Remembering Those Who Serve

On this Memorial Day, we pause to remember those who served and to thank those who make that sacrifice today.

The sweetest gift ever

Tonight is graduation night. After twelve long years, of what seemed to be insurmountable odds, Sam will walk across that stage. So many emotions are welling up in me this week, that I can't really even articulate them adequately. Yesterday, when I went to pick him up at school from graduation practice, I was presented the framed gift above by Ms E, his dedicated and loving parapro for the past four years. She had another teacher ask her daughter, who does photography, to bring her camera and take some shots of Sam in his cap and gown in the media center, where he's worked all this year. She told me, "She took so many good ones that I could not choose just one and decided to give you a gift which shows the many faces of Sam." Yes, I wept. And I'll weep some more tonight... tears of pride, of struggle, of joy, and of love as my heart is so full for my sweet boy.

Whoa Nellie! Look at that red head!

It's been a very long time since I've seen a new yard bird on Chickadee. This past weekend, I just happened to be looking out my window when I saw a glorious Red-headed Woodpecker at my feeders! I was conflicted between grabbing the binocs or running for the camera. So, I took a quick look and then ran! By the time I got back to the door and slowly opened it, he was headed for the back tree line, but I was able to catch a few shots of him on the big pine behind the feeders. Isn't he just magnificent? Oh, I hope, hope, hope he wasn't just passing through and that I get to see his loveliness again.

I Am the Bread of Life

This is one of our favorite hymns to do, and our choir always "feels" this song so much while we are singing it. Hope you enjoy it and that your day is blessed.

Singing his heart out

This male Northern Mockingbird showed up on the back deck last weekend and has been using it as his perching place to sing all week. He'll stand on the post cap and sing his little heart out for long periods of time. He's unfortunately started chasing my bluebirds, which could get ugly as they already have a nest with six eggs. I hope he'll soon attract a mate and find a spot to nest where he can be less territorial and anxious.

Found these interesting facts about him and his singing: "The male mockingbird sings a medley of songs belonging to other birds, repeating each phrase several times before moving on to the next. Unlike most songbirds, which learn their songs before they're a year old, a mockingbird continues to expand his repertoire all his life. Some include the sounds of people whistling, frogs croaking, and doorbells ringing. Although all adult male mockingbirds sing during the day, only a bachelor sings at night. He stops doing that as soon as he wins a mate."

Tending the babies

I've blogged about this in the past, but when we moved to Chickadee, one of the first things we did was to re-do/extend the back deck. Our contractor, who became a dear, dear friend, made me this birdhouse out of scraps of the Trex we used. I remember that I had to get him to increase the size of the entrance hole, as it was too small to accommodate anything really. He enlarged it to 1-1 1/4" in diameter, and still I wondered what on earth would nest in it. We hung it on a big pine, and ever since then, the Brown-headed Nuthatches have found a home there. They've nested there almost every year since 2007. This past weekend, I watched while mom and dad flew feverishly back and forth to feed their young.

When I cleaned out the nest box in 2007, the intricacy and softness of this nest amazed me. A good solid base with a pillow top mattress!

I'm not sure how many eggs they hatched as I can't open the house until it is ready to be cleaned out, but I love knowing that they are nesting here and enjoy hearing their "squeaky-toy" calls to one another.

The next chapter...

After being home for seven school days due to the storms, classes resumed on Monday the 9th. That evening, I got a call from Sam's parapro telling me his GA High School Graduation Test scores were in his book bag. I could tell by the tone of her voice that he had not passed... again. I had pretty much already decided I knew he would not, and so, I was not surprised. We tried. Four times. We instituted different variables in terms of the accommodations each time, and still, he just can't seem to pass it. So, though it picked my scab a bit in terms of what I so want for him, and yet what is so elusive, I am able to let it go. I know it does not tell anyone what is in his head or his level of intelligence. But, it's a law in GA in order to get a diploma, and so, onward we go. We'll still walk across that stage on May 27th, with our head held high, and we'll celebrate our achievement.

Because of the trauma of the storms, they are on an "activity schedule" for the remainder of the year which means a different schedule each day... not great for a kid who thrives on routine. The kind principal told Ms E that if he was done with all his academic requirements, he could theoretically be done with school on Thursday the 12th if we wanted. He'd have to go back on the 26th and 27th for half days to practice for graduation, but other than that, he's met all his requirements. So, on Thursday I drove him to the high school for his last full day of school. We talked a good bit on the drive in, and I was surprised that his reaction was happy, yet subdued. Change is hard. We talked about how hard it is to leave people we know. I told him that life was like a good book... even though one chapter you've really enjoyed comes to an end, there's another chapter to follow. Leaving Ms E will not be easy. She's like a second mom to him, and he keeps telling me, "Ms E says that now we can be good buddies, and she won't be making me work, work, work anymore!" I know we'll maintain a relationship with her for his lifetime. God has sent so many special people to us, and she is at the top of that list.

As he exited the car, and I drove around the school for the last time, I teared up. Each trail along this journey has seemed so insurmountable. We'd stand at the bottom of a hill looking up and think, "how on earth are we going to do this?" and yet, we'd start climbing, and always make it to the top. We'd keep walking until we'd come to the next hill. He has overcome so many obstacles and has so exceeded expectations. I sat there at the red light, leaving the campus with tears rolling down my cheeks, thinking back to 1995 when I was told that by the CARS score, my child had "moderate to severe autism" and that if he weren't talking to me by the time he was 5, he might not speak. And just look at him now. There has always been a hand on my back as I led him to the next hill, and I've learned not to fret about things, because there are always special people along the journey who just appear and also put their hands on our backs. We've never been alone, and God will continue to watch over and bless my sweet boy as he journeys into his life.

And so, we begin a new chapter of the book. New vistas, new characters, new plots and obstacles to overcome. And we shall... as our story is going to have such a happy ending. I am so proud of you my son, and so proud that God chose me to be your mom. I am such a better person for having taken this journey with you.

Hot Lips Sage

Yesterday, when I went down to water my new plantings in the garden, this is the sight that greeted me. When we planted this "Hot Lips Sage" it only took a week or so for me to see the first bright red blooms. But apparently, all I was seeing was the bottom part of the bloom! This is what is there now! How cool is this? A very welcoming sight for a hummer I'd think. I love the way the white stem part at the top is tipped in red as a beacon to bees and hummingbirds. I can't wait to see these two plants in full bloom!

Busy mama

In the past weeks, I've been thrilled to have nesting Carolina Chickadees, Brown-headed Nuthatches, and Eastern Bluebirds. The bluebirds nested in one of my Sawyer bluebird houses, and once that brood fledged, I wondered if mom would be upset that the chickadees were in the other house she tends to use on second nests. When my sister came to help me enhance my garden, she brought me a surprise! Check out this great Coveside Conservation Bluebird House. It is supposed to be more "sparrow resistant" but I have to admit I wondered if the bluebirds would give it a second look. Lo and behold, this past Tuesday, I looked down at the garden to see mom on top of the house with nesting materials. She has the platform filled to the brim with nest! I know that I'll need to make a daily appearance down there now to get them used to my being in their space, else I might consider never going down there without an umbrella for a shield as this pair tends to be quite territorial. Can't wait to see baby bluebirds in the garden!

Aftermath of the storm

Here is a video about the tornado that came through our small town last week.
I am still so humbled that the storm cell which spawned this destruction came within a mile or so of us.
This is a strong little community which has rolled up its sleeves, and will do what has to be done to rebuild.
Continued prayers are appreciated.

Since I've been gone...

It's been a lovely two months here on Chickadee. Spring did not tease us for long, and by the end of March was here to stay. My wonderful sissy and I had been discussing additions to my garden area which would make it a fabulous draw for butterflies and hummers. To that end, a couple of weeks ago, we relocated a butterfly bush to a corner where it has more room to spread. We moved one of the Jessamine out of the bed, and added a plethora of flowers/hosts plants to the mix. We planted Blanket Flower, Lantana, Penta, Black-eyed and Brown-eyed Susan, more Coneflower, Hot Lips Sage, Aster, Garden Phlox, Liatris, Black and Blue Salvia, Fennel, Senna, and Tropical Milkweed! I am giddy with the anticipation of seeing what it will all look like in a few months! I already have Monarch caterpillars on my Milkweed!

The first of April, hubby and I took a short getaway to Savannah, and were thrilled to get a surprise upgrade to a beautiful suite at the AVIA downtown. We enjoyed some beautiful weather and a trip to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. The morning we got there, we must have hit the wrong trail as we initially saw a marsh area with lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, Herons, and Swallows, yet as we walked on down the trail, it was very quiet. It was still a great time and we had some wonderful meals and some much needed down time.

I did get to see and photograph my first Tri-colored Heron!

The end of April brought preparations for Holy Week and Easter, and our choir was busy, busy, busy with practice for singing at Maundy Thursday service, a cantata for Good Friday, the Great Vigil of Easter Saturday night, and then Easter morning service on Sunday. Whew! It was a good bit of time commitment, but one that I love and that gives me great joy. Many of the anthems were a cappella, which made them even more beautiful. One of my favorites was from Maundy Thursday and was titled All in the April Evening. I hope everyone enjoys hearing our wonderful little 14-voice-strong choir.

On being thankful and humbled...

I've been composing this post in my head for the past two weeks, and still, it feels odd. I've been away for two months now. I thought it was going to be a difficult transition, but truthfully, I felt more relief than anything. I soon realized just how much of a stressor that blogging had become for me when all of a sudden there were not daily posts to compose and 80+ feeds to weed through. I did not realize how much compulsion was in me to "keep up" and not get behind in my reading. When, after a week, I had not gone to my Google reader and then saw that there were already 120+ posts I'd missed, it was humbling. Not only did I read ALL those posts, I commented on most of them as well. Gulp. It had taken on a life of its own. And then, there was the compulsion I'd created to post every single day. I thought to myself that one should keep a blog updated if they were going to have one, and thus, my daily posting was birthed. Once I started the daily gig, I didn't want to end the "streak."

Now I know that there will be new limits for me in terms of the time and effort I put into this. It has been a blessing to me in so many ways, and will continue to be one I am sure, but scaling back has been healthy for me. So, I am not sure what this will look like in terms of how often I'll post. Maybe every other day or so? Who knows? And, I will reserve my blog reading for mostly weekend mornings when I do have the time to spend here without feeling as if I am in a race to get through a list before it's time to leave for work/school. Much healthier plan for me I do believe. Everything in moderation, right?

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(Actual photo someone caught of the storm over our town.)

After composing the above, in preparation for my return to blogging, our world was turned upside down. On the evening of April 27 at 8:45PM, a massive storm cell roared through our county, and passed only a couple of miles from our home. We were in our basement watching the radar and listening to the wind howling. By the time it made it to the interstate 8 miles away, it dropped an EF4 tornado and decimated our little town. The main commercial district off I-75 was almost leveled by the storm, and eight lives were lost. We lost power Wednesday night, so we had no idea of the devastation until Thursday morning. For a town of 3000+ people, it's been indescribable to see our town literally ripped to shreds. We see things like this on the news all the time happening in the mid-west, but for the southeast, it was like nothing we've ever seen or experienced before. Wave after wave of storm cells just kept coming all day and evening on Wednesday. Alabama, our neighbors to the west, took the biggest brunt of the storms, but the entire southeast was left humbled and saddened.

I spent much of the day on Thursday alternating between tears for our town, and tears of thankfulness and grace that I felt being spared here on Chickadee. It will be some time before our little town can recover from something of this magnitude, but we are already seeing waves of people rolling up their sleeves and getting ready to work and help their neighbors. We will recover, and we will rebuild, and we will all be forever humbled by the potential fury of Mother Nature.