Spirits of the Past

Yesterday morning I spotted a cardinal in some bushes in the alley behind my house.  I saw it while on my morning walk with Blade, my dog.  I didn't think much of it yesterday, but this morning the cardinal was now squawking at me.  Let me add, it was REALLY squawking, so much it caught my attention right away.   They say cardinals are angels.  They say a cardinal is a representative of a loved one who has passed.  When you see one, it means they are visiting you.   

I immediately thought of a friend of mine - Miriam - she loved cardinals, she passed a few years ago and then of thought of Shirley, another friend who passed a little over a year ago and suddenly I had a hole in heart from the loss of several friends over the years.

It's inevitable, as we get older, we start to loose friends and family.

As I continued walking, I was really sad, but then I thought of all the good things these friends brought to my life and I became filled with love; and suddenly the hole in my heart was filled. 

Death happens, it will happen to me one day.  But this morning I realized that life is full of love.  Loving memories, love of friends and family, the love of my dog and I would say the cat, but cats, I not so sure about.  The world doesn't need love, it has it - you just have to recognize it and share what you have with everyone else.  So that one day, when you depart this life to go on to the next one that you don't leave holes, but instead you leave love.

and with that it is another day in Catasauqua.

Snow by any Other Name Would Still Be.........

Out of the bosom of the Air,

      Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,

Over the woodlands brown and bare,

      Over the harvest-fields forsaken,

            Silent, and soft, and slow

            Descends the snow. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

At first we look for snow, it's poetic,  we love when snow blankets the ground on Christmas Eve, but when it goes on and on we start to get a little testy about it.   In general I don't mind it - but I hate the ice.  I hate trying to walk on ice and I hate shoveling it.

On Sunday I thought it would be a great day to take Petey for his first ever walk since the snow started blocking the side walks.  It was warm, the sun was shining and I was antsy.  I have been having problems with my knees so whenever it is snows or is icy I don't walk Petey because he pulls too much sometimes - I don't want to slip and fall and take a chance on hurting myself more.

When I got the harness Petey got so excited - he couldn't contain himself.  I don't think I ever saw him so excited.  Parke helped me get Petey down the porch and to the sidewalk.  Oakley (a cat) was on the porch so that's always an experience in itself and I am having problems stepping down with my knees.

So off we went.  I must say we were both disappointed.  I could not get off the block, the corner at the end of the block was not clear.  There was no path to cross.  I was very surprised considering it is a bus stop for the kids.  I could see that all the corners were clear up ahead so I was really bummed.  I didn't want to take a chance walking on the ice to cross.  I would of went around the block but the path down the street was narrow and Petey and I are wide.

So back we went back pass our house and down Walnut Street for a bit and back.  I would of love to gone farther and I am sure Petey would of to.

A funny thing about snow removal and where I live (the house next to me is half in Catty (Lehigh County) and half in North Catty (Northampton County).  Between the neighbor and I we have 3 cars - we park on Howertown Road.(My mom is out back in the driveway)  When the snow got higher and higher we started piling in back of the neighbor's one car and in front of the neighbor's Daughters car.  I was in the middle.  Yesterday North Catty removed snow on Howertown.  They removed the snow in front of the daughter's car because that is North Catty.  But Catty stopped removing snow on Howertown at Walnut.  So the snowpile at the corner reminds me of the "man without a country"  it's the snowpile without a town, but then......that's another day in Catasauqua.