Mommy. Mommy?

Poor little boo.

The teenager and I met in the driveway when he came home from school. It just so happened that we arrived home at the same time. He called me over to the car with a face that tells you something is wrong. I didn't know if I wanted to see what he was looking down at. I had found feathers in the front yard just a couple of days ago.

Poor little boo. This little robin was sitting there all alone. I looked around for a nest but didn't see one. Then the teenager told me to look a little closer. It looked like his little left leg was broken as it was just hanging behind him. Aw, poor little boo.

Remember my Earth Day post? Remember the little shelter that could? Walden's Puddle was one of my favorite booths in that day as it is a shelter for orphaned or injured wild animals. Well, you know, there is always a reason for everything. I think I was sent there that day if for no other reason than to hear about this shelter. I would not have had any idea what to do with the little feller' if we hadn't gone that day.

Of course I called and told them about him, Robby, I named him. They told me to bring him on out. Well, I had one of mom's old, and I do mean old, flannel nightgown's in the laundry room, so I used that as Robby's warm nest. The teenager picked him up and placed him in the box and he seemed so relieved to be out of the hot sun. As soon as he was snuggled in the flannel, he opened his mouth to be fed. I have no idea how long the poor guy had been out there wobbling around so I looked online to see if I could give him a couple of bites of something or some water, anything. I found a site that said do NOT give them water. Rather, take a morsel of dry cat food (had it) and moisten it with water. Then take a tooth pick, and get a little blob and when the bird opens his beak, you put it down his throat. I was so worried that he had been out all day with no food and I wanted to make sure he made it to Walden's puddle and not die on us in the car. Phew! He seemed ready to take it in.

As soon as the kid arrived home, we jumped in the car and headed northeast about 30 miles from here. Another adventure. I think Robby slept the entire way. It was a beautiful drive, again. We have such beautiful country here. You would have never known we were barely 15 miles outside the city. We even had to cross a little creek to get over to Walden's neck of the woods. It was so pretty.

They had several animals in the shelter itself, including the opossum we had met on Earth Day and this little guy, a beautiful fox squirrel. His tail looked just like a fox. The vet took a look at Robby and said his leg wasn't broken at all, it was dislocated. Seems the mothers shoo them out from some high places sometimes. If they don't fly, then they normally get injured in the fall. Poor little Robby. She said he would be fine. Yay! Isn't that just wonderful!

We felt good driving home. It's a small miracle I hadn't let the cats out today. Dave would have surely done Robby in. Here's our Nashville skyline.

Life is good. Indeed, it is.

Bella on Drinking

"I don't drink from the communal watering hole, thank you very much. No, I prefer fresh water from the tap. It's just so much more, well, civilized, don't you agree?

I mean, who wants to have to bend over (as if) and drink from a bowl that has been used by others? Like, gag me with a mouli. Ew.

My 'person' keeps saying something about my having to learn to turn the water on and off by myself. Uh. I don't think so. Like I need to lower my standards or something. Yea, right. Don't they know I'm the princess around here and they best obey my requests? Sheeesh.

Sometimes if I close my eyes really tight, I pretend I'm under a beautiful waterfall. Doesn't it look relaxing? Yep, it is. But then I start feeling wet; and ew, I need to get out of there!"

Lily of the Valley

Just add these to my list of favorite flowers. My mom's name is Lillie, so they hold a special place in my heart, of course. They also remind me of her sister, my Aunt Mary, who passed away a few years ago. She was always very dear to me.

She had them spread all over her yard in Georgia. One year, mom and I dug up as many bulbs of hers that we could and lugged them home in a big garbage bag. I can still see us pulling (literally) the bag through that big ol' Atlanta airport, just barely making our plane. I'm surprised they allowed us to carry it on board. Ew.

When we made it home, one of the ugliest bugs crawled out! Gives me the heebie jeebies to this day. Mom used to laugh and say "Remember that old ugly bug we brought back from Georgia!" and we would just giggle about our shenanigans.

I wanted to have my wedding bouquet made of lily of the valley; but in March, they were very hard to find so I settled for white lilacs (no fragrance to them, unfortunately).

The azaleas are also in bloom. Some of the bushes didn't make it through the winter. Well, they have a little green at the bottom, so I will wait and see what is actually alive and which truly have bit the dust. Such a pretty pink.

And Bella, she's always in bloom. Cute little princess that she is.

Thank you for all your sweet comments from my Friendship post. I had noticed that my tag said "Old Friends" and last night I didn't feel like changing it. But now that I do have so many new friends in Blogland, I truly did need to change that. All done. I received a phone call from one of my "old friends;" and she will be in Atlanta next week. Her son won the regional science fair's grand prize in Baltimore and is going on to the finals! How exciting. Being the ditz that I am, it hadn't even entered my mind about meeting up with her there. It's really not that far of a drive from here. Yay! I can't wait to see her. I think my problem is that I have just fallen into such a routine for so many years, that I need a little nudge to come out. Thanks Aim for the gentle push. One of my other "old" friends just wrote me the sweetest letter that brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Pammy. I truly do have the best friends ever.

Friendship

By nature, I'm an independent and private soul. A loner, so to speak. In fact, one of my dearest and oldest friends called me that when we were still in high school. I took it as a compliment. Not being one who needs people around me to make myself happy is a positive. I still, to this day, enjoy my own company. I do have my small circle of friends that I grew up with that are so very important to me. They all live in the Northeast so it's hard with that distance between us to stay in touch. I shouldn't, but it does. You know, life just seems to keep you busy.

Recently, I have been feeling a little lonely, actually for the first time in a very long time. I have my friend Beth here in Tennessee but we seldom get together which is just pitiful. When we do, it's a wonderful time, of course. I suppose after moving from where you have lived all your life, it's difficult to make new friends. At least for me, it was. Myself, being so shy and reserved, I never went out of my way to make any friends after our move with the exception of my next-door neighbor who is just like family. My mom moved in with us after we found a house and she has always been my best friend. But, lately, as dementia sets in, it's not my mom that lives with us. I feel more like a mother to her than vice versa. I miss my mom; and perhaps that is why I have been feeling lonesome lately. Perhaps it's age. Of course, I still have the hub, who is also my best friend. But sometimes, you just need a "girl" to talk to. Or so I am beginning to feel. At times like these, I wish I had a sister. The boys are getting older and they don't rely on me as much. So I suppose I'm just moving into the next stage of my life

Our next-door neighbors (like our extended family) have been home for the past several days. They commute back and forth between Nashville and Los Angeles. I can't begin to tell you how nice it has been having my friend back and having a couple of hours to spend talking about what's been going on in each other's lives. It's been a refreshing time. We are very similar in the sense that our homes are our cocoons and when home, we like to relax and be with our families. We get together occasionally but aren't always knocking on each other's doors, ya know? We're not ones to get involved with the busy-bodies in the neighborhood so we can talk about this one or that one. We are both very independent women who value our time with the family. But, with her being gone more than half of the year, we have to catch up when we can. So, we made time to spend together, to get away and just sit and chat. It truly was refreshing to me.

As I'm aging, I am finding friendship to be more valuable to me. I have my handful of true friends, and I cherish them with all of my heart. I love you guys so very much. I'm so fortunate to have you all in my life.

Last of the Lilacs

I've been eyeing the little lilac bushes from afar and just hadn't gone in the back yard to pick the pretty blooms. That is, until just now. What a waste to not bring a couple in to fill the room with that beautiful bouquet. When we were moving from Virginia, mom rooted me a couple of sprouts from her lilac bushes. I'm so happy she did. I really didn't have time to do any digging when we sold her house. Now I have a piece of home right here in our back yard.

Pretty little arrangement.

While I was out, I spied a robin digging for worms. I snapped a few pictures of him by the willow tree. The first one, I captured him although he still is kind of hard to see in the right hand corner.

Then, I took this, trying to get a better shot. ha. Didn't even get close to the ground! I don't know about these contacts. lol. Think I will definitely keep them for the beach, but that's about it. I'm spending way too much time pulling the reading glasses off my head in order to function. Ugh. I can't even "think" in thee things. They make me all warpy.

It's hard for me to tell what is in focus and what's not. Sorry.

The Eyes Have It

I had my every-two-year eye exam today. Decided to change doctors. So glad I did.

Remember the puff of air to check for glaucoma? They don't do that anymore. At least my new opthamologist doesn't. Hmmmm. I bet my old doctor still does--old being the key word there. Phew, I'm glad they have come up with something better. They put a few drops in my eyes to numb them then took a little pen-like thing and come right up to the eye with it. It beeps at a couple of spots. Then, boom, done. Everything looked good. Yay.

I asked about contact lenses because I despise wearing glasses to the beach. Absolutely despise it. (Almost the season, isn't it?) And so, voila, contacts. Well, with that being said, I got the daily disposable ones since I won't be wearing them regularly. So I opted out of the bifocal type. But, of course, at my age, I do need bifocals. Gee whiz. I had to go out afterwards and buy reading glasses. They make them so darn cute though, I didn't really mind. I picked up two cheapies. One for the car and one in the house. I truly do need them to read. My arms just aren't quite long enough any more. Pffft.

Of course, I ordered new glasses with my slightly stronger prescription. Kinda funky, as usual. Can't wait to get them. So, I'm sitting there with this really fantastic optometrist who is just the best at picking great glasses for my fat face; and he says "Did you know you have two different colored eyes?" Well, I kinda did, but I didn't know they were that noticeable. In fact, way back when in art class, I did notice the difference when we had to do a self portrait in pastels. There was definitely one having a little more green--chartreuse to be exact. But, just now, when I took the picture of my new "readers," I noticed they have changed even more. Wonder if one is getting darker or the other is getting lighter? I'm sure I'll ponder that thought as I try to fall asleep tonight.

Right

Left

Funky, huh. Just call me David Bowie. Well, I suppose they're not that different.

Happy Earth Day

Today, I took my own coffee cup to the coffee shop. One less styrofoam cup in a landfill.

Earth Day 2008--One Change at a Time

With Earth Day quickly approaching, like tomorrow, Nashville decided to hold its celebration/awareness day on Saturday. It was a dismal day and I have to say not quite the turnout I had hoped for. Although I despise crowds, I truly hoped there would have been a lot more people running around. Gee whiz, we all need to wise up to this stuff and learn as much as we can on how each one of us individually can make a difference. We've been abusing this planet and our bodies for way too long. It's time to wake up and smell the pesticide-free roses!

Let's all take a moment and make a decision to do one thing, shall we? Can we? We can choose one thing that will change our environment, can't we, easily enough? (Well, if you choose to make more than one change, good for you!) But one thing, c'mon. One change from each of us will truly add up! Last week, as I was pondering Earth day, I made the conscious decision to quit using plastic bags. I have my Whole Foods cloth bags that I keep in my car, I have a little fold out bag that I carry in my purse and I'm trying to get Vallen, of Queenly Things, to begin selling her lovely homemade bags made from old pillow cases. She says they are way too wonky to sell. I say the wonkier the better! (Sorry Val, but I actually think you are on to something!) In any case, you get my drift. These plastic bags are so ingrained in our shopping experience, it's amazing how you (or at least I) have to remind yourself to say "no plastic bag, please," and I either carry it out naked or I whip my little bag out of my purse. If you want to learn about how these bags are impacting our environment, please click here. Of course, there are a lot of other ways you can choose to make a difference. Take a look at the Earth Day Network site. It is chock full of information. Take a look and see what's happening tomorrow in your town. I have to admit to being envious of those in larger cities. I sure wish I were back up in DC. I truly miss the HUGE celebration there. I remember taking the teenager to his first Earth Day in 1990 and Tom Cruise was "the" big name speaker. He was just a baby back then too!

Ok, I'm stepping off of my soapbox and getting back to our little gathering in Nashville. I grabbed a lot of information to go through and signed up for a lot of stuff around town that perhaps I can get involved in. I especially enjoyed speaking to the lady who started "Tennessee Green" in our local newspaper. I told her about my worries about the Nashville area using so much Styrofoam. I'm hoping the more people I tell, the better the chance of our restaurants and coffee houses here switching to something a little more environmentally healthy. I am AMAZED at how much Styrofoam is used here. And, I suppose you have to actually come from somewhere else where it is not used, consciously, to notice it. I was flabbergasted when we first moved here to even see the stuff. Now that I've been her for over seven years, I've become desensitized. Well, not any more. I've written to several larger coffee shops that use it here and have asked that they move to some other type of containers. (Oh gee, I think I'm back on the soapbox, again. Slowly climbing down. Sorry.)

Ok, ok, we arrived at Centennial Park and came upon a birthday party of sorts. It was lovely Rita's birthday party (name changed for protection). There were all kinds of doggies partying it up with lovely Rita. And I have to say, I loved Miss Rita's friend's boots. Too cool.

There was music, of course. Jen Foster was on the stage when we arrived.

We came upon Walden's Puddle's booth which had all kinds of critters that had been rescued, including this sleeping owl and opossum.

The beautiful replica of the Parthenon as a back drop.

And as we were leaving, a reminder of some one's birthday party. I think they left it there for me to photograph, don't you?

I'll leave you with some ideas on how you can make a difference in your daily routines that will help our environment and ourselves. I found No. 5 to be fascinating. Pretty scary stuff. (You can click on the photo to enlarge.)

Thank You, Monica

I received this lovely award today from Monica over at M&Co.. How sweet and wonderful she is. She has the most delightful blog in all of Norway. She keeps my mind rolling with great ideas and helps cleanse the soul with beautiful photos of such lovely and fun items. Thank you Monica, so very much.

I'm going to pass this award on to my blogging buddy Robin. She is new to the blogging world this year but she is truly spreading her wings as she soars through blogland. Bird Tweets is one of the freshest new blogs I have found. You never know quite what hat Robin will be wearing over at Bird Tweets as she has many wonderful talents. Not only is she a budding photographer (I say that only because she feels she is a newby in the field. I know you will agree with me that she already has the "eye.") but she is also a cook extraordinaire who posts cooking videos entitled "Bird Tweets." She is branching out into the online "psych" Q&A posting system as "Dr. Bird," has quite the talent when it comes to digital artwork, gardening and caring for her cute pup Zippy and has the "go to it" attitude whatever it is she is working on for the day. I find Robin and her blog extremely exhilarating.

And so, without further delay, I pass this award on to Robin and her Bird Tweets journal. Enjoy Robin! I know this will be the first of many to follow!

A Day in the Park

Well, it really wasn't a day, rather a couple of hours.

When the kid got home from school, I was a little antsy and wanted to go for a ride. I have my father's genes and have to jump in the car to explore every so often. When we were growing up, we were always taking road trips. The weekends were full of drives to the Chesapeake Bay or to the shores of the Atlantic. In the summer months, we all would pack up and hit the road to points South--mainly Georgia and Texas where my parents' families were. To this day, I find exploring the roads comforting and rewarding. When I grow up, I want to be quite the bohemian and travel, travel, travel and learn more about everything everywhere!

For the day though, we decided to stay in our own back yard, so to speak. We first thought we would go to our local park right down the road. That road seemed to take us to other places unknown. We just kept on driving South on a little road to see what we may find.

There were beautiful farms along the way; and the kid snapped a lot of pictures for me to go through after we returned home. Look at how green everything is. It's that lovely spring green that I just adore, everywhere!

We drove through small-town America as we made our way South.

We found a sign that pointed us towards Henry Horton State Park and so that is where the car took us. I can't tell you how excited we were when we found the Duck River flowing through the park. Of course, we had to park and go for a nice walk down to the river.

We stirred up a lot of newly hatched dragonflies once we hit the water's edge. They were amazing, newly formed wings fluttering about. Sweet. You can see the clouds rolling in as we sat watching the little fellers flying around.

The water was so green. That spring green again, I suppose.

It started to sprinkle a little as we sat on the rocks. It looks like a little moisture would be appreciated here.

A weed. But a pretty weed.

A path less taken.
Almost spent redbud. Why do they call it red bud when it's purple. Why do they call purple finches purple when they're actually red? Hmmmm.

Moss.

One of my favorite trees on earth, dogwood. I still associate it with home in Virginia.

By the time we made it back to the car, it was practically 7 pm! The hub was calling to see where we were. Of course he didn't bat an eye when I told him we were about 45 minutes south exploring. He's become accustomed to my being found in odd places at any given time.

Today, the kid and I are heading downtown to visit our Earth Day celebrations. It's kind of drizzly, but that's ok. Perhaps that will eliminate some of the pollen in the air (and people at the fair). Allergies are hitting the kid this year. Poor soul, got my genes in that department.