To PASADENA

Today I am trying to finish laundry so I can leave on my trip. Pasadena has been calling my name. I love my grandchildren so much that it hurts to not see them often. It will be 5 wonderful days playing with grandchildren who love me. What can be better than that?

ABOUT FAMILY

When my children were small I went with them to buy them a parakeet. Nathan’s bird was a green parakeet and Andrea’s bird was yellow. During my childhood my mother and aunt always had a small bird in their homes. They said this reminded them of their father who had died in a coal mining accident when they were small.

Coal miners always had canaries in the mines. They enjoyed the song of the bird. Also, the birds were so sensitive to the quality of the air that if there was any gas in the mine the bird died quickly. This gave the miners the warning they needed in order to escape before there was an explosion.

I don’t know how my grandfather died but I do know it was in a coal mine accident. My grandmother never talked about him. When I was a teenager my grandpa Rich told me I needed to know about the sacrifice Grandpa Arno made when he died in the mines. My grandpa Rich also took me to the Schofield mine and showed me a plaque where the worst coal mine accident in the history of the United Stakes occurred. I didn’t understand the significance at that time. It has been many years for me to understand what it meant to a coal mining community to have a miner die in the mines.

LEARNING FROM BIRDS

As I rest my head on my soft down pillow I wonder what it is about birds that I love watching. Now I am not the kind of bird watcher that gets up at all times of the day or night and marches through the marsh or fields to spot a bird. Nor will you ever see me climbing a tree to look at a nest. I don’t care to keep track of how many birds I have seen in an area. Keeping a North American Bird Guide handy is a must, however.

Moving to our home 10 years ago brought a new fascination with birds as I viewed breeds I hadn’t seen before. Watching male Mallard ducks with the colorful reflection in rippled water made me want to be a painter to capture the moment on canvas. In South America I saw birds I don’t even know how to describe let alone name. My first time of seeing eagles wasn’t all that exciting. The nesting areas in Missouri are much too cold to enjoy for long. When I saw the majestic Bald Eagle in Alaska where the temperatures were much warmer I found a new respect for these birds.

Driving in our neighborhood Kent had the opportunity to meet 3 wild turkeys on the road. Not something for the faint of heart. They are not like a turkey in a freezer case. These birds are very aggressive and attacked the car. From our deck I watched a hawk catch a chickadee midair. Both of these were rather traumatic but not to be missed. I have watched birds nest on the tree in by our front porch. The day the fledglings flew away was very exciting. How these birds tolerated people in and out all day was amazing to me. One lazy Saturday Kent and I went over to Bush Wildlife and watched a beautiful egret catch a fish and swallow it whole.

Maybe the fascination is I have to stop the world as I spend time in nature. Time stops for a short time and I am lost in a beautiful world. Today, as I am perfectly still I hear doves, robins and a bird I don’t recognize. I love this time of day.

IT'S RAINING

Today is April 23, 2010. There isn’t anything important happening today. The president isn't speaking, no natural disasters making news, grandchildren are all healthy, and Andrea’s pregnancy is progressing very normally. The clouds are dark and we are having a steady drizzle. I still need a nap during the day but who knows if that is age or illness. I guess I could say “this is a rather boring day!”

Today the difference for me is my granddaughter, Aubrey, made me a get well card. It was all hand made and written entirely by her. How wonderful it felt to know she loved and remembered me. It has me thinking. Have I ever gone to that much trouble to make someone’s day brighter. I’m sure I have but not on a regular basis. Really, how much trouble is it to write a card encouraging someone? I am continually amazed at how much I learn from my grandchildren.

I NEED TO TALK

I need to talk. I realize that there are those who have difficulty talking to others. I am not one of them. As I have studied B. F. Skinner he stated that the more you give a child time outs the more aggressive he will become. What about adults. Do we also become aggressive when we don’t feel we are being seen or heard by others? This past week my doctor told me I was to quarantine myself. (A term from the 1950’s) When I am isolated I find myself talking to anyone who will listen. Heaven forbid you call to ask a simple question or you dial a wrong number and get me when I am going through isolation.

So I have sat alone trying to find something to do during my isolation. I started watching an owl box, Molly the Owl and her 4 little owls. At times there are over 15,000 viewers logged on watching the eggs hatch and the mother teachng her babies how to be owls. There is room for the viewer to make comments. I enjoy reading the comments and every so often venture out and make a comment of my own, hoping that it will accepted by the group. What a strange experience.

Tomorrow, I am going to change my behavior. I am going to communicate with real people who mean something to me. Molly and her brood with have to grow without me.

THINGS VS. EXPERIENCES

Kent has a wonderful attitude that things are not that important. Our washing machine lasted for 35 years. I bought a beautiful new one but it doesn’t match the dryer. The dryer is only 18 years old so it will never match the washer. Our 11 year old microwave handle broke. I found some RHINO glue on the internet and Kent fixed the handle. You would never know it was broken. And so it goes around here.

Our home is lovely, just out of date. Our dinning room set was given to us when we were a young family. It was old then. Now it’s even older. Our furniture is very old too but not at all worn out. The kitchen table was my grandmothers. I remember using it when I went to visit almost 60 years ago. (She used it longer than that but I don’t have a memory that is longer.)

We have come to recognize that buying new granite counter tops would mean we couldn’t go on a vacation. We could buy a new car or go on a trip with friends. New dryer would mean I couldn’t visit the grandchildren in Pasadena. Buying all the things my heart desires would keep us working instead of moving on the next phase of our lives.

Some how I don’t think we would be as happy talking about a new dryer as we are when we talk about a trip. In my world Experiences always wins out.

APRIL 15

Today is April 15. We have our traditions and how we pay taxes is one of them. We used to hate this day with it’s deadline of epic proportions. One day we decided to change our attitude. We picked up of taxes from our accountant (I’m not sure why he never got them done until the April 15) and then we went to dinner. There we ate and signed our forms and wrote out our tax checks. If you’re not self employed you may not understand this process. Once finished we drove to a post office that was open late and dropped off our taxes waiting in line with others who decided that this was the perfect night for this event. It really is quite a festive mood as late payers pass each other in the parking lot hand envelopes to waiting Postal Employees. Ah yes, spring is in the air and that means April 15.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

I was watching a webcam of a cardinal’s nest. Three red eggs hatched to find three red baby cardinals. The host of the website said they wanted to name the baby birds and encouraged views to make suggestions. I was surprised at the suggestions. The first that came across were cute baby names. Second were names of the Phoenix Cardinals, including “Dolly” for their cheerleaders. Next names suggested were from birds in children’s books. It was interesting to see names of Catholic Cardinals, including “Bishops.” I had to add names of my favorite redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. It is amazing how one word can mean so many things to so many people.

The names chosen were Ruby, Rosie and Scarlet. This was probably more appropiate for a family friendly website.

MY WINDOW

There are so many "things" out my window that I can look at. There are new bunnies running through my yard. I can focus on the beauty of new life or I can see rabbits eating my plants. I can see my deck beckoning me to come out and read a book enjoying the morning sun or I can see a deck that needs to be stained. I can see the beautiful flowers or I can see the bees that bother me as I sit outside. Oh, what my window reveals to me or about me.

EASTER WEEKEND

Yes, spring is here in Missouri and we love each new event that calls to us to come outside. After a long winter it is time to get reacquainted with neighbors. Time to breathe the fresh air. Time to cut back old plants and encourage growth in the newly warmed earth.  Some plants don’t need our encouragement. They are the early spring flowers who struggle against the cold winter ground to be the first to herald the coming of spring. They are like the wonderful people who optimistically try to find ways to show us how things will be better.

IT'S TIME

One of the things we have enjoyed over the years is going to Bush Wildlife Preserve, a beautiful area that is set aside for nature to exist in an ever encroaching environment. We have watched blue herring catch and eat fish; deer caring for their fawns, birds of all kinds, turtles, fish, flowers, and trees, well the list goes on and on. For the most part everyone who goes there enjoys and cares for the pristine environment. But every so often one individual forgets to be part of a global community.

I wonder if these individual were never taught to care for their environment or are they rebelling against rules? I can’t accept not being taught as a reason. Very few are taught everything they need to know to do well in life. We all need to choose people to observe in our quest for knowledge. Rebelling is also a poor excuse. There are so many ways we can rebel without hurting others. As a teenager my parents were very non-religious. I rebelled by going to church. This made me a better person and hurt no one.

It is time to stop being lazy about our environment. We need to care for nature and respect those who still believe that this earth is a good place to live.