Monthly Archives: October 2021

Getting Ready-Heading South

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After so many months it seems a bit strange to say I am “getting ready to roll”. Yes, the owners are returning to their lovely home on Whidbey Island. My time is up and I am heading south. I am ready for a bit less rain and warmer temperatures. It has been raining a lot lately. One week it rained for almost a whole week straight before the blessed sun returned to the sky and everything dried out.

I have enjoyed my stationary time. Well mostly stationary. I have made a few excursions to the Oregon coast to meet up with friends. After a week away I returned to Whidbey and the house. I also have been to the Olympic Peninsula twice. I love exploring our national parks.

I have lived full time, well mostly, in my tiny RV for more than five years. Staying in one place has been a new experience for me. I have had plenty of time to explore. I have experienced the changing of seasons in the Pacific Northwest. I arrived at the beginning of spring and am leaving halfway through the fall.

For the first time in years, I have experienced changing of the seasons. It started rainy and blustery. As the spring progressed the rain stopped and everything came alive. I discovered when the rain stops in the spring everything greens up and flower season begins. After living in southern California for almost thirty years I thrived on the green here. There are so many tall trees. Walking in the woods smells wonderful. It really helps when that walk often ends at a beach.

This year I got to watch the progression of flower seasons. When I first arrived Daffodils and Tulips were everywhere. I was able to meet up with a good friend and enjoy tulip season in the Skagit Valley. It was breathtaking.

Tulip season folded into Rhododendron season. There was color everywhere. I discover private and public gardens to explore on my walks and bike rides. The east coast lilacs I grew up with competed for attention with the Rhodies. I love lilacs and it was a joy to have them in vases in the house. I would walk downstairs in the morning and smell the lilacs as I entered the living space. What a wonderful smell.

As the season rolled into summer the flowers faded, replaced by green, sunny, warm days. I got my fair share of kayaking, walking, and cycling in. Except for a few days, the temperatures were mild. It was good to be outside.

The flowers made a reappearance this fall when the Dahlias stepped forward to fill the flower void. Oh my, there were dahlias everywhere. They were on display at roadside stands, farms, yards, and even my front yard. I love dahlias. 

I have also seen a progression of birds as the season’s change. Hummingbirds were here and then they were gone, while they raised their young, and then they reappeared. Recently the crows who have been around all summer have disappeared. Where have they gone? I have seen eagles, osprey, sparrows (golden-crowned, song, white-crowned), finches, and flickers. My joy this summer was seeing Harlequin and Pintail Ducks for the first time. I have treasured the birds and the time I have to enjoy them. 

And then, of course, there is my special little brown birdy, who has made me feel so important, special, and unique. I see him every few days. He always acknowledges me. I enjoyed the times that he seems particularly thrilled to see me, flying over to visit and sitting on my foot or leg. I will miss him. I also know he is OK out there in his birdy world. 

I have made friends on Whidbey. One of them, Lela is going to join me for part of the trek south. She owns a Roadtrek RV as well. My neighbors, Robyn and Tom have been such a great resource and a delight. I am glad to have met them. 

All in all, it has been a very good way to spend another Covid summer.

Thank you Jim and Sandy for loaning me your beautiful home with the drop-dead gorgeous sunsets. I will always be grateful for this opportunity. 

Now the days are shorter. It gets dark early in the afternoon and stays dark later in the morning. I find I am longing for the sun and the warmth. It is time to go.

Today I am feeling thankful for the opportunities that present themselves to me. Today I am thankful I can recognize them. Today I am thankful for life.

 

My Mother & the Crows

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October fourteenth would have been my mother’s one hundred and tenth birthday. It is hard to believe that she has been gone for thirty years. That is a long time to not have my mother here.

My mother was an amazing woman. She traveled as a single woman when it was not a common thing for an unattached woman to do. My father and she married in their late thirties. I was born, the youngest of three when she was forty-two. She managed a household of three daughters, three grandparents, my dad and numerous cats and fish. She was a “Stay at Home Mom” before the term was popular. She worked hard. She always had time for all of us. Her faith was important to her as was the several gardens she maintained. She was a kind, compassionate and fun mother.

My mom died shortly after Labor Day in her eightieth year. When I was visiting the summer before her death, she mentioned to me that the “Spirit Babies” were in the backyard. When I questioned her further, I learned there was a family of crows that she had been watching grow through the spring and into the summer. She had named them the Spirit Babies.

A few years prior my sister had given me a small painting of two crows sitting in a grove of aspen. It was called “The Spirits”. According to some Native American traditions and tales, the crow is believed to be the messenger between the seen and unseen worlds. Crow medicine is strong medicine.

Shortly after Labor Day, my mother died after a long illness. I wrote a letter to her and included one of the crow feathers from the backyard with the letter. I tucked it in her casket.

My mother was buried in northern New Jersey. As we were preparing for the drive north from Delaware, I noticed my father had laid a crow feather on top of his overcoat, lying in the back seat of the car. I asked him what he was going to do with the feather. He said he wasn’t sure, so I suggested that he put it on her casket at the graveside. And so it was.

After the graveside service, we went to lunch with friends and family. Before my sisters and my dad and I headed to “The Lake”, my dad wanted to return to the cemetery. I drove with him. When we arrived we got out of the car. There were a dozen or more crows in the trees over my mother’s grave. As we stood there the crows lifted up in the air and flew. I was in awe. My father was too. I believe this was my mother’s farewell. I like to believe that she is now one of those messengers.

Since that time I have met up with my mom on occasion. When I am struggling and I wish she was here so I could talk with her, a crow often shows up. It may sit on a light post or a fence and well, crow. It is comforting to me to feel my mother’s presence. It is comforting to know she is still supporting me.

Do I believe that those who have died can appear in other forms? Does this side of spirituality exist? Over the years I realize that the answer to these questions is not really important. What is important is for me to accept comfort and support and guidance that is offered, no matter what form that may take. If having my mother there in another form is comforting and helps ease my journey through this life, then that is enough.

Today I am thankful for the years I had with my mother. I am grateful for her ongoing presence in my world. Today I am thankful for crows.

Everyday Heros

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A hero is a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities. People need heroes because heroes save or improve lives by inspiring others. Heroes have the ability to turn others into heroes as well.

A few days ago while I was traveling in Oregon I met Pebble and Dick. They were standing on the jetty in Newport, Oregon bird watching with their spotting scope and binoculars. Dick had all the latest gadgets so he could take iPhone pictures on the scope. They were avid bird watchers. Did I forget to mention that Pebble and Dick were just short of their ninetieth birthday? Pebble had fallen while out birding four years ago and broke both her ankles. Yet here she was standing tall on a cold day. I also noted how they have continued to embrace and change as technology has advanced. Just because one ages, doesn’t mean they have to be stuck in the past. As with anyone they continue to grow and change and learn. 

I used to hike with the Sierra Club while living in San Diego. It was the Wednesday in the Mountains group. Most hikers were retired and moving at a pretty good pace. Paul was close to ninty and was still hiking (most often in the lead) and every year traveled to Mexico to teach ESL to students. 

Another man in this group had hiked the Grand Canyon each decade. When he was reaching his ninetieth birthday he had to cancel his hike because his son was sick and needed someone to help him out. 

Santa Fe, NM-closed sign during Covid

Many years ago I was a regular attendee of Quaker Meeting. Sitting in silent worship and waiting for the voice of God to speak through you was not always an easy task. I started attending Meeting for Worship because of a man I was dating. I stayed a long time after the relationship had disappeared. The quality I admired in most of the attendees was their call to action. They didn’t preach about what needed to be done, they were active in their beliefs. If they felt called to help refugees coming across the southern border, they were helping out. One woman spoke about her experience in Nicaragua sitting with a child whose father was kidnapped by the rebels. They thought the wife and child would be taken too. Someone stayed with the mother and child twenty-four hours a day. If they were taken while people sat with them it would then become an international incident, not just one more disappearance. 

I must not forget the nurses, doctors, firemen, policemen, teachers and other civil servants who put their lives on the line every day to help the rest of us maintain a good and positive life. 

All these people and many of my friends are my heroes. There are so many out in the world who help without being noted in the paper, on the news, or anywhere else. There are many very fine people in this world who through their actions and beliefs change my life and your life for the better. 

These everyday heroes, inspire me to do better, to be kinder, more patient, and loving towards others. 

Today I am thankful that I can recognize the everyday hero when I meet one. Today I am grateful to meet those who inspire me and help me to create good in my life. I am thankful for heroes.