10 Questions and Answers

 On Swap-Bot, there is a swap with ten questions. Below are the questions and my answers.

In one sentence, how would you describe yourself? 

I am a creative, introverted person who loves my family, learning, and volunteering that helps people in need, animals, and the environment. 

Meeting Olivia in China a couple of days before we formally adopted her. 

November 2003.

Three generations of women and girls are in this photo.

What’s your favorite way of travel? 

Domestically, I enjoy driving. Driving gives me an opportunity to go at my own pace, explore backroads and places off the beaten path, and visit people and places I couldn't do if I traveled by airplane or train. 

Sophia and Olivia are at a farm stand in Rhode Island.

We drove throughout six states in New England in September 2011.

Internationally and to further domestic destinations, I enjoy flying. It gets me to a destination quicker so that I can spend more time enjoying the place I want to visit rather than spending time on a boat/cruise ship. 

We flew to Alaska in April 2019 for Sophia's graduation trip.

It made sense to fly for this trip rather than driving from Minnesota 

and then going through Canada to get to Alaska.

What is your favorite book? 

My favorite book is actually a children's book called Miss Rumphius. Written by Barbara Cooney, this story is actually based on a real person - Hilda Hamlin - who was often called "The Lupine Lady." 

Hilda is partly responsible for the beautiful lupines throughout Maine’s countryside in early summer. She is from Bristol, England, and arrived in the United States in 1904, at the age of 15. She attended Smith College, married, and had three sons. 

In 1929, however, she left her husband in Paris, and returned to Smith College to audit classes and live in Christmas Cove, Maine, during the summer. It was during this time (she was now in her sixties) that she began planting lupine seeds imported from her native England. (They are used there primarily to stabilize the soil) 

Every August, she cut lupine stalks and shook out their seeds over wider and wider spaces and land.

Soon she began putting seeds in her pocket when she walked to the post office and strewed them along the roadside. She spread the seeds in secret, rarely telling anyone about her obsession with lupines. Although some of her friends knew, the majority of people never knew she did this. 

Miss Rumphius ends with these words: “You must do something to make the world more beautiful.” I have tried to do this - well before reading this book. This book, though, reinforces one of my goals in life. 

One of many trees I've planted at our farm. 

The other reason why I like this book is that there are some strong, positive themes in the book - the most important one being that every person has to determine what they want to do with their life, and they can have a long-lasting impact on the world. Other themes in Miss Rumphius are female independence, singleness, and the impact that travel can have when learning about cultural diversity.

Sophia and I playing gongs at an event in St. Paul.

What was your first job? 

My first job was when I was 12 years. I was a babysitter making about 75 cents per hour. 

The wage I received for one hour of babysitting in 1978.

Eventually, the rate when up to $1 per hour. If I received $1.25 per hour - I felt like the family was very generous. 

How are you feeling right now? 

I am feeling tired for some reason, despite getting relatively good nights of sleep. 

How has 2021 been for you so far? 

2021 has gone by way too quickly, especially these last few months. This is Olivia's senior year of high school/homeschooling. She's taking three PSEO courses which are preparing her for college next year.

Olivia at the pumpkin patch on October 1, 2021.

Sophia is a junior in college already and will be traveling abroad from the first week in January to the first week in May. 

Sophia at the Twin Cities Corn Maze on October 9, 2021.

I had hoped to do way more with the girls this school year, yet the days seem to be slipping by.

What country would you like to visit? 

I would like to visit Iceland someday to see the waterfalls.

What is your next dream holiday destination? 

We will be going to England and Scotland for Olivia's high school graduation trip. Paige has frequent flyer points and hotel points so the majority of the airline tickets and hotels are covered. The last time I was in England was with my parents and sister when my sister was studying abroad. It was my senior year of college - so 1988. I've never been to Scotland so I'm excited to see what that country is like. 

What would you like to know more about? 

I would like to know why one of my dogs (Cooper) is losing his fur. The vet says allergies. However, he has been on allergy medicine (Benadryl and Apoquel) since the Summer. He also has been on medication for a skin infection (too much scratching) and a steroid. 

Cooper in June 2021.

I feel like it is something other than allergies or a seriously bad case of allergies that are not responding as much as it should to medications. 

What do you try to do consistently?

I try to walk the dogs when the weather is good. With four dogs, I take them in groups of two. Typically, Cooper and Scooby walk together, and then Aspen and Danny walk together. Each walk is about 45 minutes long, so it works out to be about 90 minutes of exercise for me. The dogs get about 2 or 2.1 miles of walking per day, and I get about 4 to 4.2 miles each day. 

Danny and Aspen are on a walk on October 27, 2021.

For the most part, Spring, Fall, and early or late Winter are the best times to walk the dogs. The heat and humidity of Summer is too challenging for the dogs as is the snow and ice on the dogs' paws during the mid-Winter. The Winter temperatures, as well, can get dangerously cold on some days. 

Scooby and Cooper are on a walk on February 24, 2020.

With those exceptions, walking the dogs is something that I enjoy and that I aim to do consistently.