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!
Very pissed off.
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.
These are good seeds.
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.
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!
Wish I could bee (fly) well.
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.
Yay. Negative.
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.
This almond croissant was huge.
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.
Yes, there was a donkey on Cesar Milan.
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.
The only picture I took was Oprah.
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.
What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
I’ll tell you about one health and well-being strategy I use: if my day was too draining to blog about, I’ll put off answering the prompt. So, I started this yesterday and stopped. I realized I was having anxiety issues big time.
I don’t think I realized it as the work day was going on, but when I stopped working, I got those familiar chest pains that usually don’t happen anymore thanks to my daily medication. It’s some kind of PTSD-like response to my day. My boss was laid off and I was the last to know, thanks to Microsoft Teams suddenly insisting on my password that I forgot. That kind of stuff happens in large corporations of course. I’ve been through it with Lee, at the same company.
Noooo, not Lee!
But my “stress memory” didn’t handle it as well as my intellectual brain did. I went right back to when I was at my previous employer and the boss I considered a mentor and friend got laid off (victim of a power struggle). I’d really liked my job there, for the most part, but things immediately went downhill until I realized I, too, was in the middle of a power struggle I could not win.
My nice job became prickly, just like these beautiful flowers will become those giant burs.
The last straw was when they made someone who worked for me my boss, and a week after telling me I was the strongest member of the team, he turned around and gave me one of “those” little chats about what a poor worker I was. I was so confused I kept asking, “What?” The very lucky thing was that I’d been getting all sorts of calls and emails about another position doing the parts of my job I really liked without the management politics. I took it. It’s a great job.
Happy worker, generated by AI – it is not me
And here I am having chest pains again. Now, I know that my position for next year has passed all the approvals needed, and I’ll get to work only 32 hours, which I find great. More time for camping and horses! But, not knowing where our team is going and all that would make anyone a little uncomfortable. I need to just take it day by day and be positive.
I’m a happy worker bee.
Could you tell my emotions to pay attention to my logical side? I guess that’s really my job. And that’s one thing I do to keep my well-being under control. I keep telling myself everything is OK until I believe it. It’s worked for eliminating negative self-talk, so maybe it will work with getting triggered when a bad experience could be construed to be happening again.
I need a new perspective, like this picture of the front pond from the side I usually don’t see.
At least maintaining my health is easier. I now exercise enough because it’s become a habit (hooray for my Apple Watch). I can’t believe it, but I feel bad if I’m not active. Needing to care for the animals sorta forces me to burn some calories, and the horse lessons are good for both my body and my mind. I’m really feeling good about all that!
I comfort her; she comforts me. It all works out. (It thundered again today, so Goldie begged me to go upstairs and hang out with her.)
Oh yes. I’m traveling in the future. It’s what I promised myself to do while I still can.
Here I am, traveling down the county road in the rain. Does that count?
But first I need to enjoy the present. Indeed, I enjoyed today very much. Who doesn’t enjoy a July day in Texas when it rains and doesn’t get above 90°? I admit to sitting on the porch and watching the rain after work. That felt great.
Porch view. Wet.
Other than muddy horses I have no complaints at all. They are pretty happy with the grass not being so straw-like, too.
So green!
And the dogs had fun outside. Carlton decided grass runners I’d pulled up were toys and tossed them around gleefully. Unfortunately Alfred decided the extra-dead armadillo was a toy and rolled in it. Oh that smells bad. The armadillo carcass is now unavailable to dogs.
Enjoy a happy live armadillo who lives nowhere near me. Source: free WordPress photo library
As for travel, we have camping trips, two condo stays, and a cabin rental coming up, in addition to the Master Naturalist conference. I’ll share more information as the trips take place.
And I’ll have to cancel some if we don’t have caretakers for the ranch. That (and security) is why I don’t share travel plans here. Things tend to change with no warning around here with so many folks in fragile health and such!
Harvey would prefer I stayed put.
All is well. I’m just going to enjoy each day as much as I can without counting on any future plans coming to fruition until it’s time to go! That’s being flexible and embracing change, all right. Right?
Only two things fell down today. Both mattered to me, though!
If the overflow is overflowing, that means the pond is full again!
Yes, rain was the second thing that fell down. Lots of it. It’s like Mother Nature is trying to make up for last year’s endless string of dry 100°+ days. The forecast is for more rain, which should cheer up the frogs. Just this morning the frog pond was completely dry.
Not quite full, but improved.
That pond doesn’t have multiple sources draining into it like the front one does, so it’s harder to fill. I’m glad the hard rain waited until the bulldozer was finished in the creek bottom. I checked both lower ponds (tanks) today and they look so good. The rain will start new growth on the bare ground.
The pond by the road. That smooth area was a rough hill before. It looks very pretty now.
When it started raining, it really rained. I ignored the fact that four dogs were in my office breathing hard and shaking as long as I could, but they sure looked pitiful.
They are under my desk. These two wished they were under my desk. All were passing gas, a lot.
When the satellite connection went down I told them we could go upstairs and they all ran by me to get up. It was so noisy startled Lilia, who cleans the house, as she was cleaning the bathroom. I said I had to protect them. So, I read a magazine while Goldie shook next to me, Penney tried to crawl inside me, and everyone else hid under the bed. Thunder is hard on dogs.
Glued to my thigh. She’s not happy.Carlton under the bed.Other places got lots more rain.
Goldie is back in bed now, but just to sleep.
So, I said rain was the second thing to fall. The first was me. I did what I knew I’d eventually do, and I stepped in a dog hole. You see, they did little holes then the super-spreading coastal Bermuda grass leftover from when the yard was a pasture grows over them. Once the grass is mowed, it looks all smooth. But no, there are hidden holes.
Looks like smooth lawn. Is full of jokes, poop, and dead things (just one currently)
And I was in a hurry to empty the rain gauge of yesterday’s rainfall before today’s rain began. I walked fast. Big mistake. Down I went. Luckily I only slightly twisted my ankle and wrenched my back. I’d have fallen better, but I had my phone in one hand and my computer glasses in the other and didn’t want to break them. So my wrists are paying the price.
My wrist looks good, though, with my upgraded watch on it (the other one was getting wonky after many years of faithful service).
I didn’t even tell my friends today, because another one of them had a much scarier fall, making me feel grateful I wasn’t slipping in the bathroom. I’m also grateful my friend recovered miraculously and no worse for wear. I’m barely hurt.
See, no swelling. Just sandal tan.
Back to the rain, the creek has been rising since this afternoon. It’s supposed to keep raining the rest of the week, so who knows how high it will get or if I’ll get to ride horses again anytime soon. They’re probably all right with that, as well as with the cooler weather.
Rain annoys fire ants and they make these weird lines.
Who’d have guessed we’d have a rainy week in July when there isn’t even a hurricane!
The important thing about going to bed tonight is that it’s in my own bedroom, where I can wind down in comfort. Yes, the parts (mostly) arrived and the upstairs air conditioning unit is fixed. I hated to complain, since downstairs was fine and we are very fortunate to have the motorhome to sleep in (made challenging by the malfunctioning slide—those things are a lot of trouble). I’m happy to be upstairs doing my evening things.
Highlight of my day: new conchos for Apache’s saddle. One of his got lost. Let’s see if I can get them on.
To answer the question, these days I head upstairs at around 9 pm unless there’s something interesting on television (rare). I get ready for bed, but then I stay up blogging (as I am now), adding observations to iNaturalist, and reading. It’s nice and quiet and comfy, so I go to sleep when I feel like it, usually 10:30-11.
Here’s the male of the grasshopper I shared yesterday. Roseate skimmer. Or carmine.
Like in the olden days, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and read some more. They say using your phone wakes you up, but I select pretty boring articles. That helps when I wake up concerned about out someone or something.
One concern was that I discovered my very important knitting needle was broken. Luckily, I have many nail files from my nail strips packages, and they make great sanders. All fixed.
I’m usually up around 7 am, except for Thursdays, when I’m up at 6:15 to do open office hours at 7, for the Europeans who might need help with Planview apps. Few do. On the other hand, lots of folks needed help today! It evens out. I’ll really miss all the interesting people I meet once this job ends!
I’ll have more time to ride in the motorhome and look at weather phenomena then.
You may note that I sleep a lot. I always have needed more sleep than many people. I expected to need sleep as I got older, especially since my thyroid medication has bumped up my metabolism a bit. But I sure enjoy 9 hours. Lee sleeps more than me!
I’m yawning like Carlton, so time for bed!
I do fine on less sleep, but I don’t want to keep Lee up. If I could, I’d stay up so I could watch Colbert or the Daily Show. I miss them, but avoiding too much gnashing of teeth over news is healthy for me.
I’ve been very healthy most of my life, other than being incapable of pushing babies out and having a messed up gall bladder removed. I don’t become ill very often, either. Now that my slightly low thyroid and lady hormones have been adjusted, I’m one healthy elder.
And I’m a great photographer! It’s a katydid at sunset
But today I found out I have a condition! Here’s the story.
Yesterday the guy adjusting my back said I should get it x-rayed to be sure I hadn’t cracked a bone in there. That made sense— it was probably just bruised, but who would want to mess with it if you weren’t sure?
Not me, says Carlton.
So today I thought I’d go to the doctor to get it looked at, but they don’t have x-rays there. So I went to a nice standalone ER place as soon as I got my important work stuff done. It took longer than I’d hoped, especially since I’d forgotten to eat anything.
Goldie never forgets to eat.
Once the doctor found out I’d been thrown off a horse he went into covering all the bases mode and decided to get a CAT scan of my head and back. So, now I know what one of those is like. It’s not bad. Sort of fun, probably expensive.
The bubbles in the draining water are like my money draining away.
I was getting worried I wouldn’t make it home in time for my lessons with Tarrin, but eventually the nice doctor came back and told me that my head and back were okay, which I thought would be the case.
That lifted some dark clouds off my head.
But there was more. I have a splenic artery aneurysm. I guess they really look at you when they scan! It turns out these things are usually found when looking for something else. Mine is 1cm and they get concerned when they are 3cm.
I’m supposed to not fall off things, get kicked in the spleen, or get in a car accident. I told Drew and I think he’s holding off on the naughtiness. Just kidding. I’ll be in touch with my primary care doctor on Monday to see what to do.
Appropriate meme
My guess is they will want to check again in a year. Or they will yank out my poor spleen. I’d like to keep my organs.
Of course I’m still riding. Carefully. Both horses did well today at our place for lessons. It had rained a lot again last night, but we managed a lot with mostly walking. I’m so glad Drew is treating me normally again. That took a while!
No picture of me riding, so here is Tarrin schooling my handsome guys.
Hope you enjoy these sunset photos. There were colors I truly wish I could paint in tonight’s!
There was another horse show for the group I participate in, Working Horse Central. Sara and Aragorn went with me and Apache. We had to use our trailer, because Sara’s had gotten damaged in the storms. Mine had only been knocked off its stand, so it was a challenge getting it hitched to her vehicle, but Lee, Sara, and her nephew Justin got it done eventually.
I had a festive new outfit. It was a bit small.
The show had lots of participants, which was really cool. You always learn a lot from everyone at every level. Apache and I learned that a person recovering from a fall and a horse recovering from a laminitic episode aren’t going to do really well in the hottest day of the year so far.
Extra coordinated. My new helmet matched his tack.
I was disappointed in our standings, but we had some good moments and I was proud of how hard we tried. We both sweated a lot. Then I got all red. Luckily, our body worker Jackie was also in the show, and she had a functioning air conditioner in her living quarters trailer. Resting in there allowed us to at least try the final event, though we placed dead last and didn’t even get a ribbon. Wah. I thought we’d done okay, but the truth is that the other folks had great rounds. I enjoyed watching them through the haze of heat.
Doing our best!
I was also proud that I was able to do some of the cleanup and packing, though I felt awful. My back hurt from getting a chiropractic adjustment on the part I hurt worst when I unexpectedly flew off Drew. It needs more work!
Love this action shot of Sara and Aragorn. They are so much fun to watch as they get better and better.
And to add insult to injury, I had a huge blister on my heel, because I cleaned up the storm damage in my rubber boots with no socks on. That was MY fault. It sure made wearing cowboy boots uncomfortable.
Look at all the riders!
However, I survived. Apache did, too. He even made a new friend, one of the horses Tarrin is working with. I came into Apache’s stall to clean his poop, and caught them bonding through the open window. The gray horse was making cute little noises at Apache, and they were nuzzling. Then something happened and they both backed up and started yawning. It was so cute! Made the day worth it.
I don’t know what this means, but they were happy.
I really admire the people at these shows. Here’s an example. There was a woman who had trouble getting up on her horse. Her horse was blind in one eye. But once she was on and warmed up a bit, she was so obviously a skilled rider and the horse was very well trained. Her Agility round was awesome. I hope I’m still willing to put myself out there as long as possible, like her. Great role model for me.
As it is with car accidents, it takes a while to figure out all the places you hurt when you experience a “sudden dismount.” For example, when I’d just found myself on the ground, my shoulder and head hurt the most. But my rear end and arms are now bruised up, not the shoulder. My headache is mild, but all my core muscles are yelling at me. That’s probably from trying to stay up.
I’m completely innocent.
But let me tell you! Aleve (naproxen) is a miracle drug! I took two around 9 am and I felt ok until around 8 pm. They aren’t kidding with that 12-hour claim. Tomorrow I’ll just take one. I could tell I was sore all day, but I could walk, drive, bend over, and pick up 50-pound bags of horse feed. My bicep did complain at the latter, but the horses had to eat and their bins were empty.
I admit I did spend a little time today just watching these guys. (Hackberry Emperor)
Speaking of horses eating things, I was disappointed that Apache stopped taking his Prascend embedded in Sara’s fancy cookies. But she turned me on to something better, which I think Tarrin mentioned, too: sweet senior feed.
Senior feed with molasses FTW.
I guess it’s horse crack, chocolate brownie, or something. It’s pretty much the exact opposite of what Apache should eat. But he didn’t even notice his pill inside a handful of this stuff. Let’s hope it works, because I have 50 pounds of it and I’m certainly not giving it to the other horses.
You can give me more of that stuff!
I’m glad I’m back to enjoying the horses a bit more. They all seem content. It helps that it didn’t rain for two days so the pens aren’t solid mud. Of course, rain is coming tomorrow.
We will eat anything, including coconut.
I had a nice dinner with my son and his partner tonight. They were pretty chipper for people who had just returned from a challenging family trip. They figured out how to make the best of it, which ain’t easy. Those two are really thriving right now, and that makes me quite pleased.
Like this American Snout, they have good perspective (look at its little curled proboscis!)
I guess we are all looking at the positive side of our challenges right now. I hope it’s contagious!
This week I’ve spent more on horse care than I earned. The mobile vet came to give the horses all their immunizations and Coggins tests. And next week the equine dentist comes, so I’ll just have to find away to finance that. Next year I’ll try not to get the annual vaccines, dental care, bodywork, and a final rehab installment all at the same time! Oh, and there’s $400 in Apache medicine getting charged next week.
Take a deep breath and think of hummingbirds, Suna.
Yep, pets and livestock are expensive, when properly cared for. And we want to properly care for our animals. perhaps I’m better with their care than mine.
Blurry but pretty. Flapping its wings like me trying to get all these things done.
Proper care isn’t easy! Poor Lee was in charge of the dogs, most of whom have to be sedated to get them still and calm (just Goldie is calm enough to get through her exam unmediated). Alfred became a barrier so we couldn’t use the front door until he woke up.
I am unmoved.
Penney fell asleep on the vet tech, so she couldn’t be very helpful for a while.
I love a good lap.
As for the horses, I was in charge of them. I spent a long time cleaning Apache poop from the dry lot since it was past due (I’d done half yesterday). Then I haltered them all, as requested by the vet. All went well, and I managed to separate Drew out, since I got him taken care of at his $2K vet appointment in Bryan. It was hard, because they’ve all been sticking together like glue since Drew came home.
Don’t believe her. I’m the one they all stick to.
Well, all went well except for Mabel. She got nervous. So I spent 20 minutes calming her down using all the horse whispering I could muster. But it worked! She settled pretty well.
She’s in such great condition now. She shines.
She had to get drugged when it came to the strangles vaccine. She’s not font of things going into her nose. Dusty, on the other hand, was quite enchanted with his nasal spray. He even insisted on doing his Flehmen response right into the vet’s camera! He made it to her Facebook page with this.
Smile!
It was determined that Dusty has pinworms so all the animals will next get wormed. So many fun medical things for these guys! And wormer ain’t free, either. But they need it!
But I look good.
Apache, of course, was fine. I was happy to see his rain rot is getting better after his bath. And he is so calm now.
Or he’s still embarrassed by his leg wear.
We decided to get Fiona vaccinated, too. She didn’t like it much. I also realized she was a big mess with flies and burs all over her. So she got prescribed pour-over fly repellent. I should have thought of that myself. I’m going to try it tomorrow. She is also stuck in the “dry lot” with Apache now. Maybe that will help her. I have big plans to get her all groomed tomorrow, since everyone else is looking spiffy.
Yeesh. That’s a lot of medical stuff. But, the vaccines and tests plus the dentist are just once a year. Break it down by month and it’s only sort of expensive. I guess.
I’ll just have to squirrel away some funds.
At least hummingbird watching is free. These red salvias the pool guys put in were a good investment. I know the pictures are blurry, but I enjoyed the shapes. These are black chinned hummingbirds, by the way.
My blurry buddies. Males have the white stripe around their necks.
By the way, here’s a good bird article that I accidentally left at the top of the email version of this post. Oops.
The Hermits' Rest 