Twenty years since I last wished you a Happy Father’s Day.
Twenty years went by in a flash.
The 48 years of your fatherhood were gone in the blink of an eye too.
As were you.
Miss you every day.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad.
Twenty Father’s Days
Me and a Weigela
Hey! It’s Penny here!
Mom says she has lots of photos to edit from her trip, but I keep asking her to do stuff with me so she hasn’t had time to mess with those old photos. I did let her edit the images in this post, cause they’re about me and I know how much you all want to see me.
This is mom’s favorite back yard weigela bush. It has three different shades of pink blossoms, that all bloom at once. This was the bush Mom was asking Katie to pose in front of in June of 2022 when she and dad noticed how sad Katie was.
Mom says that’s when she and daddy decided it was time to let Katie’s soul fly free. So when she sees this bush in bloom she always thinks about Katie and that day, and it makes her sad.
But did you see what’s on the bush, just to the left of my right ear? Go ahead and look again. Maybe make the image bigger on your device.
See it?
Yep…a butterfly! Mom had been out taking pictures of it earlier, from a good distance away because she didn’t want to scare it off. And then, when she thought it was gone, she took me out there to get my picture with the blooms, and the butterfly flew right around our heads and settled down eating and drinking.
It wasn’t afraid of us at all!
It stayed out there, flying around near us the entire time Mom was taking my picture. Do you think maybe it was Katie come to visit?
I think maybe it was!
On the road again
As some of you have figured out I’m away from home. I took an opportunity to spend a few days with family down in Alabama.
And though I could have flown and made the trip South faster, I chose to drive, because I love to drive and I enjoy seeing whatever there is to see along the way.
This trip went easier than my last trip in November. The road didn’t seem so long, nor the traffic so busy. Not to say there weren’t the normal amounts of stress getting through Indianapolis and Nashville and especially Birmingham Alabama.
But Sunday morning as I left my hotel in Bowling Green Kentucky I noticed the wheat fields were ripening and the early light was making them glow.
All day Saturday I hadn’t stopped for a single photo. I even managed to resist the exit I’ve been lured into by photogenic barns the last three times I’ve driven down.
So I thought it was only fair that I take thirty minutes and find a barn or two in wheat fields.
I hope you enjoy.
Last rehearsal
Our community band’s season is coming to an end. We play the last concert this coming Friday, only a few days away, and this one is special. This concert is in memory of Shelley Roland, the music director of our band, who led us for almost two decades. This special woman who was our leader, mentor, and friend died in February after fighting cancer for nine years. So the pieces chosen for this last concert all have some connection to Shelley.
The band sounds great. We’re especially large for this event, because many musicians, friends and past students of hers, have joined us to play music in her honor. I think every section of the band has an extra person or two. And because Shelley was a clarinet player and a teacher, our section went from the four clarinets we had at the last concert to a total of eleven for this one.
All of this is really wonderful, but as we were rehearsing a particular piece last night I suddenly realized why we were playing it and my eyes filled with tears. I need to get the tears under control before Friday night, because I can attest that it’s impossible to play a clarinet and cry at the same time.
Please think about us this Friday evening. It’s going to be hard but beautiful and I can’t think of a better way to honor her memory.
But darn, I better remember to pack my pockets with kleenex.
Sarah and gang
Hey there, it’s me, Penny!
Once again I’m jumping online late at night while my mom snores over there on the sofa. She says if I want to write I should go get my own blog, but I say why do that when she’s already done all the groundwork?
Hey! Did you guys know I have a niece? I sure do! Her name is Sarah and she lives with my Mama S, the lady that delivered me and my four sisters two and a half years ago. My dog mom, Vivian, and her best friend Olivia live there too.
She’s almost one year old and I love her so much. Last month my mom and dad took me up to Mama S’s house for a playdate with Sarah who is a bundle of energy.
All four of us dogs and the three adult people went into the big fenced in back yard to play. Mama S had a bright orange tennis ball that Vivian and Olivia get very excited over.
She’d fling that ball toward the back of the yard and all four of us would chase after it, a few of us (not me) barking wildly the entire time.
I never once got the ball, it was mostly Olivia who did the ball handling, but sometimes one of the other two would get a chance to take it back to Mama S so she’d throw it again.
And then we’d be off again!
My mom and dad laughed at us a lot. Mom was busy taking pictures too of course.
Mostly Sarah and I just ran and ran and ran. She loves to chase me and between you and me I could beat her but I let her get close once in awhile.
Then when she gets almost to my tail I take off again.
We were both worn out when my folks said it was time to go home, but man, what a wonderful time we all had!
I’m just the luckiest sheltie girl in the whole world! I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as we all enjoyed playing!
Signing off now to dream of running in a big yard, your athlete girl Penny.
Representative Gerry Connolly
Regardless of your politics, if you’d met him, you’d have liked him. Messages of love and loss are coming from across the country after Rep Connolly’s death yesterday. Most of them are from famous people, members of Congress, the Biden Administration, leaders from many walks of life.
I’m just one person, part of a safety coalition, who met him once, two years ago. But let me tell you a little about that meeting so you can understand what a huge loss this is.
Members of the Truck Safety Coalition were putting on our very first big fundraiser, and we planned on presenting Representative Connolly an award for his steadfast support of our work, particularly and most recently, pushing for a bill to require the United States Post Office to take responsibility for hiring safe carriers when they contract mail movement out.
Representative Connolly couldn’t make it to our evening dinner, so a few of us went to his office to present the award. I’ve presented a lot of awards to members of Congress in my years with Truck Safety. Many times you end up giving it to a staffer who will hand it off to the Member later. Sometimes you get a meeting with the Member, generally something short and sweet. You say your thing, they smile, and say thank you, then you pose for the obligatory picture and you’re off to the next meeting.
On that September day back in 2023, Representative Connolly’s staff ushered us into his office where we sat on his couches and waited a minute for him to arrive. Standing when he did, there were introductions and handshakes all around. We did the award, got the picture and were preparing to leave when he looked around at us and said —
“Can you folks stay for awhile?”
And so we sank back onto the couches and chatted. He told stories. We told stories. He listened. We spent maybe 20 or 30 minutes with him. One of our young mothers, who’s college aged med school son had been killed by a semi, told her story.
The Congressman cried. So did we.
When we left, all of us crammed into a small office vestibule saying goodbye, he hugged her for a long time, both of them sniffling.
That’s the man we met a little over two years ago. And listening to people’s stories now that he’s gone, I’m pretty sure that’s the man everybody met. There aren’t many of those kind of people left in Congress.
The country should stop and think of Rep Connolly this week, think of his family and his staff and his friends. They’re all going to miss him so much. And while you’re at it, think about all of us, because we’ve all lost another valiant fighter for good.
May he rest in peace. I already know his memory is a blessing.
At last, the little birds
I took myself out to Kensington, a favorite park for bird photography, on Easter Sunday morning because I figured it would be empty.
And, in some ways, it was. There were no families enjoying barbecue, and no busloads of school kids enjoying a field trip.
No one was feeding the little birds.
But photographers? Oh yea, photographers with their long, heavy lenses are not going to let a beautiful spring morning get lost in a holiday!
Still I bet most of us out there that morning managed to get at least a few (dozen) great shots.
And long ago, on a previous post I promised I’d show you more birds.
So here you go. I’ll try to limit this to some of my most favorite from that early morning walk in the woods a month ago.
But it’s hard. I have so many favorites.
As I study each of these I’m transported back to that cool morning, surrounded by hungry birds, the deer watching from further back in the trees, the squirrels hurrying so as not to be left out.
The chipmunks hoarding, the sunlight shifting.
It’s always a magical time at Kensington, no matter what part of the park you visit.
But if you want to experience wildlife in a more intimate manner, get there in the morning on a weekday before the crowds and walk the trails at the Nature Center.
Or early on a holiday morning. That works too.
So tell me, which image is YOUR favorite?
The eyes have it
When you’re walking in the woods do you ever feel you’re being watched?
Depending on which woods I’m in, I definitely do. There’s always a bird or two hoping for a snack.
But it’s not the birds I’m talking about. It’s the others that hang out in the woods. They’re always silently watching.
Easter morning when I was walking in Kensington’s woods I deliberately walked to the trails in the back of the park, just to see who was watching me.
And, as usual, there were the usual suspects.
Some of which I’ve shared with you today.
Change Is Hard 