Today's The Day

 11:34 1/19/2023 

It's been a slow and quiet morning, refreshing with a nice shower and outfit after trimming my beard.

The aviary project is going to require paracord, so I've been shopping around with the idea that 200 feet was my target but now I am realizing it will take twice that, at least. And, by the time I pay for shipping and delivery, I could've had it now for the same price at TSC which is what I will do. 

It's raining out, so I'll just work around the house today especially since there isn't a rush. If the chicks are born, they'll be better off where they are at rather than risk them out in the cold. It's not the time of year for them to naturally be hatching.

Bluegrass music plays, and the whispering of wings fills the air from them exploring about the room around me.

The mail still waits to be tended to, requiring some focus from Julie since a lot of it has to do with her mother. When I go through it alone, it risks things being filed away and forgotten- and all up to me when there's a situation all-of-the sudden. 

I've prepared myself for the reality, and possibility, that the egg won't hatch. The emotional effect on the mom and dad is hard to ignore, in the event that it happens but I am at the level of understanding that I can feel that pain just thinking about it. Empathic abilities are difficult to manage without serious growth of emotional intelligence. Thank goodness that I have been able to become to heal myself in these aspects.

Julie has been throwing up a lot lately, and I think it's because of the diabetes. It's just like detox from drinking, it seems- the body later rejecting the abuse with symbolic communications, like throwing up. It's very sad to watch and feel and deal with the feelings of helplessness a person has when there's nothing they can do. 11:49

12:58 Directing some energy, I worked in the dining room clearing the crap from the table. Yes, the mail. Everything is sorted, and the waste is unreal. 

Everything to go downstairs was condensed and staged near the stairway to be gathered up in one trip.

The music was no longer playing, pigeons preening themselves on restful perches. No sign of a chick yet.

Now the harmonica sounds fill the air from the Bob Dylan Bootleg Series, while I sort and file away documents that may never be seen again. 1:05

At 1:59 the transaction was completed to get married, filling the forms out online. Still no hatchling but I got a lot done while awaiting it. Finally, I spent some time going through my files and dispensing with files I no longer need. That generated about a reem worth of paper, and I contemplated making handmade recycled paper from it- turning the pain into art. Quickly, I just threw it in the bin, as opposed to adding another stack of "junk" to the already ridiculous stores. 

As for getting married, and all of the conditions that go along with unconditional love, other than being registered on capitalist's paper I do get a life insurance perk. It's enough, added to my $8000 that I bought recently, that I won't have to worry about any of the family having to incur any funeral expenses. For that, a person can't be too thankful. 

Pigeons cooing can be heard over the television, a cartoon following the nature programs that were on.

Riley lies at the far end of the couch, his sleeping act. At any moment, he's likely to jump up- triggered by my sudden movement.

It's a PBS channel, and the cartoon is nothing but hypnotic- no value but for a person escaping their need for attention. 

Turning it off, my contemplation is whether to go out and make my store run now or wait and give Julie a chance to accompany me. She's most likely not going to be interested, and I debate on doing it while she watches the news. 

This is when I should just relax and eat lunch but I don't really feel like eating, and often do not. It's routinely been a plate or bowl a day, and the fasting aspect of it is what helps regain your true senses. 2:44

4:09 Old, over-cooked spaghetti and mashed potatoes in the trash, summer sausage and colby was what I had.  Riley has to have some but doesn't care right now for the cheese, acting like he doesn't want to take it from me. The Outer Limits sucks me in while we eat, both watching the clock and the window out to the street. Rocky feasted on the rest of the worms, and we still have no hatchling. 

Somewhat froze to the shelf, I pulled out the bean soup for dinner just in case Julie would have that over rice crispies. The house is clean, and should always be welcoming. You never know what the day was like for the person finally coming home.

Saturday is the day that I decided to plan on going to TSC for supplies, and to Walmart to take back the black lights. My plan is to make a tripod with lengths of wood and rope, creating a tenting affect that will canopy the netting well. Julie's home 4:21

5:48 The day was stress free for Julie, happily stating that she didn't get sick today.

Bean soup was delicious and simple, and the evening has been device free until now. Retiring to the bedroom, she abandons me for the other television and her iPad, and then Jennifer calls.

It was nice to have a little conversation, and a bit of laughter to vibrate the rooms despite having to endure the news on The Five, and Alec Baldwin being charged with involuntary manslaughter from the movie set accident.

Sadly observed while scrolling Facebook news, I see that David Crosby has died. 81 is pretty ripe age, considering everything he was exposed to and endured- the alcohol and cocaine, for instance.

Having experienced life in the details that I have, I can only imagine what he went through but thank goodness for all that he was involved in creating. Someday people will discover, and rediscover, the beautiful music he made.

The solution to building the aviary was revealed to me in a flash while looking out the window to the backyard: manufacture 4 center poles with tripods at the bottom, about twelve feet tall. Then, lay them down where I want them to be. Take the netting and lay it out over the yard with an approximate amount of material at the perimeters, over top of the poles, standing them up one at a time. And then, go around to each one situating the netting accordingly. Once in place, secure the "flaps" to the chainlink fence with zip ties, and secure it to the buildings and stockade fence with strips of wood firring strips to create a secure tent. Easy peazy. There won't be one single thing that I'll need her help with. It will be as easy as it can get, and low budget. It should take about two hours, including going to get the materials 6:04

7:45 133 heart rate. After our workout, Mildred was out flying around, needing to be wrangled towards her nest area. Max was standing up, allowing me to see the egg clearly. We'll wait 21 days to see what happens. John Wick is pissed off since someone killed his dog, and the bodies keep dropping. And, I didn't move any mountains today but i did get some important things done. There were no fires to put out but for a bill collector with a settlement offer which I agreed to pay over the next two months. No cops or fire department. I love the end of the day. 

10:48 AM 1/20/2023

Hearing Julie, and the television, I called out her name several times while still dreaming.

Finally, I hear her respond to me but Riley was the first to answer by coming to see me. I just wanted to make sure she turned on the lights for the flock, and she had.

At 7:18, I climbed from bed to make coffee, shedding my sweat dampened shirt to grab her robe- thinking ti would be heavier than mine. It wasn't.

Sitting on the couch in silence, Riley came to me to snuggle and ask me to put him outside.

Pouring a cup of coffee, I could hear the pigeon activity downstairs but returned to the couch to smoke and sip my coffee while checking Facebook for this morning's news articles.

Refilling my cup, I decide to go check on the birds while already prepared that the egg might not hatch but when I get down there, dad is standing up to see what the others are making a fuss about. And there it was! Yes, the egg hatched. It was there moving around, partial shell next to it. Of course, I didn't have my camera!

After grabbing my camera, I went to see if I could get pictures or video but Dad got more defensive than before- swatting my hand several times. No pictures but when I shut it off, the hatchling's head was peeking out. In 8 days the eyes will open. When that happens, it begins my training of my very first pigeon. It's very exciting, and to have two more coming in the next two weeks! Oh man, I am excited.

The newborn's arrival triggered me to clean their pen out, changing the food dish, cider vinegar spiked water, and I figured today was a good day to let them have the bath water treatment because they like bathing. The idea is that they have a chance to wash a few days of dust and dirt from themselves, an effort to help keep the hatchling from getting sick.

Checking back in with The Crazy Pigeon Lady, to see if I could learn something more, I watched a few of her YouTube videos in between cleaning spurts.

Just like when a baby arrives, I tuned up the pen and "pigeon proofed" the rest of the basement by consolidating storage and stripping out what is trash. Cardboard lines the shelves they sit on, so I can keep control of the droppings. It's not that much work to care for them, if you can handle dealing with loose feathers, dust and a few droppings.

The last thing to do was, clean the kitchen. Then I returned to The Chart Room, where I worked some more with files and organizing. It's very hard for a man to adjust to retirement, being disabled or otherwise reduced to the domestic side of things constantly. I am rarely satisfied with what I get done in a day, feeling like I should have been more "productive," and seeing all of the work around me that only I can see. 11:13

5:45 The pigeons are getting more and more comfortable with me every day, letting me put my hands near them without moving away. For fear the parents will stop caring for the chicks, I'm going to avoid touching it until the eyes open up in another week. 

Julie came home from work at noon, taking half a day off of work. She wanted to see the baby right away, and then make a few errands. 

"Are we taking the brat," I asked.

The answer is usually no, and was but she went out to the truck (already running to get warm) while I filled my coffee mug. 

Having the lights to take back, and my arms and hands too full to get out the door easily, Riley dodged out through my legs and ran across the one-way street, to the tree he always runs to. 

After about three or four minutes, he finally gets in the truck. So much for the heat.

The truck has a radio that I was going to listen to but Friends played on Julie's iPhone. You don't want to miss the rerun, that funny part in the show is about to come up that the ads play before and after.

Firehouse was what she wanted so, after stopping to get cigarettes, a $13 foot-long sub, soda, chips and a bowl of soup was only thirty and change. 

Luckily I saw the "free sub on your birthday" deal by using the app. Hopefully we both use it, when we have our birthday in March, and get our money back. Her birthday is the 6th, and mine is the 11th. I could have made subs at home for a few dollars- sickening. I have no plans of ever returning.

The blacklights got taken back to Walmart, adding thirty-five back to my debit card. And my medicare paid for the denture adhesive- $3.38. Then I wasted thirty of it at the tobacco shop, plus fuel... I think the trip ended up costing me the five in fuel.

The plans for the evening now are, watching the Pinnochio film that Tom Hanks is in, which is where we are at now. 

You can be certain that there will be popcorn shortly, and then the hope is always to see how high my heart rate registers on the Fitbit later... 6:12

9:44 After watching Pinocchio we watched the new Buzz Lightyear movie, and what I just witnessed is an example of the things that I mentioned about refquency and interfering with our brains. The anxiety ride was remarkable, and I will add to this.

Just imagine if  they find out that all of the precious metals and stones removed from the earth were vital to the organism? And, that it had to be replaced in order to restore the balance.

Or, better yet, how an Elite group are cooperating with aliens stranded here, that goes back to the Anunaki or something like that. And that they are developing tech to further control us while building what they need to leave here with- abandoning us on an exhausted and diseased planet that's been stripped of all valuables. The end product of capitalism, and placing a far under-appreciated value on everything.

The Pinocchio film was great but for the cgi they use that destroyed actual animation artists and cartoonists. 

The Pleasure Island bit was a fantastic image of reality in the cities, the poison carnival 

As for the anxiety ride, they are over-stimulating everyone. There is a huge consequence to being at the extremes of sensation, which reminds me that I don't have a high heart rate report for the evening. 9:58