Strangers No More

This is the time of year when I change the batteries in my four smoke detectors. 

Changing batteries is a task that is not difficult, but I’m not a fan of climbing on a ladder and trying to balance myself while I struggle to replace the batteries. Every year I have taken care of this simple chore myself … Until this year. This year, as I stood on the ladder looking up at the smoke detector on the ceiling and trying to reattach it to the short cable (my smoke detectors are all hard-wired into the house's electrical system, with battery back-up), I decided that I wasn’t comfortable doing this. If I fell, there would be no one in the house to help me. That was a risk I wasn't prepared to take.

So I decided to ask for help, something not easy for me, or for most people, to do. I put a message on NextDoor to see if somebody would change the batteries for me. I had new batteries, and I have a stepladder. All I needed was somebody to actually change the batteries.

I quickly got a response from a few people offering to help. I certainly wouldn’t have minded paying someone a reasonable amount for this service. But then I got a response from a woman named Amy who said she would change the batteries at no charge. What a nice surprise that was!

I got in touch with her, and she and one of her daughters, who is learning to drive, soon arrived at my house. I had asked her to give me a minute to get my dogs into the backyard before I let the people into the house, as my dogs get overly excited when we get company. But she said not to worry about it, because she has a couple of very excitable dogs as well.

She quickly replaced the batteries and reattached one of the smoke detectors. Somehow we started talking about photography, she asked what I like to photograph, and I replied that my most favorite subjects are African wildlife. So I showed my guests my favorite leopard photo, as well as one of elephants and a cheetah peering into the back of our safari vehicle, all of the photos hanging on a wall in my office.

She said I should hold onto her phone number in case I need help with any other small things around the house. She has five teens and young adults living in her house, and either she or one of them would be happy to help. I think she is doing a great job of raising kind young adults. When she introduced her daughter to me, the teen quickly reached out to shake my hand.

Amy is setting a great example for her children how to be a good person and to help people, even strangers, with no expectation of anything in return.

I texted Amy my thanks (I also thanked her a couple of times while she was here). She replied that "We are ... neighbors, and we aren't strangers any more. It just seemed silly to have to pay someone for something so quick! And we got to see photos of leopards and elephants and those big cat eyes, which made my day." The cat eyes belonged to a cheetah sitting on the spare tire and peering into the safari vehicle in which I was riding.

In a world so filled with hate, greed and selfishness, it did my old heart good to see that there are people who are willing to help others.

The Clock Is Ticking

 The clock is ticking.

We all know that our time on this planet is limited. Most of us don't dwell on that fact, but sometimes something happens to remind us.

I am at the age where I no longer need an external reminder. My vision isn't what it used to be. I have arthritis that flares up often, causing pain in my fingers. I don't have the strength or the stamina I once had. I don't have the energy I used to have.

And then Tina Turner died. She was older than I am, but still, she died. She had high blood pressure that caused a stroke and that damaged her kidneys. Tina Turner, with her hundreds of millions of dollars and worldwide acclaim, died of maladies that afflict many people. Her money and her fame couldn't save her.

My blood pressure has been a bit high recently, so I made an appointment with my doctor.  I now take a daily pill to control it. I also take a daily pill to lower my cholesterol. 

So yes, the clock is ticking. I have more years behind me than ahead of me.

But I'm not focused on the past. And I'm not focused on what may lie ahead. Instead, I try to focus on what I want to do with whatever time I have left. I want to do as much as I can in the time I have left. I want to travel as much as I can afford to. I want to do as much photography as I can. I want to help make the world a better place by donating to causes most important to me.

And really, that is all any of us can do. Live life with no regrets.

Did Smart Plugs Make My Dog Sick?

I read something online recently that gave me pause.

A woman had written that her dog -- I believe it was a Jack Russell terrier -- suddenly began panting and refusing to eat. After a while, she took her dog to the veterinarian, who ran tests but could find nothing obvious wrong with the dog.

Then she began to wonder whether the family's smart plugs were distressing her dog. She removed the plugs, and the dog resumed eating and stopped panting. As a test, she put the plugs back into the sockets, and the symptoms returned.

That made me think about my beloved dog Benny. He would pant constantly unless he was asleep. He grew disinterested in food. I tried a variety of foods -- different kinds of kibble, a variety of brands and flavors of canned food, ground beef and steak, even meat baby food. Nothing worked. I took him to see our veterinarian multiple times over the course of several months, perhaps a year. We ran blood tests, did x-rays and physical exams. I spent thousands of dollars seeking an answer to what was making my precious dog sick.

Now, after reading that article, I have to wonder whether it was the three smart plugs in my house that caused his symptoms. There is one in my bedroom, one in my office, and one in the living room. 

Could something as simple as removing the smart plugs and their high-frequency sound have given 12-year-old Benny an additional year or two of life? He was hard of hearing, but otherwise in good health. 

I have seen nothing online other than anecdotal 'evidence,' so I am skeptical of the claims, but not dismissive. Given the lack of any other reason for Benny's illness, I won't rule out the smart plug angle.

Part of me questions whether his decreased hearing could have detected the high-frequency sounds emitted by the smart plugs. But I wish I had known the plugs might have been the problem so I could have removed them to see if they were the culprits.

Benny was the absolute best dog, and I would have given anything to spare him discomfort. 

A Dark Day in American History

 January 6, 2021, was an absolutely horrifying day. 

I remember watching the crowds of protesters on television, smashing windows, macing police officers and forcing their way into the US Capitol building, where they did $1.5 million in damage. Members of the US Senate and the House were hustled off to safe places to protect their very lives. Protesters were calling out 'Where is Nancy?' as they searched for then-speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. They constructed a gallows on Capitol grounds, ostensibly for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence, who refused to delay or prevent certification of the votes. More than 140 police officers were injured in the riot. Some committed suiOcide in the days following the attack. Attacking America's leadership and congressional building is not making America great again. One would have to be stupid, brain dead or brainwashed to believe this is the way to make a nation great.

All of this was done at the behest of the outgoing president of the United States, in an effort to stop the certification of the Electoral College vote confirming that he had lost the election. Despite frenzied calls from members of his staff and administration to call in the National Guard to restore order, the outgoing president refused to lift a finger to stop the protest. Eventually the vice-president called in the Guard after several hours. The outgoing president reportedly watched the riots and the protest on television with great glee.  He also refused to call off his goons that were attacking the US capital.

I am a 23-year retired employee of the federal government. I spent the majority of my working life as a federal employee. Watching these goons attack our government buildings and elected officials, with the complicity of the outgoing president and some members of Congress, infuriates me to this day.

He is in my opinion guilty of inciting an insurrection. Protesters reported that they showed up because the president told them to. The protests were well organized in advance. This was not a spur-of-the-moment gathering. And they most certainly were not, as one congressional apologist stated, simply a group of tourists vising the nation's capitol. Certain members of Congress were, to one degree or another, complicit in the insurrection, having taken some of the insurrectionists on tours of the Capitol building the day before the insurrection.

This was not about protecting our freedoms or defending America as the traitors claim. It was about trying to overturn a free and fair election so the outdoing president could remain in power. He simply could not accept that he was defeated at the polls.

The riots of January 6 weren't about making America great again. They weren't about patriotism. They were, and still are, about a childish, spoiled narcissist who has never been held responsible for anything in his life throwing a temper tantrum that resulted in the deaths and injuries of many people.

January 6, 2021, was a very sad and very frightening day in American history. More than 1,200 protesters have been charged with crimes related to the events of January 6. Nearly 900 have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of crimes. Some have been sentenced to several years in prison.

It's time for the instigator and ringleader to face the same punishment.

A Year of More

It's January 1, the first day of 366 days in this new year.

I'm wondering what I can do to make this year better than others. I know there will be stress, hurts, disappointments and failures. Every year comes with its own particular assortment of challenges we would rather not have to deal with. But those things are part of each and every life. They can be opportunities for growth and learning.

But each new year also comes with endless opportunities for success, fun, growth, adventures and other things I haven't even thought about yet.

I can't just sit around and hope and wait for the good things to come. I need to dream, to act, to plan, to make the good things happen, and to be open to new things, new experiences, things I have never tried before. 

Today is page one of a 366 page book, whose pages are waiting for me to write upon them. I remember when I was a child looking forward to the start of a new semester. I remember looking at my notebooks filled with blank lined pages and wondering what I would write in those notebooks in the semester ahead. 

I want to make 2024 the year of more. More trips. More photography. More adventures. More peace. More gratitude. More kindness. More living. More patience. More time enjoying this world’s natural beauty. More giving. More wandering with my camera. 

Many thanks for this suggestion about the year of more from the Facebook page of Jeffrey, the Positively Peaceful Pit Bull. And many thanks to photographer and blogger Linda Stager for the inspiration to write this post.

What do you write want to write in your 2024 edition of the book of life?

An Audience of Nations

The year 2023 saw visitors to my blog from several new countries.

I welcomed visitors from the following countries, in addition to the United States.

Australia, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand,  Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland,  Tanzania, UAE, United Kingdom, Venezuela

That's quite a variety of nations. I appreciate visitors from each and every nation, and I hope to see you again in 2024.

New Year Thoughts

I saw something online recently that asked a simple question. 

At the beginning of this new year, what word describes your thoughts about the year ahead?

Several people replied hope. Others said retirement. Some mentioned kindness. I thought about several words: adventure, peace, hope, health. Hope is my top choice.

I hope we will see an end to war in the Middle East. I hope the United States can begin to heal the massive chasm that divides this country. I hope we will finally begin to get serious about climate change and start taking steps to address it before it’s too late.

What are your thoughts about this new year? It will bring us 366 days to enjoy or to endure, to thrive or to just muddle through. For most of us, I suspect the year will bring some of both.

Our world is so divided: immense wealth and horrible poverty. Peace and war whose most likely victims are innocent people who have nothing to do with planning or carrying out war. Great progress in medicine while so many are unable to get the most basic of health care. An epidemic of obesity as starvation is present in much of the world. A fight to retain democracy in the world while fascist governments proliferate. Those who believe in science as others refuse to believe its findings.

Whichever side of the divide you are on, I hope this new year brings you hope, peace, happiness and fulfillment.

Happy New Year, everyone. Let's make it a good one.