Stress Cop Does Huber Heights . . .

Wow.  It certainly doesn't take much for the calendar to fill up FAST.  I've got a super busy month coming up, and I already don't know if I'm coming or going half of the time!

One of the things I've been working on is National Tell a Police Officer "Thank You!" Day for Huber Heights.  The event will be September 15, so it's coming up FAST.  I didn't know about it until reading about it on Facebook way back on August 2nd!!  That's just over a month to plan (and execute) different ways to let our local police officers know they are appreciated by their community!

If you've followed my blog for a while, you know Dad is a retired policeman.  When I kind of stumbled onto the Facebook post from Whole Truth Project, I immediately volunteered to be a team captain for Huber Heights.  It's been a little disheartening at times, but when things start working, they really start working!

National Tell a Police Officer "Thank You!" Day is a grassroots effort (begun by Andrew Hale, Chicago attorney, and the creator of the Whole Truth Project) to have communities all over the nation honor their local police force in ways that are meaningful to them.  Because it's a grassroots effort that didn't really start until the middle of August (it took a little while to get some things together and then sent out from Chicago), most people know nothing about it.  Every visit to a business means re-telling the same spiel (although I think I've gotten it down to less than a minute now!).  I've created a Facebook page for the event, and in an effort to draw more people from the area to the page, I've begun a little challenge.

Meet Stress Cop.

Stress Cop and the business card were sent to me for being a team leader.  Stress Cop is helping me relieve stress by touring our fine city and posing for pictures at different locations.  Then I am cropping the photos so it isn't too easy to figure out where it was taken, and then posting them on the Facebook page.  We got stuck on the 3rd round, but I gave them time to think about it while posting the 4th round, which was guessed pretty quickly.  That's as far as we've gotten.

This is the one we were stuck on; they got FedEx after a hint, but since I gave a hint, they have to tell me what street the business is on, and that part of the answer was wrong the first time.  Second time was a charm.  FedEx on Executive.

This one was guessed right away.  Is it as obvious to you?
It was taken at our only Target store.

This is the one I started with.  I think it should have been the easiest to answer for the way I introduced it.
This is the sign at the entrance to the Charles C. Huber Community Park.
I tagged several high school friends as the park was where some of them spent class times in alternative activities . . . .

This is the drop box for videos/dvds at the Library (not a video rental store!!).
I figured using the book depository would give it completely away.

Yes, that is my red t-shirt in the ATM reflection, but I blurred out my face, and the name of the bank.
We all know it's an ATM machine, but I'll only be asking which bank it belongs to.
Fifth/Third (or 5/3).

This was an Hawaiian Ice "shack" in the parking lot of the shopping center with the Library and ATM.
I'm going to use them consecutively to see if anybody might pick up on that.
I also intentionally kept the building in the background to give a little reference.

Sadly, I wasn't able to keep Stress Cop in focus in this shot.
I don't expect anyone to tell me WHICH Speedway this is (we only have 4 of them in our little burg).
But if anyone wants to know, it's the one at Fishburg and Brandt.

I hope you'll all join me on September 15th, where ever you may be, and find a way to thank a police officer in your community.  Little things you can provide:  a hand written thank you note; if there's a bicycle patrol, offer a COLD bottle of water; don't forget the K9 officers (both 4 and 2 legged) - treats for the dogs with handler's permission and a cookie for the human officer; take a picture of your group or family with a poster thanking your police officers and take it to the station; bake cookies or brownies and deliver to the station; drop off a case of bottled water at the station; if you've had to rely on one of your officers for protection or investigation, let them (and the chief) know how you value their services; the opportunities are only as limited as your imagination. 

Remember, the day is about the men, women, and dogs who CHOOSE to serve and protect daily.  They know they are often ridiculed and derided and portrayed negatively more often than not by the media.  They know, that while not likely, it is entirely possible that each day they put on the badge could be their last.  And yet they still CHOOSE to put that badge on, walk out their door, and put their life on the line to keep me safe.  The absolute VERY LEAST thing I can do is to support them and thank them.

  

Hattie and Her Helpers

I am a complete and total sap when it comes to animals.  Dogs and cats in particular, but honestly, just about any story involving an animal will make me cry at some point.  Marley and Me?  Cried like a baby throughout most of the book.

There are so many facebook pages regarding animals that it sometimes makes my head spin.  I'm partial to the ones regarding service dogs and K9s (either police or military) - the bond between the partners is amazing.  Throw into the mix the dogs that show up around our military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan and are devoted to our service members, pulling them back from the bleakness and reminding them of home, and it's time to break out the Puffs Plus.

I'd like to take some time to tell you about one of the service dogs I've been following on facebook.  Her name is Hattie, and she's a hearing service dog; she's also a chocolate lab, so she gives chocolate kisses!  She alerts her momma when timers go off, or someone is at the door, or if there's a siren.  Her momma carries treats with her to praise Hattie for alerting her.  Momma was living a much different life before she and Hattie became partners.  She was often nervous and afraid of what she might be missing.  Having Hattie as her ears meant that she could relax a little and enjoy life a little more.

Hattie was trained by Dogs for the Deaf, out of Oregon.  She was recently in the running for the 2012 American Humane Society Hero Dog Award in the Hearing Dog category.  Despite my best efforts and voting daily, Hattie didn't make it into the finals.  Every dog that was nominated in each category is a hero, and they were "competing" for funds for the charity they represented.  Those who won in their category are now "competing" for additional funds for their charity, and the dog with the most votes will be the Hero Dog of 2012.  It's a great way to raise awareness of just how versatile these 4 legged therapists are.

I pretty much stumbled upon Hattie's page by accident, but after spending a little time there, I knew it was a happy accident (and y'all know I love those!).  I loved the way momma posted about Hattie's activities, and was always positive.  Hattie's momma posts about others who are in need, asking us to do what we can to help out; sometimes it's sharing information, sometimes it's shipping pop top tabs to an organization that helped fund a surgery Hattie needed, and sometimes it's simply prayer.  Hattie and her momma are very much behind "Pawing it Forward."

At the beginning of August, Hattie wasn't feeling too good, and momma was getting pretty worried. They went to the vet and a couple of specialists, eventually got a few things ruled out, but no diagnosis.  Poor Hattie was in pain, and momma was getting frantic.  Fortunately, they had wonderful vet care, and the really scary diseases were ruled out (including cancer) and the beautiful sweet Hattie was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.  She had to have surgery (7-10 biopsies taken of intestines and lymph nodes) before they were able to make the diagnosis.  During all of this, Hattie's momma made a trip to Harrisburg, PA when the Governor of Pennsylvania signed into law a bill that Hattie's momma had been working to have passed that makes it illegal in PA to harm a service dog!  Hattie wasn't able to make the trip, so daddy stayed home with her.

The last couple of weeks were hard on Hattie and her family.  I know they had to be a bazillion times worse for them than for me, and I cried reading the updates.  Hattie and her momma aren't loved by Hattie's Helpers because Hattie's a beautiful dog (although she is absolutely gorgeous); they are loved because they both think of others, no matter what they are going through.  From posting updates on Hattie so we wouldn't worry, to checking in and passing on updates from previous posts for special assistance, momma worked hard to keep things as normal for everyone else as possible.  And Hattie?  Momma very regretfully had to leave the vet's office much earlier than she would have liked after the surgery because Hattie insisted on trying to alert momma even while still groggy from the anesthesia.

Hattie also has a very loving daddy who watches over both of his girls.  He encouraged momma to go on the trip to Harrisburg because of all of her hard work, and then enjoyed a daddy/doggie day with Hattie.  He also made arrangements to be home when momma had to leave Hattie at the vet's overnight; he knew it would be hard for her not to have Hattie's companionship, but also to be without her "ears."

I've become very attached to Hattie and her family.  It's kind of funny that when I saw Bandit asleep and took the picture above, the first thing I thought of was him saying a prayer for Hattie.  Tonight, I edited the picture, adding the prayer and copyright info, then posted it on Hattie's Helpers facebook page.  I know they like it, but even more, I hope it gives them an idea of how much people care about all of them, and want to encourage them.

(Updated post 08-29-2012 because Pinkerton wanted to have his 15 minutes of fame with Hattie!)

I have been humbled by the dedication the family has to Hattie's Helpers, and am learning to look for ways to "Paw it Forward" every day as a result.  It might be making an effort to be nice to an overwhelmed cashier, or telling the cart collector herding the carts "Thank you for doing this job", or sending pop top tabs to Service Paws of Central Pennsylvania.  Whatever it is, it's an honest and sincere message that the other person, organization, or animal is valued.  We all long to hear those simple but touching words from The Help, "You is kind.  You is smart.  You is important."

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Super Guppy??

I live just a couple of miles from Wright Patterson Air Force Base; I live a few more miles from the Dayton International Airport.  I grew up here, and have gotten used to hearing planes overhead all times of the day.  I am glad we no longer experience the sonic booms - although we got used to them, too.

Wright Patterson Air Force Base has on it's outskirts, one of the best places to visit for airplane or flight aficionados.  That would be the National Museum of the United States Air Force.  The museum has certainly changed since my early teen years when it was about the size of an airplane hangar.  Today, one of my dear friends can easily spend two days going through it, and would probably prefer to spend at least 3, if not a week!

There have been two times I've had my attention drawn to the sky only to have my mouth drop open in amazement.  And both times I knew about the event ahead of time, but there was no preparation possible to witness them.

The first time was WAY too many years ago when one of the Space Shuttles was being moved, and was stopping at Wright Patt.  I was playing tennis near my house when the plane carrying the shuttle flew over.  The shuttle is big enough, but the plane carrying it was larger!  I don't think I'll ever forget the image of the absolute enormity of that vision, and it wasn't all that close (several thousand feet above me, at least).

Tonight I was out back looking for the Super Grouper, also called the Super Guppy, to fly overhead before landing at Wright Patt.  The Air Force Museum had been in the consideration for one of the shuttles, but we lost out on that (and yes, many of us are still ticked off) and the Super Guppy was delivering what we received instead - NASA's first shuttle crew compartment trainer.

I definitely heard the plane long before I saw it.  That's good because it let me get my neighbor's attention so she could see it too!

Thankfully, I had been out back looking for the plane for a while, and had decided I'd missed it.  I went about taking some other shots in the backyard, and heard a different kind of engine noise getting louder and louder . . . and then suddenly, there it was!

  
All three of these pictures were taken on the highest zoom level (200 mm), but I cropped the first two an additional two times to get the greater detail on the plane (you can see NASA and the logo on the tail fin on all 3, but you can easily read it on the first two).  This pic is more how it appeared to me from the yard.  I must say it looks more like a dolphin that a guppy though!

It's funny though that I had plans to be out and about doing things with friends most of the afternoon.  One thing was rescheduled for Monday and another was pushed back until 6:00.  I was able to get a lot of things done around the house and was getting ready to leave to visit a MetroPark when I saw a clip on the news and decided to go out back.  Guess it's even nicer that I didn't get all bent out of shape over the rescheduling, especially since I got to witness and photograph this.

Acetaminophen, Aspirin, & Caffeine - My Best Friends

If I needed proof of how crappy the weather has been in SW Ohio this summer, I discovered it today, written on the side of my Equate Extra Strength Headache Relief (WalMart's version of Extra Strength Excedrin) tablets bottle.  I write the date I open the bottle so I can gauge how much I'm going through in a month.  There are 100 tablets in the bottle, and I have 1 tablet left.  I opened the bottle on July 19th.  Just over a month to go through 99 tablets (and this isn't the only bottle I use, just the one I use the most).  YIKES!!

I'm glad that when I was out and about earlier today, I forced myself to get some pics taken.  By the time I got home, I was done in though, and am just about ready to call it a night (this from a night owl!).  I've been busy trying to coordinate the upcoming Tell a Police Officer "Thank You!" Day on September 15 and sending 6-1 gallon zipper bags of pop top tabs to a service dog group in Pennsylvania.  Fortunately, Mom had a great day and decided to go to a movie with a group from Friendship Village.  That gave me another day off this week, and unexpectedly at that.

After striking out in getting donations for September 15th (3 different businesses), I headed out to Eastwood MetroPark for a quick "shoot."  I'm glad I did.

It's August 20th!  Doesn't it seem to early for pine cones??

A body of water, a bright day, nice clouds . . . did you really expect me to pass up this opportunity?

Or this one?

I don't know what kind of berries these are, and the plant was growing up around one of the evergreens.

I had to do some walking to get a couple of shots of the Great Blue Heron.  He was in one spot as I drove by, but after parking and walking back, he took off just as I was getting to a spot where I could have gotten much closer.

I would love to catch a shot of those feathers on his back MUCH closer.  I want to know the texture of them, as well as those on the neck and top of his head.  I was more than a little frustrated that I couldn't get very close today.  On the other hand, I was glad to have gotten another opportunity.

These last 2 shots (above and below) are from the backyard.  More pics of the trumpet vine.  I do like how it's looking now that it's blooming a LOT and vining around the lines of the clothesline.  I'm too short to get a good picture of it from a good angle; guess I'll have to drag out some kind of stool to get a shot because it really is pretty.

Thanks to my best friends (Acetaminophen, Aspirin, & Caffeine) I am relatively functional.  It was touch and go there for a while.  I probably should try to find some chocolate and cold liquid caffeine to make the headache go completely away.  And if it doesn't make the headache go completely away, at least I'll feel a little pampered.

Off to hunt some chocolate and cold liquid caffeine, my very dear friends!

Idyllic, Not Idle, Day

I'm not a morning person.  I like staying up late and sleeping in until I wake up.  If only the world revolved around me and let me do this more often.  Today was a HUGE event day.  I was going to my almost 5 year old nephew's first soccer game.  Considering he told his mom after warm ups at the first practice that he'd rather go back to baseball 'cause he didn't have to run so much, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Unfortunately, I hit the snooze button a couple more times than I should have, and ended up rushing around to get on the road to make the game on time.  Fortunately, I remembered to check the sky for a cloud and attitude check.  It's another beautiful day in SW Ohio, with nice fluffy clouds and beautiful blue skies.

As far as the soccer game went, the nephew had a few good moments.  I do believe the boy is a dreamer though.  There were several times the swarm of boys went right by him and he didn't notice; at one point, he just sat down on the field 'cause he wanted to; and he turned his shirt around at one point so the number was on the front.  I got some great shots of him laughing and having a good time, along with a few of him actually going after the ball!

After the game, I stopped for a quick lunch at Sonic, then headed over to Carriage Hill MetroPark for more pictures.  The clouds and blue skies had me convinced I was experiencing a peaceful, calm, relaxing, or idyllic day.  Could I share that feeling through pictures?
 

I hope you got some of that "peaceful, easy feelin'" I was experiencing.  It's been a great day for photography and laughter, but now it's a great day for laundry and baking.

Sending you all wishes for a peaceful and blessed remainder to your weekend.

Expectations . . .

Ahhh.  The best laid schemes of mice and men . . . yup, they certainly DO go awry.  I guess Robert Burns knew a thing or two about human nature.  I had such plans for today.  I was going to be little Miss Productive and get a lot of things crossed off the to-do list.  Can't say I got much crossed off, and know the list has grown longer!

Although I had great expectations (is this turning into a literary referencing post?) for certain things to be accomplished, there were other things I did NOT expect to accomplish (and hadn't made to the to-do list!) that were taken care of.

I expected to have adults in the public work force return e-mails and phone calls today; that didn't happen.  I expected to provide information to the schools' payroll department so that when I do sell tickets at sporting events I can get paid for them; that DID happen.  I expected that when I got on the computer to deal with e-mails and facebook, that I would be able to do so efficiently without a lot of interruptions; what the heck was I thinking - that RARELY happens!  I expected to stop at one of the MetroParks to get some pictures taken; by the time I left Mom, I had the start of a headache, so that didn't happen.  I revised the picture expectations to be able to shoot the hummingbirds in the backyard, and while I caught several of them at different times over a two hour window, they just weren't good shots for the most part.

Female goldfinch.  She let me get relatively close and take a few shots before she flew off.

I liked the reflection on top of the green tomato . . . you can see the sky as well as the leaves above the tomato.

I'm still trying to figure out the expectation thing.  I think we need to have expectations, but not be governed by them.  It's good for me to expect to take fabulous shots of the hummingbirds so that I will work toward that end; it's also good for me to not be terribly upset when the hummingbird doesn't cooperate or there's some form of user error involved.  It's good to expect that most people will do the right thing in a given situation; it's probably wiser to accept that many will disappoint.

Shall I expect to have more realistic expectations?  I don't think so.  If I lower the expectations, especially for myself, why would I want to improve?  There are a lot of shots I've shared with you all that I'm not thrilled with, but I'm proud of my improvement in getting a better shot.

Photography, just like much in life, is a skill that takes much practice, patience, and sometimes chance.  The ability to be the best from day one is a rare talent in any field; most who rise to any level of critical acclaim will tell you of the need for discipline and practice.  That works for every aspect of life, from being the best garbage collector or CEO, or becoming the next Mother Teresa.

Teacher Recognition Luncheon

I was greatly honored this morning/afternoon to attend a luncheon at Friendship Village to recognize  retired teachers; residents were given the opportunity to invite other retired teacher friends, and Mom wasn't shy about it.  She invited 5 friends (and me).  It was, of course, a great lunch, but also a very nice program.

Our hostess, and Director of Marketing, Pam Hall.

Our place settings included an apple for the teacher as well as the note paper , and an apple shaped calculator (w/ a bite taken out of it) in the box!  Very cute.

A very tasty spinach salad w/ mandarin oranges and strawberries.  I believe the dressing might have been a raspberry vinaigrette.  Sliced almonds for added crunch.  YUM.

Freshly sauteed veggies, rice pilaf, and chicken in a light cream sauce with mushrooms.  Very tasty and filling.

Dessert - not one, but FOUR!  I was so full I only tasted from each of them, and wanted to be pushed back to Mom's room in a wheel chair.

Chef Ben Cyr, who is an educator at heart, came out to thank all of the teachers for their years of hard work, and to express his particular appreciation for the work teachers do.

Two of the servers for the luncheon who will be starting college in the fall in Teacher Education!  They were very absorbed with the speakers.

There were two speakers from the local Northmont School District.  The first speaker presented the use of technology being used regularly in their school, and how the kids seem to eat it up.  She also talked about how none of the current technology was available when she started teaching 20 years ago, so she's had some adjusting to do.  The second speaker was a curriculum specialist who had a few more years experience to draw from.  She talked about some of the "technology" of our times - mimeographs, dittos, then moving on to the copiers and sharing that soon it will all be a paperless classroom (seems kind of odd to me, though).  Some of the retired teachers shared some of the funny stories from their years of teaching, including the one where the teacher asked "someone" to flip off the fan because it was making too much noise, so the whole classroom turned to the fan and flipped it off.  The nice conclusion was that students are basically the same; there are good ones, there are ones that don't really want to be there, but they are kids and they can all learn and grow with the right encouragement.  That hasn't changed since teaching began.

FYI, none of the people pictured are residents of Friendship Village; there are privacy issues and their photos cannot be displayed w/out their permission.  The two people you can see (other than Pam and Chef and the servers) are friends of Mom's, and one was my high school geometry teacher. They're fair game as far as I'm concerned!

It was a very nice couple of hours, and I hope it's something they do annually, even if the same people show up year after year.  They are still valued people who have a lot to offer, and are deserving of the recognition; God knows they probably didn't get a whole lot of positive recognition while they were teaching.

Hat's off to you, retired ladies and gentlemen of the teaching profession.  You shaped our lives for the better, and we are indebted to you.

Sinus/Allergy Fog

Once again I've succumbed to that affliction known to many in the Miami Valley of SW Ohio - the sinus/allergy fog.  No, it's not a fog you see in the weather, but the fog you feel when you have a sinus headache brought on by allergies and/or changes in weather fronts.  The fog is that slightly out of it feeling when you can't fully concentrate on much and just want to close your eyes and do nothing more than breathe.

I woke up with a pretty bad headache this morning and stayed in bed after taking 3 Extra Strength Exedrins.  That was followed by 2 Benadryl when I finally got up.  Now I need to take another dose of the sinus "cocktail" that works for me.  I have a lot of tasks to get out of the way, and have no desire to do any of them; unfortunately I can't procrastinate much longer.  So, before I HAVE to start, I'm going to use some of my photos to at least improve my mood.

How can you see a hummingbird and not be amazed, or smile?

These plants were HUGE.  When the sun was shining directly on them, they were pretty darn bright, too.

I liked the shadow from the pergola nearby.

Just thought it was interesting - different textures and shapes.

If the sun hadn't been so bright, I might have missed the moth . . .

I don't know what this is, but I liked the sun and shadow, as well as the spikey-ness.

Some of my favorite of the wedding the Other Joy and I shot a few weeks ago!  Finally sharing them with the public.

Guess who he just got a look at in her wedding gown?

Beautiful bride; beautiful dress.

Happy Dance!  Love the pastor's enjoyment of her joyful expression.

The newlyweds.

And the wedding party having some fun w/ the photographers.

Well, the mood IS a little better now, and I believe dinner is ready.  Then it's off to finish up some laundry.  I'm hoping the sinus stuff clears up for tomorrow; otherwise it's going to be a long and tiresome day it WILL be a better day and it will be FUN.