Our squirrels

Happy Friday, everyone! Just for fun, I thought I'd introduce you to some of our squirrel friends. :) 

This is Twitchy. We think. Honestly, we're not completely sure we recognize Twitchy every time and tend to call any of the squirrels we don't "know" Twitchy. :) The original Twitchy, whoever he is, has a tail that just doesn't seem to stop twitching. We think he maybe was dropped on his head at some point or has some other issues, lol. 

This is Tigger. He has a whiter belly than the rest and, we think, is young. The other day, leaves were dropping from a tree around him and he was chasing them all (like a puppy chases his tail). It was pretty entertaining. He also had no idea what to do about snow and continually dove head-first into it. He's skittish and bouncy. Both Twitchy and Tigger tend to eat a little then take some walnuts to go. They don't hang around as long.

And this, friends, is Gaston. He's a bit of a bully and a glutton. He's fairly orange and has notches in both his ears. He also doesn't flinch easily...chases off the others and is willing to just stare us down rather than leave when we open the door. He prefers to sit at the far end of the basket/board and look toward us when he eats.

And, finally, here's HAMilton. He's, well, fat and is a pig. He didn't start out this fat. Nathan takes this as a sign that he's done his job of fattening them up to help them get through the winter. HAMilton has lost his shoulders and can't sit at the far end, as he's too heavy. Unlike Gaston, he tends to eat facing away from us. Like Gaston, he chases the others off. Oh, and his right "ring finger" generally sticks up when he eats. 

We also have a girl squirrel named Mia (we're pretty sure she's a mamma, lol) but she's very camera shy. Don't laugh but I swear she eats more delicately than the boys. :)  

So, those are "our" squirrels. Yes. We watch them too much. We may need a camera because we also often miss seeing them come and visit. At least with the snow, though, we had some evidence of their visits. We had to laugh, though...

Given the timing, we know that the trail on the right was made by HAMilton. You can see that his larger size meant that he crawled through the snow. The trail on the left, though, was made by Twitchy (we actually saw him). You can see that he leapt through the snow, as most squirrels do.

So. Yes, we feed our squirrels aplenty...so much that they can't always leap. :) We also watch them more than we probably should, lol. But. They make us happy. And, admit it...this post was a bright spot in your day. ;)

Thankful Thursday

Last Thursday of October, y'all. I'm not really sure I ever wrapped my head around it being October at all. It didn't really feel like an October. 

Anyhow.

Here's my list of things I'm thankful for...

1. Getting Micah registered for his classes for next semester. Micah had his advising appointment last Friday (virtually) and we're feeling pretty set for next semester. It's nice to have at least one of the boys' schedules figured out, lol. Asher had his advising appointment in September but can't register for classes at the community college for another week or two, and Noah's registration isn't until later in November. Also, Micah had his virtual induction ceremony for the National Honor Society last week (a bit boring and all but short and thankfully done, lol). 

2. First time climbing outside. On Saturday, Micah arranged to go climbing outside again with teammates and this time it worked for me to park and join them. Mostly, I just watched them and got a better feel for the area; but, toward the end, I actually tried a route, myself. It was, obviously, a totally easy route. I think Micah told me it's actually just called "Warm Up," lol. But I don't care...I climbed and it felt doable and I'll probably get braver. :)

Oh, and the boy climbed, too...

He, obviously, tried harder routes and is a better climber. ;)

3. Snow. And then the next day it snowed...and snowed. Overall, we got more than a foot, with up to two feet in the mountains. It wasn't a fire season ending snow, but it definitely helped and gave the firefighters a brief respite. 

On top of helping with the fires and smoke in the area, it also is helping our parched yard. Due to a long scheduled maintenance project on one of our local water sources, all yard watering was stopped on October 1 and we've not had much (if any) moisture since then. 

4. Nathan. On Monday, Nathan started his new job! Won't get into all the details but he resigned at his old job (where he was the last remaining founder still with the company) and has been working diligently at landing this new job where he's going to be able to focus more on the type of work he actually enjoys and have more time for family things before these boys are all done with high school. 

Feeling so fortunate that he has skills that are in high demand...that he had his pick of new positions so was able to go with one that he wanted and was a good fit...that he continues to take such good care of us all. 

While I'm at it, I'm also really thankful that he takes care of the math and science homework now. :) Boys have a number of tests this week and it's been rough some nights. 

Okay. I think that's it for now. We're in a bit of a "heads down and just keep moving forward" stage here at the moment...with schoolwork and college application processes and the new job and everything else. Here's to the coming weeks and hopefully many more things to be thankful for...

Thankful Thursday

I'm not sure how it's Thursday again or why it's already almost the end of October (and I posted a couple times since my last Thankful Thursday which is throwing me off, lol), but here's my weekly list...

1. Distractions. I'm thankful for distractions like Micah's staring contests with our squirrels. 

Yes, some of the squirrels have gotten pretty brave and used to us. This one just sat and stared at Micah for a good while, despite Micah literally throwing walnuts directly at him (he almost caught some of them!) and Asher shooting a nerf gun at the sliding glass door. I had to make Micah come back inside and not try to catch the squirrel and explain that I'd rather not have to potentially take him in to get shots, lol. 

2. Firefighters. The distractions are welcome because the fires around us are oppressive. It's like night time again outside right now with all the smoke and ash. It's difficult to get out of bed in the mornings because the sky/light isn't right. It feels at times like all of Colorado is burning. (Sadly, much of it is...and has been since summer.) Sigh. So, thankful today (and always) for all the firefighters out there! They're amazing and appreciated!

3. The hope of spring blooms. Last weekend Nathan and I did some of our outside fall maintenance...cutting back plants, adding mulch, weeding and such. While we were at it, we planted some bulbs (mostly tulips) in anticipation of needing those bursts of color and hope come spring. Fingers crossed!

4. Our new patio heater. Also last weekend, Nathan found a good deal on a patio heater, and we got that set up in our backyard. We're trying to be prepared for winter and Covid and the continuing need to socialize outside. Hopefully this will allow boys (and us) to still get together with friends without freezing.

I just went and took this picture...at 2 in the afternoon. It's dark and, yes, that's ash all over the patio. We're thinking about possibly stringing up some lights to make it more festive.

5. Local newspapers. I'm thankful, too, for local newspapers and their continued efforts to keep communities informed. While we don't subscribe to the print versions any more (and got annoyed with the ones constantly thrown on our driveway), we do subscribe to the digital editions and hope others do the same. (By the way, I'm not even going all the way to saying that I think it's stellar journalism; sometimes it's not. But. I do appreciate the effort and the ability to focus on local happenings when the news from around the country becomes overwhelming.)

6. Volunteers texting and calling about the election. I find that this election cycle I have a different take on the seemingly constant texts and calls from people about the election. Instead of being annoyed by the interruption, I'm appreciating the fact that these volunteers are giving their time to try to make a difference, regardless of which outcome they're hoping for. I'm thankful to see people invested in the process and have been trying to thank them when they contact me. I've actually had a few nice conversations with volunteers who were so happy to have someone thank them rather than berate them.

Let's see. What else? We officially voted on Monday! Dropped our ballots in the official dropbox at the police station on our way to climbing. Asher's college applications are all submitted now. And, yes, I'm still sorting legos, lol. I got distracted for a bit there with college visits and everything but am back at it this week. The hard part is that I've mostly only got huge sets left so am finding it more difficult to want to tackle those. Sigh. But. I have a deadline, as I need to have the legos sorted and out of Noah's room before Thanksgiving in case he actually wants to use his room, lol. 

Why I Vote

Yesterday I mailed 100 letters encouraging people to vote through the Vote Forward program! My assigned letters went to Texas and Florida hoping to increase voter turnout. Together with other volunteers around the country, we sent more than 15 million letters!

When I dropped them off at the post office, I wore my necklace...

...and even ran into a nice gentleman also mailing Vote Forward letters.

On the letters, each volunteer was asked to add a personal note explaining why he/she votes. This has led to plenty of thinking. In fact, this entire presidential term and the past year in particular has prompted much evaluation...of what I think and why. 

I don't think I'm alone when I say that the start of this pandemic actually evoked a good deal of anger in me...anger at the fact that our society made the pandemic so political, anger at political parties for being so partisan, anger at others for not seeing all that. Thanks to the various stages of shut down, I've had the time to really sift through my feelings and that's been good. Here's where I currently am (in no particular order)...

I've previously not shared my political views much. I think many people in my generation were raised that way...that you agree to disagree and just don't talk about it. I still think that agreeing to disagree is a reasonable and sometimes necessary approach to life. BUT. I now more clearly realize that there's a difference between politics and morals. I can agree to disagree with you, for instance, on tax issues. But I don't have to agree to disagree with you on how fellow humans are treated. I can disagree and say so. 

Given that, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to respect people who hold with politics that go against my moral values. The fact that this includes people that I love makes it so much harder. But how can I say to my sons that it's okay to support a party/candidate that encourages racism and epitomizes sexism and selfishness at the cost of others, among many other things? How can I tell my LGTBQ+ friends that they should have lesser rights than everyone else? (This article actually does a really good job of explaining my feelings on the subject. Fair warning, it's pretty long.)

I can see that this will probably bring arguments about abortion, since so often I find this to be the line drawn in the sand so to speak. Let me say two things here. One, I am pro-life. I happen also to believe that that includes fetuses, children, and adults of all races and socio-economic backgrounds. I feel like the overriding lesson in all of my Catholic upbringing was to treat others as you want them to treat you. ALL others. Apparently, that's not always exactly what other Catholics have thought, though. Two, yes, I personally would like there to be fewer abortions. As a product of adoption, obviously I see that there are alternatives and definitely encourage those. Empirical evidence, though imperfect, shows that there have been greater decreases in abortion rates under Democratic presidents than under Republican presidents...that educating and supporting and making abortions unnecessary works better than abolishing and taking a hard line. (Think about how you parent children, too...does it work better to teach and support or to take an absolute stand?) In this case, shouldn't the results matter more than the means to get there? 

I'm incredibly tired of partisan politics and what that has come to look like in our country over the past generation thanks in part to various media formats. I'm also exhausted by the constant back and forth of excusing one behavior/policy/act by countering with something the other side did. It's like dealing with children...one kid hits another and says it's okay because the other kid hit someone else. Seriously. Do you allow that with your kids? Or do you say "hitting is not okay" and try to learn from the experience? So often lately I find myself frustrated by the fact that the American people seem to think that behavior we'd discipline our children for is acceptable in our "leaders."

I'm tired of the this or that mentality. Rarely in life is it that simple. I can, for example, be against police brutality but for police. Too often, our political parties present things as only having two sides. 

I'm fed up with voter suppression, both at the polls and after. The gerrymandering and redistricting and attempts to curb the census...it's all unacceptable. There are few to no reasons ours can't be an actually representative government. I'm tired of the parties posturing to benefit themselves and tired of this current administration that, more than any other, caters only to the minority who support it rather than to all citizens. Beyond all that, I'm fed up with the inequity of our voices. This article is a good one. 

I'm infuriated by the hypocrisy. Enough already. The constant changing of stance based on what helps you/your party most is ridiculous and horrible. This goes for both parties, though right now the Republicans are winning the hypocrisy prize in my book. I won't get into all the details because it just gets me riled up. The same goes for all the finger pointing and fear mongering. It's like dealing with children, and I expect and deserve better.

I'm fed up with the reconstruction of history. I love history. I have a bachelor's degree in political studies, a master's in public policy and my law degree. I'm completely sick of listening to people try to tell me that our country was built to support and reflect Christianity only (among many other historical inaccuracies). 

On an entirely personal note, I also realize that I now have two sons registered with the selective service. While it seems unlikely that we'll have to worry about a draft, this president has forced us to throw out expectations of "normal" decision making. Selfishly, I want a commander in chief that I actually trust to make informed decisions and to care about our military.

I intentionally read and listen to articles from across the political spectrum and encourage others to do so. I feel that it's important to look at things from different perspectives. It's so disheartening, though, to read articles that lack substance or truth or even grammar and know that many are accepting that as fact and not looking any further...to see numbers and headlines so obviously meant to mislead and know that our schools don't do an adequate job of teaching statistics and how to question charts and numbers and how things are presented.

I have to hope that the coming generations will do better. I have to hope that I've taught my sons (two of whom can now vote) to question and dig deeper than headlines and sound bites...to stand up for kindness and to respect others...to gather perspectives rather than surrounding themselves only with like thoughts...to look to science and experts who have actually studied specific areas rather than to politicians with agendas. I hope that they know it's better to look for solutions than to assign blame. I hope they realize how important speaking up can be. 

And so...I wrote my letters. I want a government that is actually representative and must believe that the majority of our citizens feel similarly. It's my duty and my right to use my vote as my voice so that my representatives (and let's not forget that they are, in fact, meant to be representatives) know what I think and what I value. I want leadership that reflects our voices, not that pushes only for what a loud minority wants. 

So. Please vote. 

Annual leaf pictures

Managed to continue my annual tradition of leaf pictures yesterday! It was colder than we thought thanks to the wind so we didn't last too long or get all the pictures I'd have liked. But. We got some. :) 

We met at a park near Noah's apartment...

...look at those guys of mine! They're getting so tall!

And. Someone had already gathered a pile of leaves...

We borrowed it for a bit as Micah tackled Nathan into it, Asher did backflips behind it, and Noah and I threw it at each other.

This is the best of the group shots we took...

(For what it's worth, I'd made everyone coordinate outfits, but that all went for naught when we ended up all wearing jackets, lol.)

And I got this picture. I said I wanted the sun in the background; Micah decided he was the son. :)

And then we gave up and got in the van to warm up before getting some dinner. :) Hooray for traditions!