In last night’s post I talked about how I thought 32 hours/week for a solo volunteer at our National Wildlife Refuges was a bit too much. I still feel that way, but I want to clarify something about the volunteer lifestyle. It really is not a matter of economics of what my volunteer hours are worth. I volunteer because I want to, and I want to give something back in my own way while helping to insure that these wild places remain in our country. I believe my strengths lie in educating the visiting public to the worth of these refuges, and the plight of the wildlife that they support.
As I expected, Sharon of The Odd Essay blog brought me to task for my opinion. Sharon and her husband are dedicated volunteers that put in many hours with the Fish and Wildlife Service. I respect her opinions, but we have agreed to disagree on this issue. I responded to her comment with a personal email. I prefer to avoid a big public bear pit. While I disagree with the policy of requiring more hours from solos, I do continue to volunteer at various refuges by choice.
I think Emma wants to visit China. She’s working on getting there by digging a deep hole.
Since I had today off, there were several things on my ‘to do’ list. Among them was trying to nail down a date for my hip replacement surgery. I eluded to several challenges in this area in a previous post. The doctor I am comfortable with is being transferred from Jacksonville, FL, on December first to the Mayo hospital in Waycross, GA. His surgery schedule was fully booked for November in Jacksonville, so I’ve been trying to get a date in Waycross (which is closer to me) in December.
Emma is always on guard in our front yard for any marauding squirrels.
It’s been a little frustrating since promised return calls have not occurred. I finally got a number for the facility in Waycross today, only to be told a calendar of Dr. Brodersen’s surgeries has not yet been created. I was told it would be created by the end of this week or early next week. I stressed that I didn’t care about the holiday season approaching, and that I just wanted to get in as soon as possible. We’ll see what happens. You can be sure I’ll be calling them again on Friday.
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I’ve got a little tree frog visitor hiding under the knob to my gas grill tonight. I guess it’s looking for a slightly protected area from the predicted lower temperatures tonight. 
I took a drive to Kingsland, GA, this afternoon to stock up on groceries and such. It’s a 75 mile round trip journey. It was the first time I’ve been in a Publix store. It was a very nice grocery, and you can guess what happened since I broke the rule of grocery shopping when I was hungry. 
It was mostly cloudy all day today, but the skies cleared just before sunset. Emma and I jumped in the car and headed for alligator pond hoping for a spectacular sunset. That didn’t happen, but it was a pleasant experience anyway.
Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later, Judy
