Good Ol' Wally

   On my drive home, I glanced to the next lane while stopped at a red light, to see this cute, giggling little curly-haired boy and his ginormous Great Dane, Wally, whose head was hanging out the window. They proceeded to tell me all about Wally, who liked what he heard, 'cause his tail wagged so hard the whole car moved. The kid was SO delighted. Wish the light hadn't turned green. They made my day!
   It was clear that this lil' boy & his big, funny dog were best friends... Every kid deserves a Wally, & every pet deserves a family who cherishes them.

The DC Disaster

   News story this morning: A local student band went on a trip to NYC. On their last night, they ate dinner at an Italian restaurant before boarding their buses to come home. And shortly thereafter, thirty-five of them got sick on the bus & had to spend the night at a hospital in Pennsylvania: food poisoning and dehydration.   This was a total case of deja vu for me. My 8th grade class took a bus trip to Washington DC. We spent several days visiting the Smithsonian, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol building, and the National Gallery of Art, among others. It was a fantastic trip.
   On the last night, we ate Italian food at the restaurant in the hotel, boarded the buses, and settled in for sleeping the hours away as we headed home. It was supposed to be peaceful. But somewhere in Virginia, everyones' stomachs went south, and we made an unscheduled stop at an emergency room. I was one of the unlucky ones with stomach cramps and vomiting. One of my friends, Amy, started to suffer from hypoglycemia, and John, who was diabetic, began to have seizures. As they were seated in the row right behind me, it was really scary. We too were diagnosed with food poisoning and dehydration. Imagine an emergency room full of exhausted, sick eighth graders in the middle of the night. Eventually we were evaluated, treated, and were returned to the bus.
   Of course, I was in eighth grade well before the invention of cell phones, so parents, expecting us to arrive back at the school at 6 or 7 am, learned through a series of calls that we would be delayed. They were excited when we finally returned several hours behind schedule, and we were very glad to be home!
   Soon after, one of the parents came up with a fundraiser idea: she sold bright gold shirts with big blue letters that said, "I survived the DC disaster!" I had mine for years. Kind of wondering if it's still somewhere in Mom's house. My heart goes out to this band, as I know all too well what that experience was like!

Open up that Golden Gate

   This is what it feels like to drive across the Golden Gate bridge:

...and to drive through the funky rainbow tunnel that follows it:

And it's even cooler at night!

Great Horned Owl

   I was following Joni on the way home from the hike, and she unexpectedly pulled over, telling me that she thought she had seen a owl on the side of the road. So we turned back and pulled safely over to the side of Highway 45, got out and crossed the street. From a distance I could see the telltale "horns" sticking up from the dead grasses. The owl flopped around, flailing its wings clumsily and tried to escape. The poor thing. As Joni noted, its wing bent the wrong direction—a serious, compound fracture. I took these photos from my lousy Blackberry-cam, which struggles in low light:

And Joni got this one with her camera:

   The owl glared at us as we stood there and marveled at its stunning, barred feathers, fuzzy "horns" and clear, brilliant eyes. It blinked slowly and softly, and I couldn't get over how much it looked like a cat—it really reminded me of Atom! Its talons were surprisingly large for the size of the bird, and looked fuzzy. Joni said these guys are called "the tiger of the sky" due to their ferocity. It was quieter now; perhaps because it realized we weren't there to eat it. The larger question was, were we there to rescue it?

   We debated for a few minutes. We'd have to safely catch it and get it into Joni's dog crate, keep it alive overnight, then deliver it to OWL (Operation Wildlife) tomorrow. Would it even make it that long? One eye now opened wider than the other, and the owl's life seemed to be draining away.

   Ultimately it was Joni's realization that convinced us to leave it where it was, so that nature could take its course. It would probably be eaten by a coyote. But the alternative—due to the severely broken wing—would be a life in captivity, at best. And that didn't seem to suit this noble, beautiful, and thoroughly wild creature. It wasn't an easy decision, given the extent to which both Joni and I are animal lovers. But it was the right one.

   I followed her home, and we both independently enjoyed the quiet contemplation of the harsh reality of nature, accompanied by a strikingly gorgeous sunset.

Good/Bad Way to Start the Day

   Bad: It took me nearly an hour to get to work due to an accident on the highway. Ugh.

   Good: The radio was on a roll, with back-to-back favorites that helped the time go by quickly: Biggie's Mo Money Mo Problems, Ne-yo's One in a Million, Anthony David + Algebra 4evermore, Cobra Starship's You Make Me Feel, Drake's I'm on One,

Bruno Mars + B.O.B. Nothing on You... I remember most of them, 'cause I was singing along. ;)
  Also Good: My new Admin, Angela, treated me to an all-you-can-eat pancake & sausage breakfast in the Crown Room for Boss's Day!

The land of palm trees & traffic jams

   Actually, the traffic isn't too bad yet (for 9 am on a Friday), but Kelley told me that next weekend they're going to shut down part of the 405, which will displace more than half a million cars, and chaos will ensue. So glad I came out here when I did!

Wildlife Preview

I caught a couple of wildlife encounters on video.

   Here's a porcupine that I followed off the side of the road, south of Denali National Park. He was hard to follow in that long grass, and I lost him for a few seconds at the beginning, and was very glad that he didn't double-back and nail me with that spiky tail. Thankfully, he was shy and just wanted to be left alone.

    And a Moose on the Glenn Highway (Route 3), on the way up to Denali. (That's Mom cracking up at the site of those 4 gangly legs flying.) Note that he crosses in front of a moose crossing sign at the end.

Random Hallmark Moments: I knew our staff was foxy

    Cindy emailed this photo to me this morning to show me that there is a family of red foxes living just outside the windows in our Keepsakes department. Six babies have been spotted. Can you imagine how crazy everyone over there is going, considering this is Hallmark and we looooove cute lil' fuzzy animals? Can't get much cuter than a baby fox!

   Unless, of course, you're talking about Kristin's new kitten, Kismet. She sent these photos from her phone as she & Jeff were driving him home from Petsmart yesterday. Don't you just want to snuggle him?
   I should also point out that Kristin has always been allergic to cats, and Kismet is her second, in addition to 1 year old Mr. Mittendorf. And in a few short weeks, she and Jeff are moving from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Portland, Oregon. She wasn't sure how she was going to drive cross country with ONE cat. I think she might be crazy. And also, adopted.