My wounds are healing, and the size of my hand is now normal. The swelling only lasted until Tuesday, although I was impressed with what I could still do while it was swollen (knit, type).
Our bond with Raji gets a bit stronger each day. He really doesn’t hold a grudge, it seems. He’s loving the petting sessions and is very playful. Getting him to stay still long enough for a photo is still a challenge.
It seems the only time Raji is still enough is when he is eating.
I am testing some medication on him prescribed by our vet to “calm” him and make him more amenable to getting into the pet carrier. The dosage prescribed is 100 mg of Gabapentin the night before and another 100 mg the morning of his vet visit. Two mornings ago I gave him the 100 mg with his breakfast just to see if he would eat mixed with food (he would) and whether he’d show any adverse effects (he didn’t). He seemed a bit more mellow, but not enough to be coaxed into a pet taxi.
It’s going to be another slow process. I’m trying to desensitize him to the horrors of the carrier by lining it with a familiar cushy pillow, playing near it with him, and putting treats deep inside. He will go in to eat the treats, but he keeps his back legs planted firmly outside the carrier. Maybe I should get a bigger carrier.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We spent it as we usually do. Outside, weather permitting. We went to our favorite in-town trail. I thought I’d have no reason to take photos and yet …
Late afternoon light is the best!
Not as vibrant as previous weeks, but I’m still loving the yellow, red and orange leaves of these trees.
Consider me odd if you will, but the center of this palm really caught my eye. I had never noticed this difference in color before.
The Timberlane Ravine trail is criss-crossed with thick roots for the most part. I spend a lot of my time looking where I walk.
But looking down has its rewards!
Fungi!
It’s not obvious in the photo but this is a lovely and gentle downward part of the trail.
Ending with the love of my life perched on a boardwalk.
Thank you for reading! So now I wish you all a very happy New Year! Bring on 2021! I’m ready to say adios to 2020.
P.S. Did I mention how chilly it’s been in north Florida lately? Only cold weather would get these two to snuggle together.
So we were supposed to take this sweet-looking cat to the vet on Friday.
Just a visit to check out the power puffs he still carries, get a booster shot, nail trim, chip. The last time we took him to the vet, we had to trick him into the pet taxi. This time he remembered the trick and would have none of it. Long story short: he got away from us and ran high and low through the garage, doing anything he could think of to avoid us. We tried to outwit him … hahahaha.
Eventually he wound up in a corner of the garage, on a fleecy bed we had put there for his comfort. He seemed to be slowing down, giving up on getting away from us. I had a small bowl with a pasty treat and dropped it near him. He started licking it and I thought, “Good. Now I’ll just grab him.” My husband was watching and said later he had two thoughts going through his head as I approached Raji: “NO!!” and “Maybe she can do this?”
I’ve never been bitten by a cat before although I’ve been scratched numerous times. Cats have nipped at me without breaking any skin so I was unprepared for the overwhelming pain I felt when Raji clamped his strong jaws on the fleshy part of my right hand. He had flipped over as soon as he felt my touch and latched all four paws on my hand. Somehow he also scratched my left hand but I don’t remember how.
My husband had had a similar experience with our first cat many years ago, and so he knew exactly what to do. I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I couldn’t stop crying at first. Huge sobs of anguish, shock and fear. We got me cleaned up with running water, iodine, ointment and bandages. It took a few hours but eventually I saw my doctor and got antibiotics.
Now my right hand is swollen (it started swelling before I even picked up the antibiotics), movement is limited and it throbs painfully at times. I can type though. From what I’ve read online, swelling isn’t unusual and could last a few days. It’s Sunday as I’m editing this post so hopefully by Monday as you’re reading this post, the swelling will be going down.
Lesson learned: never try to pick up a cornered, frightened cat. I don’t blame Raji. The pet taxi terrifies him apparently. He’s also fast, strong, and smart. Our vet will give us medication that might calm him down enough to get him to the next visit … whenever that is. Frankly, I’m happy to put the visit off until next year.
I had taken this week off work, and a high point was a bike ride we took to the St. Mark’s Wildlife Refuge and adjoining wildlife management areas. Here’s some scenes from our ride.
The light was so interesting. It started off bright, with few clouds, and then they started rolling in, making for a hazy perspective. And, of course, I found a small lovely plant to photograph.
The following photo is a panoramic I took of a favorite spot: the bridge over Pinhook River.
I’m not sure how well this will show up on your screens, but it represents a 180-degree turn.
Here a few photos of the view.
I love how my husband’s eye always gravitates to any insects that might be about, and my eye finds the flowers that possibly attract them.
On our way back to our car, the sun was setting, lighting up the few colorful trees around us.
This next photo was taken from our car, just as we were leaving.
No matter how often we go to the refuge, I’m always in awe of it’s beauty.
Last but not least, here’s a cat who missed us so much that day, he couldn’t wait to hug Greg’s leg.
We have hopes that Raji might be the same with us someday. Yes, we still hope because after we left Raji alone for awhile, he started to relax into his old self. Yup, we’re back to heavy petting before his meals and playtime after. He is resilient.
Thanks for reading! Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday, however you choose (or not choose) to celebrate.
Seven weeks to my desired employment termination date, but another four weeks to my actual termination date. This is one example of why I don’t commit myself to specifics, why I’m a pantser and not a planner. I had planned on February 4 as my last day as a state government employee; now it’s March 4. Fortunately, that extra month is just to accommodate unused vacation leave.
It’s all still good. Since I turned in my resignation letter on Friday, it’s also all very official. Surprisingly, I seemed to be the only one in my office not surprised that I was planning an early exit. Granted, I didn’t discuss my plans with anyone, and I guess I played the part of a dedicated public servant well enough that no one could imagine my leaving, even when I was handed one good reason after another.
But so it goes. Right now I’m taking some time off (just a week). Let my staff miss me a bit or learn that they won’t miss me as much as they think they will.
One of my goals with my retirement is to become more fit. On Sunday I pushed some limits by going for two walks, or rather, one walk and an amble.
In the morning, I walked around my neighborhood. I take these walks alone, sometimes picking up trash but always on a mission: exercise. Up and down hills, focused on burning calories rather than smelling roses. But fall colors and blooming camellias have finally come to Tallahassee, so I couldn’t resist taking a few photos.
I walk in my neighborhood almost every day, and Sunday must have been the peak time for changing colors. A few red maples add a royal richness to the hood and several camellia bushes sport white, pink and red blossoms. We have a white cameilla bush in our yard but my husband inadvertently planted it in a shady spot so it doesn’t bloom very much. Once in a while it deigns to give us a blossom or two.
Later, my husband and I ambled at Timberlane Ravine, a spot that has quickly become a favorite. Often times we are the only people on the trail. A loop and a half (roughly two miles) is a good distance for my husband to get some exercise before his back gives out. It was late afternoon and the light, as expected, was lovely.
Here is my husband hugging a spruce pine. I love the gentle bow in its trunk as it leans toward the sun.
In this photo, we’re looking up at the interstate which skirts a border of the trail. If you look closely, you can see a semi zooming by.
This photo was taken just because of the light.
Well, I hope you enjoyed these excursions to my outdoors. I am so grateful to live near these small havens of Nature.
We’re expecting a mild cold front to come through. Junior, as you can see, is perfecting his tail wrap to keep his toes warm. As usual, Maxine is not impressed.
We’re making good progress with Raji. We’re having petting sessions before his meals, and he really seems to enjoy it. He purrs, kneads the rug, and occasionally flops down so I can better scratch his ears. I’ve even been able to gently tug his tail without him getting snippy with me. He’s going back to the vet on Thursday for a follow-up. Let’s hope we don’t lose too much of our progress with him.
I’ve always been a risk-adverse kind of person, some might say fearful. Afraid of making a mistake, of being wrong. Afraid of falling. Afraid of the dark, of getting lost, of being left behind. Some of that changed when I experimented with drugs in the late 70s, early 80s. I found my inner extrovert and risk-taker, and, frankly, she almost killed me.
For over three decades now I live with someone is who somewhat risk-adverse. He was enough of a risk-taker when he was young(er) to join the Navy and fly on planes searching for Russian submarines, to join the Peace Corps and work with an Amazonian people that had once been known as headhunters. But when it came to work, housing, and finances, he always chose the long, slow steady path of reasonable choices. Frankly, he saved my life.
For his birthday last week, we went on a hike. A slow, ambling kind of hike where he would pause to sweep for insects that he would later photograph, and I would pause to get on my knees and take photographs.
It was a chilly, green day. Lots and lots of green with few red and yellow leaves here and there.
My reward for this long ambling walk (besides the simple joy of being on a long ambling walk) was several fully bloomed yellow lupine just waiting for me to come along.
Same stalk, just a different angle.
One part of our walk took us to an open windy field. Looking up at the sky, I remarked to my husband that if I didn’t know I was in Florida, I would have thought I was in the central part of New York state.
It was one of those walks that you really enjoy while you’re walking but enjoy even more once you’re home, warm and cozy with your four-legged furry friends. Especially this little guy.
It’s not the best picture of him. Actually it’s a still from a video I took of him playing. Raji is in training for the Kitty Olympics. He’s a leaper and he loves running into things.
At this time, Raji and our indoor fickle felines have not formally met. A couple of times I kept the door to the garage open long enough for a few furtive glances, but nothing more than that. Baby steps. We don’t expect any of them to become fast friends. Tolerance and safe passage from one room to another is all we ask.
Perhaps if we try to integrate them on a warm, sunny day, Junior will be too blissed out to care.
Thank you for reading! Stay safe and well and please enjoy this petite green bouquet.
Wow. I’m in the single digits now. Pretty soon our cats will have to start earning their food. Our newest unexpected bundle of joy has been doing that. We’ve developed a routine whereby he allows us to pet him for about 30 seconds before he’s fed. He earns that canned stinky cat food with some subtle kneading of the rug and discreet purring while we pet him. Best of all, he hasn’t punished us for forcing him into a pet taxi so we could take him to our vet. He was one unhappy, terrified boy but I have no doubt the vet and technicians cooed over him … as we often do.
And he plays. Oh, goodness, can that boy play! He’s definitely entertainment I would pay to see. Here are some photos of him in action.
As you can see from three of these photos, he moves fast and he likes to jump. He likes to run into things.
He’s just adorable.
I’m pretty sure our other three know something’s going on in the garage, but they’re not talking. Our temperatures are getting cooler, and they’re more interested in finding a free lap than acknowledging a potential intruder.
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I’m grateful to have had a few days off. Friday we went on a slow walk through the Timberlane Ravine and, for a while, went our separate ways. My husband was hunting for bugs. I was hunting for photo opportunities.
It was late morning and the light was warm and magical.
The trees and their roots seem to take on human form, like legs intertwined or a woman stretching.
As usual, I looked for tiny things whether it be a little lizard or tiny funqi.
And flowers. I have to have flowers even if it means getting down on my arthritic knees.
The image on the right is one of those lucky moments. To get that photo, I had to position my iPhone on the ground, snap the photo and hope for the best. It had started to rain lightly as we were leaving, but I didn’t know until I cropped the photo that I captured a few raindrops on the lovely, delicate flower.
I hope you all have a wonderful week. Until next time, play well and play often.
The “R” bomb meaning retirement, resignation. Gee, those words really sound kind of depressing, like I’m resigning myself to retiring into oblivion. But that’s not how I see it. I might retreat further into my bubble when I retire, but my bubble needs some serious attention.
I read recently that people who work from home find that their homes are messier, not cleaner, because of it. Think about it. When you work from home, you use your kitchen, your bathroom, all your rooms more, creating more messes. During the work week, I might do a load or two of laundry in-between meetings but I can’t do any real housework during my work day. I also notice my home’s grittiness and dustiness more since I’m here all the time.
My first day of retirement, I will sleep because I’ll need energy for my second day of retirement when the cleaning starts. I’ve warned my husband. Then, a week later, I’ll be spending more time writing and taking photos. I want to do more of this:
I don’t know what kind of plant this is. No doubt some kind of wetlands, marsh-type plant since it lives on the border of a stormwater facility. But I love doing this: taking photos and then playing with the images, trying to get an insect’s point of view. [Speaking of insects, check out a short documentary on two entomologists–Charlie and Lois O’Brien–called “Love Bugs.” It’s available on PBS.]
Below is a different plant, but no less fascinating.
I’m still undecided about when to spill the beans, to share that I’ll be moving on soon. I’m taking it one day at a time because there’s still a lot going on in my little corner of employment. I worry about people being angry at me or disappointed in me. It’s not that I don’t care about my co-workers or the work we do. It’s because I care that I took on more responsibility back in May.
My introverted, highly sensitive self is just tired, worn out, burned out, stressed. But that’s not what I want to say when I drop the “R” bomb. No, I must be honest. I’ve been given an ultimatum.
My husband said he’d leave me for an older woman if I don’t retire.
Meanwhile, Raji seems to be adapting to his confines. I can’t quite say his home because I really don’t want him living in the garage permanently. Even if he has his own outdoor playpen.
Sometimes he’ll sit just outside the pen, taking stock of the surroundings. My husband put a bird feeder near the pen so he can be entertained by birds and squirrels. Raji often sits up on his hind legs. I think he might have a bit of meerkat in him. He’s also started kneading the very soft and fluffy cushions on the shelves.
Raji still plays approach-avoidance games with us. If he’s hungry, he’ll come as close as he needs to get food. He’ll eat dry food from my hand if that’s his only choice. I have to be careful though. A couple of times he almost bit off a chunk of my palm. When we feed him wet food, he might tolerate his forehead being stroked. But as soon as he’s done eating, he backs away (sometimes literally) and keeps his distance.
And yet …
He’s playful. He has a favorite wand toy. The wand has a long ribbon of colorful fleece attached and Raji will leap over and under boxes and buckets to get to it. I gave him one of my husband’s old socks stuffed with catnip and he rolls around with that, rubbing it over his face. He’s also taken ownership of a purple yoga towel of mine, curling up on it with the catnip sock.
He makes direct eye contact with us, and “talks” quite a bit. He seems calm and settled for the most part. Saturday I worked out in the garage for about an hour, something I hadn’t done since we brought him in. He curled up on a fluffy cat bed and watched me.
It might be the weather–it’s gotten a bit warmer the last few days–but he’s also spending more time in the pen. So we are hopeful. Next Saturday we’ll take him to our favorite vet for a physical. I expect our progress will take several steps back after that.
To all my friends in the U.S., may you have a wonderful holiday. Don’t overindulge or you might wind up like these two (ha, ha, ha).
First, let me talk about flowers. As some of you know, I’ve developed an interest in photography, an interest I hope to indulge a lot more in about 11 weeks. Macro-photography fascinates me, and a few weeks ago I bought flowering plants to challenge my photographic skills. Following are photos of an Purple Aster, bought before it started to bloom. These photos were taken over four days.
It’s fun watching flowers bloom on your own back deck, trying to find the right light and the right moment. During the work week, that isn’t as easy as I’d like, even though I do work from home. Blame it on meetings.
And now, a Raji update:
For those of you who missed the excitement of my last post, you can read it here. In the week since I wrote that post, we managed to get Raji confined to our garage. Poor little guy had hurt his right front leg jumping down from the roof of our shed. We didn’t want him gallivanting around, making it worse so we coaxed him in with food (of course!) one evening and shut the cat door.
Oh, was he pissed about that! I had never heard a cat complain so much. He has quite the repertoire as well. Not just the usual meows for Raji, but howls, trills, pips and peeps. And he kept us busy playing hide-and-seek, except he was the one always hiding. One of his favorite hiding places is our canoe which hangs against a wall. Watching him climb boxes and books and then slip into the gap is much like watching a kid climbing the stairs to his room, loudly complaining the whole way.
We had arranged to take him to our vet, but the appointment was a few days off. We were worried about his leg, the fact that we were expecting heavy rain, and the lack of sunshine and fresh air in the garage. So more or less spontaneously, we took him up to a spay/neuter clinic and got his pom-poms snipped. He also got his rabies and distemper shots, tested for HIV and feline leukemia (both negative), and his claws clipped. His leg wasn’t swollen and the clinic vet said the pain meds would probably help with that. After we brought him home, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with us.
Then our worries changed to whether he would eat (and through eating, take his pain medication), whether he would use the litter box, or whether he would just curl up in the canoe and die.
Happily, within 24 hours, his appetite was back and he had peed in the litter box. I’m sure you can imagine my delight when, another day later, I found an impressive pile of poop in the box too. And so we go. He has a great appetite, and the more I study him, the younger I think he is, perhaps not yet a year old. He still does not like us to touch him, but he tolerates our furtive pets and strokes while he eats. Although he insists on social distancing, he’s become comfortable enough with us to groom and play while we watch like doting parents.
We want to keep him confined at least until he sees our favorite vet at the end of this month. Because of his apparent youth, however, I’m loath to release him to the wilds of our neighborhood … ever. To make his current confinement tolerable (at least to our conscience), we bought him a playpen and fastened it to the side entrance into our garage.
We have this luxurious penthouse set up so when the side door is opened, he can go in and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine while still being held prisoner. No surprise that he has a lot of complaints about this.
Raji has inspected every possible flaw in this setup, searching for any gap big enough to squeeze through, and giving us a piece of his mind while he does it. We’ve bolted, strapped, and twist-tied the pen in place, and secured wood panels where a kitty’s head might stick through. We were not only afraid of Raji getting away, but of him getting stuck. So this is a daytime playpen, to be used only when we are up and about and available to check on him frequently.
I guess you could say the adventure has begun in earnest now. The slow, thoughtful and patient process of getting Raji used to us, comfortable with us, and then (fingers crossed) integrated into the household.
For now our three indoor kids are in denial. They do hear Raji chattering away in the garage, but pretend not to. Their ears, however, give them away. In the meantime, Junior still claims my sandals.
Thank you for reading! If the news is getting you down, find a good distraction, like adopting a semi-feral stray cat. Believe me, it helps :)
I’m continuing my countdown in perhaps a more upbeat tone that I had when I started. The next 70-some days will be rough for this country, no doubt. I’m no Pollyanna, but I can be optimistic. I’m old enough to know that staying calm, being patient, and holding on to hope can see me (us) through all kinds of hell. Forgive me for the tired cliche, but the light at the end of the tunnel has gotten brighter. For the first time in a long time, I feel that my country and I might actually be going in the same direction.
But you’re wondering about this new man in my life, aren’t you? Well, he’s not an adult, more like a teenager. But, oh, is he handsome!
This is Raji, an orange tabby that has been hanging out in my neighborhood the last couple of months. We originally thought he belonged to a family a couple of houses up from us. They have an orange cat but, after doing a bit of math, I realized their cat would be a lot older than this youngster drinking out of our water fountain. At first he’d run away if we approached him, but over time, he got used to us.
Finally, my husband put some food out by the water fountain. He was starving, so hungry that he tolerated my husband’s presence although he didn’t want to be touched.
In times like these, I turned to my neighbors across the street. They know everything about the hood. They used to have dogs that they would walk around the hood and, according to M, dog people always talk to each other when they’re out and about. They no longer have dogs. They now have a cat that used to live with someone else but decided she liked these two ladies better so she (the cat) adopted them (my neighbors). That’s usually how it works.
I texted M about the orange tabby and learned that he had frequented their backyard too. They had named him Raji, which M said means “hope.” They could tell me who he did not belong to. We all agreed he was likely homeless. I reached out to the hood and beyond through the NextDoor app and received a lot of supportive comments but no one stepping forward to say, “Hey, that’s my boy!”
My husband and I mobilized at that point because it was getting cold (well, cold for Florida). I outfitted a pet taxi with fleecy blankets and stationed it on the back deck where he sometimes appeared. He had also made appearances in our garage if we had the side door or garage door open, so we set up a feeding station there, with some soft bedding.
Raji was a very hungry cat and it took little coaxing to get him into our garage for his meals. Although he was skittish around us (“you can look, but don’t touch”), I hand-fed him treats a couple of times, stopping only because he mistook my fingers for food once too often. Our neighbors brought over some food that their cat didn’t like.
And now here we are.
To say my husband and I are smitten by this handsome fellow is an understatement. Just look at that tail! We expect he’s quite young. His teeth look very white and sharp compared to our old geezers.
He hasn’t been neutered. He’s packing a pair of pom-poms large enough for cheerleading. But he’s sweet. Our boy kitty–Junior–sometimes goes into a frenzy when Raji is on the back deck, howling like the Werewolf of London. Raji doesn’t pay him any mind, just sits and looks around at the birds and any other bright shiny object. [While Raji’s presence annoys the birds and squirrels that visit our yard, thankfully he’s an awful hunter.]
So next steps are to set up an appointment with our vet so Raji can be poked, prodded and scanned for a chip. We plan to “trap” Raji in our garage (i.e., close the cat door) and entice him into a pet taxi with food. We already know this works … heh, heh, heh.
I didn’t want another cat. We have three indoor, one of whom is now nicknamed Million-Dollar Maxine as her vet bills continue to climb. They are a huge responsibility, and they have created a rhythm in our lives that I don’t want to ruin. My husband calls them “anchor kitties” because we can’t do much traveling as long as they’re with us. And Raji will be a difficult experience because of Junior.
Junior can be a bully and has already demonstrated that he does not care for this interloper. He picks on Maxine and Wendy when he’s feeling hungry or just plain feisty. But he’s my boy and all I can do is tell him that over and over …. as well as let him sleep on my sandals.
But Raji has decided that he likes us enough to hang out after he’s had a meal. He could just leave but he doesn’t. He hangs out with us, sometimes playing with the catnip-stuffed sock I made for him. He’s making himself at home in our garage and in our hearts. It’s been 7 1/2 years since we last took in a kitty–Wendy. I guess it’s time :)
This is Junior’s reaction to the idea of a new cat in the household.
I love the number thirteen. That and the fact that I got an extra hour’s sleep this weekend made me feel quite chippy on Sunday. Monday (today) starts week #13 in my countdown, so for once I actually looked forward to Monday.
To a point anyway. This will no doubt be a stressful week because of the election. I am going to do my best to avoid reading the news until Wednesday … if I can. I’ve always been a bit of news junkie so it’s an effort, but I’ll have plenty of distractions (as in, meetings, meetings, and more meetings!).
Meanwhile. We went for a walk on Sunday, a gorgeous day with sunshine and coolish temperatures.
Here are a few scenes.
Talk about hanging in there! This tree doesn’t want to let go and I don’t blame it. It’s a lovely environment, full of dappled sunlight and rich vegetation. Worst case scenario: it’ll become a home and food for critters and birds so life will continue.
How’s this for a still life? I did not stage the fern, sticks and fungi. The composition caught my eye, and I took photos from several angles, but this is my favorite.
Aren’t these so pretty? I see patterns like this and I immediately think of knitting, of all things, imagining myself knitting up sweaters or shawls in these colors and lines.
And some more. They also make me think of full skirts that swirl when you dance.
Now this is something I wouldn’t want to blindly grab. Greg says it’s a “devil’s walking stick.” It can be quite beautiful when it’s in flower, but it’s November so no blooms.
Ah, that’s it for today. In just over three months, I’ll have more time to regale you with my photos and chatter. For now, I’m just counting down and enjoying the start of some real fall weather.
Even our cats are starting to assume their winter behavior.
You only see Maxine tolerating Junior’s butt in her face when the temperatures start to drop and she’ll take any body heat she can find. Junior was soaking up the sun, silly boy. If you look really close, you can see that Maxine actually has a paw draped over Junior’s feet. Like children, they are so adorable when they are sleeping.
Thanks for visiting! Hope you are all well and safe and happy. My friends in the U.S.: Remember to vote on November 3 if you haven’t already voted, and hang on to your sanity. I think it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
About a month ago, my husband and I went on a bike ride through the Aucilla Wildlife Management Area. In hindsight, I guess it was a kind of prep for the ride we’d take at St. Marks Refuge (15 Weeks and Counting #wfh #newchapter #nature). A prep that would make biking at St. Marks feel like we were riding on clouds.
We had a few obstacles at the Aucilla trail, such as:
A rather large tree that we wound up carrying our bikes over rather than under. The silver lining to this impediment was that no big noisy vehicles could get to the other side.
And plenty of potholes.
This was by far the largest, and the one before which I fell off my bike (I took the photo from the other side.) I’m not always graceful when I fall although I try. All’s the better if I know I’m going to fall, which I did in this case. I kept my head up while loudly proclaiming that I should have worn my helmet because, “Honey, you know I always fall!.”
But the worst part is getting up. I avoid putting weight on my left knee because I don’t like pain. Instead, I have to get on all fours, put weight into my palms, lift my knee or knees, push with my hands, and then rise. Here’s where I say a little prayer of gratitude for the many years I’ve been practicing yoga.
A couple of days later I found two large bruises, one on the inside of my left ankle and the other on the inside of my left thigh. Oh, the joy of aging. Not only is my bruising delayed, but so is my memory. Took me awhile to realize the bruising was from the fall … at least I think it was.
But I digress. The other joy of aging is that I feel more like a kid and enjoy getting dirty. I proudly sported a thin layer of crusty gray dirt on my right side for the rest of our trip.
And it was worth it.
On our way back, we stopped at this beautiful spot, so green and lush. The soft sound of the breeze through the trees could have lulled me to sleep.
I enjoyed the clouds above …
and the clouds below.
Again, the kid in me was mesmerized by the reflections in the water. Okay, so I don’t have to be a kid or feel like a kid to be mesmerized by nature, but these experiences always remind me of when I was a child and would fixate on leaves reflected in a puddle or …
or the delicate world of insects.
I hope you enjoyed coming along with me. Stay safe and well, strive for happiness, and VOTE!
Marie at 1 Write Way 