I heard a squirrel cry today. I didn't know that squirrels did cry, until I heard him. He was a young squirrel - too big to call him a baby, but certainly not full grown. He was on the trunk of the pine tree near my deck when my son and I stepped outside. He started making a noise that was nearly a screech - I assumed it was an alarm to others that there were humans about. Still, this was unusual. My squirrels are very accustomed to me, often coming within a few feet to gather the sunflower seeds I put out for them. The squirrel flattened himself against the bark, parallel to the trunk of the tree in his best "camouflage" position. The screech got quieter and more plaintive. I said to my son "I think he's hurt". My son slowly moved down the steps to look closer. The squirrel ran around the far side of the tree, in a full cry, now. I could see his throat moving as he called for help in a panic. My son took a step closer and the squirrel ran down the tree, jumped to the fence post, back down off the fence post and back to the tree, looked up (and you could almost hear him say "Oh no, I'm not going up there again"), back to the fence post and down the other side to the Crape Myrtle a few feet away, where he scampered happily off. A squirrel that was afraid of heights? Hard to fathom! Perhaps because he was so small relative to the tree he became frightened. In any case, he's fine - and I've learned that squirrels can, indeed cry. I hope I never hear it again, though. It was a sad sound, like an injured child who could not be consoled.
Some of the stress of recent times is behind us, now. Mom moved to a nursing home quite a few months ago. We'd hoped that she would get strong enough to live on her own in the Assisted Living wing after some physical therapy to strengthen her broken hip, but she never got that strong again and decided she would stay in the nursing home. I had terrible images in my head of nursing homes. I've visited a few over the years and they've always been very sad places, as run-down and worn out as the people who were stored there just waiting to die. I hated the thought of my mom in a place like that, but none of us was in a position to take care of her full time, and even between us we couldn't afford a full time nurse for long. My brother said he had found a nice nursing home, near his house so he could visit almost every day. I was skeptical. My other siblings assured me it was nice. (Being out of commission with knee surgery, I wasn't able to go up for quite some time to see for myself).
Three weeks ago, Nathan (my oldest) and I drove to Ohio to visit Mom and to help clear out her house which was being sold. Jeremy had already done the lion's share of my work up there while I was at home, knee packed in ice. In any case, my siblings were right. The nursing home is far more like a hotel or nice boarding house than a nursing home. The dining room has white tablecloths, the hallways are carpeted and have lovely dark wood chair rails. There is a parlor and a library, and in the lobby an antique piano and a chandelier. In order to keep Mom as mobile as possible the nurses and aides "encourage" her to walk to the dining room for her meals. It's a struggle, but she can do it. (They follow closely with her wheelchair in case she gets too tired). A couple months ago, mom was in such poor health I doubted that she would see Christmas. Now, I'm wondering if she won't outlive us all. I'm at peace knowing that she is in a nice place.
Despite the awful housing market (particularly in Ohio), Mom's house sold 1 week after it was listed. Everyone who knew my dad knew that he was a maintenance-aholic. Everything in that house was very well cared for and in tip-top shape and the whole town knew it, so as soon as word got out that it was on the market, the Realtor was inundated with calls from people who wanted to see it. The closing was earlier this week, so it is done. I'm thankful for my sister Rosanne who lives nearby and kept a check on the house until it officially changed hands, and who also ended up being the unfortunate soul who was given power of attorney by all of us listed on the deed. That closing probably took an awful toll on her signing hand!
My knee surgery went well and the knee that was operated on hurts very little. The other one, unfortunately, still hurts a lot - so I have an appointment coming up to see if I can get that surgery done this year as well, since my "out of pocket" has hit the max. I hope he'll do it. I'm really tired of feeling like I'm nearly handicapped.. Physical Therapy is tough, but it seems to be helping, so I won't complain about that.
This week's good news: As of Thursday I am on vacation. I set sail on a Celebrity cruise on the 27th for 4 nights. I'm going to the same ports as last time, but doing different things. Last time in Cozumel I went to see the ruins of Tulum, this time I plan to see a little of the town and perhaps the beach. Last time in Key West I was so exhausted from seeing Tulum that I gave up my space in the pub crawl. My friend was still nice enough to bring me my free t-shirt. This time I signed up for a narrated bus tour of Key West. It's a hop-on, hop-off bus, which leaves me the option to explore if I see anywhere that I really must investigate, but since I'm still having so much difficulty walking, I think I will probably mostly just ride the bus.
The biggest differences between this cruise and the last one is that this time I am going alone, and this time I got a balcony cabin. These things are both good and bad. If I panic about being alone - which is always a possibility - at least I have a nice place to sit and escape the crowd. I'm really going to make an effort, though, to be at least a little bit sociable. Definitely planning on going to the restaurant for dinner. Assigned seating won't leave me in the awkward position of being at a table all alone and being stared at. This has happened more than once at company and church 'events'. Only empty seats in the place are at tables set for six or eight...and just me sitting there. Not pleasant.
I'm also going to do a better job of finding out where and when the entertainment is. Cruising is a "learn as you go" activity, and it was just at the end of the last cruise that I discovered that the advertisements that kept appearing in the room weren't just advertisements... they were also schedules. DUH! This is a new world to me. I've never been in a position to take "real" vacations. (But I find, in the job I have now, if I don't do something to depressurize every few months my work definitely suffers). I'm looking forward to seeing what a balcony cabin looks like... finding out if I can smell the sea air from my bed, hear the waves and the gulls, see the rising (or setting) sun.
I need to check the weather and I still need to pack. For right now, I'm tired, so I guess I'll go.
I just had to tell someone about my squirrel - the rest, well, once I get writing... you get what you get.
No comments:
Post a Comment