Where compassion spreads like wildfire: March 5K

Some of the best times in my memory involve fire.

Relaxing with Jay beside the fire pit on our patio. Laughing with friends around a campfire. Blowing out candles on a birthday cake. The “warmth” of fire – inviting, glowing, happy.

Not the “heat” of fire – destructive, ravenous, terrifying.

I wonder which of the two a wildland firefighter thinks of when they see a flame.

I’m on month #3 of my 12 months of 5K’s to raise awareness about organizations you may not be aware of that are doing good in our world. For March, I want to tell you about a group that helps protect the people who work to protect us when the world literally goes to hell:

Fighting a wildfire seems impossible, doesn’t it? Trying to contain a roaring blaze in an area with few if any boundaries where everything is combustible. But they do it, time and time again. In a volatile world, the people holding fast the front line can make all the difference.

Want to thank them and their families? Visit the Wildland Firefighter Foundation at wffoundation.org. The organization not only offers services on a national level, they also support local events like the Run for Ruhl fundraiser coming up in May in Rapid City, SD in memory of fallen wildland firefighter Dave Ruhl.

So far my 5K quest has highlighted a program that provides travel and lodging funds for cancer patients, a center that offers education and career resources for those just starting out or starting over, and a foundation that reminds us that even the invincible can use our help. Nine months to go – who will I hit the pavement for next? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

Finding Your Way: February 5K

Some years ago I was among a small group of people interviewing a woman for a job. When we asked about her computer skills, she hesitated. Then she explained that she’d been out of the workforce for a while but had been proficient in Lotus and WordPerfect at her previous job.

The interviewer across from me rolled their eyes and snorted.

That ticked me off.

We didn’t know the circumstances that had kept that woman from working. Or what had thrust her back into the job market again. But I knew it took guts for her to tell us that.

Ours is a world in which we need to keep up. Not just to get ahead but even to be where we’re at. Knowing where to get the skills you need is crucial. In my community, a good place to start is the focus of my February 5K:

The circumstances that bring people to the Right Turn vary. Maybe you’re recently divorced or widowed and need a job to support yourself and your family. Could be you’re a high school student who had trouble fitting in at a conventional school but still want a diploma. Perhaps you were raised in a home where English wasn’t spoken and having it as a second language will help you to communicate.

Nobody there will judge you. But they will empower you. Find out more at therightturn.org.

Who will I be hitting the streets for next month as my Year of 5K’s continues? I’m still undecided – what do YOU think? Drop me a comment with your suggestions.

A Good, Long Walk: January 5K

If you ever see me running, I’m either escaping from danger or trying to get somewhere that’s closing in 5 minutes.

I’m a walker. Which is the same as a runner except it takes me longer to get there.

We all walk a certain distance every day to get from one place to another to do whatever it is we need to do. I also walk for exercise, physical and mental, mostly alone or with the dogs, but sometimes in groups to benefit causes.

Our community plays host in the spring and summer to a variety of runs and walks to benefit local organizations and events. If it’s a cause I support, I sign up, pay my fee and walk. The longest benefit walk I’ve ever done was the Breast Cancer 3-Day in St. Paul, MN, which was 60 miles walked over the course of 3 days. It’s one of the things I’m most proud of doing in my life.

Planning a walk/run takes time, money and good promotion. While many organizations do it successfully, there are other groups who could benefit from the exposure but may not have the resources. In 2018, I’ll tell you about 12 of them.

Each month this year I’m doing my own 5K to highlight one program or organization that’s doing good in our world. It’ll just be me (and whoever wants to join me) walking 3.2 miles to raise awareness. No entry fee, no tee shirts, no time limit. My first walk was this morning in 8-degree South Dakota weather with barely any wind or ice (which you’ll appreciate if you live in snow country). This is who I was walking for:

Maybe we don’t all have the opportunity to do good things on a grand scale affecting millions of people but as long as you’re upright and breathing, you have the ability to do SOMETHING. Even if that something is telling a couple of people about something good that’s going on in your corner of the world. They could tell a couple friends who tell a couple friends and so on and so on and so on. It worked for selling shampoo – why couldn’t it work for raising awareness?

If you missed it in the video, the program is the Pennies for Robert Bed and Breakfast Program through Countryside Hospice in Pierre, SD.

One month done, 11 to go. If you have an organization or event you’d like me to highlight in the coming months, drop me a comment and some information. I’m always up for a GOOD, long walk.

The 12 Nays of Christmas

(Don’t be put off by the negative, gang – stick with it to the end, O.K.?)

On the first day of Christmas, I looked around to see: a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the second day of Christmas, I looked around to see: two massive earthquakes and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the third day of Christmas, I looked around to see: three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the fourth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the fifth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the sixth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the seventh day of Christmas, I looked around to see: seven crazy shooters, six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the eighth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: eight addicts using, seven crazy shooters, six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the ninth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: nine hackers hacking, eight addicts using, seven crazy shooters, six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the tenth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: ten terrorists bombing, nine hackers hacking, eight addicts using, seven crazy shooters, six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, I looked around to see: eleven crooked leaders, ten terrorists bombing, nine hackers hacking, eight addicts using, seven crazy shooters, six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, I looked around to see: twelve sexual predators, eleven crooked leaders, ten terrorists bombing, nine hackers hacking, eight addicts using, seven crazy shooters, six wildfires raging, five flowing floods, four racists ranting, three hurricanes blowing, two massive earthquakes, and a world lacking peace and harmony.

It’s been hard to see past the negative in 2017. Which makes it even more important to look for the positive. What good things happened to you this year? Can you come up with a dozen, or half a dozen? Nothing coming to mind? How about this: the year is ending and you’re still here. Maybe better off than you were last Christmas, maybe worse but YOU’RE STILL HERE. It’s a positive place to start for 2018, isn’t it? Peace and hope to you and yours.

Homeless Vet. Anything Will Help.

Hand out or hand up?

He could be lying. That’s the thing: we just don’t know.

In the two and a half weeks we’ve been driving to and from a city 150 miles from where we live, we’ve seen him less than half a dozen times. A small, worn man on the shoulder of the highway ramp holding a sign that says “Homeless Vet. Anything will help.”

There are four ramps at the intersection where we see him: two eastbound, two westbound, two exit, two entrance. He rotates among all of them to better his odds, I suppose, and because there’s a lot of construction in that area.

I’d guess him in his 60’s, maybe older, his beard is white and I can’t see his hair because he wears a cap with a hood pulled up over it. He’s hunkered down on the gravel, his gear on his back, his sign out in front, his gaze stoic.

“What’s the story on the homeless vet?” I ask at the gas station where we stop every day.

All of the regulars acknowledge they’ve seen him but nobody knows anything because none of them have stopped to ask him.

“Do you think he’s really a veteran?” the clerk asks me.

It bothers me that we don’t believe him. I’ve heard the stories same as you have about unscrupulous grifters conning sympathetic do-gooders out of their hard-earned money. My husband and I discuss it during our daily trip.

What kind of proof would make a person believe him? His military service records? An eviction notice? An empty wallet with a faded picture of him in uniform? Who would really ask him for it?

Is he making a statement? He doesn’t wave the sign or shout anything or directly approach any vehicle. He stays away from the traffic lights (a good idea because the intersection is always busy) and he must not be bothering anyone because even law enforcement drives right past him.

Why would he do it if he didn’t actually need help? It’s getting colder in South Dakota and on several recent days, the winds have been gusting over 50 miles an hour. He’s out in the open, on the side of the road. Aside from the weather, he could get run over or have things thrown at him or even be dragged into a vehicle and robbed of what little he has. Why take the risk of being out there if he didn’t have to?

On today’s drive, we made a decision. If he was on our ramp today, we’d stop next to him, thank him for his service to his country, and give him something.

We saw him but not on our side. The construction crews were grading the shoulder by the overpass and he was across the intersection on the eastbound entrance ramp, the opposite direction of where we were headed.

We have four more trips to make and if he keeps his usual rotation, he’ll be on our ramp one more time.

Yeah, he could be lying. And here’s the thing: how much does it matter?

Would you stop and give him something? Or look the other way and keep going?

Trust Me: I’m a Reporter

What I am is what I am…

Minutes after meeting legendary CBS newsman Bill Plante, I was throwing up in the opulent bathroom of the Michigan Avenue Hilton.

It likely had more to do with the several whiskey waters I had tossed back that evening (a little rugged for a 20-year-old Coors Light drinker) than the excitement of meeting Mr. Plante but still, I’d just shaken hands and exchanged pleasantries with a reporter I’d watched on the national news for years.

It was the 1980’s and I was in Chicago for the Society of Professional Journalists (then Sigma Delta Chi) convention. Three of us officers of our university’s chapter made the trip to learn about journalism ethics, meet leaders in the industry and find out if we had what it took to be journalists. We did and all went on to have careers in the field.

The Society of Professional Journalists is our country’s oldest journalism organization, promoting ethics and freedom in journalism for 108 years. It was an honor to belong to it because its members represented the reporters people trusted to tell them the truth.

I grew up during a time of great journalists. Walter Cronkite, Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, Ed Bradley, David Brinkley, Helen Thomas, Ted Koppel, Peter Jennings, Charles Kuralt, Dan Rather, Anna Quindlen, Barbara Walters. We tuned into their broadcasts and read their articles to find out what was happening in our world. They had access to people and places we didn’t so they could go in and ask the questions we wanted to but couldn’t. That was their job – to be our eyes and ears and voices and we trusted them to do that.

I’m proud of the years I spent as a reporter and news director and hope during that time, people regarded me as an ethical journalist who reported the facts.  

Once trusted news outlets and reporters are taking a big hit in credibility these days and President Trump decries “fake news” on a daily basis. In the old days, you could back up your facts with film footage or audio clips or photographs. There was always the chance those materials could be tampered with but the technology wasn’t as readily available to do that as it is today. Now anyone with Photoshop or a video editing app can turn out altered imagery and post it online in minutes for the world to see.

So when it comes to news, if you can’t trust what you see, hear or read, what can you trust? 

Your common sense.

Fake news reels you in because it usually contains just enough truth to make you think it MIGHT be plausible and that little bit of doubt makes you overlook the misinformation and inaccuracies. We’re in such a rush to know, know, KNOW everything that we don’t take the time to step back and use our common sense. 

It’s your right to believe what you want to believe. But wouldn’t you rather believe something that was TRUE?

There are still good, ethical journalists out there who are doing their damnedest to tell us the truth. We just have to be open to hearing it.

Where do you get your news? What media outlets do YOU trust?

Paging Through the Good Book

I’m reading the Bible from start to finish for no other reason than that I’ve never done it before.

The Good Book ready for reading

Between attending Catholic school and being a lector at Mass, I’ve read parts of it. But never the whole thing.

I’m just over 500 pages in and if you’ve read the Bible, you know that’s not very far. Some thoughts on what I’ve learned to date:

·         I have no concept of Middle Eastern geography.

·         In biblical times, gold and silver were apparently lying around in big heaps everywhere.

·         It was a difficult period in which to be a woman.

·         In the Bible, people have huge families and live for abnormally long periods of time.

·         The Bible would be a lot shorter if it didn’t tell the same stories over and over.

·         There are many excruciatingly painful ways to die.

Since I’m approaching reading the Bible in the same manner in which I read any book, I didn’t go into it looking for hidden meanings or life-changing lessons. I’m just reading it. But since it IS the Bible, you sort of expect it to teach you something.

The version I’m reading is a study Bible which means in addition to the scripture, along the margins are interpretations of how biblical lessons can be translated into modern life. Some of these seem a little far-fetched but others are shockingly simple and make obvious sense.

I asked my best friend, who incidentally gave me this Bible many years ago and now works for a church, whether I could use a highlighter and write in it without being sacrilegious.

“Of course,” she said. “In its physical sense, it’s just a book, like any other book. It’s the words themselves and what they mean to you that make it spiritual.”

Since then I’ve highlighted a few verses and turned back the corners on a couple of pages I want to refer back to.

I haven’t experienced any epiphanies while reading the Bible but the exercise is making me more thoughtful in the sense that I’m thinking more about the world around me, my place in it and what I’m doing with my time on Earth.

Since I only read a couple of chapters every morning, I won’t be finishing the Bible any time soon. I figure there’s no hurry; it’s been around a LONG time and however long it takes me to read it is how long it takes. Like any Good Book, it’ll be worth it.

Have you ever read the Bible? What did you get out of it?