Bird Watchers...who would have thought!!

Maybe with age comes a greater appreciation of some of nature's finest work.  The birds of the world certainly fall into this category.  We've laughed at ourselves and at our recently found fascination with the birds in our backyard and on the roads we travel.  Years ago, we would not have believed anyone who said that we would enjoy looking at birds!

Our interest most certainly began with the annual arrival of "Charlie", the house wren (also known as a jenny wren).  These tiny birds winter in the South and come back every spring to the place where they were born.  They live to be 7 or 8 years old, and our Charlie is most likely the descendant of a long line of "Charlie's" to return each year.

Charlie arrives within a day or two of May 15 every year.  He begins filling one or two of our birdhouses (one, a chicken and the other a cow)
 with twigs, building a nest.  He then begins singing his very distinctive song, wooing a mate whom we have named "Charlotte."  Once Charlotte succumbs to his charms, she inspects the nest and, if she doesn't like it, throws all the twigs out and they begin a new one.  Anything to please her!!

We know the tiny eggs have hatched when we see both Charlie and Charlotte hustling bugs to feed the babies who are voracious.  The two parents are serious bug catchers and can spy a moth flying across the yard and nab it in mid-flight with deadly accuracy!

Only once have we caught sight of the babies.  Generally, when they are ready to fly, they leave either in the wee hours of the morning or in the night and we never see them again.

After the first family is out of the nest, Charlie moves to another birdhouse and begins his wooing all over again.  Generally he and a "Charlotte" raise two families per summer.  I think the Charlotte's are not the same mamma!!  Our Charlie is quite a lothario!

We also have a variety of backyard birds...orioles, cardinals, finches, crows, blue jays and the like.  Charlie is very territorial and clears the yard anytime he feels that others are encroaching.  We've watched him buzz a blue jay, much larger by far, chasing it out of the yard.

While driving, we have lots of chuckles when we see wild turkeys.  They are so strange looking, yet beautiful in their own way. 

We also see herons, sand hill cranes, many types of hawks and, depending on where we are, other birds that are new and amazing.

Once, while walking at Horicon Marsh, we suddenly noticed a big influx of visitors who were incredibly excited because a "sub-tropical cormorant" had been spotted in a tree by the marsh.  Apparently, this was the first sighting of one of these in Wisconsin!  We had seen it, but, not being bird knowledgeable, thought it just a strange interesting bird in a tree.  Chuckle!

In Nebraska, this past March, we got to see the huge migration of sandhill cranes that stop near Grand Island/Kearney for a few weeks to feed before they head further North.  Amazing sight to see the massive groups flying through the air before settling onto water or a field.   Their loud trumpeting call and crazy hopping about are a sight to see.  I approached a little flock in a field near Mequon and got to hear and see their extreme displeasure!!

We are not crazy bird people searching out birds to fill our "bird list" and we don't often view with binoculars.  We just stop, look and appreciate the wonder of these feathered wonders and maybe try to get a good photo. 

We hope to retain our sense of wonder and curiousity and keep finding things to wonder about.

The Einstein's Phenomenon

A few years ago, Wayne began having coffee at a Mequon Einstein's with a group of what we fondly refer to as "old guys" though they aren't all "old" and they aren't all "guys."  I  "joined" when I moved to Mequon.  It's a loosely organized, ever changing group of men and women who gather, some every morning, between 6:30 and 9 a.m.  It's a time for conversation on a multitude of topics, a little genial arguing, and a time for catching up on everyones' lives. 

We didn't realize that this is a phenomenon that happens all over the U.S. and in other countries too.  We did know that one of the regulars meets with another group at a McDonald's a couple of times a week.  He's a regular at two "old guys" places!

We didn't discover how universal this is until one morning we dropped into another Einstein's in Livermore,  California (called Noah in California), and found the same big table with a group of "old guys" gathered having coffee.  It was a huge deja vu  moment, since the people there could have been the people in Mequon!  Our daughter-in-law blinked and said "Wow, are we in Mequon?"  Since our first visit, we have returned to this same Noah and have been welcomed by that group as if we were a regular part of it even though months go by in between visits!  The same thing happens in Mequon with some people dropping in only once or twice a year and still being part of the group.

Since then, we have found similar groups all over the U.S., gathering in McDonald's at a long table, at Einstein's and Noah's and other traditional coffee shops.  We even discovered groups gathering in McDonald's in Germany and the Netherlands.  A friend from the Mequon Einstein's group, who moved some time ago to Las Vegas, coffees with a similar group at an Einstein's in Vegas.

We've found it to be a rather fine phenomenon; maybe others won't think it unusual, but until you have been a part of a regular group and then stumble into one in a totally different place and find it to be just like your home group, you won't know what a "phenom" it really is.

We look forward to going on Sunday mornings and sometimes other days of the week, and love the fact that, no matter where we are, we can find a group of "old guys" and feel like we are at home.

"Fear" of Falling

I was thinking the other day about when we became much more cautious and a little fearful of taking a fall.  I know that 15 years ago, if I tripped and fell, I didn't first think "Oh, God, please don't let anything be broken!"  My first thought then was "Oh, God, please don't let anyone have seen my ungraceful crash!!" 

Was the seed of fear planted when my maternal grandmother fell and broke her hip, eventually resulting in her giving up and willing herself to die?  Is it seeing many friends and family needing hip replacements?  Is it born from occasional visits to care facilities where older folks who are unable to get around are housed?  Does it come from the creeping sense that balance has become less stable?

It's probably all of these things.  For me, it became a real live fear when Wayne and I began riding bikes last year.  We got on those two wheeled vehicles that, when we were young, were wonderful speeding, wind-in-the-hair miracles.  Then if we fell, and we all did, it was a non-event...maybe a scraped knee or a bruised elbow. 

We first returned to riding bikes when visiting friends in Door County who are avid bicyclists.  I couldn't believe how unfamiliar getting on one was and how wobbly my first rounds of the bike rental shop's parking lot were.  I have to say, something akin to genuine panic set in as we peddled off to a woodland bike trail.  After falling off a couple of times, I realized that I was falling off, because, when I prepared to stop, I put my foot down too soon...before the wheels had stopped rolling!!!  How could I forget how to stop and get off?

We did find that we liked the sport, trepidations be damned, and bought bikes to ride at home.  We live in an area that is low traffic and perfect for the timorous rider (and timorous I am).  I've mastered getting off (after stopping completely), and Wayne has been very kind in not laughing at my awkwardness.  He did, though, say that I looked like a hamster on a wheel as I peddled in front of him trying to get up speed so that I could make it up a hill!!  I've not forgiven that comment yet.  We've graduated to riding on the great public bike trails that run North and South from Mequon and, last summer, built up to a number miles per ride.  AND bicycling is great for improving balance.  I've not fallen off again, though I am always alert for the "chance."

I think I  alluded to making sure that bathtubs and showers are as slip proof as we can make them both at home and traveling.  It's irritating to think that we must do so, when inside ourselves we are still 25 year olds who couldn't possibly fall!!

We are careful on stairs trying to improve balance by lightly touching the bannisters rather than gripping them fearfully, but always mindful that some body part could "give" and having a backup plan is a really good idea. 

Any fall could be incredibly incapacitating as one of our good friends found when traveling in Great Britain.  She missed a small step going through a doorway to the lady's room and fell.  She did grab the door handle, but in doing so, pulled her shoulder out of its socket and tore many tendons.  This resulted in a hospital stay in a strange country (though English speaking) and many months of rehab when she returned to the U.S. trying to overcome serious nerve damage along with the other injuries.

All of this being said, we will still bicycle this spring and summer (if they ever come), we will still practice walking and moving with confidence, and will do activities that help us retain balance and strength. Taking proactive action to overcome fear, rather than giving in to it, are important to us to ward off the progressions of bodies that are not 25 any more! 

Now I have to face my fear of roller coasters and succeed in riding one with my eyes open!!  Good thing I have a brave companion who fears little!!!

Why "Two Reluctant Seniors"?

To begin with, I got a little hooked on blogging when we traveled for 3 weeks in Europe and I began a blog so that our friends and family would know where we were and that we were OK.  I also blogged to keep a record of our adventures to match up with the hundreds of photos that we took along the way.  Previously, we didn't track our days very well in a notebook and had some difficulty coordinating the photos and the days traveled....  I also found that I rather enjoyed keeping some kind of diary and doing electronically was so much easier than handwriting, and have decided to try keeping a regular journal.... here goes.....

As far a the phrase "reluctant seniors," Wayne and I have found that we are reluctant to be classed as "old" and are reluctant to slip into quietude as we see many people do.  We see friends who have become frightened or intimidated by travel, especially abroad, and who are worried about doing new or uncharted things.  We don't want to get that way yet and hope to keep active, inquisitive, and somewhat adventurous for as long as we are physically able. 

That being said, we have found that when faced with the complications of today's international travel, that we could easily be "scared off."  We have chosen not to be!  We do face the daily fact that we are less physically able to easily do some things, but choose to try anyway, knowing that we generally will prevail and be the better for it.  Humorous examples of this are the great variety in foreign bathtubs/showers.  Many are slippery....many are a big step up or a big step down....some have no soap or shampoo shelf....some must have been designed for people that are about 4 feet tall....some are dimensionally tiny.  We've found that we can just be extra careful not to fall...putting a small towel or washcloth in the bottom of the shower/tub to prevent slipping and making stepping in and out a breeze...the short and tiny showers are a challenge that any person has to figure out and contort to!

We travel with a Garmin GPS unit that makes certain, in almost all cases, that we get where we are going.  We download the most current highway and street maps of our destination countries before leaving the U.S. and use the Garmin even if the rental car has its own unit.  Garmin tends to be more accurate and much more user friendly.  It's even useful if one is walking or bicycling, but for those two activities, one's cell phone can provide great directions.

We've found that spending two or three (or more) nights in one place facilitate much more comfortable travel.  It saves lots of time in slogging bags in and out of hotels, and searching for the next hotel, and gives us more time to enjoy the areas being explored.  Exploring from one place works very well.

Travel isn't the only area  in which we are refusing to be reluctant.  We are determined to live in our own home and take care of our house and gardens for a long as we can.  We have no desire to move into a maintenance-free senior complex and thus grow more dependent upon others thereby pushing our independence away.  We both read, we both keep fully informed on current events, and we both try to keep our minds active.  Wayne wants to learn to play the piano....I want to get my very rusty piano playing spruced up.  We both love doing things with friends and value that interaction.  We are learning to shoot pistols and re-learning the skill of bike riding.  We love great coffee and good food.

So, while we freely admit to being "seniors", we are "reluctant" to grow "old."  We look in the mirror and see people that are different than the ones we feel we are in our minds.  It is taking time to adjust to the strangers in the mirror. 

My random blogging will follow some of our challenges, adventures, and interests.  I hope that some of it will encourage others to step out of the "safe" zone and keep minds refreshed and active for many years to come.