That Made My Day

Posted on September 12, 2015September 12, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Some days things just don’t get any better and then something happens that proves there are still nice people in the world. Not that I ever doubted it since I have many nice people in my life.

I had a long list of errands to run today and started out early. I wanted to get done early because I was going to take some pictures of a friend’s puppy for her. I’d taken some last weekend but poor little puppy was so tired from all the excitement around the pool that we didn’t feel we really captured his puppy cuteness, hence a do over.

Here’s a few shots from the first shoot.

So today we tried again. Little Henry was certainly more lively and we had a couple of photo bombs from big brother Jack.

But Henry still has a soulful eye roll as his signature look.

Even their cat Autumn graced us with her regal cat-ly presence.

Finally I think I got a “keeper”! It almost looks like he’s smiling.

I had a great time. It was just about time for lunch when I left so I decided to stop at Friendly’s for lunch. I was waited on by a new waitress who explained she was in training. I promised I wouldn’t bite her and we laughed. I gave my order and pulled out a book.No one came by my table except the wait staff and I enjoyed a quiet meal. When it was time for my check the first waitress told me it was all set. I misunderstood and said ok, bring it along. I’m ready for it. That’s when the 2nd waitress chimed in. “No, you don’t understand. Your check was paid for by another customer.”

I was flabbergasted! I’ve heard stories about kind strangers doing things like that but I never expected to have it happen to me. I looked around to see if I recognized anyone but the restaurant was filled with strangers.

The staff finally told me that it was the man in the booth behind me (who had already left) and I should”pay it forward” which I intend do. I will start looking for that opportunity right away.

All I can say is that it was such a nice surprise. It took my nice fun day and really put it “over the top”. Thank you kind sir, and may you have many wonderful days too. You certainly made mine!

A Little Behind

Posted on September 12, 2015September 12, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Yes I missed Labor Day, the unofficial start of fall. Of course we’re in the middle of a heat wave in Boston so why worry about the end of summer!

9/11. Yes, I missed posting my thoughts on this terrible anniversary but many others posted my feelings and far more eloquently than I could. It was a work day for me just as it was 14 years ago but now the world and my life doesn’t come to a stop like it did that day. That’s not to say I forgot that terrible tragedy or that I didn’t take more than a few moments to remember. That just means that my thoughts and feelings were mine to hold close and remember quietly. There was no time to write a post here but there was time for quiet contemplation and remembrance.

Swan Spring

Posted on May 24, 2015May 24, 2015 by Dusty Roads

It felt so nice to steal a few moments with the camera. The Grist Mill Pond in Plymouth was teaming with new life. Mr. and Mrs. Majestic are patiently waiting on their nest.

I Bet I’m in Trouble!

Posted on February 28, 2015February 28, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Hi everyone. I want to thank so many of you who reached out to be sure I was ok. That was so nice. I’m sorry I’ve been neglectful.

So here’s the reason’s or excuses.

#1. New England has been snowed in!

We have had over 100 inches of snow this season and 68 inches of that fell in February. We had snow 20 days out of 28 and it set a record for 2nd coldest month since they started keeping records.

#2. My wolf photo shoot was canceled because we had 2 blizzards that weekend and even if they would have held the shoot I wasn’t driving all that way in a blizzard.

#3. I came down with a winter cold. 🙁 As a result I lost my mind. I just couldn’t get my thoughts in order to put them down on the page.

And the #4 reason I haven’t been posting….I gave myself a birthday present.

And it was a very bad thing. You see I am addicted to reading. When I have to go buy a book or order one from Amazon there are down times while I wait but because we’ve had so much bad weather I didn’t want to be stuck in the house without reading material so I gave myself a Kindle for my birthday. Now I have a book calling my name all the time! I really have to get a grip on myself!

I do still have some more Las Vegas stories for you and a Disney vacation is right around the corner so I’ll try to get my act together and gets some new posts up for you.

I’ll need to update you on the kitties too. Rocky and Buddy are always good for some stories.

So I apologize for being MIA for so long and I promise I’ll start applying myself again. Many thanks to all of you for sticking around and waiting for me.

Dusty

Las Vegas Baby

Posted on January 26, 2015January 26, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Then Saturday 1/17 rolled around. Another conference behind me. Prior to the conference work had been pretty slow. Of course when you make plans anything that can go wrong will and sure enough, the Monday before we left for San Diego work went nuts. I went from zero to 60 in less than 30 seconds. It was like we were in the height of our busy season.

This meant that some things trickled into the conference time. There was no way to avoid it but it caused me no little amount of stress. One side said ignore the work and the other demanded it get done. It was like having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other but it wasn’t my conscience, it was two different factions of co-workers. I was glad to leave San Diego and work behind for a short break in Las Vegas.

Other than changing planes in Vegas on the way to someplace else, I hadn’t been there in years! Boy has Vegas changed! But I’m jumping ahead.

I took a short hop on Southwest ( about 1 hour) to get from San Diego to Las Vegas. Once I had phone service again Joe (JR) and I began texting back and forth. He was on his way to meet me from Florida on a greyhound bus. It was neck and neck as to who would get there first. It probably would have been a tie except my shuttle went right by my stop and let me off at another hotel/casino nearby.

Lugging my 2 bags and winter coat I started trudging my way back to the LINQ. Being the klutz that I am I was due for a fall and sure enough it came on the escalator at Harrad’s Casino as I rushed to get to my hotel.

I dropped the handle of my roller bag. I thought it was on the escalator with me but it was hung up at the top. When I realized what had happened I tried to scramble back up the down escalator (In case you didn’t know, that’s a big No No). Anyway, I tripped and fell on the moving escalator. Two other patrons helped me up and a nice lady with a camera brought my bag down to me. As the saying goes …Boy was my face red!

The 2 gentlemen that had helped me up took my bags and escorted me to the registration desk at my hotel. (I think they were afraid to leave me on my own) They were so nice. They refused a tip and they insisted it hadn’t been out of their way. I’ve seldom, if ever, been on the receiving side of such kindness. Whoever you are, Thank you!