Doing the Most Good

With a couple of false starts, winter finally arrived around here last night. Based on the forecast, it likely will all melt by Friday and Saturday, but still it was nice to enjoy the beauty knowing I only had a 10-minute drive versus a 50-minute one!

Some poor animal must have been seeking shelter in our house. Thankfully our new front doors are airtight... just in case it wasn't a friendly beast!

Speaking of really friendly beasts, though, my furry friend Diego helped me bell ring tonight for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign.

Our Citizens Policy Academy Alumni Association is selling these to help raise money for a new canine officer in Wisconsin Rapids. Yes, the fake ones are all named Diego. I imagine I could change it, but that's all I've been calling him in the past few months I owned him.

Every day he rides along with me so I have someone to talk to and, well, so I finally can say I have a dog! Diego is a little like "Flat Stanley," though. You gotta take him with you so you can capture him visiting unique places. I shared this one with the PD through their Facebook page. I'll see if they mention it.

Of course, the other reason I brought him with me is to prove anyone can ring a bell.

Our area is woefully short on bell ringers this year. In fact, when I arrived at my store (same IGA I always ring at), there was no one ringing. I always have relieved someone of their duties. But not this time. I had to "start." And that was at 5 p.m.

I think a lot of communities are dealing with this manpower shortage. To sign up for a shift – anywhere from 1 to 2 hours – visit www.ringbells.org to find an opening in your area.

Make sure to dress warmly as my toes were cold by the end of my shift – and Diego was huddled for warmth in my apron pocket!

After bell ringing was done, I tried to do more good at home, where I had baked 100 cookies for a cookie walk at Jim's church this Saturday. Since I wanted to dress them up a little bit, I drizzled almond bark on top and put them in the freezer to set before putting them in the containers for the walk.

When I opened the freezer to get the first batch of 24, the pan came crashing to the floor and most were lost. A curse word or two may have escaped my lips. As I stared at the broken mess, clenching and unclenching my fisted fingers, Carter, "Well I guess that means there's only one thing we can do with them....

"Eat them!"

That might not be doing US the most good, but that "shift" might just be over for the day.