Saturday, January 12, 2013

Farewell Goldie

Farewell Goldie

A lot of you know that our family is crazy about animals (sounds like a contradiction given my last post about killing chickens, I know, but that has it's own story).  I believe at one point we had as many pets as we had fingers (5 cats, 2 dogs and 3 birds). As I've said many a time, in reminder to myself, the cycle of life is never ending and we have lost many of our animal friends along the way.    

This blog post is dedicated to my feathered friend Goldie, who passed away a few days ago.  We are not sure what happened, Gary found him laying in the bottom of the cage and his spirit had left him.  We were all shocked at the suddenness of it.  Also, the proximity of this happening so close to the chicken butchering has left  me feeling like karma has come to kick me in the ass.  Big bummer.  This will be the second pet we have buried since we got to Orcas.  

If any of you have ever been to my house, you would have known Goldie.  He was the loud one.  His squawk was so loud that it made people cringe at times (which always made me giggle, sorry).  Goldie got everybody's attention.  Me, I was used to it.  After the initial getting used to his "song", I hardly even noticed it after a while.  It was part of the background of our crazy house.  Now, his voice is gone, and for the first time since I've known Gary, our house is quiet.  Now, . . . the silence feels loud.

Serafin says her "goodbyes"
  
I never handled Goldie, I was always afraid he was going to bite me, a very rational fear I think.  Our relationship consisted of conversations and food exchange, I would give him the goods and he would work his way over to the food pot.  I loved watching Goldie flying around the room, that bird loved to spread his wings.      He was such a beautiful bird.  I felt his presence each and every day.  He filled a big space in our house and I miss him.


Goldie and Henry

We had a funeral for our beloved Goldie today.  We waited a couple of days till the weather cleared up and boy was it worth the wait.  It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shining, but it was still cold.  The frost was kissing all the plants with its white glow.  We made our way down to Henry's grave and dug a hole right next to him.  They are together now.  Their spirits somewhere, and their bodies within the soil of the earth.  

We are sad, but events like this bring me back to my heart center, where only love spills.  Farewell sweet Goldie.  Thank you for your presence.  

Goldie's farewell sunset, . . .

2 comments:

  1. What did you tell Serafin the first time a pet passed away that she could remember and understand?

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  2. We tell our daughter that our bodies are full of energy or spirit, and at some point, this energy leaves the body and decides to go somewhere else. Then we explain that when the body is left behind, we must give the body back to earth, which is why we bury our animals, so that they become a part of the trees, plants, bugs and soil.

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