It occurred to me today, while Anthony was home for the afternoon, that, instead of getting all anxious about his PDD symptoms, I/we could embrace this phase as a kind of adventure.
Home is where the heart is
I had planned to get Anthony home today, then decided to wait until the weekend so I could also invite some friends to see him. So I left a message with the nursing staff this morning, then rather guiltily rang him this evening. I needn’t have worried because Anthony thought he was home anyway. This is how our rather strange conversation unfolded:
Anthony: Jules, I’m at Bythorne [that’s the name of our farm]
Me: Are you?
Anthony: Yes, where are you?
Me: Well I thought I was at Bythorne.
Anthony: That’s okay then.
Me: Why do you think you’re at Bythorne, or are you kidding?
Anthony: I don’t just think I’m at Bythorne; I AM at Bythorne.
Me: I thought you were at the nursing lodge.
Anthony: No, I’m at Bythorne! When are you coming home?
Me: I won’t be long.
Anthony: That’s good. I miss you.
Me: Well you sound pretty happy.
Anthony: I am! I love you, Jules.
Me: I love you Ants.
The dementia that is part of Anthony’s Parkinson’s Disease always kicks in after sundown (I blogged about ‘sundowner syndrome once before). But this is the first time he has thought he was at home.
I felt a surge of joy about this because he sounded so happy, but it was a bit surreal.
Graduation
Yesterday evening I took Gutsy9 outside and picked up the brick I had to use once before to put an injured turkey chick out of its misery.
I had weighed the situation up in my mind (his legs and feet would only get worse, he would be vulnerable to predators and the pecking order), and I had steeled my heart to do the deed.
I put him gently on the ground and raised the brick high so that it would be quick, but then he looked up at me and winked!
I couldn’t do it.
It was Rachel’s suggestion (see comments in last post) that gave me the idea of putting him outside in an upside down cage (a cage with a roof but no floor). That way he can scratch in the grass/dirt with his faulty feet but be protected from attack by the various other birds and animals.
And he will now eat the calcium mixture if I give it to him from my finger. He will still come inside for the night.
Ming and I have decided to give this new idea a week and see how Gutsy9’s legs go. If they improve, we have hope!
In the meantime I guess little Gutsy9, at two months of age, has graduated from my lap to a more normal peacock existence.
Peachick problems
I am a bit worried about Gutsy9’s feet. I accidentally injured one of his toes when I first rescued him (i.e. he ran at my desk chair as I was rolling it back, so one of the little wheels mashed one of his toes. Okay, so that is all healed now but, because he is inside the back veranda for most of the time (a back veranda that has now become peachick poop paradise), he is not getting the normal dirt/grass traction for his feet to develop. I take him outside every afternoon so that he can interact with the others but they still peck at him and he runs to me.
Once he is big enough to fly up into the trees at night, I think the other peas will accept him. I hope so.
In the meantime, I will take him to the vet to get his feet checked. I will do this tomorrow.
Negative comments
In over a year, and hundreds of posts, I have been fortunate not to have received any negative comments on the blog. Until today.
The negative comment was uttered in response to my post about ‘doing the right thing’ yesterday.
It was personal, exclamatory and gave me a bit of a shock because I am so fond of this person.
Strangely, I welcomed the comment (better to get a negative comment from a friend rather than a stranger I guess), and, instead of deleting it, I decided to respond and make both comments public.
This has made me very curious about how other bloggers respond to negative comments. Do tell!
Party fizzog
Oh well!
Due to a combination of things (Ants is having digestive issues, the nursing lodge is experiencing a mild flu outbreak, and it is another extremely hot day), I spent most of the morning ringing the people I’d invited to say the party was off. After all that last-minute planning and stressing, I have to admit I was rather relieved – ha!
Instead, Ming and I went in see Ants. We we will get him home tomorrow, which is his actual birthday.
It was still a good day and we took some photos of Ming’s new ute!
Anthony’s 77th birthday!
On Monday, Anthony turns 77, so tomorrow he is coming out for the afternoon.
On impulse, I rang a few family and friends and all said yes, with a few maybes.
I just counted up how many people are coming and it’s around 50. If the maybes come, it will be 60.
Panic!
Ming the Merciless!
When Ming finished school just over a year ago, his cohort was issued with school windcheaters which each kid was allowed to have labelled with their name or a nickname. Ming chose “Ming the Merciless.”
I was reminded of this when we drove into town yesterday morning for him to have his driving test. All the way in (20 minutes), he yelled different versions of a victory cry at the top of his lungs – for example:
ROOOAAARRRRGH – I AM GOING TO WIN THIS TIME!
ROOOAAARRRRGH – I AM MING THE MERCILESS!
ROOOAAARRRRGH – THIS IS MY DAY!
ROOOAAARRRRGH – DEATH TO THIS TEST!
ETC.
Eventually, I managed to quieten him a little by saying, “Now I want you to keep roaring, and I am sure you will pass this time, but just in case you don’t, it’s okay.”
He resumed his roar of absolute confidence even more loudly!
When we arrived, we waited outside, with another kid and his driving instructor, for the driving assessors to come out of the licencing centre. Ming had ceased roaring, but even his ordinary voice is LOUD, so he rather overwhelmed the other kid (who was very shy) with:
IS THIS YOUR FIRST TEST? DON’T WORRY, MATE, YOU’LL BE RIGHT! THIS IS MY FOURTH! WE ARE GOING TO NAIL IT! YES, YES, YES!
In the meantime I had a much quieter conversation with shy kid’s driving instructor.
“He’s just excited,” I said.
Öh,”he said.
Then (at exactly 7.50am) the driving assessors whooshed out of the building and called out the names of the victims ha! The shy kid simply nodded when his name was called but Ming yelled, “MING YES, THAT’S ME!”
A few minutes later, it was just the shy kid’s driving instructor and me sitting on a bench outside the centre, making pleasant smalltalk. I was trying very hard not to bite my fingernails!
About 25 minutes later, both assessors and boys arrived back. Unfortunately, the shy kid had failed outright so, as I watched his driving instructor and his mother commiserate with him, I also watched Ming’s body language as he sat inside the car listening to his assessor. I was still sitting on the bench at a distance from the car so I couldn’t hear what was being said but, at one point Ming put his head in his hands, then he threw his arms up in the air, then repeated both gestures before getting out of the car. I didn’t know if this meant he’d passed or failed.
As his assessor slipped back into the licencing centre, Ming approached the shy kid, and the shy kid’s mother and driving instructor with a loud ROAR, punching the air. They were standing just outside the centre whereas I was at a slight distance still glued to my bench. I yelled out, “Ming, yes or no?” as I ran towards him, but he didn’t hear me above his huge voice.
But, just as I reached him, he threw his arms around the shy kid’s driving instructor (someone we have never met before, by the way), and I knew he’d passed the test! He then shook the shy kid’s hand nearly off, saw me (finally!) and kissed me soundly on both cheeks and we entered the licencing centre, with Ming yelling:
WHO CAN I KISS OR HUG?
CHAMPAGNE AND CAVIAR!
JOY, BLISS, FREEDOM, I LOVE THE WORLD!
Ming, the Merciless!
jmgoyder 