HEY, BABY!

MR. OWL HAS LEFT FOR ANOTHER ADVENTURE. HE HAS BEEN GONE A LONG TIME. I WONDERED IF I WOULD LOVE ANOTHER BIRD. WOULD IT FEEL LIKE BETRAYAL OF MY LOVE FOR MR. OWL? HOW WOULD I GET TO KNOW ANOTHER BIRD? WELL...

A FRIEND OF MINE  MOVED BACK IN TOWN. WE ARE HAVING FUN GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER AGAIN AND I AM LOVING GETTING TO KNOW HER THREE; YES, I SAID THREE; PARROTS. THEY ARE EXCEPTIONALLY INVOLVED IN EVERY FACET OF MY TIME AT THEIR HOME. THEY CALL OUT "HELLO!" WHEN THEY HEAR SOMEONE AT THE DOOR. LAUGH WITH US WHEN WE WATCH A FUNNY MOVIE AND DEMAND OUR ATTENTION. THERE ARE TWO GIRLS AND ONE BOY. I LOVE THEM ALL BUT THE PARROT NAMED "NIBBLES" HAS DECIDED WE ARE BEST FRIENDS IN THE WORLD. I HAVE COME TO ACCEPT THAT AS A GIVEN FACT. I LOVE ANOTHER BIRD. THERE IS ROOM IN MY HEART FOR MORE THAN ONE BIRD AFTERALL.

NIBBLES BEGAN DRAWING ME INTO HER WORLD BY CLIMBING UP TO MY SHOULDER AND SAYING, "HEY, BABY!" IT IS A SAD COMMENTARY ON MY LIFE THAT NO ONE HAS SAID, "HEY, BABY!" TO ME IN A LONG TIME SO MAYBE I OVER-REACTED A TAD. I KNOW I WAS ASTOUNDED, PLEASED AND LAUGHING SO HARD. THEN NIBBLES WHISTLES AND SAYS"UMM-MM. UMM-MM" AND I AM A GONER.

TONIGHT, THE MOMENT I ENTERED THE ROOM NIBBLES CALLED ME BABY AND ACCEPTED MY OFFER OF AN ARM IMMEDIATELY. SHE STAYED WITH ME MOST OF MY VISIT. SHE ALLOWED ME TO PET HER. SHE MADE BIRD NOISES THAT MEAN, "THAT FEELS SO GOOD". SHE TRIED TO GROOM ME BUT I STOPPED HER. I HAVE LITTLE BIRD PECK SPOTS ON MY ARM FROM THE LAST CLEANING. SEVERAL TIMES SHE SAT ON MY CHEST AND LOOKED ME STRAIGHT IN THE EYES AND SAID, "HEY, BABY!" AGAIN.

NIBBLES AND I ARE QUITE A PAIR. OUR RELATIONSHIP IS PURE-TEE COOL!

OF COURSE I WILL ALWAYS VISIT NIBBLES AT HER HOME. MY FOUR CATS MAY NOT APPRECIATE THE FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN A BEAUTIFUL PARROT AND THEIR HUMAN MOMMY. THERE IS A BETTER THAN GOOD CHANCE THAT THIS PARROT COULD GIVE A CAT A THOROUGH THROTTLING. SH-H-H! DON'T TELL THE CATS! THEY THINK THEY ARE BAD TO THE BONE!

FOR THE NIGHT I BID YOU, "HEY, BABY!" FROM NIBBLES AND SWEET DREAMS FROM NIBBLES BEST FRIEND....ME, CAT MOMMY EXTRAORDINAIRE!!

ADHD...who knew?

Lack of organizational skills,  impulsivity, hyper, cannot focus on one thing for any length of time, low self esteem and sense of hopelessness. These are a few of the traits assigned to ADHD folks. These are traits that define me and so, a wise doctor has named the elephant in the living room, shone the light on the hidden places and diagnosed me as ADHD. None of my friends are shocked. I am, after a few moments of disbelief, relieved. The moment he began describing the hallmark traits of ADHD I knew I had come home to myself. All these years of being a "colorful" person, a distracted, moody, hyper excited woman flinging herself at life choosing time and again to follow paths of misery and confusion. I wondered why I could not finish anything unless there were only hours until the deadline. I know now that my posture of not caring was actually a way of deflecting attention from the fact that I could not finish anything. Oh, I had a more than satisfactory IQ. Mom had us tested in our teens. By the numbers I have the ability to accomplish goals, to experience success, to make good choicess. Instead I jumped  around like a mexican jumping bean leaving hurt people in my trail and developing an acceptance of my lot in life which was to underachieve and flow with the motion I experienced running through my body. A quick glimpse of my journey to this point reveals a constant motion, constant change, constant impulsivity that brought life to my door in bits and pieces. Sanity would loom towards me, recede, madness would visit, recede, little hippy girl...people, places and things changed in a kaleidoscope of motion. I am over dramatizing to make the point that identifying an underlying cause is liberating and ,I believe, a direct gift from God. It is as if I have been running a complex piece of machinery for years without a manual or someone to teach me. At the age of 62 a man watches me running this machinery and asks if I know what the machine is and do I know how to run it. Voila! No, I don't know what it is and I do not know how to run it. Suddenly I knew help had arrived.

At least a week on the medication for ADHD and I am amazed at the initial results. To be clear, the medication does not cause me to be organized or to slow down and take notice or to make any changes. The medication provides me a subtle shift in my psyche and in that shift I am less confused, less impulsive and, most stunning of all, many of my keynote physical disomforts are gone. My chest isn't tight and I have energy. I am also experiencing incredibly difficult days. I am not sure what that is all about other than change is always a double edged sword of pleasure and pain.

I, for one, have been heart broken and lost with the news brought to my home by t.v. Instant notification, on the scene suffering, one catastrophe after the other and I begin to bend under the sorrow of our world gone seemingly mad. In light of the enormity of the groaning of our world my diagnosis of ADHD seems inconsequential. It seems a luxury for people who have more than they can manage in life...food to eat, money for the basics, cars, gas, jobs...no running to refugee camps, it seems a luxury to spend money to think about myself, work on myself, pursue healing for myself while a modern day holocaust rages killing the innocent, watching the light fade from countless eyes as death takes place of life. Yet I have gratitude for the world I live in and the opportunity to make peace with the crazy in me. Another God moment in my life. Peace! Be still!

First taste of chocolate in Ivory Coast

I am sharing this video because it blew my mind. When I was a child we lived in Ghana West Africa and I knew of the cocoa bean. I would never have believed that the people who grow and harvest it have never tasted chocolate. Very cool video, in my opinion.

An ad may pop up in this video that you need to X out or you won't see the subtitles.