Every year, I purchase a pile of books to read. I haven’t bought as many this year because my piles have become too high. Typically, my list is made in December, but I’ve read quite a bit this year and I have another large stack on my desk that I expect I will have finished reading by December. This is a list of what I have been reading during the first half of 2018.
Author: Irene Page 41 of 48
Could you and ten of your friends pull this 39,000 pound plane 15 feet in less than six seconds? You’d have to in order to be the winning team “Beauty and the Beasts.”
911 Communications Director Ray Richards called me to ask if Paul and I would volunteer to help out during the Pulling for a Purpose event at the Western Nebraska Regional Airport. I didn’t know what to expect so, as usual, I brought my camera bag with me.
Longform readings showcase some of the best writing on the internet. They typically contain illustrations, photography, interactives, and an engaging story.
My longform readings are usually listed at the end of my book reading list. After reevaluating the amount of time I spend online and determining how I would like to spend my free time, I have found myself reading and writing more. With that extra time, the longform reading list great and I decided to split it from the book reading list. These are the stories I have read in the first six months of the year. Part two will be uploaded in December.
On December 16, 2017, Sarah sat and posed for me. This was the result.
I walked into the zoo well before it was open to cover a story for the Star-Herald. When I was done, I decided to walk around and take some pictures before the zoo opened for the day. I strolled past Cyrano, a Lynx rufus at the zoo, and hung out there for a while. I always enjoy paying him a visit even if he sleeps the entire time I’m there. That’s what cats do.
Eventually, I made my way past the bison, zebras, Eurasian Lynx and tigers and walked into the indoor enclosure for the chimpanzees. It was a cool morning and I wasn’t sure if Scooter and Sarah would be outside that day. Sarah was in the right indoor enclosure. She was sitting down and as soon as she saw me, she got up and started to walk toward me.
I was sitting in the staff break room at the Star-Herald trying to keep it together. I had just sat down to eat my lunch, but wasn’t being successful. I was shaking. My heart was racing.
Up until that point, my day was the kind where thoughts are fleeting, including ones that make you wonder what it would really be like to drive your car off the Scotts Bluff National Monument. When that thought came to the front of my brain, I picked up my phone and texted my friend, Amber.
“I can’t do this anymore,” I typed. Before she could reply, I sent a series of rapid fire messages to her. When she responded her texts were ones of concern, reassurance, and messages that she was there for me. We texted for several minutes before I told her I needed to go sit in my car. I was about to break down completely and didn’t want to do so at work.
The black leopard, Panthera pardus, is not a separate species of leopard. The coloring comes from the area that is their natural habitat – the dark, dense, tropical jungle of southeast Asia. When the light is just right, you can see that Maydoc is not black.
It took me several years, but I finally have some great photos of Maydoc, a black leopard that lives at the zoo in Scottsbluff. Since she moved to a new enclosure, Maydoc has been more active, playful and it’s been easier for me to take photographs of her.
I am working on a piece for the Star-Herald about why I am a journalist. Honestly, I didn’t pay close enough attention, but I think it’s going to be used in ads or internally. I just listened to the topic, said I’d do it and stopped listening. Not a good trait for a journalist.
However, it got me to thinking about something I wrote when I was nine years old.
It’s awards season and I won some stuff from the Nebraska Press Association and the Nebraska Press Women organization. They think I’m good at making words sound nice and believe I know what I’m doing with a camera.
It was 4:47 a.m. A Thursday. After a restful night, I awakened to begin my usual morning routine before heading to work. There was the obligatory trip to the bathroom, then I was off to the kitchen to gather kitty treats so my cats do not kill me before 5 a.m., each day. One the cats were happy and disappeared to wherever they go after I give them food, I headed into the basement to ride my bicycle to nowhere. I ride anywhere from eight to ten miles each morning as I practice my French via Duolingo on my cell phone.
On this still dark Thursday morning, I opened up the program and began cycling as I waiting for it to load. My brain usually isn’t fully functioning yet, and it’s probably stupid to make it practice French at such an ungodly hour, but it’s when I have the time.
Then, my phone rang.
From flickr
photo by US Forest Service
Wayne National Forest reintroducition – 2009
Today was a good day at work. I got to make my boss sigh and I learned something new.