Hypertension

He built his retirement house with his own hands and looked forward to a leisurely life outside the city. Wiry and strong, decisive and capable, his outward appearance was deceptively invulnerable.

The stroke happened one night as part of the left brain was deprived of blood for too long. Weakness of his right arm and leg resolved in a couple of months, but he remained unable to talk, unable to comprehend, uncertain of what he was seeing, locked inside himself.

He walks briskly outside with me for 30 minutes on nice days. I have to guide him across the street as he doesn't notice things on his right side. I talk to him about what we see, pretending he can understand.

Other days he pedals the stationary bike ferociously, lifts weights and walks on the treadmill. He is getting stronger and stronger. His high blood pressure is now treated so he won't have another stroke.

But what is life without the ability to communicate? How can you use a vocabulary which consists of "what to do", "fourteen" and "sh*t"? Books, television, radio make no sense and cannot alleviate the boredom of days that blend into weeks and months.

He does what any of us might do...

lashes out angrily and unpredictably when frustration builds intolerably, when words are incomprehensible, when others do not understand him...

and paces... paces... paces.

Grey Days

This spring has been chilly and wet with many grey days. The sunny days have also been cool and April seemed warmer than June has been so far. Yesterday we took a group of patients outdoors to do some container gardening. Most of them wore jackets and sweaters and they got the plants out just before a heavy downpour. I haven't been venturing out on many trails lately, puddling about the garden instead most evenings.

My seedlings and flowers which haven't been eaten by the red squirrels and visiting rabbits are established but need some warm temperatures to grow.

Here are some recent photos to celebrate the colour grey.


The owners of the Bed and Breakfast we visited in May had two outdoor cats;- a very friendly orange one and this grey one who always observed us from a distance with a distinct attitude. I have never had a cat, and have no particular desire to own one, but this pair behaved well and left the birds alone, even the baby robins in a knee level nest near the pond.


I have seen Northern Shrikes only a handful of times and enjoyed watching this juvenile hunting from a fence along a rural road. It would zip down to the ground and return just a quickly to its perch.


And this is a picture of the first and only Mockingbird I have seen. They are uncommon in Southern Ontario and this one was in a field near the north shore of Lake Erie. Its cousin, the Grey Catbird is very common, and I was happy to get the shot of this bird from the car.

The sun is supposed to appear by the weekend so grey will will be the shade of the week. The time for other colours will come and one of these days I may even be complaining about the heat.

UP

Yesterday I posted a picture of 200 balloons being released at our church and decided to follow up with another balloon story.

We seldom go to movies but our (adult) daughters encouraged us to go see the movie UP. It has been years since I saw an animated feature film that I really liked (Beauty and the Beast) and the initial previews of UP did not interest me in the least. But the promise of 3-D glasses and a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes convinced me to give it a try.

I was in tears before the end of the first 15 minutes of the movie. (the Becka rolls her eyes)


This story is written for all ages and is about love, loss, aging, hope, relationships and fulfilling dreams. Here is what I learned from the movie.

• Life is a series of happy and sad events
• Dreams can be fulfilled in ways we do not expect
• The past can tie us down
• Disposing of old baggage allows us to soar
• Our heroes may disappoint us
• Ordinary people can be heroes
• Those we have loved are always with us
• The old need the young
• The young need the old

The new 3-D glasses are way better than the old paper ones which had one blue lens and one red lens and made me feel nauseous. Go and see the movie, even without a child.


btw... Anvil Cloud asked the question, "Are balloons bad for birds and the environment?" Apparently not.

About 95% of balloons released into the atmosphere rise to an altitude of approximately five miles. The temperature here is about -20 degrees. The balloons actually freeze in the jet-stream and become brittle before shattering in a state called "brittle fracture". What that means is that the balloon is reduced to pieces about the size of a ten cent piece, where they flutter back to earth to finish decomposing. There is no known and proven death of sea life attributed to natural, latex, balloons. This should not be confused with plastic which, unlike balloons, is not immediately 100% biodegradable. (source)

Centennial Celebration

Photo courtesy of Annie Gingrich

The church we attend is celebrating its 100th anniversary this weekend. Earlier, the congregation stood outside, released helium filled balloons into the sky and watched as they rose above the spire and into the clouds. My husband's grandfather was a founding member of this congregation and many hundreds, even thousands of people have been through its doors over the years. This is the third or fourth building the congregation has used for worship but we know that the church is the people, not the physical structure.

It is one thing to have a history and another thing to have a future. The Christian church has been in existence for over 2000 years and has appeared in many forms in various cultural settings. The Church must continue to embrace change without compromising truth and become meaningful to future generations. I enjoy the writings of blogger iMonk who writes thought provoking "dispatches from the post-evangelical wilderness". He challenges Christians whose focus may be political or just mired in the past. True Christianity turns believers into Jesus-impersonators, not political activists or judgemental, unloving critics.


The visiting minister this morning showed this picture of a Lego church created by Amy Hughes. This masterpiece was built over eighteen months with over 75,000 of the plastic building blocks.
1 Peter 2:5 reads like this in The Message;-

Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you'll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God.

We are each like a Lego block and when placed together create a spiritual building of worship and service. I cannot guess what the world will look like in another 100 years or if this congregation will remain in its present form. As Christians we must follow the advice given by the writer in Hebrews 12:1-2 (The Message);-

Do you see what this means-
all these pioneers who blazed the way,
all these veterans cheering us on?
It means we'd better get on with it.
Strip down, start running-and never quit!
No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began
and finished this race we're in...

Attracting Wildlife: Part 2- Using Bird Songs

Baltimore Oriole responds to a birdJam call

I appreciate the thoughtful comments on my previous post and agree that keeping clean and protected feeders is not a disservice to birds, as long as the welfare of the bird or animal is put first, not the interests of the person attracting them.

I have purchased a couple of different CDs of bird songs in an effort to learn to identify birds I may not see. It is not easy to use a CD in the field and some of them would not track back to a specific bird, but rather to a family of birds. That would require me to listen to all the ducks, for instance, to find the one I wanted to hear.

I read about birdJam, a program which organizes bird songs on an Apple iPod. I had an under-used iPod Touch and decided to download the program. It is very, very user friendly and with the touch of my finger I could see each bird and hear all its different songs and calls. I had no external speakers besides my earphones and I did not plan to use the unit to call birds.

Last month I went on a group hike led by Neil Taylor. He used external speakers attached to his MP3 player to attract a Red-bellied Woodpecker that was nearby. He explained that the player should be used briefly as not to stress the bird. I read more about attracting birds this way and decided to get some portable speakers for my iPod. The iMainGo is a powerful portable speaker that is easy to carry on a wrist. I picked one up for $20 at Circuit City.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (male)

Armed with my high tech gear, I went to the river and tried the unit out. No one else was around that evening and I could hear many birds singing in the trees. I knew Baltimore Orioles were around so I tried that call first. Immediately, an Oriole looked down from the treetop. I then tried the Rose-breasted Grosbeak song. Again the response was fast as a pair of them appeared on a tree beside me. I noticed they looked very alert and somewhat alarmed and the female had some nesting material in her beak. It seemed they were concerned about another bird in their territory and I felt badly that I had presented a false challenge to their nesting area. That ended my experimentation. The unit did work, but bird songs are not just pretty melodies;- they are a language. There are risks to calling birds during nesting times. They may leave a nest unattended and predators can take advantage of this.

I saw this Philadephia Vireo in a tree and a pair of Brown-headed Cowbirds nearby. (I did not attract it by sound). An empty nest is an opportunity for the Cowbird to lay an egg for another bird to raise.

Mike Burrell, an experienced birder and researcher from our area had this to say...

As far as bird song playback goes. It certainly stresses a bird. But, so does pishing, squeaking, etc. The difference between playing bird song for photography and pishing is that pishing might stress a bird for a few seconds, while playing a song would probably be for several minutes. I think that season doesn't really matter, you are stressing the bird no matter the time of year. What does matter to me is basically that the bird isn't repeatedly stressed. For example, I wouldn't play a tape for a bird at Point Pelee in spring, but playing a tape for a Yellow Warbler in your local park once a season is reasonable. Again, if you pay attention to the bird, you should be able to tell you are stressing it. In all reality I think anyone who wants to play recordings should ask themselves if one person getting a photo of a bird is worth causing it stress. Doing bird research obviously has a purpose which we weigh as more important than the possible consequences of your actions. If birders are educated about the bird, they will make good decisions...

Brown-headed Cowbirds

The birdJam site has an informative article in the ethical use of the software here. "Some birders using playback keep on playing the songs until the bird lands right in front of them. We believe that's going too far."

I listen to the bird songs in my car through the external speakers on the way to work. ( I don't like earbuds) I don't expect to use the unit on a regular basis to attract birds, and if I do use it in the field, I must put the welfare of the bird ahead of my own interest of seeing it in the open.

Attracting Wildlife: Part 1

We have plenty of cute critters in our neighbourhood and go out of our way to attract some of them to stay around. Thankfully we do not have slithery reptiles around the house like Jayne and Mary (uggh!). This week we managed to get this little chipmunk to eat peanuts from our hand. I started by placing peanuts on my Crocs and after the rodent got used to that, it started coming to my hand for treats.

The minute we go and sit outdoors, the chipmunk is right there looking for a handout. Who could resist it as it stuffs its cheeks with whole peanuts and scampers away to the yard?! I have various feeders and a bird bath to attract some feathered friends. The Red-breasted Nuthatches and Chickadees are the most tame birds and will come over when I am filling up the feeders. It is essential to have shrubs or trees near the feeders for the safety of the birds, and various fruit bearing trees are also bird magnets.

Our Saskatoon berry bush and Mountain Ash attract many birds. On Sunday I noticed a Wilson's Warbler resting in the lilac bush outside our window. This was the first time I had seen this species and it was the fourth different warbler to visit the lilacs in a week.

There are photographers will not take pictures of birds on feeders but prefer a natural perch instead. Our birding forum has had discussions about inappropriate baiting of animals for pictures. An extreme example would be the use of a fake mouse on a fishing line to attract a raptor. There are unprincipled photographers who will use this technique to get a picture of a large bird in flight.


Improperly placed feeders can expose birds to predators and disease can be spread when many birds congregate for food. Birds do benefit from supplemental foods in the winter, but we also put bird feeders up for our own pleasure.

Where is the line between attracting wild creatures with food and disturbing them inappropriately by baiting?

Next post: iPod Birding

Wordless Wednesday: Art

Ottawa, Ontario

Barry's Bay, Ontario*

Any bush, Ontario

*taken by my husband

A Little Brown-Winged Bird

Chipping Sparrow

My ability to identify little brown birds is gradually improving and I generally recognize our regular seasonal visitors. American Tree Sparrows have returned north to nest and the Chipping Sparrow has taken its place at the feeders. It has the same chestnut cap but lacks a spot on the white breast. It is also smaller than the winter sparrow and is a very messy bird, scattering seeds all over the place for the ground feeders to clean up later.

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The female Red-breasted Grosbeak is very plain compared to her handsome mate as she waits inconspicuously for a place at the feeder. She can sing as beautifully as the male. In late summer the juvenile males share her colouring and it gets more confusing to tell the birds apart.

White-crowned Sparrow

The White-crowned Sparrows have come and gone, although a few stragglers are found year round here. Its song is less melodious than the earlier arriving White-throated Sparrow but its fancy head gear sets it apart and makes it easy to identify.

Song Sparrow

Our most familiar little brown bird is the ever-singing Song Sparrow. It can be seen belting out its familiar tune from conspicuous perches in the city or in the meadow. I found a lovely little volume of poetry written by Charles E. Jackson. Here is his ode to the Song Sparrow.

SONG-SPARROW

A little brown-winged bird am I,
But hear me sing!
A little brown-winged bird am I,
But songs I fling!

I sing, I sing my music rare,
As light and free as the summer air,
A little brown bird am I.

A little brown-winged bird am I,
Hear my refrain.
A little brown-winged bird am I,
Spring wakes again.

A pure-toned voice in golden flow,
A long-drawn cadence thrilling low,
A little brown bird am I.

Charles E. Jackson
Bird Lyrics and Other Poems (1909)