Posted 4/3/23
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? -Matthew 6:26
I am kind of a hard atheist when it comes to belief in “Mother Nature”. There is no external force in charge of anything like this apart from the Lord. Job said ““He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth…For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength…By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy” (Job 37:3, 6, 10-13). I submit to the Lord’s absolute Sovereignty over everything. Need another verse? I have many… “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7) Allow this to be the filter through which you consider my somewhat odd thoughts here and everywhere in the blog. 🙂 I am super-imperfect and fail often.
So when I get chirped awake by birds, relentlessly, I give Praise to the Birdmaker (the Everythingmaker, for that matter) and wonder what might He be telling me through His Creation. Oh, and sometimes I write on such, with shoehorn in hand. 😉 Today is one of those days 🙂
You will want to look at this in full-screen mode. 🙂 The little square-ish button at the bottom allows this.
Here is a longer YouTube video of this crazy bird! I must like birds. Source 🙂 OK, blog-boy, this isn’t a Ornithology blog…get to work!
Off we go.
Ten things that When The Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin’ Along Reminds me about Dementia
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob bobbin’ along, along,
There’ll be no more sobbing when he starts throbbing
His own sweet song.
Wake up, wake up, you sleepy head,
Get up, get up, get out of bed,
Cheer up, cheer up the sun is red,
Live, love, laugh and be happy.
What if I’ve been blue,
Now I’m walking through fields of flowers,
Rain may glisten, but still I listen for hours and hours.
I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song,
When the red, red robin comes bob, bob bobbin’ along.
- This bird was pacing over and over and over again. He would also fly over to the fence, then back…a lot. Oh Nellie, does that sound familiar??? Here are some useful tips for pacing. There are very few things that are ubiquitous in dementia (happen to all). This one probably doesn’t happen to all…but I sure hear a lot of cases! This bird, like our loved ones, was hell-bent on something…
- Safety wasn’t much of a concern. This bird was trying to bash his beak into the window enough times to be allowed in. Not much wisdom there…What was he thinkin’??? The 8th of the Alzheimer’s Association’s warning signs of dementia is “Decreased or poor judgment’.
- Did I mention that he bashed into the window a lot? He fell, shook his head, and he did it all over again. NOTE: I assume his gender because women are infinitely less likely than men to do stupid things. Folks with dementia tend to care less and less for their safety. I can give you countless examples. (Wandering at night, driving, getting scammed, cooking issues, etc…) That is why WE are their safety department on Earth…
- There is always danger nearby (see cat picture above). This bird was nuts! Dangers include becoming cat food, brain damage, getting stuck in the screen, my wrath for waking me up again!, etc… Seniors in general, and those with dementia, face elder abuse risk. Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services reminds us: “Experts believe that for every case of adult abuse or neglect reported, as many as 23 cases go unreported.” Our CEO team at SeniorAge reminded us again of this reality just today. Here is a link to more info: LINK
- Tragic intersection- This bird seemed very robust. He could keep bashing and keep bashing…and he did. The problem was his bird brain. My mom’s story and a new friend’s story is that of a healthy person struck down by this stupid disease. Remember that, while the biggest Gris factor is indeed age, many that get the disease were fine otherwise! Even better than fine. Dan Jaworski is a great example, but my mom was doing darn good before she wasn’t.
- Sounds abound- This bird dropped his normal melodious sound and squawked over and over. I guess he still sounded like a bird…a mad one…but he lost his normal sweetness. He was trying to tell me something. “Wake up, wake up, you sleepy head,
” was all I heard… Aphasia, in dementia (or not) reminds me of this. Speech turns to stutters, word salad, and worse in many cases. If your loved one is smuggling getting the words out, talk to their doc. It could be a warning sign of dementia or it could be something else, but it isn’t good… - Sometimes it takes a bird to remind you to clean the window- Stinkin’ bird waking me up over and over these last few days also reminded me that our screens need to be cleaned. Sometimes it takes something extreme to remind us… Out of sight, out of mind. If you have senior loved ones, if you have a family “history” of the disease, or if you see warning signs, treat it seriously. We missed noticing my mom was needing help, friends. You may think I am better than I am because I write a blog on this topic. You are mistaken. All I know I have learned since her diagnosis despite the fact that our grandma also had it. I talked to mom daily by phone, but they can hide things on the phone that they cannot in person. Now, the class of drugs we went to Washington DC to fight for access for REQUIRES early diagnosis. If in doubt, talk to the docs…
- Sometimes birds are flighty (see what I did there???) My bird seemed to have left. 2-3 days of banging his beak was enough. Off he went. Not sure what changed. Maybe he had a Zoom scheduled? Maybe he had a headache? No clue. However, as fast as he came, he was gone. 2 things: Dementia patients can be a flight risk. My mom was almost hurt several times. A dear new friend from the Summit told me that her grandma wandered away and wasn’t found for over a month, and was only identified by her jewelry. 🙁 Please take wandering even more seriously than ever. I have toooo many friends who have lost relatives this way. 🙁 Secondly, the randomness is unexplainable. Why did he come? Why did he leave? I don’t think he died, although it is a possibility. Why one day chirping, the next playing Alfred Hitchcock? The roller coaster ride this disease gives all involved gives a solid zero stars on the ole Yelp Review. 🙁
- “I’m just a kid again, doing what I did again, singing a song”- Was he having fun? Beats me. Didn’t seem fun to me, but neither does this LINK and the rest of the world seems to like it, so what do I know?? In dementia, this lyric from our loosely referenced song reminds me of a couple of things: So many dementia patients seem like children again. They may even only remember their childhood, or remember it better than what they ate for lunch. However, the may be “singing a song” all day long. Music is magic to many of them. 🙂 Dementia is not fun by any standard, but trying to help them have fun is a wonderful thing…
- “Cheer up, cheer up the sun is red, Live, love, laugh and be happy. What if I’ve been blue,
Now I’m walking through fields of flowers, Rain may glisten, but still I listen for hours and hours.” Birds scream happiness to me. They have hard lives and often hard deaths. Some even bash their beak over and over into my window while I try, in vain, to sleep. But the seem cheerful and hopeful. They are a sign of spring. Please, friends, find the red in the sun. Find the field of flowers. Find the beauty on the rain that sits at the intersection of refreshing and soggy. Hug your loved one. Find the Pearl in the ugly oyster. This all is worth it. Give it your best. Get help. Fight for a cure. Birds can sing in the storm…we can too. Maybe this bird was singing and I just missed it in the racket?
#EndALZ
Update: Not much new to report. Mom still sleeps most all the time. We feed her sometimes with her eyes closed. She isn’t limn noticeable pain. She could be with us 5 more years or 5 more minutes…we have no way of knowing. However, her decline is obvious if you see her periodically. I hope to see her tonight. 🙂
If you have some extra mealworms, please drop a few in my fundraiser… We need to fix this disease, and $ is part of the issue. 🙂 It ain’t for me…not a penny. 🙂
https://act.alz.org/site/TR?pg=personal&px=14575499&fr_id=16164