October 2009

Wonderful to have a few nice days after all the rainy days.

Aliene's surgery (2nd on her back) seemed to go well and we are "cautiously optimistic" that it may have fixed the problem. Her daughter came out before the surgery and stayed until Saturday morning (believe me, her help was a real blessing-it was wonderful to have her her.)

Our sister-in-Law (Aliene's brothers wife) passed away Saturday and Aliene was torn between "taking it easy" and not going, and going to the services. We both like her and obviously she also wanted to be with her brother and mother. She decided to go (I have a meeting that I felt I just couldn't miss. Fortunately it doesn't happen often.)

Flying out of Memphis is nice, but it is simply too expensive to do on short notice (say, $1200 plus they still charge you for your luggage!) so I drove her to Little Rock to catch a $300 flight on Southwest.

We got their late and noticed a LOT of traffic. We got to the hotel and found out there had been a Miley Cyrus concert! By chance, I passed what I'm sure was her tour bus after I dropped Aliene off at the Little Rock Airport. the Little Rock Airport is probably the best airport I have ever visited, as far as being easy to get to, well organized, speedy and most of all, the staff is always friendly and helpful.

When Miley Cyrus was mainly "Hannah Montana", I met Billy Ray Cyrus at the CMA Fest. (We took our picture with him.) I had a lot of fun telling my granddaughters that I had met Hannah Montana's father and seeing the look of awe on their face!

Driving back, I watched the sun come up and wished I could get out and take a picture-I already had a title "Back Home to Tennessee", but I never found a good spot to take the picture.

Aliene called on the way and she was in OKC fine. I had had visions of the air pressure of the jet causing problems for her surgery, but she was fine.

Returned home, did some work and then made some hard boiled eggs. Sounds easy, but if you don't do it right, they aren't any good. (I have blown up eggs before trying to hard boil them when I let the water boil dry-with the result of a spattered up kitchen and microwave-so I had stopped making hard boiled eggs. However Aliene had recently made some and it reminded me how much I like them.

I made the hard boiled eggs the way Aliene told me to make them (put 8-9 eggs in cold water, bring water to a boil, cover the pot, remove the eggs and let set for 18 minutes, then put the pot under cold water and peel the eggs. I even discovered one improvement, to stop the cold water sooner so the last eggs didn't become difficult to peel.

It has really been a busy time for us and I hope Aliene recovers to where she can walk well and hopefully dance again. I know she is ready to go back to her walking and exercises.

I haven't walked or biked in the early morning for several days and I keep feeling like I missed something! I did walk some today after I got back from the airport.

October of 2009 already! It is hard to believe 2010 is almost here!. Here, the leaves are beginning to turn a beautiful color. I enjoy fall, except I know that winter will follow. Some day, maybe I will have the time and money to take a vacation to a warm spot in mid-February!

Bird Guilt

Yesterday, I looked out the window and saw several birds hanging around the bird feeding area, including birds sitting on the post that holds the bird feeder.

I immediately felt guilt at not putting the bird feeder out on time. I also felt a little guilt at the thought I had made the birds dependent on me for their food (although I really doubt they are dependent on me for food).

One problem is when I am out of town for several days. Due to a raccoon, possum or other varmint, I have to bring the bird feeder in each night. When I go out of town I have to take the bird feeder in, which leaves the birds without their normal food supply when I am gone.

I have to admit, I haven't seen any starved birds when I get back. However, I always "lose" my birds (and even the squirrels) who had been feeding at the bird feeder.

Just recently, we had developed a following of Golden Finches (known as "the pretty yellow birds") some beautiful blue and red birds, doves etc, and even a woodpecker. They were literally going through a bird feeder full of food every other day.

We were out of town for several days, and, alas, they still haven't come back, even after several weeks. Slowly but surely we are developing a following again, but I always feel guilty about shutting off their food supply when I'm out of town.

I was somewhat relieved last night to talk with some neighbors (not in my specific area, but in the same subdivision) to find they had noticed a sudden increase in birds at their feeder. They are going to be out of town in several weeks, so maybe they will come back to my feeder (at least until I am out of town again!)