American Goldfinches

These are the Washington State bird. I love their bright colors. They don't visit our feeders very often so I was delighted today when a small flock of them showed up while I was baking in the sun on the deck. I heard a different sound and looked up from the peanuts where I was photographing jays and there they were. It was a lovely sight to see. One even ate from our new large feeder that has remained pristine with all the seed just waiting for a bird to notice. 

The extras are one more of the finches and a jay that was huddled on the deck railing in an odd way, looking like a young one asking for food, but not young. I thought maybe it had hit a window and was recovering but I hadn't heard any sound. And when I cautiously approached it took off easily.

I had a good time at the support group today. We had several themes that wove through our discussions. The main one was the rollercoaster ride that you get as your loved one dips and rises in his or her progression of the disease. We added roller coaster to last meeting's theme of octopus. The tentacles of the disease reach out to caregivers, other family members and society. So now we can visualize an octopus on a roller coaster. 

After the meeting I visited Arvin and was sad to find him to be in a low point of his progress. We had dinner and I found that it worked best if I fed him instead of his trying to eat by himself. His conversation was confused and he stayed in his wheelchair the whole time I was there. Sad indeed. They are trying lowering one of his meds to see if that might help him gain balance and clarity. It will be at least a week before we will know the results.

The good news was he still knows who I am and brightened a bit when he saw me. It is a small thing, but a good one.