Unexpected Visitor...

 

The older I get, the more I realize that with the dawning of each new day comes a new and perhaps surprising experience.  I have been discovering at this stage of my life (8 decades plus) that no matter how young or old you might be, there is always something new to learn, experience, or discover.

It is late Spring, 2023, and this morning was one of those "discovery" days!  I get up pretty early most days because I have flowers in my garden that need watering or else they will die in this desert heat.  I love my garden and I love my flowers.  On this particular day, I discovered there was a visitor in my yard...an uninvited visitor!  Oh, it's not that I dislike wildlife, but when they invade my growing things and think it is their food, that is where I draw the line.

This morning, I was greeted by a little grey bunny (probably an adult...or a pesky "teen-ager") sitting just behind my favorite red flowers!  ;Startled at first, I wasn't sure what to do, so I turned the hose on "him," "her," "it," and startled it, as well!  I chased it all over the yard and called for my husband to join.  It was a merry chase!

For the life of us, we could not figure out how it got into the yard.  Dean had spent days and hours "bunny-proofing every inch of our fence!  It would seem that that was to no avail.  Somehow, somewhere, that little pest got into the yard.   It was quite funny to watch it run (hop) to the corner where it used to get in and freeze!  There was no way out.  Throughout this merry chase, it dawned on me that the other day, I found the side gate open and it had been open for at least a day and a night.  I shut it and hoped that was the end of the drama.

What I am thinking, and my husband agrees, that bunny was already in the yard, probably hiding in one of the bushes, and I had just shut him "in," not "out!"

After chasing the rascal around the yard with "deer-out"spray, I opened the gate and let it out.  Hopefully that is the end of the drama and I will not find this little furry bunny-rabbit in my yard again.  No more chasing him out of my garden...that is, util someone forgets and leaves the side gate open again!

Don't you just love a new discovery to add to a little flavor to your life's journey?  😄

Rediscovering Books...

 For the past few weeks, I have rediscovered the art of reading a good book again.  I have learned two new tricks to help me do that.  You know, of course, that for the past 20 years or so I have struggled with my vision.  The losses that I have endured have pretty much come to a halt, though and my vision is the best or the worst that it will ever be and I am adapting.

The first thing that I have discovered is that I can "listen" to a book being read with a program called Audible.  It is a wonderful tool!  I can either just listen to someone (or the author) read the book to me, or I can also follow along with the physical book.  I like both.  The other discovery I have made is that I CAN actually read a book.  It is much slower, of course, because I have difficulty still connecting words when I can only see the end of it and have to move my eyes backwards to find the beginning of it.

I recently acquired a wonderful book, an autobiography of an old friend and mentor of mine named Don Bluth.  Perhaps you have heard of him.  He was an amazing animator who worked first for Disney, then branched off on his own, creating Don Bluth Inc.  He and his fellow animators created such movies as "The Secret of NIMH," "An American Tail," "Land Before Time," "Rock-a-doodle," "All Dogs Go To Heaven," and "Anastasia."  The book is Called, "Somewhere Out There."

I knew Don when he lived in Santa Monica and we attended the same Church.  He was an amazing 18-19 year old who directed our youth in light operettas, such as "Rio Rico: The King of Cocos Isle," The Mikado," "H.M.S. Pinafore," great Roadshows and other productions.  I was privileged to be in and/or play the lead in many of his productions.  When he was 19 years old, he went on a Mission for our Church to Argentina.  He served there for 2 1/2 years, creating many musical and dramatic productions for the Argentines!

After Don came home, he and his brother opened a playhouse in Santa Monica called, "Bluth Brothers Theater.  He did that with the help of his brother, Fred.  They were quite a duo.  And then, at last, he got his dream job at Disney Studios as an Animator, and his career took off from there.

I haven't seen Don since my high school days, so it was a joy for me to hear him narrate his book while I follow along with the reading. " Good job, my friend!  I am grateful for having had the opportunity to know you way back when."  He now owns and operates a new theater in Scottsdale, AZ, called "The Front Row Theater."  I hope to be able to attend one of his plays some day soon.

I am so grateful for modern day technology that has allowed me to both read and hear the many books that I love to read.  God has surely blessed those who have created this for people like me who do not see like they used to.