Thursday, August 25, 2011

An unhappy ending to an otherwise great day


 When one begins dragging 60 behind them and doesn’t need a magnifying glass to see 70 looming,  the options for funny birthday cards increase dramatically.

And leave it to my sweet sister to find one to honor my sweetie on his birthday earlier this week. 




 When we were kids growing up in Los Angeles, there was a local television program for children hosted by Sheriff John, and he did a “birthday cake” song...


which I found myself singing when the day arrived. We did not, however, have a birthday cake this year for him. We had Klondike bars instead. 

The aches and pains of growing older are not what makes the “golden years” very golden. Richard has an occasional minor problem in his back, which requires him to walk around hunched over a bit for a day until it works itself out. At this point it is still something we can still make jokes about, but it may not be so funny as time goes by.

Today would have been a very nearly perfect day. I have finally clawed my way out of the huge volume of work I was handed and feel like I can take a breath once again. I even had time to look at a blog or two. Yea!!!

We have been accumulating brush since last winter due to ice storms and throughout the spring and summer due to high winds. The pile began to breed and suddenly there were two piles, and both of them looked pregnant.

And as it often goes with us, they might have remained for quite a bit longer, perhaps even throughout the winter, except an armadillo picked one of them to crawl under and die, and the stench of rotting flesh has been wafting in the window I sit in front of for the past week – it takes the process quite a while longer in an armadillo because of the hard shell. So Richard decided to burn the piles today. Yea!!!

The last time brush piles were burned – in September of last year -- Nathaniel did the job



so it was a bit poignant for both of us when Richard went out to light it off.

And then just as the job was finished, a very bad thing happened. A turtle that had crawled under the brush pile for shelter did not get out in time and was killed.

How to explain how horrible Richard felt? Horrible. We both felt sick inside. I love turtles. 

 I probably have as many photographs of turtles (and judging by the red eyes, this is a boy turtle) on this computer as I do of lizards and flowers and…

At any rate, I am so grateful I am married to a kind man who does not take pleasure in killing things.

4 comments:

Oklahoma Granny said...

A belated Happy Birthday to your husband. So sorry the day ended the way it did.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Happy Birthday to Richard! Klondike Bars are a great substitute for cake. I hardly ever make a cake ..too many leftovers:)

Have Myelin? said...

My daughter Nicole loved turtles too. She has a massive turtle collection. For several years she had a large turtle that roamed around in her apartment. I'm not sure what kind it was - then she decided it should live outside. When her friend bought a house with a fenced yard (LOL) she decided it was a good place for the turtle to live. She visited the turtle on a regular basis, bringing food, etc....always was able to find him. (or her)

I love the picture of Nathaniel. Sweet... and I'm sorry about the turtle.

Lil Sis said...

awwwhhhh... sorry about the poor turtle. R didn't mean any harm. I love the pic of your son having a good time burning the brush. Great pic of him he was having so much fun - but it made me sad, too. :,>( Love ya, sis!