Wait Wait, There's More

 I can't make this stuff up. Rapid fire part dos...

Dad had a car that he wanted Mike and I to sell for him.

We brought the car back to our house in Maryland to sell.

A delightful couple named Greg and Kelly, who live 30 minutes north of Dad, drove 3 hours this morning to purchase the car.

Mike talked with Greg and I talked with Kelly about all sorts of things unrelated to buying the car, as if we were old friends catching up. At one point Kelly and I briefly spoke of her grief from her Mom dying this past spring and Mom's death anniversary yesterday. I thought about telling her of my experience from yesterday morning, but I didn't because I didn't want her to think I was a freak.

As the 4 of us were standing around our driveway wrapping things up, Mike quietly called across the driveway, "Peg, she's back".

The same bird from yesterday, white dot next to it's right eye, was climbing on Mike's shoulder. We were all speechless. I told Kelly and Greg of the show that was put on for me yesterday morning and the meaning behind it. Kelly said in a quiet, straight forward voice, "That's your Mom." I looked at her and said, "It is." As we continued to talk, the bird pecked at Mike's ear and a mole on his neck. 

The bird flitted onto the car Dad sold and pecked around there. Greg held his arm out to encourage the bird and it jumped right onto his arm, repeatedly going from the car to Greg's arm.

 At one point the bird landed on Kelly. It chewed on her straw and futzed around. As the bird was perched on Kelly's arm, pecking at her bracelets, Kelly asked if Mom liked jewelry...Mom had boxes of jewelry.

I explained that I thought Mom was there to thank Kelly and Greg for taking the car off of Dad's hands...similar to Dad being in the same room, in the same bed that Mom was in on the forth floor rehab and Dad saying, "She's still taking care of me"...similar to when neighbor Toni received her first quilt of the month gift from Dad, a thank you to her for providing food for him, and Toni showed us the name of the quilt block...

named "Mrs. Lloyd's Favorite" and we all agreed that Mom was saying thank you to Toni for feeding the old man.

When Greg and Kelly were getting ready to leave, the bird was perched on Greg's truck. Kelly jokingly asked him if they should take it home. With a look of horror on his face he replied, "We can't take her MOM home!"

The miracle bird is a Grackle...Mom used to call them Crackles.

People, well, I'm going to continue to revel in this miracle...and that's all I have to say about that.

You Have to See This to Believe It, I'm Serious

I've got to rapid fire this blog post because I am overwhelmed with freakish emotion, so I'm going to give it to you quick and dirty...

Today is the 4th anniversary of Mom's death.

I was sitting on the back deck and called Juanita to reminisce about Mom.

As we talked of Mom, this happened...

At first I couldn't form words. Then this...

PA - Juanita? There's a bird on me.

Juan - What??

PA - There is a bird sitting on me.

Juan - (laughingly said) Well what??

PA - This bird just flew up and sat on me, it's hoping all over me.

Juan - Well, maybe she's trying to tell us to stop talking about her.

I was flabbergasted. 

I was talking with a dear friend last night, not realizing the next day would be September 3rd, and I mentioned that I rarely feel the presence of Mom. I figure she's busy making people laugh, maybe watching over others that need her protection, and she knows I'm ok so I don't feel her around much. Well today, she really put on a show.

Last night I came across a sweet little amethyst ring of Mom's and decided to use it as a toe ring.

I'd like to think Mom admires it, but I think she's probably judging me for toe rings being trashy or some other such nonsense she would have told me if she were living.

Buzz...

and Ziggy were speechless too.

The flitting, pecking, snuggling went on for an hour.

What a gift for today.

A Story in Honor of Mom's 86th Birthday Today

If you know Mom, you know she loved cats.

Mom with Willamina, shortened to Willie (as in Nelson), back in the day. To know what inspired the name Willamina, check out this video on YouTube...

W is for Willamina

But I digress...

For the past couple years Joseph has begged us to get a cat.

My answer: We are still mastering taking care of ourselves, we are not ready to take care of something else.

Mike's answer: I don't like the smell of a litter box. I don't want my house smelling like a litter box.

This past June 2020, Mike was surfing around Facebook and came across this ad from The Feral Cat Rescue of Southern Maryland...

and asked if I thought we should go look at them. We both agreed these guys may be a healthy addition to our isolated family. The foster mom Suzanne is a friend of the family and lives up the hill from us so it was easy to coordinate a face-to-face.

Need I say more?

We brought Ziggy and Buzz home around June 25, 2020 and they have been bringing us laughter and joy ever since.

wee lil Buzz (pink nose)

sweet Boi Ziggy (grey on nose)

The Boiz loved to be together and were usually up to some sort of shenanigans.

As the Boiz continued to get bigger, Ziggy loved to sleep most the day with Buzz wandering around meowing, looking for someone to play with him.

One evening in December, scrolling through social media, I came across this fella.

After some investigation, we learned that this is a bro of our Boiz. He was rescued from under the same trailer a few months after Zig and Buzz, was fostered, adopted, returned to foster family because he was too rambunctious for the older cat in the adoptive family and he was on his way to Petco to see if he would get adopted during the Feral Cat Saviors' adoption event the next day. We said if no one adopted him, we would try him out.

Sabo at Petco that day

Sabo didn't like Petco that day

Suzanne brought him directly from Petco that day to our house. Mike was out and about that Sunday...here's how he got the news that we were adopting Sabo...

We took a chance, taking in a Boi who had been on the streets for 2 months, in and out of foster care, with the reputation of being, well for lack of a better term, a badass. 

Pros: He was the bro of our Boiz, we couldn't let him be out there somewhere, he needed to be with his family. 

Cons: 2 cats is, well 2 cats. 3 cats makes us CAT PEOPLE.

We bit the bullet. We became CAT PEOPLE for the sake of Sabo's fate. We have cat hair on our clothes but our house does NOT smell like a litter box. (This post brought to you by Glade Plugins...plug it in, plug it in People.)

It took a very short time for Sabo to settle in. His rambunctiousness is a great match for Buzz's activity level and Ziggy can continue to be a sleepy-doo all day.

left to right, Ziggy, Sabo, & Buzz

top to bottom, Buzz, Sabo, & Ziggy

Sabo lovin' on Buzz

top to bottom: Sabo, Buzz, and Ziggy enjoying the new cat tree

We often say, "Mom would really get a kick out of the Boiz"... and anyone who knows her would have to agree.

In honor of Mom's 86th birthday today, be sure to find some joy, smile, laugh. Lordy that lady knew how to have a good time.