The road goes ever on and on....

I recently came across this passage in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King:

"There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

Tolkien's success as a writer, I believe, lies in the fact that he combines intricate and compelling characters and story lines with elements of human nature that everyone can relate to.

True, none of us have ever been or will ever go to Middle Earth. True, we will never encounter a fight such as the one these characters encountered (thank God). But regardless of those facts, Tolkien wrote about human nature, and human nature doesn't change much. In fact; I'd venture to guess that human nature hasn't changed much in the last several thousand years.

We all want to live in a society that is good, rather than one which is evil - regardless of your political stance. Regardless of what you believe and who you support, the Founding Fathers designed a government which relies on the people in order to work.

In other words, it is our responsibility to each other to help keep the government in check. It is our responsibility to the government to make sure that the elected officials are working toward an end result we can support and believe in.

That responsibility can seem daunting when you stop to think about it. Yet, like everything else, even the smallest step keeps you moving forward. So I try to learn as much as possible, and to do as much as I am able. I don't try to overwhelm myself; I only do what I can.

Even if all I accomplish is as small a task as ensuring that someone good and noble serves as the chair of my local school board. Sometimes that small an effort can mean tremendous positive change in a community.

Back to that Tolkien passage, I can relate to Samwise Gamgee. I will never be the "hero" of any tale. I certainly have no intention of running for office; however, I will always be in the background, supporting those who are fighting for what is good and right. I will always be looking for that "white star of hope, twinkling" even if it only twinkles intermittently.

Sadie Allard 1/22/1998 - 3/11/2009

Eleven years ago, after moving into our first house, my husband announced that he wanted a dog. I had always been a cat owner and I had no intention of ever owning a dog. Dogs barked too much. Dogs drooled and licked your face. Dogs were hyper and ran around the house, knocking things off shelves and onto the floor. Dogs jumped up on you and put paw prints on your nice clean clothing. Dogs left steaming gifts for you in the backyard that you had to pick up.

No thank you, sir.

No dog for me.

My husband is no fool. He put together a pretty convincing argument. He reminded me that he spent about 3 months a year alone in the woods, hours from the nearest human, doing field work; a dog would be good company and would alert him of any impending danger. A dog could watch the house for us when we were at work, protecting our few possessions. A dog would be good company for me during my 5:00 am walks. Finally, I agreed to go to the pound and see what they had to offer, but I did so under duress.

As we stood in the yard of the Laramie, Wyoming, Humane Society, I watched my husband trying out several dogs. They behaved in just the manner I suspected they would. They barked, they jumped and yes, some of them even pooped. This was not going to be fun. Then I looked to my left and noticed that a timid black dog with brown markings above her eyes had sidled up next to me. As I turned to look down, she glanced up and her eyes met mine. I could tell that she had experienced more hardships in her life than anyone (human or dog) should. As our eyes met, she leaned over and tenderly licked me. My cat-loving, stone-cold-heart melted. I called to Steve and told him that I had found our dog.

Undernourished, afraid of her own shadow, but eager to please, Sadie came to live with us. I've never looked back. Sadie broke all my preconceived notions of dogdom and shattered all my stereotypical assumptions about dog behavior. She was gentle. She never jumped up on me (except to steal a kiss). She had a stub of a tail so she never knocked anything off the shelf. In the eleven years she lived with us, I only heard her bark 5 or 6 times and each time she did so to alert us of potential danger. She was great with kids, even to the point where she allowed Katie to dress her up in various outfits, and to ride her like a horse. She did leave steaming presents for me in the back yard, but hey, no dog is perfect.

One year ago today our wonderful dog Sadie passed away. That morning, I left for work in the same manner that I do every morning. I scratched her between the ears, told her to be good, and assured her that she was the “best dog ever”. I had no idea when I left that it would be the last time I would see her alive. When the vet did the autopsy, she found several cancer spots on her liver. She doesn't think that Sadie was in pain, because Sadie hadn't given any symptoms of distress. I am grateful that Steve was home with her when she died. I am grateful that she was not in pain and that I did not have to choose to put her to sleep. Mostly I am grateful to have been blessed with ten years as her person.

Sadie, you were an amazing dog. Rest in Peace.

Beautiful Weather

I've had "cabin fever" for the last few weeks and I am just thrilled with the recent weather. I look forward to getting outside more; to hiking, biking, and walking the dog; to getting into the woods with my camera and taking more photos. I'm sure many of them will end up here.

I hope you are enjoying the change in the weather as well. What types of activities are you looking forward to? The changes in seasons, weather, and free time activities are excellent things to blog about.

March Forth

Today is one of my favorite days of the year. I love my birthday, of course,and as someone who is 100% Irish, St. Patrick's day holds a very special place in my heart. But March 4th is a unique day. It is not often that a day can command you to do something. March 4th is bold - it tells you to be strong, to March Forth through life.

Many of you know that I am a bit of a "word geek", so years ago when I noticed that today's date could be a bit of a play on words, not only did I get excited, but I also began to challenge myself to follow the command of March 4th.

I'm not just a "word geek", I'm also hopelessly idealistic. March 4th reminds me that I am a part of the bigger picture and that rather than simply taking, I need to also make a contribution to the world around me. I believe that we won't change the world by one person making some huge gesture. The world is only going to become a better place when each of us does many little, but positive things. So with that in mind, on March 4th, I try to "Pay it Forward" (to use a somewhat tired cliche'), and look for areas where I can volunteer or complete "random acts of kindness".

I'd like to challenge you to try to do something today and this week that makes a difference to the people around you. There are so many local non-profit agencies who could use help. Try to find one whose message and purpose you can believe in. Call them up and ask if you can volunteer an hour of your time. I promise that you will be so glad you did.

If you think you can volunteer once or twice and are looking for a local agency that could use a one time (or more) volunteer, remember that the Salvation Army is one block from our campus. They are always looking for volunteers to help prepare and serve meals. Contact information for Laurie Duncan, the volunteer coordinator can be found on their website.

Our local food pantry, WAFER, is always looking for volunteers to stock shelves, package food and interact with clients. I've done a lot of work with this organization, and I know that they love working with our students. I also know that our students have really loved the time they have spent at WAFER. (As a side note, if you speak a second language, Hmong in particular, your abilities to translate for non-native speakers and/or the elders in the Hmong community would help to make their experience feel much more comfortable.)

Place of Grace, our local Catholic Worker house is always looking for volunteers to help prepare and serve meals, clean-up, play with children, talk with guests and provide general hospitality. A listing of activities and volunteer opportunities are listed on their website.

If you could consider a long-term volunteer experience, I would recommend that you think about being a conversation partner for a non-native speaker who is trying to learn English. Our GOAL program works with many refugees and immigrants who want to learn and/or improve their English skills. The most valuable learning tool for these individuals is to have someone with whom they can converse and hold an authentic dialogue. I guarantee you, if you consider volunteering at GOAL, it will be an extremely powerful experience.

Take today's date as a way to look at living your life. Try to march forth and make a positive impact on those around you. Whatever you choose to do, even if it is picking up the trash on your street or simply letting a car into traffic, I am sure you will make someone else's day more positive and in turn will find your own energy becoming more positive as well.