Here doggie, doggie...

Did you know that there are  coyotes living in Chicago? My wonder spouse first heard of this and passed the information on to me.  I think that it's fascinating to think of coyotes living in a city and decided to share this information with you.  Some years ago, when I lived in a rural area north of Fort Wayne, we would occasionally hear coyotes howling in the distance, but that was in the country well away from people.  But now I've learned that "coyotes are well-established, year-round residents throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, with an estimated population of 2,000 to 4,000 thriving in both suburban forest preserves and dense city neighborhoods. They are highly adaptable, nocturnal 'ghosts of the city' that typically avoid humans and help control rodent populations. __ Populations are relatively stable, but sightings often increase in late winter/early spring (February–March) due to mating season, and again in late spring when they are feeding pups. __ Lack of foliage and increased foraging for pups makes them more visible during the day, though they are usually active at night. __ Chicago coyotes often use railways, alleys, and golf courses for travel, and cemeteries or parks for dens. __ They generally avoid people and are rarely aggressive, with over 95% of urban coyotes causing no issues."

 "The Urban Coyote Research Project, initiated in 2000, is the leading study on these animals. Researchers have found that Chicago coyotes actually have higher survival rates than rural counterparts due to the lack of hunting/trapping, and they rarely consume human food, preferring natural prey like rabbits and rats."

I hope you've enjoyed this brief look at city-dwelling wildlife.

For more information you can visit the Urban Coyote Research project website.

 My west coast brother, who happens to raise goats, provided me with this limerick because today is "Limerick Day":

A goat on a stroll near a brook

Found an old movie film and partook. 

"Was it good?" asked his mate.

Said the goat "Second rate!

Not nearly as good as the book."

I responded by sending him this limerick:

On a date a young lady from Wheeling

was having an unusual feeling.

She wasn't quite sure his intentions were pure

As she lay, gazing up at the ceiling.  

While my brother admitted that his was not original, but found on the internet, I was able to inform him that the one I quoted was actually one I made up (except for the first line) and sang in my only ever singing role in a play.  I only sang that one song and, because I was playing a drunk over-the-hill actress it didn't matter at all that I can't carry a tune.  

The end of an era

 Today was my last ever day of tutoring.  For 12 school years I have tutored a series of elementary school students through the Fort Wayne Community Schools Study Connections program.  A group of volunteers from our church have been meeting with students at South Wayne Elementary for an hour on Monday afternoons during all those school years.  Each adult works one on one with the same student all year.  For the last three years my wonder spouse has also volunteered.

Next year they are tearing down the school where we have been tutoring, the students will be dispersed to several other schools and no one could tell us where tutoring sessions would be held.  My spouse and I decided that this would be a reasonable time to retire from tutoring. The fact that we're not getting any younger also factored into the decision.  

So it was with mixed emotions that we headed for 'party day,' the last tutoring day of this school year.  I took a gift and a good bye letter for my student (whom I have worked with for two years) and assumed that this would probably be the last I would every see of him, as had happened with all my other students.  It's the way the program works.

But today was different.  My student brought me a bouquet of red roses, a beautiful necklace (called an Arrow Shot necklace) and a note from his mother saying how much she appreciated my work with her son (who, by the way, was an absolute sweetheart and easy to work with) asking if we could keep in touch and enclosing her address and phone number.  I checked and made sure this is ok with the school and it is, since his mom reached out to me.  I am so excited to think that I can follow up with this student. I'm not sure how it will play out.  I doubt that I'll be around long enough to see him graduate from high school.  But somehow, some times, along the way, I will get to see him.  I couldn't be more pleased.  

PS the Arrow Shot necklace came with this verse "Words are like arrows shot.  They have no wings, but fly far."  A good reminder to speak kindly.

mommy moments

 Yesterday I told you how I celebrated Mother's Day a day early with my great grandson.  Today I have decided to look back on some memorable moments in my career as a mother.  

We had a music festival in church today and as I sang I was reminded of one moment that still shines clearly in my mind. I was rocking my one year old daughter to sleep one night and tried singing her a lullaby. She opened her eyes, looked at me and said "Don't sing, Mommy." Ouch, that hurt.

Fast forward two years.  I had my "My child would never do that." reality check when I looked out the window and saw her running around naked in the front yard.  Happily we lived on a quiet street and no one saw except my best friend next door neighbor.  She though it was hilarious.

Years later their father and I were invited to Earlham College to watch my daughter play in a co-ed Rugby game.  A rough sport but she was six feet tall and strong.  My son was a senior there that year and my daughter was a sophomore.  At half time I got a close look at my daughter and saw that she had shaved the sides of her hair.  She explained that this was so she could tape her ears back so they wouldn't get hurt in a scrum.  When she let her hair down it covered the shaved areas completely. Thank goodness for thick hair.  While we were sitting on the grass (there were no bleachers) my son who was also watching the game stood up to go get some water and three girls who had been sitting behind him started giggling and pointing out how tiny his butt was based on the imprint left in the grass.  They seemed to find this very masculine, almost swoon worthy.  I was amazed that my baby boy (now a long and lean 6'5")  had become a chick magnet.

I could go on and on about fun times and rough times but that's enough Mommy musings for one night.  Thanks for indulging me.

Celebrating Mother's Day...

 I hope all of you who are mothers or had or have mothers, or loving grandmas or dear aunts or very special mothers-in-law find your own special way to celebrate Mother's Day tomorrow.

As for me, I celebrated a day early.  My wonder spouse and I shared a pizza supper with my grandson and granddaughter-in-law and my two- month old great grandson.  

 The last time I held him he was only six days old.  It's amazing the change in two months.  He is much livelier now, considering the world around him with eyes wide open. He's also physically stronger.  He weighs nine pounds so he's getting to be the size baby I'm used to. 

Here we are enjoying rocking chair companionship, and here's a picture his mommy took to celebrate his two month milestone.

I'm pretty sure that he's the cutest baby in the whole wide world, but if you are also a great grandma you have the right to disagree. 

More together time.  Happy Mother's Day everyone.

In my home town...

Today is May 8. What's so special about that? I'm glad you asked.  There are many, many things that can be celebrated on May 8. Some serious, some just for fun.   

It's the 81st anniversary of "V-E Day" marking the end of  WWII in Europe, obviously serious.  

It is also "Fintastic Friday" which encourages the conservation of sharks skates and rays.  It happens that I have a great niece-in-law who has her doctorate in marine biology and spends a great deal of time in large pools filled with water and sting rays.  She loves it.

On the fun side it's "No Socks Day" and "World Donkey Day." I didn't see any donkeys today but it was warm enough to go without socks.  It's always fun to start wearing sandals.

But my favorite day locally is "National Public Gardens Day." Over a hundred years ago generous benefactors contributed a very large amount of money to the city of Fort Wayne for the development of public parks and gardens throughout the city.  There are now 97 parks (open daily from 6:00am to 11:00pm) covering 2,840 acres of parkland and 120 miles of trails. 

My favorites include Headwaters Park, Promenade Park, Johnny Appleseed Park, Moody Park and the Rose Garden. Not just pretty to look at, our parks offer picnic spaces, golf courses, splash pads, sites for festivals and much more.  So get out there.  It's a great time of year to start enjoying the parks.

packing my bags...

 Today is "National Tourism Day."  This one I found on my own because my west coast brother was still too busy contemplating his very own D*****mit Dolls, received from our mutual friend, to think about special days.

"National Tourism Day" is a perfect day for my wonder spouse and me to celebrate.  While most of our tourism is being done internationally these days, we each have our own fond memories of travels throughout the United States from our childhood on.  

In fact one memorable trip was a shared experience with our first spouses while they were still alive.  Our friendships go way back. We were all newlyweds at the time (aka before children).  The trip we took together (four people and our luggage in a rather small car) involved sleeping in a large green boy scout tent, put up, with some interesting expletives, at a different campground each night, and by daylight enjoying the natural wonders of the rocky coast of Maine.

For thirteen years my first husband and I travelled throughout the US with our two children and two dogs in our faithful VW bus camper conversion.  We took them to all of the contiguous 48 states.  We camped in national parks and forests and KOA campgrounds.  My spouse had similar experiences with his first wife and two sons (minus the dogs).  We were reminiscing over coffee this morning and agreed that those travel times were excellent.  We also agreed that these days we prefer cruising with Viking.  A very different kind of travel adventure.  

In two weeks we will be leaving on our next cruise.  While our accomodations and dining experiences will definitely be a cut above camping, we will still be national tourists, at least part of the time with several stops in Alaska and a family visit in Washington state. 

As a national tourist I have been to all 50 states.  After this coming trip to Alaska my wonder spouse still needs to add Hawaii to his list. 

I am anxious to help him reach that goal.  Aloha, everyone.