I've Been Away

I haven't blogged in a while. Life has gotten in the way a bit. My Mom had a very bad stroke and passed away a couple of days later. We had to fly back to Kansas City. She had moderate Alzheimer's before the stroke and her quality of life after was non-existent. She could have suffered for several days or weeks after the stroke. We were talking about a feeding tube but she took a big turn overnight so we decided just to make her more comfortable. I never thought I would be in a place where I would have to make those decisions. Make sure you tell someone you love what you would want them to do for you and talk to them about what they would want for themselves. This is very important and not something you should be shy about.

When we got home, we had some friends come and visit us from Kansas. It was really nice to have them. We went to the Temecula wine country and had some wonderful wine and lunch overlooking a vineyard.

This morning, I awoke to an Acorn Woodpecker standing on our fence. He was so beautiful. He looked like a little clown. I didn't get a picture because I knew if I moved, he would fly so I just enjoyed looking at him. We have scrub oaks on the hill behind us that are just full of Acorns. They live in groups of several males and females and share the raising of their young and the collection of food. A real community. It is known as a "Bushel" of Woodpeckers.

Check out this site for a picture and click on the button to hear their call. My Cat's went nuts when I did! http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/175/_/Acorn_Woodpecker.aspx