Injured Cardinal

The day after Thanksgiving, i walked into the woodshed attached to my garage and found a female cardinal. Cardinals are very skittish, so i knew i couldn't approach her directly. I left the woodshed and went around to the side door. When i opened that, she hopped toward the garage and hopped out the open door. She didn't fly. Two of her wing feathers were sticking up.

She hopped across the driveway, toward the compost bins. I didn't see her again after she hopped into a hemlock hedge. I scattered some sunflower seeds around, but The chickadees, however, found the sunflower seeds within minutes.

Ah, well. Nature will take its own course.

I was surprised to see her again yesterday. As i was walking to the compost bin, she hopped out of some very thin cover next to the garage. Hop, hop, hop--across the driveway. She fluttered about 6 inches off the ground for 6 feet. That seemed like progress. I scattered more sunflower seeds on the ground, around the garage, the driveway, the shrubbery.

Just like the cardinal, i too am of the nature to become disabled. Whether i want to or not. Maybe she had a broken wing. Maybe i will break a bone. Maybe her wing was sprained. I too am of the nature to have sprains.

Nature takes its own course.

Snow on Daffodils

The earliest daffodils were snowed upon 2 weeks ago, so they remain bent over. They bloom facing the ground instead of the sky.

It doesn't seem fair when people's bodies are prematurely disabled, perhaps from birth, perhaps from an early accident or disease. Some people die well before what we think of as an allotted lifespan.

My neighbor's son has been disabled from birth. That doesn't stop him from fully enjoying his life. One of the great programs our community offers is the Theater Adventure program. (Watch a YouTube here.) Every time i go to one of their productions, my heart swells with the love and care these people have for each other and a few tears come to my eyes.

Some flowers are bent over from an early age, and only a few people notice them.

Treating My Shoulder Gingerly

I strained my right shoulder, whether by shoveling snow or in my trapeze class or a combination of the two. I'm dropping out of trapeze class for the remainder of the semester, (Ouch!) but i did gingerly go to my Stretching 101 class at the circus school last night.

The physical therapist suggested i take ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory, for a few days. But the circus pros each gave me a pep talk on the anti-inflammatory properties of ginger and turmeric. After class, i stopped at the food coop and bought ginger root, which i needed anyway, and ground turmeric, which i just ran out of. I also bought 2 small bottles of ginger juice.

As soon as i arrived home, i mixed up Ginger Cordial:
1 bottle of ginger juice
an equal amount of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of maple syrup (You can use honey.)


I poured myself a glass of fizzy water, and added enough Ginger Cordial to empower it. Oh, such an easy way to drink my ginger.

Our bodies are of the nature to become ill, or in my case, a bit disabled. I have no control over it. And it happens at an inconvenient time: two weeks before the end of the semester for trapeze class! And just as snow-shoveling season begins.

There's no need to feel incensed about the injustice of life. That just adds mental inflammation. Instead, act cordially toward illness or disability.

I'm going for another ginger cordial, right now.