Freedom and Jeff

Freedom and Jeff Guidry had been together 10 years when he wrote this in 2008.  The baby eagle was brought to the Sarvey Wildlife Center in 1998.  Jeff continues the story.

When Freedom came in she could not stand.  Both wings were broken, her left wing in 4 places.  She was emaciated and covered in lice.  We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet's office.  From then on, I was always around her.  We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in.  I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes.  We also had to tube feed her for weeks.

This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand.  It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week.  You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning.  She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon.  I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear.  I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle.  She was ready to live.  I was just about in tears by then.  That was a very good day.

We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her.  I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington.  We wound up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV.  Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-hodgkin's lymphoma.  I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo.  Lost the hair — the whole bit.  I missed a lot of work.  When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks.  Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer.  This happened time and time again.

Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving.  I went in for my last checkup.  I was told that if the cancer was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last option was a stem cell transplant.  Anyway, they did the tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results.  I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone.  Yahoo!

So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk.  It was misty and cold.  I went to her flight and jessed her up, and we went out front to the top of the hill.  I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew.  She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long.  That was a magic moment.  We have been soul mates ever since she came in.  This is a very special bird.

On a side note:  I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them.  I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us, and I let him hold her.  His knees just about buckled, and he swore he could feel her power course through his body.  I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom.

* * *

Snopes.com says this story is true.  The version above with those photos arrived in my email this week, and my friend Carol asked me to post it.  Here's your story, Carol.  And here's an additional story, found on the Sarvey Wildlife Center web site.

Freedom's Birthday Bash

This little story just goes to show the old adage is true, "always expect the unexpected."  This is especially true with elementary school kids.   I was scheduled to give an Eagle program at a elementary school by Arlington Wa.  It was late April and just a beautiful day, so we decided to have our show outside.  The kids were sitting in the stands by the athletic field.  As I spoke about Freedom and her brethren it quickly turned into a question and answer sort of thing.  (Roll with the punches, you know.)  We were about twenty minutes into the program when I called on this young lady in the back row who had her hand up.  She asked the most innocent question, "when is Freedom's birthday?"  Without thinking I replied, "today is her birthday."  In this latitude Eagles are born April-May, so I thought we were done with that.  NOOOO ... not by a long shot.  Before I could move on this same young lady then asked, "Can we sing happy birthday to Freedom?"  I replied, "Sure we can, right after we finish with the questions."  We continue on for another ten minutes and came to the end of our time.  I asked the gathering of about forty kids if they still wanted to sing happy birthday to Freedom; it was a resounding YES!  I told them we'll all sing together starting on the count of three.  It was at this point our young lady in the back row took over, she jumped clear out of her seat, and with all the authority of an experienced band leader shouted, "ONE ... TWO ... THREE!"  Every kid there joined in as we started singing happy birthday to Freedom. Half way through the song I shouted, "LOUDER!!"  Boy, did I get "LOUDER."  They all were screaming at the top of their lungs "happy birthday to Freedom, happy birthday to you."  The teachers were stunned, just standing there with their mouths hanging open while the crescendo built.  Freedom, regal as always, was soaking up the limelight.  Right at the end of the song the same young lady who started this whole thing jumped straight into the air, pumping her fist and let loose a monstrous, "YEAH!!!"  A grand time was had by all (especially our young leader in the back row).  I will never forget Freedom's Birthday Bash. — Jeff Guidry

Jeff Guidry is a rock and rhythm-and-blues guitarist who lives in Monroe, Washington, and volunteers his spare time working as a member of the educational team at the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center, located in Everett, Washington.  Sarvey provides food, shelter, and rehabilitation to orphaned and injured wildlife. 

Weekend Wordsmith ~ thanks to Rich

This is a very public THANK YOU to Rich, who worked valiantly to keep up my blog called Weekend Wordsmith.  He kept it going for three and a half years.  I was ready to drop it, when the comments sagged, but Rich stepped in and posted the weekly prompts.  Participation has dropped again, so it's time to try something new.  And I have once again taken over of posting weekly prompts on Fridays.

Today's prompt:  Thank Rich

My 9-month-old great-grandson

Write it right ~ plural words

Why people can't spell

I've been teaching my writing classes why pronouns must agree with their antecedents.  While reading blogs this morning, I ran across this sentence:

"...some artist risk their lives to create and speak in a hostile environment."

artist = singular subject
their = plural pronoun

The pronoun their refers back to artist.  One or the other is incorrect.  I read the whole paragraph and know the writer intended the plural artists, yet she consistently used the singular word artist instead;

"We learn about many Haitian artist."

many = more than one
artist = singular

I think the problem is not about spelling, but about hearing.  It's hard to distinguish between the spoken words artist and artists, but they look different on a page.  A careful reader should notice that one word has an "s" on the end and the other does not.  People cannot spell correctly because they don't read and thus are unable to really hear what is said.  Here are other examples of writers having problems with plurals that I've run across today:

"I may be one of the rare person who has not read this book."
"I picked up seven novels and six DVD."
"...a countless amounts of dreams..." (The whole phrase is a mess.)

Cheating in class

I discovered another reason why students may be confused about plurals.  During yesterday's grammar test, one young man was was looking up something on his large-screen cell phone, which I confiscated until the end of class.  I teach at a college, yet his screen showed me that he was looking up "PLURAL."  Could you tell me the plurals of bird and baby?  Those were two of the eight words on the test.  It occurred to me that he didn't know the meaning of the word plural.  Maybe I should start with vocabulary:

plural = more than one
antecedent = preceding

I told my early class yesterday their biggest writing problem was failing to listen to the instructions.  A few minutes later one young man said, "Would you repeat that?  I was working on something else."  No one seemed to notice the irony, and I am rapidly losing hope that I can get through to some of them.

This is the first in a new series about words and writing.

What sparked your interest?

How did you become interested in global warming, climate change, energy efficiency, alternative energy, renewable energy, and such?

When I was in elementary school, I learned about deforestation. I got the idea that we were losing all the trees in the world, and I love trees! So I decided then and there that I would have a tree of my very own. I'd put a fence around it so nobody could ever cut down "the last tree in the world."

Obviously, I had not yet learned that, without lots of trees, I wouldn't be there to save the last tree. Without trees, the world would be filled with carbon dioxide, lacking the oxygen I would need to breathe, to live. So now that I'm an adult, I want to save not one, but a world-full of trees. (Is "world-full" a word?) We need trees! While we breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, trees take in carbon dioxide and "exhale" oxygen. Pretty good system, huh? Your turn. What sparked your interest?

By the way, this post is part of Blog Action Day. There are more than 8,583 blogs in 148 countries taking part in this today, each posting something about climate change.

Blue-footed boobies

"Scientists say abrupt and frequent changes in sea temperatures and the death of coral reefs near the islands show that global warming is taking its toll on local sea life."

I was looking for a hook, something to hang today's story on, when I found this article about how global warming is affecting the Galapagos. The first sentence gave me an image that appeals to me:

"Climate change could endanger the unique wildlife of the Galapagos Islands, and scientists are trying to figure out how to protect vulnerable species such as blue-footed boobies and Galapagos Penguins."

Penguins are cute, but I know nothing about blue-footed boobies. So I searched for a photo and found these at Wikipedia. (Click to enlarge photos.) I am fascinated by the blue feet. The blueness of their beaks doesn't show up as well in the picture above, but it's my favorite, maybe because of the ocean in the background. Wikipedia says the feet of these boobies range from a pale turquoise to a deep aquamarine, and the males and younger birds have lighter feet than females do.


What big beautiful wings you have, sir! This fellow is displaying, or in other words, I'd say he's showing off. Actually, he's probably dancing.

"When mating, the female parades and the male points his head and tail high to the sky and his wings are back to show off to the female. The male blue-footed booby also makes a high-piping whistle noise. Males do a dance to attract the females. The dance includes the males lifting their blue feet high and throwing their heads up."

So what's happening in the Galapagos?

Home for these boobies is a volcanic archipelago, about 600 miles west of the Ecuadorean coast. Islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and these islands have coral reefs. "The coral reefs create a habitat; they are like a forest, like the Amazon. They are home to scores of species. ... If the corals die we lose thousands of species that are associated to the coral," said German marine biologist Judith Denkinger, who is based in the Galapagos.

Everything is inter-related. Whatever affects one part of the eco-system affects all the other parts as well. I would hate for us to lose the blue-footed boobies. Or the Galapagos Penguins. Or any other species. Ultimately, that could mean us, the five-toed language-speaking species. We aren't above what happens to our world. We're part of it, and demise of a coral reef or two could affect us more than we now realize.

By the way, this post is part of Blog Action Day. There are more than 7,777 blogs in 140 countries taking part in this today, each posting something about climate change.

One more thing

On October 24th ordinary folks like you and me will come together in a series of events designed to bring awareness to an important number -- 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide. That's the maximum safe level for carbon in the atmosphere, at least if we want to keep living on this planet. Here are three of those events:

On the melting slopes of Mt. Everest, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, who holds the record for the fastest ascent of the world's highest peak, will be spreading banners and signs.

On the dying coral reefs of the Maldives, the government's entire cabinet will don scuba gear and hold an official underwater meeting to pass a 350 resolution to send to the Copenhagen summit.

On the shores of the fast-drying Dead Sea, Israeli activists will form a giant human "3" on their beach, Palestinians a "5" on theirs, and Jordanians a "0" - reminding us we need to unite on this vital issue.

Visit http://350.org to find an event near you.

Two roads diverged

The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.