Monday, March 18, 2024

An Expensive Quarter

I spotted a quarter on the ground as soon as I took a step off our back door deck. One rarely finds loose change these days, so I held on to it so I could tell my sister of my good fortune during our walk.

We walked and talked, and talked and walked, as we always do. Then all of a sudden I slipped on a small patch of ice and my newly found quarter flew out of my hand. I still hadn't gotten around to telling my sister my most recent good news, so it hadn't made it to my pocket yet.

The moment the quarter skidded across the icy patch, I quickly told my sister why I was holding onto it. Of course I was going to retrieve my quarter (most likely my son's quarter, but we'll figure out custody at a later date). 

My sister immediately recoiled. She thought I was going to break through the ice and land in the puddle of water which was beneath it. I was not afraid. Twenty five cents is twenty five cents. It was a lucky quarter and I went after it.

I made it back to the safety of the walking path and then I slipped. Allegedly, my head was mere centimeters from hitting the pavement, but that was lost on me. My glasses slipped and one of my lens' popped out onto the ground. 

Oh well. Easy fix. I maintained ownership of the quarter (now safely tucked into my pocket) and put the lens from my glasses in the same pocket. Still holding my disabled glasses in the same hand I'd been holding the quarter (I didn't want to take the chance of bending the frame so I didn't pocket them). 

You know where this is going, don't you?

You're right. Nearing the end of our walk, I decided to take the chance on putting the glasses into my pocket. As I did so, I dropped them on the icy ground. Undoubtedly, lens down. I'm fairly certain the lens is scratched. Hmphf.

All for the sake of a quarter. A rather expensive find indeed.


P.S. My knee feels bruised as well - but without the satisfaction of a purple and blue discolorment, all I have left, is the "ouch" of not wanting to kneel on that knee today. 

I do feel fortunate I didn't land on my face though. It was a pretty cheap tumble after all.

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Hidden Blessings

Life threw us a few curve balls this past week ...

Our Senior Cat in Residence took a sharp turn for the worse one day. The vet cured his sneezing and excessive mucous condition, but almost immediately after he completed his dose of antibiotics things started to change.

I thought it was an side effect of the medication. I assumed once the antibiotics were out of his system he would be back to his regular self. I was wrong.

Litter conditions changed, there was another somewhat steep decline in food consumption. In the past, when one cat lost some weight, the second cat gained it. Total cat weight stayed the same. Food consumption remained static. This was not the case.

When the cat food started to last much longer than usual several months ago, my thoughts immediately went to the cost savings. Instead of going through one bag every four weeks, it was lasting five weeks. When my daughter commented on the recent decline in cat food consumed, along with our Senior Cat losing more weight, it raised alarm bells.

Then one day (it seemed suddenly, but in actuality it had been happening gradually for quite some time), Senior was laying down in odd spots throughout the day. The bathroom tiled floor, the bathtub and en route to wherever he was going. By nightfall, I noticed his walking was severely compromised. He was wobbling and could barely stand, let alone walk. My daughter had observed the same and we convened in the hallway where he stalled. 

This was serious. It felt like it happened overnight (it didn't). I honestly wondered if he would make it through the night. My daughter slept with one eye and two ears open all night (she didn't sleep). He made it.

In unrelated events (but I promise to tie the two subjects together) ...

The next morning, our internet went out. Just as I was thinking how fortunate we were that the city was grading our back alley, POOF! Our services were cut (literally - the grader dug up our internet cable which had not been buried). After a phone call to our service provider and some troubleshooting, we were put on a two day wait list for a service call.

The perfect storm ended up being a blessing in disguise.

No internet = more family time + a sick cat = lots of desire to talk it through.

Long story short, we took our cat to the vet and her suspicion is our cat's kidneys aren't functioning properly. Blood tests will confirm or deny, but the cure's starting cost is medication at the cost of approximately $130 per month PLUS a new diet of special renal cat food. She did give our cat one pill which stimulated his appetite and the increase of nutrients definitely smoothed things out the past few days. But it isn't a cure. We firmly believe our cat is in his end days.

Our missing internet connection provided the best conditions we could wish for, as my ability to work was hampered and my daughter's desire to be on the computer was thwarted.

We talked, we reminisced, we simply sat with each other's company while enjoying moments with our ailing kitty.

It was the worst of times, but we managed to turn them into the best moments one could hope for under the circumstances. There can be small blessings buried deeply within some of the hardest of times. 


Ray's favorite resting spot has been on the register of the bathroom for quite a spell now.
I added the comfort of the softest hand towel we have and he seems to appreciate my effort.



**Update - a recent check-in brought encouraging news. Ray seems to be doing well and appears to be walking normally. His blood tests are still pending. My hope is perhaps a change of "gold-nugget" cat food (Ray has been on an expensive special gastro-intestinal diet since shortly after we adopted him) may ease us through this next phase. Who knows? We can hope for the best...**

Saturday, March 16, 2024

After the Storm - 2 Weeks later

Written a week ago (and abandoned) ...

A week after the storm has passed, it is looking a lot like Christmas around here. Christmas - with longer daylight hours, a warmer sun and spring not too far away.

We were fortunate my son dug us out with his skid steer. He made short work of what would have been more hours and muscle power than I can imagine. It was much of an issue as to where to put the snow, but the man-hours required to take on the job would have been monumental.


The resulting snow pile in the front yard brought back warm memories of my daycaring days, when one of my dads (whose winter work included snow clearing and removal) dumped a load of snow for the kid's entertainment. Making the most out of winter includes snow forts, snow hills, snow-people, frolicking in snow piles and simply enjoying the gifts of nature.


Rabbit tracks in the snow bring a smile to my heart every time ...


Two weeks later ...

I abandoned this post in lieu of living life quietly and letting Mother Nature deal with the excess snow.

I smiled when I spotted rabbit tracks on the mountain of snow in our front yard and was absolutely delighted when this happened:

 

Did you spot it? The rabbit hiding in plain sight??


Ahh ... the joys of rabbit-spotting. There is really nothing quite like it.

This winter station break was so much more enjoyable knowing it will all soon be gone.
But I'm glad for the moments it brought to us, right in our own front yard.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

The Storm

                                             Yesterday                                                    Today

Presently

 
Yesterday

Presently

And yes ... it is still snowing.

Thankfully, reinforcements are coming tomorrow. I know a guy with a skid steer. Lucky me!

Saturday, March 2, 2024

The Calm Before the Storm

I am sitting in a warm, insulated, fully stocked bubble of joy this morning. Snow is coming. Lots of it. And I am all nestled in, in the way I aim to live every single weekend - no errands to run and everything I need is in the house or within walking distance.

My small promise to myself is "don't drive on the weekend". It started when I spent a lot of weekends in my little oasis away from home. A small house in a small town where one doesn't need to drive anywhere. I would park the car when I arrived Friday night and it wouldn't move until I went home Monday morning. 

I loved the feeling of having a car available but not needing to use it. It took me back to my daycaring days, when I worked at home and everything we did during the day had to be within walking distance. It was the exact opposite of today's reality. The feeling of knowing the car is available but not utilized is a comfort.

Suddenly, Mom comes to mind. When she gave up her driver's license it was an assault to her freedom. She drove only when necessary, her routes were tried and true, she drove only when driving conditions were at their best and only in the daylight hours. She drove so little, her car battery died on her one time. Yet - she knew the option to drive herself and be fully independent was available.

There was a stretch of time between when she stopped driving and when her car insurance ran out, when she kept her car in the garage so it was still available for someone else to drive for her. I do believe being a passenger in her own car was perhaps one of her favorite modes of transportation. "Driving Miss Daisy Margaret" was a movie she often referred to, when it came to describing her ideal way of getting around.

It is a great comfort to have all you need within the place you call home and know your independence is fully intact. It feels even better when you have the added insurance of knowing your supplies are fully stocked and everything you need to occupy yourself is within the walls you call home.

I'm feeling pretty fortunate this morning. Milk, toilet paper, grocery, home, cat and office supplies are in stock. The car's gas tank is full, credit card balances are all sitting at my favorite number in the world - zero. Library books and DVD's are queued up and ready to entertain me. I can finalize my taxes, finish organizing my office files, finish shredding the last of a very large box of personal shredding (and there is so much more where that came from!). I can work, I can play, I can write, I can read, I could call a friend. 

It is the calm before the storm. In so very many ways ...

The before:



A foot of snow is in our forecast, so I will update "the after" very soon.
The storm ...

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Love is in the Air

I don't rabbit-watch much these days. If a rabbit isn't in sight when I gaze out our living room window, I don't linger like I did once upon a lifetime ago.

We haven't had much snow this year, so I haven't sprinkled grain under our tree to supplement the rabbit's winter diet. Without the rabbit-food nor snow to track their movements, all has seemed pretty quiet.

Snow did finally arrive and with it, rabbit tracks and evidence of rabbits circling our tree checking out the food supply (yes, I did sprinkle the grain when the ground was covered in snow). Even at that, I have only managed a few rabbit sightings.

I am fairly certain the number of rabbits in our neighborhood hasn't changed. The difference is the time I spend devoted to rabbit watching. As I quickly walk away from the living room window, I remember the days/hours/time I used to spend at the window. 

"Hiding in plain sight" is what rabbits do best. I would stare into the winter scene and try to discern clumps of snow from rabbits. They look remarkably alike. I can loose sight of a rabbit if I take my eyes off the while they are on the move. Only to find them again, if they start moving.

While I miss those days spent at the living room window, I am frustrated at my new self. There is a hollow feeling inside of me that isn't patient enough to wait until a rabbit hops into view. Hopefulness and patience seem to be in short supply.

This morning, the moment I opened the blinds two rabbits were quickly making there way towards our yard. They had been startled by an early morning walker. They went off in two different directions as a strategy to keep at least one of them safe from danger. When the walker moved on and showed no sign of pursuit, they reunited very shortly thereafter, then hopped along down the street and out of sight.

The flurry of rabbit activity spurred me into glancing again. 

This time, there were three rabbits on the move. Once stopped, the lead rabbit hunkered down and faced the other two. Hmmm ... was I witnessing a female with two male suitors? When one of the (presumed) males confronted the "lead rabbit" (aka: female?), she hissed at him and he backed off. The second rabbit did not take advantage of the possibility of him being first choice. They soon hopped away, the female still leading the way, started burrowing into a small pile of snow, but abandoned that idea when her suitors were still interested. Soon enough, they hopped out of sight and I don't know the rest of their story.

My rabbit-tale coincided nicely with the date. Could it be that I was witnessing a little spring rabbit-love in the air?

Lots of rabbit tracks ... no rabbits in sight. 
But they aren't far.

Thursday, February 8, 2024

Delightfully Uncomplicated

As I sit here this morning, coffee at my side and a little time on my hands, life feels delightfully uncomplicated.

There is no reason for today to feel different from other days. I simply woke up at my home-away-from-home and I'm ready to log another work day at my new job.

New jobs are fraught with stresses and complications. This is no different. The difference is me.

I'm taking a step towards my future. I feel comfortable. I feel comforted. I feel better.


I took a picture of our backyard and realized as I was taking it, the kitchen cupboards were reflected in the shot. It reflects a little of how I feel at the moment. 

Eyes on the present moment, while reflecting upon where I'm at and quietly plotting what I need to do to get here.