Well, I had plans tonight, but it seems like a day full of “Of Mice and Men” type circumstance….”The best laid plans…”
One of my employers birds died today, she only had two. This wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t in charge of the farm while their gone… Little yellow, young canaries. At about 10 this morning, I found one of them dead in the cage. I had only seen it happy and chirpy hours before, the temprature in the room was too much for this fragile animal. (Heat from skylights are lethal to canaries…) This is the second animal to die on the farm, on my watch, the last was a lamb who died quickly of fly strike, ( wherein a fly lays it’s eggs in the wound and the eggs hatch, the maggots basically kill the animal from the inside out.) Both of these circumstances are ones that a person can only attempt to prevent with no garentee their effort will work. This is my job. Only months ago the Ewes were pregnant, and in my strong desire to do a good job, I stayed up late and woke up early to make sure the new mothers were able to deliver with help… one of the lambs died in a multiple birth, it inhaled the mercomium (poop in the fluid that releases during birthing and is toxic to the animal and when the animal is not delivered soon after, results in death…) There was little I could do about the situation, a sheep will only birth so fast, just like a woman, and new mothers have the disadvantage of having a less flexible baby exit,(that is unless the mother has a history of fisting… she may not have as many problems…). I hated having to deal with this dead lamb, I did it, but it seemed to be something I never saw myself dealing with, and disgusted somewhat at the reality. I seem somewhat desensitized to the death of humans, but dead animals; even mice in a trap, gives me the willies. I will throw the traps with the mice in it away, I do not have the patience or stomach to release them with their little crushed heads, I refuse to put my fingers near their dead bodies. I would rather, pitch it while looking the other way. Not because they are cute, not because I feel bad; but because they are filthy little animals that shit on everything. They attempt to sneak in my fridge, which is a terrible place for a mouse to hang out. They had some cousin connection to the black plague. They are gross, and though I don’t feel that way so much about the bird or the lamb, it makes me feel that animal death is something I would rather not to have to deal with… oh yeah I have a dog, whom I just found out, is not going to live forever… so I guess it may be inevitable.
So dead animal, and then a stupid sting by a stupid yellow jacket. This is a new feeling I would compare to a localized zap from an electric fence. Unacceptable in my current state of mind. Icing on the cake, but I was ready to go, looking good (not that I feel any need to try and impress this Nick Johnson, but rare is a day I feel so off {went to bed at 5 am} and still look good and find myself trying to get things done faster)
SOOOO I was suppose to meet for drinks and nonsensical reminicence with Nick Johnson, but he made the mistake of leaving his contactl lens’ in far beyond their que to exit, and coupled with the local pollen allergies and his brothers cats, his eyes are too swollen to drive the drive. So Here I am. Sitting at the place we planned on meeting… typing this, a consolation prize to the other piece I was working on, and deleted. How is it with all this technology you can still inadvertantly delete 45 minutes of consistant typing? Either way, the loud college kids next to me, are disrupting what was a very quiet and prime location, and noting their age, I am sure the liquor will catch up fast which usually means “less than mellow”… Oh, it’s always interesting to see what the consolation prize will be in an active effort to cohese, be hip, social and “out” (not gay, just out in public, I tend to hermitize for those who don’t know…)
The chicken fingers are good, I am glad a place around here found chicken with fingers, wings are ok, but fingers are the best. My favorite is the one in the middle.