(Mission Times Courier, San Diego, Ca) -  Kurt Vonnegut wrote, "We are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."

Charlotte and Ed Blank walk at Lake Murray. Charlotte doesn't walk every day but occasionally a group of us get together for breakfast and we talk.  We recently discovered that we both like quotes.  I read them, savor them and forget most of them.  Charlotte writes them down to peruse from time to time. A good quote is one that makes one say "Hmmm."  I read a quote recently that put in perspective what I had been thinking about. "Compassion is a foundation for sharing our aliveness and building a more humane world." - Martin Lowenthal.

I read this quote and immediately thought of a young family I've heard of but haven't met. Court Levy and his wife Amy by all indications are kind. They also act on their kindness. Court's mom is one of the Floras.  (When I first met Flora, I couldn't tell them apart.  One Flora is Fran and the other is Dora.  They both have reddish, short hair and wear visors. They are approximately the same height and laugh a lot. It was logical for me to call them Flora. Now everyone at the lake calls them Flora.)

Court and Amy Levy were both teachers.  They went to Helix High School and University of California at San Diego.  Court has a master's degree in statistics and computer math.  He taught AP Calculus at Helix for ten years and then he and Amy moved to Atlanta to teach:  Amy has a masters degree in counseling from UCSD. Court has become an actuary. They planned to have a child and adopt a child.  They now have three sons, eight-year-old Kellen, adopted six-year-old Tyrese and five-year-old Jeffery.  Amy was pregnant with Jeffery when Tyrese was in the hospital with a rare blood disorder that is now under control.

When the Levy's decided to adopt again they became foster parents and went through the adopting process. But they found it too difficult to adopt in Atlanta. When a foster child was returned to the original family, Tyrese was afraid that he would be given up. The Levy's quit fostering children when they became aware of his fears. Tyrese needed to be reassured that he would always be an important part of their family.

Through the church where the Levy's attend, there is an organization that helps orphans in Uganda. There are an estimated 2 million orphans there. The Levy's compassion took them to Uganda and they found little Sarah Elizabeth.  She is fifteen months old and in poor health. Court and Amy are on their way to Uganda to bring Sarah home to get better health care and hopefully become a robust, happy little girl. The Levy's will give Sarah love and perhaps her life. Flora gets another grandchild. We wish them the best.

At the time I heard about what the young Levys were doing in Uganda, the earthquake hadn't struck Haiti.  Though there were some American families that were about to adopt Haitian children, the need for faster adoption is much more relevant now.  It is hoped these families and others in Haiti will be on a fast track in the adoption process. There are many more Haitian orphans that need to be cared for and raised by loving families. Adoption Agencies should also make it easier for Americans to adopt American orphans. "What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult to each other." - George Eliot.

Bike rider, Mike Messer wants to have a safety seminar at Lake Murray.  He wants to have stations around the lake to educate lake visitors about the rules of the road.  Mike also thinks that these seminars or events should be held four times a year.  When I put this proposition to the Friends of Lake Murray, they were not excited.  They believe that common sense should rule.  Yes, but sometimes that doesn't happen.  So, I thought that I would list the most common complaints that people have:
1.    Most important: Stay right-Pass left.
2.    Some bikes go too fast. Slow down…especially when there are a lot of people on the road.
3.    Parents that don't keep their children with them on the right side of the road and keep them from turning in front of others.
4.    Retractable leashes on dogs become a hazard to all.
5.    Groups spread out across the lake road and don't move when others are trying to pass. 
6.    Groups meet to talk right in the middle of the road.
7.    People that can't control aggressive dogs.
8.    People that don't pick up after their dogs.
9.    We all need to know the mile markers so if we need help, we can tell the authorities exactly where we are. Police, lake staff and Ambulance personnel know.

The lake is for everyone. No one activity is more important than another. We don't want to be inconvenienced such as when the water pipe at the end of San Carlos Bay broke and we have to cut short our exercise, double back or go somewhere else.
Some of the things that lake staff contend with:
1.    People that wade in our drinking water.
2.    People that let their children wade in the water.
3.    People that let their dogs go in the water.
4.    Graffiti on the benches, signs, picnic benches, and bathrooms.
5.    Waterfowl and other birds with fishing line wrapped around them.
6.    Children throwing rocks at waterfowl.
7.    Complaints. Example: Cut the brush. It is too thick. We need more lawn. Our view: The lake environs is an open space area not Balboa Park.

The lake recreation program really tries to accommodate us.  The road we use is a lake access road that they let us use. The water department would much rather do water business than listen to our complaints.
We go to Lake Murray to be surrounded by a small piece of nature; to smell clean air and not have to contend with stop- lights, car emissions, and having to negotiate curbs.  Let's use common sense, be polite to others and realize that when the lake is congested with visitors we have to be more vigilant.  No more mishaps in 2010. Be safe.

On February 14, our wonderful Friends of Lake Murray volunteers, Charlie and Arleene Beckhusen will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.  Charlie and Arleene are dedicated to helping our group with whatever needs to be done. We all appreciate their upbeat personalities and wish them the best of everything. Happy Anniversary Beckhusens!

Our February 11th speaker will be Jerry Schad.  Jerry Schad wrote the book, Afoot and Afield in San Diego County and many others pertaining to hiking and the outdoors.  He is a wonderful photographer who has had his photos published in worldwide periodicals. Jerry writes the "Roma-O-Rama" column each month for the San Diego Reader.  He travels extensively and is a professor of astronomy at Mesa College.

Jerry is in Tunisia and the island of Crete as I write this.  He will bring photos and tell us about his adventure. He says that if the photos aren't good that he will share his pictures of a recent trip to Egypt. He is a favorite!

We meet at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church at 5:00pm. The church is on the corner of Wandermere Dr. and Park Ridge Blvd. For more information, call Barbara Cleves at: (619) 463-9706.

A note…Our January talk about wildfires was canceled because the speaker had a rain problem at his home in Alpine.  We re-scheduled Neville Connell's program for May 20th.