Sue Ann (Suna) Kendall

I’m Gonna Live!

It looks like I am not going to have to deal with Covid too much longer. Today I was still a bit congested and had a delicate tummy. The Pedialyte seems to have helped a lot.

This little dude was spinning that pine cone like a top.

I did have enough energy to go outside and breathe some nice fresh mountain air. I walked really slowly and enjoyed the flowers, both wild and cultivated.

There were plenty of birds to see and hear, too. Plus I found where moose had slept, which was cool.

Luckily, I found a few trails that weren’t full of people and were nice and quiet. One went gently up and up in an area I hadn’t walked before. I stopped often to look around and rest. the trail started narrow and got wider. It was so quiet.

Soon enough I found the familiar service road that leads to the horse ranch and found my way back. I wasn’t even tired and was able to complete my work for the day!

I took lots of photos of the mountains so I could remember them after I go home. It’s so pretty and the weather has been so pleasant here. I’ve had a good time despite the illness.

I guess so many Texans come here that they need the sign?

Maybe I can do stuff the next couple of days. It sure felt good to have cheerful feelings after a long week.

I even had energy to do my nails very bright, Heat Wave.

Illness is Tedious

Really. I’m tired of being tired, sick of being sick, and irritated at my gastrointestinal irritation.

I envy people who get mild cases of Covid, that’s for sure. I do feel better in the sinus and coughing aspect, but the medications have made my digestion very sad and painful.

Work was a struggle, but by gosh I did the meetings and fixed the documents I needed to fix. It’s a good distraction, really. And I can talk better, so meetings have been easier at least! If I’m better tomorrow I can get the bunch of new assignments I got started.

I’ll share some sunset views from my east-facing condo.

I’ll be better set up for healing, thanks to my friend Cathy, who didn’t get as sick as I did. She picked up helpful medicine and things that will soothe me, like bananas, yogurt, and Pedialyte. I’m sure grateful to have nearby friends!

Cathy sent me this sunset from her house (plus grand dog)

It’s been pleasant and quiet here in Breckenridge, other than lots of helicopters for a few hours. I couldn’t tell if they were construction copters or firefighters. I can’t believe I’ve rested for three whole days. I don’t think I’ve ever rested like this for so long before.

It can get better now. I’d be okay with that. But at least I’m safe and cozy with knitting and reading! And there are sunsets.

Calmly Seeing the Good Stuff

What daily habit do you do that improves your quality of life?

Hello from the Sick Ward known as my condo bedroom. It features knitting, reading material and used socks. I also have flavored water, cough drops, and chargers for my vital electric devices. Add the television and my world is complete.

How do you face an unpleasant illness and not sit around feeling sorry for yourself? You draw on your lifelong habits that keep you centered and focused (as much as possible — I’m human).

First, I’m probably harping on this, but my meditation practice helps me focus and stay calm. Twenty minutes or so in the mornings has always done a lot of good. I like to do it outdoors when possible. Here I’ve been sitting on the balcony. The fresh air feels good flowing in and out as I breathe.

The other habit I have has taken longer to become second nature is to see the good in whatever situation comes up. There’s always something good, though my go-to reaction to challenges is to jump to the worst-case scenario. Just ask my family.

Thus, pausing to find the benefits of where I am right now, was hard to learn. This inconvenient and potentially dangerous illness in “the elderly” (me) has been a good test.

So what’s good about getting Covid on your condo time?

I’m away from Lee, who has a harder time than I do with respiratory illnesses.
I have a beautiful view out my windows.
There’s food in the fridge.
If I need anything, my friend Ken seems like he could help (so far not too sick).
It’s easy to avoid people in this building. I can use the stairs, or could until today. Not breathing well enough.
I can speak again! Some symptoms are improving!
I have enough reading and knitting material that I’m not bored.
I can still work, with breaks.
I got sick early enough that I should be okay to go home.

So, as Monty Python said, “Always look on the bright side of life.”

(Note: there are always sad, hard, and difficult times. Then I just try to find small moments of comfort.)

I Found Help Online

What was the last thing you searched for online? Why were you looking for it?

An easy one! The last thing I looked for was the tele-health service for my insurance. I rarely use such things, so I can’t remember their names.

Once I found it, I already had a login, so it was easy to get in queue and talk online to someone. I’ve done it twice now, and was very happy to give a $20 copay. Certainly, it was better than trying to get to an ER or urgent care in an unfamiliar location.

Yay, flowers. I can’t smell very well but I can see colors.

I don’t have many nature stories today. I only went on one short walk, where I didn’t run into anyone. It was nice to breathe fresh air. I also sat on the balcony some.

Much of the day I worked, but I fell asleep twice. The Paxlovid is helping, but it sure leaves a weird iron taste in your mouth. It also gave me strange dreams like where I kept finding really cool animals and birds, but couldn’t make my phone take pictures (because it needed film, lol). I remember the cutest bats with round smiling faces, and teeny tiny hummingbirds swarming around. Wherever I was had lots of wildlife! Thanks, brain.

I did get checked on by various friends and family members, so I didn’t feel lonely. I’m hoping my Covid symptoms are much better tomorrow. Lots of work is ahead and I’d sorta like to have some fun!

Dang Rona

I’m no longer a Covid virgin. I guess I got it on the plane. Everyone I hung out with last week got it, too, but probably from a different source. Fun times in the Rockies!

I’d taken two tests before, because I was trying to protect Kathy. They were negative. But today I felt so awful that I picked up more tests. When I started to feel like I was going downhill, I took another test. Boom. Positive. I feel so bad for exposing my friend!

I immediately got back on Telemedicine and talked to a nurse practitioner who prescribed Paxlovid and cough suppressant. The lovely driver here took me to the pharmacy and waited for me. I was so glad to have the good masks I keep in my computer bag available. I sat in the back of the van!

My gosh that’s the fanciest medication I ever had.

The day wasn’t all bad. I got to watch a Pine Siskin feeding for quite a while, and I got to talk to both my stepsister and brother. Even though I sounded like a lifelong smoker, I talked! Luckily my brother and I texted, and that took my mind off my sinuses and chest.

Blah. I’m not going to be much fun for a few days. I don’t like being sick and I’m pissed off that I let myself get infected. Grr.

Isn’t this flower beautiful? Yellow Dalsify

Also, it rained and cooled off a bit at home. Woohoo! And I’m here, so not making Lee sick.

Time for Bed after a Fine Day

What’s your favorite time of day?

I’m positive that my favorite time of day is the hour before o go to sleep, when I read and blog. I love the transition from one day to the next.

This is what I did just before bedtime – showing off the temperature blanket

Before bedtime, I had quite a fun day with my high school friend Kathy, who drove up to see me today. After getting my antibiotic, which I hope make me feel better, we went on a little hike to the lovely Rainbow Lake.

There were some interesting challenges, like a log crossing over a creek, but we made the trek and found the lake.

Thanks to Kathy’s excellent rain prediction skills we got back to the car just in time for the rain to start. it rained off and on the rest of the day, but not badly.

We had a great lunch at Blue Stag, a place with much game meat on the menu. It was great, especially the green salsa, and we met a nice baby. Fun shopping followed. It’s always better to shop with someone!

After going back to the condo and knitting a bunch, we walked in the rain to the Mexican restaurant close to the condo and ate and talked and talked. I just love catching up with old friends!

Two drinks, trying to wait out the rain.

More talking and knitting ensued back at the condo, and by the time I went to bed I was wiped out. I fell asleep blogging. I did re-read the first part, in case it wasn’t coherent.

Today I’m getting throat lozenges and a new toothbrush (so as not to reinfect myself, and laying low. I sound like I’ve been a smoker for 50 years.

This Is Me Taking It Easy

I’m obviously sick, with that viral icky feeling and a big ole sore throat. But, taking NyQuil last night and drinking plenty of fluids helped me get some good sleep. I honestly tried to take it easy today. I napped!

But, there are birds and flowres out there!

But I am not good at sitting around. So, when I was feeling good, I walked out and went up the trail that leads to the Burro Trail, the one I really want to go on. It was a fun trail, very narrow and moist. There were little springs popping out that ran down to the Sawmill Creek. I just took it slow and stopped a lot to take pictures and look at the little animals.

I love how this former tree is sheltering new life

That little walk didn’t result in many birds at all. I heard a few, but the water drowned them out. That’s fine. It was lovely, but it did tire me out! I spent the afternoon watching pre-season football and sleeping.

These are the most common birds around the condo.

I woke up from my nap realizing I was feeling feverish again and my throat was burning. Aha! I know that symptom! Strep! I can’t just wait for that to go away, so I brilliantly remembered that my insurance has a tele-health feature. In no time I video chatted with a nurse practitioner who listened to my symptoms and called in antibiotics. Spare me the lecture on the evils of antibiotics. They are useful when necessary, which is not as often as they used to be prescribed. I’m hoping as soon as I can pick up the prescription I’ll be on my way to total health. I have people to see and things to do!

I needed to keep my strength up, so I had some cheese and cherries.

After the good football game was over and I took some medicine, I felt well enough to go back out, so I headed toward the same area I walked in yesterday, and went up a little higher. The ski trail there is more gently sloped, so I didn’t have any trouble. It helped that I got to stop rather often to listen to birds.

There were so many to listen to! I finally found a quiet spot and enjoyed some White-breasted Nuthatches and dozens of Chipping Sparrows who kept flushing as I walked by them. I hated disturbing them!

The highlight was a brushy area that was a real headquarters for tiny birds. There were so many hummingbirds! I was surprised to see a couple who were much brighter, and I saw that Merlin identified them as Rufous Hummingbirds. They and the Broad-tailed ones had some territorial disputes and I had a blast watching them (they also liked my red shirt). I even got a photo of a Chipping Sparrow and a Hummingbird hanging out together. Fun times.

So, I managed to have a fun time today, even though I had my ups and downs with how I felt. I’m hoping to have fun tomorrow, since I’m getting a visitor!

I hope my visitor doesn’t startle me as much as this squirrel did when it started yelling at me.

Too Sick to Be Excited

Tell us about the last thing you got excited about.

This has never happened to me. I don’t get sick often, but after sneezing and blowing my nose all day yesterday and thinking I had allergies, I realized I was actually ill during the night when I got that “feeling” you get when a virus has attacked. Argh. Being sick all alone away from home is pretty awful!

So rather than a nice hike, I took the condo van to the grocery store/drug store and got allergy tablets, cold/flu medicine and a Covid test. Plus fruit. That’s good for you. Thankfully, the Covid test was negative. I’ll do another one tomorrow.

I managed to work on a project, then dragged myself to the French bakery, because I was feeling sorry for myself. I got big ole croissants.

After napping, the DayQuil kicked in, and I went for a gentle, slow walk down some minor ski paths.

Nothing but beauty (and few loud vehicles)

It made me feel a bit better, but after that, I could do nothing but easy blogging and staring at Cesar Milan, who needs to come over and make our dogs calm and quiet.

Okay, I’ve gone far enough down the post to tell you the last thing that made me excited. It was Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention. Even Anderson Cooper said it was the best speech he ever heard.

I was very excited by certain messages I heard at that convention. I liked that speakers encouraged us to all listen to each other, and that Harris promised to be President for all Americans. That was refreshing. There was some pointed comments, but there wasn’t name-calling, meanness, or blatant lying (I’m aware that both sides exaggerate).

We shall see what happens. In the meantime, remember our wild friends.

So yeah, I got excited and feel slightly less despondent about the future.

Seeking Peace and Quiet

I have been enjoying the weather here in Breckenridge, and the views never get old. The only thing that is getting to me is how LOUD it is. I think I’m too accustomed to the relative quiet of the ranch (relative: we do have Alfred, Goldie, the House Sparrows, occasional farm machinery, and numerous pickup trucks with altered mufflers).

It’s probably the fact that summer is the only time that construction, road repairs, and other outdoor activities can be done. I get that. I lived in Illinois before, where the seasons were snow and construction. I just happen to be in a vortex of construction where I am staying. The sidewalks on the road I’m on are being systematically jackhammered and replaced (the new ones look great; it’s just loud). On the next block, a large hotel is under renovation. The workers need to shout, often. And on the OTHER side of the next block, a large condominium complex is being completely rebuilt. That requires many nail guns. Whew. It’s going to look great here when ski season starts, but you sure can’t hear a dang bird over that.

Luckily, I could SEE this hummingbird on the main road.

What else do large construction projects require? Why, dump trucks, heavy equipment haulers, semi trucks hauling supplies, etc. It seems to me that in Colorado there aren’t any regulations on the noise levels these vehicles produce. They are WAY louder than the ones I used to hear all day when my neighborhood in Texas was under construction.

Right behind this woods were the growling vehicles

And now I’ll make you laugh at me a little. I also find all those babbling brooks, flowing streams, crystal clear creeks, and rushing rivers really overwhelming after a while. They are beautiful and I love them. But wow, they are loud. All this messes up my birding agenda. Heck, I’m even laughing at myself here.

Anyway, I traipsed all over this cacophonous city today in search of my bird buddies and discovered that no matter how far I tried to hike, there were giant trucks and blatting motorcycles. Oh well, the hike I went on near the troll statue and ice rink was pretty!

I got this dog posing in front of the troll

And I did eventually find some relative quiet, in the residential area just outside the downtown area. I could actually hear birds! That will have to do! I did enjoy my walk, honestly.

Other than that, I did a bunch of work and sat in the hot tub a bit to help my sore back from all that exercise. And I did watch television. It was good.

Book Report: The Night Ends with Fire

I wanted something to read at the airport last Saturday, since I’d packed all my other reading material. I went to the Book People shop at the Austin Airport and was intrigued by a couple of novels that had nice images on the edges of the pages. They both looked fine, so I picked one.

The book I chose is called The Night Ends with Fire, by K. X. Song. I didn’t even realize it was a retelling of the legend of Mulan in a non-Disney interpretation until I was halfway finished with it. Song does a fine job of making this book fascinating, even if you don’t know the legend/history behind it.

the cover of the book The Night Ends with Fire — Note that the fire is a phoenix. Foreshadowing.

This is a perfect book for the airport or a vacation, because it’s easy to get engrossed in the story and lose yourself. That’s a lot of fun sometimes! Song weaves a fascinating world of mythical “China” with warring clans, intrigue, and magic all combined to create a great read.

I liked that none of the characters were pure and perfect, including the protagonist, Meilin, a woman who goes to war as a man and is a full-fledged human with ambitions, weaknesses, as well as great strength. The “villains” are also real, human, and have strengths and weaknesses. That’s my favorite thing about the book, that all the characters are both extraordinary and ordinary at the same time.

The storyline is a lot of fun, with surprises, twists, and turns. The only thing I didn’t like was when I realized it’s part one of a series. Bummer. Now I have to wait for the sequel! If you like historical fiction and especially Chinese culture, go out and get this one! You’ll enjoy it.