Last day of Indian Summer?
This afternoon, on what might be the last absolutely beautiful day of fall, Katie and I went out to play Frisbee in the back yard. What a glorious day! The forsythia is blooming! Does this mean it won’t bloom next spring?
The burning bush has a few leaves left, shining in the last light of fall.
Katie had a blast. She brought the Frisbee back to me most of the time.
Though sometimes she took it off with her for a personal adventure that didn’t include me.
After so much running around it was time to take a quick break.
Then it was back to the fun. Come ON Mom, throw it!
OK Katie-girl….here you go!
Sometimes you should look a gift horse in the mouth
Some of you might be wondering what’s happened to the Senate Bill mandating Electronic On Board Recorders (EOBRs) for commercial trucks. You remember — the bill I was so excited about when it was introduced. (Click on the word excited to read my Sept 29 blog.)
Back then I told you that finally someone in the Senate was listening and was brave enough to buck the American Trucking Association; a group dead set against any installation of the monitoring device. I was excited by the fact that a bill was being introduced and finally we might have a chance to make a big change that would save lives.
But even during my initial euphoria there hovered in the back of my mind the feeling that it was odd the two Senators bringing this to the floor were not people our group had worked with over the years, not Senators known to be active safety advocates. Still, it was something of a gift, this bill – and I was elated. It didn’t matter, I thought, who introduces the bill if it resulted in EOBRs on trucks.
Turns out it DOES matter who introduces the bill. Turns out you have to look at all things political carefully. Turns out I was naive.
Because guess what? Tucked into the middle of this bill was material that would make it illegal to use any information accumulated by the EOBR in any civil case a family might file against a truck company. That would be like saying you can’t use the information gathered by the black boxes on airplanes to sue an airline after a crash, that you wouldn’t be able to use information from the black boxes on cars to sue an insurance carrier after someone hits you. Turns out that the American Trucking Association knows that EOBRs are inevitable and they are trying to get their version of a bill passed before anyone notices that they’re not actually becoming more safety conscious. That in fact they’re trying to cover themselves while looking like they’re concerned for the safety of people on the roads.
I am so frustrated. And angry and sad and mystified. Powerful organizations like the ATA are just so hard to fight when you’re just a little nonprofit. They’ve got money and they aren’t afraid to use it. But they didn’t count on this little nonprofit actually having someone (not me!) read the proposed bill.
And so the fight is on. Though right now it’s more like a waiting game then a fight. And every day we wait another 14 or so people die in crashes with commercial trucks. How many more does it take before we really get noticed?
I’ll keep you posted.
Wordless Wednesday
Seeing the light
Katie has been in rare form the last couple of weeks. She’s up early, wanting to go out, wanting something to eat, wanting to play, wanting, wanting, wanting. Sometimes I go to work early just to get away from her and her needs.
One early morning this week we had already been out in the cold and dark multiple times and as far as I was concerned she was finished with everything she needed to do out there. I wasn’t planning on taking her out again before I left for work.
But once she starts whining she doesn’t stop. Ever. No amount of my admonishing works. She might go lay down for a minute or two. Ten minutes tops. But like the Terminator …she’ll be back.
So I bundled up again and we headed out to wander around looking for the perfect spot for whatever it was that she deemed so important.
And look what I saw.
It might look like the tops of the trees still have their yellow leaves, but they don’t. The glow at the top is the sun rising and just catching the tips of the trees. We ran back to the house for the camera.
The sun continued to rise and the glow continued to grow. It was astounding, and Katie and I ventured further into the back yard to enjoy it. Quickly the entire trees were engulfed in brilliant warm morning light.
And I would have missed it all if I hadn’t had my girl telling me it was time to go back out into the cold on that early morning.
She even posed for me.
That’s my girl.
Groomer again
Katie before the groomer:
And after:
Of course now that it’s been a week. Well. She’s got her fur back to the way she likes it.
Haiti braces for Tomas
How much can one small country endure? Especially one that started out with nothing, only to see what little they had lost in the rubble of an earthquake in January. Now in November a hurricane is bearing down on the tent cities that so many have lived in for far too long. Conditions are already too difficult there for those of us here in our snug homes to fully understand.
This morning as the hurricane bears down on some of the world’s most vulnerable, keep them in your hearts. And after, if the worst happens, perhaps find a few dollars to send to the Red Cross or other agency that you support in Haiti’s behalf.
Katie and the hose.
Husband and I were working in the yard last weekend moving some plants around and keeping them watered as we went. Apparently there was a small pinprick leak in the hose. And of course Katie noticed right away.
It just had to be investigated. Such fun to pounce on that little spray of water!
Surely a smart Sheltie can get that water to stop spraying…just one more pounce…
Game ending score? Sheltie zero. Hose 10.
Bookended Beige
I sit in a beige cubicle all day. Beige padded walls, beige desk, dirty white tiled ceiling marked by a huge water stain from a leak prior to my time. Florescent light just off center, shared by me and the person in the beige cubicle next door. We work in a paperless world now; no piles of work break up the emptiness. No in basket, no out basket. Just that beige expanse and the computer in the corner with it’s never ending flicker. As jail cells go it’s not so bad. Still.
This week the weather has provided some amazing sunsets on my drive home from work. And often as I’ve driven into work I’ve headed directly into a golden peach sunrise, sometimes studded with clouds lit up in brilliant purples. So much color and unbelievable beauty make those crazy commutes less stressful.
It occurred to me last night while driving into a beautiful violet and pink sunset that perhaps God was book-ending my dreary beige days to give me something to smile about.
It’s working.
