Sunday, May 31, 2009

Have a Happy Sunday

I hope you take the time to enjoy the sites and sounds and smells of this day. Hug a dog or some other critter.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Random Stuff

Now-a weird conversation between my trickster brain and me.........

Brain (who wants to find everything funny)Ho Ho Ho , Ha Ha-LOOK at that Hooooo weeeeeee

Me (who hurts when she laughs) Brain, please tone it down a bit, I know you are relieved but laughter hurts right now

Brain ....so, the body needs endorphins, I worried them all away LOOK-isn't THAT absurd?

Me ouch, yes that's funny, but it hurts to laugh

Brain-so learn to laugh without your voicebox dipshit-OH LOOK-Oliver is hanging upside down and farting Oh OH OHHHHHH

So, I've been practicing silent laughter today-and it can be done. Which is a good thing, can we can all use a few more endorphins. At first it just felt sad and weird, but it became empowering. My laughter may be silenced, but it is still alive

Sign language is still limited to a few rude gestures. Hah-did you hear my silent laughter?

Friday, May 29, 2009

There is NOT an alien in my chest, but....

....part of my belly is in my throat-and that feels almost the same. My diaphragm is being corn holed by my stomach, and the bit of stomach that's up in my esophagus is not happy about being there.

Medical version: I have a stomach prolapse caused by a hernia blow out. I don't think blow out is medical, but rupture doesn't seem right either. So, the month's long answer to the mystery of why I can't keep anything down is solved.

And I will say-YAY for that, because it's a very annoying thing not to be able to hold your water. There is an alternate method for staying hydrated via the "water retention enema" and I will continue as long as I can stand it, the go for an IV hook up if I can't hold out till next Wednesday-surgery day.

They'll go in (after putting me out) and pull the stomach back where it belongs, stitch my diaphragm back better than ever an able to withstand hurricane force winds. Then they'll evaluate my lap band-I've said use your own judgement with this criteria-if it needs to be repositioned, go for it if all looks well. If it has suffered too much twisting around or erosion, just pull it out, no replacements. I'd like to keep it if I can, but I don't want to fiddle with my stomach any more for a bit.

The family has already begun to try to assign blame-but I knew about the hernia before I had the lap band, we've discussed repair before. And, no one really knows if it was the hernia that caused all the vomiting or the lap band caused it and made the hernia worse, blew it out, and caused more vomiting. No one knows and I for one don't give a rat's ass-just FIX IT.


My big dogs are going to be treated to 2 week boarding school. It's an extravagance I was considering anyway, and if I don't do it, they'll need it after being kenneled for so long. The little kids will just go down the street and I can bring them home as I see fit and as I heal. I've managed Greta and Cody before on one leg-so I doubt a hernia will slow us down much. The Slim formerly known as Oliver can be a handful-but there isn't much grief he can give me in a tightly locked yard. Prissy can be a shit when she senses physical weakness, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve that she hasn't seen yet.

Mr. Bird and his raggedy crew won't notice anything at all and I'll just feed the snakes well right before surgery and they'll be good till I'm up and around.

Casper is happy with just visits, but I may find someone to work him (while I watch) because I hate to lose the ground we've gained. He's a good boy, and I love to take him for walks, but a 1200 pound horse can put quite a tug on new stitches even just playing. So I'm trying to work out what I can do, so that the trainer does the heavy stuff, then I finish up with brushing or something like that so we don't lose our bond.

Dr. Nelson is good but cautious (which makes her good) so I'm looking at water/thin liquids until next week, then for two weeks after. I KNEW all that powdered goat milk would come in handy-and so it will!

Never fear, Mr. Mr. Birdy Birdy will not miss his day-but we are going to have to work out a Toddler Tunes rotation schedule that works for both of us. I'm setting up a little ATC workstation/tub that I can get to easily-what a fun thing to do when you can't move around very well.

Oh-and I want you to know the egg woman down the street is back to tossing the yolks, so all is well in birdyville.

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Thursday 13

Little things that make me very happy.

1. Tiny flowers growing in a field-the kind that you don't notice until you sit down with them.

2, Hummingbirds. I got to hold one once.

3. How the air smells after a storm.

4. The slip stream of water on your body as you dive in.

5. Owning my very own in house washer and dryer-the thrill has never left me.

6. The suck of air as you open a vacuum sealed can or jar.

7. Dragonflies.

8. The tiny chirps the parakeets make as they fuss themselves to sleep.

9. Listening to the old folks talk amongst themselves.

10. Rose moss always makes me smile.

11. The first tomatoes. I have my first two on the vine now. Subsequent tomatoes are just as nice.

12. A meal someone else has cooked with me in mind.

13. Dried Okra. It's sweet and savory, my favorite combo!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

HAW, It's all about Mr. Bird, Mr. Birdy Bird!!!!!

Of course, that applies to many other days besides Wednesday. Oh Oh Yes, yes, yesssssss. When the woman came home my first words were a mumbled "No Prissy" because she woke me up from a sound sleep and I thought she was messing with that beast in the middle of the night.

Later, after I finished my sleep and had a few warm up runs, I sang a beautiful Operatic version of Mr. Bird, Mr. Biiiiiiiiiird, Good Mr. Bird......good Bird. The woman admired it so much I added some body noises to the final mix. Not many birds could manage an operatic belch.

We (the woman and me me me) shared a thing called a peach. It was mushy and sweet. Not as nice as craps though.

Monday was nice-just the woman, the keets, the cat, and me, me, me. I made sure she didn't miss the dogs by barking and being a squeaky toy. With me around, who needs anyone else? That's me, the real deal.....MR. BIRD!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

KMAT



Ah, it's that time again, Kiss My Ass Thursday!

People who fart on planes-KMAT. You are excused (grudgingly) if you only found out about the flight 24 hours in advance. But really, if you KNEW, and you still ate at On The Border, or worse, are bringing it On The Plane-Kiss my ass.

People who bitch and moan about weather delays and blame it on the airlines, loudly, KISS MY ASS. I'll be honest, this includes some family members but granola crapola, if the airlines can't control their own bottom line, I seriously doubt that they can control the weather. Ironically, the people who were getting the most out of line and declaring "I'll never fly this airline again" are the infrequent fliers the airlines WANT to piss off, which I found kind of sickly amusing, so maybe the kvetching is a good thing, but nonetheless, jolly well pucker up and KMA.

People who cry and carry on IN LINE over the cell phone, can really KMA. If you are THAT upset, go somewhere else and piss and moan. And Bluetooth users in grocery stores, Kiss My Ass. The ones who talk really LOUD and are expressive and stuff, Kiss My Ass Twice. Here I am, in some dollar store, contemplating all the wonderful things I can have for one dollar, and some Amazon woman with Big Hair comes zooming around the corner carrying on and having a big old fit and scares the crap out of my reverie, passes me by shrieking-and never even knows I was there or that she startled me. If you are hovering somewhere in the intersection of the virtual world and the real world, keep your eye on both, or Kiss My Ass.

I'd like to creep up on those people while they were in the bathtub and yell loudly "DON'T MIND ME OR MY NOISE, I'M ON THE CELL PHONE SO I'M NOT REALLY HERE". Since that would involve several larcenies and maybe some felonies, I'll just soothe my disgruntled self by mumbling Kiss My Ass one more time.

I've begun to have KMAT fantasies-visions of really yelling "Kiss My Ass" at very rude people. You can have them too, but to be a legitimate Kiss My Ass Moment, the recipient of the yell must encroach upon your space or psyche in a very rude and deliberate way. You can't just go yelling Kiss My Ass at everyone-it would lose its power to shock. Well, that's not entirely true. Yelling "Kiss My Ass" at the little old lady taking her dog for a walk would be shocking, but so rude that then she would be completely justified in giving you a KMA right back. Oh Kiss My Ass and make your own rules.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

What I want to say to you a week from today

Really, the idea of post dating and predating is not NEW-but it has always fascinated me. As an accountant, I was always recording things a month behind as if they were happening in real time. Hell, sometimes it was months and YEARS behind-accounting is not the exact science they would lead you to believe.

Reality comes in versions-the version you are given at the time, subject to chance with subsequent information. Sometimes reality would get so distorted, we'd create an alternate version, get the auditors to agree this alternate version was truly what really happened, then use that version to over write the "live version" of reality-to get reality to more closely match what REALLY happened, at least after further scrutiny. I really did spend YEARS going over the late 90's, early 2000's, and no wonder I got bored with the whole thing.

Today, the 17th I am propped up in bed blogging ahead and thinking about maybe trying to eat something for lunch. But, when THIS is released into the ether, I will be heading home after my 4 days in California with family. I'm sure my thoughts will be focused on home and this very bed. Today this bed is a bit confining, and yet a week from now it will be a destination spot.

Freaky how much of our lives are lived right in our minds, isn't it? I probably spend wayyy to much time in my own head, but I know people who never seem to visit. Cest La Vie.

Anyway, for the coming week, I promise more pictures and less words.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Friday, May 22, 2009

PreVacation Musings

This vacation almost didn't happen-it hasn't happened yet, but if you are reading this, then it is happening NOW, and I hope it is. We all need it-it's been nothing but Death, Illness, Illness more Death and Illness Illness Illness the past few months. Death and Illness can kiss my ass and it's not even Tuesday. Honestly, ENOUGH.

Each year there is concern that this annual trip may be the LAST one we are all together and every year possibility moves closer to probability. So much so, I think some of us are beginning to want to avoid it-but no, we well patch ourselves together and go until we can go no more.

As long as I can push a wheelchair (or two if it came to that) we will go to California in the spring. As time slowly takes away things, the things it leaves behind become more precious. And, to the elderly, the old memories are better than new ones.

As I struggle to understand this concept, I wonder what the struggle really is-and the answer is, the same old struggle we all have. YOU ARE NOT LIKE ME.....I'm still more future oriented, my folks are past oriented. Why should there BE a struggle?

Now, I could go all self righteous and say "it's better for them to focus on the future", but who is to say that is true? Maybe there is a reason why our seniors go into the past towards the end of their life. Maybe, just maybe, that's what they are supposed to do-certainly enough of them do it.

Being born at the end of the baby boom, I'm about to be ass deep in old people-me, the very generation that pretty much said "screw the elders". Oh, the instant karma with THAT one. Even more creepy to think about-much like Soylent Green, Elder Care is now an INDUSTRY. Yes, we created this world and now those whippersnappers are putting us in Senior Greenhouses. EWWWW. Of course, being born at the end makes me the more able bodied elder (heaven help us) and the one who must liberate us from the Greenhouses. Somewhere in this paragraph is a very sick and funny novel-I may have to return to it later.

Anyway, if you read this, I am in California in real time and heavily into the moment-breathing and not reacting and allowing all to just be. I will be walking in the labyrinth (Larry) and sketching bunnies and looking for kingsnakes when I can do so without being "caught". I hope to have fired up the kindle by now (Thursday)-it's been in a box waiting my will to live to return...LOL.

And, I will be within 20 minutes of a Trader Joe's and a dried fruit stand and a winery. I might not make it to the ocean, but I will be able to smell and taste it, and know that it is there, waiting for my return. Yes, if you read this, I'll be blissed.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Thursday 13

1. I wanted to be a jockey or a farrier when I was a kid. In fact, at 13 I wanted to drop out of public school and go to farrier school.

2. I used to be phobic about touching dead things-dead pets, etc. Not so much any more, but it took a deliberate choice to work through it as a kid. I was a strange kid.

3. I'm glad I worked through it, because I was able to touch Uncle John's hand after he died, and when he was in the coffin. It reassured me he wasn't "there" any more.

4. I hated mayo as a kid, and now I like it better than miracle whip.

5. One of the first poems I wrote in grade school was about a specter. "I once knew a haunter, who as she would saunter, would preen her hazy hair"....I think the word we had to use was hazy, but I'm really not sure. Maybe it was saunter, since I made up a word to rhyme with it. But, I've always remembered that poem, because I liked it. I think I was in 5th grade.

6. I was conducting business at the trailer place last week and out of the blue the guy says "Oh, do you like to fish?" I was surprised and said "No, not really, why do you ask?" and he said "well, do you know you have a fishing lure on your keychain?" and I said "yes" and he said "why?" and I said "because it's pretty and I can find it in my purse" and he didn't know what to say...which kind of annoyed me and I'm still not sure why.

7. One of my favorite shows on Animal Planet is Groomer Has It, and probably Beverly HIlls Groomer (I just love Artist). I used to be a dog groomer, but not a very good one. I don't have the fuss over hair gene, and honestly, many of the groomers on groomer has it don't have it either. They are terrible groomers.

8. Sometimes I'd like a freeze frame button just to stop the world so I could catch up on sleep without getting further behind.

9. When I close my eyes just to escape, I always go to the beach.

10. When I was being put under for the lap band my last thought was "I wish I had had a chance to own a horse" and now I have that chance. I'm honestly not sure that that is my truly greatest wish, or my mind was still editing-sharks and snakes are not good surgery images.

11. I would very much like to keep a big burmese or retic-but I'm self imposing the 10 foot rule and just visit friends for the big boy fix.

12. I've noticed my "favorite" horses at the stable are not horses I would like to own-but rather horses I'm glad I don't own but glad I get to know. Am I getting away from coveting or thinking I can "fix" everything? Well, Casper is my favorite, but he's mine and that isn't what this entry is about.

13. I always get to 13 and blank out-as if I'm afraid that if I put down a thought I'd have a better one later.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Alone ALONE-HAW

I'm no dummy-when all the furries go away, it's always followed shortly by the departure of the woman. It's been a long time since she's left though. She used to go a lot, now she doesn't.

Some people in her life are "concerned" by this, but not ME, not Mr. Bird. She has keys and cash-she'll come and go as she pleases, she always has, and she always will. I always get new toys when she goes, so it's definitely not ALL bad. Heh heh heh.

I have my CD;s and by tubs and tubs of food and hidden treats. The parakeets need my attention. She won't leave me loose though-that pisses me off. If she isn't here, then I SHOULD be able to play in the kitchen sink, and rearrange the cabinets to my liking-don't you think?

But, I don't like not knowing when she'll be back, and when I'll get my next egg or crap. I think she took the egg lady with her, so there may be an interruption in my egg supply. NO NO NO.

We've discussed an even bigger cage, she and I. Yes yes yes I said. But she said no no no and something about private space vs. communal space, and some nonsense about how some birds don't get the run of the house most days. I wonder if this is true? Are there birds that don't get to do what they want all day long?

I think I remember a time like that too. Yes, I do. And I didn't like it.

Would you choose freedom or a bigger cage? That's a heavy question for HAW!!!

HAW Supplemental

Nope, not Oliver, it's me, me, Debra Kay!

Oliver has been working on Hola! Como Esta? and he's decided to put the two phrases together, only for the past few days it's come out :

Hola? OH GOD! Now he's getting there, because he does whip out a Como Esta every now and then, but he really seems to prefer OH GOD.

It's a tricky business because he practices quietly and I am not supposed to notice till he calls out-then I am allowed to respond. He's very sensitive when he's learning something new. So don't tell him I told you.

He's now playing with Como Esta as a stand alone, and getting better. It's the stringing together that challenges him. He just said. Hola! Como Esta? GOOD LORD! So he's getting there, BY GOD.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

KMAT




GAS-GAS-Kiss my ASS
Alas, my stomach has been aghast with GAS
Get up get out out out out
Do I need to shout?
Kiss My ASS-GAS

Honestly, I feel like I could manage a fart that would ascend me to the clouds. I visualize such a thing, but can only manage a giggle, when I really long for a rocket thrust.

Actually, just kiss my ass ANY bodily function gone amiss. What's that about anyway? Aren't we a team?

Sunday, May 17, 2009

News

I've been kind of down and out this past week and half. First I got a piece of turkey jerky stuck in my lap band. Weekend spend puking and not taking in even water. Got unfilled on Monday-but also picked up a really nasty stomach bug at the doctor's office. MORE puking, but not the obstruction kind, the I REJECT YOU kind from an upset tummy (aka-normal person puking).

Maybe I was disassociating or just having a run of the mill out of the body experience, but it seemed to me that my tummy was pissed off-thoroughly and totally pissed off. And it has taken awhile to get it settled down and sorted out. I'm not even going to weigh until I get back from vacation because my weight is ridiculously low right now and I don't even want to know or register that number as a possibility.

Since I don't want my pants to fall off at a bad time (any public time would be bad) I bought a belt to hold them up-with my tendency to want to go too low, I don't want to buy smaller size clothes that I don't intend to stay in.

I felt so bad for a few days I didn't even want to read or piddle with ATC's.....that's pretty awful feeling. But, I came to really understand the enjoy of a full care stable for Casper-one less animal to worry about. The dogs aren't that much trouble-our feeding/potty routines are pretty well trained and they can self entertain if necessary. The snakes are no trouble at all.

Yesterday I felt a rebound wave of nasty-so I just opened Oliver's cage and told him he could be the boss of the house-which he enjoyed fully. He wore himself out bossing all the denizens. Today he's resting and enjoying the toddler channel.

I'm going to prepare some posts ahead-but I'll be out of town from Wed-Sun. night, so if I won't be able to respond to your comments, but will enjoy them when I get back. I've missed logging in and getting my blogs fix!

Friday, May 15, 2009

A Field of F****ing Ladybugs

No, I'm really not being crass, or trying to belittle the noble ladybug. I just walked through a field of several thousand this morning, the majority of which were, well, fucking. Apparently I didn't get the memo that said "Orgy in the north field at 9", but THEY sure did.

I only noticed them because the grass was knee high and I had my eyes on the ground looking for snakes out in the field as I trudged through.

At first I didn't notice anything beyond the red dots of the lady bugs. But a pattern began to emerge-not dot dot dot but dot on dot...and every so often, dot on dot on dot. Wow. Once you begin to notice something, it seems to pop up everywhere. I had just had that same thought about death this morning. Death is all around, but we rarely notice it. I wondered what else was all around that we rarely notice. A billion lady bugs fucking in a green field seemed like a pretty concrete answer.

Life doesn't wait to be noticed-it just gets out there and rolls around.
"

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Thursday Thirteen in 10 minutes

1. I have 10 minutes before I have to dress (redress, I'm muddy from dog bathing) and take Moon to class. This is the class where Shelly and I will decide whether we want to tuff it out with 3 giant dogs whose owners don't have a clue, or move to a quieter class.

2. I haven't had solid food in days. Ok, I had some on Sunday, but it didn't stay long. I had a stuck episode with my lap band, went to have it unfilled on Monday, and caught a stomach virus at the Dr.'s while I waited. I'm not even going to weigh until I get back from vacation next week-I'm sure I'll have put on what I need to regain by then....LOL.

3. It has rained 17 out of 18 days now in Oklahoma City, and last night there were tornadoes a few miles from my house.

4. Apparently vomiting uses stomach muscles, because I feel as if I have performed 10,000 crunches. Maybe I'll firm up a bit.

5. Sonny the python ate three large chicks last week-he should be good for awhile.

6. After I fed Sunny I really craved eggs and matzo ball soup.

7. I was netless from last ???? till Monday-by the time I got home Monday the flu bug was already taking hold-so I haven't been around much.

8. "Hola" is Oliver's new call word for when he wants me to answer him. It used to be hello or "what you doing?". If he isn't speaking to me, he prefers I keep quiet and let him talk.

9. My parents and I are going to California next week. Oliver will still post, but he will not be able to respond as he scribe will be gone. Same for any posts you might read after Wednesday-I haven't pre posted any, but I might.

10. I have two more minutes to come up with three more items. This is one.

11. Right now there is an E-show on Serial Killers on the TV. I think the Toddler channel would be a better background, but I'm saving that for when I leave.

12. I bought two new pair of shorts and a belt to wear on vacation.

13. I have to pee before I leave for class. Actually, I just have to pee, but it's time to leave too, so I'll pee, change clothes, then leave. Sorry, that's a pathetic one, but it IS what's uppermost on my mind.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

HAW and send me some CRAPS

The woman has been under the weather for the past few days and we are out of CRAPS. She said she'll go to the store this afternoon-she'd better. Life must go on, and I must have my craps. You humans call it priorities.

HAW!!!!!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

HAW-I got a Present!

Lolo sent me, me me, Mister BIRD, a present-a shiny ATC! All for me me me. What's funny, is I sent HER a present before I knew she sent me one. They must have crossed in the mail. Great minds think alike-so clearly Lolo has a great mind or maybe she is just thoughtful and kind. I like like like thoughtful kind people-yes yes yes. Thank you Lolo-you made my day! The woman won't let me have it though-she says I will chew it up....she may be right.

I don't really MEAN to chew things up-it starts out with just a nibble. If you didn't have hands, you'd explore things with your mouths too-yes, me and the Great White Shark, that's how WE roll. Using your mouth is very very clever though-you can feel AND taste it at the same time. Trouble is, when it's in your mouth you can't see it. So, you move your head to look, and then zoom in for another nibble...then another, then another, and pretty soon (or after two bites in the case of the GWShark), the item is gone.

Humans duplicate this behavior when they eat-I have observed them go hand to mouth without really even LOOKING at what they eat. No wonder they eat so much. What good are opposable thumbs if you don't even take the time to look at what they are holding? It's like having wings without flight.

Maybe that is what you do when you do that thing you call Art. You are taking the time to savor what your hands are doing. Kind of like me and chewing paper.

Now I have to wonder about the GWShark and his big fat seal. But who am I, Mister Birdy Birdy Bird, to say he doesn't enjoy that process? I'm sure the seal didn't, but too bad for Mr. Big Fat Dead seal. I know for a fact that I enjoy my craps, my paper, my peanuts. Oh yes, I do do do. I'm not sure why humans believe they are the only animals who know how to enjoy, especially since many of you are so bad at it....HAH HAH HAAAAAAAAAAA HAW HAW!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

KMAT and Happy Cinco De Mayo.


Yes, Kiss My Ass Tuesday. This post may be long-I'm starting it on Sunday.

Stopped up kitchen sink AND DIRTY DISHES-KISS KISS KISS MY ASS. Dishes are like dogma AND dogshit-people think they have to have them, but they sure stink if you don't take care of them. Use disposables and you pollute the earth. My Mom is one of those people who can't cope with life if there is a dirty dish in the sink. I myself have been known to throw out everything and just start over. KISS MY ASS DIRTY DISHES and KISS MY ASS about to become dirty dishes-even clean ones are just waiting THEIR chance to be dirty.

People who say "You got another........_________fill in the blank". I'm not thinking of me, I'm thinking of someone else I know who posted pictures of her newest horse (she now has TWO, oh horrors) and sure enough, someone said "WHAT, you got another one?" KIss MY ASS on her behalf and behalf of myself and all the other (probably more of us than you) people who like animals, computers, cars or whatever. If you are truly concerned, then have the balls to say "I'm worried about your spending" or whatever it is you are worried about. If you just don't understand, shut up and KISS MY ASS. I'm sorry, what's that? Yes, you ARE entitled to an opinion-and you can even give it later on if you like, but NOT during the proud unveiling. What ever happened to just being happy because someone else is happy. Oh yes, YOU people, Kiss My Ass.

People who allow themselves to be dragged by a four pound dog-Please, please kiss my ass. How is this even possible? Clearly you have remedial reading and training to do prior to purchasing your little poochie-so, KISS MY ASS. (This is dedicated to the lady at Petsmart whose Cavalier King Charles PUPPY drug her across the room so she could bounce in my dog (who was in a down command)'s face. Now, we are supposed to welcome these distractions, but really lady, Kiss My Ass and buy a stuffed animal. It's people like that who give small dogs a bad name, so Kiss Prissy's Ass too.


Rain and Mud-Kiss My Ass. Enough already.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Cactus Monday Monday




My third and favorite one is MIA-the cat, startled by the kitchen sink overflowing-took off with it. I don't understand why. Hopefully by the time this posts, the cactus, the stupid sink and the effing hockey game that went overtime and ran over the only horse show this week will all seem funny.

This godawful weather and godawful plumbing is bringing me down, but getting together enough to post this for tomorrow (although it will be today when you read this) is a triumph. LET THERE BE CACTUS!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Mud and Bizarre Anniversary

This is the anniversary of the May 3 Tornado (we are so clever with our naming protocols here in Oklahoma), noted for being the highest wind speed ever recorded on earth. This big boy was notable not only for its size, but the time it stayed on the ground and the length and width of the destruction path.

Tornados are measured in part by the dollar amount of damage they do. I speculate that this came about prior to our ability to measure wind speed. So, a big tornado in a cornfield isn't rated as high as a medium tornado in a heavily populated area. This one was a big tornado in a heavily populated area.

I remember being awestruck as I drove in to town afterward, because entire neighborhoods were just gone. I almost ran off the highway I was so shocked at my first sight-my brain was trying to process exactly what all those slabs in the middle of nowhere were. Then it hit me, driveways for houses that were no longer there.

Having recently heard what it sounds like when trees are ripped apart slowly by ice, I can only imagine the rapid shredding of trees and homes-imagine and shiver.

On this May 3rd, 10 years later, I am literally knee deep in mud and having trouble maintaining a perky outlook about it-it's good for the garden, we need the rain are my mantras. Prissy hates it, Moon loves it, all the other dogs are pretty indifferent. Molly likes the puddles. Casper is grumpy in his pasture, but does enjoy the grass. I spend the morning shoveling wet dog shit and I'll spend part of tomorrow picking horse shit and mud out of hooves. But, we need the rain. It's good for the garden.

In the meantime, I'm making gluten free non-kosher matzo ball soup with fresh herbs and green onions from my garden, courtesy of the rain.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Taking the Plunge

I did it. I've been thinking about it, looking for just the right time to do it. So, yesterday afternoon, I did it. I ordered a Kindle.

Now, it wasn't the price or the technology of the item that was holding me back. It was the idea that I couldn't ever have another book. And in truth, I will try to buy Kindle format first, but I have no illusions that I would ever give up book buying completely.

On a whim, I declared the Kindle a Mother's Day present and ordered it gift wrapped. I remember a few months ago when I wanted flowers and ordered them for someone who didn't appreciate them. So, this time, I ordered what I wanted for myself and had it wrapped....thus adding to the usage of paper and trash on the planet. Good lord, I cannot win.

I must be getting sick-I wanted something, selected something I have been considering, and bought it without angst. If the world is still on its axis tomorrow, don't blame me......

Friday, May 1, 2009

Uno De Mayo

I wonder if it's a good reason to drink wine? Beer is the traditional Cinco De Mayo drink-of course, beer is pretty traditional here in Oklahoma.

Does anyone know what this flower is? It's growing out on Jim Wakeland's ranch-I told him I thought it was some kind of kolanchoe, but what do I know?




Moon had a bath today for his dog class debut. I've never had a dog that would lie down and doze while he has his bath-he does love the water and a good back rub. Of course, he also likes to roll in the mud, so I had to keep him confined after his scrubbing. This meant I locked him on the pergola and since he'd never been on it before, I stretched out for a snooze so he wouldn't feel lonely. I'm such a devoted dog owner.

As I dozed, something went THWACK in my ear-and guess who it was? Momma Spider (or someone who looked just like her). I think I must be the spider whisperer. I tell you, they seek me out.