CELEBRATION OF LIFE

Recently I had the privilege to attend the celebration of life for a mutual friend of many people I know.  Her name was Catherine Paul, she died from breast cancer at the age of 73.   In her final month, while in hospice care she planned her own end of life ceremony, including the music, the eulogy and the closing benediction.   Her son Nathan helped her while being her principle care giver.   She asked her son to have all her books available to the people that attended the ceremony and to take whatever they wanted.  Catherine had been a nurse, midwife and helped start the WIC program in Douglas County.   She is survived by a brother, sister and her son.   According to her brother she was a nature enthusiast, enjoying backpacking and outdoor activities in her younger years.   Celia and I first met her at a July 4th potluck at some friends house, I think in 2012.   She was also with many of  us at the annual Thanksgiving dinner at some other friends.   I had the impression she was a quiet and reserved person.  What conversations I had with her I learned she was a good listener and took great interest in what others had to say.   I learned more about Catherine at her celebration of life wishing I had known her more while she was alive.    Life is uncertain and none of us know when we might depart this world, it could be sudden or we might be given a period of time to prepare for the end of life.   We should all be better at learning more about those around us while we are still alive.    

LIVING WITH DEER

 After coming home this morning from Costco with the intent of taking the truck down the road to cut grass with the weed eater I had an encounter with a new born fawn.   As I walked around the house to where the truck was parked,  I was shocked to see a new fawn laying in the shade of the truck.   The fawn was just as shocked to see me as it struggled to stand up.   Not knowing where the mom was I slowly backed away not to disturb the fawn more than necessary.    At this point my plans for the day were drastically changed knowing any noise from a vehicle or power equipment was out of the question, so I retreated back into the house.   About an hour later I went back outside to see if the fawn was gone and if the mother was with it.   It is customary for the mother to leave their young after birth to go out and eat and return to where they had left the new born.   As I started to walk by the truck the mother deer was crossing the driveway with the fawn following.   The mother deer abruptly turned to attack another deer that was following behind the fawn.   That deer was last years offspring and no longer wanted by its mother.   In short, the mother was telling her last kid its time to go out on your own.    During this encounter the new fawn laid down in the grass to avoid getting hurt.   Instinct tells them to hide when there is danger.   Female deer can be very aggressive when they have their young fawn(s) nearby.   They can attack other deer or animals and humans by standing on their back legs and using their front legs as weapons.  One of my neighbors had one of his dogs killed this way by a deer.   After the dust settled I saw the fawn nursing from its mom in the driveway.  This is not the first time this has happened here.  Over the 20 years of living here there has been other births near the house.  I suspect some of these mothers were born near the house over the years and find it a safe environment to give birth, plus they have grown accustom to seeing me.