Time To Get Home

Time To Go!

Well, one more day then I am back home.  It is good to go home. I have spent the past four weeks feeding ducks and trying to teach them to be kind. I never knew ducks could be so mean to one another. They just fight and fight. I'll miss feeding them - when I go out with the food they follow me and talk, and talk, and talk - do they think I will move faster the more they chatter at me. Never did get the chipmunk to eat peanuts. Oh, he sneaks in the garage and steals them then sits on the fence and mocks me - another thing I did not know - chipmunks like to mock people. There are so many birds. Turkey buzzards fly so gracefully but they are some ugly critters. The blue jays and woodpeckers will knock on the window if you don't have food out there for them - silly birds. Last night I saw the biggest skunk! Holy Moly he was a biggun'! Thankfully he just meandered in the other direction. Of course there was the loss of the gopher and the raccoon, and one duck, and one chipmunk - I reckon I was not a good Shepard - of course wild animals are wild - they live at survival mode - sad, how many people are living at survival mode. When I watch the news, and see the tragedies happening in the world - it reminds me how very fortunate I am. Might have to scratch out month to month, we manage. Wouldn't it be nice if we could make the world different? Often I examine my actions seeking to make a situation better - not that I have any great answers - just figure if I live a good life, show kindness to others, offer forgiveness, and keep a positive outlook - doesn't cost anything to be nice; OK, sometimes it is a struggle, but in the end it is easier to be kind than to be mean. There is a bumper sticker I often see on my way to work - Mean People Stink! That is true. (skunks stink too, literally they stink) School will be starting soon. Parents are all celebrating - teachers are groaning. I am lucky because I love teaching - the job has gotten more difficult. Children have such need. They arrive at school looking for answers to questions we cannot answer. How often there are no answers - we do the best we can. (That snuggy commercial is on, almost as annoying as the political ads) Eileen will be glad to have her home back. Once you are accustomed to living alone, you get use to your routine - Thanks Eileen for everything - 47 years we have been friends, WOW next week I am turning 47 years old. How did that happen? It is OK. I am alright with turning 47 - glad to wake up on this side of the dirt. I am also blessed - Thanks Liz for understanding the time I have spent away this summer; your love and support make everything possible. Tonight they are throwing a surprise birthday/bon voyage party for me - should I work on my surprise face? Next week we are having a birthday party for me - two parties - YEAH for me! Nature is something I need to get to more; in LA we don't have a lot of nature just milling about - speaking of which - the other night a gang of coyotes must have caught something - they were laughing so loud it woke me up from sleep. It wasn't howling, they howl almost every night; No, this was laughter - that is why I think they must have killed something - they shouldn't laugh though, that is just rude. Where did summer go? Up here in Malone it was really cold last night, really cold this morning - What is the temperature in LA? In Texas they have had 24 consecutive days of temperatures over 100, that is too much! California will get the rains in January and February - I like the rain, once in a while. It rains a lot in Seattle. Seattle has the highest suicide rate of any state in the union - do you think there is a correlation? Football is starting soon. Favre is coming back. I like Favre, maybe I will take him as my fantasy football QB? No, I want to win FF this year. I don't win very often - one year I won. I know Favre waffles and that bothers people - Why? Sometimes it takes ten minutes to decide what kind of cereal to buy. Seriously, I can stand in the cereal isle, talking to myself (which brings mothers to usher their children away from the cereal isle) debating if I want the healthy cereal or the Apple Jacks. I don't like milk though so mostly I leave the cereal isle without cereal - I do like Golden Grahams, they don't need milk. When you look back on your life can you remember a moment when you made a decision, and that decision has shaped all the moments since? We don't know do we? There are moments when we make a choice with no concept of the importance that choice is. We do the best we can. That is all we can do - optimistic people live longer - my glass is not half full, it truly runneth over! Moving on, moving forward - we keep working towards finding the right groove for our life. We'll get there! We have to just keep moving forward, keep doing the best we can, keep love in our hearts - we need to Celebrate Life!Even in our deepest sadness and despair, we need to hold on to the precious moments - we are never alone - Yes, Celebrate Life!