Dang it happened Anyway

Today is almost 4th of July you're reading this long past that because my posts are still a while away from real time but Im closing the gap as more and more it's just too hot to enjoy being out.  

Eastern Towhee Female 

A week ago I wore my mask down to a dentist.  The old office where Dr, Mays ,who passed away already, was my dentist my whole life!  My Mom took me there as a child and I just stuck with him.  He always whistled or hummed show tunes while he worked.  I never had an issue with any work he did...I have gold crowns, fillings, root canal, wisdom teeth extracted, he knew his stuff and he had this little trick when he gave you the shot he would wiggle your lip so you were distracted and it didn't hurt so much..,When he retired I just stopped going to dentist.  I only went in an emergency, and that's is how I came to be there last week but now it's a 31 yr old  kid who is the dentist.  A tooth was chipped....so I asked for it to be repaired..

One of my otter friends eating a catfish he captured. 

He drew out the long needle shoved it into my gum and a bolt of lightening rode down my tongue in a red hot flash---> twice<--- both barrels not only did I winch I screamed with my mouth open it sounded more like an exaggerated whimper.  I could almost smell ozone in the air as the lightening left the tip of my tongue and entered the atmosphere.  

Yellow Trumpet Pitcher plant

I told him what I had felt and he told me he may have "touched" the lingual nerve...I think he did way more than touch it..as  here it  is currently 7 days later At the time of writing, but in real time it's been almost a month and very little has changed) and my tongue has no feeling on the right side and my gum where he gave the shot is inflamed and hurts.  I do not have dental insurance so I have not called back I did read up on Lingual Nerve damage, there is NO intervention short of surgery, NO WAY thank you that would probably mean specialists, and even a worse outcome...There is no miracle for nerve damage as we all know!! The article told me give it 8 wks to heal and if not healed in 6 months it's permanent.  

a  spot where I relaxed with my picnic lunch recently

I cut my finger once while working in my Upholstery shop and the nerve was damaged it never completely healed. I got used to it or it healed SOME but it's never going to he fully feeling again.. Now is my tongue gonna be the same?  It's very distracting and it gives me anxiety which I don't need more of...my food does not have a bright good taste and I think my speech is a little off and my mouth is always dry I wonder if my salivary gland is also disrupted?
Beware!! What more can I saw...

After this curve is a new lake for me to explore! I've never driven up to this road in the Refuge, it's Road 1 and this is Lake L, there is another  Pool K up there but I will check it out later.  

Lake L a new one to explore

I have made a little video of my mouth JIC I need to hire a lawyer if it becomes a really big issue, like all my teeth fall out for heaven's sake.  So I wait and see as long as it gets no worse I will be okay but if it does then what?  The way one of the lower teeth feels right now (the one directly above the injection site) is pretty painful!  I was having NO trouble with that tooth until I went to see him...I chose to try the old office instead of brand new Aspen Dental thinking I would get a young inexperienced Dentist there,  and that's exactly what happened.  Most of the dentists in this town don't accept new patients!  They have been in business for years.

This is a very nice woodland lake, and it does not appear to have much visitation. I had the whole place to myself...except for some Osprey nesting nearby.

  Osprey have nested there and have one chick in the nest..

another look at the otters...they actually are aware that I am there they keep a curious eye on me...and they stay low in the water for the most part. 

Play

I haven't told anyone exactly where these 3 are living.  If anyone comes into the area while Im watching them I immediately put my binoculars up to my eyes the other direction so people will not notice the otters the curiosity of people wins out and they try to see what I'm looking at...then they drive past...Most people don't get out they just drive around on the refuge roads. 

 Meanwhile check out my bird bath visitor...actually this is Mom's bird bath...*sigh* she filled it lovingly for decades.  Now I'm using it in my yard...it's a family heirloom. 

This was so cute to watch...and then she browsed on my flowers...
But oh so delicately...

On the way back from town I saw a couple of Turkey Vultures hanging out in the clear cut area...

The area is growing back very quickly and soon it will go thru yet another cycle of grow and cut I may or may NOT be alive to see these trees mature... Realistically I'm  66 in 16 yrs if I'm still around I will be 82!!! So I don't know how you reacted when I say I may or may not see these trees mature....but in all honesty, there is a really good chance I won't.  The other day I heard Gordon Lightfoot's song If You Could Read My Mind and I sang along knew every single word, it was originally released in 1970....1970! Children that was 50 yrs ago...what a tale my thoughts would tell....

The Vulture's a huge bird I've held one before when I worked at the Bird of Prey Rehab center, they are heavier than you think much heavier than a Bald Eagle. 

see ya!

Nearby was this young Red Tailed Hawk,  has been hanging out over looking the vernal pool at the clear cut...actually I saw two maybe nest mates?  

So today I stayed at home not feeling too well and took pain killers for my tooth and plan to nap on the couch in the cool AC.  I did however mow the grass, clip the hedges, and blow off the cement slab, water the plants, and fill the bird feeders and the bird baths! So I got my chores done...now I rest. 

So I know I've shown you one of these before or maybe some stills on the Blue Crabs, but I feel a little crabby today so I will share theses crabs with you...

The Beautiful Blue Crab

                                                                             PLAY

And this very swift Crab, I actually slowed this down by half so you could actually see him he was moving so fast...Im not sure , Ghost Crab maybe

                                                         PLAY

And in real time last evening I went out and viewed the Comet Neowise, OMG you must go out and find it just look for the big dipper, then look down and to the west slightly and you will see it, wait until the sky is dark enough I saw it
10 PM ET.  And the Moon was pretty nice too...

----------------------------

Today Im wondering how it is that all people are not outraged by the action of the President and AG BARR, and his Secret Goon Squad and what they did in Oregon...it is the Right Wing Extremes that accuse the Democrats of not respecting a States Sovereign right...the State of Oregon did NOT ask for any help and did not need any help they were allowing people to exercise their first Amendment right.  IT Is the GOP that is dismantling our civil and constitutional rights to not be bullied by the Federal Govt while we exercise those rights. 

86 45 11 3 2020

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Cuddos for me!

Written on JUNE 30th

I know we all have those times, where life seems to be throwing down a challenge every day and sometimes more than once a day...I get un-enchanted with life sometimes..

Growing up was a struggle for me because I didn't want to grow up!  I created this life within a life where everything was wonderful I made my connection with Nature and Animals 

And it has served me well my whole life.  Sometimes I get annoyed with younger people who seem to think we older folks should be at home in our rocking chairs...Oh please get real we are gonna be out here as long as we still can put foot to ground.

  So out in Nature real life is just white noise that you turn off...Im in my ruby slippers.  Tap Tap Tap and then Im in this forest...looks enchanted to me!

So  you work on a solution to one problem and you no more than take a breath ...here comes the second challenge of the day...or it could be the 4th or the 5t

Not a pretty picture....we have so much work to do to get beyond THIS^

OH but wait, I'm in my Happy Place and there lives this tiny little bird barely bigger than a Green Bean, his feathers are like jewels and he flies at the speed of light, and if you're really still he will look at you, and for that little moment you are in awe...of what is before you...

This little open spot made me think of a one of those vortexes that you jump through and ...BAM you 're suddenly transported someplace out of this world.


                                                                                  PLAY

 I'd wish for one where we live in harmony with our environment and where you may sail away on a really big lily pad...Wish I had thrown something down for scale, this pad is at least 13 inches in diameter. 

On this boat I could shrug off anything that makes my hands tingle and kills my butterflies. The butterflies become dragons that can attack....they suck blazing meteors right out of the atmosphere, and that's where fire breathing dragons come from...and if you catch one you can hold it by the tail and use it like a ray gun!  I just made that up of course but wouldn't that be really something to see?

No one is a rock...cause look what happens to rock over time....it turns to sand.  

in my happy place sand has birds the color of the rainbow sitting on it so nothing to fear here...the Painted Bunting makes me think of Sherbet  and then when I read the label, HF corn syrup..yuk.

Maybe you can stand on someone else's rock, it keeps you afloat when the seas are rough and you just need to catch your wind before you sail off into never never, that special place...the double crested cormorant is taking a rest while he figures out his next move. 

 stand very still and the white noise won't find you, be berry berry quiet...don't draw any attention sssssshhhhh...Great Egrets are master of their universe. 

 

if only my Mantra would stick...until I can figure out how to cope with real life with the white noise...I'll just keep as close to nature as I can, my happy place...

The golden years are merely a homophone for olden years...yep Im old! And yet in my own little world  I'm still 12 or 13 chasing butterflies through the fields and then right there on the ground in front of me is youth, a young bird of bright orange red sitting directly behind a tiny pine tree... promising a future of hope and full of starry eyed wonder...

Summer Tanager

I wish for Unicorns and Fireflies, and little girls can jump on the back of a bird and fly over the world ...and if she doesn't like what she sees...she  can use her ray gun dragonfly to blast it to smithereens.  Ooops no electricity, lets just live in the dark till we really figure this thing out!

Birds are flying machines..."jump on he says I can show you a view like you've never even dreamed of...just ignore the white noise, it's not here in dreamland"..

Hop on this Eastern Kingbird

Fairies and toads live under the moss...I've imagined, they can hold their breath for days, hours, minutes...maybe a lifetime!

What's under this mossy water??? Maybe its the entrance to a magic place..

Fairies may hitch a ride on the back of biwinged dragons....and be taken to the Garden of Corn Blue Flowers, 

ripe with pixie dust 

 sprinkle that dust as the Navajo sprinkle the corn pollen and it changes stix into snakes the color of fresh summer punch...lemon and lime sherbet...Sugar Free

 I think there is a lot of magic here...under each lily pad a small universe is created. Those little bugs that go round and round and snails and water spiders all on one lily pad, and here there's thousands of lily pads. 

 birds with spiky hair the colors of the rain  forest rise up out of the waters...like a Phoenix Rising, he stands...with sort of a goofy look..teehee. 

 Unmoved and no tail must be a new visitor to our Planet

Green Heron

Ripe Fruit is so inviting...

A Pixie can sleep in the petals of a swamp flower
safe from all the White Noise...

It's never too late or you're never too old to imagine the world the way you would like it to be, mine may sound  a little far out there but in the words of John Lennon Imagine all the people living for today...

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Hopefully you know a place where you can go to be away from people and still be able to enjoy a day out of the house and out in Nature. 

 You got this one life,,,

-------------------------------

 Trump and his gang of cut throats continue to put emphasis on making him look good to  his supporters and his chance to win the election and not on people's lives.  What a fool he is and all who follow him are even more so for the writing is on the wall!  He will sacrifice YOUR kids for his cause.  What is his cause you ask? MONEY that is all he cares for.  Yes we need a strong economy but how can we work if we have sick kids at home or parents dying in hospitals? We should do the one thing we know that works,,,,stay as far away from each other as possible, when you can't wear your protection and clean your hands immediately upon leaving a store. 

People who have had the virus can and are getting it a second time.  We were led to believe that the heat of Summer would halt the virus that not only did not happen it has stepped up! I would advise people to NOT be mask less in any public situation.  It is actually the only deterrent we have at this point. In our state a month ago we had like 4 deaths per day now it's double digits per day...

WE all have to do our part to get things under control if we leave it up to someone else how does that make a difference?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOV 3RD is our New Independence Day!  Just having  some decent leadership may help it may not but at least we will go down trying not denying. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure

Every Place is an Island

July 4ths Buck Moon

I suppose I could spend my meager income on artwork, books, or dust collectibles, but I'd rather use my resources to capture an experience...not create a dust collection.  I have everything I need...my small goals, like a stamp in this paperback book, it's like Geocaching.  You arrive there and then you locate the ink stamp which is sometimes not that easy to find.  Once in hand you flip to the proper page, line up the stamper and press! Then you're off on your adventure.  You have your life experience.  So strange it took only 2 weeks for us to dismantle my Mom's Material world so think about that when you next bring something home to stash away... 

If only we could all live on an Island? Yes I know we do but its pretty big doesn't feel like an island... I used to live on the island of Brooklyn, but unfortunately it was ........ Brooklyn.  LoL, 

My beach view 2004

I enjoyed many sunsets that island you see there is Staten Island.

Mom visited me on my Island, it is a cold Island yes you could enjoy some sunning maybe  3 weeks in August but if the wind was blowing "forget about it"...the beach officially closes there on Labor Day a very short beach season.  

Mom Oct 2006 ;o)

it was nice though without that Ocean view to calm my nerves on my days off from my crazy job I wouldn't have made it through that time in my life without this beach to pacify me. 

... in this post Im visiting a Lake Island  State Park. I had never been here before, I was always in a hurry to get someplace else so never took the exit to visit this park...so today it was my destination for this experience and day of exploring a new place on planet EARTH. 

Dreher Island State Park, on Lake Murray

Here is the small little HQ building, it's right next to the boat ramp...

A small gift shop, some exhibits, and 2 restrooms

While there I did some looking at the birds  and enjoyed a couple of hikes. 

Along this hike there was an Osprey nest with a youngster calling to his parent to bring in some fish...

Play

Under this bridge was a Cliff Swallow Colony..

And not far away was a tiny puddle where they gathered up mud to build and keep their nests in repair..They had their wings up in this fluttering manner 

while they picked up the mud...

Each time I tried to get closer to see over that little dip and get a better look they would all leave, and when I backed up they would return, so I respected their guideline of social distancing..

another  hike 

The shore reveals some nice views...

This lake has 650 miles of shoreline...50,000 acres.  

This dog was having a good day!  Floating around with  his friend on a paddle board.

I hiked over this bridge to my lunch spot...another little island!  I carried my chair with me, I was parked close to the bridge...so nice to sit and relax for an hr, I will be honest and tell you it's hard for me to be still for that long...

What more could you want on a nice breezy day than a shady spot to relax, do a little birding, and have some refreshment...  

Just a wee bit crowded here...

this is my kind of crowd

Lots of small shell to examine during my quiet rest time...Listening to the water lap the shore was very calming to me...



Meanwhile back close to the road a young one with a parent showing him the ropes  out in the grass...

Brown Thrasher 

I had hoped to see Loons, Geese, Grebes, Gulls but I guess they are out over the open water and I was only able to  explore shoreline. 

It was a fun day spent on the Island, and I did do some relaxing!  And got a stamp in my Passport Book.  

And to help us connect more with Nature and people of color, I want to introduce you to Jason Ward if you don't already know who he is, You will be happy you found him and his part 2 series on Meet the Birds of North America will begin on July 12th I think is correct. 
 



People like Jason need our support he is making a difference...we are not all in the position to do what he is doing so let us support him and get the message out there.  So subscribe to his channel...and click the notifications bell and you won't miss any episodes..
 I'd encourage you to binge watch his first season 24 episodes and they are about 15 mins each...NOT only does he go out and actively spot birds he highlights conservation efforts, politics that affect birds, and how birding is NOT just a White, Straight activity. I hope all of you will watch and realize how inclusion is a very big part of  how we as Birders and Conservationists can help to save the environment we love together.

As Jason mentions in one video the Trump administration is opening up oil and gas drilling in Utah, Wyo, and MT that will threaten the prairies needed for the Greater Prairie Chicken, just to name one...and threaten the Artifacts left by previous cultures, and the land needed for our beloved creatures to survive,,,,so why in the world would you give your Travel Dollars to either State??? We must tell these State leaders that we won't travel there until they get it right!!  And Trump is a deaf ear so let's just vote him out, and get on with the really important stuff like

Protecting more habitat and yeah
Let's Make Bears Ears Big Again 

...and if you would like to see my last YouTube release here it is and feel free to subscribe and click the little bell to get notifications...Some of you are my faithful visitors and I do appreciate that so much.  It's another great way to preserve memories, I am no expert and I have no fancy camera or editing gear just seat of the pants stuff...hope you will click on it and watch. I try to have new content about every couple weeks...and my subject matter is all over the place!! I have a new one scheduled to release on Tuesday. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.