I’m trying really hard to keep this “wordless” but please, somebody ask me!!!
Category: Animals
ChosenPerspectives on DETAILS for WPC
Details If you can get past their “alien horror movie” characteristics, up close my bugs have such amazing DETAILS!
Even more amazing is the DETAIL left behind after a molting!! Antennae, claws, legs, spikes, all perfectly hollowed out as this bug miraculously removes itself from its too-small skin.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extatosoma_tiaratum)
Partners from ChosenPerspectives
Partners
Joy and Bandit.
Joy, a purebred German Shepherd, rescued from a materialistic breeder, and Bandit, a Mother’s Day gift from my son. These two were so close I think when Joy died at the ripe old age of 16, Bandit, only 11, was lost without her and he passed just a few weeks later.
Their deaths were such a powerful thing in my life. Their passings would have been huge for me anyway as I loved these two beyond reason. But they died in the middle of the longest stretch of losses I have ever experienced.
During that 17 month period we lost 11 people in or very close to our family, in unrelated deaths…one after another after another.
We absolutely could not catch our breaths! No breaks. Just constant grief! And so many funerals.
And then our other cat, Surprise, was run over by our housemate in our own garage. “Surprise”, the miracle cat, named because she was the runt of her litter and born almost 2 hours after the others. We were constantly surprised that she survived. Surprise was 26 years old!
When I tell you the dates of this stretch, I will accept any empathy (or sympathy) you have to offer as I still reel from these memories at times and will appreciate any support.
July, 2000 through December 2001.
911 happened right in the middle of all of this loss, and though I did not personally know anyone who died that day, in my raw emotional condition I took that tragedy deep into my heart and soul. In my private therapy practice I had 15 clients who did lose friends because they worked for companies whose home offices were in one of the Towers. They had each been there before. We all grieved together for a very long time.
The direction of this post has taken me by surprise…no place for me to put my usual humor or well intentioned sarcasm.
But hey, this is what the word “Partners” brought up for me. And since, so far these topics have been so stimulating and thought provoking, tomorrow, I’m sure, will likely be a different story….loaded with irony, provocation and my brand of humor.
Thanks for reading.
My House as a Life Chapter One
Windows
My house has been added on to so many times we have truly lost track of the square footage….probably close to 4000.
But she was just a one bedroom cabin in her youth. Born in 1908, she was picked up off her foundation and moved up the hill in the 1930’s because she was sinking due to the underground springs beneath her.
She is by far, the oldest house around for many miles. I bought her in 1975 for $40,000.
Now, she has 6 rooms upstairs (2 bedrooms, a bathroom, office, living room and kitchen) and 9 rooms downstairs (3 more bedrooms, 2 more bathrooms, another living room, a laundry room, a kitchenette, and a large Therapy Group room/office). There is also a music/workout room in process making it 10 rooms downstairs.
She has 32 windows. From 20 of those, you can see other windows in the house.
Just think about that for a minute.
She is seriously, quite a character.
From this window I can see…
this window
And many other windows provide visual connections throughout the house.
It is often how I find my cats. I just check their favorite windows….
My House as a Life-preface (for Badfish and his Buddy Duncan)
Dear Badfish, my favorite Blogger,
You , me, David Attenborough and Barbara Kingsolver…the Hermit Crab Connection. I love how you seem to be able to make a home for yourself wherever you travel. I, on the other hand, am only completely at ease in my own house.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my house lately. I think I may be ready (finally) to write about it. I will title it “My House as a Life”. (Have you seen the movie “Life as a House”? )
But I will have to tell it in chapters. Here’s the preview.
Young woman with small child, left by husband so he could move in with secretary….
Oh wait, that could not sound more boring. It happens every day.
How about this?
Young woman, abandoned with small child, fights to keep the family homestead…
Better, but not particularly enticing. Sally Field and Cissy Spacek already showed us this story in their great triumph movies! (Places in the Heart and The River)
Wait, I know.
Reformed Hippie returns to her Sixties roots and shares home with 52 people and 16 animals over 40 year period. Stories abound.
Yeah, that’s where I’ll start.
The Hermit Crab connection? Well, they have this amazing system for replacing their homes when they have outgrown them. (see Attenborough and Kingsolver connection below)
But you know what, there is no antonym for the word “outgrow”. If there were, it would describe where I am in my life, and where many of my baby-boomer generation are also. This is a problem in our culture. We are living so much longer than our ancestors that we don’t even have words to capture many of the dilemmas we now face.
Like the fact that I have “ingrown” my home.
I wonder what the Hermit Crabs do as they age………….
I only know I have to write about it….
I had no idea what a process I was interrupting when I collected these empty shells on the beaches in Fiji.
Watch David Attenborough explain. One Of my favorite all time videos!!!
And as for Kingsolver….
http://www.kingsolver.com/books/excerpts/high-tide-in-tucson.html
(It says I can not reproduce this but can I legally include this link??)
Trailer for “Life as a House”
Wordless Wednesday 6/8/16
Wordless Wednesday 6/1/16 Cat in bag (or box)
Chosen Perspectives FACE for WPC 5/15/16
This is Ola. She is one of the world’s sweetest dogs. The Angel she wears on her chest is perfect for her. My sister and her husband rescued Ola to keep Lily, their aging, 3 legged dog company toward the end of her life.
We bonded with Ola when she was very small. We dog-sat so her “parents” (my sis and her husband) could go on a long trip.
Everyone thought Ola would grow up to be a smallish black lab mix, smaller than Lily……
Ola is still an Angel of a dog but there is nothing “smallish” about her!
And Lily, Ola revived her and kept her busy and happy for a good while.
She had a terrific life and we still miss her….
For Whippet Wisdom
Joy’s favorite beach in Port Townsend.
Joy and Bandit. They passed within weeks of each other. I blended their ashes together and gave them back to….
In response to a lovely poignant post
Wordless Wednesday 4/27/16
