CBS Sunday Morning

 

My favorite thing to do when I wake up on Sunday morning is to watch the television program CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. This program is always full of “feel good” stories and there’s always a story that brings a tear to my eye. These tears come straight from the heart. With all the shootings and bad things you hear every day going on all over the world, this hour and a half show proves that there are still really good people out there. 

Every week there’s a commentary segment and a couple Sundays ago, I found this commentary from Paula Poundstone to be very interesting. It’s called ‘Electronics and kids’ brains don’t mix’. She talked about an addiction to smartphones, tablets and video games being no good for developing brains and asks, “Are we all spending too much time looking at screens?”

While she’s only a comedienne and not a doctor or a psychologist with the credentials to support this fact, she still brings up some very interesting comments. I guess I support her points of view because I don’t consider myself “addicted” to electronics. In this day and age, I believe there are more people addicted to electronics than those who are not. Read or view her commentary and decide for yourself. Let us know what you think in the comments!

The Orphaned Sea Otter Pup 681

Who knew a baby otter can be so fluffy and adorable!  The story of Pup 681 has gone viral so if you haven’t heard about this heartwarming story of rescuing an abandoned baby otter, this is one you’ll want check out.

Curious how they came up with the name for the Pup 681, her story begins with being abandoned at just a week old on September 30. She weighed less than 2 ½ pounds, apparently small for a baby otter, and had been separated from her mom for more than 16 hours. The Monterey Bay Aquarium found her alone on a California beach where they quickly started rehabilitation.  It was critical she started consuming calories as quickly as possible in order for her survival. 

Pup 681 made it to her new home at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium on October 28, where staff makes sure she has round-the-clock care to learn necessary otter life skills of grooming, foraging and feeding. Normally, sea otter pups stay with their mother as long as eight months so this little pup has a lot to learn.

The tiny pup – now 5 weeks old and weighs a healthy six pounds — is also learning how to regulate her body temperature by moving to a dry towel when she’s done swimming. She’s reaching new milestones every day like taking formula from a bottle and eating shrimp and clams.

Sea otters were listed as threatened under the U. S. Endangered Species Act in 1977, and have made a slow recovery in California. In 2014, the population was 2,944, a growth of five (that's right FIVE) from 2013, according to the United States Geological Survey. 

For now, Pup 681 is still behind the scenes at the aquarium as she continues to grow. You can see her in action in the video above. Her squeaking sounds will simply melt your heart.

The Eire St. Patrick's Day Social

Last week was Eire’s 25th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Social.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since Eire hosted its first party in their first year of business. This party has become an Eire tradition. Not only is it a celebration of Eire’s Irish roots, more importantly, it’s a reminder to our clients, vendors and associates that we appreciate everything they’ve done throughout the year to contribute to Eire’s success. It’s also a great opportunity to see a friendly face that you haven’t seen in a while or finally meet that person you’ve only talked to on the phone or communicated with through email.

So whether you’ve made it to one of our parties or haven’t had the chance, Eire would like to extend our appreciation and gratitude to each and every one of you. And be sure to join us next year. You won’t be disappointed.

“St. Patrick’s Day is an enchanted time – a day to begin transforming winter’s dreams into summer’s magic.”  – Adrienne Cook

My Favorite Season

It's been a hot Summer and Fall is finally here! For most of my life, Spring was my favorite season...new beginnings, new life...but as I got older Fall seemed to push Spring to the side as my second favorite. Cool nights all snuggled under the covers, trees starting to uncover their glorious colors, gathering of firewood for burning in our wood burning stove and fireplace and our annual apple picking outing. This year it was raining when we got to the orchard (Oriole Springs Orchard in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin) so as I was contemplating of braving the weather conditions, it started raining harder and my decision was made. I'll be buying the already picked apples from inside the cute little shop that sells all sorts of good stuff like homemade cider, homemade donuts, brats, cheese curds and let's not forget Landjägers (a traditional German beef stick), my husband's favorite. The rain didn't seem to stop others from coming because the orchard and shop were packed. 

My Fall will end with our last trips to our cabin on the lake in Central Illinois (specifically Pana, Illinois).  These last trips will consist of enjoying roaring campfires, gathering neighbors for an Oktoberfest as a farewell until next Spring and of course, watching all the trees along the lake start to change. And finally, we'll close up the cabin for the winter until we return when everything is thawing out and coming back to life again. Life is good!