Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Photo scavenger hunt – at the zoo

Karma challenged us to find photos of the following:

  • a colorful bird of your choice
  • a grad – of any sort
  • a dad – of any sort
  • something purple
  • a butterfly
  • a funny face

BONUS: a cow, bull, heifer, calf or ox.  Extra bonus points for  the belted galloway.  (This assignment isn’t due till June 25…you can challenge yourself too!)

 

So on Father’s Day I took some time and went to the Detroit Zoo.  I figured there might be a butterfly house, was sure there would be colorful birds, and figured I’d find a funny face somewhere.  And since it was Father’s Day I was hoping to find a father or two along the way.

I have to say – this was a blast!  The zoo had everything I needed except for one item on the list; I bet you can figure out which photo came out of my archives.

So let’s get going!

A Colorful bird:

I have lots of colorful bird photos, but this one won out.  I’ll show you others on another blog.  Promise.

A Graduate:

In the spring of 2008 I graduated with my library degree.  Someday I’m going to do something librarian-ish with it.

A Dad:

I saw lots of Dad’s out with their children…

…which made me miss mine a bit.  Still, it was nice to see all the families enjoying the beautiful day.

Something Purple:

I took a lot of pictures of pretty purple flowers.  But on my way out of the zoo I saw this, and knew it would become my the purple element for my hunt.  Because flowers could be anywhere, but this was definitely something from the zoo.

A Butterfly:

There was a butterfly house right near the front of the zoo!

I hadn’t seen a butterfly here at home yet this spring.  After my trip to the zoo I was weeding the garden and a monarch landed on my shoulder for a moment.   Priceless.

A Funny Face:

A funny face?  Well I saw a few, but this guy had the best face.  The docent said this emu was pretty ornery.  Maybe it was just because he had a bad hair day.

A Cow:

But of everything, you know what I’m most excited about?  The COW!  I know…I know.   A cow you say?

The zoo had farm animals so I figured I’d find a cow there, but I had no idea I might find one that looked so much like a “belted galloway.”  But look at this!

I don’t know if it really is a belted galloway…but it certainly has a wide white belt.  Maybe he’s still dressing from the 70’s.

All in all I am truly grateful to Karma for challenging me like this.  I had a wonderful Father’s Day morning.  Such fun!

Here’s one more funny face from the zoo…

 

 

 


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Finally! A little dogalicious adventure

With Aunt V somewhat settled in at the nursing home Katie and I finally had some time to do a little adventuring today.  Ok..not such an adventure.  But we did go to her favorite park!  It was a beautiful day and she wasn’t going to let me get away with putting her off.  She whined and huffed at me all afternoon till I broke down and loaded her up for the short trip to a good walk.

There were lots of people there, a softball game going on and a graduation party.  But we headed off for a solitary walk through the woods and field.  It was lovely.  We had to stop in the shade once for a rest, but otherwise we trotted right along.

On the way back to the car we stopped at the picnic pavilion and talked to some lovely ladies who said that Katie was a very pretty ‘miniature collie dog.”  Whatever.  She got petted and admired which is what she was after (That and any scraps of graduation lunch that might have fallen.  Too bad her mama wouldn’t let her have any.)

This last picture’s for Diana.  Yes I checked for snakes before we went up this overgrown path! 🙂

It’s been a long couple of months for Katie-girl as she took a back seat to other emergencies.  She’s been very patient about all the comings and goings.

See?  She can be a good girl!

 


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Aging is harder than it looks

I stopped to visit Aunt V on my way home from work tonight.  She’s at a nursing home where hopefully she’ll get physical therapy to help build her strength back up.  She’s back to not being able to walk or stand on her own after a week lying around in the hospital.

This is her first full day and she wants out.  Now.  Yet she can’t do much of anything for herself – so where to go is the question.  Tonight I was being a cheerleader for her, reminding her how well she was getting around last Sunday, how she worked hard to get stronger and she can do it again.

She said she hadn’t realized how difficult getting old really was.  But, she said quietly as she gazed out at a lake she can’t really see, “it’s hard.”  I can only agree and hold her hand.

She can’t see much, has trouble hearing, can’t read, and is more confused than she used to be.  She’s always been very sharp, very up to date, very engaged.  Now she’s sitting staring vacantly out the window, or thinking that she’s being watched, or that ‘they’ are trying to harm her.  Then she’s lucid again and you aren’t sure you really heard her say anything crazy.  Maybe it’s just you.  Maybe.

On my drive home, sitting at a light I glanced over and saw a driver, older than me, with ear buds in his ears, listening and nodding to something.  I thought about all the people out there hooked on their phones and ipods and other gadgets.  When the next generation gets to be 95 and are sitting in a room at some nursing home will they have ear buds attached?  A cell phone with the sound turned up clutched in their arthritic hands, pressed against their hearing aid?

Will the future be less frightening to us if we’re still ‘connected’ to the outside world through our electronics?  Or will those electronics slowly move us toward craziness?

Meanwhile we will take our current situation one day, one hour, sometimes one minute at a time.  The road ahead isn’t clear to any of us and hard decisions await.  I guess that makes us like most everyone else out there.

But it’s still harder than it looks.

 

 


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June photo scavenger hunt

Karma at her blog has challenged us to another photo scavenger hunt.  These are so much fun, though I’ve only done one so far.  But June’s list looks kind of hard to me:

June’s Photo Hunt:

a colorful bird of your choice

a grad – of any sort

a dad – of any sort

something purple

a butterfly

a funny face

BONUS: a cow, bull, heifer, calf or ox.  Extra bonus points for my favorite, the belted galloway.

 

Well.  I don’t have a Dad around here anymore…and I don’t have any graduates that I know…and I don’t know where I’m going to find a cow of any sort much less a belted galloway…and I might be able to find the colorful bird…maybe…but it might not be the best photograph…and I haven’t seen a butterfly yet this spring.

So…any help, ideas, suggestions would be appreciated!

And you too can join the scavenger hunt….just put together your photographic finds, then let Karma know where you’ve posted them.  It’s an adventure and we all need a little more adventure in our lives.

Right?


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Bump in the road

We’ve had a pretty good week with Bruce’s aunt here.  We’ve all adjusted to having an additional person around, even Katie.  I was concerned that Katie would have issues with the noisy walker as it (and Aunt V) rolled over the tile floor, that she’d bark at the wheelchair, be distressed by the oxygen machine humming in the corner.  But no, as soon as Aunt Vi arrived Katie sniffed her and settled in to watching her.

This morning, after I left for work Aunt V got up and began to do her normal walking exercises.  But she didn’t feel so good and sat down early to watch the birds at the feeder.  She says Katie settled into a chair across the room and watched her quietly

Turns out Aunt V really didn’t feel well, and ended up going to the hospital with shortness of breath, dizziness and blurred vision.  They’re doing tests now and hopefully it was just dehydration and nothing more serious.

We were making progress getting her stronger, but Katie knew something was wrong.  Now we’re all hoping that she’ll be back home tomorrow, ready to do her walking laps, drink her water, take her vitamins and work steadily to get back to her own place again.

Katie says she’ll keep an eye on Aunt V.  It what she does best.  Right now she’s waiting by the front door for her Dad and his Aunt to come home.

A dog’s job is never done.

 


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I've seen the future

Bruce’s Aunt has been staying with us for the past week as she gets back on her feet after a recent stay in the hospital.  She had an outpatient procedure that complicated itself into a 5 day stay.

The first night here was quite hectic.  The hospital didn’t discharge her till early evening and we had to get oxygen delivered that night, get her set up here at the house, and get ourselves oriented to her needs.  She was exhausted and very weak, not able to stand on her own, as we struggled with tubes for oxygen and the foley she’s still wearing.  Eventually we got her settled into bed, but neither of us slept that night, listening to every sound she made.  At one point during the evening I thought to myself…’this is what 95 looks like…and it’s not pretty.’

She’s gotten a lot stronger during the past five days, thanks mostly to the diligence of my husband who makes her sit up in different chairs, stand up repeatedly and walk back and forth down the hall and out to the kitchen several times a day.   She’s doing her own breathing treatments, working on getting her lungs stronger.  I think she wants to go home and get away from us! 🙂

I wonder what she thinks about all day as she watches TV, takes her pills, does her exercises.  I wonder what she sees in her future.  Then again maybe at this stage of life the future is no further out then supper plans for the evening.  I guess there’s no better way of living in the moment than being 95 and hanging out with family.  We’re lucky to have her with us.

Regardless of the circumstances.