Joy! Joy!! Charlie's back!

My bunny buddy has bounced back and is the happy guy he usually is. Even as late as yesterday afternoon I still was very concerned, as he didn't want his afternoon meal of greens and pellets. We have an appointment at 10:30 this morning which I am happily going to cancel!
He did eat some hay yesterday afternoon, and was leaving bunny poops in the cage- good things- but he still wasn't acting normally. I gave him extra orchard grass, which he seemed to like, and bought dandelion greens last evening- a favorite of all the bunns'- and he really liked those too. And this morning, when I opened his cage, he came running out just like old times, for his banana. He did 'thump' when I walked toward him, which is the way rabbits express fear or distress, by stamping their back feet hard, but I think he was just afraid that we were going to do more "bad things" to make him better. When I left the house, he and Stuart were flopped together in their cage in a post prandial pellet nap. It's a good day.

Charlie

The little guy in the foreground is our mini lopp-eared bunny, Charlie- or Charlie Brown, as I call him, just because he is brown, not because he is like the real Chuck. Charlie is our happiest rabbit, but he became ill yesterday, as he has done, unfortunately, many times before. We know he's down when he stops eating and doesn't come running from his cage when we open it. Yesterday morning he turned down his favorite treats and stayed in, so we knew it was another episode. For rabbits, not eating can become life-threatening in a short time. (Most impulse rabbit buyers don't know this, but that's a story for another day.) So we know that we immediately launch into syringe feedings of anti-gas medicine, belly massage on a heating pad, pain shots and fluids given under the skin. Usually, this is all that is needed, and in a few hours he's back munching away. Yesterday, he didn't improve, so we went to his special rabbit vet- not too many veterinarians know how to care for a rabbit; they are considered exotics. He was x-rayed and no intestinal obstruction was found, so we went back home with an additional medicine to improve gastric motility. He got a shot of Valium at the vet's office and had the munchies afterwards, which is common. He did eat some hay, but wanted nothing else, and this morning still is not himself. So I'm a bit worried about my boy and hope that when I go home in a few hours, he'll be better.

Can you see him??

Right in the very center of this picture, can you see the dark object at the top of the tree in the middle of the reeds? OK, admittedly it is a small spot, but it is a red wing black bird protecting his domain. Undoubtedly, somewhere in the protective grass below, his female companion (Significant Other? Wife?) is in their nest with their future offspring. One of the reasons I enjoy a morning commute via bicycle is that I get to pass by the wetlands. This time of year I usually get buzzed by a red wing, just to make certain I know to stay away from HIS territory...So far this year I'm still waiting. The red wings' buzzy trills fill the cool morning air, joined by the songs and calls of robins, cardinals, song sparrows, and some species whose songs I don't know. Everywhere along the trail it is green, green, green, no doubt because it has rained for days here. The forecast is for one nice sunny day- today- and a return of rain for the rest of the week. I'll enjoy today.

Time

This isn't a picture of my watch, per se. It's just a Timex with the required nurse's second hand and real numbers rather than just lines. (Which leads me to say Happy Nurses Week to all my fellow nurses out there.)
Nope, this is a picture of the artificial measure that humans created long ago so that we could tick off the passage of our lives in some standard way. Lately, I swear that someone is playing a joke on me and the hands go around WAY faster than they used to. I just don't seem to have enough of that time stuff- not in a day or a week, or- hey, it CANNOT be May already. Didn't we just put the Christmas tree away?
Obviously the older we get the more we try to squeeze into a minute. My days are very full, but they are a good full. If I could change the time I spend it would be less at work and more at home. However, that isn't an option right now, so I don't dwell on it. I like my work, love my home and my family and my animals. I don't mind doing laundry or cleaning, although I admit to spending very little time cooking. And then there are also the pleasures of gardening and reading a good book, or doing a project for the class I'm taking at Ohio State. And I can't forget how much fun it is to rollerblade or take the dogs for a walk.
The one thing that I am so grateful to my hospice patients for is they taught me to enjoy, savor, and appreciate every day, as none of us are promised one second more than the one we have right now, and oops- there goes that one, and another, and- see, someone IS playing tricks with my watch. Have a good day!

Wild Violets

Cost of a Birdie gas fillup: $42 + Beautiful spring morning = Riding my bike to work today.
There were violets everywhere: purple and pink were on Mother Nature's chosen palette this May morning, with pink Dogwoods along the path in the woods. As I rode along, a red-tailed hawk's flight path took him directly overhead and reminded me how big those birds are. I was thankful at that moment to be a big human instead of a mouse or bird.
Every spring at the wetlands sanctuary, a goose- I assume it's a mom and maybe the same mom- nests at the top of a hillock island in the pond with one tree at the top providing shade. I had hoped to see and photograph her this morning, but the little hill was vacant as I went past. If I was a goose mom, I think I would choose that spot for a nest too. Happy May Day!

Shackleton is 3!

Our sweet boy celebrated his third birthday Sunday. To celebrate, he got a bigger piece of ham than usual for a morning treat and I sang to him. (Whether THAT was a gift is up for debate.) He is the most gentle, laid back soul who likes to spend a great deal of the day lying at the foot of our bed, curled up on one of the white stuffed animals. He likes this so much that I will find him apparently sound asleep but purring away.
As he's grown from kittenhood, he isn't as interested in play fighting or racing around the house, but he's maintained his svelte form in spite of a lot of napping. We love him from his pink ears to his curly tipped tail and are fortunate to have him in our lives. Happy BD Shack!

Spring is here

All along the Olentangy River bike trail, beautiful forsythia are in bloom, and the splashes of bright yellow are everywhere.
I think often of my little Jessie, who never got to know a spring time here. There are lots of bad things about this earth, but surely spring must be one of the most beautiful gifts our Creator gave us. And so, at least in my heart, I take Jessie with me on my rollerblading trips. I wear my heart with his name engraved on it and a tiny bit of his ashes, and as I blade along, I see all there is to see for him with my eyes and then send them to him, knowing that he has springtime every day.