...Hozho

I learned this word from a fellow blipper, Paladian who told me that it is Navaho for "Restoring the Balance." She told me this in response to a blip I posted on September 11 where I talked about rescuing a small and lowly house finch and how I felt that I was in some small way making up for the horrors of 9-11.

When I blipped yesterday, I wasn't prepared to say anything about the fresh horror that occurred in CT, the shooting that resulted in the deaths of 27 people, including 20 children. I think I needed some time to try to come to grips with how such a thing could happen.

So when I woke up this morning, I was feeling out of sync, at odds with the universe, out of balance. And while hubs and I were eating breakfast, I glanced out the window and saw a little goldfinch fluttering around the deck, acting odd. A short while later, I saw him sitting in one of the deck flower baskets, all huddled down and fluffed up with his tiny eyes closed. I grabbed a small box and a towel, and crept up, threw the towel over him and got him in the box. Twenty minutes later, hubs and I ... and the goldfinch ... were on our way to the Avian Wildlife Center where we were met by Giselle, the director of the center. She did a quick exam and determined that he has the finch eye disease so she will quarantine him and start him on antibiotics. His prognosis is good. Had I not been able to rescue him, he would have died as the disease is always fatal if untreated. So, this was my very small way of trying to restore a little bit of the balance that was destroyed yesterday. Hozho.

This photo is of one of my holiday cards, using a photo that I took early this month of another goldfinch ... or maybe even the same one?

And for those of you who remember the saga of Hope, the 9-11 finch - she is doing well at the rehab center. She is getting around great with her one eye and Giselle plans to release her in the spring, along with the second house finch I rescued and, hopefully, this little goldfinch. I plan to be there for the release.

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with some lighter fare, probably a squirrel or a bird, and definitely something in the holiday theme. For now, I am thinking about Hozho.

xxoo
Debbi