A fellow blogger posted on the inadequacies and problems of long term care when it came to placing her aging parents. She has written extensively on this topic and published a book "Living and Dying With Dignity" by Jennifer A. Jilks. This reminds me of two experiences our family recently had with long term care.
My aunt lived in her own home until Dec. 2009 when she suffered a stroke and was hospitalized . She was 96 years old. After 4 weeks in hospital she had recovered enough from the stroke to be discharged. The problem? There was no place for her to go. She was not able to move back to her home. She had done well as she had limited vision and hearing but she would not give up her little house. At 96 she was told she would have to wait a year for long term care placement. It is beyond my limited comprehension how any system could ask a 96 year old to wait a year??? What are they thinking? 96 year olds are frail and need help now not a year from now.
Our aunt went to a small apartment and with the help of her friends was able to survive. She proved my main point as this spring (2010) she died and therefore no longer required any long term care.
My father died in Feb. 2008 at age 95. Dad married a spunky Manitoba girl in 1975 so he lived in Manitoba from 1975 - 2006. Until that point he had lived his entire life in Saskatchewan. In Feb. 2006 0ur step mom died which left Dad in a nursing home 600km from his family. We had a step sister there but that's not fair to expect your step sister to look after your Dad. If I had been Dad's only child and had wanted to bring him to Alberta, where I reside, he would have had to reside in Alberta for one year before he could apply for long term care. It's unthinkable that someone at age 93 would have to wait one year for long term care placement. Fortunately, I have three brothers who live in Saskatchewan and he was able to move to a Sask. long term care facility in 6 weeks.
I have to question the wisdom of our politicians and officials who make policy which requires elderly people to wait for long term care. These people do not seem to be in touch with reality when they think that very elderly people can wait to be admitted to long term care.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Peregrin Falcon Eggs Hatch at Red Deer's Telus Tower
The peregrine eggs in the nest on the Telus Tower in Red Deer Hatched this week. What excitement!
I have a link on my blog to the web cam set up by the Red Deer River Naturalists(RDRN) on the Telus Tower in Red Deer. Since I am on the board of RDRN as chairman I have been more than a little interested in this venture. During the incubation I checked in about once a week. As time went on I became more intrigued by the comments on the chat line. Now don't get me wrong the birds are of major interest as well.
The quality of the web cam pictures was not great. Color and detail were of low quality. One would think these birds are a brilliant blue. They are not. The female is a gray blue . One has to use some imagination to get gray blue from the web cam . The male back is a rich dark brown. The birds look to be quite small but the males are 38 to 43 cm long . The females are 43 to 48 cm long. Their wing spans are from 90 to 117 cm. So they are a fairly large tough bird. One would not get these details from the web cam although many viewers did research and found these details. One would think that the eggs are a brilliant red . They are not. The eggs are more a reddish brown. So if you've never seen a peregrine in the wild , you probably wouldn't recognize it from the web cam pictures.
I had the good fortune to live on the "Isolated Farm" and see many things in nature as the real thing. When I was a boy our chickens didn't come from hatcheries. The hens would quietly disappear and brood eggs on a nest. Sometimes we found the nest and watched the progress. Several times I was fortunate enough to see the hatch. There were many duck nests as the stubble was left in the fall. When spring farm work began many ducks were nesting in this ideal habitat. So many times we watched the progress of duck nests. Robins were plentiful and we watched them hatch as well. When you've been fortunate to see the real thing, one wonders what kind of perception people take away from TV and web cams which do not accurately represent the natural conditions.
It was also interesting to note how the "chatters" looked at the birds as if they thought like humans! Comments relating to birth and children were interesting. So our perception of the birds is clouded by our own perception. It's difficult to make ourselves think as a bird or even imagine how a bird thinks. I was a teacher. I don't think we did a very good job of thinking as children would see the world. Or for that matter men and women have a different make up and we find it difficult to understand one another at times. "Men Are From Mars and Women are from Venus" was a very interesting read. Each bird species has it's own psychological make up which it receives from it's gene make up. As an aside , since they can now do gene studies they think the falcons are closer to the parrot family than the hawk family.
Now that the eggs have hatched there is much more action in the nest. To watch the behaviour of these birds as they care for their young is fascinating and there is much that can be learned. Many people have been drawn to this site and their interest an knowledge has grown. I hope that some of these people will now get into the field with their new found knowledge.
I have a link on my blog to the web cam set up by the Red Deer River Naturalists(RDRN) on the Telus Tower in Red Deer. Since I am on the board of RDRN as chairman I have been more than a little interested in this venture. During the incubation I checked in about once a week. As time went on I became more intrigued by the comments on the chat line. Now don't get me wrong the birds are of major interest as well.
The quality of the web cam pictures was not great. Color and detail were of low quality. One would think these birds are a brilliant blue. They are not. The female is a gray blue . One has to use some imagination to get gray blue from the web cam . The male back is a rich dark brown. The birds look to be quite small but the males are 38 to 43 cm long . The females are 43 to 48 cm long. Their wing spans are from 90 to 117 cm. So they are a fairly large tough bird. One would not get these details from the web cam although many viewers did research and found these details. One would think that the eggs are a brilliant red . They are not. The eggs are more a reddish brown. So if you've never seen a peregrine in the wild , you probably wouldn't recognize it from the web cam pictures.
I had the good fortune to live on the "Isolated Farm" and see many things in nature as the real thing. When I was a boy our chickens didn't come from hatcheries. The hens would quietly disappear and brood eggs on a nest. Sometimes we found the nest and watched the progress. Several times I was fortunate enough to see the hatch. There were many duck nests as the stubble was left in the fall. When spring farm work began many ducks were nesting in this ideal habitat. So many times we watched the progress of duck nests. Robins were plentiful and we watched them hatch as well. When you've been fortunate to see the real thing, one wonders what kind of perception people take away from TV and web cams which do not accurately represent the natural conditions.
It was also interesting to note how the "chatters" looked at the birds as if they thought like humans! Comments relating to birth and children were interesting. So our perception of the birds is clouded by our own perception. It's difficult to make ourselves think as a bird or even imagine how a bird thinks. I was a teacher. I don't think we did a very good job of thinking as children would see the world. Or for that matter men and women have a different make up and we find it difficult to understand one another at times. "Men Are From Mars and Women are from Venus" was a very interesting read. Each bird species has it's own psychological make up which it receives from it's gene make up. As an aside , since they can now do gene studies they think the falcons are closer to the parrot family than the hawk family.
Now that the eggs have hatched there is much more action in the nest. To watch the behaviour of these birds as they care for their young is fascinating and there is much that can be learned. Many people have been drawn to this site and their interest an knowledge has grown. I hope that some of these people will now get into the field with their new found knowledge.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
How Accurate is Our History?
I just finished reading "The Man Who Loved China" by Simon Winchester. There are many sources and much evidence that China had a far more advanced achievement in science than we ordinarily think. Many things that Europeans take credit for having first invented were invented by the Chinese. Gunpowder is a common example. However, the Chinese used a magnetic compass long before Europeans thought about it and had travelled to many parts of the world and produced maps. There is some suspicion that Columbus had a map which originated in China for his first voyage .
Winchester uses the experience of a brilliant English scientist, Joseph Needham to lay out the scientific achievements of the Chinese. Needham was brilliant but somewhat eccentric. He became interested in the history of science and in particular the Chinese history of science. Needham learned Chinese extremely well.
During WW II Needham was sent to China by the British government. For Needham this was too good to be true. He travelled extensively in China . Because he knew the language so well he gained much more information than others would. The description of Needham's Chinese travels would make a fascinating book by themselves. He collected many artifacts and made many box fulls of notes. He had made contact with the leaders of the Chinese communist revolution. At the end of the war Needham was called back to England where he resumed his position at Cambridge. He immediately began to plan a history of Chinese science. A proposal was made to Cambridge and Cambridge agreed to publish his work.
The history was to be massive and Needham had the material to do it. The writing took Needham and others 30 years and was not finished when he died.
So needless to say I found Winchester's story fascinating and would highly recommend people to read "The Man Who Loved China" by Simon Winchester.
Winchester uses the experience of a brilliant English scientist, Joseph Needham to lay out the scientific achievements of the Chinese. Needham was brilliant but somewhat eccentric. He became interested in the history of science and in particular the Chinese history of science. Needham learned Chinese extremely well.
During WW II Needham was sent to China by the British government. For Needham this was too good to be true. He travelled extensively in China . Because he knew the language so well he gained much more information than others would. The description of Needham's Chinese travels would make a fascinating book by themselves. He collected many artifacts and made many box fulls of notes. He had made contact with the leaders of the Chinese communist revolution. At the end of the war Needham was called back to England where he resumed his position at Cambridge. He immediately began to plan a history of Chinese science. A proposal was made to Cambridge and Cambridge agreed to publish his work.
The history was to be massive and Needham had the material to do it. The writing took Needham and others 30 years and was not finished when he died.
So needless to say I found Winchester's story fascinating and would highly recommend people to read "The Man Who Loved China" by Simon Winchester.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Two Memorials in One Day
Attending two memorials in one day is an achievement I would rather not have. However, death and memorials do not wait and we must bring some closure by remembering the ones we've lost.
Both women succumbed to brief battles with cancer. Both contributed and participated in the community actively, but in different ways. Both influenced me and supported me in my activities.
So this afternoon I remembered the good times and celebrated the achievements each made. They were examples for all of us to learn from so that we can be productive and happy in our community. They both had very worthwhile passions; one for the condition of the environment and one for justice in society.
I will miss Eileen and Dorothy. The things they stood for will influence me as well as their families to continue following a path that contributes good to our whole community.
Both women succumbed to brief battles with cancer. Both contributed and participated in the community actively, but in different ways. Both influenced me and supported me in my activities.
So this afternoon I remembered the good times and celebrated the achievements each made. They were examples for all of us to learn from so that we can be productive and happy in our community. They both had very worthwhile passions; one for the condition of the environment and one for justice in society.
I will miss Eileen and Dorothy. The things they stood for will influence me as well as their families to continue following a path that contributes good to our whole community.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Time Flies
Yesterday I read a fine post on how the last ten years for the writer have flown by, yet they have been the most important in his life. I find the passage of time to be more than just interesting. Why does time seem to pass by so rapidly?
Today is my brother and sister-in-laws 49th wedding anniversary. It only seems like yesterday that we were young people standing at the front of the church for their wedding. What an awful lot has happened since then. They have become great grandparents. What a milestone!
I retired in 1997. It was an important date in my life as my lifestyle was to change dramatically. I've thoroughly enjoyed my retirement, but it has gone by rapidly.
Last year I celebrated my 70th birthday. It seemed like a more important birthday than many others. I still feel as if I am the same person I was at say age twenty! At least in my head I still feel like the same person. My body won't let me think that I am still twenty. I enjoy life and have lots of interesting things to do and interesting people to associate with.
There is a mathematical reason for feeling that time races by us. When I was five a year seemed to be forever. When I was eighteen a year seemed like a long time . Ted is 40. One year in his life is 2.5 % of his total life. Ted's son is ten. One year in his son's life is 10% of his son's life. So mathematically the ratios are different so the old person experiences a yea of life as a smaller proportion of his life. Now i know I've lost some people and their eyes have completely glazed over. Future shock explained this to me many years ago and I've never forgotten it.
So for Ted and his son and everybody else this is why time seems to fly and I hate to tell you that it will speed up as we age. I hope that all people enjoy life as it passes rather than let life pass them by.
Today is my brother and sister-in-laws 49th wedding anniversary. It only seems like yesterday that we were young people standing at the front of the church for their wedding. What an awful lot has happened since then. They have become great grandparents. What a milestone!
I retired in 1997. It was an important date in my life as my lifestyle was to change dramatically. I've thoroughly enjoyed my retirement, but it has gone by rapidly.
Last year I celebrated my 70th birthday. It seemed like a more important birthday than many others. I still feel as if I am the same person I was at say age twenty! At least in my head I still feel like the same person. My body won't let me think that I am still twenty. I enjoy life and have lots of interesting things to do and interesting people to associate with.
There is a mathematical reason for feeling that time races by us. When I was five a year seemed to be forever. When I was eighteen a year seemed like a long time . Ted is 40. One year in his life is 2.5 % of his total life. Ted's son is ten. One year in his son's life is 10% of his son's life. So mathematically the ratios are different so the old person experiences a yea of life as a smaller proportion of his life. Now i know I've lost some people and their eyes have completely glazed over. Future shock explained this to me many years ago and I've never forgotten it.
So for Ted and his son and everybody else this is why time seems to fly and I hate to tell you that it will speed up as we age. I hope that all people enjoy life as it passes rather than let life pass them by.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Spring Bird Count
Two of my favorite days of the year are Christmas Bird Count and the Spring Bird Count. Today was the day spring bird count was held in our local area.
Today was overcast and cool 2-3 C . Yesterday we had a major snow storm. Weather conditions determine what you will see and how much. Since the weather was recovering after yesterday's blast, birds were fairly active. They had to get out and start feeding to regain from being limited by weather yesterday.
I have done the same count area for a long time . It's a heavily wooded coulee with old growth forest. You have to watch for the openings to see your birds. I usually get the same number of species and about the same number of birds. Today was no exception. I saw crows, magpies, robins, black capped chickadees, boreal chickadees, red breasted nuthatches, white breasted nuthatches, house finches, house sparrows, song sparrows, chipping sparrow, and mallards so 12 species. I heard 2 warbler species and two others that I could not identify by sound. I also saw another bird and was not able to identify it because it was too far away. So I had a very enjoyable time.
Sometimes you will see a species not seen before so that is a bonus. I know there are other species in this area. There will be 4 species of woodpeckers. They are hard to spot when they are nesting. I heard one woodpecker and would say it was a flicker but I'm not 100% sure. I know there are blue jays but blue jays are also very quiet when they are on the nest. So you take what you can get and be satisfied.
Today was overcast and cool 2-3 C . Yesterday we had a major snow storm. Weather conditions determine what you will see and how much. Since the weather was recovering after yesterday's blast, birds were fairly active. They had to get out and start feeding to regain from being limited by weather yesterday.
I have done the same count area for a long time . It's a heavily wooded coulee with old growth forest. You have to watch for the openings to see your birds. I usually get the same number of species and about the same number of birds. Today was no exception. I saw crows, magpies, robins, black capped chickadees, boreal chickadees, red breasted nuthatches, white breasted nuthatches, house finches, house sparrows, song sparrows, chipping sparrow, and mallards so 12 species. I heard 2 warbler species and two others that I could not identify by sound. I also saw another bird and was not able to identify it because it was too far away. So I had a very enjoyable time.
Sometimes you will see a species not seen before so that is a bonus. I know there are other species in this area. There will be 4 species of woodpeckers. They are hard to spot when they are nesting. I heard one woodpecker and would say it was a flicker but I'm not 100% sure. I know there are blue jays but blue jays are also very quiet when they are on the nest. So you take what you can get and be satisfied.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Snow on May 29
It's always a shock when it happens, but we quite often get snow in late May and early June.
Most of the time there is very little damage. Today a few tree branches have broken. Soft tissue perennials wilt but there is very little damage. They will be later. Soft annuals have to be covered well or brought in. Some young birds will not survive. The adults will likely nest again. Take a look at the peregrine falcons on the top of the 101 meter tower. You can click on the link on my blog.
Most of the time there is very little damage. Today a few tree branches have broken. Soft tissue perennials wilt but there is very little damage. They will be later. Soft annuals have to be covered well or brought in. Some young birds will not survive. The adults will likely nest again. Take a look at the peregrine falcons on the top of the 101 meter tower. You can click on the link on my blog. I was to lead a bird sighting group at 7AM. Needless to say it was cancelled. Tomorrow is the spring bird count. I will go out but birds will stay close to cover and the count will be poor.
So other than saying nasty things about the snow we just have to suck it up and live with it.
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