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.
This Thanksgiving my husband and I went on a walk at the St. Marks Headwaters Greenway which opened in late January 2018. It was our first visit, but it won’t be our last. [Note: elsewhere I’ve referred to this area as the St. Marks River Preserve State Park. Eh, technically the Greenway is separate from the state park. My bad.]
We were on our own for the day of feasting since we don’t have family nearby, which–to be honest–is okay with us. We’re happy to just take a long walk, me snapping pictures with my iPhone, my husband waving around his butterfly net, hoping to find some interesting insects.
[Aside: I called my mom later that evening and we both noted how people probably think we’re boring but at least we’re not bored.]
At an absolute minimum, the sky never fails to surprise me.
Thanks to friend, poet, and historian Merril D. Smith, I often have my eyes on clouds. This configuration is new to me!
This post is all about the “real Florida,” not that paved ugliness often mistaken for progress. We were out in the mid- to late afternoon on a sunny day. Light and shadow were playful.
I do miss the true explosion of color that is fall in the northeast, but …
In Florida, this is what we call a “riot of color.”
… we’ll take what we can get here. Fall colors in Florida are nothing like the fall colors I grew up with in New York, but after 30 years living here, I have to say this is pretty colorful.
I hope you enjoyed these photos. For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful holiday. For those of you who don’t, I hope you still had a wonderful day.
Ah, yes, I’m back, dear Reader. Back to my home, my blog, my blogging friends who were (and are) never far from my mind, my furry four-legged friends who I don’t think really missed us as much as they missed getting more than two meals a day. Then again, they might have missed our laps since our temperatures are a bit cooler these days. This picture isn’t very good, taken with my camera in poor light: Junior, our feisty, “I just wanna be outdoors all day”, male cat sacked out on my legs once the temperatures dipped toward the 60s. Yes, dear Reader. Our southern cats cannot abide the cold.
Junior crashed out on my legs.
We had a lovely trip overall. Aside from a bit of rain at the beginning, we had clear, sunny days for driving up to north NY, to visit my family. We gave ourselves plenty of time to drive so we had some flexibility with our itinerary, allowing us to make a detour to Gettysburg, PA, and to switch hotels at nearly the last minute when one day we realized we could drive further than originally intended.
I learned how to swim with whales, except these were land whales, or you might call them semi-trucks. On interstate 81 there often were more trucks than cars. Many times we found ourselves between two trucks with one truck cruising along side us on the two-lane road. It was … interesting.
We had only one rainy day in New York, but we were visiting relatives so that was fine. We spent time with my mother, who will be 92 this month, her remaining siblings, my sister and her husband, and two-thirds of their brood.
I met up with an old high school friend, someone I hadn’t seen or talked to in almost 40 years. It was to be a quick visit but, four hours later, we still had plenty we wanted to say and learn about each other. It was hard to say good-bye.
And much of the trip was filled with eye candy. Autumn is my most favorite season, but often when we’ve gone home, it’s been in summer or late fall, after the colors have started to fade. Our timing this time was perfect. It wasn’t riotous reds and oranges all the way, but that was part of the fun. We got to see some of the transition. Each day we drove off from my sister’s house, another tree was starting to turn.
Believe it or not, I took very few pictures. I was too busy enjoying the sights and often too busy driving anyway. My husband, however, took this “movie” of our drive away from Saratoga Springs where we had just spent the afternoon. Unfortunately, the movie is rather pixelated since it was taken with his iPad. But you get the idea of what we saw.
And, finally, a song that always makes me think of where I grew up …
Marie at 1 Write Way 