It is countdown time to the USNR Midshipmen’s Reunion in Palm Springs. As you know, Bob is the Reunion Chairman for this year’s gathering. Although, we have been working on the plans for what seems like forever, wrapping up these final details is taking longer than I thought it would.

We still have a myriad of loose ends to tie up and 3 large cartons of Welcome Gifts, Registration Envelopes, Banquet Night Programs, Name Cards, Tour sign up sheets etc. to tote to Palm Springs along with our computers, cameras, and luggage on Saturday morning.

Needless to say, I will be away from my computer for at least a week. I will try to check in on blogs from our hotel room, but even as I type this, I know there will be little time to do so.

Alex the parrot has died and for those of us who followed animal psychologist, Dr. Irene Pepperidge and Alex in their work on cognitive thinking in avians are saddened. Those of us who are lucky enough to live in households alongside these intelligent birds are deeply sorrowed and share the grief of the technicians at Brandeis University.

Some of my most memorable days in the classroom centered around the antics of Josephine, our classroom mascot. At least once a year, the Weekly Reader would have an article about Alex. My students would pour over the article and compare Alex to Josephine. (Now I am very loyal to Jo, but as American Democratic vice-presidential candidate Senator Lloyd Bentsen said to the Republican vice-presidential candidate Senator Dan Quayle during the 1988 vice-presidential debate, “Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy. I would have to say to poor Jo, “My feather plucking friend, you are no Alex!”)

Alex certainly proved what many of us already intuitively knew. Parrots are capable of reasoning on a basic level, use words creatively, and are known to have the IQ of a five year old and the vocabulary of the average two year old.

This is true of both of our birds. They are cunning and Jo is downright evil about escaping from her cage. Tweetie is our best talker and has words that she only uses at night such as, ” Nighty-Night” which she begins around dusk and an inquiry about “poo paper” when she is put in her night time cage. She is fastidious and loves to be assured that she has clean poo paper and a clean cage.

Tweetie also tattles on Jo. If Josephine gets down off her cage, there is a loud alarm from Tweetie, who screams “Bad Bird, Jo. Bad Bird.” This brings either Bob or me on a run to catch Josephine before she escapes to prowl the house.

Josephine has very little in the way of vocabulary, but uses her talents to mimic sounds like the telephone, or the school bell, or my gym whistle. On the other hand, Tweetie is a talker. She nags Bob to fix a salad, or make popcorn, and to my chagrin and his delight, around three o’clock every afternoon will announce, “Happy Boy Bob, fix drink.” To hear her go to Bob’s blog On the video Tweetie says, “Bad Bird,” “Fix Salad,” “Orange,” “Wanna Apple ?” and numerous throat clearing sounds which she has now abandoned. ( Thank Goodness.)

I began this post with Alex and his demise and then wandered on to talk about our own African Grays. That is the way it is for those of us lucky enough to live in households that truly belong to African Grays. We know from experience just how very intelligent these little guys can be and given the opportunity we will talk about them ad infinitum.

I am not certain it is right or proper to light a candle for a bird, but I will for Alex. May it light his way to the Rainbow Bridge and serve as a small symbolic reminder of how much remains to be learned about insight and compassion for all of God’s Creatures.

Goodby, Little Alex. You will be missed.

So once again we wake to the memories of 9/11. I remember that morning well. It was less than two months until our wedding and Bob was still living in Lancaster. I woke to a beautiful morning, made my coffee, and turned on the TV to catch the news. I had so many things to do to get ready for the wedding and I had just compiled the guest list. I was anxious to get the announcements addressed and in the mail. Then the horrific video of the first airplane crashing into the the North Tower of the World Trade Center appeared on the screen. The day was changed forever, as the second plane hit the South Tower and like everyone, I watched in horror and fear as the rest of the terrorist plot unfolded and the United States was under siege.

I remember calling Bob just as that second plane hit the tower. My first words to him “Our world will never be the same, something horrific has happened.” haunt me to this day. He turned on his TV and after a few words of assurance and a promise to talk again soon, we hung up. It was only a minute or two before the phone rang again. This time it was my daughter, Kristi. Kristi, a Los Angeles Police Officer was in her patrol car and heading to the LA Airport. She had no idea what her assignment would be but she wanted me to know she loved me. I told her I loved her and the usual “stay safe”, As it turns out, she spent the rest of that day and the next two or three weeks, checking cars for bombs.

Then I called both sons and again there was that need to say, “I love you and stay safe.” For my family, as for all families that day, it became very important to stay in close contact and to feel that intense concern for each other that is heightened by tragedy and fear.

There I sat with the unaddressed invitations, wondering if we should cancel the wedding. “No,” was Bob’s answer when I put the question to him. We agreed that we could not stop living and enjoying our lives. To do so would give the Terrorists even more of a victory.

Five years passed and this summer I made a trip to New York with a tour group from our local college. Our hotel was only a few blocks from Ground Zero. Although a lot of time had passed, the air of sorrow still hung over that great hole in the ground and being there made the event of 9/11 even more real and more horrendous. We visited the nearby Trinity Church which was not damaged and was a center of rest and refuge for tired workers. The makeshift memorials are still there along with thousands and thousands of paper-folded cranes, the symbol for peace. I am not one to show my emotions. It is nearly impossible for me to cry in public, but as I looked at the photos of the lost family members, I could not blink back the tears, and I felt them flow freely down my cheeks. I was not alone in this act. I looked around and saw that almost everyone was crying quietly. has this effect on everyone.

I went back through my photos from New York and found these photos to share. I thought today was an appropriate time for them.

God Bless America

It is only the will of God and some pure Irish luck, that I am here to write this blog today. Yesterday, I was nearly hit by a car and when I think of how close to a serious accident or death I was, I still find myself shaking.

I had just parked my car in a nearly empty parking lot near Mervyns front entrance. As I started to walk toward the door, I saw that the driver of a substantial SUV parked in the first handicap parking place near the door was starting her car. Ever mindful of a driver pulling straight back, I made my way pass the back of the car and to the right of it. The first thing, I know she revs the motor and begins to tear out of the handicapped spot. She cranks her wheel to the left to make her escape with enough force to send the back fender hurling toward me. I put out a hand as her car backed into me and screamed with all my might. She stopped a second short of plowing me over.

The woman rolled down her window and we exchanged words. She said, ” Sorry, I didn’t see you.” and I said, “Maybe you need to look in your mirrors before backing out.” I was not unpleasant only emphatic as my heart was racing and my Adrenalin was high.

What could have been so important that in her rush to leave, made her ignore the simple rules of safety? I cannot help but wonder if there was a better sale down the street at K-Mart. Perhaps she was afraid the good bargains might soon be gone there, too.

I proceeded into the store and when I came out five minutes later, a gentleman in a white car, called to me. “Are you all right”. I told him my wrist hurt a little from contact with the fender, but nothing serious. We talked for a few minutes and he told me he had seen the whole thing. He said she never looked before backing out and he felt helpless as he watched her pull out rapidly and into my path.

We talked for a few minutes and then he commented, “You know she could also have gotten a five hundred dollar fine for parking in a handicap spot without a sticker.” I had not noticed the lack of a handicap sticker because I was too busy dodging, screaming, and frantically hitting at the fender of her car.

So if I could see this woman again, I would tell her, “Please take time to look in your rear view mirror. Screeching out of a parking place like some police officer in hot pursuit, is not necessary. Human life is valuable and, if it is true that you were in a handicap spot which you had no business being in, may the gods of retribution find you and rain crap down on you from above.”

Bob and I took a quick trip ( 3 hours) to Palm Springs to talk with the hotel manager and the hospitality personnel who are setting up the reunion of his Midshipman group the first three days in October. The Spa Resort where the reunion will be held has the most helpful people to work with.

Outside of running around to set up tours and ironing out last minute details, I actually felt like I was on vacation. Of course it was Palm Springs in August which is I imagine a little like visiting Hell on a good day as far as the heat goes.

I have taken on the job of making welcome gifts for the group. Luckily, we found these inexpensive Chinese Take-Out boxes at Smart and Final and I made a reunion label for them. Most of the folks will be coming from other states, so I will fill these with California products like raisins, pistachios, and naturally since we will be in Palm Springs, some local dates.