Week 13--Cause & Effect--Tuesday Evening

Well, I did it; I started the ball rolling to find out how to volunteer at our local art museum.  I love the IMA; I especially love the Spring at the IMA--daffodil city...my favorite spring blooming bulb!  I researched opportunities to volunteer and they offer several--more than I was aware were offered.  I opted to volunteer for the special events.  There's always a palpable amount of excitement in the air around special events; it's fun to be a part of, even if you're not the person on the guest list ;)

If you would like to volunteer at the IMA follow this link:
http://www.imamuseum.org/support/volunteer

Week 13--"Cause and Effect"--Sunday Evening

This week's card displayes a picture of a bird with a thermometer in its mouth and a cast on its left leg...odd.  The back of the "Cause and Effect" card reads:

"Rather than feeling powerless in the face of all the misery you see or read about in the paper, and instead of being annoyed by the solicitations for money you get in the mail, find a cause that really means something to you.  Call and find out how to volunteer and get involved.  Even if it's just for an hour a week or for a single special event, showing up and helping out in person can alleviate that paralyzing sense of powerlessness--you'll benefit and so will a cause you believe in."

At this very moment I have no idea what to do; where should I volunteer?  I think I need to do research...

Week 12--Gentle Driving--Thursday Evening

Nothing much to report today on the topic of gentle driving; I did, however, end up behind a Buick LeSabre :)

Week 12--Gentle Driving--Tuesday Evening

I must admit that this week's task is easy to forget but I did try my husband's technique for clarifying same-time stop sign arrival.  It worked well.  However, I almost checked a poor man this morning on the side of the road.  He wasn't walking against traffic--he was walking with it in the early morning wearing a gray shirt and somewhat emerged from the brush on the side of the road.  Luckily I saw him before making him my hood ornament.  Not what I would classify as gentle driving on my part.  This evening in an attempt to make up for the near accident, I did make an effort to slow down on my way home as I became aware that I was whizzing through the neighborhood in a hurry to get home for dinner.  Driving is to be on constant alert--you never know what's going to jump out at you from all sides!

On a completely separate note, I must share the picture below representative of the crazed Canada Goose that attacked a colleague and I outside yesterday.  It was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time.  The goose swooped in off the lake flanking us; I darted left, my colleague right.  The goose went after him with full force--hissing and flapping those wings like he was falling from the sky.  My colleague lost his eyeglasses in the rose garden (and incurred a few cuts and scrapes) and had to later retrieve them with the help of another co-worker and a rake to fend off the territorial goose.  The image is forever emblazoned into my memory--I'm just glad I didn't lose an eye!

Week 12--"Gentle Driving" Sunday Evening

I am now three months into this project to complete the Make A Difference book (cleverly bound as a deck of cards with tasks for each week).  I have found time is flying by...which is both encouraging when completing a project that lasts all year but saddening since it's nearly April.  However, it is Spring!  I love Spring.  It was a brisk day here in the Midwest but all in all, a sunny fantastic one. 

Gentle Driving:  this week's card reads, "If you must drive, try a gentler approach.  Make it your mission to convey such a gracious and relaxed attitude to the other drivers around you that it can't help but be contagious.  Smile and let the other driver at a stop sign intersection go ahead of you.  Through your courteous example, others might even see how unnecessarily aggressive their own driving is.  Watch out for an be especially gentle on bicyclist and pedestrians."

My initial thought about this week's task is that last week's topic of my prejudice towards Buick drivers will have to be laid down.  How ironic that this week I will need to work towards auto-harmony.  My husband has a technique to clear up the ambiguity of " Who goes next?" when two cars arrive at the stop sign simultaneously.  He points to the other driver to defer to them first--always.  If they go, good; if they offer him to go first, even better.  I saw it in action a couple times today and it was brilliant!  I will start with this technique tomorrow and go from there.  By the way, aren't we supposed to be gentle to cyclists and pedestrians since they have the right of way?

Just for fun...happy drivers!

Week 11--Examine a Prejudice--Friday Night

I did't find an opportunity to speak with someone who owns a Buick so that I may examine the person behind the wheel.  Therefore, I cannot answer the final question of this week's Make a Difference task:  to learn more about the group/person against which you are prejudice--were they what you expected? 

I should give all Buick drivers the benefit of the doubt until I wind up driving behind them on a busy road.  Until then, however hardened it may sound, I will keep up my defenses and watch out for sudden and frequent usage of the brakes :)

Week 11--Examine a Prejudice--St. Patrick's Thursday Night

I should be drinking Guinness right now--should is the operative word.  However, I am not drinking Guinness, I am writing a blog post.  The upside of this is that it was, and is turning out to be a spectacular spring evening.

Q & A #4 on what I'm prejudice against Buicks:

Q4:  Have you or a friend had a bad experience?

A4:  There is no particular bad experience driving behind or beside a Buick; it's really just a culmination of several short busts of bad Buick mayhem which have lead to a general prejudice.  I can't recall a bad friend experience with a Buick either.  Recalling to mind now, I'm usually trying very hard not to curse and spew expletives while following a Buick.  It's as if those driving are in their own bizarro world--no speed limits, no rushing, no pressing deadlines...perhaps I should just chill out :) 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!