During WWII, before my father deployed, my parents moved all over the US. Today, my mom is changing address again, 2nd time in 7 months. She rangers on, I long for the stability of the homes she created.
2011/06/29
moving day
2011/05/07
Coluber constrictor
The black snake is the state reptile of Ohio. Sign of spring, the snakes come out. Virginia does not have a state reptile, real estate developers did not want the publicity. However, Virginia did recently name the striped (Stry-Ped) bass as the state salt-water fish.
There are many cool, deserving reptiles in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Lets crown one and make it a crime for it to be run over. You deliberately crush a box turtle? We still have capital punishment in our state.
This black snake lived near the intersection the of Riverview and Woolen Mills Road. This is the snake corner. My last living coluber constrictor photo was taken at the same spot.
2011/05/05
2011/04/28
2011/04/01
Bitta
funeral service for Henry Taylor held at St. John’s Chapel in the Green Springs National Historic Landmark District. Afterwards, people retired to Henry’s house (pictured on the National Park Service page-link above.
Henry always had a dog. This is Bitta, 16 years old. Blind in one eye. At the front door of Westend, waiting, like Argus, ready to run.
2011/02/25
Sassafras albidum
My sister died this morning, I am posting photos of her below.
In Orange, Virginia with husband Sam.
Warrenton Virginia with Sam and her childhood dog Atlas.
Sam, Gray and Sam in California
Sam Coale, Gray Coale and Captain Emory on the bank of the River Ouse
with her adult hound, Ariel.
visiting in Charlottesville
In the seat of of happiness, Jane’s kitchen
Gray was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer in November of ‘09.
Gray never asked the Doctor about prognosis, never Googled. She went about her life. I had a lot of ideas early on about how she should deal with her cancer but I managed to keep my mouth shut and follow her lead.
Lead she did. Gray worked her way through chemo (Gemzar, Tarceva and Cisplatin), never lost any hair, never lost her appetite, managed to fold all the medical appointments into her approach to life. (Made a lot of new friends, chemo-suite folk, doctors, nurses, custodians, ultra-sound and radiation therapy techs, she’d ask them about themselves and remember their info.)
We all think of denial as a bad thing, I think Freud taught us to do that, and then Elisabeth Kubler-Ross didn’t exactly promote the value of denial. But I read an article recently in the Washington Post which touted the benefit of denial with a diagnosis that borders on a death sentence.
I wanted to tell my friends and family about Gray’s diagnosis, asked her if that was all right, she said no. She wanted the same interaction with the world that she’d always had. I largely honored her request.
Gray’s quality of life was good for 13 months after diagnosis, but a month ago, the pancreatic cancer figured out the mechanics of metastasis, spread to her liver, stomach, lungs and bone. Secondary to that spread, she got massive edema in her legs. For the first time her mobility was compromised.
She went in to consult with her oncologist February 7 and understood there was nothing curative left in the pharmacopoeia to try. She went to hospice that same day, switching from curative to palliative care. She said she felt safe in hospice.
No pain, no fear.
May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
July 11, 1951-February 25, 2011
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Gray E. Coale Memorial Garden at Swan Point. Please make checks payable to Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, RI 02906. The idea is a grove of sourwoods (Oxydendrum arboreum), some other natives, and a place to sit and listen to the wind.
The funeral will be held at St. Martin’s Church, 50 Orchard Avenue, Providence, RI on Thursday, March 3, at 11:00 AM.
2011/02/20
2011/02/19
Providence
my sister and I were raised with beagles. Dog therapy. Makes me happy to sit on the floor with them.
This pair, Plaid and Stripe. Their human, Robin Bugbee, runs a store by the same name in Providence.
2011/01/31
birthday dog
Sophia’s 11th birthday yesterday. Walked a new neighborhood. Barked. Skillfully manipulated humans. With a cursory glance, people think she is a young dog. Closer study tells another story. She has lipomas all over, an issue shared by many old Labradors. She tires physically before her enthusiasm runs out. She has grey fur on her feet and muzzle. She has a measure of pain.
