May

I've never mentioned May in my blog, but she was my son's cat. I went into my bedroom this morning around 10:30 and I found her dead. She was just laying there and I could tell right away she had gone but I got my stethoscope anyway and listened for any sign of life. She was still warm to touch and limp when I picked her up so I knew it had not been long.

She was a pain in the ass in the morning if her food bowl was not full. If you went to pet her she thought it was play time and she was rough. She never drew blood but you could tell she wanted to. She was a cat. She came when she wanted to the rest of the time you were wasting your breath calling. She will be missed

May was only 5 years old, she died young. It was hard telling my son he loves his cats and he took it hard.

Life is uncertain. No one knows how long we will be here or how long the things we love will be here. All we can do is be a kind to each other and treat the animals dependent on us well and hope life is good.

Spring is in full force now. Pollen has given my gray car and all the outdoor furniture a yellow green sheen. My plants are begging in tiny voices that only I can hear to be let out. The house exterior has been professionally cleaned of the green slime that seems to grow over the winter. And I have a list of projects that just keeps getting longer.

I love this time of year. This is the time to turn the garden again and plant those tomatos and green peppers. Its time to get first planting the green beans in the ground. This is when the roses begin to take off and the fragrance of flowers begins to fill the air, just little whiffs here and there nothing strong. Just a hint of what is to come.

This time of year the inside of my house is an embarrassment. I don't like house work in the first place so if I have to choose between dusting and raking, raking is going to win out! Give me the hammer, mower and lawn tools. Let me enjoy these fleeting moment of spring before the heat of summer comes and makes being outside a chore.

A view from the Buffalo 1993

I have been trying to keep my writing in the here and now but after visiting Fragments from Floyd http://www.fragmentsfromfloyd.com/ and Blue Ridge Muse http://www.dougthompson.com/ I could not help but regress. This is a photo taken in 1993 on top of Buffalo Mt. and those are my boys.

What a way to end the day. Three friends by the fire chit chatting.
 

Winter & Spring

We on the Outer Banks have been experiencing a north easter for the past week. Many people know about the wind and it has been kicking but they don’t know about the noise. The sound of the waves crashing on the shore sounds like freeway traffic at rush hour. This sound travels far. I live on an island 4 miles from the beach and I can hear it. On top of that add the noise of wind at 25-40 miles per hour. This constant noise lasts for days at a time and many of us just tune it out.

To day as I do every morning that I’m home I got up, got sorta dressed, fixed the dog food for the boy and girl, put my coffee water on and took the boy and girl down for their morning constitution. Opening the door to the back yard I was greeted to the sound of birds the sun was shining, the wind was light, and although I could still hear the ocean you could tell it had laid down some.

To see a cloudless sky to hear birds to be able to walk outside with out holding on to my hat was nice. I doubt that this is the last we see of winter. This time of year on the outer banks is a time of flux. We see very little of spring. Winter and spring fight until summer comes along and takes over. Today winter is waning and spring has returned tomorrow we will see what happens.

Lessons

Yesterday returning to my car after shopping I noticed a hand written note on my windshield. The note told me that I had a low tire. Well the tire was almost flat so I quickly went to the nearest air hose and filled the tire up. I decided that I would keep an eye on it and went on about my business. In my mind I thanked the anonymous writer telling my self that I would pass the kindness on.

To be quite truthful I forgot all about the tire until this morning when as I was rushing to get my son to school and I saw that it was flat. Well I hauled out the air compressor cursing under my breath just knowing this was going to be one of those things it took all day to get fixed, pumped up the tire. As nice as I could I explained to my son that this was a little thing and even though it was an inconvenience no one did anything bad so there was no reason to get mad, it was just one of those things you take care of and move on. Believe me that’s not what I was thinking!

Well I dropped my son off at school and rushed to the Fast Lube were I get my oil and tires taken care of. Now we only have one place on the beach that does the Jiffy Lube kind of stuff, you know the simple general car maintenance. When they first opened, Chris the owner wanted to have the customer in and out in 30 minutes well it doesn’t work that way, they are so busy that I had prepared myself for a few hours stay. Imagine my suprise when I get there and there is only one car ahead of me. One of Chris’s guys came out took the keys I told him to fix the tire and while I was here change the oil.

I went to the waiting room and prepared to read the magazines but instead I got into a conversation with the owner of the first vehicle. It seems he just got back from California were he had undergone radiation treatment for prostate cancer. What made this so interesting is that the type of treatment he received is not available here on the east coast. He went to Loma Linda hospital in Loma Linda CA for a relatively new treatment using proton radiation to treat his prostate. The treatment is “new” but it has been around for more than 15 years and insurance covered it. The gentleman went on to tell me that the side effects of this treatment are few. He did not lose his hair, experience nausea or vomiting, his lab work is fine no decrease in blood cell’s. He told me that the proton radiation focuses on the cancerous area and does not harm the surrounding tissue. It does not pass beyond the tissue being treated so it does not affect other organs. It is a relativity non invasive procedure. He told me they are starting to use it for breast cancer. I was very thankful to him a stranger that had just gone through what must have been a frightening time in his life for sharing this with me.

I have always believed if you look for good in any situation you will find it and that there are lessons to learn and relearn every day. A flat tire reminded me of some very important lessons. Yesterday it was that there are a lot of good people out there and little acts of good do matter even if no one knows who you are. Today it was that if you are willing to listen you can learn something that might be important to pass on to others.

Friday a good day

I have so much to do the last thing I need to be doing is spending time writing to myself but I have the urge to blog so here goes.

Spring has sprung here on the Outer Banks. I had to turn the AC on so I could sleep the other day. Too much noise going on outside with all the construction not to mention the lawn mowers and yes the birds and dogs. That’s what happens when you work nights the things you most enjoy become a nuscence when you need sleep!

The Popes funeral has taken the headlines this week. Next week it will be the conclave and then the news will be back to war, death, destruction and Michael Jackson. All the politicians who joined in solidarity at the funeral will again be at each others throats. People will once more look at natures fury and mans stupidly and again declare that Armageddon on the horizon. Very little ever changes in the big picture.

My small picture is good. My youngest turned 15 yesterday and it was a good day. My older sons are doing well. My grass is green, the tulips are going to bloom for the first time EVER, and the fresh fruit stand opened April 1^st. My job, family and friends keep me in constant motion making it seem as though I’m in a losing battle with time but I would not have it any other way. For me at this moment life is good.

Well that is it for today’s blog. I need to get the basement cleaned and the laundry finished. Of course I would be done if I had not gone to the neighbors and had coffee but Turkish coffee with friends is not to be passed up.

This morning at the beach

My prayer is that Pope John Paul may find peace. I dont agree with all he says but he is a good man and leader

adendum: Pope John Paul II, aka Karol Cardinal Wojtyla of Poland, born may 18, 1920 died April 2, 2005 at 9:37pm Roman time.

Music of the times

Musicians are the poets of the people. They have the ability to move the human psyche to incite pleasure, pain, anger, joy, sadness, laughter, all human emotions. There are many types of music more than I can even began to name but I like rock and alternative the best. I listen to the words looking for a meaning seeing if I can relate. I choose my music according to how I feel. Mellancamp, Dylan and Young have some heady stuff where Weird Al is anything but serious.

Songs bring to the surface social injustice, vice, love, passion, humor. A song can trigger a memory. The right song can take you back to your first date, wedding , child, divorce and even that party you don’t remember all that well and its probably a good thing you don’t.

Last night while contemplating the events that have transpired so far this, year songs by Billy Joel and Paul Simon came to mind. The songs “We didn’t start the fire” and “The boy in the bubble” used short phrases to chronicle the events in recent history. I started to do the same with the events starting with the December 26^th tsunami. As I counted off the events I decided that for this year I would, using as few words as possible, make a running account of things that happen. On January 1, 2006 I will take a good look at this time capsule and see if I had more good than bad, see if my song is happy or sad.

So far I have: Tsunami, world relief, President Bush second term, oil prices, Alaskan wild life refuge, Terry Schiavo, congress where it does not belong, & Pope John Paul II.

a view from the deck 

Back from Willis

My son and I just spent a few great days in Willis. I was finally able to get a photo of the Buffalo on a sunny day I hope I'm able to post it

We got the camper ready for the summer and built a small deck. When June comes around we will get to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

My son and I came back a little early from Willis we decided to beat the rain. Its a 7 hour drive there but it was worth it for the fresh air and great tasting water.