Exciting Times

It has been an exciting week. On Sunday night, the Steelers snatched a ticket to the Superbowl. While I don't watch sports at all I am happy when my new hometown's teams do well. I have proudly supplied my nephew (and subsequently, his younger cousins) with T-shirts and/or hats from Pittsburgh's sports teams.
On Monday, I gave my second speech at Toastmasters. The theme was "A Day of Service" and I spoke about attracting birds to your backyard. I stressed that I hope that my bird and nature photos will encourage other people to protect birds and their environment. Naturally, I took along photos of birds at feeders. The speech was well received and I even had to answer questions afterward. A friend in Germany e-mailed me that she recently put up a birdfeeder and that it was one of the best investments she made recently. She greatly enjoys watching the birds and thinks of my photos while doing it. What a great compliment!
On Tuesday, of course, was Inauguration Day. My writing critique group, which meets every second Tuesday, decided to meet at a friend's house to discuss our writing and watch the swearing in and speech afterward. Later, it occurred to me that three of us weren't even born here. Pittsburgh is indeed a melting pot.