Hi friends, its been a long time since I posted although I have "lurked" a couple of times.
I am so happy that our cruel winter has finally passed and I can get out into the gardens again. Although it is work to look after the lawn and the flowers, it is so satisfying and I find it relaxes me. The ice came off the lake a week ago, and the loons are back. Spring is here. I sense it is time for me to come back and visit this site more often to give and get support. The good news is that a new face to face support group is starting up in our area. The first meeting is next week. I hope I can get something out of it. I seemed to have learned so much over the last few years about this horrible disease, but it will provide another forum for venting when I need to.
Hi Wolf, Things are not as good as they were a couple of months ago, when DH had plateaued, and I was beginning to feel like I had a handle on things, and getting into a routine. But then real life got in the way. I was, in fact, feeling sorry for myself this morning when I posted. My best caregiver was in a car accident before Easter and is still off the job. The agency that supplies the caregivers has been scrambling to find replacements, so DH and I are faced with having caregivers we have never met before come on days that people don't normally come to the house. This is messing with my DH's head and with the activities that I pursue outside the house to help keep me sane and part of "normal" society. It is now impossible to make plans for any time other than when I put my DH in a NH so that I can have a week of respite time.
I realize this is small potatoes compared to what others are going through but if it lasts much longer I may have to consider other options, such as placing my DH sooner rather than later. I've been sitting on the paperwork since October, but since DH plateaued to a pretty good spot for the winter I felt no urge to move on it. Now I am not so sure.
Anyway, I feel better this afternoon. I spent all day finishing the winter clean up of the yard, and having that chore out of the way always lifts my spirits!
Loved your description bqd of the loons arriving. Years ago, I lived by myself on a lake up a mountain in the interior of British Columbia 25 miles from the hospital where I worked. One of my favorite days of every year was when the loons arrived back with the ice leaving the lake. Thank you for the memory of that.
I now live on a little island on the ocean and find joy hearing the first loons arriving for winter resting.
katherinecs - I'm glad I was able to bring back some pleasant memories. I look forward every year to the first haunting call of the loons as they come back from their winter home. Its such a lonely sound, and yet it is also very soothing - I can close my eyes and imagine my favorite view of the lake (at sunset) and hear the loons calling and feel more at peace with the world. At least for a moment or two.
Back at you bqd. You said it perfectly! I also remember lying in bed in the middle of the night and hearing that haunting and soothing sound. Me too, peace with the world even if fleeting. And, a constant, every time we hear it.
I can do a loon call you know. You cup both hands making a round space inside and point both thumbs up. Tops of the thumbs touch but there's a slight gap below the knuckle. Put your lips in the middle of your thumbs with the lower lip just above that knuckle. Blow fairly strongly aiming straight into the top of the round space your cupped hands make. It takes a bit of practise but moving your hands slightly side to side can help find it and changing the shape of your hands slightly. You'll hear when you get it because it's unmistakable. When you can get that sound and make it call like a loon, flip all four fingers of the back hand out and when you get the higher note wave the fingers back and forth fairly quickly. It's like playing a trumpet a bit.
It's a vibrant loud loon call when you get the sequence right. Or you could just watch this.