READING A BOOK NOW ABOUT A COUPLE’S STRUGGLE WITH CANCER

FEMALE GILA WOODPECKER TACKLES AN ORANGE SLICE IN OUR MESQUITE TREE

Even the birds must have known it was Valentines Day.  Both Kelly & I noticed many cheerful bird songs in the air this morning.  And it just seemed to go on all day.  Our Curved Bill Thrashers have the prettiest sound to them. We noticed birds flying & working together with a lot of nest building going on.  A pair of Gila Woodpeckers were busy with a few slices of orange Kelly had put out as well.  It was just a mighty fine Saturday morning all round as I took full advantage of our front porch & spent well over half my day just sitting there reading, watching birds, & nodding off now & again to the sweet sounds of twittering around me.  Especially busy were a clan of little Sparrows busily feathering their nests in our two giant Saguaros out front.  

<<< MALE GILA WOODPECKER TACKLES AN ORANGE PEEL ON A TALL WOODEN POLE

I did finish my book ‘Quiet’ a couple weeks ago.  Well I finished it my way that is.  Again the first part of this book was most interesting to me but once it got into how introverted people cope in big business environments such as Wall Street I lost interest & fast forwarded.  Next the author talked about introverted & extraverted children & how they cope.  Although more interesting than the Wall Street section I again lost interest & finally put the book down & moved on to something else.  Despite not reading this book from cover to cover I did find what I did read very informative & enlightening.  

A LOT OF NEST BUILDING GOING ON TODAY

A month ago I had downloaded about a dozen free books on my kindle so sifted through the list, picked out a couple & began reading.  Neither of these 2 books held my interest for long so moved onto a 3rd one & this book grabbed my attention.  Had no idea what it was about at first but with each page I was drawn further & further in.  It is a true story written by the husband of woman diagnosed with terminal cancer.  It is a story of their daily struggles, their turmoil, their hopes & their many set backs with this insidious illness & disease.  Normally I wouldn’t chose to read a book like this but now that I am nearly half way through I am glad I decided to stick with it.  Cancer is one of those topics all people fear & few talk openly about.  Even the victims sometimes.  This book in it’s own painful yet powerful way reveals those personal difficulties.  I am finding with each page turned I am gaining an understanding & insight into something I like many others have feared, turned away from, & felt uncomfortable talking about.  The book is called, ‘Leaving the Life’ by Patrick McKenna Lynch Smith.  

 

I am also reading a second book & this one is hard covered & the first printed on paper book I have read for many years.  It helps to have the ‘large print’ edition & that is working for me.  Suggested by Kelly’s brother Peter I am well into ‘The Thunderbolt Kid’ which again is a true story of a boy’s growing up years in the 1950’s.  Author Bill Bryson pretty much nails it as I continuously identify with nearly everything he writes about.  Many things from my own childhood in the 50’s I remember & the one’s I don’t are brought back to mind by the author’s own memories.  Great book which will bring many smiles for aging baby boomer minds.

Ever heard of the Kalamazoo Air Zoo?  Well I hadn’t either until I read Jim’s post over at exploRVistas.  I know we have some readers out here with aviation interests & this post just might be of interest to them.  Check out the pink P-40 Warhawk & find out why it was painted pink.

Our intentions were good this morning when we decided last night to just take the bull by the horns this morning, hop in the Jeep, & go around visiting some folks we either haven’t seen yet this year or have maybe only seen once.  As I said, our intentions were good but Kelly got herself busy in the kitchen working on a new cabbage soup recipe & I just kind of lazed out on our front porch reading.  Jeep never moved & we didn’t leave the property.  One of these days we’ll get our act together & get out to say hello to folks………………

WITH LAPTOP OPEN ON THE KITCHEN COUNTER KELLY WORKS AWAY AT A CABBAGE SOUP RECIPE THIS MORNING

GROANER’S CORNER:(( Driving through Southern California, I stopped at a roadside stand that sold fruit, vegetables, and crafts.  As I went to pay, I noticed the young woman behind the counter was painting a sign.
"Why the new sign?" I asked.  "My boyfriend didn't approve of the old one," she said.  When I glanced at what hung above the counter, I understood. It declared, "Local Honey, Dates, Nuts."

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After years of using the same perfumes, I decided to try something different and settled on a light, citrusy fragrance. The next day I was surprised when it was my little boy, not my husband, who first noticed the change. As he put his arms around me, he declared, "Wow, Mom, you smell just like Fruit Loops!"