Steve and I have been divorced 25 years and he still donates to the charity…hush money so he doesn’t have to live with me any longer. It’s hard to be neat and live my lifestyle. That, and he’s a genuinely nice guy.
Two years ago, I awoke to a text from him that read in part, “Hey – I was over at your web site and you said nice things about me, so I’m sending a thousand dollars next week.” I burst into tears because my computer was in agonal death and I had no idea how I would be able to afford a new one.
Back in the beginning when I was scraping up road kill while he was out at work, I had to store the ‘food’ in the freezer on top of the fridge. Needless to say, having various and sundry dead things looking back at him when he threw open the freezer door was a little distressing, so shortly afterwards, he bought me my very own freezer: an old fashioned ice cream freezer with all the individual compartments.
Our local DNR brought me a fawn that had been accidentally bush hogged. Not only was he a gory mess, but I had to fold his legs in to jam him into one of the compartments. Free food. No pansy’s in this line of work, ‘no’siree, Bob’. (I got that phrase from my Grandmother, but never found out who Bob was)
One day when we had a party, (Steve was very social and loved to have garden parties), a guest who owned a restaurant was admiring said freezer. “Uh-oh”, I’m thinking and before I could wade through the crowd to intervene, he opened the very compartment that held the folded up dead fawn, the poor frozen thing staring up from it’s icy depths previously reserved for Butter Pecan ice cream. I thought the poor man was going to have a heart attack… I don’t remember seeing him at any future parties.
I was an RN on busy cardiac floors until I was forced onto disability by numerous medical problems in 2010. I can’t sleep more than 4 hours. I became fascinated with GHOS last summer when I saw one sleeping in our neighbors willow tree. Unfortunately, it had to be cut down because it was in bad shape. Luckily the owls, a male & female relocated around the corner. I love hearing them talk to each other. I’ve seen them at night on different rooftops. Even in the dead of winter. I open the window so I can hear better. On moonlit nights I can see their markings. We live In northern Colorado and these two have gorgeous markings. The classic reddish brown “Tiger like” markings. One of them swooped right over my head one morning when I got the paper. Gorgeous! Anyway, I have seen every video you’ve made. I love the interactions you have with owls. I have learned so much from you. My favorites are the owlets & juveniles. I watch all your owl interactions but am partial to GHOs. They are fearless & independent. I check your website & Monteen Mccord almost every day. If we had money, I would love to help you out. Alas,we too are scraping by. I just wanted you to know how much I enjoy watching & learning about owls from you. I in turn have got my 94 yr old dad interested in them & my grown daughters & my husband. Keep up the good work. Sorry this is so long. Nothing to do in the wee hours.
Thank you for your kind words and for taking the time to leave a comment. I missed raising and hacking the babies this past summer, but all the orphans were able to be renested. I saved a LOT of food, but I sure enjoy watching them zoom around the property and learn to ‘owl’…