Read my latest community column in the Modesto Bee

http://www.modbee.com/2010/07/01/1236031/maris-op
portunities-to-explore.html

Recycling in Modesto  http://tinyurl.com/24cpvuc

Idealism aside, most plastics are not easy to recycle.  
Amy L Maris


Recycling News:

Yosemite Recycling at 2413 Yosemite Blvd in Modesto is now
accepting ALL plastics, and will pay if you include at least 50%
CRV products. They also take glass and aluminum.
(209) 578 5857
Mon-Fri 9-5 Sat 9-4

Star facility in Modesto on Oakdale and Scenic will take only
CRV. Hours: 9-4 daily

S&d on Kansas also takes plastic and does not pay.
Contact me to read excerpts from:

Never Say Uncle: Romantic suspense novel

Unearthing Tilly; A Horror Story of Unethical
Proportions: Science Fiction

JANE (based on Bronte's Jane Eyre): A musical
screenplay

Fresh Lungful: A novella
Amy L Maris

The Path

I forged a path
through dirt and stone
I dug the way
though quite alone.

It wound along
through stream and glen
and never straight
its windings went.

Through blood and tears
the years grew long;
still song and lyric
spurred me on.

It seemed to stop
beside a tree
and so I sat
my mind to free.

No sooner had
my thoughts unwound
than idle fears
my heart had bound

And so constrained
I sought to go
but which direction
did not know.

The song had waned
and with it peace.
Before I knew,
the music ceased,

For night had come
and with it fear
for everything
that I held dear.

So easily
the former way
had led me on
about the day;

The shadows now
were playing tricks
and good and evil
seemed to mix.

Dark music from
a deeper space
warned further stepping
in that place.

The cords that bound
my heart to fear
became my proof
that harm was near.

My spirit shrank
from phantom laws
as hunter's prey
from gaping jaws.

How could I see
to find my way
without the glorious
light of day?

Devoid of strength
and spent of will
I lay me down
and slept my fill.

Then I awoke
and dreading truth
my pose revealed
the hideous ruse-

That night had come
and kept me still
beside a trap
all set to kill.

The boundary shunned
beyond became
a harvesting
of deadly game!

So feeling free
but scarcely so,
I stepped o'er harm
and turned to go.

Now night or day
I follow on
and dig my way
propelled by song,

And know if fortune
lights the way
or shadow still
bids sight away,

The path I take
is made for me
by some unearthly
melody

That old as time
yet new to me
sings on in seamless
harmony.

A. Maris


Review for BE THE PEOPLE

By Carol M. Swain, PhD

Clarion Call to American Roots

Carol M Swain, PhD is a black woman. She grew up in a
shack in the south with no indoor plumbing. She is now a
professor at Vanderbuilt University, and professional speaker
and activist. She has a voice worth listening to.
With compelling research, and a thorough knowledge of the
scriptures, Ms. Swain urges Americans everywhere to
become educated and active in fighting against the growing
pollution of the original American ideal. Aligning her points
with the biblical truth, she exposes the widening gap between
our founding fathers’ vision of America, and our modern
distortion of it.
She states, rather daringly, among other arguments, that
African Americans are more well-to-do and educated in
America than in any other country, and that, inexplicably, this
is a direct result of the tragedy of slavery.
She believes we have not yet reached a point in our country
where we are able to discourse comfortably about distressing
behavioral trends across racial lines, and indeed by stating
this she pushes open the door for even more discussion.
Complete with Appendices of the Ten Commandments, the
Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the
Constitution, this book is an excellent resource for anyone
who cares about America. Even a scathing liberal would do
well to listen to this textbook black single mother, who knows
whereof she speaks.
I have received a complimentary copy of WE THE PEOPLE
from Thomas Nelson Publishers in return for my honest
opinion.


A Review for a free book I
picked up on the street in Santa
Cruz compliments of Campus
Crusade for Christ
Imaginary Jesus
By Matt Mikalatos
At first glance this book appears frivolous. It is anything but.
Mr. Mikalatos tells the story of a very personal experience with
pain and suffering, and adds in a touch of fantasy to expose
the rather human tendency to craft a Jesus of his own
imagination.
Some of the “Jesuses’ that appear in the book are Political
Jesus, King James Jesus  and Testosterone Jesus. As the
story progresses, Mike realizes that his view of Jesus is
rooted in a feeling of anger he harbors over a grief in his life.
After several time traveling adventures with a talking donkey,
He discovers finally, the compassion and love of the real
Jesus in the depths of a labyrinth during a communion
service that begins with just him and God. Others, witnesses
of the sacrificial love of Jesus join him in encouragement and
admonition.
I read the final chapter in tears as Mikalatos had touched the
depths of the most poignant issues of my faith.
The hardest work is thinking.
That's why nobody does it.-

                      Henry Ford