IN LIFE AS IN THE DANCE : GRACE GLIDES

ON BLISTERED FEET.
---Alice Abrams

Monday, November 29, 2010

Still Snooping...

Still no answers...but family and friends have been in and out.  The truck, "Fire Attack Unit," comes and goes on a regular basis - at all hours.  Ray and Bertie are their names.  He spends a lot of time working on his rose bed and petting his calico cat.  His kids bought him a golf cart so he can drive around the park and not feel as if he's totally dependent. Up until a few weeks ago, Bertie was still driving to the grocery store with Ray in tow.

Several months ago, a deputy sheriff pulled up and wound up hauling Ray off.  I got the mail at the same time as my neighbor who told me that Ray had "gone off" and was flushing Bertie's pills and pushing her around.  A couple of weeks later, family came and took the furniture out and hauled it off.  Bertie went to stay with family and Ray was allowed back in the home - by himself.  Since then, Bertie - and the furniture - all moved back in.  But earlier in the week a  realtor posted a "For Sale" sign in the yard.

It's made me somewhat reflective.  I sure hope I don't lose my cognitive skills - the few I have left anyway!
I've already apologized to hubman for things I may do in the future.  I have a vivid imagination, and I guess that's why the saga of Ray and Bertie has piqued my interest and concern.    There hasn't been any notice in the paper so I'm hoping that things are going well.

When hubman found out about his diabetes, he started walking 1-2 miles a day.  By the end of the first week he made several friends and probably knows everyone's name by now.  I'm such a "recluse," I don't really know a soul.  I guess it's true that opposites attract!

Hope everyone has a fantastic week...

Sunday, November 28, 2010

I'm a Snoop!

I didn't realize what a snoop I am until we moved here where our neighbors are so close.  There has been a fire, several ambulances (remember, we're on "Geezer St."), the coroner's van - that was interesting, since it was right across the road, approx three car widths. 


The elderly couple that lives across and down one have a lot of health problems.  He's nearly blind and deaf, and she's in and out of the hospital.  So, on Thanksgiving, the ambulance picked her up and then yesterday, the family came to town.  Of course, I'm concerned for her well-being, but still wonder what happened.  Tonight, about 6:00, in the rain, a pick-up truck pulled up with signage across the side "Fire - - - ".  It was definitely a beefed-up truck with lots of equipment, but not a regular county fire vehicle.  All of the lights went on in every room and they started hauling in some sort of equipment.  Now, mind you - I can't be hanging out my door watching, so I peeked through the blinds, but you can't see as much.  

The truck stayed until 11:30 - and I still don't know what's up.  Maybe someone left a pan on the stove when they went to the hospital and it smoked up the place.  I kept bugging hubman to go across the street and ask (kidding him) but he wouldn't go, so my snooping didn't do a bit of good.  I came up with all sorts of scenarios but, darn it, no answers.  

All I know is we sure hope they're all alright!!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Krap on a Stick

Norma Jean

Spike on a Stick

Spike loves to sit and look out the window but not from my plants!  Something spooked him and off he went.

Ya know, I've gotta be more careful - I posted those baby owl pics because I thought they were so darned cute, but I didn't realize that I sounded whiny until I read the comments.  Sheesh.  What with all a lot of you are going through right now, I'm sure as heck not gonna crab about a headache! 

The top photo is my daughter's Shiba Inu, Norma Jean (they're like a miniature Akita).  I laughed really hard because my grandson, Kyle, named her not having a clue who Norma Jean was!  I guess it's the name of some rock band, and that's why he chose it.  I don't think the real Norma Jean was this hairy.... 

The baby had to go to dog school today.  He's really doing well with the sit/stay/leave it/down/ and all of those dog-type commands.  But boy, is he a pill!  He'll get ahold of something he knows he's not supposed to have, he'll look at you, at if you make a move, he's out the door running around the yard, daring you to come get it/him.  He's a real "slimer," too.  Just loves to give kisses!  He acts a lot like a cat and he likes to settle in the chair on the back of my neck - which is really kinda nice 'cause he's warm - but he slimes you.  Slurp...

Daughter #1, Leah, and her hubby, Bob, are on their way back to OK after a two week trek.  She posted on FB that they hit winds so bad in AZ they had to pull off-road (they have a humongous RV).  I guess they were stuck several hours - now they're driving through the night to get home so they'll be ready for work Monday.  They work at the Federal Prison in El Reno OK.  Leah works in the accounting office and Bob's a CO.  Boy, the stories they can tell, only they're very careful not to name names, darn it.  When they first started working together in the prison system I didn't like it at all.  I didn't want her to see the sort of stuff they see in a prison situation but she's very matter-of-fact about it and doesn't let the gnarlier stuff get to her.  She had to qualify on weaponry which also makes me feel better.  Back in Victorville, she actually got overtime by working on the guard towers.  Did you all know that the toilet facilities in those guard towers are quite primative since they can't leave the site?  Wouldn't work for me, guys.  

Well, I'm gonna sign off and read for a while.  I've been reading "The Murderer's Daughters," by Randy Susan Meyers.  Pretty good so far.  I am seriously thinking about getting a Kindle.  I still have very mixed feelings about that whole concept, but if I can still read in the bathroom I'm okay!

Have a blessed Sunday, everyone!

Little snot had that geranium in his mouth....

Saturday, November 20, 2010

A Photo of My Week...

A week of migraines and other discomforts: Just a feeling of being yelled at and shat upon....
(I think this guy is just too cute!)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

In Honor - - -

 

 This day, Veteran's Day, is set aside to honor those who have so valiantly served their country to preserve FREEDOM.  We have so many patriots in our country (Sarge Charlie!) and I humbly offer my thanks...

 This Veteran's Day, I wanted to honor the author of the poem, "High Flight."  As I was hunting the poem, I found this notice on the RAF website.  Sixty-nine years separate the the two men but their sacrifices will endure forever.  So, I lift a pint in honor of our brothers-in-arms, the British.

Senior Aircraftman Scott Hughes dies in Cyprus
It is with sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that Senior Aircraftman Scott 'Scotty' Hughes serving with Number 1 Squadron Royal Air Force Regiment died in Cyprus on Sunday 7 November 2010 following injuries sustained in an accident.SAC Hughes
Senior Aircraftman (SAC) Hughes was returning from operations in Afghanistan and died from injuries suffered in a boating accident that took place on Friday 5 November as his unit was undertaking decompression activities.
He was due to return home to the UK the following day. 
(He was born 5 June 1990)

 

High Flight

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew - And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941


 

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Lessons From a Hummingbird - - -




With a mind that tends to be "busy," I have always, unconsciously, found myself being "busy" with something to keep from feeling as if I were fragmenting.  I don't know how else to describe the feeling of being unable to just be "quiet."  I used to lie on the couch and read or watch The Tonight Show, or old movies....something that could hold my attention so I didn't feel as though I was on an out-of-control train approaching a trestle; or the feeling of being poised at the top of a roller coaster, just ready to begin that rapid free-fall, with your heart in your throat. 

Later, I learned to macrame, then on to embroidery, cross stitch, counted cross stitch (why I wear glasses!), and then I took art classes - oils, watercolor, pastels, acrylics; then on to stamping cards, scrap-booking, and altered art, and beading.  Now, can anybody guess?  Uh huh.  The computer is my current mood stabilizer. I can lose myself reading other peoples' blogs and working on my own. I can look at catalogs, read newspapers, play games, etc.

So you may be thinking, "Okay, we all do that or have hobbies, nothing strange about that!"  But here's the kicker:  I can stay up for hours reading, playing games, painting, wherever my current abstraction may take me.  I have stayed up reading until the sun comes up, or, yes, playing stupid games on Facebook.  I am horribly obsessive-compulsive. Having a mind so fixated on being quiet is only amplified and fixates on the quietness.  

Now to the hummingbird:  I have a feeder out on the back patio and love watching the hummingbirds come and hover, with those wings going a mile a minute, buzzing like bumblebees.  Last month, I welcomed a couple of Anna's Hummingbirds, who were quite territorial, flitting after each other, chasing and darting about.  We're down to one visitor now, so I guess dominance was determined!

I've been trying to get outside everyday for 10-15 minutes of sunlight after reading about Vitamin D.  It seems that popping a vitamin pill isn't quite the same as absorbing vitamin D through the skin.  So I've placed a chair outside so I can sit for a few minutes.  Sitting for 10-15 minutes without something to occupy my mind is not comfortable.  Sometimes I try to pray and my mind wanders, or I just daydream, but something pops in and jolts that trigger-happy brain to snap to attention.  

Okay, here we go back to the hummer.  This little guy - I'm pretty certain he's a guy because he has a beautiful iridescent magenta head! A glorious little creature!  He's accustomed to seeing me sit in my chair, and he'll come to the feeder just a few feet away.  Yesterday, I watched him feed then dart off to the orange tree which provides shade for the feeder.  He landed on a little twig and sat, appearing to watch me watch him.  After a little while of this he flitted back to the feeder for another dose of sugar water.  I know you've all seen them - their wings are almost invisible they move so fast!  Then, again, back to the little tiny branch he'd picked out on the orange tree.  This went on for maybe four or five times.  Then it hit me.

How much energy does it take for his little wings to keep moving?  So much that he constantly has to feed to keep up his strength.  When hummingbirds migrate during the fall, they find nourishment where they can along the way.  All the while, feeding and fluttering.  Do you see the picture I'm painting?  I spend so much energy just to keep my mind occupied - my wings fluttering - that I wear myself out.  Then I need to feed more, and more, and more.  

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).  This has always been a favorite verse of mine.  But, as you can see, being still isn't easy for me.  As I watched that little hummer I wondered if being still is knowing God.  As a creature of God, that's his appointed job in the universe, to pollinate flowers and plants along his migratory path.  He knows when to be still and he knows God.  

Today, I watched a woodpecker try his luck out on a palm tree, I fed and enjoyed our blue jays, and I watched the sweet little hummer just "being."  My mind was being still and I was learning more about knowing God and the peace he provides...

~~~DONA NOBIS PACEM~~~

 
 
The picture I chose for my peace globe was taken at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing.  We were there in 2008.  There were so many, many memorial tokens left on the fences they have allowed them to remain.  My photo is just a minute representation of the love and devotion to those who died that day.
 
This is a hymn from my childhood - it's words are so true today.

There comes to my heart one sweet strain,
A glad and a joyous refrain,
I sing it again and again,
Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love.

 Peace, peace, sweet peace,
Wonderful gift from above,
Oh, wonderful, wonderful peace,
Sweet peace, the gift of God’s love.

----Peter P. Bilhorn, 1887

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Visit to the Vet!

Poor little Homer, with his doctor, getting his very last puppy shots!  The boy recovered nicely and will be back in two months for the surgery all the boy dogs hate to talk about.