My love of animals - or not in Regular Stuff

Let me start off by saying that I do love animals. My whole childhood I had pets, mostly dogs but a few cats as well.

But, aside from dogs, cats and horses, animals freak me out. I do love to watch birds but don’t want them too close. Even birds people have as pets, parakeets, etc. scare me!

Amphibians, reptiles and rodents? No thank you. I can’t even hold a hamster. Or a bunny. I’m not sure where this fear comes from, but it’s very real and very deep rooted.

So if I had to pick one thing I did not like about living here, it would be the wildlife. Watching birds fly from the safety of my third floor balcony is a lot different than having dozens flying around my yard right above me. And there are so many squirrels! Especially the black ones. Why are some grey and some black? I guess I should look that up.

And the slugs! I really do not like these slimy creatures. And the bugs and spiders and other insects, oh my! They actually terrify me.

Our backyard is beautiful. The back half is covered with ivy and trees and a rock garden. The front half is grass and more trees. I love to sit out back and look at all this beauty. But the vegetation obviously attracts other admirers as well.

The other day there was a bird sitting on the patio. He just stayed there for a few hours. I actually thought he was dead at first. Once I realized it wasn’t, I couldn’t stand thinking he/she might be suffering so I called animal control. I was very impressed with how quickly they came out. The officer was so nice and so gentle with the bird. She said there was definitely something wrong and they would take it to the vet. I was happy the little bird was going to be taken care of but it was very unnerving for me to have it out there. At one point I looked at the window and thought it was gone. I was going to call and cancel, but decided to make sure before I did. I went to the patio door to go out and don’t you know that little bird had hopped over and was sitting right at the door! If I hadn’t seen it I might have stepped on it. I also probably would have of had a heart attack lol.

I guess the bottom line is that I like animals, but aside from cats, dogs and horses, I want them kept at a distance : )

In other news, we are having our first party this weekend. A cookout actually. I’m excited to see everyone and for them to see the house.

I can’t believe school starts next week. Makayla is at school right now meeting her teacher. I’ve gotten used to her being around the last few weeks. Her summer camp ended 2 weeks ago so it’s just been her and I hanging out. I will miss my little buddy!

I’ve been trying for days to get a hold of social security to change my address. Since I receive disability, it’s very important to keep my information current with them. I tried the website but kept getting locked out. I’ve called several times but get tired of waiting after 20 minutes or so. Today I was determined to get it done. I waited 37 minutes, hear someone pick up and the the line goes dead. Grrrr!

My niece’s ex, father of my great niece, was in a horrific accident a few days ago. He was riding on his motorcycle, had been drinking and lost control. He hit a tree, the bike flipped and he flew off of it. He is very lucky to be alive. And very lucky he didn’t hurt anyone else. He is a wonderful person and an alcoholic. I hope this is his wake up call but I don’t know if it will be. He’s got a great job that he’s had for years. He drives a truck that hauls goods to 7-11’s. He makes good money and just bought a house. I believe he will lose all of that. This is his second DUI accident. I think his job gave him a huge break last time but I don’t think that will be the case this time. He is in surgery right now. They said his pelvis was damaged, worse than they had ever seen. He will not be able to walk for at least 12 weeks. His parents live in another state but his mother is going to come take care of him. A sad situation all around.

I guess that’s all I’ve got. I hope you all have a lovely Labor day weekend!