news...

yesterday was another bad day. my brother david called to tell me my mom had a stroke. i called the nurse to see how she was doing and was told that she's pretty much unable to use her right side...which tells me it was a major stroke. she's able to swallow...with elderly patients this is a very good thing after a stroke. i'm upset about this but not as much as i would be if my mom was a healthy person prior to the stroke. my mother hasn't been "here" for years. i haven't had a conversation with her for a very long time and for the past couple of years it was only a few words before she would fade away. recently words have even stopped.

the hardest part of the day was listening to my older brother tom break down on the phone. he's dealing with his own guilt of having promised our mom with never putting her in a nursing home. i can't stand the place that she's at so that doesn't help my own guilt. i try not to think about all the negative things in my life right now but it's very difficult.

on a brighter note...i was offered a field position in ornithology out off of the coast of maine. it's a short term job...which i wanted...and it pays well. i'll be doing primarily the same thing as i did previously on the east and west coasts. i'm waiting to see if i'm in the running for a job up in alaska. the alaska job is only a week longer and it pays a tiny bit better BUT it includes airfare. the other appealing thing about the alaska job is that it deals with passerines (songbirds). i've been trying to get away from seabirds and move inland. so, we'll see what happens. i'm happy with the maine job...don't get me wrong...but the alaska job has my interest too. my plan for working in the schools during the school year and birds in the summer is coming together.

the job ends on july 21st and i don't have any obligations until the third week of august. so, i'm planning on trying to get to england for a couple of weeks. the fact that i'm going to be on the east coast and so much closer to my friend clare than being in over in wisconsin is too tempting to pass up...more importantly, i have the time and we're past due for a visit. i'm excited about seeing her and meeting her children for the first time.

not much else is happening...just trying to hold my head above water. thank you so much for the kind words and emails...it brightens my day. keep in touch.