A Rose to a Rose

As Reported In The SF Chronicle

If you read the front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, Dec 15, 2005, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines.

The fifty-foot whale was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her her tail, her torso and a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallone Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her - a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around - she thanked them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate in the New Year -to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.

And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

Today, my hairdresser came to my house to do my hair because she knows I am unable to drive to the salon, due to my leg. She knows how anal I am about my hair and nails. She came, did my hair, and charged me nothing. She said to me when she was done "no way, i was going to let you feel ugly when so much has happened to you already, it's my pleasure."

I am so grateful for countless blessings in my life, today was just an example. It may be something insignificant to some people, but it means the world to me that people care about me and go out of their way to help make me feel better.

Like today, my life has been filled with simple, genuine moments like this one. Unexpectedly, angels make themselves visible to remind me that they are always around. There is an enormous list of people to whom I can write endless thank you's, today it goes to Rose, my hair dresser.