Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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How much is YOUR library worth to you?

Tonight’s local news aired a piece about property taxes, specifically one woman’s fight to eliminate the only tax, she says, that risks a person’s home if left unpaid. She said that people who can’t pay for food or utilities have to pay their property taxes or risk their home.

She concedes that some things property taxes pay for, like police and fire, are necessary so she’s fine if money for those are collected, but she specifically seems to be angry about paying for a library, which she says she never uses.

When I moved to my little town in 1992 the library here was housed in a historic one room school building, and had been since 1976, with books crowded onto shelves and piled on windowsills. It was a tiny space but it was a library and I was grateful it was there. In 1998 the community approved a .41 millage to build a township building to hold offices and the library. The new library opened in 2002 and operated on that .41 millage until just a year or so ago when we approved an additional .5 millage in support of the library.

I’m pretty proud of our community for passing those millage requests the first time they were put on the ballot.

According to information online the Springfield Township Library serves a community of 14,000 people, has a collection of over 70,000 items and has public internet computers, wi-fi, meeting rooms, interlibrary loan, adult, teen and children’s programming.

Our township offices including the library, built to blend into the landscape.

I know this is true because I’ve used nearly all of it. And every time I visit the beautiful building with it’s big windows looking out over parkland I’m grateful all over again for our local library.

Still, one part of my brain understands where the woman is coming from. She never uses her library, yet she pays for it. I’ve been thinking about that since the news aired.

So…I wonder…what do you think about being forced to pay for something you don’t use? Should there be a use tax instead? Or some other way to fund things like libraries?

The parkland adjacent to the library includes Katie’s park.

On one hand I get not wanting to pay for something I don’t use. On the other hand…I hope I never have to use the fire department…but I’m still willing to pay for it. And wasn’t there a time, back in the Ben Franklin days, when people paid a fee to have fire department service, and if your house was on fire but you hadn’t paid the fee they let it burn?

Is that the way we want to live now? How much is your library worth to you?

Interesting question.

PS: If you’ve read this far, go read this post, written almost 15 years ago about one night I worked at a public library. Made me smile in remembrance.


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It’s just one adventure after another around here.

Hey it’s Penny! 

Mom told me you were all waiting for me to tell you about my day(s) of adventure. I thought I had delegated that to her, but you know how hard it is to get good help these days. 

You have to cross the railroad track to get to my park!

So I guess I best get to the telling. 

Mom? Are you going to take pictures of me all day?

Mom and Dad are having some work done in the food room. Given that’s my favorite room in the whole house I tend to keep a very close watch on things going on in there. 

Mom says I get under everybody’s feet and somebody’s going to get hurt.

It was a windy morning! That made me kind of nervous.

Plus did I mention I bark very loudly and for a long time if anyone uses a power tool in my vicinity? Uh huh. So Mom decided she and I needed to go on an adventure all day, or until the nice men with the power tools vacated my property.

Mom said in addition to the wind, the light was really beautiful. Huh. I thought it was ME that was beautiful.

We went out early in the morning and our first stop was MY park! Did mom tell you I have a park named after me?

What is it with mom and wanting me to sit on stuff?

Well, it’s not official or anything. Not yet anyway. I know Katie has a park, and I’m really happy that now I do too! It’s a new part of a big park, and you have to walk over a railroad track to get to it. 

Mom doesn’t like crossing railroad tracks.

That creeps mom out, but I told her not to fixate on it and just keep moving. Geeze. Sometimes mom is a wimp.

There’s a pretty little kettle lake back here.

It was windy the morning we were there, and cold, but I was having a great time exploring until mom tried to walk with me into the woods. I’ve told her and told her I don’t really like being in the woods. And that day there were leaves blowing all around and trees creaking and stuff.

Did I hear something back there?

Well mom finally got the idea that I wasn’t happy there and we went back out to an open part. I liked that much better. But the wind was getting worse and it was cold and mom said we needed to move on. 

We spent some time in the car warming up and then mom took me over to 7 Lakes State Park. It’s about 15 minutes from our house and a park mom has never explored before. 

Mom found lots of interesting stuff to photograph at this park!

A sign there said it was called 7 Lakes because a developer dammed up a river and it flooded 7 small lakes into two bigger lakes. Then the developer decided not to build on the property and sold it to the state for a park.

This is a real pretty state park!

It’s real pretty. There’s lots to explore there, but this time we just walked out on the earthen dam. Mom took lots of pictures that weren’t me. 

There was a little island out there with some geese swimming in the open water.

Then on the way off the dam mom asked me to stand on some big rock. I thought it was more fun to stand with just my front feet on the rock. Mom thought I was pretty cute that way too. 

There are trails and lots of things to explore at this park. We’ll be back for sure!

Like this, mom?

Then, since the tool guys were still in my food room, mom took me to a third park, about 30 minutes away. It’s near a library where she used to work. We’ve been there once before. 

I’m not sure about this bridge mom, there’s water under it!

Somehow this park always gives mom uneasy feelings. She doesn’t know why. She says she never sees any other people there, but the day we were there we met a nice young couple out walking. It was getting late so we only did one small loop. I was getting tired of posing, but I stood on the bridge for her, and then on a log. But I wasn’t happy about it. 

I don’t really want to sit here, can we go find some food instead?

I was so happy when dad texted mom that the tool guys were gone and we could go home. I’ve never been to three parks in one day before! It was fun but it was exhausting!

Last picture of me today, mom! Promise?

During the day we drove around a lot too, and mom figured out I’m a pretty good rider on long drives. She says she is glad about that because someday we’ll go on a big adventure together! 

Bigger than three parks in one day mom? Wow! I can’t even imagine that! 

Mom even managed to find a barn on our adventure!

Oh – it turns out the tool guys weren’t done with the project so mom and I had to leave home again on another day this week. I’ll have to wait to tell you about that day, cause I’m still pretty exhausted and need a nap.

I bet you’re exhausted just reading about our adventure day!

It’s a pretty cool barn, I can understand why she stopped.

 

Stay tuned,

Your Adventure-girl, Unstoppable Penny!


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Penny knows

It was sunny and cool on Wednesday, the perfect day for a sheltie-girl. Penny and I were walking through the back yard, she focused on her beloved birds flitting among the feeders near the house, me remembering, as I often do when I’m in the back yard, Katie’s last moments there. 

I remembered walking with Katie into the house when the vet arrived. I never thought, in the moment, that she and I would never walk into the house together again. I remember walking with her, the vet and my husband, through the backyard to a pretty place under the birch trees, the sky blue like it was yesterday. I never thought, in the moment, that she wouldn’t be there to enjoy her yard ever again.

But now, often when I’m out there, I think about those moments and the bigger picture and I miss her so much.

You OK, mom?

Meanwhile Penny was laying at my feet, intently watching the feeders, when she heard me sniffling and looked over her shoulder at me, concern in her eyes. Then she popped up and put her front feet on my hips, head tilted inquisitively. I reached down and lifted her into my arms for a hug.

My sensitive girl knew. 

Then I put her back down and we both ran joyfully back to the house, her attacking my ankles, me laughing. And somewhere over the rainbow bridge Katie smiled.

I’m sure of it.

Painting done by Bree Hayhoe.


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Cee’s photo challenge – dirt roads or pathways

Dirt roads and pathways are everywhere around here. So when I saw Cee’s challenge I knew I’d find something fresh, some place you haven’t been with us before.

This should do, mom! It’s dirt and it’s a path…right?

Friday Penny and I spent all day exploring. We started out at a new park I’ve renamed Penny’s Park. I’m sure she’ll have a lot to say about it and the other places we visited when she’s recovered from all that exploring!


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Looking for that lonely tree

Mike, over at MLCreatons and I had a short comment thread talking about being photographers that are always on the lookout for that one tree standing alone out in a field. I have had similar discussions with other photographers, so it must be a thing.

Anyway, Friday I was out with Penny when we came across this tree. 

Not in a field exactly, but a lone tree with a pretty nice reflection on an unusual sunny day. 

Made me smile. 

Go check out some of Mike’s images, guaranteed to make you smile too.


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A weekday giggle

Last week I needed to mail an oversized envelope so I dropped in to a neighboring town’s post office because it was on my way home from somewhere else. I know this post office always had a line but it’s well staffed and the line usually moves pretty fast. Plus I had nothing pressing for the rest of the afternoon, and I was driving right by it. So what the heck, right?

As expected, once inside I found a long line. I think I was number 6 or 7. There was only one person working the counter, and another person working over to the side under a sign that indicated he was the passport guy.

Each person going up to the counter seemed to have a long transaction, but the guy working in passports was waiting on people out of the front of the line so it was still moving, though more slowly than I expected. More people were coming in behind me, though, and soon the line was almost to the exit door.

Then a woman came in, walked past all of us, up to another door near the counter and rang a doorbell. I wondered what that was all about. 

The guy at the passport counter stopped what he was doing for a customer, saying, “excuse me, that’s the back door I need to go open it.” As he approached the front of the room the woman there, holding a notice of some sort, stepped out and told him she was there to pick up her mail. He looked startled. ”So it wasn’t the back door bell I heard?” ”No she said, it was me. I just want to pick up my mail.”

Now the man is flustered because there’s a long line of people, he has a customer waiting and she just wants to pick up her mail? But, being a nice guy, he goes in back and gets it for her while we all wait. As he hands it off she says “That’s not all of it. There are supposed to be three packages.” ”No, he says, there’s only the one.” ”There are supposed to be three.” ”There was only the one back there.”

People in line are beginning to sigh loudly.

Finally she leaves, and he goes back to his customer, apologizing for the wait. The clerk at the front desk meanwhile has been taking care of a woman with 15 large envelopes, all of which must be weighed and that she has to confirm the addresses by pushing a button on a little machine. The clerk has to remind her to do that on every single one because she’s busy writing addresses on the envelopes still to be weighed. 

By now I am only 2 people back. 

The passport guy now has two customers, the one he was trying to help from our line and someone who has come back with documents he had previously requested. He’s trying to help both. He won’t be pulling more people from our line. The guy in front of me slumps.

Eventually Ms. 15 unprepared envelopes is finished, gets her long receipt and is told to please fill out the survey at the bottom, and the clerk smiles brightly and declares “Next!” and the guy in front of me straightens up and goes to get his stamps.

And about then another post office employee comes out from the back, maybe back from lunch or a break. Or a nap. He moves so slowly I immediately think he’s the human form of a sloth. He literally is moving like molasses across the floor. Then he has to unlock his drawer. And sign into his computer. And slowly look up….at me….and say…..”N…e…x…t.”

I started to giggle. After all the craziness I’d been watching his deliberate movements seemed to make the whole room move in slow motion. I walked over with my one envelope, trying not to laugh. He slowly moved it to the scale, asked me if I needed anything else, had me click to confirm the address and printed up the postage, applying it to the envelope, all so very slowly and without looking directly at me.

Once I got my receipt I retreated to my car where I laughed hysterically. For a long time.

I’m including a link to the Zootopia trailer which has a quick scene of some sloths that work exactly like my postal worker.

Next…

May you find something this week that makes you laugh just as hard.


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I help mom out any way I can.

Hey, Penny here again. 

Mom says you guys don’t need to hear from me so often. She says it’s her blog and shouldn’t be all about me. I like to point out regularly that her life is all about me. 

Ahem.

Mom took me to a new park last week before the snow.

Anyway, she’s had a couple important thoughts on her mind and has been meaning to blog about random stuff for awhile now. As you may or may not know, she’s meaning to do a whole lot of stuff that doesn’t get done. So I decided to help her out by putting together a random blog with some of her thoughts and some of my thoughts. 

You can judge which thoughts are most important.

Don’t worry mom, I’ll write your blog for you!

No pressure to vote for mine or anything. 

So,anyway, she watches a lot of HGTV. Mostly because there isn’t any violence or scary stuff and no one looses anything most of the time. Mom doesn’t like conflict. But she knows that most of it is staged, ’cause there’s no way all those couples can like totally opposite stuff and still be together. One wants to live in a city high-rise and one wants to live on acres in the woods? How’s that supposed to work out?

Me, I think we should all live in the woods!

Don’t you wonder if some of them are still together?

And how come so many of the women come off as so controlling and well…b****y? Sometimes mom has to turn it off because the (mostly) women annoy her so much. And how come the closets are always hers? Where’s he supposed to put his cloths? In the kids’ rooms? Maybe the garage? 

Of course mom has her own closet drama. We won’t go there.

Maybe you could store your shoes in here, mom!

I on the other hand wonder why people’s dogs don’t get to decide where they’re going to live. I think any dog would opt for lots of fenced in land to run on. I don’t know a dog around that likes to go on a walk by first getting on an elevator. And those high-rise balconies? You call that an outside space? What if a little doggie falls off? Huh??

Now THIS is a good outdoor space!

Mom also wonders about this open concept thing. It seems to be what almost everyone wants and she wonders if these people, particularly the young people, have ever lived with other people in that kind of space. 

Is this open concept?

Mom and Dad’s house is open concept. They remodeled it long before that was a thing, and in general I like it cause I can run really fast with no walls to slow me down, but mom says if you live in an open concept house you have to listen and watch whatever the other people want to listen to and watch. 

I’m a big help, right mom?

Sometimes mom would just like it to be quiet. She says she’d advise all those people looking for open concept houses to make sure they each have somewhere of their own to retreat to when they need a little quiet. 

Just image if there were a bunch of kids too! Kids and dogs racing around a big open concept house. Yep….I think that would be perfect, but mom says it makes her head hurt. What do you think?

I think having some kids to play with would be just fine.

And mom’s been thinking about the cable/internet bill. She hears so many people talking about streaming stuff, and she’s not sure she’d even know how to do that. We don’t have any of those subscription things, and sometimes something she’d like to watch is shown only on Peacock or Hulu or Netflix or any number of other services that she hasn’t even heard of. 

Is that a peacock over there?

The cable bill is big enough, why would you want to pay for more when we don’t even watch all the channels we have? Yet….maybe it would be nice to have some other options. Still, shouldn’t we be satisfied with the stuff we already have? Cause mom says we have a lot. 

Personally I don’t care one way or the other. It’s all noise to me. Just don’t have any doorbells or dogs barking on there. And nobody up on that screen better move too fast either. Cause I’ll be on guard, yes I will. I’m watching you all the time, even when I’m sleeping. Constantly on guard to protect my people, that’s me.

Always alert!

In fact, mom and I just came in from a neighborhood walk and about the time we got back to our driveway four trumpeter swans flew over. They sure make a lot of loud, weird noise when they fly! Mom thought it was cool. I just stood very still and watched. 

I’m not always brave.

After they were gone I pulled on my leash and stood up on by back feet and barked very loudly in the direction they had gone. I told them! They won’t be back any time soon! Don’t come near my mom you guys! Yes I can make myself very big, like a grizzly bear, when I want to scare something off.

Mom says I’m nothing like a grizzly bear, and I’m only brave after whatever riled me up is gone. Big brave girl, she calls me. She says this habit of mine doesn’t bode well for future camping.

Gotta keep an eye out all the time around here.

I say she needs a grizzly bear camping with her to keep her safe. What do you think?

Signing off from all this randomness,

Your clerical girl, Penny.


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Before and After, Penny’s version

Hey guys, it’s me, Penny!

You wanna play?

Mom says Karma has come up with a photo challenge, something about before and after.

Hmmmm, this is interesting.

Well. I told mom that I wanted to play too, but I couldn’t take any pictures, mostly because I don’t have thumbs. So I assigned her to get some great pictures of me in before and after situations.

Hey! What happened to my water?

I think you will soon agree I have this before and after thingy down pat. And that, for once, mom followed directions!

Wonder what that is over there?

We had a big storm last week, then most of it melted and then we got 5 unexpected inches of snow yesterday!

My behind is getting wet, mom.

By the weekend they say we’ll have sunshine and temperatures in the 40s! Wow, sunshine! All this beautiful snow will be gone again. Mom said we had to hurry today before it started to melt!

Even without lots of snow this pond sure was pretty!

When we were walking out there today big poofs of snow kept falling off the tree branches and dropping on me! I was freaked out until mom told me to stop being a baby.

It’s even prettier with more snow!

I guess I’m still a little girl, I’m only almost 14 months old. I got braver the longer we were out there. But I did giggle just a little when a big poof of snow fell on mom and cold water ran down her neck. Hee hee.

Anyway. 

Mom took me to this same park earlier this week when there wasn’t much snow, and then today we went back so she could get more pictures with the beautiful snow!

I had such a good walk earlier in the week!

Boy I had fun on both visits to the park. I loved sniffing along the way, and chewing on as many sticks as possible.

You can hardly see the road now that it snowed!

Mom keeps telling me I can’t chew on every stick in the woods…but I think I want to try! 

This stick looks yummy!

So tell me, do you think I got the before and after thing right? Inquiring sheltie minds want to know!

I want to come back again real soon, mom!

Talk later,

Your photogenic pal, Penny.