I think it was a mother and child. There were two of them on the feeder this morning at 8 am. Yes, we got up early because I had (sigh) another doctor appointment. This was the one with the pain doctor. First they surprised me by hitting me with a bill for $225 dollars. Huh? I said that if they were going to charge me that much money, we can forget treatments because that’s a quarter of my Social Security check. They waived the fee and the doctor said: “We will work it out.” Massachusetts is good that way and I am so clearly desperate for help. First, photographs, then, my news — or more realistically, my update.
And the best picture of the day! Mother squirrel shaking off the rain. We only got a little bit. Much more is expected later tonight and tomorrow!
Shaking the rain off his fur. I didn’t know it had rained until I saw this photograph! It must have rained earlier in the morning.
THE UPDATE: IT’S COMING ALONG
It’s getting better. The pain in my back is definitely less and I can actually sleep on my side, something I haven’t been able to do for at least the past ten years. So now I’m dealing with getting my stomach back to being ready to actually eat food. The pandemic is in high gear, especially around here so I’m not going anywhere. The big question now is how well is this going to work and how long is the remission from pain going to last? But I’m definitely better and have a reasonable hope that I will be as close to “normal” as I get. What IS normal, anyway?
Share this:
Categories: #animals, #gallery, #Health, #Photography, #Squirrel, Anecdote, Arthritis, Blackstone Valley, Nature, UPDATE!, Wildlife
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
I’ve captured a few wet squirrels before… one who was utterly soaked (and wouldn’t get out of the rain). But shaking the water off like a dog… that’s something I don’t think I’ve even seen before, let alone got a photo of! Cool shot!
LikeLike
What I do these days is find the subject and just keep shooting. I try to keep the critter in the middle of the frame, but I don’t try to wait for “something to happen” because when you wait, you’ve already missed the shot. I go through a lot of batteries and get a lot of fuzzy and duplicate (or nearly duplicate) shots, but I also get shots like this that I would NEVER see if I wasn’t just shooting. I learned this from a guy who shot rodeos for a living. He said “Open up the camera to it’s longest setting and just shoot. Out of 1000 shots, I get 10 great ones, 150 good ones. ” And that’s what I do.
Wild things move so fast if you wait for them to do something, you’re too late. Garry also taught me the whole “JUST SHOOT” and that’s what I do. It went against everything I thought I knew about photography, but sometimes, you get a really great picture — just one, but it’s worth it. Its’ really exactly the same as shooting sports. I just have to think of squirrels as baseball players and I’m home free 😀
LikeLike
I’m glad to hear you are feeling better so far. Fingers crossed this will really help you. The squirrel photos are great. Possibly my favourites of all your squirrel pictures.
LikeLike
They looked like performers at a circus and absolutely hilarious. They also were fun because the did it all in tandem!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I sure hope the injections work Marilyn. Pain can really drag you down.
Leslie
LikeLike
So far it feels better. Not everywhere yet, but the main site (middle of lower spine) definitely feels better, so maybe, just maybe, it’s going to be better. That would be cream in my coffee.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It sounds promising, give it time and take it easy.
Leslie
LikeLike
Love those acrobatic squirrels and here’s hoping the injections work.
LikeLike
You think I could make it big on the bird feeders?
LikeLike
A back operation 53 years ago would be quite outdated by today’s standards I’m sure. You would have been very young when you had this surgery. I had no idea about it and am sorry to learn of it. I hope the injections help, Marilyn.
LikeLike
I was 18. By the time I left the hospital I was 19. It was incompetent surgery EVEN then but I didn’t know it. I was young. No one really understood the way it should have been done — EVEN then. It was a long time ago, so now my job is to make the best of it. Even IF I’d known back then, once it was done, there was nothing that could have been done to repair it.
LikeLike
What an awesome shot of that squirrel shaking off the rain! Kudos to you, Marilyn. Hope the steroid shots help some. But for what it’s worth, my 92-year-old mother-in-law just underwent carpal tunnel surgery, a few months ago she had her teeth removed for dentures, and last year she had surgery on her shoulder, and she not only survived all those surgeries but she is doing very well – much better, I think, that I would, even though I’m 25 years younger. Maybe there is a back surgeon out there who could help you.
LikeLike
I have been EVERYWHERE and anyone willing to do it just wants the money. It would be terribly dangerous and the odds of it working well are almost nil. Sometimes, you just can’t fix it.
That IS a good picture. I didn’t know I was taking it at the time. I couldn’t see the raindrops.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do hope that the injections work.
LikeLike
I think that is a yes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great.
LikeLike
Fingers crossed for you, Marilyn. That is way too long to live with such pain. I wonder how many others that surgeon mangled?
LikeLike
My hope is he retired right after me. He should not have been doing spine surgery. For all he knew, he might have been great, but too much time had passed. I should have known better or my parents should have known. SOMEONE should have known, but it was a LONG time ago.
LikeLike
Fingers crossed that the injections work. I’ve had them in various (much less important!) joints… and after the initial discomfort, they’ve done the job. I hope they do for you.
LikeLike
I feel pretty good today. I know it’s early, but it does feel better, so here’s hoping!
LikeLike
That’s good to hear!
LikeLike
All the steroids have done some very icky stuff to my stomach. I’m fine — as long as I don’t eat anything. If I eat, I get immediately sick. BUT my back feels better and I guess dealing with an overload of steroids is just the price of the ticket. I think we always pay a price. My body doesn’t like drugs. Finding ones that work for me and don’t make me sick are difficult to find — and I take so many. Sheesh. I always wonder what all these pills are REALLY doing. But my BP is more or less normal and my heart still beats and most of the time I can breathe. What more do I expect?
Our world is a strange place.
LikeLike
Tell me about it. All the drugs I’m on at the moment are doing dreaful things too…but on the whole I feel and am better for them…so I can’t complain too much. Apart from looking like a bald, overfed chimunk 😉
LikeLike
There’s always a payback. I haven’t been able to keep any food down in two days. Steroids don’t agree with me, but they are the only thing left that has a chance of working and it was a big deal that he managed to get the needles in the right places. It’s very messy back there. And we learn to deal with the pain and discomfort anyhow, so it’s a calculation. Does this hurt MORE than I’m already hurting? If it does, will it make me a little better even if it isn’t a cure? My son seems to have my back — just without the bad surgery, so he’s going through PT and seems to be doing well with it. And ALL of this in the middle of a pandemic that in this country — and maybe yours — is out of control. This resurgence is worse than the first wave.
Every governor in the country is trying to convince people to NOT visit their families for Thanksgiving so they can live to see Christmas. I can’t even invite my granddaughter over this time. I know — because she told me — she and her friends don’t bother with masks. The virus is raging around the country and finally came back here. We’d almost gotten rid of it, at least in Massachusetts. Almost wasn’t enough.
LikeLike
They don’t agree with me either..but so far they have been a necessary part of the plan here. As to covid, no, you cannot afford to fall ill with it…not on any level…
LikeLike