“It won’t stop raining Mom! Make it STOP!”
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Wordless Wednesday at the park
Rainy weekend bird couples
Katie and I are getting a bit stir-crazy this weekend, stuck inside as the rain falls. So we’ve been watching the bird feeder, Katie and I, and we got to watch a very loving cardinal couple. She sat on the top of Katie’s kennel and he would go to the feeder, choose a special seed, then fly and feed it to her. So sweet.
Later in the morning I saw this big bird hanging out.
Turns out she’s the female rose breasted grossbeak. And eventually I was rewarded with seeing them both together at the feeder.
Seems it’s a couple’s day for birds around these parts.
Katie says: “Enough with the birds Mom….what are we going to do for fun?
Some pretties
Do you ever notice how green things are after a spring night of falling rain? Our yard is even more green this morning than it looks in this photo. It even smells green!
Inspired by trillium photos over at Books in Northport I went for a walk during lunch yesterday. There’s a little woodland park in a subdivision not far from the office where years ago I spotted a lot of trillium. Given the trillium are blooming in parts north of here I knew I had to get going if I was going to see any in a much warmer suburban micro-climate.
Guess what?
The floor of the woods was jam packed full of trillium!
Trillium are Michigan’s state flower and it used to be, back when I was a kid, that seeing them was rare. So I feel lucky to have this patch so close to the office.
Look at the top petal…is that a baby mosquito getting ready for lunch?
This little patch of woods in smack in the center of a perfectly manicured subdivision, with it’s pretty pear and crab apple trees.
There was a chickadee just singing his heart out, hidden somewhere in the middle of a flower encrusted pear tree. I wondered what the world looked like from his vantage point, high in that fluffy white confection of a tree.
It was a pretty walk. I’m glad I didn’t miss this part of spring while I was slaving away at work.
Kind of made me smile.
Crumbling confidence
In my work I look at a lot of details. It’s something of a detective job, ferreting out the important stuff amid all the other irrelevant bits and pieces of a person’s financial life. There are a myriad of rules, individual situations, and innumerable combinations. And things change all the time.
For a person that likes to do my work correctly this can all be overwhelming. And while I might catch one thing on a transaction there can always be something else I didn’t see. Lately it feels like there’s an audit error coming my way every week. Sometimes more than one. I learn from each error, but the next week something totally different rears its ugly head. Trying not to miss anything causes me to slow down and miss my production goals. And the audits keep coming.
I know a large part of this is a function of being back in an industry that changed drastically while I was gone. We are totally paperless now, and that means most of the time you see only one document at a time. That in conjunction with my lack of short term memory means I am constantly going back and forth between documents. And don’t even talk about the interruptions of phone calls and emails and other employees. Usually I resort to writing stuff down just to remember it long enough to make a decision.
Still I’m making mistakes, and it’s undermining my confidence. Today I will go to work and do my best again. As I’ve told others that I’ve mentored, doing your best is the best you can do. I believe that.
But it sure is exhausting.
Wordless Wednesday
Mother's Day birds
My Mom always loved birds. I have her bird book where she used to keep track of the birds she’d seen. So I was excited when Mother’s Day here ended up being a big bird sighting day for me.
First up was a rose-breasted grosbeak. I only see these beautiful birds a couple of times a year, always at my feeder. They have black and white wings, a white chest and an absolutely beautiful rose colored bib. (click on the photo above to make it a little bigger. He’s sitting over on the left side of the feeder) I actually had two males at my feeder at the same time yesterday, then later in the afternoon as Katie and I sat in the sun on the deck one sat in the tree above us and sang. I’ve never had the chance to listen to one before. He was a very brave bird; he sat and sang even though Katie was going ballistic over a wayward chipmunk. Once we went inside he popped back down to the feeder and sat there and ate for a long time. Little pig.
I saw another one out at the park, up in a tree. I’ve never seen one anywhere but at the feeder. He was beautiful and I’d show you a picture of him out there if I could figure out how to import my photos to Adobe Photo-shop to crop the photo.
Then I hung the hummingbird feeder up and though I didn’t see him I’m pretty sure I heard a hummer buzz past my head a few minutes later.
Earlier in the day I saw the little green heron fly through the back yard, the first sighting of the summer season. We usually have one or two that nest behind our lot, back in the woods. They make the worst noise as they come in for the evening, but they’re such cool birds I never mind.
I also saw a kingfisher over above the pond as Katie and I were driving to the park in the evening. I rarely see one of those around here either, so that was an exciting thing to see.
And what was the most exciting, beautiful bird I saw yesterday? Just as I was getting supper ready I walked past a window that overlooks the hummingbird feeder. The sun was low in the west and the bright orange male oriole who was sitting on the pole drinking out of the ant moat above the feeder just glowed. He stayed long enough, sipping at the water, for me to call my husband to see him, but not long enough for us to try to get a photo. Trust me, he was absolutely gorgeous. I have only seen one twice before, always first thing in the spring, and always checking out the hummingbird feeder. I guess I need to get him some food of his own. Soon.
So, given it was Mother’s Day, and given Mom loved seeing birds I’m thinking she just maybe sent them to visit me. Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Thanks Mom!
Happy Mother's Day!
Mother’s Day has rolled around again, our 7th one without her. In years past I’ve been pretty successful at ignoring the day, averting my eyes when going by the card section at the grocery store, turning the channel when an advertisement comes on the television.
This year it doesn’t seem to be such a painful day, and I can feel happy for other people and other mothers. Sure I still miss my own, but I can appreciate the day for what it is, a celebration of women everywhere. And I recognize how very lucky we were to have the Mom we did for as long as we did.
So Happy Mother’s Day to you all of you! I hope it’s all sunshine and happy moments – enjoy your day!
No good reason to get wet
I think we need a bit of relief from all the solemnity around here lately. So of course I will turn to my go-to dog Katie to bring a smile to all our faces. And it just happens that Reilly is holding another contest, hoping we’ll all share our cutest “having fun with water” photos.
I’m pretty sure Katie isn’t a beach dog, and she probably doesn’t like swimming, though she hasn’t had the opportunity to try either of these activities yet. She has been around ponds and lakes and is always very careful not to get her feet wet.
She likes posing near water. Heck she likes posing near anything!
Sometimes she isn’t thrilled when the water is frozen either. But it’s spring so we won’t go there.
She goes to a groomer for her bath, so I’ve never seen her completely wet, and I didn’t think it was fair to put her in the tub this morning just so I could see what she looks like when she’s soaked. So the closest I could come to a wet Katie-girl was to run around in the tall wet grass this morning. Here she is in all her morning sogginess.
Katie says the only good reason to get wet is if there’s something exciting to chase!
And the best water is the water in her bowl.
She may have a point!
DC Wrapup
The Truck Safety Coalition is a non-profit that works with safety advocates to advance the agenda of safer highways across the country. This year we celebrated it’s 20th anniversary. It’s a wonderful organization and I wish I didn’t belong to it. Because for a person to belong to this group usually means there has been loss and suffering. Someone related to almost all members of the group has been killed or injured in a truck related crash.
Every two years the TSC hosts a conference called Sorrow to Strength where heartbroken families gather to share their sorrow and reap the strength that being together affords. On Saturday and Sunday while we listen to each others stories we learn how to tell our own, how to talk to the media, to bring attention to our issues. We learn how government works and which issues are closest to being achieved and where we should put our focused efforts. We become lobbyists extraordinaire.
Monday and Tuesday we are scheduled in meetings with our members of Congress, with transportation committee members, and with the staff of regulatory agencies. Each of us has our own schedule and they are chock full. Sometimes we’ll see other members of our group coming or going from Senate or House buildings, or eating in the cafeteria deep beneath “The Hill.” But essentially we’re on our own, telling our stories, asking support for our issues. Trying not to cry, but not feeling so bad when we don’t succeed at remaining clear-eyed. Everywhere we go we’re wearing pins with our family member’s face and we’re carrying larger pictures of them too. My photo collage had a couple pictures of Dad, and a picture of the car taken after the crash; people seem drawn to the destruction. Whatever helps the cause.
One of the issues we pushed this year was getting Electronic On Board Recorders mandated on all commercial vehicles. I was in DC 18 months ago when we met with the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, and requested that he move along a bit faster in his study of the problem of fatigued drivers who were driving longer than was legal and risking the lives of all who share the roads with the big rigs. At that point he was planning on putting out a memo to start thinking about maybe looking into EOBR’s. I was frustrated. This weekend I learned that the DOT has actually put together a proposed rule that would mandate that EOBR’s be installed on all commercial vehicles. I am elated.
At the end of a meeting with Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Anne Ferro I gave her a hug and told her I knew she was working hard at important issues. She hugged me back and said she knew it wasn’t fast enough. We’re on the same page.
Every year that goes by another 4000 people die in truck related crashes, and another 100,000 are injured. We don’t have time for the over analysis of no brainer decisions. Every industrialized country in the world has had EOBR’s for years. Here in the states we let drivers keep track of how many hours they drive by writing it down in a paper logbook. How much analysis does it take to figure out the logbooks are fraudulent?
Meanwhile, we also have a bill being introduced by a Democratic Senator to mandate EOBRs. We’re looking for a Republican cosponsor. It’s another way to get the EOBR’s on trucks, just in case the DOT doesn’t move forward with their proposed rule. We’re also trying to get mandated EOBR’s put on a major transportation re-authorization bill. We don’t care how it happens, as long as it happens soon. We’re pushing all three processes in the hopes that one of them actually makes our goal a reality.
This is getting long and I haven’t even told you about the Hours of Service reduction that might happen soon or the increase in liability insurance we’re pushing. I haven’t told you about side under-ride guards we want installed, the SHIPA bill that freezes size and weight restrictions, or the underlying safety problem, which is the way drivers are paid. I guess all that will have to wait for another blog entry someday.
Meanwhile, if you’ve read this far, thank you. We can’t do this alone. We need everyone’s support, and if the EOBR bill makes it to a point of being voted on I’ll let you know so you can ask your Senator to support us.
And if you read or hear about truck crashes in your area, please forward any links or information to the Truck Safety Coalition at their website. Last year we contacted over 700 families to offer help. This year we expect to do even more.
We had three or four new families at the conference this year; their loss is recent, their grief is raw, uncontrollable. All we could do was hold them, let them cry and cry with them. Their stories are horrific. We have to make a difference because this can’t go on.
So stay safe everyone; call us if anyone needs us. We’ll be there. Membership is not restricted. Unfortunately.
Change Is Hard 