Friday, November 30, 2012

Eek! Maybe I made a mistake.

I got a phone call last night that some friends of mine would be passing through the area on their way to Florida.  We made a plan to meet and have lunch today.

IMG_8771Paul and Peggy IMG_5752 IMG_5761

I volunteered a couple of years at Balcones Canyonlands NWR with Paul and Peggy.  They’re from Vermont, and we had a good time working together.  We’ve kept in touch, and I was happy to see them again today.

Paul is an internal medicine doctor and surgeon (I hope I got that title right), and had a few suggestions for me concerning my upcoming surgery. Most importantly, he wrote down several important questions that I should ask my surgeon before having the procedure.  I will take those questions with me the next time I meet with Dr. Brodersen.  

71 Okefenokee NWR 2012-1322He also suggested that I take these pictures of the entrance to my rig to show the physical therapists at the hospital.  He said it would help them understand my circumstances, upon release from the hospital, so they could train me how I’m going to get in and out of my home.  My challenge now is how to get a paper copy of these pictures to show them since I don’t have a printer. Sad smile  Thanks, Paul.  It sure is nice to have a friend that’s a doctor!

Yesterday afternoon while I was digging the bird feeders out of my basement storage bins, a huge insect flew out of the storage area at me.  Big bugs give me the creeps, and this one took my breath away as I dodged it.  It looked like a gigantic stink bug to me.

IMG_1333 IMG_1331

I went to dump the tanks this evening about 5:00, and there it was again clinging to the inside of the water and dump hook-up door!  It made me think about that assassin type insect out at the Homestead that I took a picture of the other day.  That bug has a painful bite, so this one made me nervous.  I decided to knock it off with my cane, and then I squished it with a board.  Wow!  It did put off quite an odor that just hung in the air.  The thing was almost three inches long.

I’m not sure crunching it was such a good idea.  When I came around to the other side of the rig, I found another one sitting on top of the red Ortho Home Guard Insect spray bottle that can be seen in the pics of the rig entrance steps above. Disappointed smile

Then, when Emma and I came inside for the evening, I could hear the loud droning of some insect dive bombing me inside the rig.  It turned out to be another of these big insects.  I wonder if the odor emitted by the one I squashed attracted others to the area?  I took a deep breath, put on rubber gloves, grabbed a dish rag, and scooped up the bug inside the rig and threw it out the window!  I’m thinking this is definitely not a ‘pink’ job!  Where’s a ‘blue’ man when you need one???  Crying face The whole episode just gave me the shivers.  Guess I’m just a wimp!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy