Extraordinary Fatigue In the Animal Kingdom

I learned something new today. I love learning new things especially when it's acquired with laughter:

I always thought that we humans were the only ones in the animal kingdom that ignored our fatigue and just kept on ticking... like Timex watches. Until, of course, it all finally catches up to you -- and it always does -- and you collapse on your feet! Isn't that the saying? "I was dead on my feet!"

Certainly, life as the mother of now almost-4-year-old twin boys and a 7-year-old tom-boy for a daughter can, at times, be extraordinarily fatiguing. That's without the curve balls thrown in when you add the reality of the boys' Down syndrome and life's other little challenges that we all face. I do not mean to say that the boys' Down syndrome is the cause of my fatigue. But, certainly their therapy and school schedules are contributing factors. Add to the list that I stupidly lost track of time last night -- caught up in a good read -- and didn't put my book down until nearly 2:00 AM (and I wonder where Olivia gets it). BIG mistake!

So, yeah, I'm tired. But, life goes on and so must I. The morning ritual completed -- kids dressed, fed and driven to their respective schools (the boys' school a 50-minute drive away), I'm now able to focus -- to the extent that I can do so through tired eyes -- on the next task... BJ's for food! The cupboards are bare and the kids can't go hungry. (Tired, yes. But not hungry!) And, then it happened. Speeding [barely] along the 6-lane Northern State Parkway, it hit me like a 16-wheeler. We are NOT alone [in our fatigue]! Thankfully, no one hit HIM! A HUGE Canadian Goose, literally 6 inches from the roadside, sound asleep with his head tucked under his wing and one leg tucked into his plume, precariously balanced and "dead on his feet" or foot! Morning rush hour with cars whizzing past this guy at 70+ mph and he doesn't move a feather -- or fall over, for that matter.

Do you think he could feel that full-body WHOOOOSH when a car speeds by your standing still car? You know that feeling? First it sucks you in and then it lets you go. Or, do you think he got tired of waiting for a chance to cross the road (oh no wait, that was the chicken)? Besides, he can fly if he wants to. The chicken can't. Regardless, he was all alone and sound asleep. Not another goose in sight. Maybe he fell asleep and his friends moved him to some busy place so when he wakes up he'll be all confused and embarrassed and the rest of the geese hiding behind the bushes could get a good laugh. Ever do that to a sleeping friend's mattress? No? Hmmm, me neither. And no, there were no carcasses on the roadway so he wasn't standing vigil for a lost one. It seems, this extraordinarily fatigued Canadian goose did what we humans should do when we're extraordinarily fatigued... Cozy up under a soft down cover and sleep. Smart goose!

Yes, I always think like this when I'm tired. I laugh more when I'm tired too. Maybe that's what sustains my fatigue... the desire to laugh more. Anyway, I'd like to say "lesson learned" and go take a nap.... But, there's still too much to do and too little time to do it. Besides, my balance is terrible when I'm tired.