Learning!

While school continued as usual and I continued my online volunteering for Africam and Ustream.tv, I also continued to volunteer for HAWK Center. I have been volunteering there now for nearly a year. And in this time I have absolutely fallen in love with helping birds...From the smallest hatchling to the largest owl and hawk (those are the smallest and largest I've seen so far). One thing that blows my mind is how when they are brought in and it isn't a car related accident or they aren't merely sick or dehydrated they have been shot. I just don't get why someone would want to shoot them. And if the bird wasn't killed outright from the shot they could die a horrible long drawn out painful death from lead poisoning which would then poison what ever animal came across them and consumed them. Or they would be wounded and unable to survive, starve  to death which again is a painful process all the while being in pain from the gunshot.. only if they don't get caught by another animal while down. HAWK received an amazing red-tailed hawk dubbed Pulaski, the county he was found in, who at first they thought was DOA. He was shot in the head, and his chance of surviving this was really low. This bird had such a will to live he managed to survive tho he will never be able to be released again due to his injuries. He is now impaired in one eye and possibly impaired in the other. Because of his story he will make an impressionable ambassador for his species to educate people about red-tailed hawks and show them their beauty and what happens to them when man decides to shoot at them. This picture is Pulaski a few days or so after he arrived at the Center I believe. The picture is the property of HAWK Center.

you can see the exit wound on top of his head. He will always  have feathers sticking up there now,  a hawkish cowlick. He is now rooming with Kate HAWK Center's long time Red-tail hawk ambassador in the picture on the left. Not my best picture but maybe I can get a better one of her soon. 

 HAWK also has 2 owl ambassadors, a barn owl named Tito on right  and a red phased screech owl named Otis on bottom. Otis is a former patient of HAWK, he came in last year missing a wing and an eye punctured. It is assumed he was hit by a cars antenna and severed his wing. He is a lovely boy. Tito has been with the Center since he was young. Over the past year the Center had dealt with hundreds of emergencies and many many more calls. The biggest and most widely known emergency HAWK dealt with this year alone was the Mayflower oil spill. We were the first responders for the critters who were covered in the thick sticky tar sands oil. I have NEVER seen anything like it.. Some of those birds came in so covered in tar sands oil they were literally dripping. HAWK only received 11-12 birds and a muskrat before Exxon's people came in and took over but they received HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS of calls... and still to this day they get a call here and there because some animals who are a little oiled but still able to fly are flying away and landing in other waters but still getting sick. This has been the most impacting experience. Here you can find our local paper's story with a slideshow of about 20 pictures or so. Google would give you loads. HAWK Center has an amazing Director and a wonderful set of volunteers and a great group of people that step up and help when the need arises. When March rolled around I went to Basic Rehab training in Murray, KY. It was another awesome experience! Another volunteer and myself went to the class. 3 days of learning, testing, homework (after reading learning the book for a couple of months) Then the 'wet' lab and the big test. I have my Basic Rehab Certificate... now reading a LOT of books and maybe will feel brave enough to take the advanced courses later. But right now I'm happy to learn by watching, learn by doing as I'm told.. There are a lot of sad stories at HAWK..., but it is the Happy ones that makes it all worth it. And in the mean time I'm still learning!! So until next time... 

Christmas Traditions

The Christmas Season is over for this year. We have our tree and decorations already put away. This year all our plans fell through for the Holidays, some because of the weather, some due to illness, and others sadness over a lost loved one. Our Christmas this year wasn't what we planned it to be at all, but it got me thinking about all the Christmas traditions we all had growing up, some we make up as we grow up and move out on our own, and others we keep and treasure every year to make them live on for everyone else.
I remember when I was a little girl my Grandparents would make a huge dinner and we would go over and eat on Christmas day. It had to be Christmas day or it wasn't Christmas dinner according to my Gran. I also remember being allowed to open one present on Christmas eve.. it was already slated for the Christmas eve gift so was usually something small and fun to play with to keep me occupied until Christmas day. Now that I have children of my own we don't open a present on Christmas Eve. We make sugar cookies and spend the evening decorating them.. and picking the best 2 for Santa. And because our family is so spread out we have a huge family dinner on Christmas Eve for my husbands family, everyone comes in. This is usually the only time we see most of them. All of us together is a riot.. but each person brings a Man's gift and a Woman's gift. And we bring a present for our children to open that night. We draw numbers for the man and woman's gifts and have a wonderful time. We also get together with my Grandparents.. This year was going to be a start to a different tradition.. I was going to cook the Christmas dinner (..on Christmas Day of course) and because my Granda isn't allowed to drive anymore and my Gran can't drive this far my husband was going to get them and they would stay with me for a few days. They would get to see their son and visit with him while they were here. That didn't happen due to the weather but we will try again next year. And the most important tradition I started with my girls is to ask them why we have Christmas every year then we talk about Jesus's birth and what it means to us even now. A new tradition that has started because of Facebook not only do I send out cards to my friends and family far away NOW I send out a Merry Christmas to all those online! I don't know how to do the really neat ones my friends send me they are always beautiful..maybe one day I will... but until then I just send a message or if I'm lucky and find a cute picture I like I send it.
I have asked on my Facebook what their traditions were growing up and really looking forward to what they say. One tradition that has come through is from the Director of HAWK Center, that they all gather around the tree and pick a present for someone else rather than one of their own.. then take turns opening them.. but they also wait for the person to look their gift over and enjoy it for a moment before moving on to the next person. Another one that came through is from one of my Africam friends, that they also open presents on Christmas Eve and use to open the rest on Christmas morning.. but now they wait until about 3pm or so until his sister gets there. It's a wonderful thing to wait on family to open presents!.. Very hard on little ones to wait so long in some cases I think... and some big kids!.. but they learn how great it is to watch someone else opening a gift. A friend of mine also from Africam and from the UK says her Gran started a tradition of playing Bingo!, and instead of playing for money you get little presents, that's a neat tradition! Everyone is together and having a great time.
 A neat page I have come across looking up traditions is HERE. It has a lot of information on there but what I was reading of course was the traditions.. and it tells where some of our most long standing traditions started and why. Now I don't know the validity of the information on the page but it made for good reading and was certainly interesting.Thank you everyone who posted to my FB on your traditions.. if your post didn't make it into the blog I had already posted it before yours came through.. But will add it to the comments! I love learning all these family traditions everyone has. It may give others an idea for their own tradition. This blog could go on forever talking about Christmas traditions, traditional foods, etc.. so I will end it here and wait for more responses and add them as they come in as comments! Until next time...

The HAWK Center

I recently came across a page on Facebook for the HAWK Center (Helping Arkansas Wild "Kritters") while I was trying to learn about all the fabulous birds in my back yard on the Arkansas Birders page on FB. I watched the page for several weeks, reading the updates, watching the videos, reading the good news and the bad. All I could think was... I really wanted to get involved in this place. One story that has held me and many others captive at this facility is the story of 'Ms Perryville' the Barred Owl. Many people who follow this page.. even newbies to it like myself.. fell in love with this owl. She first came to the center in October I believe from being hit by a car... she was released the beginning of November. They were called out again just a few days before Thanksgiving Day because the SAME person found the SAME owl at the SAME place they found her the first time.. and she had been hit by a car AGAIN!! Only this time she was hurt worse. This time instead of getting her bell rung hard as was the case the first time, she had a skull fracture. They didn't know if she would even make it to the vets. But Ms Perryville is a trooper.. she is a survivor. She has healed fast and amazed everyone. Just the other day I read on their page she had started eating by herself when just a day or so before she wasn't able to. Now with reading about this owl, and reading stories about a goose they helped, watching a release video a month or so ago.. reading about the little screech owl that will be blind in one eye that they are rehabbing.. the red-tailed hawks they are rehabbing.. the more I read on this place the more I wanted to drive out and see it. I had never volunteered at a facility before and didn't know what to expect nor did I care what I had to do. I just wanted to see this place that seemed to be full of caring people who healed and loved these animals. I contacted them and went out on a Thursday which is a work day for them. Everyone is so nice, and we were busy! I didn't find out WHY we were so busy until about 2 hours after I had gotten to the center.. A news crew was coming out to do a story on the wonderfully amazing Ms Perryville! So we cleaned the work room, folded the towels, picked up the yard, and a few other things. I was able to see the owls, and they were so beautiful and well cared for. The news crew came in and handled everything quickly and efficiently, and gotta say the camera man was excited about the hawks he really wanted to get shots of them tho the story was about the owl. You can click HERE for the teaser video, news story and the written piece.  After the news crew left I got the pleasure (haha) of taking a scrub brush and a pressure washer to the hawks room.. after they were moved next door of course. And in case you don't know. A hawks poo is made of calcium.. its all white and its like shooting chalk at a wall and letting it dry. It is really hard to get off. After I finished in the Hawks room I was introduced the 2 hawks in residence.. one is an Ambassador Red-tailed Hawk named Kate, the other is a hawk that was probably hit by a car. They are uncertain if he will be released or not due to his injuries, but time will tell. I was also sort of introduced to the Ambassador Barn Owl Tito (laugh) He didn't want to come out of his box to say hi.. he only peeked over the top. They had another young red tailed hawk that had just come in a day or two earlier he was upset from all the noise so we left him alone. But I got to see the little screech owl who looks like he will be released even tho he is blind in one eye. He just has to prove he can catch his own food. And of course Ms Perryville. It was a very special day for me and I am looking forward to going back, and when I do I will get pics.. I need them for here!! So until next time....

Alzheimer or Dementia... Still Painful..

Two years ago my Granda started showing signs of something being wrong.. it was obvious something was wrong. It wasn't him forgetting where he placed his keys or someones name. He thought he had another home and when he WAS at home he believed that wasn't it and he would get very upset saying he wanted to go to HIS home. That this was Gran's home and she needed to choose.. We weren't certain exactly when he fell into this well of confusion but thinking back.. I begin to see a starting point. He use to say he sometimes thought someone was sneaking into the house and opening doors, moving things.. he felt like someone was in there with them. Obviously none of that was true.. but I see it for what it was now. I wish I had then and maybe he wouldn't have progressed so fast. Do I suffer guilt? Yes I do. I feel I should have seen the changes in him.. this is the man who raised me.. he is essentially my Da. It shouldn't have taken the slap in the face of his decline for me to see he was quietly suffering without knowing. As soon as I seen what was going on I stayed with them for 2 weeks got him in to a Dr who diagnosed him with Alzheimer. My Granda fought this diagnosis and still doesn't think their is anything wrong with him.. For about a year he did well on the medicines he was taking. The confusion over the 'houses' was gone.. He did start to misplace everything.. but I could live with this. It was so much easier to handle than seemingly losing Granda down the well of confusion. During that first year my Aunt was able to fly in from Boston and stay with them for a year. She left this past June. Since then Granda has declined so fast. My Granda is gone.. he is lost in his own world most of the time. He has now lost his drivers license.. I completely agree with the decision. But I see my Granda sitting there and he even looks different... I try to visit as often as possible... The girls can see the difference in him. He has been fighting with the Dr who diagnosed him so much about his diagnosis that I told him to get a second opinion from a neurologist.. which I thought he should have seen anyways. He has now been diagnosed with Dementia... but Dementia or Alzheimer they both cause pain.. they both make the sufferer lose ones self... they both make family member watch the afflicted disappear before our very eyes... Does this blog seem a bit selfish.. I guess it could be taken that way.. But as I sit here and type this I think about how he was as I grew up, how he was in the stories my Gran tells from their 67 YEARS of marriage.. I think about how he looked when he held my first baby.. and my second.. I think about so many things.. and I mourn him already a little bit because tho he is still here and he is still functioning he is a completely different person and it is so very very hard to get use to him. But one thing I do know... no matter who my Granda is.. I love him with everything in me and he will always be my Daddy.. Until next time..

This.. that.. and hmm

Well we got our first month of school out of the way. After several days of panic where we can't find our brush.. who stole my shoes.. and did I do my homework? We finally got settled into a system of Get up eat, turn TV's OFF and get dressed and ready for school. Come home do homework PUT THINGS AWAY!!! This is still being learned. I swear the oldest is rebelling. She doesn't want to do anything the easy way. We had our first parent teacher conferences last week. Oldest grades no surprises there A's. The youngest is always a surprise. She is really super smart but she has a challenge.. she is unable to stop talking for more that 2 seconds. I know its 2 seconds because I timed her. Even when you tell her you will duct tape her to the ceiling she HAS to finish what she is saying she can't HELP herself. SO this year is going to be a fun adventure of how to make her be quiet and pay attention. The birds are migrating for winter so I'm keeping an eye out for any new birds making their way to my feeders. I'm excited to get pictures of any newbies. Africa is going thru changes too right now they are going into spring and the rainy season will be starting soon. The grasses will be growing and the Imps will be lambing the wildebeest will have calves all over the plains. The Buffalo will all be calving at the same time. An abundance of babies. The cams will be full of babies in a few months so be sure to peek in an see them. PPO the Africam Potted Plant Owl (pictured above) is laying on two eggs right now due to hatch with in a week or so and the cheetah cubs are growing by leaps and bounds. Things happening and changing so fast. The South African birds will be migrating back like the woodland kingfisher. Will be great to see them again. The temps are getting cooler but they don't seem to stay that way for long here.. but I hold out hope that winter is coming and when it does BONFIRES!! I can't wait!! Roasting marshmallows, hotdogs and my brothers potato soup! yummmmm Lots of laughter and fun.. As long as the kids behave and keep the sticks to themselves.. we have had enough injuries already! Hmmm I wonder if I have rambled on enough. If not their is always tomorrow! So until next time..

Long Summer...

Wow has it been THAT long since I posted?! Well.. It has been a long summer full of very high temps, no rain, stuck in the house all day due to the heat and no where to go! For once this year we didn't have a trip planned. My Granda was diagnosed with Alzheimer Disease a year ago June and so we spent a lot of time in Oklahoma. BUT we did get one of our summer projects done despite the heat. In the early morning we washed one of our big rocks made sure we got all the moss and dirt scrubbed off the top. It has such a great shape. It didn't take long for it to dry but we let it dry for that day because once the sun came out it was unbearable! Temps stayed at about 112f most of the time during this time or better. The next morning after making sure it was still clean we got out our paints and counted off our squares for the checker board. Because it was such a lovely dark rock we chose bright colors. A bright pink and a bright blue and using sponge brushes we sponged circle 'squares' on our board. It looks so unique and lovely! The girls were so proud of themselves. We had gathered some flat stones and painted them accordingly but they just didn't look right. So we later went back to the store and searched for something that we could use for pieces for both boards when we get around to painting the backgammon board.. which honestly I will probably end up painting while they are in school. What I found are the glass accent rocks you find in the craft section. Here is our finished

board.. It was taken before we bought the glass stones. We may change yet again the game pieces. Trying to find the right pieces. but the board is awesome! We started on our cloth backgammon sets but are having to do some revisions. We have all the pieces cut out and just need to glue the pieces of cloth onto the felt and paint the dots in the dice. Also need to make the pouch for the button game pieces.. this is another part of the project I'm trying to figure out how to do so we wont have a lot of pieces every where. I am thinking about making a pouch attached to the back to hold the dice and the buttons. Here is a pic of the materials we have to use. I've assembled the pieces and have taken another picture so you can get an idea of what it will look like put together. Another problem I'm having is the glue makes
the material stiff which is something I was expecting. I'm hoping with use it will become more pliable. The colors and patterns are all chaotic :) big smile. My girls have a good eye for making the the mind work. They wanted clashing patterns and colors. They did a wonderful job. But even tho they clashed a bit they still went together real well.. at least to me who loves clashing colors and patterns so this may be my chaotic mind loving it!

The buttons may get replaces at some point but they work for now. They are cheap game pieces and easily replaced if lost. But they have such cute buttons out that I can't help but want to buy butterflies or dragonflies. Its not perfect cuts which adds to its charm and the girls are excited to get them done. The same concept will be done with the checker boards. But I think,  like I did with the out side board, we will make mismatched 'squares'. I like the idea of a bunch of odd ball circles as our checker board 'squares'. And we may use pieces of cloth as the game pieces..We can glue together two pieces of cloth and make one side the 'king'. Ha as you can see the checker board is still in thought process after my fail attempt at the backgammon board. But we will not give up! They make such charming sets. Now as to the rest of the summer. The girls and I have decided to do some bird watching. We have been surprised at how much we LOVE this activity! I have made contact with some bird watchers in our area and I think we may be going on a birders tour soon. We have enjoyed learning what birds are in our own back yard. This includes visually seeing the birds and identifying them and hearing the calls and identifying them. We set up some feeders so we can take pictures of the various birds, but I will save that for the next blog. SO until next time!

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper

This month my book club read Copper Sun. An amazing story about a girl in Africa who had never laid eyes on a white person until the day they came into her village and killed her entire family and took her and the other young and healthy men and women in her village away in irons. Marched them to the coast where they were branded like cattle sold to slavers and shipped to the colonies. This girl Amari has to learn how to be a slave and what that word even means. Her body is no longer her own, and at the age of 15 she is abused by many. This story should be read by everyone. It gives an amazing depiction of one girls life from freedom to captivity and slavery to her escape and the trials she must face even seeking the freedom she craves. Sharon Draper put this story together so well.. the emotions, how the people of that time Black and White, felt. The horrors of what slaves went through and the sadness they endured. And not only did she bring us into the life of a slave she also gave us an education on indentured servitude. Amari was sold to a rich plantation owner who also that day bought an indentured servant about her age. This girl sold her services to pay off her families debt. Most people didn't know anything about indentured servants. They were just as abused as the slaves only thing is that they could become part of society after a time because they were white. But the indentured servants indenture could be sold to anyone. Essentially if they made their masters angry the master could sell them to whore houses or other horrible sickening lives. I didn't give many details about this book on purpose. I want people to read it. It was an unbelievably fast read. I hated putting it down. The story was fast paced, it never bogged down. This was not a book I would pick up on my own. But I'm so glad I read it and recommend it for ages 16 and older. Mostly giving this age rating because Amari is abused, severely beaten, and other emotionally gut wrenching, but necessary scenes that are needed to tell this story and for it to have the impact it was meant to have. If you have read it I would love to hear your comments and if you haven't you really should then let me know what you thought. Until next time..