100 miles

If not for chasing rabbits, I don't know if I ever would have heard of this organization...
and yet, I drive by its office on Drayton Street quite often.
The rabbit I was chasing - provided by the Coastal Jazz Association - led to the site for volunteering for the upcoming Savannah Jazz Festival.
While at that volunteer site, I hippety-hopped to several of the organizations I knew...
and this one that I did not.
One Hundred Miles was founded in 2013 for the sole purpose of preserving Georgia's coastline -for our children, for our grandchildren, for the generations to come.
The science-first organization began in Brunswick, but they're here in my town now.
With its mission principles of education, collaboration, and celebration, it certainly seems tailor-made for me, doesn't it?
I don't know how it has escaped my attention for five years, but I'm onboard.
It's time for another sea change, for me, for the coast I have loved since I was a girl...
for the world.
I joined at the Horsehoe Crab level, mostly because those prehistoric beasts amaze me.
It was as easy as clicking here to choose my favorite.

i thank You, God, for rabbit holes and this birthday gift!

shindig for supers!

The Ronald McDonald House had a fundraiser this afternoon and I couldn't resist being there!
"Super Summer Shindig" - such sweet syllables!
(smile!)
The alliteration drew me right in, of course.
Plus, I had a personal reason for my presence.
When my ex's grandson was born, the baby had to stay several days in the hospital. His mom spent those days, and nights, at this house... at no charge.
What a blessing!

What made this a 'super' event?
All the superheroes that were there, of course!
As well as those provided by Princess Productions
- such as the 'Amazon Princess' with me -
the kids and their parents were encouraged to
dress in costume.
Such fun!

Face painters were present to adorn all comers,
cornhole sacks were there to be tossed,
and there was food and drink, too.
Oh, yes, free food was in abundance, as was...
free ice cream!!!
Thank you, Ben & Jerry's, for making sure
to have nondairy available, too!
Better yet, it was the coconut almond fudge
chip that I love so much!

I'm so glad I was there to help support this fundraiser.
The birthday funds I donated were partly from me and partly from my exhusband. I know he would have been there if he could have been, to help this sanctuary that had sheltered his daughter.
I'll be watching for more of these in the future.
Who knows? Maybe he will make it to the next one!

story time for cats... in.... space!

Oskar, the blind kitty, is now stardust.
However, his space adventure, "Mission To Cataria", with Klaus will live on forever!
Once into the ether, always out there somewhere!
(smile!)
Thanks to the project to send their book to the International Space Station, the actual book gained passage and arrived there earlier this year.
Once there, it had to wait its turn to be read aloud..
and that moment has arrived!
The story, written by Travis Bossard and Mick Szydlowski, has been read aloud by Richard (Ricky) Arnold II, a genuine astronaut!
But guess why I think this almost 55-year-old was the right man for the task?
He's a former US Navy sailor, like me! And what does the acronym "N.A.V.Y." mean? "Never Again Volunteer Yourself" - LOL! That's how we found ourselves in the Navy - by volunteering our services. That trait is in our blood, that desire for helping others.
i thank You, God!
I also like that he was a former science teacher - also like me! Plus, he loves the ocean. Purr-fect!
(smile!)
Now, settle in for the tale, keeping in mind that its run time is 13:51 minutes.
My many thanks to Story Time From Space for making "Mission To Cataria" a reality!
It's available here or on the ISS website.

utility patent for my invention has been filed!

Hallelujah!
For the last five months of hard work, emails have been flying back and forth between me and Cramer Patent & Design.
But, good news!
The finalized Utility Patent application has been e-filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office... and well before the August deadline!
That includes fifteen pages of the application itself, five pages of drawings, one page of addendum, one page for an oath, and four pages for the power of attorney for Aaron Cramer to represent me to the USPTO.
I must say, this has certainly been a learning experience for me.
Trying to explain an educational tool for blind and low-visioned students to a group of people who have full sight has certainly been a daunting task...
but, worth it.
Yes, it's been worth every minute, every hour, every day.
I had hoped for my invention to be available to students this coming academic year.
That will probably not be the case, given that August 2018 is a mere two months away.
That's fine... August of 2019 for its launch will be fabulous!
Hold on, chemistry students of the world - it's coming to you soon!

halfway to 13!

I had thought to title this "happy birthday to three strangers", but, no...
why not be more obscure?
(smile)
So, just what is the meaning of the title above?
Well, let me remind the reader of this post, about a year ago.
At that time, I had completed twelve gallons of blood donated to the world.
Since then, I've allowed the American Red Cross to draw four more pints from me, as gifts to a total of twelve people, somewhere in the world.
As four pints is two quarts...
and two quarts is half of a gallon...
that means I'm halfway to completing my thirteenth gallon!
Feels good, too.
As a nice bonus, today I was given this new T-shirt!
I'm regarding it as a birthday gift - oh, yes I am!
Thanks, y'all!
i thank You, God, to be able to donate life's liquid to others.

birthday grove

A wood is an area covered in trees, larger than a grove or a copse. A forest is also an area covered in trees, but it is larger than a wood. The trees in woods and forests grow thickly, and the space between them is overgrown with grasses, shrubs and underbrush. A grove is a small stand of trees lacking dense undergrowth. A copse is a cluster of small trees and shrubs.
This Arbor Day, in honor of my birthday next month, I am having a grove planted by the Arbor Day Foundation. They'll be planting the sixty trees in one of the national forests in this great country.
The trees will bring new life to an area destroyed by fire. Wildlife will find new homes, smaller vegetation will thrive in the shade, in turn providing new homes for other wildlife and the insects to feed them.
The trees will filter carbon dioxide out of the air, processing it o form new leaves and releasing precious oxygen.
I've had a love story with trees ever since I read Joyce Kilmer's poem.
I was probably in middle school at the time.

"Trees" (1913)

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

i thank You, God, that we can plant new trees.

silver lining of cats

(One note: this was originally published in my beachwalks blog a few minutes ago.)

Back in late November, I had sent an email to my niece down in Mexico.
She is Tony's one-and-only daughter, Hope.
She responded with such happiness that her dad was finally in the transitional center!
She also had the following message:
"I also wanted to ask for your help….We are still in Mexico and we have a taxi here that is one of our main sources of income. It got hit by a drunk driver a week and a half ago and it took on some heavy damage. But no engine damage. It’s going to cost us 18,000 pesos, roughly 900 dollars to fix but we’ve gotten 15,000 together so far, and with Thanksgiving coming up I doubt we’ll be doing anything with this still going on and here money is a hard thing to come by. So I wanted to ask you if you can and if you would like to help us, with anything you can, it would be greatly appreciated. I know I don’t ever ask for anything, and this is hard for me, but I thought I’d try. Love you lots."

As much as I wanted to help her financially, I knew I did not have the funds.
She thanked me for even considering helping.
Time passed on, as it does.
I sent her some photos of Tony from our visits and she again responded.
She also let me know that they had not yet been able to get the taxi repaired. Could I perchance speak to her Dad and to Smitty about the money they still needed?
I assured her I would.
I spoke with them last Sunday, when Tony was on a nine-hour pass at my house. Smitty had dropped in to get the saw he had loaned me for the yard work.
I was shocked by their response to her request.
Tony told me he was not allowed to have that much money. I reminded him that the CTC would allow him to send $250 to anyone, once per month. That sum is exactly the amount she needs. No, he told me, he would not help her.
I am so disappointed in his response. He's been working for three months and keeps talking about how much money he's making... but he is not willing to spend any of it.
Sigh.
Smitty followed suit, not surprisingly.
I suppose he figured that if Tony was unwilling to help, then why should he?
Sigh.

When I wrote to her the next day, I had made a decision.
"Dear Hope,
I spoke to your Dad and Uncle Smitty yesterday about your situation. Sadly, they are not willing to send any money. However, they very much enjoyed your photos! I also let your Dad read the emails you've sent and he sends his love.
I have been taking care of a friend's cats and will be able to send the money he is paying me. Right now, I have $85 for you, but I expect him to pay me another $85 either later today or tomorrow. I will check with Western Union to see what the fee is for sending money.
Best wishes to y'all!
with my love"

I had wondered what to do with those cat-sitting funds.
i thank You, God, for the inspiration.
The upcoming International Women's Day was good timing, too.
How could I recycle the repaid Kiva-loan funds to a woman I didn't know and not send these cat-generated monies to my niece?
Exactly.

The funds have been sent to her, via Western Union, just a few minutes ago.
She will be able to have them in hand tomorrow.
I'm actually relieved to have been able to help her.
Again, i thank You, God.
I don't always understand why events unfold as they do...
but I am learning to trust that there is a silver lining.