In touch with nature

It was a beautiful weekend. I didn't get outside as much as I had hoped. There were too many other things to do. I still had a few interesting encouters with nature. I stepped out onto my back porch just as dawn was breaking on Sunday morning to find four deer looking back at me. They were hanging around back there and seemed very unimpressed by me. Then, while we looked at each other, a big and healthy fox came bounding out of the bushes, took a route through the group of deer, and then trotted under the red maple tree and away through the neighbor's yard. The deer didn't take much notice of that either and eventually divided into two sets of two and ambled away.

My other wildlife experience was to see a blue heron again this morning down along the river as I was walking. I have been taking those walks before dawn lately and haven't seen a heron for months. They might be there but I can't spot them. This morning one was right by the bridge and flew away as I approached. It's good to know that they're still in the area.

And finally, this was the weekend for the red maple to put on a show. It's usually a tawny burgundy color but for a few brief days in autumn it becomes a brilliant, pure red. In the late afternoon light it makes an arresting sight. I took these three photos yesterday afternoon. I think these are striking but even they don't capture the experience completely.

This is such a beautiful time of year.

Three years

It's hard to believe that it could be true, but it was three years ago today that I had my surgery to remove my lung tumor. Since I started this blog to keep people posted on my progress, I can't let this day pass without mentioning it. Three years. It's difficult to remember all the details now. Some seem so recent that it could have been yesterday. Other parts of that experience feel as if they had happened long, long ago.

I was surprised today to see a flower delivery van outside the house. I was even more surprised when the flowers turned out to be for me. They came from my sister and brother-in-law. They sent them to me to celebrate this landmark day. What a glorious surprise! I'm including a photo of them below. I like typical autumn colors, of course, but for flowers I'm more partial to the brighter colors of spring and summer like these.


The cat is featured in the picture. She's very fascinated by flowers or greenery of any kind. I had to move these out of her reach.

A lot has changed for me in three years. I do notice a significant limitation in lung capacity. That's not really a surprise but I thought I might be doing better than this by now. I think the doctors were trying so hard to reassure me that I'd have sufficient lung left to get through the day that they made it sound as if I wouldn't notice a difference at all. I do have plenty of lung left. At my most recent visit to the pulmonologist, he told me that my oxygen saturation was over 95% and that I am doing well enough that i don't need ot go back to him ever again - unless some new unpleasant thing develops. I'm so glad to have made it to this point so smoothly.

This was a typically beautiful autumn day. I took the picture below from my kitchen window just a few minutes ago. I enjoy looking at that tree as the seasons pass. It stands so much higher than anything that surrounds it. That puts it at greater risk of wind and weather damage but it continues to thrive.