The World Bird Sanctuary

Hello fellow bloggers~

Tonight I thought I would write about a truly amazing place here in St. Louis that I don't think many people are aware of.

One really nice day, I think last October or November, Marc and I took a drive out to Lone Elk Park, (located in Valley Park - close to our Six Flags) which for those of you who don't know, is a drive-thru park where you can get up close and personal with buffalo, elk, deer etc... I haven't been there in several years, and Marc had never been before, so I was really hoping he would actually get to see a buffalo, since sometimes you can drive through and not see any.

I got lucky the last time I had gone and actually got to see a small herd (I checked... groups of American bison are called "herd", but just FYI, old world buffalo are called a "gang" or "obstinacy", http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm tee hee. An interesting page to read about what different groups of animals are called) Anyhoo, in the small herd that I saw, I even got to witness a mother bison weaning her baby. He kept trying to nurse and she kept kicking him away as the herd roamed the field. Poor guy. It was cute, and rare to see, but I did feel bad for him.

On my trip with Marc we saw a buck, but unfortunately not one buffalo. So needless to say I was very disappointed on the drive out of the park. As we were exiting, I noticed something new since my last visit. There was a sign on a little turn off that read "World Bird Sanctuary, Birds of Prey". Our curiosity made us turn down the little tree-covered gravel road and I am so glad we did. This place doesn't look like much from the main road but it is definitely something to see.

I absolutely LOVE owls. I have always been fascinated with them since I was a very little child. (That would be back in the '70's, which if you can remember, owls were commonly used in home decor and in jewelry then. Once a lady visited our home when I was probably three or four and I remember she had the big beehive hairdo, a brown turtleneck shirt and this GIANT owl necklace made of brown wooden beads with orange jewels making up the eyes. I remember being absolutely mesmerized by that necklace for hours while she was in our home) :-)

The World Bird Sanctuary has the largest collection of uncaged owls I have ever seen. I had no idea there were so many different kinds of owls, and you can literally stand just a foot or two away from them. They also have Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Buzzards, Vultures, Condors, also some rare types of Crows, Ravens, Pelicans, Storks, Parrots, Chickens, and others. They have a few reptiles, snakes and turtles, but really it's an "all bird zoo".

What I liked about this place is that the cages for the birds were large and the birds got to be out of their cages every day. The place was kept clean and the people working there were very knowledgeable about the birds they worked with. What really captured me was how close I could get to the birds. I could have spent the whole day there just looking at the owls.

Below I have included a link to my photosite where you can look at some pictures I took when we visited. I have included the website link to the World Bird Sanctuary. Please check it out. They have pictures of many of their birds along with personality descriptions of each. It's kind of fun to read about each one's different little attitude. They are non-for-profit and save a lot of injured birds from the wild each year in their on-site hospital. And to top it off it's free (although they do appreciate donations) I can't wait to go back and take Daniel (he was in school the time I went) I also included the link to Lone Elk Park.

What is your favorite bird? Do you have any funny or interesting bird stories to tell? Is this a place you might like to see?


My photo site http://dwilson898.photosite.com/ (I have several albums there, you have to click on the Bird Sanctuary album)

World Bird Sactuary website http://www.worldbirdsanctuary.org/

Also, here is the site for Lone Elk Park where you can see bison. They link to the World Bird Sanctuary at the bottom of the page. http://www.stlouisco.com/parks/LoneElk.html

The Dream Dictionary - What do you dream about?

Hi Bloggers!

Tonight I thought I would write about one of my most favorite and used books of all time... "The Dream Dictionary". You will always find it next to my bed and it is worn, tattered and falling apart. (the sign of a very loved book) This book was published in 1990 (when I bought it) and I believe has since been revised and renamed "The New Dream Dictionary". I can't say enough about this book. If you can remember your dreams when you wake up and if you have any interest in finding their meaning, buy this book.

Several years back I began having a very traumatic recurring nightmare about a monstrous tornado coming for me. In my dream I can always see this horrible thing coming and I can't get away... or get the phone to work to call for help... etc. It's really scary and I would always wake up or the dream would change to something else just before the tornado hit. I was having the dream several times a week which inspired me to research dreams.

I went to the bookstore (I didn't have the Internet then) and bought a book called the "Dream Dictionary". I looked through many, many books before choosing this one, because most of the dream books out there say your dreams are predictions... they are kind of like the psychic shows on late at night, cheesy. Finally, I happened across "The Dream Dictionary" and it was the only one at that time that actually defined and explained what your dreams meant or represented.

The book is actually set up like a dictionary and although mostly I use it for entertainment and to satisfy my curiosity, it has also been very helpful to me at times regarding insight into myself and my concerns and thoughts, and what I need to work on or deal with.

Lately I have been having a recurring dream where I am lost in a bad area of town and being chased by bad people I don't know, and I can't find my way out.

With this book I can look up the key words of my dream (town, lost, chased, bad people) First the book defines the main meaning of each word and then each word's definition is broken down into different ways that I might of dreamed (dreamt?) about them. That way you can take what applies to your specific dream, since all of it may not. (I will highlight in red what parts I believe apply to me)

For instance the main meaning of Town is One's relationship with society; one's sense of community; the mental and emotional environment in which one lives. Then there is a breakdown of keywords for how you dreamed about "town" such as home town, strange town, alone in a town, deserted town, lost in a town. I would refer to strange town which the book says represents a new or different attitude or way of life, and lost in a town which represents feeling uncertain regarding your place or direction.

(I guess not to keep you in suspense I will define my whole dream instead of just giving one example of town... ha ha)

Lost: lost in an unknown place; represents in a new area of experience, a new situation or period in your life.

Chased: We are pursued by what we have created with our thoughts, emotions, actions, or inaction. Something we are avoiding or feelings we are avoiding, such as fear of death, emotional pain, grief, etc.

and very interestingly my last key word was bad people so I went to people, which led me to roles where they list separately each kind or type of person, where I chose convict, since the people chasing me are thugs from a bad part of town so convict was the most fitting. Convict referred me to Captive or Prisoner and this definition was; represents emotions, anxieties and moods or ideas that "captivate" us, or act as a means of denying free expression to our own talents or well being. Something that is restraining us, fear of illness.

SO... VOILA! From these "clues" into my unconscious mind I can deduce that this dream would represent breast cancer and the way in which I am dealing (or actually not dealing) with it. It's kind of like solving your own mystery! I find this very interesting and also very helpful. I now know that I need to work more on facing and accepting this part of my life, which deep down I know I really totally haven't done. Which would also explain why this dream reoccurs continuously! ha. Maybe I can "get rid" of this bad dream by facing my fear.

I found the book to order online at: http://www.amazon.com/Dream-Dictionary-Guide-Dreams-Experiences/dp/0440208610/ref=ed_oe_p/102-8638577-5110544

I went online and read about the author, click here for his biography http://www.dreamhawk.com/tony-bio.htm

I also found this great site that discusses what dreams are and theories about dreams, click here http://science.howstuffworks.com/dream.htm and especially liked these pages from that site http://science.howstuffworks.com/dream6.htm which talks about what our dreams mean and http://science.howstuffworks.com/dream7.htm which talks about recurring dreams.


What kind of things do you dream about? Do you remember your dreams? Do you have a certain dream that stands out? Good night and sweet dreams!

Love, Diane

American Hauntings - hmmm what do you think?

Hi all!

Tonight I watched the movie "An American Haunting" with Sissy Spacek and Donald Sutherland. It is a story about a haunting back in the early 1800's and claims to be based on true events.

I would give the movie a B- as far as scary movies go. It definately made me jump a few times (which knocks my rating up a grade level) I think that the movie was a little too long and some of the scenes were repetitive... I didn't care for how the movie ended at all, it was kind of a cheat so I almost gave it a C. However, this movie did get me thinking about Hauntings and paranormal events.

I like a good scary movie. My requirements are that it make me jump a few times, yell out, or look down and realize that I have been squeezing whatever is in my hand in fright or anticipation of what might happen next! I think it's hard to find a good scary movie. Most of them are cheesy and predictable and the acting is horrible. Three of my favorite movies from when I was a teen were The Amytiville Horror, The Changling with George C. Scott, and "Poltergeist" all dealing with haunted homes. Some more recent favorites of mine dealing with ghosts and/or the paranormal include White Noise, The Grudge, Final Destination, 13 Ghosts, Gothika, The Sixth Sense, Skeleton Key, Sleepy Hollow, and The Ring.

I did a little looking on the internet tonight regarding paranormal events and mostly found lots of out-of-focus pictures of alleged ghosts and some very strange stories. Then I decided to narrow my search to Missouri and Illinois and I found these two interesting/entertaining stories. I will copy and paste them below. See what you think...

MISSOURI:
Joplin
Devil's Promenade. Almost every night since 1866, a strange orange ball of light bounces along this road in an easterly direction. As the light moves through the air, it leaves behind luminous traces of dancing sparks. The light has been known to enter cars and buses, but paradoxically, dodges people chasing it. Loud noises also make it disappear. It has been called the Hornet Ghost Light, the Neosho Spook Light, and the Devil's Jack-O'-Lantern, but scientists who studied the phenomenon have never agreed about what causes it. In 1946, a study by the Army Corps of Engineers concluded the phenomenon was "a mysterious light of unknown origin." A 1983 investigation by the Ghost Research Society revealed the light is diamond-shaped, with a hollow center. Legend says it is the ghost of a pair of Quapaw Indian lovers, who committed suicide together. Others believe it is the lantern of a ghostly miner searching for his wife and children, who were abducted by Indians. (Devil's Promenade is in the village of Hornet, 11 miles southwest of Joplin. The area is near the borders of Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas. This tri-state region is known as the Spooksville Triangle. Follow I-44 west from Joplin. Just before the last exit at the Oklahoma border, turn south onto State Line Road. Devil's Promenade Road crosses State Line Road after about 4 miles. There is an abandoned Spooklight Museum at the site. From Neosho, follow Hwy 86 until it dead-ends before Hwy 43. Turn right and go 2 miles to the second road on the left. Turn left and go ¼ mile to Devil's Promenade. The light is visible from any point along a 2 mile stretch of the road here.)

ILLINOIS:
Chicago
Resurrection Cemetery. The ghost of a blonde, blue-eyed girl has haunted the district around this graveyard since 1939, five years after a young Polish girl was buried here. Mary Bregavy, or Resurrection Mary as she has come to be called, died in a car accident after an evening of dancing at the old O'Henry Ballroom (now the Willowbrook Ballroom). Sometimes, her glowing, faceless ghost is seen walking along the shoulder of the road, but most often, her white apparition is seen hitchhiking. Sometimes her aloof ghost even dances with a few young men at the ballroom and asks for a ride home. During renovations at the cemetery in the 1970s, sightings of her ghost reached a peak. In December 1977, a passing motorist saw Mary holding onto the bars of the cemetery gate. He called police, thinking a girl was trapped in the cemetery. Investigators found no one in the cemetery, but two bars in the gate were bent apart. Etched into the iron were two small handprints. Supervisors had the sections cut out to keep curiosity-seekers away, but embarrassed officials welded the pieces back in place a year later. Dozens of witnesses, including many taxi drivers, have seen Mary's ghost along the road. In 1989, a cab driver picked up a girl fitting Mary's description in front of the Old Willow Shopping Center. As they passed Resurrection Cemetery, the girl vanished from the front seat. (Resurrection Mary's ghost appears along Archer Avenue in south Chicago. Take I-294 to 95th Street. Follow 95th Street west to Roberts Road. Take Roberts Road north to Archer Avenue. Resurrection Cemetery, 7600 South Archer Avenue, Justice, IL 60458. Phone: 312-767-4644.)

Decatur
Investigator Cheri Mohr Drake, of the American Ghost Society, undertook an investigation of the Harrold House in Decatur, Illinois, while attending the recent Ghost Conference there. The house is located at 746 West Wood Street in Decatur. It belongs to Amy and Tim Patrick, who live there with their two small children. There are three known ghosts: a small boy, a woman who stands on the front porch, and a middle-aged man. The man is most likely Frank Harrold, who was involved in a scandal centering around a missing $25,000 from the local bank he worked for. After the money was discovered missing, Frank was found shot to death the next day at his farm in nearby Clinton, Illinois. The year was 1925. The case was ruled a suicide, but many suspected it was a murder. Amy Patrick thinks it is Frank's ghost trying to tell her he was murdered and had nothing to do with stealing the money. The investigation of the premises yielded several unexplainable photographs. More information on this case is available at http://www.prairieghosts.com/harrold.html

I found these stories very entertaining, I guess mainly because they are close by to us. I would love to go to Joplin one weekend and see if I saw the mysterious orange ball bouncing down that street! For my fellow bloggers in Illinois; Have you heard of either of the Illinois stories? I just don't know what I think about all of this... I don't think I believe it. I'm not sure. I guess I would have to see it to believe it. What do you think? Have you ever had a paranormal experience? Do you believe in these things? What are some of your favorite scary movies?

Diane

My Most Favorite Things in This World

Hello everyone!

Well this is my first blog, so bear with me. I sat and thought about what I wanted my first blog to be about. It took me awhile to come up with something (writer's block right off the bat). Then I started thinking about my life and what has been important to me lately. Then I knew what to write about.

Two years ago when I was diagnosed with breast cancer a million thoughts raced through my mind at once. But the main thought was about death. I thought about my son and about leaving him and it was a very painful visual. Then I started thinking about all the people I would miss. I thought about the things in this world that I love. And I realized that I love a lot of things! You know that old question, if you were stranded on a deserted island what three things would you want to have with you...? This was kind of the same thought. I started thinking about all the things I would never get to experience again and all the things here on Earth that I would miss.

So as part of my mental healing process I went to my computer, opened up Microsoft Word and typed a list of my favorite things in this world. I didn't include people in this list. People were number one and that went without saying for me. But I realized that there were also so many things around me that I get great personal pleasure from and I wanted to record them. So here is the list I made. They are in no specific order, I don't think I could put them in order of importance, and it would be too hard to try. I may come back from time to time and add more things if I think of them, but these are the favorite things that I wrote two years ago:

Music

Laughter

Birds singing in the morning

Warm summer breezes

The sound of a train in the distance

The smell of burning leaves and wood

Pepsi

Dusk in the summer

Roller Coasters

Cotton Candy

Planting flowers

Scary Movies

The moon

Vacations

Crab legs

Flying kites

Dancing

Looking at photographs in my house

Halloween

Dogs

Sunsets

Palm trees

Playing games

Sitting in the grass

The smell of Carnations

Hugs

Giving gifts

Coloring

Crafts

Opening the windows

Playing catch

The color blue

Riding horses

Floating in my pool

Walks on a summer night

The sounds of crickets and locusts

The Ocean

Looking from high at big cities lit up at night

Hot dogs at the ballgame

The smell of the hardware store

The smell of men' s cologne

Fresh sheets

Monkeys

Campfires & hayrides

Smiling

I know I have more, but that was my list then. These are the things that light me up. How about you? What would you miss?

Diane