Steve and Judy's Travels!

Four times.  Four MRIs.  One success.

Last month, the ortho ordered an MRI on her sore shoulder.  Judy doesn’t do MRIs.  She’s a claustrophobe.  Over the years, we’ve tried the MRI stone cold sober.  That didn’t work.  We tried the open MRI once, with a Valium, before the second shoulder surgery.  An open MRI is not open enough.  One Valium is not enough.  For the third shoulder surgery, she tried the MRI with two Valium.  Score: Valium 0, adrenaline 1.  It’s getting worse.  Every previous time she’s gotten shoulder surgery they’ve had to do it without an MRI first to let them know what to expect when they get inside.

This time she tried the MRI with general anesthetic.  It was an all-day process, and she slept through the afternoon, evening, and night afterwards, but ding ding ding, we got it done.  We’re claiming Judy conquered the MRI!

Next week she gets to find out what the doctor thinks about her shoulder.

Egyptian Goose.

Okay, maybe not exactly elegant.

And family.

Yesterday we were sitting on the deck having morning coffee.  Today, the temperature didn’t get out of the thirties!  Ouch!  Oh, woe is us.  We’re not exempt from the polar cold.

Except that it won’t be like this for long.  We’ll hunker down for three days of arctic blast, then we’ll be back in the eighties, enjoying extended warm weather.

A red-shouldered hawk.

The harris’s hawk pictures from a couple nights ago; that’s a southern bird.

The red-shouldered hawk, mostly an eastern bird, is more widespread in the U.S.

Have to wonder a little how that disjointed red-shouldered hawk west coast population got there.

And we’re home.  A little cold in the 60s and rainy all week in the Hill Country.  Perfect weather here as we returned today.  85 degrees.  The polar hit happens Monday.  We’ll be cold in the 40s for three days, then back in the 80s.