My sweetie got a job yesterday - I am so proud of her! She has been much more diligent about a job search than I was when I was first out of work. Certainly having regular unemployment checks helped ease the stress for me, but then having both of us out of regular, steady work was really stressful. I've been working mostly steady for a couple of weeks now, to the point where I am beginning to feel like I might be able to make it in this venture. But then yesterday Laura landed a job and that helped a lot. I know there will be at least some money coming in on a fairly regular basis, even if it rains and I can't do what I had planned.
I don't think I really knew how much stress I had until it lifted yesterday. It's not all gone, certainly, but it's better than it was. And we might get to visit Nova Scotia for free. That would be so incredibly cool.
Yesterday I weeded and pruned and chopped and trimmed for a lady who doesn't know my regular rate, so she pays me what she can afford, which is substantially less. That's ok. Every now and then it is good to do a little discount work to help someone out.
As I was pruning the ornamental cranberry tree (??) in the front yard, removing all the dead branches and cutting back the ones that were causing trouble, a chickadee landed on a branch not four feet from my head and proceeded to dress me down in no uncertain terms. Chirp. Chirpety-chirpety chirp. CHIRP! I apparently was doing something of which he did not approve, and he was telling me just that. I could have reached out and touched him, I swear. It was remarkable. I could see his mouth open and this throat move around as he chirped his different notes at me. His tiny little feet were like little wires wrapped around the branch, and his beak was so small, about the size of a sunflower seed in the hull. But he made such big sounds, and such beautiful ones, so close to me. The notes were nearly overwhelming. It was awe-inspiring. Such power and music coming from such a little source. And such fearlessness to approach a human interloper and voice such a beautiful protest.
I eased up a bit on my trimming efforts.
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My Aunt Helen had a relationship with the local Chickadees here that was amazing. At least to my 8 year old mind it was. She had them trained to take food out of her hands. I have a picture somewhere of her with a couple on her outstretched hands and a few hovering in wait mode to make a clear landing. She allowed me to try it and it worked. Not as many were eager to feed from my hand as were from hers. Their little feet felt quite odd scrambling around on my palm.
What I never understood was she had cats and the birds still flocked to her farm house. She was a cool ole lady.
Giving discounts to folks who could use them is something I do as much for myself as I do for them. Token gestures that make me feel good and help someone who probably does not get much aid eleswhere in their lives.
The local bottle lady rides her bike all over town collecting bottles. When she has a bike problem I will fix it for dirt cheap but not tell her. She has her pride and always insists on paying.
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