A Toastmaster's Year

It has been quite a year for this Toastmaster. I earned my Competent Communicator award in the spring and have given three speeches from an advanced speaker manual. The title is "The Entertaining Speaker" and seems to be a good fit because my audience was clearly entertained. One of my speeches was such a success that I turned it into an essay. I hope to see it in print someday, just as one of my speeches from the CC manual ended up as a First Person essay in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this summer.
I also became Vice President of Public Relations early this year. As if that weren't enough, I was even a judge at one of our club contests. That was quite a stretch, considering that I have a hard time making up my mind...
Toastmasters has been a launching pad for me as I began giving presentations about backyard habitats at local libraries, a nursery, and at Phipps Conservatory.
What will the new year bring? The sky - or lectern - is the limit.

The Beep

It is a truth universally acknowledged that appliances never die when it is convenient for their owners. Such was the case last night when our carbon monoxide monitor started beeping between 3 and 4 o'clock in the morning. Out came the instructions. We assured ourselves that the batteries were good and that the unit itself had reached the end of its life span. We headed back to bed but sleep eluded me. Luckily, I found a new unit at the local hardware store. I hope that I'll sleep better tonight, unless our appliances have it in for me.

House Broken

We adopted our new cat, Pocket, in late June. During the summer she spent all her nights on an old blanket in our basement. She never came on our laps, but I blamed it on the hot weather. Who wants a cat on her lap when it's 90 degrees out anyway?
As fall turned to winter, Pocket has finally warmed up to us enough to hop on our laps. Okay, the throw rug helps. And she still prefers to lie between my legs and the arm rest.
Her favorite time of day is play time. Every evening we have to play "Chase the light" with her. And she loves playing with paper balls. No expensive toys for her. Of course, we spend the money we save on her food bill. That cat has quite an appetite! However, we have learned from past experience - and an over 14-pound cat - that it's a bad idea to give a cat as much food as she desires. So, no matter how much she begs, she gets the same measured amount of food at every meal. A lean kitty is a happy kitty!

Best Seat in the House

When we got a bay window a few years ago we had no idea we were getting it for a cat we didn't even own yet, who was - in fact - not even born yet. With summer's heat gone and the blinds open once again, she can spend hours sitting or sleeping in the window. For her, it's the best seat in the house.

Autumn Impressions

While I was at North Chagrin Reservation in Cleveland, I noticed the beautiful reflections of autumn trees in the Sunset Pond. I experimented a bit and was rewarded with these impressionistic shots. To take photos like these, it is essential to use a circular polarizer and a tripod. The polarizer intensifies the colors, but it will cost you two stops of light. Such slow shutter speeds require a tripod. Add to that some optimization of the colors in Photoshop and you have fall foliage photos worth framing.

Feeding Frenzy at Pymatuning Lake

Last Saturday we headed to Pymatuning Lake in search of fall foliage. Unfortunately, the trees around the lake were not very advanced yet. We stopped at the spillway first and were amazed at the amount of birds that came up close to be fed. There were lots of Canada geese - yawn! - and some mallards and ring-billed gulls. I can't get too excited over photographing geese, so I concentrated on the gulls and the gazillion carps that were looking for food. I sincerely hope that their diet consists of something else besides white bread, but it was a sight to behold. While we didn't exactly see ducks walking on the carp, as they claim in town, we had never seen so many carps so close together.

We walked on a nature trail before we had a picnic near a beach. Then we checked out the Black Swamp area, but were disappointed at the fall colors. The myriad of lilies in the water were way past their prime and the trees looked dull. We did have a great view of this huge lake. We made one last stop at the fish hatchery and wished we had gone there earlier. We admired the view from here, but didn't have time to see the visitors center. Before heading home we stopped at the spillway again and the carps were a lot more lackluster about food than they were in the morning. I guess they were stuffed to the gills.

Kitty Update

I has been a while since I blogged about our new cat, Pocket. She has been with us for over three months now and has just turn one year old. That day at the shelter when I put her on my lap and she purred up a storm was also the last day she has spent time on my lap. So far, Pocket likes her independence and loves to sit on a blanket or quilt. Most of all she loves to watch the wildlife from the window. We're hoping that she will turn into a lap cat once winter comes. Right now, she is the equivalent of a teenager--at least her appetite is that of a teenager. Her favorite toy is a piece of paper rolled up into a ball. She loves to kick it around and even fetches it. Last night, we clipped her claws for the first time and she behaved very well. The clipping was necessary since she has started to claw our chairs, and the old wallpaper in our dining room. Perhaps that is her way of telling us to do some home improvements...

Misconception

When I arrived in the U.S., my husband's relatives asked me for a recipe for German Chocolate Cake. I stared at them blankly, because I had never heard of it. They could not understand this, since I am German. After some research I found out that the cake is actually named after Englishman Sam German and has no connection with Germany at all.
Last week, our local newspaper published a big article about Oktoberfests and recipes, including - you guessed it - a recipe for German Chocolate Cake. Doesn't anyone do research anymore?

The Thunderbirds were in Town

Living near an airport is a disadvantage for most of the year. They (and lawnmowers) provide the biggest source of noise pollution in our quiet neighborhood. But when the Thunderbirds are in town for the air show, we suddenly have front row seats. Leading up to the show we could observe their practice flights from home. And during the big event we decided that we didn't want to cope with traffic congestion, so we watched the Thunderbirds from our front yard. They did not disappoint, as one of them turned his plane around right over our house. At the end of their performance two planes flew right over us while they completed their semi-circle. We could almost see the pilots. Wow! We would have never had such a close look at the planes if we had stayed at the air show.

Wings over Pittsburgh

We have spent many years working on air bases and so it was only natural that we went to see the Wings over Pittsburgh air show last Saturday. I was mostly interested in seeing the C-123K Provider "Thunder Pig" from the Air Heritage Museum in Beaver County. My article about this fascinating museum and restoration facility appeared in the July/August 2010 issue of Pennsylvania Magazine.
Of course, I was also thrilled to see another nose art by Moon artist Donna Pitaro on a KC-135. My photo feature about her awesome nose art was also published in Pennsylvania Magazine a while ago.

From Cessnas not much bigger than an SUV to a B-52, there were planes of all sizes and ages on display. Hubby, of course, knows all their names, so it was quite educational. We especially liked the aerial stunts, particularly a pilot who drew a heart into the air. We were about ready to leave when a B-2 Spirit (a stealth plane) flew by. And then we headed home to watch the Thunderbirds from our front lawn...

On the Montour Trail

We have spent entirely too much time in the air-conditioned house lately because it has been much too hot to venture outside. So on Sunday, when it was cooler than it has been for a while, we decided to hike on the Montour Trail. There were plenty of wildflowers to admire. At first, we didn't detect any butterflies because they like it hot and won't come out until the temperature is really warm. Instead, two wrens and several cardinals entertained us with their songs. When we came to a wetland area we spotted not only a monarch butterfly, but also its copycat, the viceroy. It was exciting to see both of them in one place, since viceroys look almost like monarchs. Viceroys mimic monarchs because monarchs feast only on milkweed and taste terrible.
We saw quite a few people on the trail: bikers, runners, and walkers. But I doubt that any of them even saw the birds and butterflies that we admired. Instead, they played their mp3 players, completely oblivious to the beauty around them. They might as well run on a treadmill. Nature is wasted on them.

A Short Picnic

In the middle of a hot and brutally humid summer we enjoyed a few days break. We took the opportunity of dry weather to head to the wetlands trail at Raccoon Creek State Park last Saturday. At the last minute I decided that it would be a great day for a picnic. I packed drinks, bread, snacks, and two small cans of lunch meat. Our walk was gorgeous and we worked up an appetite.
We found a picnic table in the shade and I unpacked our basket. The lunch meat cans did not have pullies, however, like others from the same brand. Without anything to put on them our bread slices were useless. We ate our snacks and headed home, stomachs growling. Of all the things I packed that day, a can opener wasn't one of them!
Sometimes I miss German trails. They're never far from a restaurant or imbiss stand.

Kitty Update

We still don't know what ailed our older cat - Miss Grouch - but do know that she is back to her normal self after we treated her with two parasite medications.
Pocket, our nine-months old newcomer, is feeling right at home here. She is very affectionate and loves to rub herself on my legs. Her favorite activity is kicking a morsel of food around the kitchen. She has a healthy appetite and is very well-behaved. Yesterday we bought a water fountain and she has already had several drinks from it. We are happy with our choice of cat and look forward to many happy years with Pocket.

Deja vu

When our older cat - aka Miss Grouch - became lethargic and there was no sign of nuggets in the litter box we thought she was constipated from overeating. But when she let us inspect her tummy without putting up a fight we became alarmed enough to take her to an emergency veterinary clinic. After all, this is the equivalent of a kid being sick on a weekend. Alarming!
Our first shock came when the veterinarian told us rightaway that Miss Grouch has fleas. Fleas! She had never had any in her life that we know of. After a blood test and x-ray we learned that MG has kidney problems, probably a kidney stone. Since our sweet Roxy succombed to kidney failure recently, we thought it was deja vu all over again. Hadn't we just been through this?  Did we feed our cats the wrong diet all those years? MG has always been partial to dry food. We now learn that that is not a good thing. Even thought we introduced canned food years ago it might have been too late for her.
The hospital kept her to perform an ultrasound today (KA-CHING!) and we are now waiting for the results. We are also thinking about purchasing a water fountain to encourage our kitty to drink more. After all, we have another, young cat to think about. And we want to do things right the second time around.

New Kit on the Block

Meet Pocket, the newest member of our household. We adopted her last Sunday at the Humane Society. She is almost nine months old and is a real purrer. I put her on my lap and she purred up a storm. That pretty much sealed the deal - that and the fact that she appears to be well-kept and in good health.

We were concerned how our older cat - aka Miss Grouch - would react when we brought home a much younger cat. There was hissing and even growling, of course. The next day, the hissing receded and I haven't observed any lately. In other words, our cats are settling in. Pocket is a very quiet cat. She never hisses or meows. We're still getting to know each other and I'm trying to keep her off our kitchen counter without giving her a complex. My biggest challenge right now is that Miss Grouch is on a diet and is taking advantage of the fact that Pocket's food is here for the taking, if Pocket doesn't get to it first. Oh well, what would life be without a challenge?

Weather Woes

There are three things for certain in life: death, taxes, and weather. And we sure have had some strange weather this year. Back in February, when we (ok, my husband) were digging out from two blizzards we were looking forward to spending the summer in our backyard. But so far, I haven't had much to enjoy. First we had a cool, windy, and rainy May, which prevented me from photographing birds. And then the temperatures shot up to the mid-eighties in no time. So far, it has been such a rainy and muggy early summer that I find myself spending more time in our dark and air-conditioned house than outside. This isn't fair! I have spent enough hours in the house this year. I want to take my home office outside and watch the birds and butterflies while I am editing my writing. Some days I can't even grill dinner for ten minutes because another thunderstorm is rolling through our town. Whatever happened to spring?

Photography Close to Home

Bird photography is a lot like going to an amusement park. You wait and wait, and then the thrill is over in a few seconds. It helps, therefore, when I can photograph an exciting subject in our backyard. Right now, I have my camera ready to shoot at all times because our serviceberry has ripe berries. These berries are irresistible to all sorts of birds and I am ready to shoot when they land in our shrub.
The other day everything came together perfectly, even though I broke a rule. You're not supposed to photograph in mid-day because the lighting tends to be flat. But it was a bright overcast day and I sat waiting in my blind. And then I fired nonstop while the waxwings snatched one berry after another. You may see one of the results of my efforts on my other blog, http://birdswithpersonality.blogspot.com/.

Confession

I admit that I became a reluctant cat owner. When my husband insisted that he wanted a cat I was not enthused. I thought about the hair that would surely accumulate on our furniture and, most likely, on our bed. I had never owned a pet and didn't know what to expect. Eventually, I relented and we adopted "Chubby." She is a timid tiger tubby and, to this day, afraid of everything. She does not like people and is happy when no one comes by. A year later, we adopted Roxy as a companion for "Chubby." What we got was a companion for ourselves.
The first three months were tough. Roxy chewed on the furniture so much that even repellent didn't work. Finally, she broke that habit, but we kept covers on quite a few pieces of furniture ever since. I wasn't even sure if we should keep Roxy, but I'm glad we did. She was very friendly and well-liked by everyone who stopped by. As she filled out in weight she became very pretty. Whenever we came home she ran to the door to greet us. And when I went out of town she moped through the house looking for me.
The house is very quiet now. I miss her quiet presence and even miss having to prepare her special diet. It doesn't hurt as much as last week, but I will never forget our sweet Roxy.

Tribute to a Cat

Yesterday, our sweet cat Roxy lost her battle with her numerous health problems. After she could not go to sleep and cried out in pain, we consulted one last time with our vet and decided with a very heavy heart to relieve Roxy's suffering. As a fairly recent pet owner she is the first pet I ever lost. She leaves a great void in our home.
Roxy was a very passionate cat and lived life to the fullest. She ate, played and ran around with gusto. She was very sociable and I remember a contractor who came by with a proposal lying on the floor and playing with her. Everybody loved her, but I was her favorite and she was mine. She waited for us when we came home and got upset if we were outside. She spent winter evenings on my lap, her favorite place besides the register.
Her weight had decreased for a few years and we noticed that she often vomited. A couple of years ago our vet suggested an ultrasound and we learned that she had kidney problems, inflammatory bowel syndrome, and Pancreas anomalities. She was treated with medication and a special diet, but grew less and less active. She even stopped playing with her favorite feather toy. Last week she suddenly stopped eating and we tried our best to get food in her with no success. She was 11 years and 9 months old. Rest in peace, Roxy.

Kitty's Health Update

Last night I had to take our second cat - aka Skinny - to the vet for the second time in three week. During her annual check-up I learned that her weight was down to 4.5 pounds. The vet advised that we should give her any kind of food she likes in an effort to let her gain weight. However, she seemed to get bonier by the day. She didn't eat at all for the evening meal and ignored the dried food we keep out for her at all times. She didn't even seem to be interested in treats, which she usually gobbled up.
Lo and behold, yesterday Kitty's weight was up to 4.7 pounds. The vet concluded that she had bad breath and could use a teeth cleaning, but did not want to put Kitty through anesthesia. The next best solution is to give her antibiotics twice a day and start a teeth cleaning regimen. We're hoping that she'll start eating once the pain gets better. She does not have any weight to lose. Now, if we could only transfer a few pounds from cat no. 1 (aka Chubby) all would be well...

Women's Health & the Environment

Yesterday I attended the conference "Women's Health & the Environment" in Pittsburgh. It was a sobering experience and I learned some disturbing facts:
Babies born today still have DDT in their bodies.
Chemicals we use every day have never been tested, so there is no way of assuring us that they are safe.
The following disorders have been linked to toxins: attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities, diabetes, obesity, cancer, infertility, even Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
Women were targeted because they make most of the purchasing decisions in a home. The idea is, of course, that we go out and use what we learned in our everyday lives, work, and our homes.
A great website I learned about is the Environmental Working Group, http://www.ewg.org and http://www.ewg.org\women. One of the many goodies on this site is a link to a cosmetics database (www.skindeep.com) where you can search for non-toxic cosmetics. I also received a free book, "Slow Death by Rubber Duck" by Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie, who also spoke at the conference.
Because nowadays there are many more non-toxic cleaning products available than there were years ago, I have already been using them for a while. I came away from the conference with the resolve to replace our personal care products with safer ones. Some other tidbits I learned:
Buy organic
Eat low mercury fish
Filter drinking water
Avoid canned food whenever possible
One of my concerns was not addressed yesterday: If the products we use are so toxic to our bodies, what is their effect on the much smaller bodies of birds, insects, and aquatic life?

A New Officer

When I joined a Toastmasters club one and a half years ago, I had no intention of becoming an officer. After all, I just joined to gain speaking experience before starting my new endeavor of giving presentations about backyard habitats. Fast forward to now, and I am suddenly the newest officer of Toastmasters Club #144, the Vice President PR. My role will be to promote our club in the media, send out newsletters, and greet guests, among others.
Are you wondering whether Toastmasters is for you? Check out www.toastmasters.org to find out more information or to locate a club near you. Whether you are a student or professional who needs to improve his/her speaking skills, or simply want to join to make new friends--you will be welcome with open arms at a club near you.
I'll see you at our next meeting!

If the Shoe Fits...

Women are supposed to love shoes, right? But if your shoe size is 6 1/2 WW (in other words, if it's like mine) you probably hate buying shoes. The reason is, of course, that no one makes shoes in that size. Things got even worse for me when my doctor prescribed insoles. I recently went to a shoe store that sells nothing but shoes that fit insoles. Guess what: they didn't have my size and had to order a pair. Of course, when it arrived it was too tight and I had to order yet another pair. This time I hope they fit.
What's a writer to do when faced with such a dilemma? Write an essay about it, of course. For years, I have submitted a humorous essay about my not so funny misadventures of shoe shopping. Last week, I sent my updated version to a women's magazine and hope they will accept it. After all, we can't all be like Imelda Marcos, can we?

Snow be gone

We are experiencing unusually sunny and warm temperatures. For the first time in over a month we can see our backyard and driveway again.
The sunny weather brings out some strange creatures inside our house: our cats! During the long winter they only emerged from their sleeping positions to answer calls of nature. Somehow they always managed to show up right before feeding time, but other than that I was beginning to wonder if we actually had cats. Now they are up in the windows again or staking out the sunny spots on the floor.

March 2

For the past few weeks I've been posting about the wildlife in our backyard at my other blog, http://birdswithpersonality.blogspot.com. Come on over and check it out.

Snow and Icicles

We're well on our way to experience the snowiest February in Pittsburgh history. And on the weekend we can expect more snow. Getting bundled up and clearing off the cars, the walk, part of the driveway and the trail to the bird feeders takes so much time we're exhausted. And now we have to worry about ice dams as the temperature crawls above freezing during the day and then refreezes everything at night. All the salt on the roads brings an early start of pothole season. Potholes are sprouting like garlic mustard in the spring. I wonder what they do our suspensions.
There are more and more tracks in the snow. Who visits our yard when we aren't looking? A deer, a turkey, a dog? All of them? If I could actually venture out into snow that reaches over my knees I might be able to read the tracks.

Snow, snow, snow

We were told to expect 6-12 inches of snow on Saturday. We got more than 21 inches. It is the most snow I have ever seen in a place I actually lived. The snow is so high it reaches my upper legs.
Worst of all, this storm has no name so far. In Pittsburgh, storms usually get colorful names, such as: St. Patrick's Day Parade Blizzard, Valentine's Day Massacre, etc. But this storm has no name. I guess "Day before the Super Bowl Storm" does sound awkward.
And now we're told to expect another storm system tomorrow. We sincerely hope that our roof and our trees can handle all the weight.
Let it snow? Bah humbug!

Critter food

It is one of Murphy's Laws that no good deed goes unpunished. It is equally ironic that my last post was about being a pack rat.
For quite a while I've been buying peanuts, which my husband throws out every morning for the birds and squirrels. Those peanuts are a big hit. Even though we started putting our bird seeds into a plastic tote, for some reason the peanuts ended up on top of the tote the other day. This morning I took my car in for inspection and mentioned to the attendant that my "check engine light" came on the other day. A few minutes later she returned and told me that the light was on this very moment. I grudgingly agreed to a costly diagnostic check. She then informed me that 1. the knock sensor had to be replaced, and 2. that there were peanut shells in the engine!
I laughed, until I learned how much it would cost to replace the sensor. Those were the most expensive peanuts I ever purchased.
I guess we should have learned our lesson the first time. A couple of years ago we opened up the hood of my car and found so many peanut shells in the engine that it took us an hour to vacuum them out. The reason is probably that there is a hole between the bottom of our garage door and the wall, just big enough for a critter to slip through. And the garage is a lot warmer than the outdoors right now. So, until we can figure out how to plug that hole I'm parking my car outdoors. After all, three is not always a charm.

Fighting clutter

January is the perfect time to conquer clutter because there isn't much else to do. It often seems as if the clutter is winning. Not only is it taking over our small house, but it also has taken over our computer. Before I know it there are over 500 messages in my e-mail inbox that have to be deleted or filed under a category. If I don't keep up with that it takes hours to do. When it comes to computers I'm a packrat. I don't want to delete anything, unless I make a copy first.
Last weekend, my husband informed me that there were only 3 GB of free space on our hard drive left and I had to delete my photos. I reluctantly did, but not before I made sure that I had two copies: one on our external hard drive and one on my portable hard drive. Did I mention I'm a packrat? I acquired a portable hard drive a while ago after hearing stories about external hard drives that crashed. Of course, in a few years I will a. probably realize that many of my photos are not as great as they once seemed and that I got much better ones now; or b. our external hard drive will be full too.

Walking down memory lane

Like most serious photographers we have hundreds and hundreds of 35mm slides stashed away in our closet. We haven't looked at them in years, except for those that I had scanned into our computer years ago. However, when we bought a new computer it didn't have a connection for our trusty little scanner anymore and my scanning project came to a shrieking halt. What to do with all those slides? I would love to convert them into saleable photos and recently learned that I could get them scanned onto DVDs.
Now I am looking at all those slides, trying to decide which ones to get scanned first. It is a walk down memory lane. As I am glancing over images of city sights, fall foliage, a locked bicycle with missing wheels, a dead mouse (don't ask), flowers, waterfalls, rocks, churches, signs, palaces, street cars, covered bridges, etc. I realize that these photos are snapshots of our lives. How many of us write a journal every day? Not too many, I guess. Yet, most of us would remember a funny or sad incident connected with our photos. Whether it was that trip to Norway where I froze in July (and then ate enormous soft serves), the hike in Ohiopyle where I tripped over a root, our quest for covered bridges, our blossoming love for wildflowers, or shop signs in Germany--all of these are highlights of our lives and our photos recharge our memories about them. They are indeed photo journals.

A Fresh Start

Last week, we woke up to see this winter wonderland outside our windows. Knowing it wouldn't last long before a breeze would drop the snow off the branches, I grabbed my camera and took a few photos after breakfast. In case you're wondering why our arbor is lying on the ground, it was felled by a gust of wind around Thanksgiving.
The New Year is off to a busy, if not frigid start. Meetings that discontinued during the holiday season are resuming and everyone is making resolutions. My resolutions consist of writing, photography, and networking. The order is determined by the weather--meaning, I won't do any bird photography this week since my fingers are freezing inside the house. That means buying a better pair of gloves is high on my to-do list. Therefore, I am planning on decluttering my filing cabinet and the house, so when the weather does get better I can go out and enjoy it.
Happy New Year!