Thursday, December 29, 2011

Arctic Snowy Owls!

PAUL BANNICK / SPECIAL TO THE SEATTLE TIMES

I scoured the internet this morning for some glorious story showing the beauty and true goodness of man kind but alas today it did not exist. So instead I will post about the glorious beauty of the animal kingdom.

In Washington this winter birders have noticed a large number of Arctic snowy owls. It is rare that we have this many in our area. Generally the owls live the Arctic, Alaska, Siberia and other ice cold climates. But this winter they will be here with us.
They like open areas like beaches and airports (seems like it would be loud?). They feed on small animals which makes me fear for my chickens, although seeing an owl swoop down and take a chicken would be a pretty amazing sight to see.
Here is the full article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017100661_snowies27m.html

If any of you see any amazing positive news stories please email them to me at: frannyfleischman@gmail.com

:) Franny

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Lost Dog comes home after 8 years

Tracy WOODWARD / THE WASHINGTON POST  
In Fredericksburg VA, a pit bull named Petunia was returned home after 8 years and a 2,700 mile journey.
In 2003 Petunia disapeared one morning when her family let her out to run around on the families alpaca farm like they did every day. When she never returned home they assumed she was dead or forced into a dog fighting ring.
She was found 8 years later by a wildlife biologist camping in the Spencerville Wildlife area in California. Luckily Petunia was micro chipped so she was returned safely home. She has several scars but the family thinks it is just from barbed wire fencing not dog fighting.
Here is the link to the Seattle Times article: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017104770_lostdog28.html.

:) Franny

Sunday, December 25, 2011

15 year old climbs seven tallest mountains

Big Bear, Cal. -15 year old Jordan Romero reached the top of Antarctica's Mt. Vinson Massif on Saturday, making him the youngest person to have climbed all of the world's 7 highest summits.
Jordan climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro at 10 and Mt. Everest at age 13, his father and stepmother accompany him on the climbs.
I visited his website and there are extensive photo's of him completing his climbs, he also has a post on getting rid of junk food in schools which I personally find to be admirable. I hope this story makes it into the newspaper although it specifically says Jordan does not want too much attention for his achievement in the article.

 Here is a link to the article from Yahoo: http://news.yahoo.com/calif-teen-becomes-youngest-climb-7-summits-010157130--spt.html

 And here is his website: http://www.jordanromero.com/

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Pigeons can do math! (maybe)

Had to work all day so yes this post is a bit late (it was meant for the 23rd).

A "researcher" at the University of Otago in New Zealand taught pigeons to peck images on a screen in order lowest to highest. They were eventually able to peck a groups of 6 to 9 images in the correct order.
Here is a link to the article (I'm too sleepy to go into great detail myself):http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2017075376_birdmath23.html

I personally find this refreshing considering the prejudice people have against pigeons and wild animals that are forced to co exist with us in our cities. Give them some respect! They have a right to live here too!

Happy Christmas Eve!
:) Franny

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Obama Takes His Dog Shopping

                                      Kevin Dietch/Pool
I couldn't decide if this really qualified as "positive news" (maybe more neutral?)  but alas it was cute and the only story I could find that wasn't terrifying. Thank fully I found the Navy story for a more "well rounded" series of posts.

With his wife and daughters already gone, Obama took his dog "Bo" to Petsmart for a bone. He also stopped at Best Buy to gift shop for his daughters and picked up three pizza's (for himself and his group of secret service?). 

It makes me happy!

:) Franny

Women have first kiss upon Navy ships return

I know many of you have seen this story already on facebook but I feel it deserves repeating.

Virginia Beach, VA- Marissa Gaeta and Citlalic Snell were the winners of a raffle allowing them to have the "first kiss" upon Marissa's homecoming after 80 days at Sea.  This is the first time a gay couple has been allowed to participate in this Navy tradition.
Sailors bought tickets for the opportunity to have the "first kiss",  Marissa apparently bought 50 which is not a lot in comparison to what other sailors bought. The money from the drawing went to a Christmas party for the sailors and their families. Marissa said all her fellow crew members were supportive of her winning. Here is a link to the adorable picture of them:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2017062817.html

:) Franny

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Anonymous Woman Pays off Kmart Layaways

This was the inspiration for starting this blog. For years I have been disturbed by the amount of negative news that we all pay attention to. Finally the other day at work a customer told me this story and it just struck me that I should start a blog focusing only on the wonderful things that people (and animals) do.

In  Omaha, Neb an anonymous woman payed off around 50 layaway accounts for people buying toys and clothing for children. She also walked up to people in line obviously buying presents for children and paid the bill. One man waiting in line with his three children was so moved that he burst into tears.
Before she left the store she passed out 50 dollar bills. All she asked for in return is that people remember her husband "Ben" who had recently passed away.

This event has inspired several "Secret Santas" around the country to walk into Kmart stores and pay off thousands in customer bills. Kmart swears that they did not instigate these events, they seem to be just good people wanting to make someones holiday a little brighter.

Happy Winter Solstice!

:) Franny