Conversations rising from a lifetime trekking the ever-changing world of veterinary medicine
Our relationship with death takes on shapes and forms over our lifetime. When we’re little kids just taking it all in around us, we watch how the adults in our lives express themselves after a loss occurs. We watch, listen and feel it all. Sponges soaking every bit up. It’s so slick you don’t even …
I thrive in the season of Easter. I can smell it coming in March but I sometimes get whiffs in February. It’s that familiar scent of damp earth. It’s a time when spring fairies come out and breathe the clean in my laundry whipping on the clothesline. The Spring line air smells different than the …
I was doing a task at home the other morning I’ve done more times than I can count, my fingers knowing their job well. Moving in synchrony, intertwining while unwrapping the IV line, they couldn’t be distracted. And, in spite of years of physical work creating large joints, they worked nimble and capable as my …
One day, back in the mid-seventies, I was bit by a rabid cat. When I got to work that morning, my boss happened to be on the phone. So, I went to the back to see if anything had come in overnight. In the middle cage, in a room little bigger than a closet, was …
Horse trainers today are kind of different than the ones I knew many years ago. It’s good that we know more now than we did back then about moving in harmony with a horse. As a new veterinary technician/nurse working in mixed animal practices, I got to know quite a few trainers – mostly men. …
My Nonny was an interesting woman. When I was younger, I couldn’t see how any of her DNA could have been in me. First of all, she was a beautiful seamstress. That says a lot right there. But what I think, is it might just take a while for those cells to start to percolate …
We had a blustery storm the other night. The outside chairs blew all over hell and creation. I’m hoping it blew out the chaos that descended from the full moon and lunar eclipse that happened at the same time. From all appearances it was a humdinger and packed a wallop. The private club As a …
Chicago’s brownstone apartment buildings in the fifties and sixties were an explosion of sounds and smells. That’s where I grew up. The building we lived in had an inside front walk up three floors on tired old carpet. The smell of cigars and cigarettes blended with the various food smells in the air. And the …
This morning after chores I stood and watched Sun try hard to shine its brightest as it was rising. But clouds coming in from the southwest had other ideas. Brilliant rays burst up and shot to the top of the clouds. But, to no avail. Try as it might, the clouds slowly moved in and …
The night our house burned down we had nothing left but the clothes we had on when we left the house earlier that evening. That devastating and life altering event happened a long time ago. But, I admit there are times I wonder what it might be like if it happened today. The first thing …