Be Back Soon… I Promise!
I had this notion that I would try and stick with doing a full year’s worth of blogging every day. Why a year? I don’t know. Just because it sounded good, I guess. It felt like a nice solid accomplishment to shoot for.
Well, it’s only been a little more than three months of continuous blog posts, but I’m gonna’ need to take a bit of a break. I’m hoping to only be gone about a week or so as I really do enjoy sharing photos and stories of the things I love most with all of you. My GI problems don’t seem to be resolving all that quickly and I really want to try and focus as much of my energy as possible on feeling better and getting back outside where I belong. I’m doing OK and other than being somewhat uncomfortable and very exhausted, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.
(Though I chose a photo of a California Ground Squirrel for this post, I can’t resist mentioning that the fox family continues to come around regularly — several times a day now for the past 6 days! Watching them from the window or out the front door has been such a incredible and unimagined delight! In between foraging for dried olives on the ground they will occasionally romp and play, leaving me completely smitten. There are at least 4, and possibly 5 of them. We have seen more foxes in the last week than we have in the last 7 years of living here. I’m sure it’s entirely coincidental, but I can’t help but feel that the “nature gods” decided to smile on me just when I needed it most. Despite how crummy I feel, I can’t possibly say I wish this last week hadn’t happened or I’d have to give up all those wonderful memories in the bargain.)
After over 100 consecutive daily blogs, its a well-deserved break. Hope your GI thing clears up over the next few days, we’ll all be here when ya get back 🙂
I feel I’ve said it so many times before that my words are no longer adequate, but “thank you” Chris, for your encouragement and kindness. I had thought that I might feel really disappointed in myself for breaking my running streak… but I’m not. I know it’s OK to take a break sometimes and I certainly have no doubts that you and my other wonderful, loyal readers will still be here when I return. Mostly, I’m just feeling a bit sad about not getting to share in this space every day, but I know that (at least for right now) my energy is needed elsewhere. Ahhh, but what the hell… Now that I’m here, I guess I can’t resist sharing a few things! *GRIN* The foxes continue to appear, though for briefer visits and not as many of them. Sadly, our unique time with them may be coming to a close. For those who aren’t a fan of summer and can’t wait for fall to arrive, I’ve observed a few wonderful tell-tale signs of the seasonal shift beginning. A tarantula out exploring at dusk — an increasingly frequent occurrence in the coming months. (Almost certainly a male searching for a female to mate with.) Also, the Northern Flickers have begun making their loud, repetitive and punctuated “keow!” calls again. (Most sources describe this call as “kyeer”, but it never sounds like that to me.) I believe our local population of these birds is year-round, but for some reason in the middle of summer they become very difficult to observe and nearly silent. Lately, I’m hearing them every morning though. OK, I gotta’ go now… you’re a bad influence, Chris. HA HA. I’m just kidding. You (and all my friends who visit here) are the best kind of influence and inspiration for me.
Hey, Harsi of the hills… just want to join Chris in acknowledging your streak of over *100* daily (consecutive) blogs! Whoooo-hoooo 🙂 And I love that you can’t resist sharing some of your latest observances outside. It’s all so interesting — especially to me here on the east coast! As Chris said above too, we will all be here whenever you chose to blog again?.
Whoops! I totally forgot to post your comment, Lisa. Just goes to show how spacey and out-of-it I’ve been lately. *grin* Oh, well. Thank you, thank you for cheering me on. The more I think about it, the more impressed I am that I actually managed such a long streak. And I’ll do it again too! I truly do believe that I’ll be back to blogging every day sometime soon. I think at this point though, the vacation may be longer than I anticipated. We’ll see… I still get the urge to post all the time, but find I am just feeling to exhausted and overwhelmed at the moment. Here’s another mini-update though… The incredibly intense heat here has been enticing a lot of the mammals towards the houses where it is shadier and there are ample water sources. As I suspected, the regular fox sightings have ceased, but I did just see one last night in front of the house and very early this morning we saw a very exciting interaction between a pair of coyote and some of the deer. The deer were rather aggressively chasing off the coyote, presumably in response to their increased maternal care of the half-grown fawns. A little while later, I spotted a very, very hot looking bobcat rounding the side of the house. So, in addition to all the squirrels and rabbits, there have been a lot of critters running around and giving me plenty to feel grateful for. I miss you all and sincerely hope that everyone is doing well and finding plenty of joy and wonder in their lives.
cute overload! just swinging by quick-like to see how you’ve been feeling. I’ll send an email soon, Garry busted up his hand and broke some fingers and bones today with a splitting maul. My turn to be the caretaker. Hope you’re on the mend, sending good wishes and vibes from the north! xox\
Hiya, Cindy! Thank you for stopping by to check in on me… very sweet of you. I can’t even remember how long ago it was that I said I would write you back after your last e-mail, but I’m hoping that we’ve known each other long enough now that you know my long silence is in no way a reflection of my affection for you. Some things have definitely improved for me, but other things remain stubbornly difficult. I know you will understand and appreciate it when I say that at least my head is staying in a pretty good place. When you don’t comprehend what your body is doing or what went wrong, it can be so easy to let everything else shut down as well… your heart, your mind, your spirit. I’ve not been letting that happen this time and that is a HUGE step in the right direction! I had to look-up what exactly a “splitting maul” was… Oh my! OUCH!! I feel so badly for Garry! I hope you and he have come up with a good way to manage his pain while he heals. I have no doubts about your ability to provide him with the loving care he needs. Despite the many hurdles you face, you always find a way to come through for those you love. I’m eagerly accepting all those good wishes and vibes your sending — thank you. xo P.S. Just in case I don’t manage to write you a “real” e-mail soon, I’ve been wanting to say a few things about stuff on your blog… Re: “Starry-eyed” – That mantidfly is spectacular!! Perhaps it was not your intent, but imagine if I could look closely enough into its amazing eye, it might look exactly like that beautiful woodland flower. Re: “What a Wonder Full World” – Who could help but fall in love with that little green tree frog? I adore all your photos of frogs and newts… but — WOWZA!! — that is one seriously impressive treehopper! May the wonder of this world never fail to delight either one of us, C!