A 'lil HooHaa

Originally, I was going to start this post with a quote – which is something I strive not to do as I find it a bit lazy to start a post that way. 

Instead, I do it with my own thoughts. 

The world is a huge place full of journeys and trips and experiences. Your spot in life make it infinitely large or much smaller. Factors are not limited, but can include finances, time, family, or the lack of interest in exploring beyond what you know. 

I like to explore. And I would love to venture into Europe more, or other places that might never happen. But I also want to explore my own country as it’s vast with a ton of amazing history. 

My window of where I want to travel has also been reeled in because of Harper. The reality is, one of the reasons I got a dog is because I wanted that best friend. One I could explore with and see so many things. A golden retriever’s lifespan is 10-12 years, though many do go beyond that. But, even if you get a 14-15 year old pupper … many at that age will not be looking to go on crazy hikes and such. Plus, if Harper reaches 15 years old, I’ll be much closer to retirement, anyway. 

I figure my true window of traveling big with Harper is more in the now-8 year range, give or take. 

So, the planning starts now. 

In two years, I’ll be hitting a major milestone. I’ll be half a century old at that point (!) and I’m in the beginning stages of planning a major road trip. This will be geocaching based, but also a chance to see many places, bring Harper, and explore as much as possible over a two-week stretch. 

Originally, the plan was to drive across the top of the country and then back home across the bottom. Along the way, we’d hit as many National Parks as possible. 

One issue? Well, it seems many national parks are not dog friendly. Though I get it when it comes to animals living in the park to what could happen to plants etc., I also wonder how parks have not found ways to make things dog/pet friendly. Being outside is part of the greatness of having dogs. 

For example, I don’t see the point in going to Yellowstone if I can’t take Harper to see Old Faithful. I’m not leaving her in a car, or putting her up at some boarding place at the park. 

It just means I need to reevaluate where this trip takes me. 

We could still do the cross-country trip and instead be selective where we go, and what we see. Or, we could change direction all together. Acadia National Park in Maine is apparently very dog friendly. Maybe it’s an east coast trip where we start to go down the coast, and then flip it around and come back up and end up in Maine. And the best part of that is when in Maine, we might be able to go into Canada and get to a few provinces (geocaching wise) such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and maybe even Prince Edward Island, pending on travel time. 

Or maybe there’s some sort of a mixture of things. The road trip is the way to go, though. I don’t plan on flying Harper as I don’t like how it’s done. That would rule her going to a place like Iceland with me. 

The good thing is I have a couple of years to plan this out, but I will be finding a place for sure. And the plan, of course, is for Harper to be with me every step of the way!

As for where I will go? We shall see soon enough!

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up:

Pssst! For those participating in this challenge, we’ve reached the final week! Let’s do it! 

When will spring come?

Through the end of 2021, we had a pretty mild winter. The early part of January has brought some winter weather, but still nothing too crazy. 

At the time I write this, I’m not sure we’ve had a total of 10-12 inches all winter. 

Still, something likely will be brewing in February or March. It always happens that time of year around here anyway. We feel like we are out of the woods and then… WHAM! Hello snow dump. 

I have to be honest, though. This winter hasn’t been that bad. We’ve had a pretty mild time in regard to snow and temps. We’ve had some brutally cold days, and a couple of small snow days, but overall, it’s been pretty good to deal with. 

I haven’t had too much of a problem with it as Harper has absolutely loved the snow. She has had to figure out how to go with the weather changing, but she’s adapted. She’s had no issues walking on the really cold days, or through the snow. She loves to run in the snow, too. I have to be honest – when Harper gets the zoomies in the snow it’s been a riot to watch. 

But what will spring bring with everything going on in the world?

For me, it will bring more time for adventures with Harper. 

It will mean some baseball and so much more. With Harper approaching her 1-year birthday (April 29), the spring should bring some fun with her as she continues to grow. 

It also means dock diving is coming!

My goal for Harper and I when it comes to dock diving this year is to have the ability to rent the pool we go to for a 30-minute block without having to have a lesson etc, with it. That will allow me to set up cameras around it, record and do different things video and photowise with that time – all while allowing Harper to dive and swim and have a blast!

As I write this post, I look outside and see snow on the ground and snow coming out of the sky. Spring won’t happen for a few months, but there’s definitely a lot to look forward to, and I’ll be happy when it comes. 

For now, though, I’ll enjoy the winter the best that I can and let Harper have her fun in the snow!

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up:

In this day and age, giving back is more important than ever. While I think one should always make an effort to give back in one way or another, there are times when it’s just downright silly. 

More on that in a moment. 

Over the years, I’ve always attempted to give. Whether it was donating to a cause I believe in, or sponsoring somebody raising money etc., I feel it’s necessary as a society. 

For a long time, I helped run a team at our local Relay for Life. For a couple of years, I was even on the committee. Our team always used to come up with some fun things for the event and it was a good way to give. We always raised quite a bit for our small group. 

Over time, though, that Relay took on a new look and the event we all used to love kind of transformed into something that was no longer fun, so we stopped as a team. 

I did still try to give and help raise money as my mother remained on the committee for a few more years and did her own “team” of one to raise money. Being my father died of cancer, it was an important cause for us. 

Then there are times when you just wonder where your money goes. 

I love to give to local animal shelters when I can. I try to figure what could be best, though for a couple of years around Christmas, I’d donate money. I knew where that was going. This past December, I helped our local dog club run a toy/supply drive for two of our area shelters. 

Direct impact. 

But sometimes people get swayed by those television commercials. Let’s take for example, the ASPCA. I’m not going to go deep into this because it’s all over if you do a simple Google search. I’m not saying you shouldn’t give to the ASPCA, but maybe giving local is better. The CEO for the ASPCA makes upward of $750K a year, for a non-profit. It seems, based on a study, that an average CEO for a non-profit is around $125K. Do the math. 

I’d much rather give locally and know the money goes to something around me. 

And now to the silly. 

Let me first say, I’ve “paid it forward” before. I’ve bought somebody their coffee. Or I’ve done something a little bigger, in a way to give back to humanity and to show the good in people can still happen. But sometimes, it gets a bit out of hand. 

Have you heard of these “drive-thru” pay-it-forward deals? Apparently they have been pretty popular at Starbucks. Basically, it works where a car pays for the order behind them. Then that person gets asked if they want to continue the chain. 

You can see where this is going. 

So people continue this feel-good moment. Some people might get a deal. Some not so much. But where does it end? Somebody has to end it, right? 

Consider this – you drive up to grab a cup o’ Joe before work. You’re expecting to pay whatever silly cost it takes to get said cup at Starbucks. All of a sudden you’re told the car before you paid for yours, so would you like to continue the chain and pay for the person behind you?

Let me stop for a moment and put this into context. You are, at this point, being put in a bad spot. You don’t mind giving back or paying it forward, but you are basically being put on the spot to pay for somebody else. 

So you look in your rear-view mirror and see a car of four college kids. You ask how much their order is and all of a sudden it’s four drinks and a few other things and their bill is upward of 35 bucks. 

How do you respond? 

I don’t pay for it. Sorry, but I’m not spending a ton more than I expected when all I wanted was a drink to take to work. 

People seem to get all snotty about this on social media, too. 

But why? 

The problem with things like this is that it’s not giving back. It’s doing something to make yourself feel better because you think it’s fun. In that situation. I would have given what my drink cost and driven off. 

There’s a difference between giving back and being silly. 

So how about all of you? What do you like to do to give back?

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up: 

It’s safe to say I lost the bet. 

When this whole shit-storm started in March 2020, we started discussing at work how long this would last. And in the beginning, you had so many opinions – even at the top of the political spectrum – on what was going to happen. 

All any of us truly had to go back on were the things that had happened over the past decade or two that never resulted in what we are currently going through. 

We had just had schools closed down when this discussion took place. Heck, there weren’t even mask mandates or anything in place yet. 

Several people thought the schools would be shut down through the end of the year. Me, being an optimist, said there was no way they’d allow graduations to not take place. So I thought … meh, mid May or so. We’ll be back and spring sports will go on. 

Little did I know. 

Here we are nearly two full years later and we are still in the middle of a pandemic. The cases go up, we all freak. The cases go down, we all relax. 

Well, maybe not all. 

The problem with COVID is there’s not a lot of middle ground. One side thinks we should be living as free as possible – it’s just a cold. The other side thinks we should be living in a bubble and shutting things down until this virus goes away. 

We can’t get along well enough to compromise. I mean, hell, political people’s careers are on the line! They have to cater to their people!

So here we are. And who knows when this will end. I mean, it’s never going away. So there has to be a point where we realize we have to all just do our own thing. 

I know this – I’m pretty good about wearing masks. And being I work in two school districts – and schools are cesspools for germs – those masks have kept me healthy. I don’t care what people say. I know how long it’s been (knock on wood) since I’ve had a cold. And it’s been a truly long time. So they work for me. 

I’m also vaccinated, with the booster. My choice. 

So, if you don’t want to wear a mask – your choice. But it’s also the choice of a business if they don’t want to serve you. Remember, it goes both ways. Businesses can also choose to refuse to serve people who wear a mask. So don’t complain on either side of the fence. Private businesses are just that. Private. 

If you don’t get vaccinated – your choice. Same for me wanting to be vaccinated. But again, in the world we are in … if a private business (remember, places that hold sporting events and concerts usually are private companies) decides to mandate the need for a vaccination, that’s how life is. 

No matter what you choose, please don’t be a hypocrite. 

The “my body, my choice” argument is fine. But remember that same argument when there are other controversial issues with the “my body, my choice” argument. I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about. You are allowed your opinion and I fully agree with the “your body, your choice” argument. But you can’t then turn around and try and tell people what they should do with their body. 

This pandemic has really divided society. We were on edge before this as it was with the political spectrum. But add this to the mix and we’ve gone really over the edge. 

I’m sticking with my “May” prediction for when this ends. But, please note, I never truly specified a year! I’m ready for this to be over though, with the hopes that maybe people can get along again.

How about all of you? What do you think about all of this as it still goes on?

This post is part of the 2022 20 Days of Chill Writing Challenge hosted by A ‘lil HooHaa. Please check out the links (intro I themes) if you’d like to see the setup and  themes! You don’t have to do every theme if you don’t want to! And for those participating, take a moment and check out the other participants!

Link up: