QUOTE THE RAVEN--EVERMORE

A robin built a nest in the crook of the down spout in the house to the west of us. It was under the eave and out of the wind and rain. Since we could watch from the sofa through the piano window, it has been great interest as our own private showing.

We knew she laid eggs, as she was on the nest except to feed. On Saturday she went to eat and a raven scrunched under the eve and ate one of the eggs. Tom saw it happen and stated since they were so intelligent, it would be back for more.

A few minutes later, I saw the shadow of the raven on the blind in the east window and dashed to the piano window. Sure enough, the raven was sitting on the roof but this time, it did not get the egg, as the robin chased it away.

She went back to sit on her nest, only to leave again. Once more, the raven came. He ate what we think must have been the last egg, as the robin has not been nesting since.

Tom says that robins lay clutches of eggs if others are destroyed.

In the dozen years I have been in Fargo, there has never been a nest in the elbow of the down spout. It is, after all, not really hidden, this is probably why. You know what? It is really sad. Although we know there is a pecking order, we just never thought a raven, which we have not seen in the neighborhood before, would zero in on this robin's nest. It is a 'movie' with a not so good ending. Or is it NOT an ending, at all.

TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS

Mother's day is about remembering and honoring. It is a time to think about the good things and soul one's mother had. It is a time to buff up a dozen memories of things you remember. (I am talking to myself here--but you can listen if you wish).

It is knowing, in adult hood she was afraid of horses and storms.

It is knowing that she showed her care by house work and ironing for eight hours on Tuesdays. And cooking three meals a day, every day, day in and out.

It is knowing that she wanted her kids safe and healthy and offered vitamins, minerals, and cod liver oil in the winter. And didn't want us to get hurt doing something stupid.

It is knowing there were things she wanted done a certain way and elected to do them herself rather than be a teacher. Except of course, when it came to hanging the clothes on the line when the underwear were to be hung in the center and the crotches were all supposed to point in the same direction. :)

It is knowing that doing the dishes with her every night was important to her because that is the only time we talked although we didn't talk about major issues.

It is knowing that she was an intelligent lady with a love to read as well as a sense of fashion and a gift to dress to the nines even to go to the market. Yet in all of that, she was not putting on airs. It was just the way she did it.

It is knowing that, if she was working on a seed picture, she would do one seed at a time. That is the same seed picture I would put glue where all the same seeds went dump on the seeds, wait until they dried, and shake off the rest.

You may be really different than your child. You may be the one seed at a time person in a world where your child can find a better, faster way to get things done. You may be the faster, easier way and your child is the read every direction, identify every part in the box before assembling.

Your mother may have sewn. She may have cut out the pieces and used a tool to mark where to sew. Or she may have been someone who just eye balled it. Maybe she read the pattern through and through or maybe she did it trial and error.

What I have learned is simple: The important thing is, in the end, you rub off on each other and communicate enough to know where each of you are at. If you are asked something, try to come out of your den and tell what what you child needs to know. If you don't know the answer, try to find the answer together.

Praise them for what they are and expect them to do the same back to you.

Hugs work.

e

IN A DAY

In three days it will be Mother's Day. A day set aside nationally to celebrate mothers everywhere. Julia Ward was one of the early calls to celebrate Mother's Day in the United States. Written in 1870, Howe's Mother's Day Proclamation was a pacifist reaction to the carnage of the American Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. The Proclamation was tied to Howe's feminist belief that women had a responsibility to shape their societies at the political level. Later, as in 1912, Anna Jarvis would begin the process to make Mother's Day the second Sunday in May.

In the UK, it is called Mothering Day. Countries all over the world celebrate this day, although it isn't always at the same time. Many countries link it to their religion.

For those of us who were in elementary school in the fifties, we are reminded of craft projects as gifts for our Mom's special day. In sixth grade, we had little boards on which we glued alphabet letters and stickers. The slogan was:

In all the world there is no other
To take the place of my dear mother.

You would remember it too, if you searched all that macaroni looking for the right letters for your project. They were pretty ugly.

Yet, getting a gift from a child, regardless of age needs to be a celebration of them extending themselves to you.

THE OLD WOMAN AT THE PIANO

Shame on me for laughing at grey haired ladies with hats playing old 600 pound upright pianos in little churches. Why, because in order to see the notes of the old time gospel hymns, they tilted their heads back and looked through the close up part of their bi-focal. To me, someone who did not wear glasses at the time, I vowed I would never be in that position.

Now most of you know, my Sweet Thomas is in the eye glass business. What you may not know is he is silent about me going to have my eyes checked lest he get caught in the cross hairs of my wicked, wicked side. Perhaps it is all about preservation, maybe it is about denial but I don't need an eye doctor to tell me I need glasses; I need to tell the eye doctor there has been a change. It isn't one of those one, twice a year visits unless there is a problem beyond simply, tilting head back to see notes.

My VTM, (formerly called video terminal monitor), now simply called computer screen is bigger than our first television screen yet, of late, I am the little old lady at the piano. I have put a cloth under it to move it towards me. If there is anything that will tell you one's eyes are screwy, it is long hours at a monitor.

And so about a week ago, my neck hurt. It was from looking through the bottom of my blended lenses. Again, since Tom is in the eye glass business, I have:

Goggle like sunglasses called Cocoons because in the little boat the wind is a problem for me.

sunglasses

TV glasses

Glasses to use when I have the laptop in my lap

The regulars, which are not used to sleep in--generally.

etc, etc.

I have anti scratch, anti glare, Polaroid, and everything else one can get on a high quality, top of the line lens. Nothing worked, pulling the wash cloth based screen still worked the best.

The other day we had a conversation:

"Do I pay for the eye exam or is it reciprocity"?

"Oh, are you finally going to have your eyes check"?

"Yes, I want to go back to __________".

"Well, _______, is very good".

"That may be true but I like _________".

"Shall I make an appointment for you"?

"Sure, mid morning or mid afternoon sometime next week"

"I can get you in earlier".

"No, next week is fine".

"What brought you to this decision"?

"I think I have a cataract starting".

"What are you seeing"? Plus a barrage of additional questions beyond my grasp of human eyes, how they are constructed, why I may need surgery instead of another pair of glasses and MORE! (This is when the man with so much knowledge starts to come over the line into my comfort zone).

"Let's do this, let's have an eye exam and go from there. Let's not be thinking about surgery until after we find out what is going on. A cataract starting and a cataract ready for surgery may be two different things yet".

How do I know I have one starting? Doc shines light during physical. It isn't like I woke up one morning and decided to make a diagnosis.

Therefore, until next week, I will be the old woman at the piano.

e

CAT NAPPIN

And she said,......................"If I was going to do that, I would be looking at the clock wondering when I was done and never sleep".

It reminded me of how grandma would sit in her upholstered platform rocker and crochet. The chair would stop, grandma would be dozing with hands in her lap, hook and thread in tact. Soon, the rocker would start again and the project at hand would continue.

Something tells me this entire cat nap thing is a conditioning. It just doesn't happen. For me, my Grandmother was a cat napper and so was her son, my Dad.

We had our big meal at noon. We would eat, Daddy would go to his lounge chair, read the paper or a pages of a western, kick back, nap, and when the level on the chair sat him in an up right position, you knew he had finished his energy nap. I can still hear the sound of the lever. Odd, isn't it, the things we remember?

My Sweet Thomas, poo-pooed cat naps for a decade. That is, until he learned how to sit down, tune out, and snooze. It get past the idea of what time it was, he would loop his watch over his hand, which lay in his lap. If he needed to peek he could.

I told my friend to just sit down, close her eyes, listen to herself breathe and let go. I wish I could gift her a few sessions! But then, I had great teachers.

I wish you energy.

e

TV verses TOT

According to BBC, the average child of two watches nine hours of television a day and a four year old watches fifteen hours a day. That gives that four year old nine hours to sleep, eat, and what ever else children this age do.

The article goes on to say they are poor achievers.

I am wondering if the television just isn't on in the house. I can't believe a child between 2 and 4 can be parked. Can you?

Now, my children were TV kids, especially on Saturday mornings when that is the only time cartoons were on. Rachel watched Captain Kangaroo, Bud watched Sesame Street and Speed Racer and Ryen was a Master's of the Universe follower. Later, Rachel would zero in on Gilligan's Island. Most disturbing of all was MTV when the music was all choreographed and left nothing to the imagination of the listener.

I don't think it warped any of them. All of them became educated and went on to select occupations they are great at. Maybe all those years of Speed Racer made Bud a great video maker. Maybe Rachel's stories led her to writing and all the pictures we drew brought Ryen into the graphic design industry.

As for my generation, we didn't have TV. Don't you just hate that line. We were supposed to "find something to do". I think I used up all my out side points being outdoors! I have a special memory of Betty and I sitting on top of a snow bank eating chocolate cake. It was winter.

I do not believe children in Britain watch television that much. I would be okay with saying that if that is ALL they do there is a problem.

Will your tot rot from TV?

Will you?

e

WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

Interesting, isn't it, when you know someone or of someone who lives in an area that is hit by Mother Nature's rage?

Her name is Deb and she posted pictures from their part of the world in Nashville.

For those of you who have not lived in a flooded area, I will tell you it is mass water. The family did well; they were high enough so their house was not flooded.

It is yet another time for us to realize how big the universe is and that we are part of it. We are not the universe.

One of the things Deb and her family did was hang on to their sense of humor. She said since they couldn't leave their house, they were going to buy a kayak on line. What is so silly about that it, it wouldn't be delivered.

Sick humor? No, Ranum humor.

Stay dry.

e