Another passing

Today I went to a prayer service for my great-aunt Ellen, who had married for 59 years to my great-uncle. She was 88, he is 91 next week. She had been sick for awhile.

Its very difficult to lose someone who you have known literally your entire life. Death has always been a weird concept for me. Despite Christian beliefs of an afterlife, its still weird being left behind, searching for meaning, asking questions, wondering why.

For a moment, at least, I realize how strange life is, each of us rushing hither and fro, absorbed in our own self importance. Afterall, we have appointments, places to be, people to meet! We don't have time to die. Death is not on our schedule, so it will just have to wait

When someone we know dies, the world just keeps on turning, but for that moment, we are left behind wondering why the world doesn't stop.

I talked to the kids about aunt Ellen passing away. They took it pretty well. Better than Grandpa dying a year ago, and much better than the cat.

My uncle seemed ok. He's had years to prepare. But how does one ever prepare to lose their spouse of 59 years? I give him six months before he dies of a broken heart.

My Purple Martin Story

In April, Jorgen and I were at one of my favorite stores, Tractor Supply Co. It's where farmers go to get their "stuff." I'm not a farmer, but being in TSC brings back the old memories of going to similar stores with my Grandpa's, both of whom were farmers. I have a riding lawn mower for grooming my two acres of lawn, but thats about it. So whenever I need something for my "tractor," we head to TSC.

There's all kinds of cool stuff at TSC: barbwire, fence posts, tractor parts, trailers, sharp things, and so on. On this trip, I told Jorgen he could pick something out as a reward for coming out with me. Usually he selects a chocolate candy bar, but this day he chose a Purple Martin house. He really wanted it, so I thought about it. $45 is a lot more than fifty-cent candy bar, but I thought it might be fun, and I had heard Purple Martins eat mosquitos.

When I got the bird house home, I realized that I'd need a 15 foot pole on which to mount it. The pole would need to telescope so that I could lower it and raise it up. I ordered one for about $70, delivered.

Out at PurpleMartin.org, I learned tips for how to place the PM-house. I learned that just putting up the house didn't guarantee that a Purple Martin family would settle there. The housing needs to be "managed" to keep out the riff-raff, non-native birds like sparrows and starlings.

I put up the house in early May, which is recommended in my area. Immediately, sparrows began nesting. I lowered the house and removed their nests. The next day, they had built new nests. This went on for weeks, pitting my human persistence against mother nature's. Finally, one day I saw a pair of young Martins exploring the house. After an hour of being harrassed by sparrows, they went away. Meanwhile, I keep pulling out sparrow nests, about four or five times per week. I tried to shoot the sparrows with a bb gun, but they were too smart for me.

Finally, its June. The sparrows have finally given up and have nested elsewhere. Two weeks go by with no interest in the housing. I'm even losing interest as the prospects for nesting Purple Martins this year grow more dim each day. I go back out to PurpleMartin.org, looking for tips that might salvage our project. They recommend playing a Purple Martin dawn-song recording, which they have online. I started playing the recording on Tuesday morning. By Wednesday evening, two pairs of young Martins are excitedly exploring the housing. By Thursday (today), both pairs are building nests. The kids were out last night, watching the Martins fly around and catch insects. Martins are not afraid of people, and seem to actually enjoy having people around.

The more I learn about Purple Martins, the interesting they become. They are completely dependent upon humans for their housing. When they leave us this Summer, they will migrate to South America over the winter, and then will migrate thousands of miles to to return to my backyard in Minnesota. I think we're going to enjoy sharing our yard with these birds.

When I started the Purple Martin project for my kids (and for me, too), I didn't realize just how much patience and involvement it would require to get a colony established. I was also a lesson in how tough it can be for native birds to compete with non-native species, like sparrows and starlings, who nest earlier than Martins and are more aggressive.

Hopefully with two young breeding pair taking up residence, we will be able to enjoy these beautiful birds for years to come.

It's too bad, though, that they really don't eat mosquitos.

UPDATE: 6-27-2005
House sparrows attacked the Purple Martin nest. This afternoon I found four eggs smashed on the ground, and a sparrow perched outside the entrance to the nest. I haven't seen the Martins since last night. My sparrow trap just arrived in mail, albeit too late to save this nesting season. At least trapping sparrows will make me feel better.

Working from home

I always thought how great it would be to have a job where I work from home. Now that I have one, I find I miss the commaraderie and random interaction of the office. For those of you who are dreaming of being employed from home, here is what I have been experiencing.

My vision:
Working, while I play the radio as loud as I want! With no co-workers to tell me to turn it down.
Reality:
Either I'm on a conference call, or else there's so much noise within my head that the radio is a distraction.

My vision:
No commuting to work! Just walk over to the computer!
Reality:
Being so close to "the office" means I'm always checking on email. Its hard to let work go. It also means that certain co-workers feel that they can just call you at home whenever they want.

My vision:
Being able to goof off a little.
Reality:
I'm so buried with work, that goofing off is a luxury I can't afford.

My vision:
Instead of sitting around a meeting table, I'm at home participating on a conference call in my underwear.
Reality:
Yes, I am wearing my underwear (most of the time) but lousey teleconferencing equipment makes it difficult to hear what is being said, and I often miss the context.

My vision:
I'm home when my wife shows up with the kids at 5pm! No more late nights at work for me.
Reality:
The family gets home and I have to move to a private area in order to complete my work or my phone call. Work just doesn't stop at 5 pm, even at home. I never miss dinner anymore, though.

It's fun to be back with a software company. My first "work at home" situation is a good one, and I'm settling in to the new routine.

I enjoy the work.

Just wish I had an office to do it in.

Diet update: No longer losing weight quickly or easily. Have been stuck around 183-184 for weeks. Am adding back certain foods to the diet. Maybe losing 20 lbs is enough. Now lets see if I can stay here.