Friday August 26 2016  AN INTERESTING DAY

Not only has this day turned out interesting, but so was my night.  Yesterday at the Medical Clinic I descended and later re-climbed the same stairway with about twenty five steps.  My knee was feeling so much better from the exercise the day before I forgot I should not be over using it yet.  Well, my knee let me know otherwise.  After I arrived at the top I realized it was too much stress.  Did I go up sedately like my age should dictate? No, I did not.   About twenty steps later I realized my knee was in trouble.  It felt as it was loose on the inside and kept wobbling as I walked.

It is interesting how your body will talk, or sometimes scream at you until you pay attention.  But why does it have to happen in the middle of the night?  I was awake with my knee griping at me for hours.  Did I take pain pills?  No, I didn’t even think in that direction.  Before this fall it has been years since I have needed any pain relief.  When you don’t have pain, you actually forget what it is like for others.  Yes, my hands are quite painful but I use them with caution and know how to treat them to alleviate unnecessary pain and trauma to them.  I choose not to be on prescription medications if I can at all do without.  Most medications cause some kind of side affect that is usually worse than the ill.  I have succumbed to taking Tylenol intermittently the past three weeks. 

Finally I actually got out of bed a bit after 3:00 a.m. and watched a movie on television.  It kept my mind occupied and and finally I became sleepy, but it was 7:00 a.m. by the time that happened.  Dave got up and I climbed back in bed and slept soundly until 10:15 a.m.!  After I got up it literally took me about an hour before I was fully awake again.  It was as if I were a zombie going through my morning routines.  After I finally became fully awake I felt a lot better, my knee felt better, but my headache still persisted.  I have had a headache in my forehead area off on since my fall.  That is where I took the full impact of my upper body crash.  But considering the condition I was in the first 10 days I still feel as if I am on the mend. I’ll tell you one thing; it has renewed my compassion for others who suffer pain of any kind.

After I finished breakfast I walked in the living room.  The back of our house is mostly windows and looks out over a beautiful natural setting.  We have a lot of wildlife that lives out in the woods and we always keep our eagle eyes alert in hopes of watching them.  Well today I saw a beautiful solo ballet.  Our lower terrace has an area where water pools after a heavy rain.  There was a large, rather shallow puddle in my eyesight.  Standing in the puddle was a hawk.  I was mesmerized.  I later looked the bird markings up online and matched my poor quality phone photo to an online photo of a female Cooper’s Hawk.  I watched this bird for over twenty minutes as it sashayed, humped, strutted, did wing flaps, ruffled its feathers, as well as almost doing a complete somersault in the shallow pool of water.  All the while it was ever watchful of its surroundings.  Each washing endeavor was punctuated with in between pauses as it used its hawk eye strategy to make certain it was not the prey of a larger animal.  I could not take my eyes off the synchronized water dance.  When the bird was satisfied that she was thoroughly cleaned she abruptly flew away without warning.  There were too many leaves blocking “my bird’s eye view” from the upper level so at last I actually decided to get busy doing something constructive.  But, for my spirit, what I saw was very beneficial and very productive.

Below are excerpts from the web address:  www.allaboutbirds.org

Cooper’s Hawk

“Among the bird world’s most skillful fliers, Cooper’s Hawks are common woodland hawks that tear through cluttered tree canopies in high speed pursuit of other birds. You’re most likely to see one prowling above a forest edge or field using just a few stiff wing beats followed by a glide. With their smaller look-alike, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawks make for famously tricky identifications. Both species are sometimes unwanted guests at bird feeders, looking for an easy meal (but not one of sunflower seeds).

• Behavior

Sharp-shinned Hawks are agile fliers that speed through dense woods to surprise their prey, typically songbirds. They do not stoop on prey from high overhead. They may also pounce from low perches. When flying across open areas they have a distinctive flap-and-glide flight style.

• Habitat

Sharp-shinned Hawks breed in deep forests. During migration, look for them in open habitats or high in the sky, migrating along ridge lines. During the non-breeding season they hunt small birds and mammals along forest edges and sometimes at backyard bird feeders, causing a wave of high-pitched alarm calls among the gathered songbirds.”

Hawks are always welcome in our yard because we have so many pesky chipmunks and other rodents living in the woods.  Our largest rodent must weigh 10 pounds or more.  I may be exaggerating but when I see it come loping across our yard it looks huge.  They are the groundhogs. And believe me, they are a nuisance in very expensive way.

Last evening I had a couple of computers on.  As I sat here, on the phone, I felt a sound percussion noise twice, and at the same time my Mac Machine flickered on and off.  I quickly turned the computer off even though it was connected to a battery backup appliance.  It was frightening to see my computer screen flicker.  The PC I was working on was not affected by the power outage.  Later I told Dave we needed to have our electricity checked again because of what was happening.  He then told me that he too had heard, and felt the same noise I experienced, and he too was puzzled as to what had caused it.  When he came home from the gym today he knew exactly what had taken place.

Two miles away a house exploded due to a gas leak.  Several surrounding homes were also damaged beyond repair.  We drove by the exploded area later and the house was totally flattened.  The homes adjacent to is were damaged beyond repair.  The owner of the home was found in the front yard area of his home and taken away in an ambulance.  He regained consciousness on the way to the hospital and told the rescue workers that when he opened his refrigerator door his house exploded.  He is in critical condition at present.  No one else lived with him.  He is 57 years old.  Please pray for his recovery.  Those who witnessed the explosion said the noise, fire, and debris was horrific.  It is not every day that one sees firsthand the aftermath destruction of what the power of a gas explosion can cause.  It truly was a devastating sight. 

On the way home we stopped by the local farm that sells the best corn on the cob that I have ever tasted.  While there I said hello to the highland long horned herd.  I’ll include some photos for you to enjoy.  There were many calves who were trailing along behind their mothers sucking their long teats.  They are a beautiful species and from what I’ve been told, taste quite good too.  We have a small order of grass fed, long horned steer meat that we will pick up on Sunday after church.  We couldn’t order more because we didn’t have room in our freezer and secondly because it was all ordered so quickly.  I love the perks of living in a farming community.

So my interesting day still has a few hours left.  I intend to work on the heritage album for my sister’s book.  I know there are a hundred other things I could do but I try to pass my time around to lots of things so I can eventually get them all done.

 

BUT NOT EVERYONE WILL LIVE

By Kathleen Martens

August 26, 2016

 

Never a dull moment,

Never an hour undone.

There is always a purpose,

To work or have fun.

 

Life has a way

Of speeding so fast,

And each short day

Never seems to last.

 

But it seems not everyone

Takes time to live,

To savor the moments

Of the hours God gives.

 

To be fully alive

Pursuing life’s goals,

Or nurturing their spirit

Or tending their souls.

 

Though we are given time

To walk upon this earth,

Will anything in your years

Be counted as worth?

 

There is but one thing

THAT WE ALL MUST DO.

And we have no choice

But to die, when we’re through.

 

That’s the one thing in common.

Every person will know death.

But not everyone will live,

Even while drawing their breath.

 

Thank You God for life.

Thank You God for death.

Thank You Lord for loving me forever.

Thank You too that I will live forever.

Thank You for corn on the cob!

 

HAVE A GREAT DAY AND A BLESSED NIGHT.