Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

Absence makes your heart fonder.  I know that is a cliche but it is true.  I have been kept a little too busy on my vacation to miss my wife and menagerie particularly my dogs too much.  I have called my wife every day and made several quick calls.  My vacation to New Orleans has two days to go and then I fly back.  I see my lifelong friend once a year.  Once a year we reconnect.  After fifty years Chuck still makes me laugh and that is an accomplishment.  I had fun.  Saturday we go out on a charter as long as the weather behaves and I will probably catch the biggest fish of my life.  Chuck said some speckled trout weigh several pounds.  So I am excited about that.  My vacation here will end in a bang.

Tags: absence makes your heart fonder, charter boat, cliche, dogs, fishing, lifelong friend, my wife, New Orleans, pets, speckled trout, vacation
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Vacations are always interesting, especially, when you go to another part of the country.  Chuck and I were in Buluxi, Mississippi and I was looking at the Gulf waters and saw two large birds flying over the water, one tailing another.  I asked my friend what they were and he said the birds were brown pelicans.  It is their state bird and almost disappeared in that state and they had to import them from Florida so you could still find them in Mississippi.

Tags: bird-watching, birds, brown pelicans, Buluxi, Florida, Gulf waters, large birds, Mississippi, state bird, vacations
Posted in beauty, birds, God, knowledge&learning, nature, relationships, time | 2 Comments »

The weather was absolutely gorgeous. I checked the car thermostat. It was sixty degrees deep blue sky without a cloud in sight. I was running to the store for a last minute errand and quickly realized the silk shirt I had on was too warm and I had to take it off. I was going to see my friend Chuck and it was going to be at least twenty degrees warmer in New Orleans. I immediately put a tee shirt on when I arrived back from my errand. I was excited. I had arranged to have a window seat on both legs of my journey today. Vacations are usually another “world”. For a short time you enter someone else’s reality. We can get so used to our own and not see what is directly in front of us any longer. Vacations in a strange place have a way of jarring you. And that is a good thing. Occasionally, anyway.

Tags: airplane, deep blue sky, God, gorgeous weather, my friend, New Orleans, someone else's reality, tee shirt, vacation, visiting an old friend, window seat
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There were recent notable discoveries in our house. My wife has had a Christmas cactus over her back kitchen window for years. It had never bloomed but it did in the last week for the first time. She also placed some broken tentacles from a “monster” cactus I am now keeping in my office and today it bloomed. It has a pink flower almost five inches wide and five inches around. We have had the “monster” cactus bloom before but this is the first time it budded in our house.

Tags: "monster" cactus, Christmas cactus, Christmas cactus bloom, my wife, pink flower on tentacled cactus, plants
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What do I know for certainty? My wife loves me. So does my favorite dog–Tilla. Probably Coco, his sister. Maybe, that needs to be enough. Two dogs and my wife. Maybe, that should be sufficient. Let me bask in that love. I did nothing to earn that. Of course, I did not mention Jesus. He loves me, too. I don’t know why you can feel so separated and so alone sometimes?

Tags: Coco, dogs, feeling separated and alone, God, Jesus, love, pets, the love of my dogs, the love of my wife, Tilla
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My birthday is coming up (and I am just depressed). I can not tell you exactly why although I can guess. Part of that is grief. Most of my life is over. I can’t go back. Wishing is futile. Somehow I need to settle things. My relationship with my daughter is fractured. I don’t know how to repair it. Lectures and judgements don’t do it. I am aware of the ticking time. I am running out of time. I guess, everyone wants to leave a legacy. I am working at getting my first book of poetry out but it is a long and uncertain process. My wife is the only one who really cares about that. She is my editor and a good one. Things really don’t matter. I really don’t know how much time I have left. For that matter, no one knows for sure. I know that somehow I need to make peace with the people who matter to me. I don’t know how. I am just depressed. That is all I know.

Tags: birthdays, depression, editor, grief, make peace with people, my birthday is coming up and I don't care, my daughter, my fractured relationships, my legacy, my wife, peace, poetry, publishing a book, running out of time, time, writing
Posted in balance, children, death, God, life, love, mental health, relationships, time, wisdom, writing, your job/mission/profession | No Comments »

I had to remind myself of the scripture that says, ‘Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.’ My wife kept complaining I was interrupting her all the time. And I thought of that passage from the bible and it gave me a weapon to help me to stop doing that. It was a bad habit I had and now I had a way to stop doing it. It would not be easy, though. I would have to work at it.

Tags: "quick to listen slow to speak and slow to anger", Bible, God, interrupting my wife, scripture
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My wife and I have a fierce Scrabble rivalry. I taught her all my tricks. Now she beats me more than I beat her–at least it seems that way usually by using all her tiles in one move: there is a fifty point bonus if you do that. Recently I had a game where I did that three times. I won that game.

Lately our games don’t last longer than an hour. She used to deliberate forever: I taught her how to focus logically on the words and premiums played. There was a time years ago she thought counting points was mercenary. I taught her how to maximize her points.

In the instructions of the game it says the total of the points scored in one game is usually between 500 and 700 hundred or more depending on the skill of the players. Yesterday we played our second highest score (890 points). In over ten years we have played hundreds of games between us. It is hard to lose a game when you score 419 points but I did: she had 471 points.

She has become a worthy opponent. That we have an activity we both enjoy so much and are so equally matched is only by the grace of God. And she is my wife. I still think she has become a better player than me. Only by a hair.

Tags: 890 total Scrabble score, a game of Scrabble takes an hour, fierce Scrabble rivalry, grace of God, maximizing your score in Scrabble, my rivalry with my wife, my wife, Only by grace we have an activity we like so much, taught her all my tricks in Scrabble, using all your letters in one move of scrabble
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I praised the Lord, again. I took a shower and had hot water. To many that may be a small thing but for months our hot water heater kept shutting down. We were able to buy another one and have pay someone to install it. Now we have hot water every time. On demand. I forget all those times we did not have hot water. It went on for months. So, again, I praise the Lord for this luxury. Yes, luxury. Hot water. For that matter, there are literally millions, maybe billions, of people in this world who do not have plumbing. Or even clean water. And I am considered poor in this country. Americans are so spoiled and have no idea how rich the average person in this country is. Compare yourself to the multitudes who do not have plumbing in their house. Or worse yet have no clean water. Americans are so spoiled.

Tags: hot water, hot water heater, poverty, praise the Lord, take a shower, the luxury of hot water, the poor and plumbing and clean water, the spoiled Americans
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Thank God for fatigue. It is your body telling you you have to rest. That is a good thing. “Speed” kills you for it overrides that message and given enough time you keep going and eventually your body deteriorates from within. Rest is a period your body recovers. If you consistently don’t sleep enough you don’t feel well for during sleep your body rejuvenates itself so observe the messages your body is telling you. Your body is an incredibly complex piece of machinery.

Tags: fatigue, God, listening to your body, rejuvenating quality of sleep, resting, sleep, speed kills, thank God, your body
Posted in balance, death, God, health, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, time | No Comments »

We had to put Pax to sleep last night. My wife could not witness it. He was a great dog–fourteen years old. This did not make it any easier. He had a full life as a big dog. With much difficulty we got him into my car. I had to wait in the waiting room about fifteen minutes. Pax was in such bad pain. He could hardly move. He had two ripped knees and just got worse with his medication. He would not stop panting. I talked to him softly, stroked him lightly while we were waiting.

Finally we got into the room and he lay on the stainless steel. I did not stop stroking him lightly and talking to him. He lay there and I kept softly stroking him on ___ and talking softly to him. It was his last few minutes. The vet explained to me what was going to happen, shaved one of his legs and gave him his injection. I talked to him softly and lightly patted him as he went from one realm into another.

I burst into tears uncontrollably when he became still. I knew him for twelve of his fourteen years. He had such dignity. In the end no matter how difficult it was for him to exit into our yard and navigate the steps, he still went out into the yard to pee.

We did this for him not us. Now he can run freely, with no pain. Maybe, one time we will meet in heaven. He was a great dog. I loved him but I had to let him go. He is now in a better place.

Tags: a great dog, big dog, burst into tears, dog fourteen years old, dog had such dignity, Doggy heaven, dogs, had a full life, his last few minutes, I saw Pax slip from one realm into another, in a better place, Maybe I Will see him in heaven, my wife, Pax, Pax and his last minutes, Pax was now pain free, pets, putting my dog to sleep, vet
Posted in animals, death, God, life, local, marriage, pets, relationships, time | 1 Comment »

If we are not our brother’s keeper continue to house most of the mentally ill in jails. After all, who cares if they get put in isolation wards when they misbehave there. So that is a form of torture. They usually are put on the cheapest medications not always the proper ones. Families are being destroyed not to say anything of the individuals there. I am sure the suicide rate is high.

I saw this coming decades ago when the states started closing down their state hospitals. The money did not follow into community services but just “evaporated”. Hospitalizations are very expensive. Partials are very cost effective. There is no way a person can be stabilized in a few days. At least in a partial you can be monitored over a long period of time. The therapeutic level of a psychotropic medication is often one to two weeks.

Are we our brother’s keeper? Yes! Yes! We are commanded to take care of the weak, the infirm, those in poverty and the mentally ill. We can not turn our heads to them. Each individual must do his/her part to alleviate their suffering. Our society has become so far away from that. So do your part no matter the role you take. It is never too late to start.

Tags: alleviate suffering, brother's keeper, closing state hospitals, community services, do your part, God, mental illness and jails, never too late to start, partials, psychotropic medication, society, take care of the infirm, take care of the mentally ill, take care of the weak, take care of those in poverty, therapeutic level of medications
Posted in balance, God, knowledge&learning, life, mental health, relationships, wisdom | 1 Comment »