The backyard of my dad's house sounds like a rainforest. There are species of every bird imaginable, ducks, crickets and some insect or animal that makes a really loud, high-pitched cricket-like sound. The birds are all chirping, beeping, sqwalling, wooing and cawing. It's a menagerie of sounds quite like the jungle, not that I've ever been there, but what I would imagine a jungle would be like. And then there are the alligators.
Jason and I saw a huge alligator just last week in the canal in back of the house. His head was out of the water and we were all excited but he just ignored us and kept floating along while Jas took a short video of it. It was bizarre that he was so close with no barriers. Kind of scarey too. I've read that they can run up to 30 mph for short stints, however they only run straight. That's supposed to be comforting, because all you have to do is run zig-zag and he won't get you. However, I don't know any human being who can run 30 mph, even for a short stint, much less in a zig-zag fashion.
So all the sounds of the backyard makes it feel very exotic when I'm in the pool. I watch the canal carefully, because I don't want an alligator crawling up to the screen and pushing his way through to me. My kids laugh at me and say that would never happen, but just in case... We swam at night a few times, which is very cool with the light on in the pool. It all looks very eerie, but every loud sound we heard, made me feel a little alarmed inside. You can't see out into the canal when it's dark, so all you have is your imagination, and mine is quite vivid. I stayed on the opposite side of the pool, so just in case he came crashing through the screen, I could make a fast, or rather as fast as my feet would go with hopefully adrenalin pushing them, getaway up the stairs and into the house. That hasn't happened yet, which is a good thing because I would probably end up having an asthma attack and collapsing in the kitchen.
Richard picked up my mom today and took her for a drive and then we all met for lunch. She's doing really well. I took her back to the nursing home, but we made a pit stop at the house first to surprise my dad. We decided that Sunday, July 24th, she will be coming home. I'm going to have to have a "talk" with her that I really don't want to do. She talks and treats my dad so mean that it's getting ridiculous. I know she has a lot of resentment toward him, but enough already. It's really ugly and I don't like it. I mean, my dad isn't the easiest person in the world to live with, but neither is she! At least I don't have to hide my Butterfingers with my dad. I'm not sure if she realizes how mean she is being toward him and I plan on laying it out for her. I don't like to see or hear it and I feel sorry for my dad. All he wants is to help her and she barks at him like a dog. He doesn't deserve that.
What a weird position to be in. I'll talk to her alone when I go to the nursing home this upcoming week. Hopefully she will "hear" me. You would never know this about my mom. She does it very quietly and if there are people around, not at all. To my mom's friends, her sky is always blue, the grass is always green and she is always "just fine." Unfortunately, my mom doesn't look life square in the face and confront it for what it is. Her motto always was, and still is, "Ignore it and it will go away." She used to say that about my dad too. I think the reason I tend to be too bold or too honest or too confrontational, is because she was just the opposite. She is very passive-aggressive and I hate that characteristic. But in some ways, being the martyr that she is, has perhaps helped her survive all these years. She has, for as long as I can remember, been extremely depressed, but would never admit it. Just recently, while in the nursing home, I finally talked her into taking an anti-depressant. Hopefully that will kick in soon and her disposition will change; because I really don't want to be a referee. I'd much rather be just their daughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment