Hi All,

Tundra is fully recovered from his foxtail surgery.  We will be sticking to the roads and wide paths on future walks! No more foxtails for Tundra!

I released the last two baby sparrows of this season  a little over a week ago (Nutmeg and Peanut).  They were still quite small, but had begun to fly, and a male sparrow kept visiting their cage and actually fed them through the bars, so I took a chance and released them when he was nearby, and it went well! He took right over :)

I know this is the best thing, because no human can ever raise a sparrow as well as a sparrow can.  Perhaps their mother had been killed, and he was their father?

All is well and as it should be. :) 

Richard came into the house, and said "Come outside -- you just have to see this!".

Outside, under our bird feeders, was a squirrel (a desert rock squirrel), eating the seeds on the ground, with a tiny baby sparrow perched on his back!!

The little sparrow looked clueless, just sat there, on this squirrel's back! lol

I wish I had a picture.

The squirrel got spooked, and the baby fell off.  The squirrel merely sniffed the baby, then scampered off.

So there was this tiny little baby sparrow, sitting there, (blinking), with it's little yellow beak, not afraid of anything, not able to fly yet...

...I hate that moment of decision: should I take this little one in, or will it be okay out here?

I don't like to interfere.  A baby is better off with it's parents.

I decided to take it, because it is so very tiny, can't fly, and has no fear of predators, apparently.

Hi.

Please keep Tundra in your thoughts.  He is very sick.  Foxtails have burrowed into his body, and may even be inside his organs. 

He will be having surgery under general anesthesia to remove the internal foxtails.  I don't know whether surgery will be Tuesday or Wednesday...

...I'm supposed to call the veterinarian tomorrow am to schedule.

The sooner the better -- he's on antibiotics now, and very sick...

any positive thoughts and prayers appreciated :)

ty 

...today is Hunter S. Thompson's Birthday.

 Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005)

(Just f.y.i.), random facts from antje

:) 

Congratulations Monica on your journey!

 I am so very happy for you and envious (not jealous) of you for this wonderful journey.

I have been reading your posts, though I have not responded until now.  I applaud you for making this wonderful move in your life, for picking up and jumping into a brand-new reality and adventure.

Wow!

You are doing what I wish I could do, only I have a few more ties -- (or do I?) .

Anyway, congrats, good luck, and thanks for being an inspiration to me.

Maybe someday I will run out of excuses and just jump, like you have! :))

Enjoy your time, and learn all you can (so you can tell me, lol).

sincerely,

antje (formally zen puppy) 

I am no longer "zen puppy".  Call me "antje" for now, anyway.

 After all, I am not very "zen", though I strive to be, and I am not a "puppy", nor young, (though I strive to be, hehe).  So for now, my name here is antje.  That name was given to me by a friend here on iThou, and I will stick with that for now, or maybe change it a bit, or maybe use my real name, or at least some of my real name. :)

For now, just call me "antje". :-

-- formally Zen-for-god's-sakes-i'm 50-years-old-now-and-not-a-puppy-Puppy 

:) 

First of all, I am not very good at politics -- I mean I don't follow all the political news, etc.  But this issue really has me worried, not because of the probable outcome, but because of the thinking of a high political official in Arizona government.

The Arizona Secretary of State (Ken Bennet (R) ) wishes to take Obama off the ballot for Nov. 2012 because he says he does not believbe Obama was born in the USA.

I am 95% certain that this will not happen, (even sen John McCain, (R) says it can't happen), but it's the THINKING of this man (Ken Bennet) that worries me.

Here is an article: 

 http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/05/arizona-secretary-of-state-wants-to-see-proof-of-obamas-citizenship/

Try as I can, I can't post YouTube Videos on this site lately!

Anyway, here is a link, with beautiful music (by Holly Kirby), about a little sparrow rescued from inside a kitchen wall.

It's a bit over 10 minutes long, but well worth it -- read all of the words posted between photos and video -- you will see a wonderful suprise about 2/3 of the way through!!

SO here is the link: (since I can't post videos here for some reason):

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR4gLtZdAaY

Beautiful music, beautiful story. 

I found my first baby of this season three days ago.  He is about 10 days old today.  I named him "Cricket" :)

I will post photos soon.

Sorry I haven't been on much lately.  Spring has led me outside, away from the computer.  I will catch up with all of you soon!!

today i tried ("tried"?) to meditate ...couldn't quite settle my mind, couldn't quiet my mind.

at first, i felt the usual warm, heavy/light floating feeling...

then, i was thinking... thinking...

so... 

shhhhh....

be quiet, mind.

then, after that didn't work,

i somehow realized, that i was still meditating -- even though i was thinking and thinking

i realized that, the meditating was like a quiet, comfortable undertow... underneath my thinking and thinking and thinking

like something that is always there... the meditating

and that the thinking-thinking-thinking did not STOP the meditating, only obscure it... like maybe the meditating is like a stream, and the thinking-thinking-thinking only obscures the stream,  causing it not to disappear, but to run underground.

I recently learned that my dear old friend, Marvin, has leukemia.  He lives in Las Vegas, and we have been out of touch physically (not mentally/spiritually) for quite some time.

I wonder if any of you could maybe say some prayers, light a candle, meditate, for his healing.

I belive in the power of many minds coming together, for healing, and though you do not know Marvin, all I can say is that he was a kind friend who helped me when I needed help. 

This is Marvin: 

I am asking if any of you could please say a prayer, meditation, or just light a candle for Marvin.  Or even just a kind thought (though you do not know him).

Thank you,

-- zen 

This fell out of the tree on Mothers Day. He/she is actually eating (special baby bird formula via a special feeding syringe).  But I am a bit worried... he/she doesn't go after the food as eagerly as he/she should.

Anyway, Be careful what you wish for (you just might get it).  Ever since my last little sparrow (Liberty) suddenly disappeared, about two weeks after I set her free (after raising her from about a week old)... well... I have thought about her every day and wished that I had another little one to raise.

Wouldn't you know, on Mother's Day (right after calling my Mother), there this little one was on the ground, right under the 35-40 foot or so Itallian Cypress Tree in our front yard, which holds no less than 30 sparrow nests.

She is smaller than my pinky, just born, I am guessing.  (Notice I have decided that he/she is a she.)

 oooOOOoooo! My friend just sent me this one.  I like it!

I'm Not Lost, I Am Exploring

by Jana Stanfield

My friend the communist 
Holds meetings in his RV
I can't afford his gas
So I'm stuck here watching TV
I don't have digital

 And they threw in this beautiful mansion!

But I turned it down... would much rather live in the mountains, in a small cabin. 

I once had a cassette tape (remember those?) of maybe 12 different versions of Pachelbel's Canon in D...

That is long gone, but here are several versions/variations that I found on youtube.

The bittersweet music reminds me of birth, death, ecstatic joy, bitter sadness, life, nature, the green color of nature (SO much green, so intense!), sunshine, water, trees, skipping and galloping... among other things. :-)

I'll leave out the Irish version, which I heard for the first time a couple of weeks ago, but that is in another post here.

I especially like the 3rd one (piano) and the very last one (guitar) -- just a guy who says he wants to play this for his daughter's wedding, and that since she is only three, he has a lot of time to practice.

Please feel free to add any versions that you may like to this post.  And feel free to just ignore the whole thing, if you are not a fan of Pachelbel.   lol 

I just heard this for the first time!

The screen is meant to be black, so just listen ...and about 1/2 way through the piece, it becomes very Irish.  So fun!  Makes me want to do an Irish Jig, lol.

Here is a bit of info about Eileen Ivers, from about 3 yrs ago:

    I am so sorry for what has happened to your beautiful country.  My heart, prayers and good thoughts go out to you, and to all of your citizens.

It is a MULTI-user sketch site. You sketch with your mouse, and other users sketch right along with you! In real-time.

It's like drawing a mural, with several other people from around the world!

Sometimes there are immature kids on there, but it's okay, just ignore.  I almost didn't go back to this application, because a few kids spoiled the experience.  But let me tell you, it's well worth it to endure, and ignore, because there are some great artists here.

I just found this site, so I don't really have much to say as far as how to use it ... but you can learn as you go.

The reason I posted this is because of the FUN of sketching along with other people from anywhere in the world! You could, say, draw a circle, and someone else might come along and add to it! Or vice-versa.

I hope this post isn't like spam ...it's just that all the while I was on this site, I kept thinking some people on iThou would LOVE this! 

Multiple moons over AZ

(or are they orbs???)  ;P

Oh what fun we are having as we learn to use our new camera. lol. We have no clue yet why these anomalies occur. 

big argument, big fight at home.

i am just trying to stay sober

and i feel so alone right now

sorry 

just an old song, nicely recorded.  Felt like sharing.  (sorry, no good video, just the album cover)