The monster

I want to know which hormone monster is going to rear it's ugly head in my house next month.

You know what I am talking about. That uninvited guest who stays at your place for what seems like an eternity.  That  7 or so days this monster takes over. You don't know it by it knows you intimately.  It enters your home and runs havoc with your life.  You know that monster is going to pay you a visit.  You try to prepare for it like you would prepare for an earthquake.  You've got all your supplies ready, the chocolate, the sodas, the sappy movies, the supplements and herbal teas.  Yes,  you know the drill, you've  been through it a number of times already.  You prepare the family(especially your husband) but even with all your preparation  this nasty crazed monster enter your life and you lose it.
 
When I think about it's visit, it kinda of reminds me of Jekyll and Hyde.  I just wonder did Hyde really know about Jekyll?  When the monster enters the home you know, you know it's there, you do your best to keep it at bay.  You give it a valiant effort, and yet even with all your preparation, you know it's going to take over.
 
Mayhem ensues, rage and tears flow you're thinking you should have shares in Kleenex. You try going to your quiet place, or going for walks, yoga but nothing...nothing stops this monster.

Then out of  nowhere the floods reside, the  sun comes out, calm returns the birds start to sing and you hear a course of Alleluia.....the quake is over, the monster has left.  For now.

A Celebration......

I've never liked funerals.  It's not that I mind attending, it's just that they are so morose and well just darn right depressing.

I have always said that when my time comes, that I don't want people to morn me....I want people to rejoice in the life that I led.  Hence is way I really appreciate and enjoy the more modern day services, commonly known as a "Celebration of Life".    I think the Irish had the right idea of a "wake".  Yes of course there is morning and sorrow...but I  love and enjoy how they toast and cheer their dearly departed.  Their songs or ballads can be quite cheerful and uplifting.

I know when my mother passed she "DID NOT" want a traditional funeral.  She wanted a good ol Irish wake, with songs of remembrance and it was imperative to her that every one who attended  had a toast of Irish whiskey.  Ah mom.

My mother in law passed away just over a month ago.  She too was of the same mind set as my mom.  Don't morn for me she would say, celebrate, have fun...I can just hear my mother in law saying that now.  So that is what I hope we will do.

My father in law has decided to do a "Celebration of Life".  There will be a few prayers and an opportunity for those who would like to share something about her to do so.  My brother in law is organizing a power point that will run continuously sharing pictures of my mother in law and with the background music coming from "her" play list on her  iPod.  That will be interesting as I know she loved country music and Patsy Cline.  So I am looking forward to that.

Of course it will be a difficult time regardless, but I truly want to celebrate the life she lead, the joy she brought to so many, the family she created and the spirit and vitality that she had almost right up to the end.  She was a fighter...she wasn't going to let the "beast" as she called it get a hold of her.  In the end it did, but not without a fight from her.

She will and is sorely missed by her husband of 57 years, her children, grandchildren and great grandchild and all those whose lives she has touched.  In her remembrance I smile and I thank her for what she brought to this world.

Rest in peace Marilynn.

Marilynn April 1934 - January 2011

A chance encounter....

 I have shared with you on many occasions the wonders of nature that surrounds me.  Coming from the big city I feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to call the island home.

My story begins on a cool and crisp December morning, hubby and I were sitting in our office working on our computers, when we heard a thud, like something had hit one of our windows.  Now the average person most probably would have jumped to see what it was all about, but because this is a regular occurrence at our place, we didn't hurry to investigate.

As most of you know I live in a rural area.  I have shared pictures of birds that frequent our property.  Birds of varying breeds shapes and sizes.  One of the unfortunate things( I guess it depends on how you look at it) is that we have a lot of windows on our home, very high "A frame" windows in some parts.  The unfortunate part is that on a nice clear day the birds can get misdirected and head straight for our windows.  On all to many occasions I have gone out to investigate only to find a poor bird laying there dead.

On this  particular morning we heard such a sound and as I said we did not go and investigate.  It was about an hour or so later  I was sitting in the truck waiting for my hubby when I noticed something move in the grass.  What's that I ask myself....I haven't seen anything like that before.....I go over to take a closer look......this is what I found......

 It would appear it was a Cooper's Hawk that had hit our window.  It also appeared that he might have broken his neck. Hubby went into the house and called the Wild Life Rescue to see if we could bring it in and see if there was anything they could do. They agreed and so I went and got a Rubbermaid container and hubby put the bird into the container.  The Wildlife center is about 25mins drive from us.  It being a Saturday and close to Christmas we were so thankful they were open.  We rushed over, but got lost...I kept looking in the back to check on the bird to see if it was alive and indeed it was.   But due to us taking a wrong turn and hence delaying our arrival the bird succumbed to his injuries before we could make it to the center.  When we arrived at the center they were expecting us, unfortunately we had to tell them the bird had died.  They came out and inspected the bird and confirmed it was indeed a Cooper's Hawk.  We asked if it was ok if we took it home.  My hubby wanted to bury it in our yard as he figures that would have been more home to the bird. And so that is what we did.

He was a magnificent bird, one I may not have been able to see unless it was for it's misfortune of hitting our window.

I learnt a lesson that day. If you hear a thud....go check it out.  I feel a bit guilty, we didn't investigate things earlier. I can't help but wonder had we investigate earlier would the bird had a chance to live.  We'll never know.