-
so precious died on sunday.
my grandmother was psychotically fearful of snakes. if she saw a snake on television, her legs would draw up off the floor as if the snake could easily leave the set and come slithering towards her feet. i, on the other hand, would get excited at the prospect of handling reptiles and have pictures to prove it. this fear is apparently not genetically determined.
a friend of our’s acquired precious when she was a palm-sized iguana. our friend is a hoarder of both live and inanimate things. she collects all manner of beings, keeping them caged in close quarters, caring for them enough to keep them alive for the most part. when her situation was such that her unnamed, 3 year old iguana was no longer welcome, she asked us to take her. brni and i recognized her and named her and built her a beautiful 3 level, wood and wire house that dominated our living room.
precious had a hard life that took a toll on her physically. she was determined though, and recovered from metabolic bone disease as a baby. shortly after we took her in, she required surgery to remove a large and bumpy bladder stone. but with proper diet and lots of tender loving attention (must only love lizards in one direction…loving them in the wrong direction can give quite a nasty scale-burn), precious thrived.
we took precious on trips where she caused quite a lot of interest on the interstate highways while hanging out in her cushy digs in the rear window of the car. when brni and i got married, we took precious to the keys on our honeymoon.
she hadn’t been doing so well this last year or so. getting old i suppose. no one knows exactly what the normal lifespan is for giant green iguanas. they are usually so mistreated through ignorance or insensitivity, that they just don’t live very long as pets. the longest living pet iguana died at 29 years. 19 years longer than my precious.
she was moving slowly and stiffly like an old arthritic man. she wasn’t eating with gusto and seemed to have trouble swallowing. i tried to force feed her, but she just couldn’t get the stuff down and was exhausted after just a few mouthfuls. so i gave up and just tried to coax her with bits of banana and ruby red lettuce, but she just didn’t have the strength to bother with food anymore. she kept getting thinner and stiffer and sadder and grumpier. when we touched her, she closed her eyes and suffered our attentions ’til we stopped.
so we were on a death watch on sunday. we tried to make her comfortable. cleaned her bedding and got her nice and close to her heat lamp. and watched her. brni put some greens by her lips, but that was just gesture.
we wrapped her in a green towel and found a place down in the gully in our backyard. brni dug a long trench in the rain and we laid her down and covered her with the clay and rocks that make up this place.
so, precious died on sunday. we were very blessed to have spent these last 7 years with her. i miss her something fierce.
-
about a week or so ago, i was attuned for reiki level 1. i had no idea what to expect. when liz put her hands on my shoulders at the beginning of the attunement, i was not surprised to feel a sense of warmth and relaxation, but as she continued, i was enveloped in a strong energy field. i sensed a gentle electrical current…more a blanket…surrounding me. it was especially strong around my head, arms, hands and upper body. as the attunement progressed, i was aware of swirling colors. mostly greens, oranges and yellows with some lavender hues in the center.
after the attunement, liz gave me a hands on lesson demonstrating the sequence of hand positions of a full reiki treatment. then we switched and she guided me through as i gave her reiki. i didn’t feel a whole lot when i placed my hands on her, but she exclaimed that my hands were very warm and said i seemed like a “natural.” for the next 3 months, i’m to give myself reiki everyday, and to give reiki to others as often as i can. the energy will become stronger the more i use it. after 3 months, i can take reiki level 2.
so, i informed brni and jesse that they are now my official, reiki guinea pigs. brni was my first session. it went pretty well. he fell asleep 10 minutes into it, snoring to beat the band. apparently, this is a good sign (ha! at last, he can safely fall asleep on me w/out having to apologize). a few days later, jesse was complaining of a toothache. he didn’t have time for a full treatment, so i just concentrated on his head and torso. he didn’t fall asleep, but he said he felt very relaxed and mellow. he still had tooth pain, but it was not making him as tense as before. his girlfriend kate asked for a little taste of reiki. i gave her about 15 minutes, concentrating just on her head and shoulders. she really enjoyed it. i’m hoping to give them both full reiki sessions later in the week.
with each session, i’ve noticed an increase in intensity. i was barely able to feel anything happening with liz and brni, but with jesse and kate i felt a lot more energy passing through my hands. fourth of july eve, i gave myself a full reiki session and felt the most awesome energy surges!
ok! practice practice! when i get good, i’ll put out a shingle.
🙂 -
my banana plants out on the deck have become a haven for orb spiders…spider condo. just witnessed a bit of a tiff between two spiders. apparently, spiders don’t enjoy visiters on their webs.
there are crows nesting in our gully out back. the other day, the old man was conducting lessons for the younguns. he sounded just like this very old, boring history professor i had in college. he went on and on, not tolerating any interruption. a young crow was complaining bitterly, but it got him nowhere. discussion was not encouraged.
-
more on my unlovely wrist braces….so i tried to modify them by cutting off excess strap material. they have 5 straps on each (velcroed) to adjust the fit. of course, i cut too much off. so…after wearing them for a bit, having my hands swell some, i realized that i had to sew the cut off bits back on. i knew that was going to happen. i mean it always does and yet, i cut the damned things off too short anyway.
when brni came home and saw what i’d done, he said, “this is why i love you.”
i am not sure what to make of that. -
the cold got to me. took off at lunchtime for rest of day. yay! ihatemyjob.
anyway, decided this would be the perfect afternoon to break down and buy wrist braces to quiet down the tunneling carps. i tried on every brace they had; noticed that other people had done the same but paid nary a nevermind to which box they put them back into so they were in the wrong boxes. so…after straightening out the pharmacy’s inventory of wrist braces, i bought the two that felt the most comfy and weren’t screamingly ugly.so, now i’m practicing typing with them. is weird.
next, i have to try and draw w/them. i think it will be ok. the massage therapist told me to sleep with them on at night to keep from scrunching up my hands…i wonder if i can somehow make them sexy? looking pointedly at braces nah.
strange headline in sunday’s “parade” insert: “WE CAN STOP KILLER FIRES…plus Cooking for Couples.” ack. what were they thinking?
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Croneswood Art 