View From the Hammock brought to you by Purple Frog

When I hear that some American girls and women lack self-esteem , I can’t help but wonder. How can a young American girl have low self-esteem or lack confidence in this country of abundance ? I never liked when my parents used phrases like “When I was your age, I walked to school five miles, under the snow.” I rarely tell my story because it starts very similarly, “When I was your age, I had no Tampax during my periods!” This is when I get the sympathy that my father was looking for but never received from me. It is easier to imagine walking on snow than a period without pads or Tampax.   “That can’t be true! Everybody has Tampax!” “We did have pads, but we had to make them out of cotton ourselves.” “Were you poor?” One girl finally began using her brains. It didn’t matter how wealthy or poor we were - our drug stores were empty. It was a lucky day when you could get one or two rolls of pressed cotton or bandages to make those pads at home. Very seldom could we ...

One day my sister and I went to the woods to pick wild berries on a very hot day. To tell the truth, I did not want to go, but I said, "OK, Irina, let’s go. Some fresh air will be good." "What is this?" I suspiciously pointed at something looking like an old rug that my sister put on as soon as we left the car. "This is my raincoat. You should put one on too. Mosquitoes could be really bad in the woods at this time of the year." I forgot all about nasty creatures! I put the raincoat on.  "What is it now?!" My older sister handed me a can. "Lydia, now you have to spray your face and hands with repellent." "Oh, no! I’d rather die. It is enough that I wear this ugly raincoat. I can hardly breathe in it!” I hated even to touch the bottle! But you can’t argue with my sister - a chemist and a wild berry guru. We always had the most fragrant jam at her popular parties.

“Hope has two beautiful daughters their names are anger and courage; Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.”      (Augustine, Summa Theologica)    In the world of greed for power there is little space left for morality. Robert Fogel, University of Chicago economic historian and winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize for economics, said on the day his award was announced, "intense beam of morality... can change history." [1]  To start and nurture that “beam of morality” requires courage, knowledge of history, sharing stories, and patience in pursuing the truth. Every family in the Soviet Union lost at least one member in the World War II. Intelligent and well-educated Germans became obsessed Hitler-phrenics and followed their leader, who promised them Europe and Asia, as their dominion in exchange of loyalty. One man-dictatorship created an army...