Shingles - what a relief! ...sort of

I took this picture as I was driving home from the doctor's office a bit before noon. It was the first morning that my car thermometer registered in the subzeros in our neighborhood, where it read -2 (-19C). In downtown Wasilla, where, in times of cold, it is always significantly warmer, it registered in the upper single digits some places and all the way up to 11 in others.

These past three nights and days, I had been wondering if maybe I had reached my end. That's how great the pain in my chest was. Each night after going to bed, I had hit the point where I was ready to get up and dash for the emergency room and would have done so if my insurance company had not forced me out by raising my premiums so damn high. Then there was all that strange stinging and burning on my skin.

I did not think I would have a heart attack, and yet I thought I might.

Sometimes I thought, "I just overdid it, this time, tough it out for a week or so and it will go away."

Then, last night, I discovered a horrible, ugly, rash curving around the left side of my torso.

This morning, I went to the office of my doc. She was booked solid, but a PA who is working with her took a look and he quickly diagnosed "shingles."

Shingles, for those who may not know, is the chicken pox you had as a child rearing up once again, but in a more brutal, painful, way. It is a herpes virus and never goes away. Once you have chicken pox, it is there for the rest of your life. It can attack you at any time, expecially when you are exhausted and under stress.

It had never sprung out on me like this before. The PA said it undoubtedly happened because of all the work stress I have been under, all the nights with little to no sleep. He gave me some prescriptions, but said it won't go away until I am able to rest up.

I hate these shingles, but, I am great relieved. I half expected to be hospitalized in the cardiac unit.

He said I will probably have to endure this for two weeks although hopefully the meds will help.

In the meantime, I cannot pick up little Lynx or Jobe, or give Kalib a hug.

I could give them chicken pox.

The eagle that lost the competition with Jobe; eagle above, ravens below; eagle flies

Three days ago, I posted a picture of Jobe sleeping in the car, and wrote about how he had to compete with an eagle for that spot, and he won.

This is the eagle that Jobe beat.

A raven is perched on a branch below.

I didn't mention it, but on the day before yesterday there was also an eagle in the competiton - a younger one, that I saw in the same tree as I drove by with Lavina, the two of us sipping coffee. This eagle had to compete with two smart-aleck horses and a school bus for the next slot on the blog.

The eagle lost.

I am certain that you already have, but, just in case you haven't, please note the five ravens on the gravel bar below.

So late Saturday afternoon, after I visited Metro, I returned to the same place, this time with a telephoto lens. The light was dim, so I had to push my ISO way up high into the digital noise range. I hoped there would be a bunch of eagles hanging about, but I found only this juvenile.

It was suspicious of me. 

An older eagle, with a full head of white, will generally stay put when you draw near, but you never know about a young one.

The young eagle decided to go.

Bye, bye, eagle - see you in Texas.

If you go to Texas... if I go to Texas.

Why would either one of us be going to Texas?

View images as slideshow

Twelve hours; Baby Lynx

Went to bed at midnight, woke up at 5:54 AM and said to myself, "I can go to Family Restaurant right now, be there when they open and get my corner table for sure." Instead, I fell back to sleep. Didn't get up until after noon, just a few minutes ago.

I woke up a briefly a few other times during the night, all right, but it was good to sleep.

Here's Baby Lynx, two days ago, when he, his ma, and his bros were visiting us.

The black horse, Hypotamus Two, the school bus and the red horse

"Hey Bill!" the black horse neighed at me as hordes of children packing sling shots boarded the school bus a short distance down the road, "shouldn't you be getting on that bus? You look like you could use some education!"

"No, Black Horse - what a foolish thing for you to say," I shouted back. "I graduated long ago. My schooling is long done."

"You?" the horse responded disdainfully, "You? You graduated? No. You are lying. You could not possibly have graduated, knowing as little as you do."

"Black Horse, I did graduate. Furthermore, I was Valedictorian of my senior class at Oxford."

"OK," the black horse answered, "explain Hypotamus Two, then."

So I explained Hyotamus Two in great detail.

"Dummy!" the black horse responded as the doors closed on the school children and the bus began to roll, "you don't grasp Hypotamus Two at all. A kindergartner could have explained Hypotamus Two better than you just did. You should have gotten on that bus."

The horse then turned his butt toward me and said no more.

"Black Horse was right," the red horse then interjected. "You need some education. You should have gotten on that bus."

I happen upon an eagle, then must choose between it and my grandson

As I drove home the long way on my coffee break, I saw a bald eagle, perched on a bare branch high in a tree over the Little Susitna River. I stopped, got out, got as close to it as I could without falling into the river, took a few pictures, got back into the car and continued my journey toward home.

I was tired, weary, lacking in energy. I did not want to do anything that I did not have to do. "That's it," I told myself. "This will be my one picture for the day. I will shoot no more. I will post just this one."

When I arrived home, I was surprised to see Lavina's car idling in the driveway. The fact that it was idling told me that she was keeping it warm because Jobe had fallen asleep on the drive out and was still napping.

I peeked through the glare and the images of bare trees reflecting off the windshield and, sure enough, there was Jobe, napping peacefully.

Sorry, eagle.