Breadcrumbs

Spring has sprung in south Tennessee. Most of the day yesterday I spent enjoying the pastoral scenery here in the foothills.

One of the things that caught my eye was a female cardinal, really a beauty.  She spent the better part of an hour flying into a window on the backside of the house (beautifully clean windows) that reflected the tree that she had been perched in. I guess she thought she could get to another branch. But over and over again, she hit that glass ! I worried that she’d break her neck in her attempts to get to a place that didn’t exist, but there was nothing I could do. I thought to myself, we as humans do that a lot. Fly into windows, trying to get to that next place in life. Over and over we try, until we succeed in breaking the glass and getting on to the next thing, or we ultimately “break our own necks” and simply give up and go the other way, to another task.  I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to watch this beautiful bird, her persistence reminded me of Me. How often have I “broken” my neck to get to a goal that I thought was there? How often have I just given up?  Pause for reflection on my own life.

And the winner is…. Our Home Alone Contest is over. The winner has been drawn (2/28/08) and we broke the news yesterday informally. Today we tell the world that Laura Williams Musings is the winner. Laura will receive a full site review as her prize. I’m looking forward to reading her blog, cover to cover.  If you have a chance, drop by and congratulate her on winning, look around her blog. There’s always something interesting there.

Yesterday was quite a special day at Bird On A Wire in another way. We introduced our Remarkable Bloggers© , Nathan and Tricia and the response has been phenomenal! I hope you all are enjoying this series as much as I am! The only problem I’m having is following this one up. Its going to be really difficult to find anyone more Remarkable than these two folks!

That’s about it for today. I’ve got a couple of links I’d like to point you to before I go.  Will Taft has a post about environmentally friendly coffee. (go figure, its ” Bird” friendly) Ok, I know I’m carrying that too far. But give it a read, you’ll be surprised.  Over at the Fearless Blog , the good Professor tells us a personal tale about family and their dog, Woody. Brink a hanky or two. If you  are having trouble letting someone/something into your life. If you’re just not sure, this read is for you.

‘Til later. Have a Great and Wonderful Day!

Dancing Backwards In High Heels

Personal Thoughts On Life

Five years ago, on February 14, my Daddy (its a southern thing) died. It took me two weeks to shed a tear. I’ve thought of those days preceding his death and immediately following his death often over the past years, wondering what if. You see, for the 8 years prior to his death, we had not spoken. (his choice) The argument was over something that was serious to me then, but seems so silly now. But more importantly, I never knew that he really loved me as a person. For those almost 50 years of my life that he’d been my Daddy, I can count on one finger how many times he ever said he loved me. And that was the day that I visited him, on his request, prior to his death. Now, in terms of providing for his family, yes he did well. We didn’t want for much. We had a house and food, we went to church and to school. I received an undergraduate degree from a State College, kind of a normal household. But all through those years, I never felt that I had made him proud. I excelled in school, sports, church related activities, married well and produced a grand child. There weren’t hugs, kisses, laudatory statements or pats on the back. “Do Better” was the chant around the house. Now, I’m not saying that’s all bad. And I’m not asking for sympathy here. I had a pretty “normal” childhood, for a product of the 50’s. But what I am getting to here, is I’m a driven person. I’ve always been motivated to do more, do better, be the best. I’m grateful for the drive that Daddy instilled in me, though somedays, I feel like I’m dancing backwards in high heels. And I long to hear those words from him, I love you. As I built the 1 Million Memories site, I think I heard him say, job well done. I hope that each of you who are touched by the site will comment and tell others about it. There’s a memory book where you can add your own special memory of your parents or anyone else. Please join our cause. Parents love your children. Tell them every day. Let them know that they’re special in your eyes and your heart, no matter their abilities and weaknesses. Don’t wait, do it now. Life is short and our children are our greatest assets.