Failing Without Flailing
Nov. 27th, 2013 11:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mlerulesOkay, the Re: line sounds far more gloom than 'tis overall. Sure, I spent some time this AM visiting my former step-dad in hospice at an Advanced Altzheimer's Care Facility, giving him some water, talking to him, listening as he struggled so hard to talk, to get out some of what's clearly going on inside. It's like when a young child's not yet able to form words and speak sentences, yet has so much to communicate. 'Cept w/kids you can teach 'em to sign (yay ASL!), and w/him, he's bed-bound and barely has control of his limbs (with hardly any strength at all). So I talked to him, reminded him of things in the past, told him (again) that I now live in Oregon (where he's from and went to undergrad way back when and where his 'rents lived for decades), just spent time w/him, as you do.
It's so hard seeing the fragile shell of a person falling apart when it's clear there's a someone there underneath, fighting to be heard, to keep on going, even as the body decays and ceases functioning, slowly deteriorating.
Yesterday had - and later today will have - lotsa good, positive stuff in't, too. Stopped off, as has become my wont, at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge on my way to the Bay Area. I'd originally gone to see it simply as a way to decrease the boredom of traveling Hwy 5 and b'c I'd passed the sign too often not to check it out. Well, after that first visit, I got myself an annual passport and it's part of my routine now.
Now I'm on my 2nd annual passport. It's always been glorious visiting, regardless of the season. Yesterday though, I had about as close to a religious experience as I've ever had. Along w/the usual selection of mallards, coots, things I recognize but cannot name, hawks, eagles, &c., there were bazillions of snow geese flying all around, mainly on the other side of the water from where I was. They kept flying and landing, and then more would come. Amazing. Wonderful. Awesome. Here's the only photo I managed to get that only barely scratches the surface of what I saw:
And one more, just for good measure:
SO glad I came down early so got to spend time w/fambily last night. Will see more this afternoon and evening. Then'll visit w/more o'morrow to cook and eat a Thanksgiving feast together. Friday I'll be w/Dear Friends (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
1annie1 who I've known for over 35 years now and her fambily). Plans've shifted and I'll hit Carmel Highlands on Saturday, likely skipping Dickens altogether. Just not feeling like it this year, whilst beach and fireplace time appeals oh-so-much. Sunday I'll hang w/Mom & J and spend the night w/them.
My return trip plans're potentially hampered/hammered by impending Winterness: STORM WATCH. As so often proves true, flexibility is key!
It's so hard seeing the fragile shell of a person falling apart when it's clear there's a someone there underneath, fighting to be heard, to keep on going, even as the body decays and ceases functioning, slowly deteriorating.
Yesterday had - and later today will have - lotsa good, positive stuff in't, too. Stopped off, as has become my wont, at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge on my way to the Bay Area. I'd originally gone to see it simply as a way to decrease the boredom of traveling Hwy 5 and b'c I'd passed the sign too often not to check it out. Well, after that first visit, I got myself an annual passport and it's part of my routine now.
Now I'm on my 2nd annual passport. It's always been glorious visiting, regardless of the season. Yesterday though, I had about as close to a religious experience as I've ever had. Along w/the usual selection of mallards, coots, things I recognize but cannot name, hawks, eagles, &c., there were bazillions of snow geese flying all around, mainly on the other side of the water from where I was. They kept flying and landing, and then more would come. Amazing. Wonderful. Awesome. Here's the only photo I managed to get that only barely scratches the surface of what I saw:
And one more, just for good measure:
SO glad I came down early so got to spend time w/fambily last night. Will see more this afternoon and evening. Then'll visit w/more o'morrow to cook and eat a Thanksgiving feast together. Friday I'll be w/Dear Friends (
1annie1 who I've known for over 35 years now and her fambily). Plans've shifted and I'll hit Carmel Highlands on Saturday, likely skipping Dickens altogether. Just not feeling like it this year, whilst beach and fireplace time appeals oh-so-much. Sunday I'll hang w/Mom & J and spend the night w/them.My return trip plans're potentially hampered/hammered by impending Winterness: STORM WATCH. As so often proves true, flexibility is key!
