Desert Messenger

6 www.DesertMessenger.com August 9, 2017 By Shanana "Rain" Golden-Bear Editorial LETTERS TO EDITOR POLICY Desert Messenger encourages letters from its readers. Letters should be no longer than 300 words, and may be edited for grammar, content and length. OPINIONS EXPRESSED HEREIN DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THOSE OF THE DESERT MESSENGER. We invite you to not only see a problem, but search for the solution to share with the community, keeping the benefit of all in mind. Letters considered libelous, in poor taste, on a personal issue, mean spirited or dominated by Scripture quotes will not be published. Third party letters will not be accepted. To avoid confusion over people with common or similar names, writers must provide a full name and indicate the name they are known by. Writers must provide a full street address and phone number. Rvers can provide the location of park/BLM land, etc. Street addresses will not be pub- lished. Phone numbers are for verification only and will not be printed. Mail letters to: Desert Messenger, P.O. Box 3185, Quartzsite, AZ 85359 or E-mail to Editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 DESERT MESSENGER Quartzsite's FREE Community Paper Proud to be a Quartzsite Licensed Business 928-916-4235 O� T��� - E���� T���! Founded by Walt Akin October 1, 2004 P�������� �� P���� R��� P��������� C�. P.O. Box 3185 Quartzsite, AZ 85359 P�������� ����� � ����� 1st & 3rd Wednesday Sept. thru May with Special Summer Editions June, July & August EDITOR/PUBLISHER Shanana "Rain" BearCat CONTRIBUTING JOURNALIST Joanne Winer GUEST COLUMNIST Jedidiah Free GUEST COLUMNIST Gypsy Jane Finley CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Starr BearCat NAME PLATE LETTERING Paul Winer www.DesertMessenger.com www.MyQuartzsite.com E-mail: Editor@DesertMessenger.com Copyright 2013 Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Desert Messenger. LIKE US on Facebook.com/ DesertMessengerNews FOLLOW US on Twitter @QuartzsiteRain Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later. ~ Og Mandino Many of you may have seen the movie 'Pay It Forward' from 2000 or have read the novel of the same name, a story about a young boy who did 3 good deeds for others in need. In return, all that the child wanted was that they pass on the good deed to three other people and keep the cycle going. One good deed might not seem like much, but if everyone did something good for someone else, then the cycle of generosity and kindness can spark us to become better people. You don't have to wait until Pay It Forward Day held in April to spread good in the community. Pay It Forward Day is a global initiative that exists to make a difference by creating a huge ripple of kindness felt across the world. I believe that small acts, when multiplied by mil- lions of people can literally change the world for the better. Paying it forward is not a new concept. Giving in a sacred way has always been part of the American Indian culture. Native Tradition is all about sharing what one has with others. Native people do not judge each other by how much money they make or by the amount of things they own, but rather by how much a person gives away. Kind- ness, thoughtfulness, and sincerity is shown when prized possessions are given away freely. Sharing with the community is also a way of giving thanks, bringing the people together and maintain- ing the balance, and ensuring the survival of the community. Native American cultures are built on communal values with a large em- phasis on the importance of giving, being equals, and the distribution of wealth. Generosity is the way of life. Natives are motivated by the joy of taking care of one another and the trust that when we are in need, our community will take care of us in return. Just Rambling... Provided by Elmer London, Quartzsite and Desert Messenger I subscribe to the theory that we have a guardian angel. When I packed for London, I thought I included a plastic shoe horn. I had not. While Matt purchased bus tickets from a machine, I looked down and there on the floor was a new long handled shoe horn. We're just two weeks from the his- toric phenomenon of the solar eclipse on August 21. According the United State Naval Observatory, it's expected to last two minutes and 44.3 seconds and has captured the attention of mil- lions. Quartzsite will experience a 62% eclipse. The partial eclipse will begin around 9:15 a.m. and end around noon Arizo- na time. The time of maximum eclipse will be just after 10:30 a.m. Arizona time. Duration: 2 hours, 46 minutes. (To get data for other areas of Arizona, visit NASA's eclipse website.) Unlike a total solar eclipse, you can't view a partial solar eclipse with unpro- tected eyes — you'll damage your eyes or even go blind. But you can buy an inexpensive pair of eclipse glasses on Amazon or at one of many retailers. You also can view it with a telescope if you have a solar fi lter. (If you don't know if you have a solar fi lter, you don't have a solar fi lter.) If you don't have the glasses or a fi l- tered telescope, here's a low-tech so- lution: Get two index cards or white pieces of paper, and poke a hole in one of them with a safety pin. Then, hold the card with the hole up to the sun, al- lowing sunlight to stream through the hole and onto the other card. During the eclipse, you'll see that the projected image of the sun has a "bite" out of it. If a partial eclipse isn't good enough for you, many organizations, including Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, are holding eclipse-related events that in- clude live streams of the total eclipse. Lowell's event also includes telescopes set up to view the partial eclipse here. And you can watch live streams from various places in the path of totality by visiting this NASA website. The U.S. won't see another total solar eclipse until April of 2024. And Ari- zona will have to wait until 2205 to be in the path of a total solar eclipse. The last one to pass over what's now Ari- zona occurred in 1806. Solar eclipse in AZ

• Cover