Mar
29
2013
Two male cowbirds I spotted today on my platform feeder under my large white pine tree. I have seen them in my yard other years but this is the first time this year. Only the male has a brown head. They do have a bad reputation for planting their eggs in other birds’ nests. Anyway, they were a pleasant surprise today.
Mar
28
2013
Today there was one purple primrose blooming–one flower with a yellow star inside. I was told recently that the yellow primrose are hardier. I planted several other colored primrose but this is the first one that was not just yellow. There are some other buds coming up. Let us see what colors they will be. It is getting a little warmer. The yellow primrose have been blooming for weeks now. The daffodils have not bloomed yet but I keep checking them every day or two.
Mar
27
2013
I am very aware how my written words sound to my ear. It does not matter what it is–a blog, essay, poem, etc. It always makes a difference when I have read a piece out loud. That was what was first–the oral tradition. People did not have books. They sat around a fire reciting their stories. When I read things I have written out loud, I find errors. Sometimes I have deleted a word or the tense is wrong. Other times a word may not ring true and I have to insert a different one. Sometimes there are duplication or repetition. If I don’t want a phrase there, I may have to move it or delete it. I may not like the cadence or sounds the words make. It is always easier to find the errors after I have read the piece out loud.
Mar
27
2013
I remember during my first serious relationship thinking every time I had a big fight it was the end of us. She kept reassuring me it was not. I now know couples have fights because they are trying to work things out. Conflict is normal. You just don’t want constant unresolved conflict for that is not healthy for the relationship. It puts it on very fragile ground. Fights are fueled by deep feelings and somehow you have to learn how to resolve differences. It is the resolution of conflict that cements the relationship. A fight means work needs to be done between the two of you. It is a natural process.
Mar
27
2013
The opossum almost got run over by me. It was dark already and, luckily, I was driving slowly. I spotted it in front of my car and stopped. It did not know what to do. It ran a few feet in one direction and then turned around and made it safely to the other side. I was glad I was not in a rush. I never know what I will flush on that road at night. Sometimes it is deer or raccoons. I am just glad I did not run over the opossum.
Mar
27
2013
The purple crocuses are still blooming. They last a long time although they are not open the whole day depending on the daylight. The yellow primrose are the only other flowers blooming. For the second year in a row they made it through the whole winter. I checked on our daffodils. They are not blooming yet. Other flowers are coming up like the hyacinth and tulip and I am sure there will be others. It is exciting to walk around our land and see what is coming next. I once had a teacher who had lived in Hawaii and did not understand what spring meant to others until she moved here. Spring is always an reawakening of the earth here.
Mar
27
2013
Tilla who sleeps on the Lazy Boy chair in the office did not appear while I watched a TV program before going to bed. Usually he will keep me company and wait for me to vacate the chair. I finally went to bed. A few minutes later he appeared in my bedroom snuggling up to me. I petted my dog for a minute or two. Then he turned around and immediately walked to his chair. He was bidding me “good night”.
Mar
26
2013
‘If you don’t count your money, it will count itself,’ my father used to say something like that in his broken English. He had a point: if you are not careful with the purchases you make, you will run out of money. You have to budget, so you have enough money for all your essentials. Otherwise if you spend unwisely, you run out of money. I think about my father’s words every once in awhile. He was a wise man in his own way.
Mar
26
2013
I think my dog, Tilla, likes to make me laugh. I called him in and he immediately rolled on his belly tail thumping vigorously (???) Expecting a belly rub. I don’t know about that but he made me laugh. He stayed in that position for a little while and finally trotted in the house when I beckoned him in again.
Mar
25
2013
‘Songs To Aging Children Come’ This is the title and a line from an early Joni Mitchell song I heard in the late sixties. In the song she says in beautiful language and this is a paraphrase: there is all this beauty around and don’t you see it. I do. And she ends the song saying: ‘songs to aging children come. This is one’. Back then and now I identified with the song. Another line was ‘people hurry by so quickly, don’t they hear the melodies…’
I saw all this beauty around me as a young adult and others were not seeing it. I could not understand that. Even today. I starting writing back then to the present to record this marvelous world before me and slow down my pace so I could capture this beauty. Then she ends the song: ‘Songs to aging children come. This is one.’ I had to grow up and still be child-like so I understood her song perfectly. I was not all alone.
Mar
25
2013
There are many reasons I love my pets. Growing up, I had none. It was not even an option. I have a chance to do it all over. At the moment, I have a menagerie–seven cats and four dogs. I know I won’t always have that many. I love each cat and dog. Sure they are a responsibility. I welcome that gladly. Each cat and each dog is different. Each one I have to love differently. Not every pet responds to me. So what. It is a privilege to raise them. They don’t belong to me. Each one is on loan. I treat each animal differently. Like others, there are those I love more. Cats are very different than dogs–much more independent. I am just glad I have the opportunity to raise and love each animal. It is a privilege and an honor.
Mar
25
2013
My seven cats and four dogs enrich my life. I have to admit only one cat (Cool Hand Luke), a completely black scrawny cat, seeks me out and snuggles up to me occasionally. Maybe, that is because she is the only pet I had before I met my wife over ten years ago. I have always taken care of her. She has a favorite spot in my room, where she curls up by the window on the books I have placed there. When she is not there at night she sleeps on my bed catercorner from me. She does not get along too well with the other cats.
My relationship with the other six cats are all different. Cheyenne, a beautiful long haired cat, usually does not let me pet him. In fact, if I approach him; he goes the opposite way and looks at me with the expression “how dare you go near me.” Jasmine, a tiny delicate female, the mother of four of our cats, does not seek me out but does not object if I pet her.
China, a long haired exotically colored black and white cat is one cool cat, supremely confidently poised cat will, also, not seek me out but certainly not turn down an hug from me. Tiger will also not turn me down. He has the softest fur. Even the vet commented how soft his fur was.
Pumpkin, the only cat from Jasmine’s first litter, is just a nice cat and gets along with all the other cats. And then there is Buttons, somewhat similar in coloring to Tiger. He was the last cat to enter this household. He showed up at our front door. He is about as wild as you can be and still be a domestic cat. He hides under our bed. And usually goes the other way if I dare approach him. That takes care of the cats and now I will talk briefly about our four dogs.
There is Pax, the elder, who is a ninety pound scary dog but a real scaredy cat. He likes the sound of his own voice and will demonstrate that if he runs into the yard and seeks out the furthest right corner of the fence barking every step of the way. He comes up to me if he wants something for he knows I will not ignore him and act quicker than my wife. He is getting up in age–now twelve.
Now there is the golden retriever appropriately named Sweetie. She is very tactile, loves to have something in her mouth and just can not get enough attention. In fact, she will demand it and sit there all day while you pet her. She is the mom of the last two dogs (Pax is the Dad) Tilla and Coco.
Coco is a long haired female who is black with a touch of red in there. She has the most adorable fluffy ears. She likes her privacy. She will often go into the bed room by herself and just stay there for hours. She will lie down there front paws crossed so delicate like completely feminine like.
The last animal I have is Tilla originally called Atilla The Hun and The Olympian. He is the only dog who could jump the fence we had built around a large section of the yard and necessitated us building it even higher. He is lean, aggressive and completely black and the most athletic of our four dogs.
He keeps me company as I watch TV in the evening and then sleeps in the Lazy Boy I vacate when I go to bed. I won his love by giving him a belly rub almost every time he wanted it. He and I have a special relationship. He is the only dog I have given walks. That is a brief description of my relationships I have with my eleven animals. Each one is different.
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