True to myself

Life has come a long way since yesterday I say

Yesterday, when I took my Dad to the VA Clinic, the oddest thing….There was a huge Dragonfly inside the clinic.  It was so amazing, I took a picture.  (Well, I pretty much take a picture of everything.)  When ever I notice something unusual in nature, I look at it as it were a sign.  I asked my friend L, who is a native Inuit if she would interpret the sign of the dragonfly as significant.  Here is what she said.  “Yes, its very possible.  Dragonflies remind us that God has given us the means of transforming our metaphorical selves into dragonflies capable of winging off contentedly into a new world. (cont)”

And it not the same old thing over again I say
“Dragonfly’s appearance softly suggests change and is often symbolic of what it means to be light, reflective, and full of joy – in all senses of the words. Dragonfly medicine tends to be very emotional, and passionate, often accompanying a great revelation or discovery of self.”

Just do what you feel and don’t you fool yourself
The way I interpret what my friend so eloquently suggested is that this sign could indicate that we may be turning a corner with Dad.  Dad may be transforming from the Caterpillar to the butterfly soon.  (a nice way to put it.)  Lately Dad is in a delusional state a good amount of time.  Today while I sat with him in the hospital, while he was completely asleep he sang two (2) songs very loudly.  The first song was “Dixie” and the second song was “Glory, Glory, Alleluia!”.   

Cause I can’t make you happy unless I am I say I…
We used to all belong to a prayer group a long while ago.  That’s where he learned the second song.  The most amazing part of Dad singing the songs was he knew all the verses.  Dad is always talking about conversations he had with his mother (who died 30 years ago).  I don’t really consider this delusional, I simply think there are times when he has one foot in this world and the other foot in the next (world). 

 Many Thanks to Ziggy Marley for the use of the lyrics, from the Album:  Dragonfly

Praying for a brilliant mind, strong ethics, & a strong advocate for our constitution.

Flock of 24 Ibis’ wandering down the neighborhood. 

Dad and I went to church today.  It was a little more interesting than the usual Sunday Mass.  Our regular Pastor is recovering from a bad accident and our Junior Pastor is a young priest from Ireland.  He is quite interesting to hear.  He was telling us about the visit from his family and what a good exchange rate they’re getting here.   Pastor Karl (junior pastor) said his sister purchase one suitcase of make-up and one suitcase of clothing.  Our exchange rate gets them about a 1/3 discount over what they’d get on their island.  Interesting.  I guess we should be happy they’re buying something, because I know most Americans are not buying anything.  Still it’s a situation we’ve not been in, in a long time.  I wonder if America is going to survive this whole economic disaster we’re experiencing.  From the looks of the news today, the economic woes seem to be reverberating around the world.  As we hear about a key German bank bail-out too. 

Part of me wants to believe we’re going to make it through this, just like we always have, and part of me wonders what life will be like if we don’t make it through this whole economic situation.

Which makes voting in the election all the more important.  I don’t care for McCain.  I just don’t trust another Republican in the white house.  I originally voted for Hillary.  And I’m heart-sick she lost the Democratic nomination.  Obama is really too green to be able to handle many of the issues in the white house currently.  Besides, I’ve noticed that when ever Obama gets under the gun about making an important decision, he seems to freeze.  I remember reading that he didn’t vote in a number of senate meetings on key issues.  You just don’t want some one in the white house who’s going to freeze under pressure. 

I guess I’m just going to have to hold out for a last minute write-in candidate for president.   I just pray that who ever it is will be someone with a brilliant mind and strong ethics, and a strong advocate for our constitution.  That’s what I’d like to see.

Alligators all around, alligators all around.

An interesting sign I ran across while taking my Dad to his doctor’s appointment.  You won’t see this sign in too many places. 

Kind of a slow day today.  Dad got up early and went to his Senior Center with few hiccups.  Dad seemed to be doing well, his memory was still impaired, but he did remember the basics. 

 A small flock of Ibis around the pond this morning.  Now that we’re in fall the birds seem to be arriving at the pond much later in the morning.  I saw a Fed Ex Truck sitting next to the pond and it seemed the driver had taken to the birds as much as I had. 

It did rain most of the day, it was a really blustery, windy day.   I made butternut squash soup for dinner.  It was delicious!!  And we had two quarts left over when we were done!!  I love butternut squash soup, it’s so good (At least I think so! ( – !!  Dad and I went grocery shopping in the evening, it was a good work out for Dad.   He was really tired after wards and went right to bed, after he took his meds and insulin. 

My recipe for Butternut Squash Soup is really easy.  Here it is: 

1 stick of unsalted butter
70 ounces (give or take) chicken stock
2 to 3 medium size butternut squash
1 Medium onion

Cut up Butternut Squash in to halves, and set in boiling water on stove.  When you can puncture them with a fork easily, they are done.  Remove them from the boiling water and peel off the skin. 
Cut up Medium onion and saute in the one stick of butter until onions are caramelized in a large 4 quart pot.   When the onions are done, add the chicken stock and simmer.  When the Butternut Squash is tender, cut up in to smaller squares and add to chicken stock.  Allow the squash to continue to tenderize as it cooks.  When the squash is fully cooked, take a potato masher and mash the squash in the chicken stock.  If you have a hand blender, please use this instead of the potato masher, as it will lend it self to a creamier textured soup.  Allow the soup to cool 10 minutes before serving. 

This is a really nutritious soup filled with fiber and vitamin A.  It’s perfect in Autumn when the squash is in season.  There is really nothing compared to the flavor of fresh Butternut Squash.  The recipe can be easily modified, to suit your taste.  I believe when the recipe originally came to me, it required two (2) sticks of butter.  However, I think it tastes great with just the one stick of unsalted butter.   BTW, I believe nutmeg would be an excellent addition to this recipe.  I haven’t tried it yet.  But it seems like it’d be a good fit.

Day four

Dad is starting to relax into his new home at the hospital.  Unfortunately for him, he’ll be returning home tomorrow.  The good news is that he is recovering from pneumonia and that the so called mass that the Doctors feared was a tumor was indeed pneumonia. 

And you can tell from Dad’s face that he’s feeling better too. 

Per Dad’s usual, Dad spent a good part of the Day arguing with me about why he couldn’t just leave the hospital and go home.  Lucky me, the hospital has pay per view movies.  So I used my credit card to order Dad some of his favorite Harry Potter movies.  It’s amazing, he really enjoys those movies and they quiet him right down.  He relaxed the rest of the day.