Delores

At least the sun will be shining on us today as we all get together and celebrate Delores.  She had more ambition and zest for life than ALL of us put together.  Yesterday, as we were compiling photos and preparing for today, I looked around Wendell and Delores's house wondering when exactly it had changed into a home.  I'm thinking just about the minute she walked in!!!  So many of her family members have remarked that Wendell and her time in the good ole USA were the happiest 4 years of her life.  What a wonderful legacy that leaves for Wendell.  As we were chatting the other day about some necessities, he began to tell me a bit about Delores's life preWendell.  Everybody has a back story and hers wasn't all peaches and cream ( as no one's ever is).  Opposites do attract and sometimes what you thought you liked might change when you see how much that change makes somebody smile.  Delores never liked country music.... Alrighty then....I think those red cowgirl boots turned that 180.  And who would think Wendell would actually enjoy a trip to the Merry-Go-Round Theater?  A canoe trip down the inlet to Owasco Lake?....a picnic where venison was the main dish?...Giving up a snap front shirt for one with actual buttons?....A skinny dip in the pond....Oh the things we do for the ones we love.  As I looked around at the house yesterday, I remarked to Wendell that she sure left his life more beautiful than when she entered. A crisp, white table runner adorned the table with the shotgun shell hole and the beauty of it all was the vase of yellow roses in the middle. They were her favorite and she was his!

                                                           A new butterfly has her wings!

Raccoon Love

Well I could probably hum a few bars of Muskrat Love but Raccoon love leaves me silent.  We have some neighbors who love to come and partake of the myriad of seeds, nectars and suets that comprise our wildlife buffet. Last night, just as I was getting ready to retire, I noticed what seemed to be an exceptionally large (tall) critter grabbing a midnight snack.  I looked a little more closely and realized it was not one raccoon but two! As is "normal" with the male of most species, one of them ( or it could have been consensual)  had decided it was time for a little raccoon love. At least I believe that was what was happening.. that.. or a game of "leap frog" going terribly awry. I wasn't positive what I was watching but as far as I could tell... from our bedroom window...with binoculars.....for 10 minutes....it was a little raccoon S & M... after all, they were wearing masks and what appeared to be whip like tails and making unusually strange sounds...( none of which sounded like "no" or "stop"). I'm not sure what a "safe word" would be for a raccoon... Paws/pause?   Anyway, we all have different appetites for midnight snacks.  Now, in our old age, Lee's appears to be cereal and I appear to be satiated by watching wild raccoon love... Sad but true!

Hot, Hot, Hot

I have never been one of those that said, "gee I wish it would warm up!"  ...not even in the dead of winter.  I can always put more clothes on or cover up with a blanket or even turn up the heat.  In this lovely summer weather, I find it a daunting task to keep cool.  My best remedy for cooling is to not move.  I can do that!  I have a ceiling fan and a floor fan in my den and I open up the house early to let the cool breezes work their magic then I close up and hope the hot air escapes through the skylights.We have two small ceiling fans over our bed that work wonders although sometimes, such as last night, they backfire (and I use the term lightly) and send Lee's evening scent waifing throughout the bedroom. I've sprayed so much air freshener over the years, I often now confuse the smell of cinnamon and shit.We do have an air conditioner resting nicely in the basement but we've been able to survive without hauling it up the steps.  Since we haven't yet launched the pontoon boat...and who knows if we will, I'm quite ready for fall.  It looks like the NFL execs may very well pull their heads out of their asses in time to save  the season and my sanity. Fall without football would be like Jess without her phone..... unacceptable! I guess heat is all relevant... Jeff said the heat index in Charlotte at the airport today was to be near 135....I don't think my oven even gets that hot.  So, when I think it's too hot today, I'll think of all those people in places hotter than here and count my blessings once again. 

Cancer Sucks!

Try to picture a young man in his mid forties planning his wife's funeral. They have raised six wonderful children,  owned a successful business in a climate of economic turn-down,  had grandchildren and everything to look forward to..... but he's choosing a funeral venue.  Cancer sucks!  Years later, this same man in his early seventies, (his Golden Years) is seen sitting at the table planning his wife's funeral.  They have built a wonderful house in the country near a glorious, smooth pond. They've enjoyed wintering in the south and a bit of travel.  Cancer sucks!  Now again in his early eighties, his hair gray, wrinkles of wisdom and a good life etched on his sad face, he plans his wife's funeral.  His last few years were filled with travel, the arts, peaceful canoe trips, retirement and a wonderful life many never get to enjoy.  Cancer Sucks!

Many of us are never lucky enough to find a mate to share our life with.  Few of us are lucky enough to find it more than once.  If you have it....cherish it.... Life is often very short!

My Bucket List (sightings)

I finally get to cross something off my Bucket List of Things I'd like to see.  I was sure I'd have to trek up through the woods to see a pileated woodpecker.  The guys have seen one during hunting season but due to the fact that I neither hunt nor hike, chances of me being in the woods near their sighting area were slim to NFW. Just after supper the other night, Jess exclaimed, "there's a huge woodpecker at the suet feeder!"  I moved to peek thinking it was the red bellied woodpecker who has frequented the suet on occasion.  NOPE!  It was Pete the Pileated Woodpecker and he was huge.  He was wrapped around the suet cage and hung off the bottom too... No way would he fit entirely on the suet holder.  I went for my nearest camera which was my cell phone and snapped a quick photo as he took off like a 747.  Lousy picture :-(  Hoping he'd be back, I sat and waited...duh.....Jess assured me he would be back now that he knew where to get some yummy peanut butter suet.  Yesterday morning, she, as my trusty Cornell bird book educated me, was back for a morning snack.  I had placed my good camera next to the door so I would be ready.  She did fly away but to a very near tree where I had a bird's eye view (what else). She is at least 11-12 inches long and quite a sight. The longest pecker I had ever seen (sad but true). She afforded me about 10 minutes of priceless birdwatching and time to photograph her morning ritual of pecking and pilfering for bugs... both in the tree and on her feathery torso.  Doesn't take much to amuse me in my old age.  I'm still waiting for a loon sighting and I'd really like to photograph a bear. We had one visit once but he/she only left their paw prints, evidence of her feeder mayhem and her resting place to devour the seed and nectar placed there for my feathered friends. I just never know what critter or bird might visit me next...I just know that I love it here!!

Head vs. Heart

The jury has spoken.  It wasn't what I wanted to hear but they did their job.  The burden of proof was a monumental undertaking for the prosecution of Casey Anthony.  I thought they did a phenomenal job. I would have voted for felony murder committed in the act of aggravated child abuse.  It appears I would have held the jury in deliberations for......................ever.  I would have been a bad juror.  My heart would probably have prevailed over my head... in fact there's no probably about it...I would never have been able to get past those 31 days of hot body contests, tattoos, drinking, lusting, lies and complete self indulgence.  I don't believe she intended to kill her.  I do believe she intended to silence her. The most compelling statement made by Jeff Ashton, Florida state prosecutor, was... murders are often disguised as accidents, accidents are seldom disguised as murders.  If you ever thought your family was dysfunctional, think again.  As Casey's ex-fiance' said this morning, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!"  Her mother, Cindy lied - Casey lied.  Her Dad was definitely an adulterer and her brother was a outsider.  I do not believe that her family members were in any way contributors in Caylee's death or cover up. I do think they were contributors in Casey's lifestyle.  Enabling is a poor choice...even when you try to explain it away as helping. I think we'll see Casey walk tomorrow or within the very near future. Pundits say 1 year for each guilty charge. (4).  She's been in jail for nearly 3 years.  I'm hoping a suggested sentence is at least one more year of incarceration...and not in a confined space.  She needs to join the general population and take her comeupins!!  I don't think they'll like her very much.  More jail time would, in some VERY small way, compensate for the lack of a guilty verdict . Somehow watching her freely leave the courthouse tomorrow would be almost worse than yesterday's painful 6 words...Not Guilty - Not Guilty - Not Guilty!

Independence Day

Being an independent person, this holiday is especially near and dear to my well being. I quite like being able to say what I want to say, when and where (within reason) I want to say it.  I have the freedom to look and act as the day or situation strikes me.  I can live wherever I can afford, I can eat whatever I like, I can drive wherever I choose and I can even marry whomever I fancy.  All of these freedoms are a direct result of our independence. Included in these rights is the ability to elect whomever I feel will do the best job in seeing that my rights are protected.  I am sorry Dad but I DID vote for Andrew Cuomo. I know he's a Democrat. It wasn't a slip of my lever finger. It was intentional.  I think I actually like him.  I  am thrilled that we have the right to choose when and if  "we" are born. We now have the right to marry whomever we choose.  The only right I am really missing..especially since I sometimes question buying green bananas. is the right to end my life when I deem necessary, purposeful and humane.  If you're talking about certain, inalienable rights... that's one I certainly hope we gain in the next four score and twenty years........preferably sooner.

I'm off to enjoy this holiday week-end and to revel in our freedoms.  I hope you all have a fun, safe and free week-end!