Sorry Is...

I got this sweet but very sad picture (above) from a friend... It made me think about the word, SORRY. How many times a day do we/I/you use this word???? Sorry has all kinds of meanings:
--Grieved for the loss of some good; pained for some evil; feeling regret; -- now generally used to express light grief or affliction, but formerly often used to express deeper feeling.
--Melancholy; dismal; gloomy; mournful; (She is in a sorry mood today!)
--Poor; mean; worthless; (That is a sorry excuse.).


I can only speak for myself, but I know that I seem to constantly use the word.. I 'am' a pleaser --especially to my sweet husband, and whenever I think I've done (or do) something crazy or stupid, I apologize BIGTIME. "I'm sorry that I walk so slowly." "I am sorry that I complain about my aches and pains so much." I feel so sorry for you---having to put up with a moody female like me." Just think about it... I seem to apologize ALOT. Do you????


Then, there's always the problem when someone 'does' say "I'm Sorry" that makes one wonder if they really are sorry ---or whether they are just using words that mean nothing...???? An apology that means nothing is worse I think than no apology at all. Why is it that some people seem to apologize ALOT and others never seem to say "I'm Sorry"???? Maybe, saying "I'm Sorry" has a different meaning to some than it does to others. Maybe --some of the problem has to do with 'forgiveness' (which is another blog)!


All of these thoughts made me do some research on the word, SORRY. I read on www.brainyquote.com MANY different quotes from people using the word, sorry. It's interesting how the word has so many meanings and interpretations. If you want to know who said some of these quotes listed below, click HERE. It is interesting! See if you can guess which one of these quotes was said by Monica Lewinsky. (Har Har)


Sorry Quotations
--I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it.
--I can just tell you that I'm sorry for what happened, and I think people understand that.
--Love is never having to say you are sorry.
--Love in the real world means saying you're sorry 10 times a day.
--And I felt sorry, and I have felt bad about what happened.
--If love means never having to say you're sorry, then marriage means always having to say everything twice.
--All successful people these days seem to be neurotic. Perhaps we should stop being sorry for them and start being sorry for me - for being so confounded normal.
--There's no room in my life for feeling sorry for myself.
--You may be sorry that you spoke, sorry you stayed or went, sorry you won or lost, sorry so much was spent. But as you go through life, you'll find - you're never sorry you were kind.
--Grab a chance and you won't be sorry for a might-have-been.
--Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.
--If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late.
--Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise.
--I can wholeheartedly apologize for not being at all sorry. And it really is the least I can do.
--Let us live so that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.

Woodpeckers in the Glade

When George and I first bought our wooden house in Fairfield Glade on the Cumberland Plateau near Crossville, TN---we had no idea that there were HUGE woodpeckers in the Glade. We bought our home in 2002 and didn't move here full time for a year. BUT--we'd come on weekends to check out and enjoy our new retirement home.


One weekend, we noticed some small HOLES in our wooden house. UH OH---woodpeckers have been pecking on our house. Yipes!!!! What to do?????? We talked to some local folks only to find out that the woodpeckers seem to know when people are not home and they love to peck on houses up here!!!!


Then, we went online looking for things to scare them away. And we came up with all kinds of options which we immediately put into action:
1. Wind chimes (some big ones)---and we still have 6 sets of wind chimes all around the house since I love wind chimes!
2. Little mirrors nailed on the house beside the areas where the woodpeckers were pecking (mirrors scare them away since they think they are seeing another woodpecker)
3. We strung a big clothesline between trees in the area where the woodpeckers were pecking. On the clothesline, we hung lots of aluminum pie plates --which blew in the breeze. (Imagine what the neighbors thought about us as their new neighbors... ha ha)
4. A fake woodpecker hooked onto the house (which was there when we bought the house--and obviously didn't work by itself; By the way, the people we bought the house from didn't warn us about woodpeckers!!! Guess they didn't want to scare us off! ha)


Other yards had big fake owls or fake hawks hanging around--but we didn't have to get them. George repaired and painted the holes in our house---and we would pray that while we were gone during the week, we wouldn't come back to more holes... Guess what???? Our scare tactics worked!!! We have never (knock on wood) had anymore trouble with woodpeckers pecking on our home.


We do however see other wooden homes with either holes in the wood, or lots of 'scary' things around to scare them off. We only had to leave the pie plates and mirrors up for a few weeks--and now, we only have the wind chimes. I had always thought that woodpeckers were only looking for insects. But--I read that they love to peck their way into homes for a nice roosting place in the winter...


Now to the funny part of this story which luckily did have a happy ending: One time, soon after we bought our home, when we were getting ready to leave and before we had solved the woodpecker problem, we began backing out of the yard. I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker. Can you imagine what I said to George when I saw that monster?????? (It was probably x-rated! ha)... I looked at that bird and told George that if that bird pecks on our home that next week, we'd not have a home left. Talk about being scared!!!!!! You can also just imagine the look on my face when seeing my first Pileated Woodpecker... I'll never forget seeing that big big bird...


SO---after I started watching for and learning about birds this past Summer, I found out that there were not only Pileated Woodpeckers in the Glade---but there were several more woodpeckers. Since, at that time, I didn't know one woodpecker from the next, I had to start studying and learning!!! WOW--what beautiful birds. So far --I have seen and have pictures of FIVE different woodpeckers up here. The Tennessee Bird Book only lists six woodpeckers in TN--so the only one I haven't seen yet is the Hairy Woodpecker. Pictured above is our Pileated Woodpecker. Below are the others.



I love this picture (above) of a silhouette of our Pileated Woodpecker.



This beauty above is in the woodpecker family and is a Northern Flicker. I have not seen any since late Summer. We did have quite a few of them in the Summer/Fall. They generally do not come to the feeders--but feed on insects.



I love the picture above of the Northern Flicker --as he stands up and looks straight at me. Cute, huh???



I love this woodpecker pictured above. It is a Red-headed Woodpecker--and I luckily got his picture on our birdbath. I haven't seen him since --so I'm looking forward to seeing more Red-headed woodpeckers in the spring.



Above is Pete, our resident Red-bellied Woodpecker. Pete has a 'friend' Petunia--who also visits our feeders!!! These two prefer the sunflower and safflower seed to the suet feeder.



After I finally bought Suet and a suet feeder, we now have Downy's visiting us. Maybe we'll get a Hairy this spring!!!!!