One day in early April my dad took my sisters and me to play softball at Joaquin Murrieta Park. As we were playing, a Mandalorian drove up on his motorcycle and asked if he could join us. Due to the COVID-19 we all wore masks as we took turns pitching, hitting and fielding. At the end of our practice, the Mandalorian gave us each a gift card and told us to be the kindness we wanted to see in the world.

Did you know that Legoland wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for the poinsettiaplant? A poinsettia plant is a small Mexican shrub with large scarlet bracts. Poinsettia plants are native to Mexico and Central America where they grow in moist, wet, wooded ravines and on rocky hillsides. In 2002, Congress passed an act that made Dec. 12 National Poinsettia Day. That date was chosen because it was the day Joel Roberts Poinsett died.

 I recently had the opportunity to interview Oro Valley K-9 police Officers Roger Reynolds and Mike Gaare with their dogs, Risu (pronounced E-su) and Vader. I wanted to interview them because I like dogs and the opportunity sounded awesome. Risu means ‘Squirrel’ in Japanese. Officer Reynolds named Risu that because his attention span is low, kind of like a squirrel.

I was interested to know why the Officers wanted to be policemen. Officer Reynolds responded that he was drawn towards a career in law enforcement because he wanted to serve and help people.