Seismic Change

Dear Reader,

My father died yesterday, Veteran's Day, 11/11/10. Appropriate, as he was a WW II veteran, and served in the US Navy for 37 years after that. He also served in the Coast Guard for several years after his retirement from the Navy. His career was primarily as a lawyer and judge. His WW II service was as a reconnaisance pilot in the Pacific.

I had my breakdown Wednesday night when I was told he'd had a stroke, which rendered him unable to communicate. For him, this was tantamount to death, but there was still some hope at the time he might recover some movement and speech. My feeling that he was going got stronger overnight, and was confirmed when I spoke with my sister at about 5:30 PM, to learn that he had died at around 4:30.

I'm preparing for a concert on Saturday, and trying to put together some items for his funeral. I need to do the concert; he would have insisted that I meet my committment to my group to sing. His approach to his own (and others') death was that, I'm gone, there's nothing you can do at this point about that. Whatever happens now is up to you; I'm done.

A lot of the emotion hasn't set in yet. I have a lot of regrets, and a lot of relief. But, I'm preoccupied with the concert and the fact I have to drive from NYC to West Virginia for his funeral and to help my sisters. I'll stay through Thanksgiving for them.

Going down there is a big production for me, and I've lost my drivers license, so that complicates everything, as I have to rent a car to get down there. What can go wrong will go wrong, as they say.

More later; I need to get some sleep.

Catbird

A Chicken in Every "Apt."

Dear Reader,

Sorry, the above title is a play on the phrase "a chicken in every "POT," one of the catch-phrases of the Great Depression (not the current one).

I am using it because at the moment, of all things, I have a chicken in my "apt."

My wonderful dog, Hunny, found it a couple of nights ago in Riverside Park, while we were on an otherwise uneventful walk. It was amazing that she found it, and then that she didn't kill it while she was chasing it around. I managed to get her under control, and when I got hold of "chickie," he wasn't even injured.

I didn't have the heart to leave him in the Park; he clearly was not a wild animal. So, at the moment, he is in my bathtub. Amazing.

More later. I need to go to sleep so we can get out into the Park tomorrow (sans chicken) and get some work done.

Never a dull moment,
Catbird

Long Time, No Me.

I'm not sure why I've been incommunicado for so long. So much has happened. Two huge changes were the addition of Hunny, my dog, in July, 2008, and the loss of Big Guy, my wonderful cat, in August, 2008. But, that's over a year ago, and so much more has gone on.

This is just an interim post to try and restart this. I hope to do so soon.