In this section, I will share my knowledge about nature and my skills of interpretation and instruction. Supporting documents include nature journal entries, my fly fishing guide website, and sample curriculum plans and nature nuggets.
Outside in nature has been my favorite place for as long as I can remember. According to my parents, I was happiest outside even as a baby. As I grew older, I began to learn more about nature and how interconnected everything is. Now, as a fly fishing guide, I'm just as likely to point out interesting birds or wildflowers to my clients as I am to show them the insects hatching from the stream we are fishing. This balanced approach to learning about as much of nature as possible has been beneficial to me in my career as a fly fishing guide because a good guided trip is not just about catching fish, it is about being out in nature and enjoying the total experience.
The following documents are artifacts in support of my nature study knowledge and skills. The first is a link to my fly fishing guide website where I share about the hatches an angler can expect on the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I have made a careful study of the insect life to be found and am always prepared no matter the season. This section would not be complete without a link to my long-time fly fishing blog. This website/blog tracks my own development as an angler for over ten years now. Also, please check out my two most recent business newsletters.
One of my favorite examples of the importance of knowing your insects on a trout stream happened a couple of years ago in the spring. A gentleman had scheduled a guided fly fishing trip in late April which is a prime time to experience good dry fly fishing. I took him to a favorite pool that normally features great hatches and rising trout. Sure enough, when we arrived there were fish rising throughout the pool as a light shower dropped some moisture. We quickly scrambled down the bank and got in the water. Watching the trout in the back of the pool, I determined that they were rising to an emergence of Sulfur mayflies that we saw hatching. I pulled out my dry fly box and found a Parachute Sulfur that I had tied. After catching several fish on this fly, my client moved further up in the pool.
Suddenly, despite plenty of fish still rising, he quit catching trout. Realizing there was something more to this puzzle, I started watching carefully. Sure enough, there were some larger mayflies now mixed in with the Sulfurs we had been seeing. On this section of the pool, some larger #12 Pale Evening Duns were hatching whereas the smaller #16-#18 Sulfurs were hatching further downstream in the pool. After tying on a good match, we were back in business.
Moving still further up in the pool, my client again quit catching trout. There was a particularly nice fish rising on the far side of the current, and I wanted him to have the opportunity to catch this fish. Again I started watching carefully. When I could not actually see any of the bugs this fish was rising to, I determined that it was eating either Blue-winged Olive mayflies or perhaps some tiny midges. Thus, I tied on a #20 Parachute Blue-winged Olive. Almost immediately, my client hooked what turned out to be the largest fish of the day, a 12 inch rainbow trout. By this time we were both soaked but also grinning from ear to ear.
Careful nature study is essential to being a good fly fishing guide. For example, I know that as soon as the Phoebes show up streamside in the spring, the Blue Quill and Quill Gordon Mayflies should be hatching. When the Trillium are thick in the low elevation, it is time to start fishing for brook trout on the mid elevation streams.
Another favorite nature study story comes from my time in the Nature Study class in my Masters Program. For this class, Dr. Swafford had me doing sit spots. While most were done within a short distance of my house, he agreed to let me do some stream observations in the Smokies as well since it would apply to my profession. One day I was sitting beside a well known pool called the Rootwad. Known for large brown trout, this pool was in fine form on this particular day. I was watching a large brown in the 24 inch range over near the far bank. This fish was resting on bedrock, and I was considering whether I should quit my sit spot to go fish for it. Instead I decided to be patient.
Below are several more documents relating to nature study. Included are some of my favorite journal entries, as well as field notes from my sit spots, field lists from my Boundary Waters trip, and other documents.
Here are my field notes for Nature Study when I did 90 hours of sit spots: Bird Language Field Notes Winter 2017.
Next, here are two of my favorite journal entries from during my time in the Outdoor Education Program. Over the course of my time in the Outdoor Education Program, I filled a journal with my experiences in nature and learning about outdoor education. This journal will be useful to me as I continue as an outdoor educator.


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Kara Hogan can handle whatever comes her way.
From asset and property management to investor revelations, she's touched the broad spectrum of commercial real estate sales and development operations. "I love a fast-paced environment," she says. "That's what drew me to the industry."
Formerly, Kara has been involved in commercial development, project management, marketing, and budgeting. This background and a tireless work ethic are the makings of an effective Transaction Coordinator. She's at her peak efficiency with obstacles to clear and problems to solve, she says.
"Sterling CRE has a great reputation. I want to work with people who were known to be driven." – Kara Hogan.
As a Missoula local, she watched the city grow for decades. "One of my favorite areas of town is on Front Street. It's amazing to see the domino effect of development, with all these cool restaurants, housing, and the new library," she says. "I love to see our economy diversify. Downtown is such a great example of that."
When she isn't supporting Sterling CRE clients, Kara isn't one for downtime. She's either in (or coaching) a fitness class, mountain biking, or working on home renovation projects. You might also see her chairing board meetings for Families First Learning Lab.
And while Kara loves local restaurants and shopping options, she occasionally wishes for some big-city amenities. "I would love to have a Nordstrom's Rack in Missoula!" she says. We're crossing our fingers…
Contact Kara Hogan at Kara.Hogan@SterlingCREadvisors.com
The Sterling Standard: Responsive. Results.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Picture of Notill Soybeans into Corn Stalks in the Hills of Northumberland Cty.
Thank you to Adam Bent (Nufarm) for sponsoring breakfast.
As experienced almost everywhere, rainfall amounts the last two weeks have varied widely. Planting is ongoing but area-specific. In general, the group thought the ground was even a bit on the dry side at the current time. "Even normally swampy areas of fields are planting"! Little rainfalls are interrupting the planting progress for a couple of days every 3-5 days. Everyone is anticipating a good 8-10 days to finish. However, the west end of the region on the heavier soils is behind and it will take a few days for these fields to be "fit"!
Its amazing how much has got done in the last two weeks. The logistics are such that the amount of crop needed to be planted can't be done in one week, but it can be done in two weeks. Retail and equipment sectors have been hard pressed to keep up. One thing that has changed in the last few years is that farmers are equipped with almost the same size trucks as the dealer network so what comes in is going out just as quickly. In future trucks and labour will be a continuing problem in meeting farmers' needs of timely supply of inputs.
The retailers indicate that they are well over the hump on fertilizer and have lots of spraying ahead of themselves.
Lots of planting has been done but varies by area. Some areas with fewer acres planted received rain at the wrong time.
More questions are coming in from producers on managing fleabane, so the message is to be on the lookout for a glyphosate resistance problem.
Weather information locally will be available via Pioneer who is installing linked real time weather stations at dealer locations. This will be 110 stations throughout Ontario. Anyone can access by downloading app for iPhone and Android called "Weatherlink2.0". You have to create an account, log into the system to see the range of stations available, and then "follow" the ones that are of interest to you. The data includes temperature and rainfall. People with their own stations have to ensure that they are properly located to ensure accuracy. Installing a station beside a tree or building impacts true readings on temperature and rainfall.
Some discussion about the "shame that it is" that there are lots of weather stations around the province but they are not real time or linked so that data is easily shared. More needs to be done to bring these resources together for the betterment of all.
The cool spring to date has delayed grass growth. In many cases livestock has been turned out too early for the conditions and this might negatively affect summer and fall production. However, it was acknowledged some farmers were under pressure to get livestock on pasture as they were running out of high enough quality feed from last season. There is a whole lot more we can do to manage pastures better in the region and across the province.
Those that have held off turning out their stock will likely benefit from that decision.
In general forages are okay but some fields did not overwinter well and should be taken out. These fields could be rotated into soybeans after first cut, or an annual forage if the feed is needed. Weak stands are resulting from a combination of the weather over the past couple of years and management. However, the slow growth we have been talking about all spring really sprang forward this last two weeks.
No one reported hay cut in the area, but further west a few fields were down. First cut is expected to start in earnest by beginning of next week. There are not a lot of buds showing on the alfalfa yet, so we are not losing quality and the heat is bringing on growth.
Lots of spraying has happened with pre-emergence programs on planted corn and soybean fields. Some spray has been on for several days and has only received 2/10"s of rain since application. The group expressed concern over whether there has been enough rainfall for activation. A question was asked about how much rain is needed and by when after application to kick start activation of pre-emergence herbicides. While it varies by product, the group thought a good ½" to -3/4" within 7 -10 days is important to optimizing effectiveness. Some thought that worked ground wouldn't have enough moisture for activation yet but that no-till fields likely do. The later you go the problem is both lack of control of the weeds currently emerging and whether the products can reach back or even activate to control the weeds that are yet to emerge. Where the rainfall is not received within the window indicated above, there fields will have to be monitored to determine if other action is required.
Planting completion ranges from 50-90. Those that are behind on planting are starting to ask about switching hybrids and even from corn over to beans. For the most part the word is there is lots of season left and if you can get it in these next few days, keep going. With the lighter textured soils the crop seems to have gone in with good conditions. Heavier soils are experiencing a bit of compaction and this will have to be monitored throughout the season. The group was mostly pleased with the emergence time and uniformity. Corn planted May 2nd is already in the 3 leaf stage.
Things are progressing but as the corn finishes; the farmers are not as anxious about the beans and waiting to ensure fields are "fit"! Worked ground is well underway but no-tillers are a bit behind as the temperatures have not brought the fields along to being "plant ready"! The amount seeded varies widely from as low as 20% to over 75%, mostly due to soil type and amount of rain received. Size of farm impacts this too which changes by area.
There was discussion that the delayed soybean planting is likely to impact wheat planting date this fall, but there is not anything that can be done about that. It was surprising though how many people are equipped to plant both corn and soybeans at the same time. If wheat planting date is an important target, choosing to plant soybeans at or ahead of corn might pay off, however the difference can't be too much or the current crop's yield potential can be impacted.
The biggest challenge with soybeans continues to be fertility. Lots of fields are just too low in P and K and it's impacting yield. More has to be done to have people recognize the impact of this management oversight. Growers have to look at their micronutrients too. There has not been enough soil testing going on to point out these deficiencies to people.
There was some discussion on population targets for soybeans. Local tests have shown not a lot of yield response despite the population differences. The group agrees there is room to improve but that in general there are enough field-to-field differences that populations have to be managed on an individual field basis and adjusted for conditions, variety selection, and planting dates. Farmers have been getting better response with planters than drills in terms of stand and uniformity.
Lots of scouting and spraying has been happening with finishing up N applications and working on spring weed control. There is still some wheat to be sprayed first time, but that acreage is dwindling.
The later planted wheat is still lagging behind. Even with N application, it just hasn't bounced forward and in fact some fields are retreating. Agricorp received a number of damage reports on a portion of these late fields in the last two weeks. While it is quite a few calls, it still represents a very low percentage of the total wheat acreage. A number of these fields have been released for replanting.
Wheat growth stage varies widely but it's mostly in the 2-3 node stage. The majority of crop will be at flag leaf in the next week to 10 days. Growers should continue to scout their fields for disease as this is the critical time for protecting yield with a T2 fungicide if necessary. Not much of T1 fungicide was applied as disease pressure has been low so far. No stripe rust has been reported in Ontario to date.
The crop that was planted early is progressing well. While a number of acres have received a herbicide application, at this point for most fields it is too late as we approach flag leaf. Better to drop the herbicide and concentrate on timing the T2 and T3 fungicide applications optimally if needed. Weeds not controlled at this stage have already done their damage to yield and the investment in time and product at this point is not economical and can result in injury. Where weeds are a real problem that haven't been addressed yet, plan for a pre-harvest herbicide treatment to aid harvest and prepare for the next crop.
In general it was thought that spring herbicide applications were down so wondering if it was because of fall programs or farmers just avoiding because of the season and state of the wheat crop. Still recognize that fall herbicide programs are on a small percentage of the acreage.
There was a great deal of discussion around weed control programs in winter wheat. The group strongly believes that we should be trying to move producers to fall herbicide programs. The results this spring have really shown the value of that timing. Timing is often hampered in the spring and those overwintering weeds get big and beyond effective control maturity quickly reducing the investment in spring herbicide programs. Spring weed control timing is impacted by cool overwintering temperatures which offer concern over crop injury, wet field conditions can impact optimal herbicide timing, and weed growth of those overwintering species becomes very rapid. Best to control them in the fall and scout in the spring with the hope of a good crop canopy greatly reducing the need to spray spring herbicide. Prime examples of the success of fall herbicides have been dandelion and fleabane as well as other winter annuals. Some though were concerned about avoiding spring applications. Wrecks can happen and these can impact harvest and next crops. It comes down to knowing the fields and scouting in spring to ensure fall treatments are doing the job. This is especially true for late planted fields that don't have the growth coming out of winter or the vigor when spring weather kicks in. There is also the issue of fall herbicide programs vs red clover seeding impacts. There is a lot to weigh in these decisions.
Mike Cowbrough has been asked to respond to the issues around weed control in wheat and we will report his comments when received.
Early spring diseases have been low with minimal fungicide applications occurring to date. Where applications have been made is on more susceptible varieties and where there is really lush growth. If disease pressure is low pass on the T2 and concentrate on optimal timing for the T3 FHB application.
Still 2-3 weeks away from FHB sprays but it is field to field dependent so keep scouting those acres.
Cereal leaf beetle adults have been found in the Alliston area. Best to scout fields where this pest has a history of showing up first, particularly mostly on sandy soils ground though infestations are widespread this year so don't assume only fields with a history are at risk. Scouting is advised for the next two weeks or so.
A good amount of cereal rye was out last fall. Most will be cutting shortly as the head is near the top and they will be using this for feed. It is not as heavy a crop as last year but still decent, and then it will go to beans. Mostly people are planting into the cut rye and then spraying out the regrowth when it greens up in the emerged beans.
There was significant discussion about how to manage cover crops. Lots of people want them dead going into winter while others thought the dead foliage fell over and matted, making it harder to get sunlight to the soil early in the spring. It's obvious that there is still lots to learn about cover crops and that there will be individual field conditions that will dictate when and how to use them. One of our farmers felt his green planting was keeping his planter cleaner and thus able to plant better and earlier (soil moisture wise) than his conventional neighbours. One of the biggest factors is managing the seeding rate that people are using for cover crops. The target is to cover the ground with living plants whether that is just the fall or through the winter. Less is better from a seeding rate perspective – forage seeding rates are too high unless the cover crop is being harvested as feed.
Canadian Agricultural Partnership – The first intake window closed May 8. The next intake will be August 7-28. Funding is available for eligible projects involving continuous rinse systems for sprayers, cover crops, and plant health initiatives.
Species at Risk Farm Incentive Program (SARFIP) – Applications are being accepted until December 14. Eligible projects include setting up rotational grazing systems, fencing to exclude livestock from surface water, windbreaks, and habitat creation.
The Soil and Crop Improvement Association is administering both the above programs. For more information in Quinte and East Central regions, contact Paul Reeds (705-341-4915 ).
OSCIA Forage Masters Competition closes July 15 and they want to increase registration, so looking for help to promote the program.


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Trisha Chetty
Name Trisha Chetty
Durban, Natal
Teams South Africa Women
Nickname Chetty
A wicketkeeper-batter, Trisha Chetty has been a core member of the South African Women's side since the late 2000s, after taking over the gloves from Daleen Terblanche. Aggressive with the bat and pretty athletic on the field, her batting saw big strides of growth after her early years she spent predominantly at numbers seven and eight, leading to a promotion up the order, even ending up opening at times.
He big claim to fame came in 2010, when she was involved in a 170-run opening stand with Shandre Fritz against Netherlands, the highest in a WT20I back then.
With Lizelle Lee taking over the gloves, Trisha was sidelined for the tour to England in June 2018 after a few middling performances against India and Bangladesh, but she continues to hold on to her national contract for the year 2018-19.
Vineet Anantharaman


/ Libya by Gaddafi forces.
This family lost their 20 yr old son, Mustafa, while standing outside. Gaddafi's men came, beat him, shot him, and tied him up. His father says that he was unarmed, and that his son is now a martyr. They could not understand why the Libyan army, that was supposed to protect the people is now doing all of this. He continues to talk about his son, that he was a good boy, that he was well-liked.
5/13 MISRATA – G tank falls in hole in roadside. Easy traps.
5/15 MISRATA – moving south into Tawargha?
5/15 ? MISRATA (unconfirmed) : Karareem (outside Tawergha): Dozens of hostages and families that were detained by Gaddafi forces were freed.
5/16 Misurata – Prisoners abused and some even shot.
5/21 Children in Misrata, Libya, are being injured by unexploded weapons including cluster bombs.
5/22 NOT TRANSLATED The freedom fighters of misratah saying a message to the people of zliten and other near by towns to misratah ..to rise up against the tyrant gaadafi . . .
5/28 MISRATA – photo of Uncle greiving over body of 1&1/2 year old Mohsen Ali al-Sheikh killed by gunfire in clashes between FF & G forces <—- warcrime ?
Unconfirmed, unknown date: Hominoid Libya Somewhere in the city of Misurata was probably in one of the buildings Tripoli Street was found the body of a young man fighting for Gaddafi, they found him dead, and noted he did not use a single shot from his gun, and then found a surprise in his hand which he wrote before his death: O Misurata to give an example to those soldiers who are fighting imposed by force brothers they died their blood did not contaminate the blood of their fellow citizens Allah's mercy and the mercy of vast and go about our people in Libya are suffering from injustice and oppression.


BERMAN: Have a great weekend.
BERMAN: "NEWSROOM" begins right now.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Top of the hour, good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. Good to be back with you. Jim Sciutto has a well-deserved day off. And in just minutes a powerful House committee with Democrats newly in command will face off against a powerful administration official who is on his way out. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is set to appear before the House Judiciary Committee in what is sure to be the biggest public showdown so far. And those are the key words there. So far of the new and divided Congress.
Until last night it was not even clear that this would happen. Whitaker refused to show up this morning if committee chairman, Democrat Jerry Nadler, made good on his plan to have a subpoena ready and waiting to compel Whitaker to answer all of the lawmakers' questions. Those questions begin with Whitaker's three-month oversight of the Mueller probe which he'd spent much of the previous year attacking on television, radio and online.
We will bring you today's session live. It begins 9:30 a.m. Eastern. That is the bottom of the hour. Until then we have our correspondents, our experts, our analysts standing by beginning with Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.
Good morning to you, Manu. You know -- and Laura Jarrett, of course, at the Justice Department.
Manu, for a guy who has only had this job since November, and I'm talking about Whitaker, and who will be replaced likely this month, there's sure a lot of drama around this.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it. I mean, recall this is really the first congressional hearing that has occurred about the circumstances around the firing of Jeff Sessions that occurred immediately after the past November midterm elections. And Democrats have a lot of questions about the circumstances of the hiring of Matt Whitaker, whether the president had discussions with him about whether he would recuse himself or not from overseeing the Mueller investigation, why Whitaker ultimately decided not to recuse himself, whether the president talked to him about things such as the Michael Cohen guilty plea and the fact that federal prosecutors had implicated the president in two crimes. Did the president have any discussions with Matt Whitaker.
Well, the Justice Department is making it pretty clear they're not going to answer a lot of those questions. That's what led to that back and forth that occurred all day yesterday about whether or not Whitaker would even appear here because the Democrats had authorized Jerry Nadler, the chairman of this committee, to issue a subpoena compelling Whitaker to not only appear but to answer those questions.
The Justice Department said that he would not appear unless he got assurances that there would be no subpoena. And after a back and forth Nadler, according to the Justice Department, agreed not to issue a subpoena today for Whitaker as long as he were to come, but that's not to prevent them from issuing a subpoena tomorrow if he doesn't answer those questions.
So expect a lot of questions from Democrats and Republicans. They're going to have five minutes each to ask questions. There are a number of members on this committee so this is going to go on for some time. How much they'll be able to say remains to be seen. But a high profile hearing. The first of major -- of the cabinet officials essentially coming before this Congress about the Mueller investigation. We'll see how much he actually reveals -- Poppy.
HARLOW: OK. Manu, stand by. Thank you for that.
Let's go now to Laura Jarrett, our justice reporter from the Justice Department.
Laura, we just got the opening statement from Matthew Whitaker. And there is a big part highlighted here at the end near the last paragraph where he essentially says, I will continue the longstanding executive branch policy and practice of not disclosing information that may be subject to executive privilege."
So this is exactly what Nadler was worried about, that Whitaker was going to claim potential executive privilege in the future and not answer questions on that front. It sounds like he's going to do that.
for the record where he says, "I will continue the longstanding executive branch policy and practice of not disclosing information that may be subject to executive privilege such as the contents of deliberations or conversations with the president."
Of course that's the big thing that Democrats wanted to press him on. What exactly have you discussed about the special counsel's Russia investigation with President Trump. They've also wanted to question him about how exactly he got this job. Remember he was Jeff Sessions' chief of staff, I should say, as Manu mentioned.
And they also want to talk to him about other investigations as we have reported Whitaker has had conversations with the president about prosecutors in Manhattan going after the president's former lawyer. So they want to press him on that and his oversight of the Mueller investigation -- Poppy and Jim.
[09:05:05] HARLOW: OK. Thank you, Laura. Stand by for that.
I'll also let people know, he does address the Mueller probe at the end here and says there has been no change in the overall management of the special counsel investigation.
We are going to get back to this in just a moment as we wait for the hearing. But another unbelievable story that we are watching this morning. Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos is accusing the "National Enquirer" and its publisher AMI of attempted extortion and blackmail. That's right. He shared all of these details including e- mails from the publisher in a stunning tell-all blog post.
He claims the tabloid threatened to release explicit and intimate photographs of him and a woman that he'd been having an affair with. In return AMI apparently wanted Bezos to end his investigation into the "Enquirer" and make some public statements.
Let's bring in our chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, who's here, Jeffrey Toobin also joins us in a moment on the legal side of this. Reading the Bezos post on Medium this morning was stunning because he told the world all of these embarrassing things.
HARLOW: Because he thinks it's worth it to expose what he calls blackmail.
STELTER: Yes. And because he's the richest man in the world perhaps he has the power and the ability to expose this. To make sure it's in the sunlight. This does go back several months as you mentioned, Poppy. This relationship Bezos was having with a woman named Lauren Sanchez. At the same time Bezos was separating from his wife McKenzie.
Remember that morning back in January Bezos all of a sudden announced he was getting divorced.
STELTER: But then a few hours later, the "Enquirer" published a story about his love life. But it didn't end there. Bezos wanted to know how did the "Enquirer" get my text messages, how did they get my photos with my new girlfriend. Well, his security chief David de Becker concluded this was politically motivated and the "Enquirer" was very angry when de Becker started saying that out loud. When Bezos's camp started accusing the "Enquirer" of political motivations the "Enquirer" was furious so it tried to cut this deal revealed in these e-mails. And here's what Bezos says about this. Here's why he explains he's going public.
He says, "The communications from AMI," that he's printed on Medium.com, "cement AMI's long-earned reputation for weaponizing journalistic privileges. Hiding behind important protections and ignoring the tenets and purpose of true journalism. But Bezos says of course I don't want personal photos published but I also won't participate in their well known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks and corruption." Bezos says, "I prefer to stand up, roll this log over and see what crawls out. "
And that's where we are now. He's rolled over the log.
HARLOW: And they haven't said anything. AMI.
STELTER: And American Media and "Enquirer," they have said not a word.
HARLOW: I mean, you read the e-mail, the e-mails right there.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Wow.
HARLOW: If this is all as Jeff Bezos alleges, is it illegal?
TOOBIN: You know, that is a great question. And I don't know the answer to that. This is a very unusual situation.
TOOBIN: In the blog post, he uses the terms blackmail, he uses the term extortion. The usual pattern of extortion is give me a million dollars or I will kill you. Is this extortion? You could see how this would be extortion because he is saying -- Bezos has access to something that is very valuable which is what's printed in the "Washington Post."
to publicly state that there were no political motivations here. And as background, David Pecker who runs it.
HARLOW: Good friends with the president.
TOOBIN: We don't know exactly. I mean, you know, I wrote a profile on David Pecker in the "New Yorker" two years ago where he talked about how he had paid Karen MacDougal $150,000 to keep her quiet. Essentially as a favor to Donald Trump during the political campaign. Obviously something that, you know, is indicative of their friendship. Because of all the attention that's received, because of the legal problems, he wound up getting immunity from the Southern District to testify, presumably in the grand jury. I think that has put a chill in their relationship.
TOOBIN: But he is still -- you know, that the "Enquirer" still has reasons to ingratiate itself with the president.
TOOBIN: And that may have been what was behind this.
STELTER: Yes, because the "Enquirer" has been seeking funding from Saudi Arabia. We all know about President Trump's relationship with Saudi Arabia.
[09:10:02] So Bezos is hinting at what it calls a Saudi angle to this story but he's not explaining the entire thing.
HARLOW: Well, AMI did publish a pro-Saudi sort of paid for glossy magazine.
STELTER: Yes. Promoting the Saudi crown prince:. Bezos seems to believe that part of this plot involves supporting Saudi Arabia but he's not going to details. One question I've asked Bezos and Amazon, have you called the FBI? You said you're being extorted. Have you called the FBI? Have you turned over evidence? No comment yet.
HARLOW: OK. Stay on this. I know you will. Thank you very much.
HARLOW: Toobin, don't go anywhere. There's a big hearing. Have you heard? TOOBIN: Big hearing.
HARLOW: Just a few minutes.
HARLOW: Other stories we're following. Top White House aide Kellyanne Conway says she was recently attacked in a restaurant. You will hear her story first right here.
Plus, the Supreme Court blocking a strict Louisiana abortion law from taking effect for now. Could that change?
And the nation loses a congressional legend. Former Michigan congressman, the longest serving member of Congress ever, John Dingell has passed at the age of 92. He served with 11 presidents and cast more than 28,000 votes earning praise from his colleagues who calls him a tireless advocate and one of the most impactful leaders.
His wife, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, writes he will be remembered for his decades of public service to the people of Southeast Michigan, his razor sharp wit, and a lifetime of dedication to improving the lives of all who walked on this earth. That wit no doubt will be missed on Twitter where Congressman Dingell even at the age of 92 became known for his snarky viral tweets.
Let me read you his final message. "I want to thank you all for your incredibly kind words and prayers. You're not done with me yet."
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: When you announced recently that you were going to retire after this term, that you said serving in this Congress is obnoxious.
JOHN DINGELL, FORMER DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN: I have done many things at different times that were obnoxious. I cleaned bathrooms, and changed diapers, and do all kinds of things like that. But I do them because of the greater good.
[09:15:00] HARLOW: If you can believe it, we are one week away this morning from another potential shutdown. And lawmakers are trading proposals back and forth. And of course, the goal is deliver legislation to the House early next week, get them to pass it, the Senate, the president to sign it, get a final agreement, but we'll see.
One source tells Cnn this morning, we've still got a lot of work to do. Meanwhile, a White House official tells Cnn, quote, "we are in a good place", and admits that the president might accept less than the original $5.7 billion he wanted for that wall. The president's counselor, senior counselor and adviser Kellyanne Conway also this morning speaking out to our very own Dana Bash about a stunning incident that she says happened in October. She said she was at a restaurant in Maryland with her teenage daughter when a woman grabbed and shook her. That woman denies the assault.
Our Dana Bash sat down with Conway. Dana, when I, you know, first saw your reporting this morning, I was stunned.
DANA BASH, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so was I, and I sat down with Kellyanne Conway for my series "BADASS WOMEN Of WASHINGTON", and it was during that interview, Poppy, that she spoke for the first time about being at a restaurant with her teenage daughter.
Some of her daughter's friends and their parents in Bethesda, Maryland, which is a suburb, I hear in Washington. It was in October of 2018 right after the Brett Kavanaugh hearings after he was confirmed, and tensions were very high.
CONWAY: I was standing next to my daughter and many of her friends at dinner. I mean, she was right here next to me, and her friends were, too. And somebody was grabbing me from behind, grabbed my arms and was shaking me to the point where I felt maybe somebody was hugging me.
One of the other parents coming to pick up his or her daughter. And then as I turned around, it just felt weird, it felt like that's a little aggressive. And I turned around and a woman had grabbed my hinge, she was just unhinged.
CONWAY: She was out of control. I don't even know how to explain her to you. She just -- her whole face was terror and anger and just, and she was right here. And my daughter was right there, and she ought to pay for that. She ought to pay for that because she has no right to touch anybody.
She put her hands on me, I said get her hands off me. She put her hands on me, and was shaking me and then was doing it from the front with my daughter right there, who then videotaped her. And let me tell you something, she just would not leave the restaurant.
She kept going on and on, she went outside, she just wouldn't stop. This woman thinks it's OK to touch someone else. It's not OK. It's not OK by her -- and not OK by the law.
BASH: So you called 911, the police came.
CONWAY: I called 911, the police came.
BASH: Did they arrest her?
CONWAY: No, they hadn't -- no, she had already gone.
BASH: You told the president about it?
BASH: What did he say?
CONWAY: What he always says, are you OK? Were you OK, was your daughter OK? Were the other girls OK?
CONWAY: The first thing I cared about was other people's kids there. Which is why I didn't want to talk about it publicly. But I don't want it to become a thing, I just want it to become a teachable moment for everyone.
BASH: And during the interview, I asked Conway about incendiary rhetoric coming from her boss, the president like calling the press the enemy of the people, for example, and whether she views that too as contributing to the toxic atmosphere.
She shot back by sarcastically saying that I violated a challenge that she gave to form a sentence without mentioning Donald Trump. But she argued that flatly, that the only person she believes is responsible for the conduct is the woman who committed the alleged assault, Poppy.
[09:20:00] HARLOW: OK, I can't wait by the way to see the rest of that. I know it's part of your series of "BADASS WOMEN Of WASHINGTON", but I mean, who knew? That is -- that was remarkable to watch. Before you go, Dana, I know that Kellyanne Conway has alleged that her alleged assailant has been charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct, right?
BASH: Yes, and she has. This is something that our colleague David Shortell has looked up. There's going to be a court hearing in March in Maryland. And what Shortell has found out looking through the police report and other records relating to this is that she has been charged with second-degree assault and disorderly conduct.
Now, as for this person, her name is Mary Elizabeth Inabinett. Her attorney disputed Conway's account, she gave us the following statement, I want to read it.
"Miss Inabinett saw Kellyanne Conway, a public figure, in a public place and exercised her First Amendment right to express her personal opinions. She did not assault Miss Conway. The facts at trial will show this to be true and show Miss Conway's account to be false." And her attorney also said, Poppy, that she intends to plead not guilty in March.
HARLOW: OK, Dana, thank you very much, we appreciate it. All right, this just in, the parent company of the "National Enquirer" whom Bezos called out for what he calls blackmail this morning. The parent company AMI just issued a response. Let me read it to you in full. Quote, ""American Media" fervently believes that it acted lawfully in reporting the story of Mr. Bezos further at the time of the recent allegations made by Bezos, it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him.
Nonetheless, in light of the nature of these allegations published by Mr. Bezos, the board has convened and determined that it should probably and thoroughly investigate the claims. Upon completion of that investigation, the board will take whatever action is appropriate. "
Back with me, Brian Stelter, Jeffrey Toobin, OK, the board which David Pecker is on is going to investigate his own behavior.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: You've got it. It's a four-man board, Pecker is one of the four board members, the board will now figure out who did what wrong in this case, if anybody. So I guess we have to wait and see if this is a real legitimate investigation or a smokescreen.
HARLOW: You know what you do if you really want to know? You hire outside counsel.
TOOBIN: As far as we're aware. And you know, we'll see if they actually decide to do a legitimate investigation.
STELTER: Problem here though, they seem to know, this is a problem.
HARLOW: All right, gentlemen, stay with me. We have a lot ahead including this big hearing in just moments. Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker will face off with the now Democrats who control the House Judiciary Committee, the whole committee of course will be there, we'll bring it to you live in just a minute.
HARLOW: All right, welcome back. You're looking at live pictures of Capitol Hill. At any moment, we will see the acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker begin his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. My team of experts is with me, good morning.
One and all Toobin is on like ten stories this morning, so thanks for sticking around. So this is why Democrats are so up in arms over Matthew Whitaker and the Mueller probe because of comments he made when he was a paid TV contributor including on this network about the Mueller probe.
I'm going to play for everyone, two comments he made in December of 2017. The first one he seems to be trying to limit the scope of the probe, the second one, he seems to be supporting the Mueller probe. Just listen to this.
MATTHEW WHITAKER, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL, UNITED STATES: I can see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment, and that Attorney General doesn't fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces the budget so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.
I don't see any current reason or good reason that Bob Mueller shouldn't stay in that special counsel role.
HARLOW: OK, so you decide. Democrats are going to press him certainly, and Toobin, let me begin with you. Democrats really want to know and they sent some of these questions in a letter to him in January about Whitaker and his conversations with the president about the Mueller probe, et cetera. Will those conversations be covered by executive privilege?
TOOBIN: Which related to the Watergate tapes which is a different scenario than actually having witnesses testify about conversations with the president. Now many witnesses, our own now colleague John Dean testified at length about his conversations with the president during a congressional hearing in the Watergate era in the 1970s.
The answer is if the White House wanted to allow him to testify, they certainly could. And the real issue here, the real agenda of the Democrats is to try to find out what orders Whitaker had received, what discussions he had had with the president about the Mueller investigation?
And it sounds to me like that is the thing that the White House is going to cite executive privilege for. And it sounds like this hearing could get to loggerheads pretty quickly.
HARLOW: Yes, let's wait until they gavel in here. They're just getting set up. You already see the Chairman Jerry Nadler there, Democrat of New York.


text:
UNIQUE ID 72: TIGER TANK
(Model: Early Production Model)
The Tank Museum - Public Areas, Bovington, Britain
(Location: Tank Story Hall)
Added to Database: May 2008
Last Edited: 30 December 2011
Type (ID): Tiger (170)
Model (ID): Early Production Model (300)
Location Category (ID): The Tank Museum - Public Areas (3000)
Location (ID): Tank Story Hall (3004)
Serial Number: 250112: chassis number.
Other Identification: "131" painted in red on turret sides. Unit markings painted on forward hull sides. German crosses painted on hull sides. Painted overall in a sand and brown camouflage scheme.
Collection Reference: E1951.23. (Accession 2351, Entry 1951.1014).
1: Wegmann & Co, Kassel, Nordhessen, Germany (Turret manufacturer)
2: Henschel und Sohn, Kassel, Nordhessen, Germany (Chassis manufacturer and vehicle assembly)
3: Medjez-el-Bab, Tunisia (In action 21 April 1943)
4: Djebel Djaffa, Tunisia (Recovered west of Goubellat or Quballat 22 April 1943)
5: Tunis, Tunisia (June 1943)
6: La Goulette, Tunisia (Driven to Port 26 June 1943)
7: Port Docks, Bizerte, Bizerte Governorate, Tunisia (Arrived by LCT 3 August 1943)
8: Bône now Annaba, Algeria (11 August-20 September 1943)
9: Directorate of Tank Design, Chertsey, Surrey, South East England, Britain (From September 1943)
10: Horse Guards London, Britain (November 1943)
11: Directorate of Tank Design, Chertsey, Surrey, South East England, Britain (From September 1943)
12: The Tank Museum - Public Areas, Bovington, Dorset, South West England, Britain (Current location)
13: The Tank Museum - Tankfest Arena, Bovington, Dorset, South West England, Britain (Various TankFests)
Text in original Preserved German Tanks publication:
This early production Tiger, carrying the turret number "131", was the Troop Leader's tank of 3rd Troop of Number 1 Company, sPzAbt 504, sent to Tunisia in early 1943. In April 1943 it was part of a force that successfully attacked units of the British First Army in the area of Medjez-el-Bab. On the afternoon of 21 April a counter-attack was made by A Squadron of 48 RTR, 21st Army Tank Brigade, equipped with Churchill Mark IV tanks. During the ensuing battle a number of Churchills were lost but this Tiger was hit by two 6pdr shells from another Churchill, one wounding the tank commander and the other jamming the turret. The tank was then abandoned by its crew.
The next day, 22 April, it was recovered by the British, having been found to be otherwise undamaged, near Djebel Djaffa. It became the first Tiger in good condition recovered by Allied forces. It was refurbished by 104 Army Tank Workshop REME with captured spare parts and by June 1943 was on display in Tunis. There it was a major attraction and was visited by the King, the Prime Minister and many other VIPs. In September 1943 it was sent to the School of Tank Technology at Chertsey for detailed examination. At Chertsey it was stripped down and a report was prepared by the STT staff, including Peter Gudgin who had been a troop leader in one of the tanks destroyed by the Tiger on the day it was disabled. After spending some time at Chertsey, and briefly being exhibited on Horse Guards' Parade in London, it was moved to Bovington after the war. It has the chassis number 250112 (source: L. Archer) although some sources give it as 250122.
This Tiger is currently not on display to the public. It is planned to restore it to running order and so in 1989 it was removed from the museum and disassembled. The gearbox was restored near Stuttgart in 1990 with the help of Maybach engineers (source: Military in Scale magazine). The original engine was sectioned for display and so the one from the museum's Tiger II will be used in its place. The hull restoration continues but is being delayed by lack of funds. Contributions for the Tiger Project can be sent to the museum. The turret can still be seen on display in the museum while it awaits restoration.
Text in Preserved German Tanks Update:
On 26 June 1943 it was driven to the port of La Goulette for shipment on LCT 568, arriving in Bizerte on 3 August; it was then transferred to the 'SS Empire Candida' for the journey to Bône, where it was discharged on 11 August. It finally left North Africa for UK in the 'SS Ocean Strength' on 20 September 1943. (Source: The Tiger Tanks, P. Gudgin).
It took part in TankFest 2008 and 2009, and was moved from the World War 2 Hall to the Tank Story Hall in 2009. It was then removed from display for part of the 2010/11 winter for maintenance evaluation, and was just a static exhibit at TankFest 2011.
Added: 5 April 2011
12: Front view
13: Rear left view
14: Rear right view
Filename: Scan_Tig...
16: The Bovington Tiger before restoration
Taken: Date Unknown
Photo ID: 166
Added: 3 July 2008
Select/Has Priority: 1/0


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I would lose my mind if I came home to that every day!!
Can't she make them pack up things before they get the next thing out?
Could you organize things for them to do together on the proviso that your DD picks her toys up? Like vouchers to the movies or indoor play park and your Mum can take them there once a week but only if she tidies up?
Yeah that would drive me crazy. My DS is 3.5 and I expect him to pick up his toys so I don't think it's too much to ask for your DD to help.
We started with just packing up once a day but have now moved onto only having one toy out at a time. It makes such a difference coming home to a mostly tidy house.
Omg that sounds so stressful. I'm lucky my mum usually does a bit of a tidy up before I come home. Though it drives me crazy that she lets ds get into things he shouldn't or let him use things inappropriately (like play with dvds until they scratch) and lets him watch tv all day. I love childcare days - ds is stimulated and I come home to a clean house. 😁 Maybe she could look after the girls ar her place?
How old is your eldest? Could you tell your mum you really want DD to start learning to pack away her toys when she has finished, can she try to play a few "packing away games" with her to get the hang of it ?
I second this. It helped us.
@LittleMissSunshine if it makes you feel any better my house looks like this most of the time as well, and I feel just as despondent when I get home from work. Unfortunately for me, I only have myself to blame for it 😔.
It's hard I know because your mum is helping you out so much, but I think it's ok to ask for her support in that.
Your DD1 is old enough to help for sure, and maybe you could ask your mum to help you teach DD get into the habit of cleaning up like she'll have to for kindy and school?
@Little Miss Sunshine my house often looks like that and it drives me mad.
I'd hate to come home to that too. Especially after working all day.
When my house looks like that it's because I left it that way which I can at least rationalise!
We've been encouraging ds to help clean up recently when he wants to get a new toy out. ie. You can get that out but first you need to put x away. If he refuses I ask if he needs a hand and I insist he helps. He's 3. Most of the time he's really good. If there's a huge mess, pack it up together and make it a game (like how many things can you pick up in a minute).
Hide away all the rotated toys - I'd be inclined to put them somewhere other than your daughter's bedroom. Ds's toys are in our front hall cupboard, I don't think he even knows they are in there. Decluttering is great too - if you have less stuff it makes pack up so much quicker even on days everything gets pulled out. Also confine the toys to one part of the house. Our house is small so the lounge is also the toy room. Toys rarely get taken out of the lounge.
@Little Miss Sunshine i would feel like crying if I came home to that after work and I'd be pretty angry too.
I can see you're in a predicament because it doesn't seem like your mum puts cleaning up high on the priority list and you don't want to p!ss her off as she's helping you out.
So the only things you can really influence are how many toys they have access to and your DD1s attitude to the toys/mess/clean-up. Maybe start with really restricting access to toys so box up 75% of it all and pack away out of their reach maybe in the roof or your wardrobe or in your garage. You can still bring them out on days you're home to control things just get a box out the night before when the kids are in bed.
Also as other posters said can you focus on getting dd1 to help with tidying/cleaning jobs on days you're home for a good few weeks and once she's used to it and really involved tell your mum that it's non-negotiable dd1 must help out. If dd1 is pretty compliant with it then maybe your mum won't feel like 'bad nanna' for getting her to tidy up.
Are you paying your Mum? If yes then I would have a frank discussion with her, it is too much for you to come home to this (everyday?!) after a long day at work.
As someone who cannot stand crumbs, we have a small table in the kitchen with a mat underneath and that is where DS eats and drinks, it sounds harsh but honestly it just keeps all of the 'food mess' in one place. I have books and little dinosaurs on the table to keep him occupied. No food in the living room (we only have a tiny 2 bedroom flat).
Can you set out some activities to for them to do during the day so its not always a free for all?
Does she take them out for activities etc?


Whatever job you land in life, you'll also be on a team. Basically, a team is any group of people organized to work together interdependently and cooperatively to accomplish a purpose or a goal.
You can participate in many different teams at work—and you probably already do. But, your most basic team is normally your department team, the group with whom you are organized to produce a product or a service. Your end product either serves the company's external customers directly or the internal customers whom you support in producing the product that directly serves the customers.
How Do Business Teams Win?
Teams are created for both long-term and short-term interaction. A product development team, an executive leadership team, and a departmental team are long-lasting planning and operational groups. Their way of winning is to continue to produce quality work and provide continued value to the company.
They can accomplish their value through strong sales (in the case of a sales team), or through reducing costs (such as an HR team that works to reduce turnover). Teams can also win when their new product (for a product development team) outperforms the competition. When you think of winning for a production team, setting records on the number of parts produced is winning.
Organizations often have teams that are not dedicated to providing a product or a service to the external customer. Rather, their purpose is to create a work environment that fosters employee happiness, engagement, wellness, and safety.
Teams usually limit the terms of their members to a year so that many employees have the opportunity to serve and bring fresh ideas to these teams. Examples of these teams include the employee events committee, the health safety team, a green environment team, the employee wellness committee, and an employee motivation and morale committee.
Short-term teams might include a team formed to develop an employee onboarding process, a team that plans the annual company party, a team that implements a customer data collection system to assess service quality or a team tasked with responding to a specific customer problem or complaint.
These short-term teams win by accomplishing their goals.
What Is the Optimum Size Team for Work Performance?
The team size that is optimum for team performance is a topic much researched and debated. The problem is that you need to consider a number of factors when determining optimum team size.
Determining optimum team size is not an easy answer. However, in general, the optimum team size is five–seven members. The team size that continues to function effectively is four–nine members. And, teams are known to function cohesively with a size of up to 12 members.
If you seek effective input, the optimal team size ranges from more than two up to 18-20 members, but these individuals are not expected to form a cohesive, highly interconnected team.
In most cases, large size teams form sub-teams and working groups within the team to accomplish the actual project work. For example, these larger groups are effective for strategic planning input, overall project communication, building support for an idea, and so forth.
Three common types of teams include functional or departmental, cross-functional, and self-managing.
Functional or Departmental Teams. Groups of people from the same work area or department who meet on a regular basis to analyze customer needs, solve problems, provide members with support, promote continuous improvement, and share information.
These are the teams you're probably the most familiar with in the workplace. You may not even use the term team. Instead, you call it a department but it's really a team. The members work together to accomplish a goal.
Working together doesn't necessarily mean that there is constant interaction between team members. For example, in an employee relations team, you may have seven employee relations specialists who support seven different departments (or other teams).
They may work very independently. But, a good team shares successes to help team members build best practices. A good team also shares failures so that the other team members can learn and help develop solutions.
Cross-Functional Teams. Groups of people who are pulled together from across departments or job functions to deal with a specific product, issue, customer problem, or to improve a particular process are cross-functional teams. These are often teams with a specific goal with an end date.
For instance, a company may put together a team to handle a layoff. This team would consist of representatives from human resources, finance, legal, the executive team, and employees from affected areas. They work closely together to develop a plan that works best for the company.
Each person comes with a different responsibility and a needed contribution. For instance, legal is concerned with compliance, finance is concerned with budgets, and HR wants to ensure that the best people are retained.
Self-Managing Teams. Groups of people who gradually assume responsibility for self-direction in all aspects of work is called self-managing teams. Self-managing teams work together to reach a goal without a great deal of oversight.
These teams are extremely effective when you have capable, independent workers on the team. They often report their findings, or progress, to a boss or team lead, but that boss doesn't necessarily participate actively in the team.
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With each departure, you return a little. This is the antidote: distance, nostalgia. You can't forget, because you miss it too much.
The soul of an exile is always being ahead of yourself, far and away, towards. Never quite settled, never entirely belonging somewhere. You 'branch out', evade the quotidian. You're half here, half there – like the clouds that are constantly on the move despite their apparent static position.
While you stay put, part of you is away. Like tango – calm waters at the surface, deep movements underneath; passion controlled. And then you travel – and your soul comes to life again. The wanderer – never entirely here or there. Always hungry for open horizons. Never quite still. Always hunting for the elusive beyond. Always following a deep call, only meant to be heard by him – the call of the horizon, the elsewhere. The look of nostalgia on his face – nostalgia for the future, as much as for paces passed by. Nostalgia in reverse.
He always comes alive on the move. Like the soul of the clouds.
The urge to leave is not an urge to abandon this here and now, but an urge to follow the elsewhere – further and further away, and beyond.
Just like tango – an understated passion. A fugue.
He comes to live on the highway. In search for an elusive tomorrow, elsewhere, he lives in a fleeting time rather than space. Becoming thinner and thinner – elusive self, opening up to a perpetual elsewhere – another place, another time, another. Humility – like a prayer.
He likes the anonymity of this otherness, and the strangeness of elsewhere. Detachment. Just praising the beauty of elsewhere as elsewhere – not a particular place, in famous surroundings. Just a straightforward openness – towards elsewhere. Whatever and wherever that might lead. Like the honesty of a blank page, elsewhere brings with it the sheer joy of an endless possibility of new landscapes, without the tyranny of any 'points of attraction'.
The wanderer feeds on this otherness, it makes him free and tranquil – and alive. He grows into otherness. Not his 'self', just his openness. Freedom, peace, prayer. The spirit of elsewhere is sheer beauty without form or shape. The spirit of beauty is best captured elsewhere – always from a distance, in total freedom from attachments to self and any familiar places. Controlled passion is liberating. There is beauty in the anonymity of each leaf, lost in a deep forest, elsewhere.
The call of elsewhere is the voice of life.
As I read this, my eyes kept wandering to the photo alongside, looking down on mountains from a great height. Two kinds of distance.
It's tempting, when looking at some spectacular view in the distance, to want to get closer. But it's a misconception that things are best viewed, best experienced, from close up.
Distance is as much part of the experience as the thing seen. It's from this perspective that the view is great. To get closer would be to lose that.
Indeed! The beauty of that experience is in the "elsewhere", the not-quite-there-yet. And it is this, which gives it an almost spiritual quality. It makes it similar to a quest – where just being on a path fills us with some form of understanding. Like in Heidegger, it is the openness that brings 'being' (or meaning) closer. Not a 'finding' or anything else. There is no end to the journey. Just like what happens in 'the Zone' depends on us, the ones who tread there carefully, in the sense that things come to life when we walk in – or open up to them. We should perhaps do that more often – get lost in contemplation, rather than trying to 'find' something, at all cost. The Stalker, in fact, warns us against too diligent an endeavour of digging out for the truth; and he prays for his followers, that they be able to believe, instead, and have a laugh at their passions.
I wonder how time comes into play in all this.
While reading this I couldn't help but think of the idea of distance, and what it does for us. Humans are so afraid to be alone, but why? why can't we find happiness in being by ourselves? There is a great difference between being alone, and lonely. Distance is what we need to help us, through whatever life may bring. Through the good and the bad. Distance humbles us, and keeps us wanting more. Whether it's distance between family, the girl you love, or poor friendships. Without distance you will never know how much you love what you had and will do anything to keep it that way, or you will see how much better off you can be without certain things holding you back. The way I see it, distance is what we need to open our eyes. Whether it's something we love or something we hate, if we spend time away from it we will see things more clearly. People are so afraid of being lonely, but don't realize they can be alone and not lonely. We must enjoy our own company and really think about life sometimes.