Happy Birthday Post

What does being 65 mean to you?

Being an official senior citizen gives life a whole new meaning.  I can now speak my mind, and defend my obnoxious behavior easily.  I'm old. 

*SOUND BUZZER*

Wrong answer!  

Okay then.  Let me try again.  Older means *hopefully* being wiser. Having learned from my mistakes I can share my *wisdom* with others that are younger who have not been there and done that as I have. 

*THAT'S IT*

But who listens these days.

Enough of deep thought.  Let's get sentimental now.  Many years ago my mom gave me this card and I was delighted to run into it the other day as I was sifting through old photos.  She sure did love giving those $2 bills out! 

Let's go way back now.  To where innocence lived and complaints were minimal.  Because we had little, we had much!  See the outhouse in the background standing between my 2 sisters Rita and Angie?  We were thankful for that outhouse, until the day Mom ran into a snake inside.  An indoor bathroom magically appeared off our kitchen months later.  Thanks Dad.

Me (age 5), Rita and Angie

Memories are great.  But so is present time, even if it is spent social distancing.  My birthday this year was filled with love -  -   from a distance.

Some of that love came through FaceTime.

Oh, and one more memory before we go.  This showed up on my facebook page:  Awe.  Love my grandkids so much.

Sixty-Five came in quietly, was covered in joy, and ended with Gone With The Wind on the big screen in our living room, just the hubby, the dog, and me.

Just an old lady and her dog

Next Stop, The Twilight Zone

How's the social distancing thing going for you?  We've had ups and downs.  Gracie was very sick for a while.  After the fourth stressful trip to a veterinarian, where proper procedures during the Covid 19 pandemic require pet parents to stay in their cars while vet techs happily appear (I think they were happy, hard to tell with those masks) with masks and gloves to take the sick inside to be examined, we finally claimed victory weeks later, as she seems to be feeling much better!  

I'm not so sure it was the meds as much as the TLC we gave her.

In what was probably the worst ear infections (both ears) she has ever had, she'd hold her head at a left tilt bouncing into walls and anything else that got in her way as she tried to navigate her way through life.

I would like to report that her hearing has returned to full capacity, but regretfully, it has not.  I do believe she hears *somewhat* better though.  Just a tad.  A wee-little itsy-bitsy better.  But that's not saying much.

What have you done to keep yourself entertained during these times of quarantine?  I've been watching winter turn into spring.

And I've been wondering why this creature showed up on our back patio one day and refused to be shooed away.

We sought our online facebook friends for answers.  What is it?  How can I get it to go away?  Etc. Etc. Etc.  there were many opinions and suggestions.  Some type of duck, we concluded.  In order to keep it from harms way (GRACIE) we swept Donald into a box and placed him under the pool deck, giving him fresh water and some bird seed (not knowing what ducks really eat).  The next morning we would call DNR in hopes that they would come and safely remove him and take him to a new home, one where he was more welcome and in less danger (GRACIE).

Next morning, Don's still alive and kicking...  but he made a mess of his box and spilled his water.  Good news and bad news followed.

So do you want the bad news first?

DNR was unavailable. Not in. Closed down.  COVID 19 wins again.

 *sigh*

Now what?

A lightbulb went off in my head.  I'd call the office of our place of camping and see if they'd adopt him into their duck family by the pond there.  When I went out to check on him again, he had disappeared!  Good news - I think....

"Here, duckie, duckie, duckie...  " I called.  "Don, you out there?"

Not under the deck.  Not in his box.  Not in the yard.  Not behind the shed.   Our back yard is enclosed, an 8 ft. privacy fence separating us from the outside world.  Donald was nowhere to be found.  Where did he go, you ask?  This, a mystery.  Just another strange and unusual space of time in the 2020 series of The Twilight Zone.