!

It's a really deep hole formed because of the ground water eroding the weak limestone that is found underground. This phenomenon is called a 'karst'. The place is called 'karst topography'. Direct quote from an article about Karst Topography and Sinkholes in About.com - "About 10% of the earth's land (and 15% of the United States') surface consists of soluble limestone, which can be easily dissolved by the weak solution of carbonic acid found in underground water."

Basically, what they're saying is that the earth can cave in at any moment, without prior warning - no smoke signals, no hot water spurting out...nothing, absolutely nothing!

Apparently, this has happened in Guatemala before - the depth of the sink hole being twice deeper than the height of the Statue of Liberty!

I took one look at that picture, and shivered in horror...Imagine looking down into one of those holes just outside of your backyard...Or worse, falling down one of those holes...losing everything to a giant hole in the ground...sounds surreal...I still can't believe such things can actually happen in this world. I guess they can...

Disclaimer: Okay, now I don't know if this is photo-shopped. And I kind of hope it is...for the sake of the people who live there. But if it isn't, then I pray that the people of Guatemala will have the strength to face their trials...

And I hope we can all do something, however small, to help these people.

Note: I am so blessed to live in one of the most boring little towns in India! I used to complain that nothing ever happens in Nagercoil...well, right now...I am not complaining at all!

I am counting my blessings right now? Are you?

World Vision - Trip to the Dominican Republic

Amanda, a sweet mother, wonderful Christian, and a popular blogger over at OhAmanda.com, writes about her trip with World Vision to the Dominican Republic to visit the little girl she sponsors, and to lend a helping hand to many others in need. (World Vision leads you to children in need, and you can sponsor one of them) She will be joined by some wonderful other bloggers. Check out their posts on this trip. Amanda will be blogging throughout her trip to the Dominican Republic, so subscribe to her posts and read on.

You can also grab this widget over at her blog, to show your support for the cause...I've got mine on the sidebar (it's way, way down, I know....but, one of these days, I'm gonna rearrange things here a bit...soon, hopefully!)

10 Mother’s Day Quotes

While we’re at that Mother’s Day sentiment, I thought I could put down here some of the wonderful quotes I found on Mothers.  Here they are:

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie”.  ~Tenneva Jordan

“A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after”.  ~Peter De Vries

“Sweater, n.:  garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly”.  ~Ambrose Bierce

“All women become like their mothers.  That is their tragedy.  No man does.  That's his”.  ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

“Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother”.  ~Oprah Winfrey

“You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back”.  ~William D. Tammeus

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body”.  ~Elizabeth Stone

“Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love”.  ~Mildred B. Vermont

“Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible”.  ~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

“All mothers are working mothers”.  ~Author Unknown

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Courtesy: http://www.quotegarden.com/index.html

Growing Pains on Mother’s Day

"The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new". ~ Rajneesh


I doubt my mother would agree with that. Let alone my grandmother. You see, I grew up in a society where every woman is expected to have motherhood, wifeliness (is that a word?), docility, and kitchen and household skills the day she is born. All other skills were taught. Motherhood was always left to good woman sense. My mother showed me how to do the dishes, wash clothes, clean floors, boil rice, do the laundry, make the bed, and vacuum under the sofa. She never once talked about how to bring up a child. She probably thought I should learn that through observation, or that it should come by instinct. Now, my sister and I were brought up just like my brother was – equal opportunities, equal freedom, and equal couch space in front of the TV. All of us were expected to put our own dirty plates into the wash basin; none of us were expected to clean them. Basically, I didn't know motherhood from Adam (or is that Eve?).


Suddenly I was 24, I got married. Within 7 months I had a baby! Mothers often make the joke, "My daughter is herself a baby, and she has another baby now!" That is not funny, and I kid you Not. Motherhood was not born with me, I swear. It was born with my daughter. My motherhood is not yet 2 years old. I have motherhood tantrums that equal my daughter's child hood tantrums. I am still learning the ropes. I die a little when women gasp that I forgot to wipe the chocolate off my 2-year-old's dirty shirt. This is all coming over in a very bad way, but I hope mothers out there understand what I mean – Motherhood is difficult.


The only thing that came long before the motherhood is the love for my child. That love was born when we first found out I was pregnant. That love grew with every new cell added to my daughter's being. That love will continue to grow forever. Everything I do for her, I do out of that love. I cannot be the best mother in the world. I may not turn out the plumpest, cutest, most intelligent, ultra-achieving child in the universe, but I can nurture a friendly, humane, intelligent, hard-working, empowered spirit in my little girl. I can introduce her to the best in the world and in herself. I can grow along with my daughter to be the best mother I can be.


With every growth spurt of my motherhood, I realize that my mother is still growing. I also realize how much my mother has must have grown, and how fast, with the least amount of help, bringing up three little children, in a foreign land. Every growing pains I have makes me grateful to my mother, who had the same pains but never let them show. Mom, I love you. I hope 25 years hence, Debbie feels I am half as good as you. That will be my true reward.


Happy Mother's Day Mom, and all growing Mothers of the world.

She's sitting this one out!

Debbie, in her own, wobbly way, has learnt to stay upright when she is placed on her...well...'seat'. So, here she is, checking out the terrain from her vantage point!

The world must look truly amazing from such a 'great height', considering that she could only see it from ground level all this while. Notice the fascinated smile slowly unfolding across her face.

Of course she needs to hold herself up with her palms but she's getting there!