3 wise monkeys

This is the result of one of those times that your brain wakes you at 2 am to tell you that it’s had a good idea. Then it insists on telling you exactly how to make this idea a reality. I eventually got back to sleep & began following my brain’s instructions soon after breakfast…..

We’re all familiar with those Three Wise Monkeys who together embody the principle of “See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil”.

This principle is commonly regarded to be of Japanese origin, however is most likely to have come to Japan from China in the 8th century.

This is my interpretation of “See no evil, Speak no evil, Hear no evil”.
Credit must go to my son who was very willing to be my model. Apparently it was lots of fun doing the poses!

My son turns 5 .... where did the time go?

My son recently turned five years old. A milestone of sorts for him; an enormous one for me! Why? Because I'm wondering where on earth the past five years has gone.
How did my beautiful newborn become a boy full of boisterous energy & cheeky enthusiasm for life?
He was a beautiful baby. Every parent says that, & so they should. But I truly believe he was. We had waited so long for him, there was no way he'd be anything but beautiful.

Nine years of infertility is quite a build-up to the birth of your first child. All the years of thinking that you're not really infertile... "If we just wait a little longer, it might happen."
Of course the years kept ticking by & it didn't happen. It took us a while to accept that IVF was going to be our only chance at parenthood. We eventually made the decision to try IVF. Once the decision was made we didn't waste any more time.
We were lucky with the treatment; we tried it once & it worked. So many others aren't so lucky. We were so relieved to not have to endure all that stress again..... there's a lot of emotional pressure in IVF.

So, after nine years, we found ourselves pregnant; a baby was actually on the way.... YAY!!
He was kind enough to be a troublefree foetus, giving me the opportunity to love every minute of pregnancy.
Birth was much like the pregnancy; a pleasure! five & a half hours of labour, with an epidural for pain relief... as I said, a pleasure.

Once he was born he started growing & hasn't stopped. He has always been taller than his peers, & at five years old, already stands up to my chest. Nipple height to be precise; a fact that he finds highly amusing.
I can only imagine how tall he will be when fully grown.

He's cheeky. Not in one of those rude, bad mannered ways, but cheeky in the mischievous, fun loving sense. He loves to laugh, he loves to tickle, & loves to play tricks.

Perhaps what I love about him the most is his great sensitivity. He's always considerate of the feelings of others, & so giving of his hugs & kisses, kind words... What more could a Mother ask for but to have a son who loves without reserve, who gives of himself without resentment or expectation.

Five years has come around so fast, who knows where it's gone. but the child I see before me is someone that I am so proud of, someone that I love so much, that I look forward to the next fives years with eager anticipation....
though don't come too fast please.

Of Precious Things & Strange.....

When I decided to study nursing in the late 80’s, my Grandmother; who had been a nurse herself during the war years; gave me her old nursing text book, thinking that I might get some use from it.
As a nursing text it was an amusing way to learn all the things not to do, but for a peek into the past, it was priceless.
It is inscribed inside the cover with her name, the date – 1932, & the hospital at which she did her Nursing training.

While leafing through the pages this afternoon I discovered this little gem, that I have never previously come across….

A new chapter – Bacteriology – begins. Words on the page like bacterium, microbe, pathogen, stagnant pools[???]....
But also; pressed lovingly between the pages; the remnants of a daisy flower & leaf, & a hand written note pertaining to “paroxysmal tachycardia”, & numerous other notations in the various margins, scribbled in pencil, obscure references to other strange states of health.

Only my grandmother would know the truth of this page….. only she knows what made her secrete a once beautiful bloom there, amongst the stagnant & diseased.

I feel like I’ve stumbled upon some bizarre time capsule….....

not so bizarre really…. just a touching reminder of someone once & still greatly loved.

Grief of a Myna

Indian Myna birds mate for life. We’ve been watching this bird & it’s mate living in our garden for the past month. Myna’s are considered pests in Australia, but they’ve been no concern to us, & they’ve become noisy but welcome guests at our home.

Early this morning my 2 yr old son approached me very distressed, taking me by the hand & leading me to our back fence, where he showed me one of the Myna birds stuck in the fence. It had caught it’s leg between the palings & being unable to free itself, had unfortunately died overnight.
Under the watchful eye of my son, I removed the bird, & began to wrap it with the intention of putting it in the bin.
This made my son quite distressed & left me with a small dilemma… Do I casually dispose of the dead bird & continue my day, or do I attempt to explain death to a 2 yr old in the face of his first experience of it?
I took a deep breath & chose the latter option… albeit an abridged version of death.
Instead of throwing the bird in the bin, I asked my son if he wanted to bury it instead. He had no idea what burial was, but somehow understood that this was a nicer option for the bird.
So, spade in hand, we dug a decent hole, placed the bird in, my son waved goodbye, then we covered the bird…. burial complete, & my son content .

Which brings me to the bird in this image. As I previously mentioned, this is the mate of the dead bird. For the whole time that we were burying it’s mate, this bird stood on the ground 10 feet from me & watched the entire process.
Upon completion of the burial, this bird flew to the place on the fence where it’s mate died, & spent the rest of the morning sitting there alone, calling mournfully. A sad & sorrowful sound, I can assure you.
I was able to snap this photo during it’s grieving vigil.

word of the day

hebetude : Mental dullness or sluggishness

sounds like me for the past 5 years..... ever since the birth of child no. 1.... baby brain doesn't go away apparently.....