Wild Animals and Hedonistic Folly in Everyday Ramblings
- May 31, 2015, 2:12 p.m.
- |
- Public
I took this last Sunday on my walk. I thought the buttery roses were pretty, plain and simple. If the wind is blowing the right way it smells like roses out there.
There was a huge evening celebration last night with a parade and fun run to kick off our citywide roving festival for having made it through another year and our auspicious environment for roses. That meant the afternoon 5K fundraiser for Melanoma was a bit of a bust.
There were maybe 25 women like me, alone wearing our purple survivor t-shirts. (Both my dentist and my periodontist have mothers who have experienced melanoma.) And then there were maybe 100 more friends and family that showed up. I felt particularly bad for the family of a woman who just died on Thursday of this scourge. S. bailed on me and I am glad she did. It was all sort of sad.
The course went through our waterfront area where high-end folk and tourists go and there is a park like atmosphere and there were a very pale gorgeous young couple sunbathing with practically nothing on. They were completely oblivious to us but not us to them. It was such a touching visual of the hedonistic folly of youth and the challenges of an aging and evolving body.
There were some “survivors” or “warriors” that were younger too. But it looks like here at least it is mostly women in their 50’s and above. As if breast cancer wasn’t enough.
There is a large raccoon in my patio well this morning. I bring the bird food in and empty the birdbath every night before dark and I thought this morning it would be fine to put the feeders out after full light (or should I say full glare as we have a lot of particulate matter in the air and cloud cover). I have tried throwing water at her and that spooks her for a moment but I need to be mindful of the cats. She is twice as big as them.
A few days ago Diego came nose to nose with her through an open double-screened window. Diego remained remarkably calm. And the cat’s behavior towards her this morning while completely engaged is respectful. Yes, they have had their rabies vaccinations (you have to if you have a pet licensed in our county).
With Kes coming to stay tomorrow night, (the cats are very excited, they love Kes) I need to clean today. And I need to record my continuing ed and teaching hours. I waited until the very last day to do this.
I did my hospital continuing ed yesterday. I did actually learn something… that the herpes zoster virus that causes shingles and chickenpox can be transmitted through the air. You can’t give someone shingles from contact, only chickenpox. You need to have had chickenpox and a compromised immune system (oh say from stress) to get shingles. But kids not vaccinated for chickenpox can get it from the air they breathe. I guess I hadn’t thought that through. That virus is everywhere.
The book on stress by Kelly McGonigal is ready for pickup at the library so I will be going there in a few hours.
I am subbing the morning class tomorrow, then working and then teaching in the evening. I will be plenty ready to laze around Tuesday after part two of my latest dental extravagance.
Sorry, for this pedestrian post after that teaser title.
My heart goes out to Cindy’s (our seedys) family and her close community in Skagway. I am glad she is no longer suffering and will continue to miss her as the days unfold. She was such a bright light on OD and here just briefly on PB before she became ill.
Last updated May 31, 2015
woman in the moon ⋅ May 31, 2015
Nice entry. I don't th8ink of raccoons are threats to cats. They can be pests though.
I'd like to hear more about stress. Like a definition. Is stress like worries? I know I sound dumb - I sound dumb to myself. I find myself less stressed as I get older. I wonder if that is possible? Things I worried about in the past don't matter anymore. I pretty much have what I need in life, and I don't have a lot of wants. Hmmmm. There must be more to it. I used to lie awake worrying about the well going dry. So far it hasn't. I used to worry about my job - and to be honest - I still do some of that. Oh, and you mentioned dentists - I used to worry about my teeth. Now I pretty much ignore them unless something really goes wrong and then I call the dentist and he puts an expensive crown on.
Damn this is turning into a stressful note.
Have a good rest of the weekend. Love the roses.
Deleted user ⋅ May 31, 2015
Woman in the moon cracks me up. Melanoma scares me ... I imagine it was kind of sad. I have a young cousin who has survived melanoma, thank god ! In my life I have spent hours in the sun with no protection what do ever( add it up and I bet it's years !) . I can't imagine how fortunate I have been to escape it . I do not do well with stress. I theorize my childhood predisposed me to be uber sensitive to it. So much stress then that I had absolutely no control over. Work was always stressful . Then you have relationships, money, children, home and at times even the responsibility for pets gets me. Then I got handed my spine issues... Now I have just made the decision to avoid stress whenever possible . I ignore it or avoid it. I am becoming better at it daily :-)
Deleted user ⋅ May 31, 2015
I repeat often the mantra ; This too will pass :-)
noko Deleted user ⋅ May 31, 2015
Her basic premise in the book is that stress isn't nearly as bad for your body (as a matter of fact it is a normal healthy response to things that might be threatening or cause us illness or discomfort), as thinking that stress is bad. Your mantra sounds perfect!
Deleted user noko ⋅ June 01, 2015
While my stress is nothing compared to what millions have survived and triumphed over, it's always painful and anxiety provoking. I try to remind myself of those millions of others that have done and do soooo much better than me when I am tempted to wallow :-)
Lyn ⋅ May 31, 2015
Like your picture and your description of buttery.
Congrats on completing the 5k.
Wishing you stress free times.
Deleted user ⋅ May 31, 2015
Shingles ... oh, say from stress. Yup.
But I didn't know that about chickenpox. I really really really cannot understand anti-vaccinators. Probably I need to try to be compassionate about their ignorance, but their ignorance can kill.
Well, I think I'll be quiet now, having discovered how strongly I feel about this. What an interesting life you lead!
And yes, Seedys loss is a large one, though I had fallen prey to the erratic mechanism here that lights people's names up un the Bookmarks. I will try to be more mindful.
edna million ⋅ June 03, 2015
Congratulations on the 5K- what a great cause. One of my FB/ old OD friends recently had a bout with it on her scalp that ended up needing two surgeries and having bone taken out of her skull. Fortunately her prognosis is excellent but I did go and buy a hat the other day myself.
Very sad about Seedys. I didn't really know her, but we shared a lot of the same friends and I loved the notes she'd leave.
Diego is very brave! My cats freaked out at the raccoons. As they do at all other cats who visit.
Gorgeous roses!