Bird Bullies

Some birds are just hard to love. One of those is the Mockingbird, the State Bird of Texas. They are quite versatile, easily identifiable, readily located and as their name implies, they are very capable of mocking or imitating other bird calls. They sing, sing, sing during the day and sometimes even during the nighttime hours. Mockingbirds are territorial and they will aggressively dive bomb humans, cats, dogs or just about anything and anyone to protect their territory. Some might call them the bullies of the neighborhood.

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Mockingbird

Remind you of anyone? The Donald has spent the past 18 months or so, imitating others, generally being a bully, name calling and tweeting out falsehoods in his attempt to aggressively conquer a large field of Republican aggressors who were also vying for the coveted Presidential nomination. He apparently spends a large portion of his time tweeting during the wee hours of the morning much as the male Mockingbird might sing during the night. Mockingbirds seemingly are more prone to sing during the night when the moon is full. Might be an interesting scientific experiment to document if his early AM tweets correspond with the full moon cycle.

Another garbage bird is a goose. Aggressive, unruly at times and they usually leave a tremendous mess in their wake. They honk and make loud noises about nothing. Some people find them annoying and others are actually afraid of them. The Donald is similar to the gabby goose. He spouts words with very little thought, if any, to the consequences of

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Canada Goose

those words. He attacks when he feels threatened even if no threat exists. America’s goose may be cooked if the Donald doesn’t start taking his responsibilities more seriously  as leader of the most powerful nation on our planet.

I keep waiting for my world to normalize. I read about other’s concerns and worries regarding the future of our nation and of democracy itself. As I have mentioned before, I sincerely hope that for the good of all Americans, I am terribly wrong. But….so far his choices for cabinet positions and his inability to “act” presidential are not instilling any confidence into my world. I worry for the future of my grandsons and granddaughters…will they be drawn into another senseless war? Will our planet be destroyed by the greed for monetary wealth from climate change deniers? Will public education continue to be available to all? Will freedom of the press continue or will our nation begin to disintegrate as our freedoms are stripped from us one by one. Will America continue to be the free nation envisioned by our forefathers? Bottom line….I cannot find it in my heart to accept a sexual predator, as my President. My flag, my country, but Never My President!

Hoping your world is peaceful and free from the bullies of the world.img_1353

What is Your Job?

I am a nurse. I sometimes think I was born a nurse. Of course that is silly, but always within my heart, I have felt empathy for people who may be hurting, embarrassed, or simply disadvantaged.  I guess I was destined to take that career path. So as an adult, I immersed myself into studying for just that purpose.

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I began my nursing journey after a serious life threatening illness. The two private duty nurses that oversaw my care during my recovery, inspired me to go back to school and acquire the skills and knowledge base that would launch me as a Registered Nurse. So, I was formally trained from books, had the pathophysiology pounded into my brain in college, and clinically overseen by my professors to make sure I learned the practical part of my nursing job without putting any of my patients in danger. Mistakes I could have made were never allowed to be life threatening and the burden of knowing that my decisions and actions might adversely affect a “real live” human being, weighed heavily on me. I took it seriously, always rethinking and prioritizing my choices, asking colleagues for their opinion and double checking to reassure myself that first I would do no harm. I didn’t want to be that “clear and present” danger to my patients. On any different work day I might have 3-8 patients under my care…each depending upon me to do the right thing, make the correct decision. And after almost 40 years of nursing, I look back and can be at peace because I held myself to that high standard and delivered the best care to my patients on a daily basis. They were and still are my highest priority.

Now imagine if the fate of a nation and 300+ million humans depended on the balance of your knowledge and decision-making skills. Scary, right? This is our President-elect right now. And so far, I am frightened, very frightened because he seems to have little interest in schooling himself in the very things that will protect us from danger. Refusing daily security briefings, exhibiting signs of seeking favors from foreign governments to enhance his own business profits, choosing people for jobs who have lurked on the fringes of society instead of making choices from a well-qualified, educated and experienced pool of candidates who might help him guide our nation through the daily chaos of world events. We should be afraid and cautious. For our very lives depend upon it, just as your life depends upon the physician making the correct diagnosis, or the surgeon making the right incision, or the nurse giving you the right pill or chemotherapy infusion. All very basic. Would you be concerned if this was going to directly affect your body? Absolutely. You may not be poor, or homosexual, or elderly or Muslim, or a person of color, but that does not mean that you can just turn a blind eye to what is happening to those around you. We are and should be our brother’s keeper. It is simply the right thing to do.

Anguish, pain, despair, fear! They all have a smell, a taste and it is sour! I’ve witnessed this in many patients throughout my years as a nurse. Today and everyday since November 8, 2016, our nation is screaming in pain, anguish, despair and fear. It is palpable. It is visible in the protests occurring in cities across our nation and the world. I am one small voice, one small cog in the wheel of our great nation. It is my job as a nurse to try to sooth the pain, calm the fear and replace despair and anguish with hope.

What is your job?

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