And what about this one.....

Thanks, GreyBeard.....

...see what you started?!?!?! I LOVE IT!!!!

Oh, that we ALL would be so truthful....

These guys are awesome!! Fun, down-to-earth, un(--apparently there is no such word?!) affected (not? affected?!--though they very well could be...), and real!! Enjoy!!! :))

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

...I have no idea what the image is in photo number two--what do you think?! I was trying to include the cloud just behind it when aiming the camera and thought I saw a flash of light before me. I decided I was imagining it, but this is what showed up on the photo. It looks like a moth to me, though I was not aware of one flying around. Have any of you heard of 'mothman' ?! Hmm--ironically, I saw a movie about 'mothman' just last week and had a conversation with a friend about it afterwards. He then shared the link with me that I've attached. Interesting this would show up now?!?!? Your thoughts?! I seriously have no idea! A fluke?!? It's 'something'!!!! (Click on the photo for a closer look.)

The tiny dot in the distance in photo number four (click on the photo and enlarge it for a better view) was the crescent moon. As I observed it in the morning sky, my mind went to this ageless song...



I'm including this one 'just because' (and it suits)--also, my 'friend' in MySpace, David Saw, wrote the song and he deserves the attention as you will see!! :)) Enjoy!! :))

I know, I know.....

I've been on one big pity trip lately!! I've had migraines for nearly two weeks now, and the one yesterday nearly got the best of me. I'm enjoying some relief today and wouldn't you know, my 'lone, accidental reader' read my pain and decided to make my day!! What a kind, sweet man!! I've told him he's made my summer. Indeed he has!! This is one of my favorite songs and what a cute version!! I just had to share it with everyone!!



I'm thinking sunshine today, what about you?! Thanks, 'GreyBeard'!! You're my hero!!! :))

The good things in life....

...are worth sharing!! While working on the previous post, I enjoyed a scrumptous breakfast of blueberry, walnut (both fresh from the market), buckwheat pancakes covered in locally produced blueberry syrup with cheesy grits and 'Godiva' Creme Brulee' coffee!! Yumm!! Proof that the simple pleasures in life are best!!



'So glad you could join me!!! :)) Have a great weekend all!! :))

Human Rescue (Name your location)!!

I have difficulty falling asleep at night, so for many years I've used the television as a distraction so that I'm not just lying awake focused on the fact that I cannot fall alseep! I have a TV in my bedroom for this reason, though many nights I never make it from the sofa to the bed when I'm not in the bedroom. Last night was one of those nights. This means that when I wake up in the morning the television is still on and at whatever channel I surfed to last before drifting off.

A few years back my daughter, who loves and often rescues animals, introduced me to the 'Animal Planet' network. In fact, she first discovered Steve Irwin while watching this programming--I remember her call so well from her college dorm room while she sat mezmorized at his antics! Anyway, another more recent favorite series of hers is 'Animal Rescue' (aired from whatever location that is being featured--which is part of the title of each episode). From time to time as I surf late at night, I stop at this channel for old time's sake which I did last night. This morning when I awoke an episode of 'Animal Rescue Houston' was on the screen, so I watched the remainder of the show. (**I stand corrected here--in finding the links for the program, I discovered the actual title is 'Animal Cops Houston'. For gravity, though, I will leave the title as I've used it since it helps to create my story. It seems the premise is actually to prevent (I suppose through education, but the animals featured are truly 'rescue' because they have already been abused) animal cruelty and to highlight the heroes who rescue the unfortunate animals. That is a more positive focus and one to bear in mind as you read on.)

The premise of the program involves the ASPCA going into situations where animals have been abused, neglected, or abandoned to rescue and rehabilitate them, generally through immediate healthcare, followed by placement with foster 'parents'/owners and later permanent ones. The animals are discovered by the 'cops' through reports from neighbors, sometimes from the pet owners themselves who realize they have too many pets and/or can no longer care for them for various reasons, or while just routinely cruising neighborhoods. If the abuse is serious enough, the responsible party is arrested and sent before a judge for due punishment for animal cruelty, etc.

In this particular episode a Shizu dog was rescued that weighed only nine pounds once the rescue team removed over four pounds of matted hair, meaning the poor little dog was carrying half its weight in tangled nasty hair. A flea colllar was found buried in its neck after some of the fur was removed. Heck, the DOG itself was found under all that stuff!! I can't describe how horrendous this looked--like a dirty furry coat of armor (still more like a weight)--but trust me, it was not a pretty sight (speaking of sight--I don't believe the dog could see through all the tangle). This creature did not even resemble a dog. It was amazing how cute and loveable (at some point later) it appeared after the hair was removed (the hair actually stood on its own with the appearance of a coat, seriously, afterwards). Alas, this was not the only problem though. The dog had a case of heart worms which had begun to destroy it's heart and lungs. Its teeth were broken which led the veterinarian to believe it had tried to bite through some restraint or out of a holding area. Amazing!! Yet, the dog was resilient, and once treated was placed in a loving home to become the kind of pet all animals deserve to be.

Other stories involved litters of kittens that grew into numbers too great to count so the owner called for help, and a similar pack of dogs that had become too wild to handle, since this is what dogs become (a wild pack) when neglected and left on their own. Another story detailed the neglect and near starvation of a group of horses, including a foal, which was saved and given to a family with a little girl who 'always wanted her own horse'. She named the baby 'Stardust'. This episode included happy endings for all the animals, but oftentimes the neglect and abuse are so severe, the animals have to be put down. What a pity!

I got my African Grey Parrot after I was hospitalized for a problem with my heart (an atrial fribrillation/low blood pressure, etc.). If you recall from a previous post, I had an allergic reaction the the beta blocker I was given to convert my heart back to sinus rhythm, and this nearly killed me. My parrot, Kanoni, is fortunate to have an excellent veterinarian who attends to the needs of the animals at our local zoo. (I am very confident with the care they provide for all animals in this clinic.) I suppose my timneh is a bit of a rarity though. While I'm sure they see plenty of birds and other exotic animals, it is not the norm. Needless-to-say, the staff and the doctor are very good to her when she is in for a visit. They have called me at home numerous times after she has been ill or injured for an update or with instructions for continued care. I often comment to the vet how exceptional I find this care and concern to be and how I wish as much attention was given to human patients. Heck, after my hospital mishap, the cardiologists argued with me that I'd not had a drug reaction and that I should be happy to be alive. Ha!! I was, but no thanks to him! He certainly did not provide or offer any after-care. He was too busy thinking of himself while covering his own tracks.

I do have a point here, though, so I will attempt to make it. While watching the 'Animal Rescue/Cops' and thinking of the outstanding care given to these animals along with the care given to my pets when we visit with the doc, I reflected on the contrast of animal care versus people care. As I mentioned in the previous post (below), when I married I made and received the typical wedding vows promising to love, honor, and respect, to be there for the other for better or worse, in sickness and health, you know the routine. I meant the words I spoke and I honored them with faithfulness and devotion to my marriage. I know that we can make room in our hearts to love many others--having children provides evidence of this. But sometimes one can have too many 'pets' and eventually a decision made must be made--which 'pet' stays, which one goes.

My ex kept his latest 'pet' along with her 'litter' and ditched his family in the process. No one came and arrested him for 'human abandonment and neglect'. Sure, we went to court to battle over finances, but the courtroom, in the case of human lives, does not allow discussion of human abuse and mistreatment. The 'owner' of a marriage does not have to explain why he left the 'litter' he created to take care of someone else's litter. He does not have to answer to a judge to provide a reason for the trauma and hurt he bestowed upon his first family. He is not sentenced and sent to jail. He does not have to perform public service. He is free to do whatever he pleases, perhaps to abuse and neglect yet another 'litter'.

While, like so many pet owners, his intent may have been good, the outcome generally tells the story. A judge (nor society for that matter) does not seem to care about what happens to the millions of families left homeless, yet in this program today, the judge actually went to the rescue mission to observe the condition of the horses that were starving while supposedly in the care of their owner. No judge has come to my home to see how it is deterioriating from shabby craftsmanship that I cannot afford to repair, nor to see and compare the brand new home my ex has built for a woman and her 'litter' who is still married to another. If my kids are homeless, too bad!! Yet on the program today an appeal was made to the audience to send in just eighteen dollars a month to help with the rescue and care for these abused animals. Go figure. Where is there a cry for help for 'Human Rescue/Cops'?!

I know the argument will be made that humans, unlike animals, are capable of taking care of themselves. We can find our own jobs, generate our own income, and provide for ourselves. Maybe 'divorce' IS our rescue?! But when two people enter into an agreement and create a family in the process, why isn't the abuse, neglect, and ultimate abandonment taken as seriously as the mistreatment of animals by their owners? I don't get it, and I found this thought quite distrubing as I observed the rescue of these animals today.

Recently my daughter was diagnosed with sleep apnea (she has suggested that I have the tests myself given my eratic sleep patterns) which will require her to sleep connected to a positive airway pressure machine at night. She had surgery in May to correct sinus issues to see if this could help in the event of a blockage. She has endured in depth testing because she also has severe migraines and IBS/spastic colon, as do I. At some point she suffered from hemorrhaging. In additon she has serious acid reflux (this is from her father's side of the family). I am sure that stress is a factor that worsens all of these issues. The 'acid' of divorce sits in all of our stomachs, effects each of our hearts, and yet, I don't see anyone banging at my door wanting to rescue my 'litter'. We are left with the dirty tangle of armor we wear--no hero cop to question and arrest the perpetrator.

I wonder what Oprah or Dr. Phil could do with this one? Heck, I wonder what the ASPCA from 'Animal Rescue/Cops' on the 'Animal Planet' would do with this one? Won't anyone consider creating a 'Human Rescue/Cops' in the 'Human Planet'? So far, in my humble opinion, the services we have in place for people/human types of animals don't seem to be working. Do you realize the message we are left to digest? We are worth less than our pets!?!? Is this what we want to teach our children? Is this what we want for OUR world?

Personally, I hope for 'Human Planet Heroes' to surface and create a healthy balance!! I suppose this can begin with you and me?!? It's certainly something to think about!!

The morning ritual continues....

....I am happy to report. Let me explain...

...I've been separated and divorced for nearly seven years now. During the upheaval of my life, I've gone from shock and disbelief to peace and contentment from fear and chaos to strength and empowerment--you name it, I've felt the range of emotions. I've suffered sickness and found health again. I was rich and then poor. Ha!! I thought marriage was supposed to be the buffer for all of this not the 'cause'. I should pull up the stages of grief to find where I am on that scale. I still have a way to go, I'm certain, but I'm still here--alive and kicking!!

Somewhere in the midst of all the adjustments I found peace and quiet in the early morning hours. Mind you, I do have a ritual that begins long before I can finally sit down and relax with my cup of tea or coffee and bowl of fruit. After high school and before they were off to college, the kids left behind two cats, a brother and sister pair (Clive and Toby), as is the case with the two kids (a son and daughter) who left them in mom's care. My daughter later left a large fish tank from her college days with three fish still thriving. This number was recently reduced to one 'bottom feeder', so what did I do? Yep, I placed two more fish (a fantail goldfish and a black moor) in the tank again, so I take full responsibility for that situation now.

Before I obtained my African Grey Parrot, a timneh I named Kanoni (African for 'little bird'), I was feeding crows (remember 'Tapper'?) on my deck the leftovers from my solitary meals. It's difficult to cook for one person without a lot of food going to waste, so I found a remedy to that situation when I decided to share the extra food with the squirrels and crows and what became a parade of woodland animals (raccoons and opossums and skunks and deer and more) from the woods behind my house. They are the creatures/critters that keep me company as I sit here now in my breakfast room with my laptop enjoying a morning snack. I'm surrounded by windows, so I have a view in front of me, beside me, and behind me too. This ritual is one I treasure and for which I'm pleased to return.

During the first few years of my separation, the kids were in and out of our home as they attended community college, left for college internships at Disney in Orlando and came back home before going off to Universities. They were often here while deciding where to settle after graduation. For one year of my separation, my sister, her husband and two kids lived with me while they were in a job transition which took them from Florida to Tennessee. So after the kids moved out for good and before my sister's family joined me, I had settled into a comfortable routine. It was easy to keep my house in order with only myself to care for, well, myself and the 'critters'. Though I am not a morning person, per se, duty demands that I wake up to take responsibility for my 'flock'. I also worked for awhile during this time, and I've recently taken another job to provide a little extra income and much needed human interaction.

If you've followed my blog at all, you'd know that my dad had a heart attack in the last week of November, 2006. He's had open heart surgery, gall bladder removal, and a stroke since. He suffered/survived his stroke in May and around the same time my daughter began to manifest some health issues as well. I'll spare you the details except to tell you that I've spent about eight weeks of my summer visiting between the two of them to provide whatever care I could. I tell you this so that you can understand why this morning ritual is something I value now more than ever. It has become a great time to reflect and to find gratitude for the moments when things are simply okay in my world.

As I look out my window today, I see 'Tapper' and the extras he brings along when there is food to share. The squirrels are showing up daily too, and they all seem content enough feeding side by side--each taking their turn indulging in the feast. Of course Clive generally comes around too, just to remind them all who was here first!! Yes, life is good when I can indulge in my morning ritual. See for yourself! (Pics are a little blurry--taken w/out the flash and through the window so I would not disturb the 'critters' ritual'.)

FYI--Did you know there are 269 mgs of calcium in 10 medium dried figs compared to only 117 mgs in a 3.3 oz /100 grams cup of whole milk?!? :)) Ha!! I'm at that age now where calcium is a concern and since I no longer drink whole milk, it's good to know you can actually obtain more calcium in other foods.



What are your morning rituals? Are they rushed and hurried? Are they calm and peaceful? Is there a hustle and bustle of people in your household? Does this include animals? Are you lonely, sick or well? Happy or sad? I wonder......

Sharing a morning ritual.....

...with a backyard friend!! Sweet!!!