Raptor Rapture

Meeting the raptors in the WSU rehabilitation program has become a bright spot of our visits. Last month we met the blind Golden Eagle. This time we met Widget, the Barn Owl and Everett, the American Kestrel. Even though we live on the prairie and see hawks a plenty, we've never had the opportunity to meet these birds in an up close and personal manner. One may not realize how beautiful they can be.

Widget doesn't care for big dogs we were told. I think his body language would confirm that as he eyed Bacchus while his handler was educating me. All the birds that come into the program are injured. Many are returned to the wild but those who can not be rehabilitated to that point are used for educational programs. Socializing them, I would suppose, includes these visits to the hospital waiting room.

They run tours of the raptor facility every other Saturday. What a great outing for kids. Heck, it would be a great outing for anyone who would like to know more about these beautiful guys. I've found, just as with our fish, they have personalities all their own. It certainly brings home the point of why we're there in the first place. No matter how imperfect it may be, there is tremendous value in life.

In A Heartbeat!

The visit to WSU went well. The cardiologist was pleased with the way Bacchus looked and the fact he is maintaining his weight. There are still problems that need resolving. His heart beat is still too fast so we've adjusted that medication. His eating patterns are sporadic. But when she came to talk with us after the procedure she was laughing. "He just snored through the whole procedure!"

He's uncomfortable today. I had thought the device would be a small disc. The "reveal" as it is called is perhaps an inch wide and three inches long. No wonder he's sore! Plus he didn't get all his meds yesterday because he was too groggy. We didn't want to add to the trauma. Not that we could have rousted him enough anyway!

The best part for us is that he slept through the night. At least we thought he did. Actually the remains of his uneaten lunch burger was gone from his dish this morning and he did scoff down his morning mixed grill.

June, if you're reading this, don't fret over the "bad" sausage. The important thing is to get the medications into him. He needs the nutritional value of his regular food but his doctors say to do whatever is necessary to get him to eat and of course we've been at this long enough now he's learned how to play me!

The next step is stitches out in 10 days, a blood pressure check and EKG. He doesn't have to go back to WSU for a month. In three months there will be another whole battery of follow ups. I asked the cardiologist if she thought we'd still have him in three months and she replied she certainly hoped so. True optimism or professional pride I'm not sure but I'll go with the optimism. Not that I won't be stewing the whole time. That's me.

If the weather will cooperate, which seems unlikely, we have a few day trips planned which will be trauma free for the kid and us. He needs to have some fun. We need to have some fun. And we're going to do it together!

What A Pill!

We're at Washington State today for a check up and if all is well Bacchus will have a heart monitor placed under his skin to better keep track of what is and is not happening.

It also marks the one month anniversary of when this all began. All in all he's had a pretty good one. And of course, we're just happy we still have him. It's still touch and go. Sometimes he wants to eat, other times he doesn't but you'll see in the video he was happy to oblige me on Monday when I shot it. I'm taking you at your word, my friends, when you tell me you want to be a part of this!

I'll catch up with you sometime over the week end to let you know how things went.

Pelosi And The Pope - Does Either One Get It?

As I've watched Hillary's love tour progress around Asia I've found myself wondering if we really need a Secretary of State when we have all these Congressional delegations doing much the same thing. After all it's a redundancy of effort and an expensive one. I have no idea how many people are in Clinton's entourage, but Nancy Pelosi has seven other Democrats in hers! Not counting staff of course.

Nancy Pelosi? What the heck is she doing in Rome on my dollar? It's bad enough Obama is flying around on his big plane anywhere and everywhere. As is Hillary. I may think it's being a bit over done considering these economic times, but it is, at least, a part of their jobs. But Pelosi? She's a legislator! Supposedly she is talking with top Italian officials about the economic crisis and other "leading issues", whatever they may be. Oh, yes, she's talking to them about the environment and the situations in the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan. Right. How many troops do the Italians have committed? Or is it just chit chat?

I'm sorry. It's bad enough we, who pay our taxes and mortgages yet see the value of everything we hold dear diminish, are asked to bail out the deadbeats, but to also have to fund automatic pay raises and worldwide boondoggles is more than I can swallow. Enough!

Other than great food, wine and good shopping, what is she getting for our buck? An admonishment for every Catholic office holder who might dare to be pro choice? This from a man, and he is merely a man, who reinstated a Bishop who fervently denies the truth of the Holocaust? Talk about not getting it!

Everyone in the country is being asked to pay for the excesses of others. That should include government officials. There is not a one of them that can understand our pain unless they suffer a bit themselves. So far I'm not seeing it.

If It Looks Like A Duck And Quacks like A Duck, Is It A Duck?

Attorney General Eric Holder, in a speech to Justice Department employees, said the Untied States is a nation of cowards on matters of race and that most Americans avoid discussing awkward racial issues.

That begs me to question if such is the reason Roland Burris is still a member of the United States Senate. A spotlight seeking egomaniac with questionable abilities, he has been controversial from the start as Obama's replacement. He convinced everyone, at the outset, that he was squeaky clean when it came to his appointment by "Pay to Play" Blogojevich. Well, as squeaky clean as one is when involved in Illinois politics. Which would seem to be not very.

That he is an embarrassment is an understatement. What I don't understand is why the revelations that are coming out now weren't discovered before he was sworn in. At first he swore he had no contact with either Blago nor any of his team. Now, he claims, it was a matter of semantics; one question being answered while another was being asked thus confusing both. Balderdash! He lied. Pure and simple. He's on the bloody tapes!

Next I wonder why the ethics committee is pussy footing around this. Is it because he's black? That was why scrutiny was eased at the beginning. No one wanted their objections to be linked with race.

This is truly a bad play within a bad play. Obama continues to cover the country in an attempt to convince us all these billions of dollars going to a multitude of bailouts is necessary. Sorry. I'm not convinced. When GM is asking for loans on top of loans and the same man sits at the helm, I'm not convinced. When Nancy Pelosi's marsh rat gets zillions for saving it's habitat I'm not convinced.

When the new attorney general states we're a nation afraid to discuss that which is awkward, he has a point but it has nothing to do with race. After all, we did speak out for hope and change. Why is it so many individuals haven't gotten the message? Because we're too timid to call them on the carpet because they happen to be black? I don't think so. I think we're just too timid, period.

Who's next? There are a whole lot of Chicago and Illinois politicians in this administration. If they're all as squeaky clean as Burris, regardless of race, we're in big trouble. We'll be governed by nothing more than a bunch of quacks. Not unlike an ostrich with its head in the sand, we'll have ducks with their heads underwater and their tails in the air. As they hold their collective breath hoping not to drown, we're the ones who will be tortured!