Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.
Humpback Tail Sailling
Back in March Seeker.com reported on this video. Tail Sailing is a behavior that’s very rare to see in humpbacks (southern wright whales have been seen doing is fairly commonly), and definitely worth checking out. The video itself was captured by a NOAA drop according to the National Marine Sanctuaries website.
Sgt. Reckless awarded the Dickin Medal
The Dicken Medal, animal equivalent to the UK’s Victoria Cross (the highest decoration for valor), has been awarded to the horse Sgt. Reckless for her service in 1952 and 1953 during the Korean War. Reckless carried ammunition for the 5th Marine Anti-tank division. During her service she carried countless wounded to help, untold amounts of ammunition to the guns, and was wounded twice.
Congratulations Reckless! You deserved this recognition while you were alive, but at least the bureaucracy caught up with things and honored you as they should have.
The Rare Fire Rainbow
I originally planned to do something that involved more writing on my part. The day just got away from me. So instead I present you a picture of a phenomenon called a “Fire Rainbow”.
I think it’s Rather lovely, don’t you?
I direct you to Discovery News for an article that includes the science.
A New Start
Also Called: Buying a Home By The Seat of Your Pants
Today was the final day of a process that has taken my Husband and I a full month. It’s going to set into motion years of work, expense, and joy.
We officially own a home!
And we bought it by the seat of our pants. Unlike most people, the entire process for us took a month.
It began when Husband-man acquired a second job to see if he wanted to start working on a construction crew. It turns out he really enjoyed the work, and in accordance we decided that it would have to be a move to the home of the company he was working for. Which was really a win, as the city has some serious amenities that are much nicer than our current City.
My cousin was instrumental in the next bit of the story. I was dragging my feet about getting into the (overwhelming) process of looking. He found a link, and sent it to me. It was a cute little blue house that was foreclosed on a few months ago. The price was right, I agreed with him that it was worth a look.
And so I called a realtor, set up the appointment, and then called Paul at work to let me know what was going to happen before we went to the baseball game with his construction crew. The conversation from my end when something like this. “Hi hun. What do you think of looking at a house before the game today? . . . Good. I already made the appointment and we’re seeing it at 5.”
Looking at the house is another point in which we had help from Family and Friends. My Uncle and another of the guys from the Construction crew Paul works on took a look and gave opinions on the property. They approved and it was deemed a suitable replacement to the trailer home we’re currently living in.
Then came the trickier parts: I arranged the financing through the help of my father, and quickly put in a bid. It was a good thing we had hurried, as other bids had come in.
And we waited some.
And then we got the happy news. We got the house!
From there it was more waiting. We’d set the closing date for today, and the bank who owned the house (Fanny Mae) really came through. They turned it around, got the title taken care of and had the house to us in no time flat.
Today we signed our names a million times and were handed a beautiful set of keys. Sure, there is a lot of work to be done (and that’s part of my 3 Projects 6 Months train of thought, since organization is really key to this whole affair. Over the next months you’ll see a lot of this little blue house, as it’s going to stand at the center of most of the projects I take on and dominate a lot of my thoughts. This blog is probobly going to dip into renovation and redecorating pretty heavily…