We Are The World Blogfest: One of My Heroes & an Eagle

Photo courtesy of Red Wolf Sanctuary

Hello and Happy Friday, all! I have been a very lazy blogger but when I heard about the We Are The World Blogfest and learned that it only occurs once a month, I thought I would give it a try. Without going into details, I have found the past several months to be emotionally draining and have had to limit my consumption of news. So I love the idea of a fest focused on sharing positive and heart-warming news stories and am excited to join in this month.

My story features one of my heroes, Paul Strasser, the force of nature behind Red Wolf Wildlife Sanctuary. I visited Red Wolf last year and fell in love with the place. Mr. Strasser goes above and beyond every day to rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife in our area, and often gets bit or scratched for his troubles.

You can watch the story of his latest rescue or read about it at the link below the video. Brooke AKA Liberty, the eagle in question, has done amazingly well since being rescued and is now able to eat on her own and continue recovering in a temporary outdoor enclosure. Depending on her recovery, she will either live out her days at Red Wolf or be returned to the wild.




http://www.fox19.com/story/35135935/injured-eagle-hopes-to-soar-again-at-indiana-sanctuary

And just to share a little more sweetness, this is a baby red fox who was found in the middle of a road and is now also recovering at Red Wolf. I don't think she could be any cuter!



The main thing that struck me about Mr. Strasser when I met him was how kind he is. And Red Wolf itself reminds me of a this quote I love from the Dalai Lama.

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." 

Click the badge to learn more about the blogfest and sign up if you'd like to participate!

IWSG and Keeping Things Simple

Hello and Happy April! Today is the day for the monthly meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group, founded by our Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. To view list members and this month's co-hosts, visit the IWSG page here.

Last month I wrote about returning to writing simply for the love of it and I'm happy to be able to say I have been able to do just that. I've been working on a sequel to Polar Night and Polar Day and I have been taking it slowly and enjoying the process. I'm excited about the story and it's been fun to delve back into Alaska as a setting. I am totally enchanted by that place and I hope that I can visit there one of these days.

The Ghost Town of Kennecott, Alaska (WIP setting) 

In the spirit of keeping things simple, I've decided not to try and start up a new blog as I had planned to do with my All in For Animals site. It was a mistake to try something new when I was already feeling sluggish in terms of writing and blogging. I don't have the energy to devote to another site so I am letting that go for now. If I have any fun animal things to write about I plan to just do so here as I have in the past.

I've decided to only set two goals for myself for the rest of 2017. I want to finish my WIP, titled A Killing in Kennecott, and I want to complete the running training program I've been doing for the past month or so. I am enjoying it and the exercise is good for me both physically and mentally.

I've learned that writing to-do lists and setting weekly or monthly goals or daily word count challenges doesn't work for me at this time in my life and they are demoralizing rather than motivating. So for now I'm simply going to enjoy the writing and enjoy the running and try not to stress about either one.

My first A to Z badge (warm fuzzies!)

To all working on the A-Z Challenge, good luck and enjoy!! Even though I'm not taking part this year I still get the warm fuzzies about the challenge each year at this time. Taking part in my first challenge in 2011 was the best blogging decision I've ever made and I will always be grateful to those who have made this great event possible through the years.