XRay Project Funded

Needed: $10,500
Received: $10,500

Well done, friends. In these days of seemingly all bad news, you have proven, once again, that the human spirit is alive and well.

We'll have to do it again sometime.

Steve

XRay Project Need Met

If it hadn't been for the 2 day, $12,000 + supplies + plane + personnel earthquake response...

If it hadn't been for the 8 day, $12,000 response to buy tarps for the tent refugees...

... I probably would not have been as antsy about the time is has been taking to raise $10,500 to replace the broken xray machine at a small mission hospital in Haiti.

But I looked back on this blog for when I posted my initial plea for help: April 12th. Just 47 days ago! Dear friends, in less than 7 weeks you and I have provided a SIGNIFICANT and long-term improvement to the basic medical infrastructure on the "forgotten" island of La Gonave, Haiti. The ability to diagnose and care for the diseased and injured just got better.

Received so far: $10,367... a measly $133 away from our $10,500 goal.

La Gonave is not forgotten after all.

We have placed the order and the xray unit is on the production schedule. I'll keep you posted on the progress of production, delivery, installation, and use.

Thanks folks, you have come through again. Next on our strategic plan to impact the island is to feed kids at a school (of nearly a thousand kids!) where currently the kids do not eat. As you can imagine, this is also urgent. Go to Starfysh.org to learn more. I'm sure I'll be blogging about this one too.

XRay Project Status

Hostas are my favorite flower to grow. The cement frogs love them too. In fact, the frog you see here hasn't moved from under this hosta in a very long time.

So far we have received $4,967 toward the purchase of new xray equipment for the hospital. It's coming in slowly but steadily.

Steve

XRay Project Status

This is skunk cabbage. They grow in abundance down by our creek, especially in the lower boggy areas. They are poisonous so if you catch your local deli selling cole slaw made from skunk cabbage, find a new deli.

Received so far: $4,917

XRay Project Status

I found these gigantic arisaemae triphylliums growing wild in my garden. I have scores of these in my yard and woods but I think this is the biggest one I've seen. Pretty prehistoric looking, don't you think?

OK, quiztime again. What is the more familiar name for this protected species?

a. Jack in the Pulpit

b. Cat in the Cradle

c. Johnny come Lately

d. Jimmy Crack Corn

Received so far $4,667

Ostrich Ferns

Several years ago I took a couple of ostrich ferns that were growing down by the creek and transplanted them up closer to the house. Now all I can say is that because of that move I believe there are many more oxygen molecules floating around the planet.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Spring in Michigan

If you click once or twice on this pic you'll see several varieties of lilacs now in bloom in our front yard. They are pretty stunning right now.

Received on xray project thus far: $3,852

We Need Help

I'm speaking at a local Rotary Club meeting tomorrow and was perusing my photo files to pull a few pics to share. I found several pics like these. Kind of says it all doesn't it?

A Starfysh is Born

OK here goes... www.Starfysh.org is finally live. I wonder if you all would do a couple of favors for me.

1. Visit and peruse the site

2. Follow Starfysh on Facebook

3. Let me know what you think

Thanks!

Steve

XRay Project Status

These lily-of-the-valleys are blooming right now. Very fragrant. One of Sue's favorite flower patches of the garden. Every Spring she brings a few bouquets in for our kitchen table.

Received toward xray so far: $3,752

XRay Project Status

These "may apples" live up to their name. In the lower picture you can see both bloom and fruit. My wife and kids think I'm so weird when they see me laying on the ground getting these close ups of my garden. I don't care. I can handle their ridicule.

This plant is where the topical medicine podophyllin comes from (sometimes used to treat viral and genital warts). Hey, you think I make this stuff up?

Good progress on Starfysh this week. And there is a rumbling out there in blogland regarding the xray project. Stay tuned. I believe the next couple of weeks should be interesting...

XRay Project Status

This is a picture of Anse-a-Galets, the largest village on the island of La Gonave, and where it is that I go most often. It is here where the island's only hospital is located. This scene looks biblical, doesn't it?

Received so far: $3,502

XRay Project Status

These flowers are blooming in my yard and woods right now but I don't know what they're called... maybe someone out there knows....

Not much movement on xray this week but I anticipate good movement this next week. I'll keep you posted.

Steve

Observation Skills

See if you can find the following things in this picture:

rhododendron

candytuft

hosta

Golden Retriever

La Gonave Haiti

It occurs to me that most of you out there in blog-land don't know where this "La Gonave" is that I keep yapping about. In the top picture it is the island there in the center of the Gulf of Gonave. Home to about 100,000 of the world's most desperately-poor, it is a tough place to call home: meager existences marked by small-plot subsistence garden plots, hunger and disease a way of life. People here (as in most of Haiti) really struggle to hope for a future that might be any better than what it has always been for them.

The bottom picture is a picture of Anse-a-Galets, La Gonave's largest village, and the place for the past 20 years I have kept returning. And it is here that I have chosen to focus my efforts, starting with the hospital, then with one of the village's schools.

The needs are legion and all are urgent. How does one go about prioritizing such basic needs as food and water and medical care? I guess we'll learn as we go.

Received so far for xray: $3,412 I am going to ramp up my appeal efforts to get this xray baby done. It won't take much, I don't think. The way I figure it, 100 gifts of 60 bucks and we're there. If you know of anyone this type of thing might appeal to would you let them know? Thanks folks.

Steve

PS I have been sort of surprised at the interest in my flower photos. Gardening has been a good hobby for me my entire life. During the day I use my brain and wash my hands a lot; in my garden I try to see just how dirty I can get. Hey, I try to be well-rounded.

Jack in the Pulpit

Jack-in-the-Pulpits are coming up like mad in my garden and woods after the good rain we had last weekend. If you click on the first picture you can really see lots of different stages of plants: from ones just emerging up to the full adult plant. Here's some trivia for you: did you know some Jack-in-the-Pulpits are male while others are female?

Now you are ready for Jeopardy. I'll take sexed woodland wildflowers for $1000 Alex.

Daily progress is being made on Starfysh. I am actually almost to the point that I can actually start talking about it....

XRay Project Status

Quiz: The flower at the left is:

a. Myrtle

b. Flo

c. Vinca

d. Esther

e. Periwinkle

I have posted the answer in the comments section.

Received on the xray project so far: $3,312

P.S. As soon as we achieve our goal of $10,500 I can make these flower quizzes go away.

Forget-You-Not

Forget-me-nots show up in the most unexpected places. I usually just leave them alone to do their thing, which is to bloom beautifully.

Forget-you-not to pray for the precious people of Haiti.