Some state parks in Texas have really cool bird blinds with benches and fold-down slats for people to look through toward the feeding station that has seed, suet, and water to attract critters (like chachalacas, green jays, orioles, cardinals, and kiskadees).
And see, Becky and Brian really are here in South Texas; I do have photographic evidence!
And sometimes the critters attracted include javelina.
Judy blew out her knee on the first day we were in Alaska. We didn’t change the trip. We just went ahead and did everything we wanted to do, accommodating her sore knee when we could, and doing what we wanted to do anyway when we couldn’t. That’s not the new thing though, blowing out her knee, she’s done that before.
We could have changed plans and gotten the knee fixed then, but she didn’t want to. We finished our trip to Alaska. We could have ended the trip there, but there was a puppy in our future; another extension. We drove on home from the trip, and the puppy, and got everything settled here.
Finally, now, it’s time to deal with the knee; the day of the appointment with the orthopedic surgeon in Corpus. He has operated on that knee three times before already. He told us there is nothing more he can do with it. Except replace it. We’ve been through cortisone shots, gel shots, physical therapy, and surgery; spread out over decades. We’ve exhausted all the options except one. Judy gets a brand-new metal and plastic knee in a few weeks! That should be a longer-term fix than just trimming some meniscus again.
Becky and Brian are here for a visit.
I took pictures of them arriving at the airport, but when we got home and checked my phone, digital gremlins had beat me to it and demolished any trace of a picture there, despite my repeated clicks at the arrival lobby.
So, use your imagination. Becky and Brian are here, and we’re all delighted. We get them for a week!
Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge along the river here in The Valley.
Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel mountains north of Los Angeles.
Large Western Yellow Pines (Ponderosa Pine).
