Last Saturday the theme for the day was clearly “Families Belong Together”
Activists shout during the rally to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policies Saturday, June 30, 2018, in New York, New York. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
And literally hundreds of thousands joined in over 700 rallies across America to echo that theme while protesting Trump’s inhumane mishandling of immigrants. (And just a reminder: Seeking asylum is NOT illegal!)
The crowds came from Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, DC, Boston, Salt Lake City, Portland, ME – towns big, small and in-between.
I believe it would be worthwhile to enjoy a few of the tens of thousands of signs that sent a message to our representatives from the Oval Office to our City Councils. In viewing hundreds of signs it seems like there were some common themes. One of the most repeated was …
SHAME
And related to that were ones that were …
RELIGIOUS
But the ones that were the most passionate were the ones calling out Twitler …
GODWIN BE DAMNED
Which of course inspired quite a few to actually graphically demonstrate what he was doing to children …
CAGED
But to end on a lighter note, of course there were clever ones …
And my all time favorite – and I don’t think Paul Simon would mind one bit …
And of course the bottom line answer to end this travesty is …
No doubt we all love our critters – even the difficult ones. (On a bright note, Nike is actually getting a bit mellower as he gets older.) But that doesn’t mean that, like our kids, they don’t have their moments of being total jerks.
So let’s enjoy a few of their antics …
“Did you honestly NOT notice how big my beak is?”
“You said you wanted the dog to lose weight. I’m just helping him cut back on his appetite is all.”
No … NO … NO! NO! NO!
“That paper towel commercial was right – they are incredibly soft!”
Well, that explains the fuzzy TV reception.
Proof that colored strings don’t ALWAYS make the best toy.
The whole yard, and you had to pick my helmet?
Hey – looked like a toilet to me.
You say it’s called “Snapchat”? Really?!? There’s an “h” in there? I thought it was called “Snapcat”!
He falls for this every time.
Kittens can be jerks
Dogs can be jerks
Even pet fish can be jerks
But cats do “Jerk” best – even to their own brother!
Since every week with Twitler in the Oval Office is, by definition, a dismal week, I thought I’d focus on a few things that will make you smile and warm your heart.
While not exactly proud of it, the fact that we learned this week that George Zimmerman, forced to file court financial disclosure papers related to ANOTHER run-in with the law, is $2.5 MILLION dollars in debt and has NO source of income did, in fact, make me smile and warmed my heart.
NOTE to George Zimmerman: Karma is, indeed, a “female cur”!
Moving on to more magnanimous Smile-Inducers-and-Heart-Warmers, CEO Martha Fuerstenau of American 1 Credit Union based in Jackson, MI has directed that 186 of the firm’s 187 employees be given raises that total almost $1 MILLION ($950,000)!
The one employee that CEO Martha Fuerstenau elected to NOT include in the generous raises was the herself!
And these were not nickel and dime raises – but ones that averaged more than $5,000 per employee. Additionally, 76 percent of the increase went to hourly employees, with only 24 percent going to management.
NOTE to Fortune 500 CEOs: THIS is how you should do “Trickle Down”!
This one is made extra poignant by the fact that it happens down in Clinton, MS.
Few things are as heart-warming as a three-year little boy’s unbridled joy induced by a weekly visit from his best buddies … the garbage men!
It all began when Grandma Reynolds had her grandson Kyler help her take the trash out and was greeted with friendly waves from the crew. It has now become a weekly routine with a definite Win-Win for everyone!
(For a real treat, I’d encourage you to read the full story about their bonds at the YouTube site itself. Just click on the YouTube logo in the lower right corner when it plays.)
NOTE to racist republicans (or is that redundant?): This is how we can all get along – by treating others with kindness and respect. So take your hate-mongering bigotry and Go Cheney Yourselves!
Tomorrow will mark the one-week anniversary of a wedding that was not only pitch perfect but had lessons that began before it even happened, and they continued in its afterglow.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle asked guests and well-wishers to forgo wedding gifts and instead make a donation to one of seven charities that reflect their passions for helping others.
Prince Harry & Ms. Meghan Markle are incredibly grateful for the goodwill they have received since their engagement, & have asked that anyone who might wish to mark the occasion of their wedding considers giving to charity, instead of sending a gift. https://t.co/lzfrRmoeUvpic.twitter.com/nxrTZtIKBY
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) April 9, 2018
(You can read about the seven they selected either from the Tweet’s link or here:)
Of course, we knew it was going to be beautiful – and no doubt all you Anglophiles were chuffed at how blinding beautiful it was.
And afterwards Prince Harry and the now Duchess of Sussex continued showing world leaders their true compassion by donating all those gorgeous flowers, now made into stunning bouquets, to charities – including the St. Joseph Hospice in London, which has a long history involving the Royals.
Meet one of the lucky recipients, Pauline Clayton, who “is no stranger to royal family weddings. As a 19-year-old, Clayton, now 89, worked for royal dressmaker Norman Hartnell and helped embroider the wedding dress of Queen Elizabeth II, according to the BBC. Clayton worked with three other girls, earning nearly 50 hours overtime on the dress’ train alone.”
This is a quickie because I’m heading out the door to a morning doctor appointment. But this is what greeted me for my daily computer wallpaper:
Captivated by the urban Peregrine falcon, I immediately knew what city she lived in.
But I wondered if I could figure out what building it was taken from along with the address, the apartment number and who lived there.
And I did!
So put on your deerstalker hat and do your best Sherlock Holmes imitation to see how many you can check off:
City:
Building:
Address:
Apartment Number:
Owner:
BONUS: Any other tidbits pertaining to THIS peregrine falcon.
And if no one has figured it out by the end of the day, I’ll give a Hint: the name of the photographer.
Good luck!
BONUS ADDITION
[HEADS UP NOTE: Take Hints where you can find them]
I declare, Joanne has independently hit on the right track!
Kansas City is a nice size city – but we don’t have a skyline like that. This is the KCMO downtown skyline looking north from the Liberty Memorial:
And the downtown skyline looking south:
Panorama photo of downtown Kansas City, Missouri skyline, taken from Chouteau Bridge.
But the biggest hint is focusing on the huge, black building in the background that I’ve highlighted here:
If you look closely, you’ll noticed that it tapers the higher it goes. And that’s your huge Hint!
Well, at least I had fun with it – but probably won’t be doing another one of these for a long time.
ANSWER:
OK – some of the hints were quite obtuse. I had hoped the “declare independently” might get someone to the “Declaration of Independence” which might lead you to “John Hancock”. And anyone with a passing knowledge of Chicago knows the Hancock Center.
Joanne was definitely heading in the right direction when she said it probably is a city I was familiar with. As I’ve mentioned before, I went to medical school in Chicago. The first year I lived in the dorm and my window had an unobstructed view of the Hancock building – so it’s an old friend to me.
I tried to help by pointing out the building and the noting that it’s sides’ taper. And you can see that in the above photo.
But to get to the location I just Googled [“peregrine falcon” Chicago] – voila, right there on the front page is our photo!
And reading the article you learn that the falcon had commandeered an empty flower box on the 28th floor of Dacey Arashiba’s condo balcony.
So plugging in Dacey Arashiba’s name into an excellent, dedicated person search engine, you can see she lives on Belmont Ave. But that’s probably enough doxing on my part. You can connect the rest of the dots on your own if you want an exact address.
But the Audubon story is definitely worth a read! It tells about how Linda and Steve (the names Darcy gave the Peregrines) came to the condo balcony, and sadly lost their first clutch of three eggs. But amazingly returned the next year to the same balcony and had another clutched that hatched!
And how an award-winning photographer in The Netherlands found out about the falcons and came to America to photograph them. And the photos are quite interesting!
So for me, at least, it was a worthwhile sleuthing search.
(Hoping to put together a “Sunday Smile”. But not only still monitoring my brother, but my aunt is in town from Illinois to celebrate her 90th Birthday! So lots, and LOTS of family stuff going on!)
