Since I don’t have children I’m waiting for Katie to bring me flowers. She would, but she doesn’t have thumbs. Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there!
It's Saturday…must be I'm at the library
Seems most Saturdays find me working at the library. Not that you can really consider it work, at least not compared to my previous life. Though sometimes I wish I didn’t have to go to work, most of the time I enjoy the people watching that comes with the job. For instance here’s a small smattering of things I noticed while working today:
A small boy, maybe 4 or 5 sitting in a big overstuffed chair. His feet don’t reach the floor. In fact they barely reach the edge of the chair seat. He has a big picture book in his lap and he’s studiously reading to himself. Around him is chaos, other people in the library talking loudly, joking with each other, comparing notes about movies they’ve seen. This little boy just continues to read, lost in thought. Later I was close enough to hear him read out loud and his words in no way resemble the story as it’s written. He’s making up the story as he goes, describing the pictures. He’s going to be a wonderful father someday, reading aloud to his own kids.
A young girl checks out a book about why women and girls don’t like their own bodies. I hope she picks up some pointers about learning to like herself. I wonder what made her get that book; I know there must be issues to be resolved.
A middle aged guy is writing a paper and preparing for a college group presentation on high blood pressure. He’s having trouble getting the articles he’s found on the Mayo website to print. I can’t get them to print either. It’s this kind of trouble that makes middle aged students (and I can relate to this!) think they are too old to be in school, what with all the technological changes that have occurred since we went to school the first time. But it wasn’t him, it was the website. Hopefully he gets that and doesn’t become discouraged. Sometimes it’s hard not to think you’re just too old to try something so new.
Another middle aged man is working on his resume, checking out job websites. It’s discouraging for the unemployed middle aged patron as well. A young woman plays games on the computer, killing time until she has to go see her doctor. Just a checkup she says, but you see the questions in her eyes. I wish I could make it all better for all of them.
A grandmother comes in with one of her grandchildren. She wants a book on aerobics. A book? Why not a DVD? No, just a book. I can’t find one specifically on aerobics, but I find one on walking, and one on Yoga and she seems happy. I’d think chasing after grandchildren would be aerobic enough!
Another older college student, this one needs stuff on anatomy and physiology. I’m working in a small branch today, not much on our shelves, but lots of stuff in our reference section. He’s happy with that.
And of course the movies. Movies being checked in and checked back out just as fast. Seemed like hundreds of movies, might have been. With the occassional book thrown in, just to make me happy.
Libraries. Here’s hoping we never have to live without them.
Katie has multiple pee-mail addresses
Reilly the Cowspot Dog has requested that we search out and record our regular “pee-mail” locations from our walks. So Katie and I set out to her favorite park to check the mail. So to speak. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day. The park hasn’t been mowed yet this season, so we had fields and fields of beautiful yellow dandilions! What a photo opportunity!
But wait…I digress..we were here to find all the pee-mail that had been left for Katie’s enjoyment. So we checked out her favorites:
First there is the ever popular garbage can. It’s hard to say if she was looking for messages from her doggie friends, or snacks left over from the little kids who play softball here. But it’s a must to always check out these garbage cans.
Then of course another really good place to investigate is under the bleachers. You just never know what you’ll find under there…could be a whole sandwich for heavens sake! 
And of course it’s imperitive to check out all the trees. Those almost always have a message from a friendly dog or two. 
And these flowers look promising… 
But the most reliable for doggie pee-mail reception is this big rock that we have to stop at every trip to the park. There is ALWAYS something very important left there. A girl can’t ignore the message on this rock, it’s so very obvious! 
All in all, a pretty successful sniffing adventure…at our local softball park!
Please Mom, can we come again? Huh? Huh? Please?!!!
StopBiggerTrucks.org
The gist of my statement at last Monday’s press conference was to ask for people to go to our new website: http://www.StopBiggerTrucks.org and sign a petition to continue the freeze initiated in 1991 on the size and weight of semi trucks. If you’re interested in this issue, please go to that website, look around, and if you can, sign the petition. Below are some of the comments I made Monday morning to the press:
Good morning. My name is Dawn King and I am here today along with my siblings to honor my father, William H. Badger, who was 75 years young when he was killed two days before Christmas 2004. He was stopped in traffic when a tractor-trailer driver fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into his car.
My dad was a husband, a father, a brother, a friend and a colleague. He was a world traveler and life long learner, he was interested in everything, and shared the things he knew and the stories he lived with us all. He was everyone’s handyman, comfort and support; everyone was his friend. And his friends called him Bill.
Since my family’s tragic loss I have joined CRASH — Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways. I am now on it’s Board of Directors and I have been part of our First Response team to assist other grieving truck crash victims.
The American public needs to know that the American Trucking Association is once again pushing Congress to increase the weight and size limits of trucks on our highways and bridges. If the ATA gets its way, the current 80,000 pound limit will increase to 97,000 pounds. That’s a 21% increase. They won’t tell you that history has repeatedly shown that truck size and weight increases do not result in fewer trucks on our highways. They also won’t tell you that the engines needed in these heavier and more dangerous trucks produce more pollution than today’s standard tractor-trailers.
Between 2003 and 2007 alone, 535 people were killed in truck crashes in Michigan. To our elected officials who we entrust with our lives we say, you can change our laws, but you can’t change the laws of physics. We know that bigger and heavier trucks will result in more damage to our roads and bridges and more deaths and devastating injuries to people who attempt to share the roads with these big rigs.
Let’s not forget the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007 that killed 13 unsuspecting people, injured an additional 145 people, and horrified our entire nation.
Today, an estimated 162,000 of the nation’s 600,000 bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. As Congress makes a decision on the next federal surface transportation act, they should consider this: Will giving into the truck lobby cause more or less damage to our nation’s network of highways and bridges that we as taxpayers pay to repair? Will bigger trucks mean more or less death and disabling injury?
We all know the answers to these questions. That is why I am here to stand with other daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers who are turning their sorrow to strength to make sure that decisions made by our lawmakers in Washington this year are truly in the public’s interest.
Please visit StopBiggerTrucks.org to sign the petition in support of the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Protection Act – known as SHIPA, to freeze truck size and weight limits at the current level. The SHIPA legislation is endorsed by the truck drivers of the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters, by environment groups like Environment America, and by safety organizations like CRASH, Parents Against Tired Truckers and the Truck Safety Coalition.
We also know that public opinion is on our side. So, please go to StopBigger Trucks.org and let your voice be heard so that together we can draw a bold line in the pavement against bigger and heavier trucks. Before it’s too late.
Thank you.
Homeward bound
I leave in a few minutes, taking the metro to the airport. This year I feel better about my experiences at our “Sorrow to Strength” conference. Maybe it’s because we had a specific issue to fight for; freezing the size and weight of big rigs. Maybe it’s the Senate bean soup I had for lunch yesterday in the Senate basement cafe. I don’t know. I’ll think about it on the flight and let you know.
Here in DC it's raining
It’s raining here in DC. Outside and in our hearts. We’ve attended two days of meetings with other grieving families. We’ve learned a lot about pending trucking legislation. We’ve hugged a lot. We’ve cried a lot.
We’re headed off now to meetings on the Hill. I’m doing a press conference this morning which makes me nervous, but I remember Dad, and he makes me strong.
I’ll tell you all about it when I get back home. It’s sad, it’s empowering, it’s confusing, sometimes it’s overwhelming. Always Dad is in my heart.
May, my favorite month
Who can’t love the month of May? The flower vendors are putting their flats of annuals out and you can still dream about the beautiful gardens you’ll have; the overflowing pots filled with beautiful colors, the luscious vegetables ripe for the picking, the roses bug free, the arborvite not yet consumed by the neighborhood deer. There is just so much hope before the weeds begin to fill in the blanks, the rodents begin to dig up your bulbs, the rain ceases and the dust begins. I love the optimisim of May.
I’m headed out very early tomorrow morning for D.C. Wish us well! I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.
Squirrel alert!
I’m Katie, the ever-vigilant squirrel hating dog. I can never rest. Now that it’s spring the squirrels are back! They could be anywhere! Just anywhere I tell you! It’s madness!
What’s that you say? Stop barking? Get off the chair? Are you crazy? Don’t you know that if you let your guard down for ONE MINUTE those squirrels will be back? And you just never know what they may do next! Climb a tree! Scamper across MY lawn!
Awww…OK, I’ll get down. But it’s your risk if they get by me. I’m telling you, it’s a bad decision to make me get off this chair. They’re sneaky, those squirrels, could be anywhere. Probably are eating MY birdfood right this minute. They know when I’m around, yes siree they sure do. Can’t be nearly as effective if you curtail my tools. Silly humans.
Can’t expect me to keep track of those guys when I can’t see out the window…..HEY! SQUIRREL ALERT!!! Don’t worry guys, I’m still on the job! SQUIRREL ALERT! SQUIRREL ALERT! MAYDAY MAYDAY!
Can’t keep a good dog down. No siree, always on the job, that’s me. Hope they appreciate it. Might be a biscuit in it for me if I do a really good barking job. Hmmm… gonna ask for a raise, yes I am. This kind of work makes a girl hungry. Should be getting more food at supper.
And another thing. What’s up with no dessert for dogs? Gotta check with my union rep. Yep, sure do. Oh no…there’s ANOTHER ONE!
Squirrel alert! Squirrel alert! Gather round guys, they’re out there. They’re everywhere. Stand guard! I’ll take care of them, let me at em!
Sigh. I know, I know…get off the chair. Geeze.
Holy springtime Batman!
Wasn’t it just last week that we had snow? OK, maybe two weeks ago tops? And it’s been icky and cold and rainy since. Then we got one or two days of warm weather and while I wasn’t paying attention spring appears to have sprung!
This morning Katie and I went on a little yard reconnaissance to see what we could see. First off, out near the mailbox our creeping phlox has little pink buds! Yesterday there were only small green nubs easing up out of the cold wet soil. I’m sure of it. And the peonies that were planted a couple of years ago? A day or so ago there was no sign of them. This morning? Well, see for yourself:
And my violets are blooming, 
as is the bleeding heart that had only just sprouted out of the ground last time I checked. Even the red bud tree is in bud! 
Everywhere we looked we saw signs of spring. Katie had a wonderful time, such wonderful things to smell! 
I tried not to look at the dandelions flourishing in among the chosen plants. 
Have to get cracking or I’ll be overrun again this summer!
School results, cause we know you're sitting with bated breath wondering…
Yesterday Katie and I got to go to an advanced competitive obedience class. It meets every Saturday morning, but I’m usually working, so this was the first time I’d been to it. Katie’s first time too! 🙂
We got there pretty early, so we walked around in the parking lot of the mall, sniffing stuff and doing the potty thing. She’s getting good at being able to go in strange places, which is handy. After I got that all cleaned up and thrown away we ventured inside. There were only a few other dogs there at that point, two big Rotweillers and a big German Shepherd. They were practicing coming, and stopping and going DOWN! and waiting. They all looked good, very professional. I felt WAAAY out of my league. I had never called Katie from across the room, then yelled “DOWN” when she got part of the way and had her go down like they were doing. Katie had never waited to chase after a toy until she had been told to “GO GET IT!” Heck she didn’t even heel very well; while these dogs were attached to their people at the hip, gazing adoringly at them, ready to respond to every whim, Katie heeled with her nose on the ground, looking to pick up any leftover treats. SIGH. I was intimidated, and whispered in her ear that maybe we were in the wrong place.
More people came in with their dogs, another couple of Shepards, a Boxer, a Wheaton Terrier, a Doberman, an Australian Shepherd. All of them bigger than Katie. All of them with more experience, and it appeared, more confident handlers. Poor Katie! So we started going around the room in a big circle, heeling as the instructor called out commands and worked one of the Rottweilers. Katie was keeping up pretty well, though still not exactly where she needed to be. Then the instructor commanded us to do a moving down. Unsure what that was I sort of watched. Everyone put their dogs into a down, Katie went down too. Then everyone started walking but the dogs stayed! WOW! Katie stayed too and I trotted to get back in my spot. The humans walked around the room, up next to the dogs, until we got back to our own dog. Not a dog moved a muscle. Even Katie. I was so proud of her. We did several other things with our heeling, and she did pretty well.
Then we did sits and downs. A THREE MINUTE sit! That is forever. Katie sat between the Boxer and a Shepherd. We all walked way down to the other end of the room. She stared at me. I stared back. People started talking amongst themselves and one by one almost all the dogs broke. Katie kept looking at me. I kept looking at her with my arms folded, my feet planted apart. She looked at all the other dogs moving, getting yelled at, getting reset up. She looked back at me, I looked back at her. She never moved! I was so so HAPPY with her! Of course then we did the down. FIVE minutes, though I didn’t know how long it was because I missed what the instructor said. I got her into a down, walked away, then faced her from the other end of the room. Arms folded. Feet planted. We watched each other. Some of the dogs flopped over and went to sleep. Katie and I just watched each other. She woud occassionally shift her hips, you could see she was thinking about what was up. Was she done working? Was it OK to explore. She looked at the other dogs, no one was wandering. She looked at me. I looked back. And she NEVER MOVED! I can not believe my little hyper dog lasted 5 minutes without breaking! Such a girl! She got lots of treats for that when we went back to them!
Then it was Stand for Exam. Well. Katie HATES being touched, especially by a stranger. She is always happy for people to come up to her, but when they reach out to pet her she backs up. She rarely does well on this, sometimes she won’t shy away too much, but she never stands still. Guess what? She let two different strange men walk up to her and run their hand along her back and didn’t move. I was six feet away from her and she was standing in the middle of a room full of strangers and she let them touch her and didn’t balk. At this point I am beginning to wonder if I brought someone else’s dog!
Of course she was good on her recalls, she loves that game, didn’t even anticipate and break early. She was perfect.
So all I really need to work on is heeling, getting her to heel where she’s supposed to, rather than surging ahead or getting behind, and especially getting her to stop checking the floor out for good things to eat. Hopefully the weather will hold and we can go to the park and practice some more.
Meanwhile I am so proud of her! What a good girl!
Change Is Hard 