Visitors

We were successful at getting JJ’s CT Scan at our second try yesterday. I thought wouldn’t it be terrible if we got there and found out that he was supposed to have fasted? I didn’t think he had to, but the last six months are now a blur–like fast forwarding through a movie. Having to cancel a second time would have been awful. However, everything went smoothly.

Our sleep patterns are all messed up. JJ had stayed up until 6 a.m. Friday morning and had only had an hour of sleep, I had had only 3-4 hours of sleep, and while EJ had slept well Thursday night, the night before that he had gotten only 4 hours of sleep after working a 13 hour day. So when we got home from the CT Scan, we all scattered to take naps–JJ on the couch, me on the love seat, and EJ upstairs in our bed. About 30 minutes after I laid down, I suddenly leaped up and shouted, “OH, NO!!!” I scared JJ so much that he leaped off the couch and exclaimed “What’s wrong?!” I realized that I had dreamed that we overslept for the CT Scan. Oops. JJ said, “Don’t DO that!” After my heart stopped beating fast in fear, I went upstairs and napped in the guest room.

I thought that was funny.

Every day I tell myself it’s ok to rest and that there will come a time when I am not so tired. Yesterday I came across a story about a couple anonymous students who create inspirational quote designs which they leave in a classroom at Columbus College of Art and Design every week. One of their designs quoted T.T. Williams. It’s sort of hard to see in the picture, but it says: “An Individual doesn’t get cancer…a family does.” I thought that was very accurate–not just of cancer, but of any illness or tragedy. It affects the whole family.

So every day I tell myself that it’s ok that we take time to rest. The world won’t end if projects don’t get done NOW. I am practicing patience. It does no good to be frustrated and to work myself into more exhaustion.

I continue to enjoy watching the birds outside my window. It is very enjoyable, interesting, and relaxing to me. Putting up bird feeders was one of my more excellent ideas. I’m trying, little by little, to learn the names of the birds. It’s not easy (for a beginner like me) because a lot of birds look very similar to each other. I’m finding that the birds I lumped all together as “sparrows” are different types of sparrows and different kinds of birds. The other day I identified house sparrows and white-crowned sparrows. Today I saw a house sparrow carry a strand of rope to his/her nest. I love knowing that they are building their nest and will soon lay eggs.

I’m also noticing that the birds have different habits. For example, there are days when the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are frequent visitors to the feeders and days when I don’t see them at all. I also haven’t seen the orioles for a few days. I wonder why some days they are here and some days they aren’t? Where do they go when they are not here?

We haven’t had any squirrels at our feeders since I began putting the feeders up last autumn. However, last week I noticed a squirrel noticing the feeders and since then she has returned to eye them. Today she keeps climbing the pine tree and looking at the feeders near it. I think she is calculating and plotting and soon she will figure out how to access them.

I know a lot of people try to prevent squirrels, starlings, hawks, or other “nuisances” from accessing the feeders. Maybe I will do that at some point as well, but right now I figure they are part of life, and they all have to eat, and it’s interesting watching the drama unfold. It’s more interesting than a series on TV. I can see why people become avid birdwatchers.

Here are photos of some of the visitors at my feeders. The pictures are not as beautiful as the ones my friend Sandy takes. I don’t have the skill or the camera that she does. Also my windows are dirty from cat noses and a winter’s accumulation of dirt (I do NOT have to wash windows right now….!). It’s also a challenge to take good pictures when cats are trying to get lovings at the very moment I am trying to take a photo. But I do the best I can with what I got. 🙂

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