Author: delilalumbardy@gmail.com

Today I want to give you a snippet into the sequel of “Bound by Secrecy.” Of course, my motive is to wet your appetite. For those of you that have read “Bound by Secrecy” you know that Doc played the role of the small town doctor in the book. He has now become the protagonist in this second book – but don’t worry – Laurel, Tom, Joshua, Old Boot, and the Clayburns are back as well. With no further ado, I will let you see a tiny glimpse into  chapter 3 of the next book. (Title not determined as of yet.)

 

Doc leaned forward in his desk chair and rested his head in his hands. The fourth note had arrived in his post office box this morning. The four notes still lay in front of him on the desk. He had hurried home after work, not bothering to grab a glass of ice tea from the refrigerator as he usually did. He had rushed into his library, taking the four notes and lining them up in a row on his desk. Going over them one by one and comparing each to the previous, he found no clues as to the writer. All four notes and envelopes were identical; down to the Elvis Presley stamps. He hadn’t ruled out that it could be Lisa sending the notes. It seemed odd though, that she would come to his office with medical concerns if she were trying to discourage a developing relationship between him and her mother. Not only that but she had not mentioned the relationship at all during the visit.

Doc was deep in thought when the ring of the phone jolted him like the first crack of thunder on a spring night. He doubted he had heard the first couple of rings. He leaned toward the phone, focusing on the caller ID. Gwen? He hadn’t talked to his sister since they had settled mother’s small estate two and a half years ago. It wasn’t all Gwen’s fault they didn’t talk often. He could have called her just as easily, but he hadn’t made the effort either. A stab of guilt pierced his conscience. Gwen could have used some support over the years – say, when she went through her divorce, or during the time that her only child was in and out of trouble. Doc wasn’t even sure how serious Michael’s trouble had been. He did know the kid had spent some time in a juvenile center. He had even lost track as to how old Michael would be now…maybe in his late twenties, early thirties. He hadn’t seen the boy since he was eight or nine. Doc blamed the disconnection between himself and Gwen to their age differences. She had been a surprise baby and was twelve years younger than he was. When he was eighteen and headed for college, she was just a kid. They had very few memories to laugh and cry over like many siblings did – they simply had never spent enough time together to form memories. He hoped this call didn’t mean bad news.

“Hello Gwen. Nice to hear from you.”

“Hi Vince. It’s been a long time.”

“Yes…yes it has. Are you doing ok?”

It was always a bit awkward talking to Gwen. Doc always felt inadequate when visiting with her – why was it so easy to talk to everyone else, but he felt cumbersome talking with his sister? He wished conversation would come easy to them, but it had never flowed smoothly; tagged with pauses and hesitations. He did remember to ask about Michael and was told his nephew was doing fine. Of course, Doc didn’t know whose standard Gwen was holding him up to. She had said he wasn’t married yet, but expressed her hope that it could happen, now that he had his life together.

Gwen got to the point of her call soon after draining themselves of small talk. “Vince, I’m thinking about taking a trip and coming out that way for a visit. “

Doc was taken aback. In forty years, she had never touched foot in Nebraska. He had invited her more than once, but she had always come up with an excuse. Because Doc’s mother had wished to be buried back in Illinois, Gwen had chosen to have a memorial service for her there, rather than attend the one at Grace Community Church in Hooper. Doc had suspected that Gwen had not been interested in experiencing small town life in any way. She was used to having all the commodities she needed or wished for at her fingertips.

“Well Gwen, this is a surprise.” Doc rubbed the top of his balding head.

“Yes, I suppose it is. Guess I’m realizing since Mother’s death that we aren’t getting any younger. I would like us to get to know each other better and spend some time together.”

“I would like that too Gwen.” Doc said the appropriate words, but he wasn’t sure how much either one of them would enjoy it. He was ambivalent about the idea. He could be excited; after all, Gwen was his sister. But he might also be relieved if she cancelled.

“Do you know when you will be coming?”

    “Not yet, but now that I have made up my mind I don’t want to wait long. Do you have any plans of being away?”

    “No. My job keeps me here for the most part. I do have some help coming in two days a week now, but I usually spend those days fishing the lakes close by, working in my yard, or catching up on some reading. Anytime you choose should work for me. Let me know.”

Doc hung up the phone and turned his attention back to the notes in front of him. Sooner or later, the writer would provide him a clue – he was sure of it.

Until next time – if you keep on readin’, I’ll keep on writin’.

 

A couple of years ago I watched a video come across Facebook of an elephant painting a picture. I was amazed by what this elephant named Suda could do. Some of the videos make it out that the elephant is painting whatever she wants to paint. However, other videos tell us that a trainer stands beside the elephant and gives it signals by pulling on its ear. If the trainer pulls the ear one way – that means “make a line to the left” or if he pulls it a different way, that means, “make a line to the right.”

Even though knowing that  these elephants are trained to paint pictures so that someone can make money, it still wet my appetite to learn more about this kind beast. And what I have found  is that elephants, whether they can paint pictures or not, are amazing animals. Scientists have been intensely studying and documenting their findings  in the last ten years and are finding that elephants are one of the brainiacs of the animal kingdom. The scientists have concluded that elephants are adept at using tools and they are cooperative problem solvers. They are highly empathetic creatures  – comforting each other and showing grief in times of loss of a family or clan member.

Kandula lives at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. In 2010 researchers set up some props to see what Kandula would do when favorite foods were strung high above the elephant’s reach. The researchers placed sticks and heavy duty block cubes around the yard. It wasn’t instantaneous, but within a few days Kandula had an “aha moment.” With his trunk he rolled the cubes beneath the strung food, climbed up onto the cube with his front feet, stretched out his long trunk, and enjoyed lunch. When the researchers changed out the cubes with tractor tires, Kandula was not detained, using the tires just as he did the cubes. He even figured out how to stack the cubes and tires to extend his reach.

In 1968, Cynthia Moss, director or the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, moved to Africa to study elephants in the Amboseli National Park – one of the few places where elephants can live a relatively undisturbed existence in natural conditions. One day while observing the animals Cynthia watched in amazement as a young, audacious female bound into the camp of a different clan and was kidnapped by that clan. They kept her captive with their trunks and strong legs. Her mother, Echo, and elder siblings took action to free her, but were unsuccessful, and they had no choice but to retreat. A few minutes later, Cynthia watched in awe as the mother and sisters returned with all the members of their clan. They charged into the enemy camp and rescued Ebony. Cynthia maintains that this took forethought, teamwork, and problem solving.

Not only are they problem solvers and team workers, they are also capable of genuine empathy. When coming upon an elephant skeleton, especially if it is one of their clan, they will caress the bones with their trunk and the bottoms of their sensitive, padded feet. Cynthia Moss has observed elephants kicking dirt over the skeletons and covering them with palm leaves. Elephants have never been seen doing this with the bones of other species.

In my way of thinking, elephants don’t need to paint to be impressive. Maybe God wanted us to see their greatness in more than just their size.

Until next week – if you keep on readin’, I’ll keep on writin’.

 

FYI – This week we are out of town for a family funeral. I will be posting my weekly blog today, but you will not see a weekly photo as my photo’s are home on my computer. (I am using my husband’s now.) I will be back next week with all the usual elements of my webpage.

This week we celebrated or scorned April Fool’s Day – depending on which end of the teeter-totter we were sitting.

I did some research on the history of April Fool’s Day and found that it doesn’t come in a tidy package with black and white wrapping. There are a lot of uncertainties of how it got started. It most likely began in France in the 16th century and became quite popular in many countries by the 19th century. It is not a public holiday in any country, but every country celebrates a form of April Fool’s Day although it may not be on April 1st. The one exception is China who did celebrate it in the past, but has recently banned the silly day – claiming it is not in line with  their “core values.”

Advocates for April Fools Day, sometimes  known as All Fool’s Day, claim the day is good for one’s health. It encourages light heartedness and laughter which decreases stress and reduces strain on the heart. Critics, on the other hand, adhere to the idea that hoaxes that are played can be creepy, manipulative, rude, and even a bit nasty.

Big corporations have been known to play jokes on April Fool’s Day. Google has been especially fond of a “good hoax.” In 2004 they announced the launch of Gmail with a one gigabyte inbox capacity. There competitor web services at the time were offering only four megabytes at the most.  (1000 megabytes equal one gigabyte.)

I’ve participated in a couple of good jokes over the years. When I was growing up on the ranch, my sister and I were up before my dad one April first. This was an unusual occurrence and we didn’t want to waste the opportunity to concoct some sort of a joke. So we thought of what might be our dad’s biggest nightmare. We yelled,” PRAIRIE FIRE!” We of course, were watching for the reaction. Our dad raised straight out of bed. I think it was  the first time we had seen our father in his underwear. He ran to the window and of course there was nothing but blue skies and waving prairie grasses. We yelled, “April Fool’s!!! And it all worked out well – he was soooo glad there wasn’t a fire, that he wasn’t too upset about the joke.

They say it’s always more fun to give than to receive and in the instance of April Fool’s jokes, that seems very applicable. I didn’t like it much when my son taped down the handle on the sprayer next to the kitchen sink.  I was ready to walk out the door to work when I decided I better have a drink of water first. I turned on the faucet and cold water drenched my hair, my face and my clothes. I had time only to change my clothes. I went to work with limp hair and no makeup.

If you have a practical joke – one you’ve done or had done to you – maybe you’d like to share it so we can be ready for next year’s April Fool’s Day.

Until next week – if you keep on readin’, I’ll keep on writin’.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are those of us that feel that Christmas and Easter have become too commercialized, taking away the true meaning of the holidays. We wish there was more Christ Child than Santa, and more Christ arose than the Easter Bunny hopped. We would like to see both holidays celebrated with more spirituality and less folklore.

Maybe the two aren’t as far apart as we have always thought. Let’s look into the “real story” behind the Easter Bunny and the Easter eggs.

According to Wikipedia, the “Easter Hare” originated among German Lutherans.

In the medieval church, many of the Christian art works depicted a rabbit or hare in it. At this time it was believed by many people that the hare was a hermaphrodite – meaning it had sexual organs of both a male and a female. This idea led to the belief that a hare could reproduce without a loss of virginity and this led to an association of the hare with the Virgin Mary. It was common to see the hare along side the Virgin Mary in ancient Northern European paintings.

Orthodox churches observe a custom of abstaining from eggs during the fast of Lent. During this time, they boil or roast them so that the eggs are not wasted. At some point they began decorating the eggs as part of the celebration of the season. Later, German Protestants continued on with that custom of eating colored eggs for Easter. Before egg dyes arrived,  people would boil the eggs with certain flowers that would change the shell’s color.

Many Christians of the Eastern Orthodox Church still dye their Easter eggs red – the color of blood – to symbolize the blood of Christ. Some will also use green in honor of new life, as in the plants that spring up from the ground. And surely, we were all given a chance for new life when Christ went to the cross.

Easter has always been a favorite holiday of mine. As a child I loved hunting Easter eggs, finding baskets of candy at the foot of my bed, and dressing up for church in a new lacey dress with white gloves, hat, and shiny Mary Jane patent shoes. I was able to separate the folklore from the Christian concept and enjoy both aspects. Now with what I know,   instead of separating them, it seems that I could have combined the pieces of both.

As I have grown older; more mature in my faith, and a bit more cynical of the Easter Bunny and the colored eggs, I am relieved to discover the correlation between the two. Instead of scowling at the old rabbit, I will again smile. After all, he did bring me a lot of candy!

Until next week – if you keep on readin,’ I’ll keep on writin.’

 

 

One of my favorite resources in life is humor. I especially like to use it to cope with  frustrating events that sometimes appear out of nowhere . As a nurse for forty years I was occasionally called upon to deal with an egotistical doctor. Now, this can be very frustrating when you are trying to be an advocate for the patient and the doctor doesn’t seem to be on the same page. One of these events happened to me many years ago, but I can recall it quite clearly today. I handled that situation by stewing for the rest of the shift, then going home and pulling out my pen and paper. I dropped the poem in the mail to a magazine called  “Journal of Nursing Jocularity.” They accepted it and I felt tons better. I even came to think of it like this: the doc was gracious enough to give me some material so I could make a few extra bucks. The name of the doc in the following poem has been changed to protect the innocent. 🙂 (FYI – the “Journal of Nursing Jocularity” was disbanded a few years after this article was printed when the entire staff (all nurses) were traveling together to a nursing conference and was involved in a fatal car wreck.)

Next time you have a frustrating day, try a little humor.

Until next week…if you’ll keep on readin,’ I’ll keep on writin.’