Thank You Lt. Dan

If you've seen the movie "Forrest Gump" (is there anyone who hasn't?) then you are familiar with the character "Lt. Dan".

But what you might not know is that actor Gary Sinise is a great American patriot.  He has a charitable foundation called the Gary Sinise Foundation https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/  that supports soldiers, veterans, first responders, and their families.  He also formed the "Lt. Dan Band" which performs at bases and USO stops (these are free) and public concerts to raise money for the foundation.  (He has played Ft. Campbell several times).

He gives and gives and gives of himself.

So I was moved to see this video of him watching people say "thank you".  Watch it... I think you will be moved too.

Baby Turtle Rescue

Back early February (the 7th to be exact) I told you about our outing to a river beach.  The day was almost hot and had been for a few days.  That was changing quickly tho... an arctic blast was heading in with those clouds you see.  For the next week temps were going to be at or below freezing.

As I walked across the middle of that beach I was looking down for small bits of drift wood for a project I'm gathering for.  Then I saw something 'different' in the sand.  Hoping I was seeing wrong I looked closer.  Yes, it was a baby turtle.  I thought the poor thing was dead and gave it a poke with my foot.  It weakly pulled in!  

I snatched 'her' up (aren't all small cute things a 'her'?) and Himself took her over to a warmish puddle to cool off.  After a bit she started reviving but was still sooo weak.  

Decision time.  

Within a few hours the temperature would be below freezing and wasn't going to improve soon.  So we put her in a container and took her home with us.  I have a lot of experience with baby turtles, dating back to my childhood.  I would raise little turtles until they were about 4" across then let them go in my step-grandfather's farm pond.  He had a lot of turtles in that pond!  LOL

I set her up an area near my computer desk on the shelf that is wintering my succulents.  A trip to PetCo secured her dinners of small meal worms.  Little piggy loved her worms!

Baby Turtle thrived (no name for her since she was only a visitor).

For 2 months she enjoyed her temporary home.

On April 9th we took her back to where we found her...well almost.  There is a really nice pond across the small road from the beach.  That is her new home.

We placed her on a stone at the edge of the pond.  She looked around a bit, looked up at us (as tho saying 'thanks'), and slid into the water.  She swam around a bit then dove out of sight.

She seemed happy.

It's Still Raining and They Are Already There!

Help is rolling in...

Samaritan's Purse disaster relief team is already at work in coastal North Carolina.  They are repairing roofs, removing fallen trees, clearing debris, and doing 'mud out'.

If you want to help folks recover from Florence, donating to Samaritan's Purse is a trust worthy way.

Fast Trip to Minnesota

In mid June, Himself received a phone call from his elderly cousins in MN.  They are some of the family we visit every year on "The Pilgrimage".  He (S) is 94 and she (C) is 88.  This sibling pair (neither have ever been married) have lived in their home for 75 years... since their parents moved there.  

They decided it was time to move into a Seniors apartment and sell the house.

The world of real estate and estate sales is completely foreign to them.  So they asked if we could come up and help them.  They also asked that we not tell around that we had come up to do this until they were both moved into the apartment.

In less than a week we were in their small town.

We cooked the suppers and they treated us to lunches out at their favorite cafe.

I set up appointments with the real estate agent and with the ladies who are cleaning out the house AND doing the estate sale.  Then I wrote out everything in layman's terms so they could easily understand it.

There was a lot of sorting to be done.  I love these built in China cabinets in their Arts & Crafts home.

Yes, they still have a wringer washer in the basement and used it until a couple years ago when the motor gave out.

C and I went through some of the heirloom dishware.  There are pieces that were her grandmother's.  She told us to take whatever we wanted.  I asked if I could pick out some pieces to offer the other cousins.  She liked that idea.  Here we are sorting thru as she tells me about the pieces.

S gave Himself one of his 78 rpm records.  (That's the leavings of a meatloaf supper still on the table.  LOL)

In sorting, we found all sorts of awesome family history.

From this recipe of C's mother...

To this 1885 wedding document.

We did as much as we could to help in the time that we had.

Persia supervised from her new favorite place.

After a bit it was time to head back to Tennessee.

(S & C are now in the apartment and adjusting to the change.  It's been hard on them.  We are so grateful we could help them with this.)

We drove home through Iowa; down to Des Moines then slanting east across the state.  We hit really nasty scary weather going through.

Why do I mention that?  Exactly one month later this very area was hit by multiple tornadoes.  We had driven through several of the towns.  Wow.

Facing Darkness

You have one more chance to see this incredible movie.  It is being shown again on 10 April.  GO!! 

Dr. Kent Brantly and Amber Brantly ~ Samaritan's Purse medical missionaries to Liberia.

Dr. Brantly didn't come to Liberia to face Ebola...

... but when Ebola came, he did not run.

He stayed and fought for the people of Liberia in the very worst of conditions.

He contracted Ebola...

Maybe you remember this?  August 2nd, 2014.

That is Dr Brantly stepping down from the ambulance.  He received experimental treatment in Liberia that saved his life and made it possible for him to come home to the US for treatment.

He survived against all odds.

And became Time's "Person of the Year".  But not because he survived but because he - and so many others - stayed.

They stayed to face a darkness like we will probably (hopefully) never know.

Go see this movie.

Go!

In it, they tell of how the world didn't care about Ebola and what was happening in west Africa in 2014.  Apparently ~ at least in Clarksville ~ they still don't.  We went to the first showing on 30 March.  Got there 40 minutes early so we cold get a good seat.

There were 37 people (including us) who came.  Thirty seven.  And not a single pastor, not even one.  No Christian doctors either.

This web site will show you what theater it is at near you. You can buy your tickets at the site too (we did).    http://facingdarknessmovie.com/theaters

Go! It's not just about Ebola. It's not just about Kent Brantly. It's about miracles on top of miracles. It's about hope, compassion, and what a real hero is.

Go...

Birds in the Hand

Spring is in the air... and the birds are turning into airheads!

Our first little dummy was so busy chasing another Titmouse that he/she failed to notice the kitchen window.

SMACK!

Himself went out to check on the situation.  Usually they just fly off to the nearest tree where they shake their head like "Dang!  That hurt!"

But sometimes they knock themselves loopy (thankfully we rarely have a fatality).

While he was rescuing, I was preparing the 'recovery pitcher'.  We have a designated yellow pitcher just for holding 'critters'.  Many birds have rested safely in the warm or cool of our house until they were ready to go back outside.

After about a half hour this cheeky bird was pecking on the side of the container wanting OUT.  When I turned the lid to see her, she made to come out of that hole.

Yep, she was ready to fly!  We took her out the front, opened the lid, and she flew straight up like a hummingbird then she was gone.

Our next rescue was not so cute...

A dang starling pushed its way into our chimney.

Persia let us know about the intruder.

We let her have a bit of fun with it for a while.

You know... it is a shame they are such disgusting sky rats.  They really are quite pretty.

They absolutely glow.

This one was so scared he was holding his own leg!

GOOD!  Maybe he won't come back!!

(Can you believe I rescued a starling?!?!)

Hazardous Waste - What's in Your Home?

Have you ever considered all the things in your home that are considered to be 'hazardous waste'?  Things like strippers, just about anything to do with your car maintenance, adhesives, pesticides, fertilizers(!), fluorescent bulbs (all kinds), and old paint.

Friday we started our garage KonMari by going through all of our cans of paint, stain, and sealers.  Those still go were neatly organized back onto the shelf.  Those that had gone south on us were put in a basket in the car trunk.

We also gathered a few other putties and sealers that had gone bad.  We have a special place to keep old fluorescent bulbs for the collection.

We were up early today and headed into town to beat the crowds.  Our county has a pretty good response for collection day.

Once you get there, you don't even get out of your car.  Workers tote it all out and away, with a wave good-bye and a thank you for bringing the stuff in.

I found out that you don't have to go only to the one in your county.  ANY collection is open to anyone living in the state of Tennessee.  So we just did the garage this time and when we KonMari the shed next month, we'll gather the noxious stuff from there.  In early May a neighboring county is hosting a collection.  So we'll drop off the rest of the stuff then, and have a nice lunch in that town too.

Win-win!

Go! Club at Open Doors

I've mentioned before the kids love doing philanthropic activities when we are together.  In November we checked out Open Door Animal Sanctuary with a small donation.  They passed with flying colors (you know it's true...some people running charities are just jerks).

 The kids asked if we could go back, so in December we did just that!

But first we made a stop at the local grocery store.  Their 'want' list in hand, we shopped and explained to the kids why each item was important.  Little Bird pulled out the bags of cat litter and got them stuffed under the shopping buggy.

Little Hoss checked things off his list.

Two buggies later and it was load-the-car time.

They wanted to do the work themselves, so of course we let them.  Ownership is a huge thing and they were both owning it!

Hoss getting some help from his Unca.

A short time later we were backed up to the front door with all our stuff.  This area is the offices and "Cat City".

In the other direction are where the dogs are housed.

"Ownership" continued as bags were toted inside.

Once done we were invited to hang out in "Cat City".

Wow.

Couches for cats and people.

And beds for everyone.

Little Bird found a friend...

...who followed her all over the room.  She SO wanted to take him home.  We explained that her Mom would kill me if she took him.  And that he was safe right there with all his kitty friends until someone came to take him to his very own forever home... just like we took Persia.  She liked that.

In the doghouse?  Not this time! 

We also had a chance to talk about protecting animals when they saw this guy who was recovering from an injury.  He's out in one of the nice exercise pens they have.

http://odas.org/

Open Door Animal Sanctuary (ODAS) was founded in 1975 by Mrs. Joan Costello-Oetting and Mrs. Carol (Marlin) Perkins, wife of the late Marlin Perkins (OK...they had me there.  Anything attached to the Perkins has a "go" in my book), former host of Wild Kingdom and Director of the St. Louis Zoo. Had it not been for their compassion, vision and hard work, Open Door Animal Sanctuary would not exist today; and if not for Open Door, thousands of injured, abandoned and unwanted cats and dogs would have been unnecessarily euthanized.

Open Door Animal Sanctuary is the largest no-kill sanctuary in the greater St. Louis area and State of Missouri. We serve the community by taking in stray, abused, neglected and otherwise unwanted cats and dogs and placing them up for adoption. Each day we provide shelter, food, medical care and LOVE to over 400 animals. Every animal that comes to us has a home and a second chance at life. If you are looking to adopt a dog or cat, we have the most animals to choose from in the area!