Happy Sweet 16, Pooker!

It's hard to believe...Pooker is 16 today. She is a healthy, happy, assertive and very pretty cockatiel.

It was 1994 and I was in Seattle over the winter holidays visiting my friend, Justine. My parakeet of 8 years, Misha, had died that spring. That was quite sad. It was the first time (unfortunately not the last) that I had to make the decision to euthanize an animal. Besides being sad, it was traumatic.

So Justine in her just get it done manner took me to this parrot market "just to look" at birds. I really was in no mood to acquire another bird. Until I met the girl. She was just a month old and the parrot porter was taking her out of a box and putting her in a cage. Younger than this, they do not have the dexterity and strength to hold themselves up on a perch.

He put her on my hand and she immediately scurried up my arm and onto my shoulder and as many birds will, she nestled deep into the nape of my neck. It was darling. There I stayed with her for some time.

The next day, we went back: "just to look." We opened the cage and she did the same thing. Trouble. I really wanted to take this bird home but I was living in the dorm at Mt. Holyoke at the time, sharing a suite with Jill. Oh, and there was a no pets rule (Misha excluded.)

I called Jill from Justine's land line--my cell phone only worked in my car-- "what do you think?" Jill was easy going and a mom of 4 and was quite open to a new addition to our sunny 2 bedroom suite overlooking the apple orchard. Then there was the flight back to Boston to consider. Mind you, it was 1994, pre-TSA.

We took her, well first let me say this, the parrot porter said he was almost certain Pooker was a he. Anyway, we bought the necessary accessories for my new cockatiel and took her back to Justine's house. I had fantasized about another bird and had a few names already picked out. We tried calling her Colvin. Nah. Miles. Nope. And she cried and cried. What had I done?! A baby bird who eats formula from a syringe! To comfort her I made cooing sounds and out came Pooker.

Oh, the story of getting her back to Boston. I had to ask the flight attendant for hot water so I could make her formula during our layover. Then I had to defend my new bird when another flight attendant into Boston insisted that I put her cage under the seat in front of me in freezing winter weather. I most certainly did not. No air marshals or vigilante passengers to worry about.

Pooker became a love to all, or most, who lived at Dickinson Hall. Anne-Sophie would come get her and bring her to her room while she studied. For the most part, we all denied any knowledge of a bird living amongst us.

She stayed with friends and family while I went on a 6 week cross country trip with Alina. The next year Pooker moved with me back to Boston. She stayed with my folks while I lived in Argentina and still when I returned to the US and traveled for work for 2 more years. Then my folks brought her out to me in Long Beach. Now here in Bend she is back to her Pacific Northwest roots.

Yes, Pooker is a she. Sometimes it still catches those who knew her back then off guard; they want to say "he." But when I uncovered her one morning and found an egg and then found another 8 over the course of 2 weeks, we were pretty sure she was a girl.

She has given us many stories and laughs. She is an affectionate creature who loves to be kissed and cuddled. A cockatiel can fit in the palm of your hand, and there she will sit perfectly comfortable and unafraid.

To all of you who have cared for her or played with her or just know her through stories, she joyously celebrated her 16th year full of all of our love and kindness.

Happy Birthday girl!

Girl Power!

Okay, so you may not be into horse racing--I'm not so big on it myself-- but today will be an amazing race to watch: Breeders' Cup Classic.

Zenyatta will be racing. What's the big deal?

She is 19-0, and many fans, myself included, are praying for 20-0. It would just be the most incredible win.

Zenyatta is a 6 year old mare who stands 17.2 hands tall. One hand equals 4", measured from the front hoof to the withers. She's tall. She loves people, which you can see in her pre-race dancing and her post-race posing for enthusiastic fans.

She won the Breeders' Cup Classic last year, the first time a mare has won, beating out all the geldings and stallions. Girl power!

What is so goosebump inducing, is to watch her race. She heads around the track usually in the last spot or somewhere back there and then when it really matters, she kicks up the gears and shoots out past every other horse to win.

Her jockey, Mike Smith, said he has yet to see all of her gears and says he's not sure he wants to! In response to critics who say she doesn't win by huge landslides, Smith says Zenyatta runs as fast as she needs to to win.

So, as I wait for the starting time at Churchill Downs, I feel nervous. I feel nervous for her, for her jockey, for her owners and trainer, for all of her fans who make signs and wave them as she parades by, and nervous for the other horses.

This will be an exciting race, no matter the outcome. I can't get enough of Zenyatta!

Here is a link to last year's race and some post-race footage. It's very worth watching if only for the minutes of the race. Zenyatta is with the yellow #4 blanket: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt-88DTxeYs

If this link does not work, go to http://www.youtube.com/ and just search for Zenyatta Breeders' Cup 2009.

Once you watch her, you'll want to watch the other videos of her pre-race dancing, the webcam on the helmet of the trainer riding her, and her other races. You too won't be able to get enough!

Go Zenyatta!

It's Not Easy Waking a Sleeping Chicken

A typical ranch day, if there is such a thing, concludes with counting all six chickens and locking up their pen.

Just before dusk they all make their way back to their hen house and climb in, make a heck of a ruckus organizing themselves, and then they settle in for the night. I count them up just to be sure all have returned, and then close their gate so no night-time predator can create its own ruckus with my hens.

It has been getting darker earlier and I was behind in my evening duties. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hmmmmmm. It's Alice. Where is she? It was hard to see and to top it off, Alice is black and white.

I set out calling her, looking in all the places they visit throughout the day, under tree roots, under cars and trailers, in the creek, by the horse snack dishes (see photo.) Was it that monster hawk who got her?

Lately, my hens have been laying their eggs up in my hay bales. They have 4 perfectly comfortable and sheltered nesting boxes, but apparently they've tired of them. For days I was wondering if they had stopped laying eggs as there weren't any in the hen house when I would go collect them. It didn't make sense. My hens weren't quite a year into their laying.

Then one day I followed the hens out of their pen in the morning and watched one head straight for the hay shed, hop up a few bales, climb onto a wood post (see another photo) and then go down between the wood sides and the hay bales and tuck herself into a hole created in the hay bales (see other photo.) When she finally came out, I looked in and found 5 eggs! The jackpot.

So now, I climb in between the wood sides and hay bales and slowly lower myself down as to not catch myself on the snags on the wood and reach in, blindly because the space is so tight I can't turn my head, and retrieve the eggs.

Well, back to this evening of missing Alice. It dawned on me, maybe she's in her nesting spot. I look in from the horse lot beside and there she is, sleeping. I can't leave her there overnight, she'd be exposed to the feral cats, raccoons, and whatever else would climb in to bother a chicken. I couldn't climb in to get her because I had seen Bodie climb in there and a startled chicken fly out and that wasn't pretty on account of the lack of room to maneuver.

So there I stood, on the other side of the posts calling to the sleeping chicken: "Alice!" "Kiss Kiss Kiss" "Wake up girl!" "yooooo hooooo!"

It's not easy to wake a sleeping chicken. In fact, they tell you that the easiest way to catch a chicken or rooster is at night...if you can reach them.

So I took a stick and pushed it through to the hay and got her to perk up a bit. Then I had to scare her to get her out. Ugh. She jumped out, over the bales, down to the ground and ran straight for the hen house--and they can run as fast as 9 mph.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Clink went the gate lock.

Now, we have 6 ducks and a goose. They swim in the pond. Can you imagine what it's like trying to round them up to get them in at night? There is an owl that perches overhead; they seem oblivious. I have spent lots of time going from one end of the pond to the other trying to get them out. And look! They can swim clear to the middle! (see duck photo)

Despite how it may appear, my days are never the same.

Wild Animal Kingdom

I know I've said before that ranch life can be harsh, but the sweet birds at my feeder?!

We moved the bird feeder to the front of the house as the side patio is being worked on. It's pleasing to look out at the birds feeding while I myself am feeding at the dining table.

No sooner did I tell Larry the story that a Stellar Jay had come in and spooked off the smaller birds so I spooked off the Jay and the little ones quickly returned, than a falcon swooped in fast and furious, chased a small bird off and out over the pasture, caught it, and took it down to the ground and we must assume ate it based on the rough and tumble we saw going on!

Harsh!

We sat with our jaws dropped. It happened right in front of our eyes. We had to assume it was a falcon. What other bird the size of a large dove would eat a live bird?

A few minutes later, it came back, swooping through, and perched itself in the branches of one of the Junipers beside the house. I took the binoculars to be sure, and yes, it was a falcon. I went out and shooed it away, making threatening noises and clapping. It flew out over the pasture again and landed in a tree to the west. Eventually it moved on.

But really? Pretty little birds at the feeder being picked off by a falcon?

And I thought my biggest concern was the monster hawk scouting out the chickens and ducks.

Well, it is a wild animal kingdom, after all. But maybe we relocate the feeder.

Felon is Gone

Yesterday we opened the earth in our front pasture, at the base of a Juniper tree, and we put Felon to rest. Several horses came over to see what was going on. We took time to give thanks for having Felon in our life, recalled how she came to us and how much she changed since being with us. We recalled some of our favorite stories of our time with her and some of her daily patterns that were so entertaining. We found joy in that just last weekend she was out burying a bone with plans of retrieving it later. Such optimism!

Felon became ill a few weeks ago. Or rather, her illness started to show then. Her health declined rapidly and I tried anything to stop it from progressing. I discovered she sure did love cheesecake!

It became obvious on Wednesday that her time with me was coming to an end. I had been praying to the universe to either give her strength to recover or to allow her to pass on peacefully at home without the assistance of a vet. You have no idea how much I asked for this.

In the evening, she was beside me on the sofa and I unlocked my heart to let her go. She felt my message and later responded as she was waiting to do.

In the midst of handling her death, I went to the computer and sent an email to a few friends and family. Here it is.

It's 4:05am and Felon has gone to the peaceful world of dog heaven.

She came to my room at 1:30am and she just stood at the door. Her walk down the hall was all she could muster. I carried her to the patio door to go out but she didn't make any motion to go, she just lay down.

She was so gracious in letting me know she was ready.

The sweetest moment was when Bodie came over and lay down beside her, licked her face and rested his head on her head and stayed still. There they were, side by side, beside me, all of us with full understanding. That was a gift. It was so precious.

I brought her bed into the living room beside the sofa and I stroked her until we both fell asleep.

Something woke me up at 3:36am and I saw she had changed position and I could tell she was gone. She was still warm and soft, so it had only been a short time.

It is a peaceful hour. She spared me the responsibility of having to make the decision I knew would be necessary today. Bodie is respectful in leaving her be. He came to her when I moved her onto another blanket, he gave her a kiss, and he is by the door thinking about whatever it is sweet young loving dogs think about.

I thank the universe for taking her in this way. She crossed over as a very happy, loved, ready dog, friend, companion, protector and teacher. She did the job of my dog, my first dog, to the highest standard; she excelled.

We all miss her assertive and gentle presence on the ranch.

Thank you to all of you who have loved her.

With a calm sadness in my heart,

It's Beautiful

This is what I have been saying all day as I was glued to my laptop watching live feed of the rescue of the miners in Chile. "It's beautiful."

I couldn't come up with any other expression. As I stood in front of my screen with goosebumps and teary eyes watching yet another miner reach the top of the shoot in the capsula, I would say, "this is beautiful" or "it's beautiful" or "wow, this is so beautiful."

The impact of hundreds of people from all walks of life working ferociously on a common goal hit hard. The human spirit, when set about to focus on the greater good, is beautiful.

I suppose I could make a political statement or even more frightening, a politically correct statement. But neither of those are my intention.

My point is that we just witnessed a very beautiful event today. People from different religions, different political parties, people who wear different clothes, marry different people, speak different languages, eat different foods, pray to different gods, these same people got together and contributed their expertise, their ideas, their time and energy for the same goal.

And the result was, yes, you guessed it, beautiful.

We are more alike than we are different. A paraphrase of something Maya Angelou said.

It is a super clear sky tonight in Central Oregon. The stars are abundant. I will use them to wish many wishes that more can good be accomplished through our differences.

Chi-Chi-Chi-le-le-le. They offered a lesson to us these past 2 months. May we learn from what was endured.

Peace.

Words Worth Noting

Every now and again you read something that just hits you as extremely profound and even useful. This is what I read recently, and read again and again:

"Words saturated with sincerity, conviction, faith, and intuition are like highly explosive vibration bombs, which, when set off, shatter the rocks of difficulties and create the change desired."

~~~~ Paramahansa Yogananda, Scientific Healing Affirmations