Mom says we haven’t had internet for a million years. Ok, maybe it only FELT like a million years, maybe it was just about a week.
Mom told me to sit on this bench. So I did.
Anyway I’ve been to lots and lots of parks lately ’cause mom and dad are getting stuff done on the house and I tend to bark a lot while stuff is being done on the house.
But mom! I’m not sure about sitting next to a BOY!
Plus mom says it’s really nice to have the time to go to parks and work on my behavior issues. Seriously mom? Does it look like I have behavior issues?
Deuce seemed to tolerate my curiosity, but I don’t think he was thrilled to sit next to a GIRL either.
I didn’t think so.
Mom says she has some really nice pictures of me that she will share with you once she gets them edited and stuff. Which could be a million years from now.
Or a about a week.
Pictures in this post were taken by my Aunt Karen, Deuce’s mom.
Hard telling with mom.
Signing off for now, your photography model and exemplary citizen,
Nonsmoking Ladybug shared today some scary memories of her own childhood that flashed back into her memory while she watched this powerful dance number which aired on America’s Got Talent.
Take a moment and go over there and watch, though be warned it may be a trigger.
While I don’t have personal memories like this, I know people, all women, who do. Some are still experiencing these events today.
A dance like this will spark conversations. Hard, outraged, sad conversations. It’s likely any one conversation will cover all these emotions and more.
But beyond discussing, what can we do?
I don’t have any experience in what to do. But I’ve been reading Kim Sisto Robinsin at My Inner Chick on Facebook for years. Kim’s brother-in-law murdered her sister Kay after years of abuse as Kay was attempting to leave him.
Now it’s Kim’s mission to spread the word that help is available.
I know, from reading, that it’s not as simple as just leaving. You need a plan and a support system. And it’s very scary. But the first step might just be talking to someone.
Here is one place to start: National Hotline for Domestic Abuse: 1 800 799 7233
Now, go watch that dance again and try not to cry. I had my support dog, Penny, with me. She pushed her nose right under my arm and pressed her body next to my hip as I sniffled.
May you all have a Penny in your life. And may you all be safe in your worlds tonight.
Penny here! Bet you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to!
Don’t you kind of wonder what’s over this hill?
Well, first off let me tell you that I’ve been going to school every week. Mom takes me into the ring and gives me treats when I do stuff. Daddy comes along to watch cause I’m beautiful. Or something.
For the last two weeks I have decided I need to tell the other dogs in my class off, and I’ve been lunging and growling and barking at them. Mom takes me right out of the ring when I do that. Dad shakes his head. They haven’t figured out what my problem is — I’ve been going to school since I was a baby and never did this before.
Mom is very discouraged.
A girl just wants to have fun, mom.
But on happier fronts, daddy has been getting some work done on my castle so there’s lots of strangers and weird noises that cause me to bark. A lot. After all it’s my responsibility to warn my folks of all imminent danger.
Hills are good for you, mom!
So mom’s been packing me and my stuff up and taking me away for days at a time. I’m not always sure I want to go, because sometimes when she bundles me up in the car I end up at the groomer or the vet.
What’s that in there, mom?
But so far we’ve been visiting parks! A different park every day! Sometimes two parks in a day!
There’s people out there!
Mom and I have been walking millions of trillions of steps every day. She says she’s tired. We both sleep all night, so that’s good. I personally think it’s good for mom to get out more. I’m doing my duty as a faithful dog to show her a good time.
And I guess, if I’m honest, she’s doing the same for me.
We’re having a good day, aren’t we mom!
I don’t think a dog could have a better time than I do when I’m at a park. Mom lets me sniff stuff, she’s not in a big hurry, but I move along right away if she says “leave it, let’s go.” I know there will be another good spot right up the path.
There always is.
Hey mom! They burned my woods! The green will come back, right mom?
I think that’s a lesson you humans should learn too. There’s always a good spot right up the path.
I’m a happy girl!
You can say you heard that here first, and thank me later.
Don’t forget to stop and smell the flowers!
Gotta run, mom’s waiting for me. Talk to you next time!
I’ve been waiting for a clear night with no moon and Saturday night/Sunday morning was it. It’s early Milky Way season and it would be visible for a couple hours before sunrise.
I just had to find a dark place to wait.
I got up at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning, got to Shiawasee Nature Preserve, about an hour north of me, by 3:30. I thought I was prepared. I knew which direction to look. I had the Skyview app loaded in my phone. I had a compass. I’d been there during the daytime and had scoped out a spot to stand that was very near where my car would be parked.
So it was with high hopes I got out of the car in 32 degree weather (but no wind!) wearing a winter coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. I walked the few feet to my chosen spot, set up the tripod and pointed it to the SE. And saw….nothing. A few stars. Nothing much was visible because the light from Flint, 28 miles away, was overwhelming.
I began to doubt myself. Maybe it wasn’t really in the SE. Maybe it was more South by now. After all it was last week I had the training that said Southeast…maybe it moves faster than I imagined. I couldn’t remember the name of the constelations I was supposed to use to find the Milky Way. I couldn’t figure out how to put Antaras (a star) into the Skyview app on my phone to find it.
I was reduced to randomly pointing the camera at the sky in any location I thought it might be and shooting. I saw a few bright stars I thought might be the ‘teapot’ and concentrated on that section of the sky. But that was due South, and I knew that wasn’t right. Still, looking to the Southeast was just too bright.
As I played with my settings I couldn’t check to see if my images were getting better or worse because the back of my camera went black. Apparently I had touched some random button that disabled the live view. Sigh.
I tried the proven trick of upping my iso to the highest it could go, just so I could see what was there, and it was totally blown out white. I tried lowering it some, still white. My fingers were getting cold. My toes were numb. I’d been out there for an hour getting nothing.
In fact, this is my favorite shot from Sunday morning.
My fingers were numb and I didn’t realize I had hit the remote shutter button when I moved the camera.
When I got home I found this image, as the best of the bunch. The Milky Way is in there, if you squint hard and use your imagination. I’ve tried editing it to bring it out more…but I can’t figure that out either on this one. Trying to bring the Milky Way lights up while dimming the Flint dome light is just so hard.
If you sit in a dark room, blow this up, and squint you should be able to see the MW over on the left.
So I reluctantly posted my image on our group’s Facebook page, explaining my issues (well, the issues revolving photography anyway!) and look below at what someone did for me! They edited it so that you can actually see the Milky Way.
Thank you Geralynn Dykstra for the edit!!!!
I’m not so discouraged now. I DID get the Milky Way in the image! I even got stars reflected in the strip of water! I won’t go out to this location for another attempt, there’s just way too much light. But I’ll keep going to dark sky places and I know that eventually I’ll capture the sky the way I see it in my head.
When I’m out and about I often see roadside memorials. And if I have time, and if it’s safe, I pull over to read the name and date. When I get home I attempt to look them up, see what happened, learn more about the person.
Because every memorial is someone who was real and who is missed and who deserves a bit of recognition and attention.
This is a very large memorial near my home.
I know for a fact that the families that erect these memorials want people to notice that something terrible happened right there. And they want their person or people to not be forgotten. Even if you never knew them.
There are no names that I could find, no date either.
I’ve done this for years, trying to find out more about the people who died on our roads, ever since my own dad was killed on a stretch of highway between the Alabama/Georgia state line and the Atlanta airport.
She was almost 30, walking on an overpass with her children when she was struck and killed.
We didn’t build a memorial, but we did hastily plant some daffodil bulbs next to the busy freeway where he died. I’ve only been past the spot at the right time of year once, and the traffic was so bad I couldn’t look around for more than an instant, but I think I saw a flash of yellow years after the crash. It could have been the daffodils or it could have been a Wendy’s chili cup.
But I choose to believe it was dad saying hello and making me smile.
A couple weeks ago I introduced a friend to the bird magic that is Kensington. You saw the angst with the red headed woodpecker, but there were other bird shenanigans that morning. For instance there was this grackle dad and teenager who seemed not to agree about something very important.
“Hey dad, can I have the keys to the car tonight?““No! Your legs aren’t even long enough to reach the pedals!““I never get to do ANYTHING!““And don’t ask me again!”
Soon dad will be busy with a new brood and teenager will get more freedom. But until then, from the looks of jr’s face, there are more ‘discussions’ in the wind.
April 1st NHTSA released the numbers of truck related deaths and injuries for 2022. I wish it was an April Fools joke.
That year 5,936 people, some of them the truck drivers themselves, died in large truck related crashes. Over 160,000 people were injured.
I’ve been working with the Truck Safety Coalition for almost twenty years. And except for a few years when the death and injury numbers dipped a bit, the horrific losses have climbed each year.
No one but us and a few other small safety groups seem to notice these unacceptable numbers. I’m heartbroken. My heart breaks every year when the numbers are released. I don’t understand why everyone isn’t shocked and horrified. Why it isn’t national news.
The Truck Safety Coalition’s statement about the NHTSA report is on our webpage, but I’ll link to it here. And if I could ask you to please check out a few of the stories of people who have been stolen from us, maybe you’ll realize, as I do, that these aren’t numbers we’re talking about. These are people. And families. They are someone’s child, mother, brother, husband, wife. My dad.
After you’ve composed yourself and dried your eyes, please donate to help us make our voices louder. You’ll see the donate button on all our website pages.
Sixteen people will die today in a large truck crash. Take a minute and look around at your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors.
I was at Kensington last week. We were lucky enough to find the red-headed woodpecker and his friends on this walk.
They don’t care about you, dove, they just want to see me!Hey, settle down woodpecker, they left enough stuff for all of us.Yea, I guess you’re right. I feel bad about my behavior now. Sorry, man. Help yourself.We can still be friends…right?Hey blackbird, I was just telling the dove that there’s enough for everybody.I’ll just take mine to go.Sometimes I forget it’s not all about me.
Change Is Hard 