PETA to the rescue

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Yesterday, as I was leaving my house, a squirrel almost fell on top of me.  Yup, a squirrel and of course I squealed because 1. it caught me by surprise and 2. it’s a wild animal that could possibly bite me.  It didn’t scurry away immediately afterwards, just hung from the side of the staircase, hiding from me.  Since I was on my way to pick up my daughter from school, I figured it would be gone by the time I got back.  Guess what?  It was still there when I got back.  “What the hell?, I thought.  Why hasn’t it scurried away?  Is it hurt?  Is his tail stuck?”  I was able to open the front door and get my daughter inside safely because it was hiding from us.  When I got upstairs I couldn’t stop thinking about the squirrel.  I looked out my window and it was still there.  Then I thought, “What’s the landlord going to do to it once he comes home from work?”  I honestly didn’t know so I called 311, which turned out to be a bust.  Then it hit me, call PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)!  A quick search online to their homepage http://www.peta.org/ provided me with a contact number.  I spoke with Sarah who took down notes and asked me for pictures of our little critter outside, which I provided without hesitation.

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I took these pics from my window.  I zoomed in with my camera and then uploaded the pics and emailed Sarah.

There was no one around so we figured that the squirrel might be injured or stuck because he was still there for several hours after he fell.  Sarah contacted me and told me that a volunteer would be stopping by to check on the squirrel.  I thought that was pretty cool and twenty minutes later a PETA volunteer, Rosa and her friend came and they kindly coaxed the squirrel out of that spot, but he made his way down to the space where you see that black mat above in the pictures.  According to Rosa and her friend, because I was cowering behind the front entryway door, he was holding onto a stick that was in the corner of the space.  She stated that he was a baby squirrel so he was probably scared or possibly injured.  Rosa and her friend decided that it would be a good idea to give the squirrel some time to make its way out on its own so they promised to return the following day and check to see if it was still there.  Did I mention how kind these women were?  No, sorry.  They were very kind and I thanked them greatly for taking time in helping this little squirrel.  Right after they left the landlord came home and I decided to let him know because I didn’t want him stumbling upon the squirrel.  He went to check and lo and behold our little critter was gone.  I was so happy, plus the landlord said that if he would have found the squirrel injured, he would have taken care of it!  Awesome to know!  I immediately emailed Sarah to update and thank her and I asked her to relay the message to Rosa as well.

Is it stupid to care about a squirrel?  I don’t think so, but to each his own.  I just couldn’t stop thinking about the little critter and PETA is a wonderful organization that truly cares for every single animal.  Their response was great.  I was very impressed.  Thank you Sarah, Rosa, and friend!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

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Queens Botanical Garden

Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

One can live in a certain place for a long time without ever visiting certain tourist attractions or landmarks.  In my case, I regrettably never visited the Twin Towers here in New York City, which is why I’ve decided to venture out more with my family and see what this great city has to offer.  I’m done with taking advantage of it.  It’s time to explore and make memories.  Plus, we have a COOL Culture Family Pass (http://www.coolculture.org/programs/cool-culture-family-pass), which is a pass that offers families free admission to 90 cultural institutions if they have children enrolled in Pre-K or Kindergarten.

This past Saturday, we visited, for the first time, the Queens Botanical Garden at 43-50 Main Street, Flushing, New York.  We went around mid-morning and this place can be easily described as beautiful and absolutely peaceful or as my husband put it, “completely Zen.”

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As you can see my daughters had a blast.  My youngest, Sophia, loved running around the grass while my oldest, Olivia, loved throwing herself and laying down on the grass.

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I had fun taking pictures of all the flowers and…

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…this little fella.   I got close enough to zoom my camera in and take a great pic of him or her!

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At the Wedding Garden everything is set up so you can get married there.  Isn’t it wonderful?

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My husband enjoyed the Herb Garden and I greatly enjoyed visiting the Queens Botanical Garden with my family.  We will definitely be visiting again soon.

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Happy Earth Day!

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Hello everybody!

I hope you guys are well.

Last week, on Wednesday, I picked up my daughter, Olivia, from school and she came home with a plastic cup of dirt.  Inside the cup, there was a tiny plant growing, and my daughter was super excited.  We placed the cup in direct sunlight and she has given her plant a little bit of water in the morning, every day since.  Look at her small plant so far.  Not so small anymore!  It’s such a beauty and the joy that it brings my daughter is priceless!

Happy EARTH day!

Take good care all.

Until next time…

Sing along with me: “Oh, the weather outside is baffling!”

Hello everybody.  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday, schools were closed in observance of Veterans Day and the weather was absolutely beautiful.  Since my husband had the day off as well, we couldn’t waste the opportunity to go to the park and bask in this rare weather.  Off we went and I made sure to have my camera in my bag.

Olivia was ecstatic to find this giant leaf.  It came home with us.

 Sophia kept picking up different sticks and swiping at all the leaves on the ground.

I suddenly realized, hey we can take a pic of ourselves as well. What a concept! 🙂

Here’s my attempt at a shot of nature.

Some days I wish I was a professional photographer with a great camera, but then I see those cameras and think 1. They’re expensive 2. They’re heavy/bulky (that won’t fit in my bag!) 3. Why are there so many buttons on that expensive, bulky camera? and 4. I really don’t want to get mugged.

I’m not too fond of my current camera, but I’m stuck with it, for now.  For me, my perfect camera, and I’m searching, is one that’s small, takes pictures fast and they don’t come out blurry.  I HATE blurry pictures, especially when you get a perfect shot, but oh wait, it’s not perfect because it’s BLURRY!  It drives me nuts!  If anyone out there has any recommendations on a great small camera, oh please let me know.  I would appreciate it.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…

Playing with snow and in awe of fallen trees

Hello everybody!  I hope you guys are well.  Yesterday, on the way home from school my daughter finally had a chance to play with snow.  It was melting fast and people had already shoveled it to the side, but she was able to make several snowballs and tossed them here and there.

 

As you can see, she was pretty happy!  We even made a tiny snowman!

Along the way we encountered several fallen trees and I QUICKLY took some pictures.

 

This damaged tree is situated about three blocks from where I live.

This unfortunate tree is right at the beginning of my block.  I live towards the end.

Just around the corner, there was another massive tree that had fallen and landed right in front of the doorway of a private house.  I didn’t go take a picture of that one out of respect to the homeowner.  It was pretty bad and this morning it was still there.

Nature is definitely powerful, frightening, and completely amazing.  All the best to those who have to clean up and may they be safe.

Stay alert, stay alive.

Until next time…