Tabby Toes

Tabitha has her favorite spots in the house selected. The drawer in the bathroom that USED to be for extra towels is her bed. She sleeps there every night and has staked a claim on the space. I had to go out and buy more towels because she also claimed the ones in the drawer.
Her second favorite place is in the kitchen on a stand that USED to be where I put my purse when I came home. Now it has a nicely padded area on top where she and Sam hang out and watch birds. The dish there is really Sam's, but he doesn't seem to mind sharing with her, and she definitely thinks it's at least half hers.

A new trail

This is an inline skater's/naturalist's/birder's dream path, located at the newest Metropark in Dublin, Ohio, Glacier Ridge. I thought my previous 2 favorite trails were good, but man, this is fabulous! Glacier Ridge, as the name implies, is set on 1038 acres left by the retreating Wisconsin Glacier thousands of years ago in what was most recently farm land. Since acquiring the land, the parks service is returning it to its previous state prior to agricultural use. Thousands of conifers and deciduous native trees have been planted, and the open areas have been seeded with a mixture of native grasses. There are

200 acres of restored wetlands and vernal pools set within the woods. Throughout this natural wonderland weave these paths, curving into and out of the woods, around grasslands, and nearby ponds and marshy areas. Bluebirds swoop and dive, red wings call from their precarious post atop cattails, and warblers fly into the protected grassy areas. The views are alternately wide open and canopied by newly leafed-out trees in the mature forest. There will no doubt be many pictures from this magical place.

Joy! Joy!! Charlie's back!

My bunny buddy has bounced back and is the happy guy he usually is. Even as late as yesterday afternoon I still was very concerned, as he didn't want his afternoon meal of greens and pellets. We have an appointment at 10:30 this morning which I am happily going to cancel!
He did eat some hay yesterday afternoon, and was leaving bunny poops in the cage- good things- but he still wasn't acting normally. I gave him extra orchard grass, which he seemed to like, and bought dandelion greens last evening- a favorite of all the bunns'- and he really liked those too. And this morning, when I opened his cage, he came running out just like old times, for his banana. He did 'thump' when I walked toward him, which is the way rabbits express fear or distress, by stamping their back feet hard, but I think he was just afraid that we were going to do more "bad things" to make him better. When I left the house, he and Stuart were flopped together in their cage in a post prandial pellet nap. It's a good day.

Charlie

The little guy in the foreground is our mini lopp-eared bunny, Charlie- or Charlie Brown, as I call him, just because he is brown, not because he is like the real Chuck. Charlie is our happiest rabbit, but he became ill yesterday, as he has done, unfortunately, many times before. We know he's down when he stops eating and doesn't come running from his cage when we open it. Yesterday morning he turned down his favorite treats and stayed in, so we knew it was another episode. For rabbits, not eating can become life-threatening in a short time. (Most impulse rabbit buyers don't know this, but that's a story for another day.) So we know that we immediately launch into syringe feedings of anti-gas medicine, belly massage on a heating pad, pain shots and fluids given under the skin. Usually, this is all that is needed, and in a few hours he's back munching away. Yesterday, he didn't improve, so we went to his special rabbit vet- not too many veterinarians know how to care for a rabbit; they are considered exotics. He was x-rayed and no intestinal obstruction was found, so we went back home with an additional medicine to improve gastric motility. He got a shot of Valium at the vet's office and had the munchies afterwards, which is common. He did eat some hay, but wanted nothing else, and this morning still is not himself. So I'm a bit worried about my boy and hope that when I go home in a few hours, he'll be better.

Can you see him??

Right in the very center of this picture, can you see the dark object at the top of the tree in the middle of the reeds? OK, admittedly it is a small spot, but it is a red wing black bird protecting his domain. Undoubtedly, somewhere in the protective grass below, his female companion (Significant Other? Wife?) is in their nest with their future offspring. One of the reasons I enjoy a morning commute via bicycle is that I get to pass by the wetlands. This time of year I usually get buzzed by a red wing, just to make certain I know to stay away from HIS territory...So far this year I'm still waiting. The red wings' buzzy trills fill the cool morning air, joined by the songs and calls of robins, cardinals, song sparrows, and some species whose songs I don't know. Everywhere along the trail it is green, green, green, no doubt because it has rained for days here. The forecast is for one nice sunny day- today- and a return of rain for the rest of the week. I'll enjoy today.

Time

This isn't a picture of my watch, per se. It's just a Timex with the required nurse's second hand and real numbers rather than just lines. (Which leads me to say Happy Nurses Week to all my fellow nurses out there.)
Nope, this is a picture of the artificial measure that humans created long ago so that we could tick off the passage of our lives in some standard way. Lately, I swear that someone is playing a joke on me and the hands go around WAY faster than they used to. I just don't seem to have enough of that time stuff- not in a day or a week, or- hey, it CANNOT be May already. Didn't we just put the Christmas tree away?
Obviously the older we get the more we try to squeeze into a minute. My days are very full, but they are a good full. If I could change the time I spend it would be less at work and more at home. However, that isn't an option right now, so I don't dwell on it. I like my work, love my home and my family and my animals. I don't mind doing laundry or cleaning, although I admit to spending very little time cooking. And then there are also the pleasures of gardening and reading a good book, or doing a project for the class I'm taking at Ohio State. And I can't forget how much fun it is to rollerblade or take the dogs for a walk.
The one thing that I am so grateful to my hospice patients for is they taught me to enjoy, savor, and appreciate every day, as none of us are promised one second more than the one we have right now, and oops- there goes that one, and another, and- see, someone IS playing tricks with my watch. Have a good day!

Wild Violets

Cost of a Birdie gas fillup: $42 + Beautiful spring morning = Riding my bike to work today.
There were violets everywhere: purple and pink were on Mother Nature's chosen palette this May morning, with pink Dogwoods along the path in the woods. As I rode along, a red-tailed hawk's flight path took him directly overhead and reminded me how big those birds are. I was thankful at that moment to be a big human instead of a mouse or bird.
Every spring at the wetlands sanctuary, a goose- I assume it's a mom and maybe the same mom- nests at the top of a hillock island in the pond with one tree at the top providing shade. I had hoped to see and photograph her this morning, but the little hill was vacant as I went past. If I was a goose mom, I think I would choose that spot for a nest too. Happy May Day!