Following up on a tip from David French, whose "French Press" newsletter is usually worth reading...
Mothers Day is drawing near, and I am now officially worried about my mother.
This is the mother I didn't visit all winter, because this winter's flu just kept going around and around, and (as usual these days) my car pool list currently consists of 3 reliable drivers and 14 mostly or strictly passengers, and none of the drivers wanted to expose the more fragile passengers to flu. It was a funny strain of flu. I never came down with it but never built up total resistance to it. I'd be around someone who was coughing or complaining, and for the rest of the week, any time I felt chilly or tired, I'd feel my temperature just starting to rise--as usual--and also my blood pressure rising--as not usual. I'm not at much risk for classic cardiovascular disease, and instead of having my blood pressure rise during the day's work and having to lie down to rest like a classic cardiovascular patient, I'd wake up feeling hypertensive and have to get up and meditate to get my blood pressure down.
So I called one day in March to share these complaints with Mother, again, and she commiserated, and also, in her sweetly motherly way, let me know that she had been on her feet all day with someone who was down with the flu and was having Serious Chest Pains (possibly gas, but this lady was a classic cardiovascular patient so you never knew). And she had wanted to get to the health food store in time to make something special for the St. Patrick's Day dinner, and before the quarantine went into effect. And I said, well, I'd try, one more time, but I didn't think bringing Cousin A or Neighbor B along would be a good idea...again. We had been having this conversation since January.
And those were the last words I've heard her say.
If she were able to talk, she would have answered her phone or called from another one by now. If she were dead, someone would have called. That is how I know she's ill. Probably with pneumonia. Probably from last winter's flu. Though she also has osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercise has kept her hips and legs solid but her ribs have cracked under her own weight. But cracked ribs would've healed by now.
The only flowers my mother has ever seemed to want in the house have been the ones her grandchildren brought from the garden, and flowers are not generally the best thing to send someone who has pneumonia.
However, for local lurkers whose mothers like cut flowers and do not have pneumonia, this message:
We have a floral wreath artist in Gate City. The sign says "Made By Hands" and the location is the same building this web site used when it had a physical location on Jackson Street, one block west of the traffic light.
You can visit the store at https://www.localgatecityflorist.net/ . The site opened slowly for Firefox because of all the pretty pictures, but it's legitimate, and if you like baskets packed with big pink flowers it's pretty.
You can walk in during regular business hours. There's seldom much danger of more than ten people crowding into a floral shop at one time. If you walk in you can order an arrangement that suits your mother's (or wife's, or grandmother's, or soon-to-be-a-graduate's, or any other flower lovers') taste...flowers don't have to be big and pink. Fresh flowers are the hot item in spring, but the store also sells wreaths and balloons and other pretty-pretties for people who are allergic to fresh flowers.
Florists have to pay bills too.
Yes, of course you can still support your local writer. You still should support your local writer. Six feet is the distance from which, as you propose a topic for a blog post, you can stretch your arm straight out toward me, and I can stretch my arm straight out toward you, and as each of us holds it by one end you can hand me a $5 bill.
The floral wreath artist has not handed me a $5 bill. Nor is she obligated to do that, because a local Republican did. What he asked for was some conservative content. Tom DeWeese shared a nice summary of "The Green New Deal" today (linked on Twitter), but that's his content. David French shared just the phrase "mums for the Mums," so this post expands on it. More conservative content will follow since what the Republican handed me was a $20 bill, actually.
What this post really needs is some pictures of big pink flowers, but I don't think Firefox is up to that. (Yes, you could also support your local writer with a gift of a new laptop; if it happens to have "old" Word, that will be much appreciated by my hack writing customers.)
So I'll sign off with this thought: If you order flowers in advance, you won't have to linger in a florist's shop when others want to come in. Do you readers' Mums like 'mums (chrysanthemums), or do they prefer roses, lilies, hydrangeas, or maybe daffodils?
Showing posts with label Mothers Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mothers Day. Show all posts
Monday, April 27, 2020
Friday, May 3, 2019
Nature-Friendly Gifts for a Birdwatching Mother's Day
As with a previous article...One year an Associated Content sponsor wanted a wide assortment of articles about Mothers Day gifts for mothers with different special interests. I showed the list to my mother, and she agreed to be the consultant to brainstorm about gifts for "Green" or birdwatching mothers. Here is the birdwatching list, revised and updated, with Amazon links. (If you use a link to buy the object shown, no shopping around, in theory Amazon sends me money. Duh. It's your mother's day.) As before, suggestions are sorted by level of birdwatching expertise.
1. Raw Beginner: A raw beginner might not yet have a good field guide. Most birdwatchers find Peterson's field guides most useful in the field, Sibley's most informative for reading at home, and the Audubon Society's most inspiring (all those gorgeous photos). The birdwatching mother can probably use all three.
(I'm in an Eastern State. Are you? Let's mix it up with these links...)
2. Raw Beginner: Some beginners start watching birds without binoculars, usually because they become interested in big, tame birds like ducks or seagulls. Sooner or later we all want binoculars. Amazon wants you to know they're useful at concerts and sports events too!
3. Mobility-Impaired: Birdwatching purists scorn the idea of luring birds close to houses with feeders. Bird feeders are, however, the easiest way for some people to watch birds. Some people even enjoy watching squirrels compete with birds for seeds, or identify with Marge Piercy's character who built a squirrel feeder. Whether you try to "baffle" the squirrels or not, however, make sure the feeder is well out of reach of cats, at least five feet off the ground. (Our Founding Queen, Black Magic, not an especially large cat, could scale a ten-foot wall, putting a foot down and pushing off twice on the way up. Graybelle, the extra-large cat who left a distinctive name to the Cat Sanctuary, could reach four feet off the ground without even jumping. Currently, Samantha Scaredycat, who may always be a small cat and seems to think of herself as prey, can jump over five feet straight off the ground. An alternative to using a stepladder to stock a bird feeder is a pulley arrangement that brings the feeder close to a window for cleaning and refilling.)
(Say whaaat? Amazon sells these feeders by ones, claims that's a "best seller," but then wants to link to pages that sells packages of two, four, or six. Oh well. The salient point is that this bird feeder is for hanging from a tree branch or clothes line. You can also find long poles for hanging bird feeders, bird baths, bird nest boxes, etc., at levels that bring our feathered friends close to upstairs windows.)
4. Beginner: Many birdwatchers belong to conservation groups--big ones with political visions, or little local ones with no agenda beyond reserving a space in a local park. Consider a lifetime membership in a group Mother respects but can't afford to join.
5. Beyond Beginner: After adding all the frequently seen local birds to their lists, some birdwatchers decide to watch for specific behaviors rather than travelling to add more species. The Stokes' Field Guide to Bird Behavior series describes several amusing things birdwatchers may see. Herons (who can actually form large flocks at night, however solitary they are while fishing) kiss when they enter family members' territory; avocets throw a wing over their mate while strolling together.
6. Any Level of Expertise, Low Income: Most nature parks are free to the public, but some mothers can't afford transportation to a local nature preserve. Consider riding the bus or driving (any birdwatching friends, actually) to parks they can't visit alone.
7. Medium Expertise, High Income: Some birdwatchers spare no expense to drive, fly, or sail to places where they might be able to add a rare bird to their lists. If Mother belongs to that crowd, or wants to, why not treat her to a tour of an obscure island?
8. Medium Expertise, High Activity: Although birdwatching gear is simple, active birdwatchers go through a lot of sturdy shoes, T-shirts, natural-material sweaters, waterproof nylon "shells," backpacks, and cameras. They may appreciate a shopping spree at L.L. Bean or the Army-Navy surplus store.
9. Serious Ecologist: Some birdwatchers are less concerned about personally seeing rare birds than about making sure the species survive. Conservation groups have developed programs just for this type of birdwatchers. For a fee you can "adopt" or "sponsor" a rare bird being reared in captivity or monitored in a preserve.
10. Any Mother: What Mothers Day was designed to celebrate was Mother's love of her children and grandchildren. While the mother of your children, grandchildren, etc., may be rearing a blended family of six and want quality time to go birdwatching without her brood, in the spirit of Mothers Day let's imagine that more readers and their mothers would enjoy quality time for Mother to watch birds along with her children and/or grandchildren. Sometimes the best Mothers Day gifts are free.
1. Raw Beginner: A raw beginner might not yet have a good field guide. Most birdwatchers find Peterson's field guides most useful in the field, Sibley's most informative for reading at home, and the Audubon Society's most inspiring (all those gorgeous photos). The birdwatching mother can probably use all three.
(I'm in an Eastern State. Are you? Let's mix it up with these links...)
2. Raw Beginner: Some beginners start watching birds without binoculars, usually because they become interested in big, tame birds like ducks or seagulls. Sooner or later we all want binoculars. Amazon wants you to know they're useful at concerts and sports events too!
3. Mobility-Impaired: Birdwatching purists scorn the idea of luring birds close to houses with feeders. Bird feeders are, however, the easiest way for some people to watch birds. Some people even enjoy watching squirrels compete with birds for seeds, or identify with Marge Piercy's character who built a squirrel feeder. Whether you try to "baffle" the squirrels or not, however, make sure the feeder is well out of reach of cats, at least five feet off the ground. (Our Founding Queen, Black Magic, not an especially large cat, could scale a ten-foot wall, putting a foot down and pushing off twice on the way up. Graybelle, the extra-large cat who left a distinctive name to the Cat Sanctuary, could reach four feet off the ground without even jumping. Currently, Samantha Scaredycat, who may always be a small cat and seems to think of herself as prey, can jump over five feet straight off the ground. An alternative to using a stepladder to stock a bird feeder is a pulley arrangement that brings the feeder close to a window for cleaning and refilling.)
(Say whaaat? Amazon sells these feeders by ones, claims that's a "best seller," but then wants to link to pages that sells packages of two, four, or six. Oh well. The salient point is that this bird feeder is for hanging from a tree branch or clothes line. You can also find long poles for hanging bird feeders, bird baths, bird nest boxes, etc., at levels that bring our feathered friends close to upstairs windows.)
4. Beginner: Many birdwatchers belong to conservation groups--big ones with political visions, or little local ones with no agenda beyond reserving a space in a local park. Consider a lifetime membership in a group Mother respects but can't afford to join.
5. Beyond Beginner: After adding all the frequently seen local birds to their lists, some birdwatchers decide to watch for specific behaviors rather than travelling to add more species. The Stokes' Field Guide to Bird Behavior series describes several amusing things birdwatchers may see. Herons (who can actually form large flocks at night, however solitary they are while fishing) kiss when they enter family members' territory; avocets throw a wing over their mate while strolling together.
6. Any Level of Expertise, Low Income: Most nature parks are free to the public, but some mothers can't afford transportation to a local nature preserve. Consider riding the bus or driving (any birdwatching friends, actually) to parks they can't visit alone.
7. Medium Expertise, High Income: Some birdwatchers spare no expense to drive, fly, or sail to places where they might be able to add a rare bird to their lists. If Mother belongs to that crowd, or wants to, why not treat her to a tour of an obscure island?
8. Medium Expertise, High Activity: Although birdwatching gear is simple, active birdwatchers go through a lot of sturdy shoes, T-shirts, natural-material sweaters, waterproof nylon "shells," backpacks, and cameras. They may appreciate a shopping spree at L.L. Bean or the Army-Navy surplus store.
9. Serious Ecologist: Some birdwatchers are less concerned about personally seeing rare birds than about making sure the species survive. Conservation groups have developed programs just for this type of birdwatchers. For a fee you can "adopt" or "sponsor" a rare bird being reared in captivity or monitored in a preserve.
10. Any Mother: What Mothers Day was designed to celebrate was Mother's love of her children and grandchildren. While the mother of your children, grandchildren, etc., may be rearing a blended family of six and want quality time to go birdwatching without her brood, in the spirit of Mothers Day let's imagine that more readers and their mothers would enjoy quality time for Mother to watch birds along with her children and/or grandchildren. Sometimes the best Mothers Day gifts are free.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Earth-Friendly Gifts for a Green Mother's Day
Back in the old AC archives are two Mothers Day pieces I wrote in consultation with my own mother, when sponsors asked about gifts for "Green" mothers and for bird-watching mothers. Mine was both so she was full of ideas. Here, back by a local lurker's request, is a revised, updated, illustrated Top Ten List with clickable links you can use to shop for any Green mothers you may know. Not all of these suggestions involve shopping. Some Green mothers like that.
(Someone who'd formed a habit, or just had to ask, asked me... "Mother" here includes your mother, your children's mother, your foster mother, adoptive mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, foster or adoptive child's natural mother, etc. Grandmothers are mothers too. Aunts, like fathers, uncles, sons, and daughters who don't have babies of their own, are not mothers. Though this list is not gender-specific on this list, my feeling is that Mothers Day is biological-role-specific...well, as an aunt I think it's a day for giving not receiving. We non-mothers can receive presents on other days! For example, if you use these precise links to buy stuff on Amazon, and resist the temptation to shop around, I earn a few pennies in commission, which will eventually add up to a payout from Amazon. I should live so long. But you get the idea. No need to feel bad if you shop around.)
1. Green mothers garden. Mothers Day falls after the optimum planting time for some plants in some places, but gardeners' shopping lists are endless. Gardeners can always use natural-material gardening gloves, plants, seeds, giftcards from their favorite nurseries and garden catalogues, herbal insect repellents, straw hats, cotton shirts and jeans...
Keep Calm T-Shirt
by Ecologicalstore
Pause for a Store Review: When I was growing up we always used to receive seed catalogues from lots of different companies, including Stark Bros. We ordered several kinds of plants and trees from the Stark family business. Now that Dad's gone and Mother's semi-retired, the fruit I'm still picking is coming from our Stark Bros seedlings. Not all of them thrived, but some apple, raspberry, and blueberry sprouts really took off...and paid off, over the past forty years! Cheers!
2. Even Green mothers get tired, even when they garden. (Some of them agree with Suzette Haden Elgin, who was a polio survivor, about using gardening as a symptom-buster. For anyone living with chronic pain or other symptoms, your symptom-buster is something that's easy enough and delightful enough that you can use it to tell when to ignore symptoms and when to go to bed or call the doctor.)
Tired gardeners might appreciate a coupon for free hours of help with gardening chores, or a massage for muscles that have been tired by too much gardening on those first irresistible days in April.
3. Green mothers enjoy nature. You never have to spend a lot of money on a treat for a True Greenie. They enjoy walks in the park with family (or friends), and may have storage room for another field guide...birds, trees, flowers, herbs, mushrooms, or even rocks.
4. All mothers appreciate understanding. Green mothers do everything that television teaches children is un-cool. They do their own chores, using hand tools. They wear old clothes until the seams fall apart. They buy things secondhand. They make young children recycle household junk into toys instead of buying snazzy new toys advertised on TV. They cook at home, with leftovers and "ugly" garden produce yet.
Around age twelve most young people go through a stage where they really feel embarrassed by the fact that they're still children. Apparently some communities don't teach them to feel ashamed of this childish feeling. I could wish that more adults had stood together to give more of my generation more of the message I'd absorbed, even as a teenager: "A person who is disloyal to his parents at 12 will be disloyal to his country at 21. If your parents belong to the Flat Earth Society, as a decent human being living in their home, you should go to meetings with them."
Anyway, if you've ever expressed embarrassment about the Green things your mother used to do, Mothers Day would be a good time to demonstrate that you've matured past that sort of thing now. Go to a yard sale or charity store with your mother. Help her entertain the next generation of your family with puppets made from soap bottles and finger-painted sheets of newspaper. Help carry out her recycling.
5. If you have the appropriate skills you might be able to help your Green mother with a big project she's not been able to do or afford on her own. Old-school Granola Greenies drive old clunkers if they drive anything. Proper maintenance can reduce the carbon footprints of those clunkers. Instead of preaching at them about that old minivan they keep to haul all the grandchildren, or all of their Sunday School class, around town, try tuning it up, cleaning the pipes, changing the filters, recycling worn tires and putting on new ones with fresh treads.
6. You can help "Green up" the house, too...just by being an extra pair of hands, but even more if you've acquired special skills and/or money. Mothers Day is not necessarily too late to help with "spring cleaning" chores like caulking, tightening, or replacing window screens to reduce the cost of climate control, or having storm windows and screens built to fit odd-shaped windows. My mother avoided mentioning expensive projects because none of her children or grandchildren is wealthy, but if you are, why not buy your Green mother a Prius? Or remodel the bathroom and install a water-free toilet.
7. Green mothers usually don't want a lot of "gift junk," especially things like scented soap (they don't like petrochemical fragrances) or new clothes (they wonder whether they'll live long enough to wear out the clothes they already own). There are, however, things even Greenies have to replace. After confirming that your Green mother is likely to use up her existing supplies, you might look for recycled stationery or a new tote bag spun from recycled plastic bottles.
(The picture-linking widget isn't working properly. Click here.)
(If you search for "recycled stationery" on Amazon, you'll get masses of results.)
8. Sometimes it's the thought that counts. Show your Green mother that you've learned some of her tips and tricks. Help pass them on to her grandchildren.
9. While younger Greenies tend to be wild about computers, older Greenies have reservations about anything that's made from plastic, runs on electricity, and emits radiation. They prefer real books. If your Green mother is still adding books to her collection, find out what she does and doesn't have, or want.
One book your Green mother will be glad to have is the one you compile for her. You don't have to be a writer, or writer's assistant, although if you are your mother will probably proudly display your books. Just search for things that interest her on the Internet, print them out in nice clear large type on both sides of the paper, and put it all together in a recycled three-ring binder. (These "naked binders" are intentionally left bare so you can make your own jackets and labels.)
10. Spend quality time doing something earth-friendly on Mothers Day. Walk to a nature park, eat a healthy home-cooked picnic, sing old songs, and count birds and wildflowers together. Bake whole-grain bread together. Plant a tree.
(Someone who'd formed a habit, or just had to ask, asked me... "Mother" here includes your mother, your children's mother, your foster mother, adoptive mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, foster or adoptive child's natural mother, etc. Grandmothers are mothers too. Aunts, like fathers, uncles, sons, and daughters who don't have babies of their own, are not mothers. Though this list is not gender-specific on this list, my feeling is that Mothers Day is biological-role-specific...well, as an aunt I think it's a day for giving not receiving. We non-mothers can receive presents on other days! For example, if you use these precise links to buy stuff on Amazon, and resist the temptation to shop around, I earn a few pennies in commission, which will eventually add up to a payout from Amazon. I should live so long. But you get the idea. No need to feel bad if you shop around.)
1. Green mothers garden. Mothers Day falls after the optimum planting time for some plants in some places, but gardeners' shopping lists are endless. Gardeners can always use natural-material gardening gloves, plants, seeds, giftcards from their favorite nurseries and garden catalogues, herbal insect repellents, straw hats, cotton shirts and jeans...
Keep Calm T-Shirt
by Ecologicalstore
Pause for a Store Review: When I was growing up we always used to receive seed catalogues from lots of different companies, including Stark Bros. We ordered several kinds of plants and trees from the Stark family business. Now that Dad's gone and Mother's semi-retired, the fruit I'm still picking is coming from our Stark Bros seedlings. Not all of them thrived, but some apple, raspberry, and blueberry sprouts really took off...and paid off, over the past forty years! Cheers!
2. Even Green mothers get tired, even when they garden. (Some of them agree with Suzette Haden Elgin, who was a polio survivor, about using gardening as a symptom-buster. For anyone living with chronic pain or other symptoms, your symptom-buster is something that's easy enough and delightful enough that you can use it to tell when to ignore symptoms and when to go to bed or call the doctor.)
Tired gardeners might appreciate a coupon for free hours of help with gardening chores, or a massage for muscles that have been tired by too much gardening on those first irresistible days in April.
3. Green mothers enjoy nature. You never have to spend a lot of money on a treat for a True Greenie. They enjoy walks in the park with family (or friends), and may have storage room for another field guide...birds, trees, flowers, herbs, mushrooms, or even rocks.
4. All mothers appreciate understanding. Green mothers do everything that television teaches children is un-cool. They do their own chores, using hand tools. They wear old clothes until the seams fall apart. They buy things secondhand. They make young children recycle household junk into toys instead of buying snazzy new toys advertised on TV. They cook at home, with leftovers and "ugly" garden produce yet.
Around age twelve most young people go through a stage where they really feel embarrassed by the fact that they're still children. Apparently some communities don't teach them to feel ashamed of this childish feeling. I could wish that more adults had stood together to give more of my generation more of the message I'd absorbed, even as a teenager: "A person who is disloyal to his parents at 12 will be disloyal to his country at 21. If your parents belong to the Flat Earth Society, as a decent human being living in their home, you should go to meetings with them."
Anyway, if you've ever expressed embarrassment about the Green things your mother used to do, Mothers Day would be a good time to demonstrate that you've matured past that sort of thing now. Go to a yard sale or charity store with your mother. Help her entertain the next generation of your family with puppets made from soap bottles and finger-painted sheets of newspaper. Help carry out her recycling.
5. If you have the appropriate skills you might be able to help your Green mother with a big project she's not been able to do or afford on her own. Old-school Granola Greenies drive old clunkers if they drive anything. Proper maintenance can reduce the carbon footprints of those clunkers. Instead of preaching at them about that old minivan they keep to haul all the grandchildren, or all of their Sunday School class, around town, try tuning it up, cleaning the pipes, changing the filters, recycling worn tires and putting on new ones with fresh treads.
6. You can help "Green up" the house, too...just by being an extra pair of hands, but even more if you've acquired special skills and/or money. Mothers Day is not necessarily too late to help with "spring cleaning" chores like caulking, tightening, or replacing window screens to reduce the cost of climate control, or having storm windows and screens built to fit odd-shaped windows. My mother avoided mentioning expensive projects because none of her children or grandchildren is wealthy, but if you are, why not buy your Green mother a Prius? Or remodel the bathroom and install a water-free toilet.
7. Green mothers usually don't want a lot of "gift junk," especially things like scented soap (they don't like petrochemical fragrances) or new clothes (they wonder whether they'll live long enough to wear out the clothes they already own). There are, however, things even Greenies have to replace. After confirming that your Green mother is likely to use up her existing supplies, you might look for recycled stationery or a new tote bag spun from recycled plastic bottles.
(The picture-linking widget isn't working properly. Click here.)
(If you search for "recycled stationery" on Amazon, you'll get masses of results.)
8. Sometimes it's the thought that counts. Show your Green mother that you've learned some of her tips and tricks. Help pass them on to her grandchildren.
9. While younger Greenies tend to be wild about computers, older Greenies have reservations about anything that's made from plastic, runs on electricity, and emits radiation. They prefer real books. If your Green mother is still adding books to her collection, find out what she does and doesn't have, or want.
One book your Green mother will be glad to have is the one you compile for her. You don't have to be a writer, or writer's assistant, although if you are your mother will probably proudly display your books. Just search for things that interest her on the Internet, print them out in nice clear large type on both sides of the paper, and put it all together in a recycled three-ring binder. (These "naked binders" are intentionally left bare so you can make your own jackets and labels.)
10. Spend quality time doing something earth-friendly on Mothers Day. Walk to a nature park, eat a healthy home-cooked picnic, sing old songs, and count birds and wildflowers together. Bake whole-grain bread together. Plant a tree.
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