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Thursday, October 22, 2020

Werewolf? Wolverine? Velociraptor?

 

Angry owl?  Baby dragon?  Apparently, it's pretty wild out here at night.  Whatever attacked my rear view mirror was not the usual male Cardinal.   That's hard plastic and the cuts are fairly deep.  I can just imagine trying to explain this to the insurance company.

Retirement continues to carry on in a fog.  Not only am I never sure what day it is, I don't even have to care.  So strange.  I'm hoping it's a phase.  I have all the necessary paperwork done, with the exception of what to do with my 401K.  That is on today's agenda.  Tomorrow, I am making an early morning bread run for Marianne - I'm looking at my new 'job' as courier with a glint of adventure in my eye.  I have to be outside of an Italian bakery in another town at 7AM.  Woohoo!  I get paid in pumpkins, apples and assorted vege.  It's a good deal.

I'm getting some little things checked off the small novel that is my list.  It's very satisfying.  The weather continues to mirror the year - it's totally whacked.  From hard frost, four mornings in a row, I'm back to opening all the windows and using the fan.  We have also been getting rain fairly often - needed, but it would have been more helpful in summer.  I am not complaining.  I also opened my barn door to floor-to-ceiling hay.  AND almost all of it is second cut.  I'm going to have to install one of those reducing belt machines for Linden (who managed to twist an ankle/leg badly enough that it required getting the vet out).  AND - are you ready for this? - the farmer charged me $2.50/bale.  That's right.  Gobsmacked was I.

In my usual bi-weekly check-in with elderly neighbors/friends, I learned that my second set of parents' son's partner has been diagnosed with cancer.  She is a holistic practitioner, lifelong vegetarian and has decided to approach her cancer treatment with a rigid diet.  Everyone around her is all up in arms about it.  It got me thinking that we have moved into a total remove from allowing individuals to choose how to care for their health.  Just because she will not flood her body with poison, does not make her irresponsible.  In my opinion, of course.  I can only hope that I, if faced with the same hard decisions, would be true to my own beliefs.  All I can do for her is to back her up and send her good vibes - which I do every morning.  I have to do these pesky exercises to strengthen leg/hip/butt muscles and loathe it.  Why is it that I cannot for the life of me, stick with good habits?  If it's a bad habit, I cling to it like a barnacle.  I've found that using a prayer-like mantra for friends and family as I go through the routine, helps me stop whining and makes it go faster.  I am such a baby.  Wah.

Speaking of babe...


Can we say 80s?  Unearthed by my youngest sister - taken circa 1981 when I visited her in NYC's East Village (way before it was Yuppie-ized).  I was definitely stylin.

20 comments:

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Given the time of year, I vote werewolf.

Goatldi said...

Woowho!

Prayers for the second parents sons partner. People need to be kind. It was always of interest to me that in Geoffrey’s eight years cancer journey that if a patient died and had done every the medical community suggest and then passed.

Everyone walked about “poor fellow did everything offered and guess it was their time.” But if someone choose alternative treatments and passed the crowd said “well you know they did all the whacko herbs and such. They should have listened to the experts. “

It is called personal choice something which is short on many fronts anymore.

Glad you have a new task with Marianne and are enlarging your vegetable horizon.

Mama Pea said...

Whoa, DEFINITELY stylin', my friend!

Geesh, even if a werewolf was checking out your car, why attack the mirror like that? Guess you can be glad it wasn't the hood or (eeep!) the windshield!

All our air circulating fans have long been packed away. We've had November/December temps for a couple of weeks now. So far, all of the accumulated snow has gone south of us. Personally, as long as the landscape is now drab and bare, I'd just as soon have the snow cover.

Congrats on your new job! (Hee-hee.) I'd love a job where I was paid in homegrown, nutritious goodies.

No matter the physical ailment, hubby and I have been treating ourselves with alternative (mostly homeopathic) "medicines" for more than 30 years now and would go the route of your friends' son's loved one. Sending all the good wishes, vibrations and support to them via the airwaves.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

a baby dragon would be so cute! that photo is so very 80's! i don't know how i survived that era.

Florida Farm Girl said...

LOL, about knowing what day it is, I haven't worked since 1996 and I still haven't figured out a way to keep track without my phone or a calendar! Glad you are enjoying the new routine though. Yeah, I do know what you mean about good habits vs bad habits.

Steve Reed said...

I wonder if it was a mammal and not a bird. Raccoon?

Love the photo -- very '80s, with the scarf in your hair! Kind of Toni Basil.

I guess people have a right to make their own medical decisions (of course) but I can understand the frustration that others may feel. I knew people in the '90s who insisted that HIV did not cause AIDS -- as was a common dissident opinion at the time -- and they refused to treat their HIV. And of course they didn't survive. Sometimes you gotta go with science.

Nancy In Boise said...

Well that is weird on your mirror! I wonder if some kind of an animal saw their reflection and attacked it? Or do you have an unruly neighbor? I certainly agree with a person who has cancer. I have done quite a few holistic things when other people told me I should have surgery and didn't need to eventually. I did some really intensive Chiropractic and acupuncture and was able to have a ruptured disc gently moved back to where it should be. That was several years ago and no problem since. Everybody else was telling me surgery or steroid injections. I think personal choice is the big thing for sure! My father had cancer at one point and since he was in his early 70s he declined chemo and said I'm good. You said he'd had enough of medical stuff. Doctor said he lives 6 months to a year and he lived about two and a half or three years. Everybody's choice is different and I think we all need to respect that

Susan said...

No werewolf here, just the bear who really should be off fishing in the creek by now. We have had several friends hit by the big C recently. One has died, two are in remission and one has stabilized at chronic invalid level. I think I know the route I would take but who really knows until they are faced with it.

tpals said...

Very strange, glad it wasn't the paint; clumsy owl? Fun flashback photo. :)

Linda Sue said...

I had a friend who decided to curb cancer with diet and herbs and massage...she is dead and would have lived longer and better through science though not an easy decision to be sure, Maybe a combo would bail her out. 80's beauty!!
Mirror might be a raccoon snooping around and losing balance. Weird!
Anyway, We bought straw for 12.98 a bale. We only needed one to cover the dead fawn.

ellen abbott said...

far be it from me to judge anyone's health care choices. my primary care doc for my kids and myself was a chiropractor. only took them to an MD when I was pretty sure they needed antibiotics. treated my daughter's asthma with herbal tea (it worked).

and knowing the day of the week is overrated. and my guess is bear. y'all have bears up there right?

Michelle said...

Oh, the importance of a medical directive. If I get cancer, ME/MYSELF/I want the choice, based on the type and stage, whether or not to have surgery (which sometimes causes cancer to metastasize), whether or not to have chemo or radiation (which is a race to see if it will kill the cancer before it kills the patient), or whether I want to live out however many days I have left doing things known to boost my immune system and sustain/improve health of body, mind, and soul.

And girl, you were FAR more stylin' in 1981 than I was!

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

Oh 80's, how I miss you. Life was easier back then, apart from having to go through doors sideways so you didn't smack your huge shoulder pads! Ha. I guess everyone has to decide the route they want to take when faced with big health problems. I wish I could say I've heard of people who were successful with the natural approach, but I don't know of any. Sometimes we should be thankful for modern medicine.
Keep posting about your retirement. I love the insight! -Jenn (I'm going to vote for baby dragon, ala Hagrid)

Ed said...

My guess is another vehicle did that while you were in a parking lot somewhere. My wife has several scrapes that looks just like that on the passenger side mirror but in her case, it is from running into the side of the garage while pulling the car in.

Brian said...

I vote for a bear that didn't care for it's reflection in that mirror.

Don't understand why some folks have to be upset by another persons personal choice for how they care for themselves. Accept it, support them and don't tear them down. Sheesh!

linnellnickerson@gmail.com said...

Maybe we'll never know what attacked your mirror. Spooky!! So sorry for your friend' s cancer. Hope every thing works out for her. Life is always trying to throw us curves. Just love the picture of you!! Very pretty woman!

ElaineChicago said...

Perhaps a deer scratching his antlers getting ready for dueling?
I really enjoy reading your posts!

www.self-sufficientsam.blogspot.com said...

OMG!!!! Those are deep scratches! Lock your doors at night...it is almost Halloween! Glad you are getting through your list. What the bread job? Who's Marianne?
So sorry about your other parent's son's partner. Why is it the ones that are vigilant about their health get sick? At my age I doubt if I would put myself through any of that stuff except for pain killers....I don't like to suffer. I have gotten lectures from people especially nurses...at my doctor's office. She said to him in front of me.."Do you know this woman has not had a pap smear or a breast exam in years? Also, no colonoscopy or test for osteoporosis? My doctor told her, "I know, and she is one of the healthiest patients I have". That shut her up! LOL!
You are gorgeous in that picture! You look like a movie star! I bet you still do! I looked pretty good once upon a time but I am definitely not one of those people that ages well! LOL! Enjoy your weekend "off".

Debby said...

Wow. I don't know how to explain your car mirror. The car itself was not damaged?

Your belt made me laugh. Mine was white!

Carolyn said...

Is that one of those WWF (wrestling, not the panda group) belts? Hee-hee!!

Nice to see a picture of you :)

Maybe a cat was trying to catch a bird that was perched on your mirror and clawed it? I still like the idea of a miniature werewolf.