Friday, October 07, 2005, 19:32
Ouch!
That's the thing about accidents, you know. They happen in the blink of an eye -- in the split second when you think, 'I ought to be careful' -- but before you can act on being careful, it has happened.
There I was this morning, getting ready to take Pixie outside. I had put on my rubber boots because I knew the grass would be wet. I never for a moment thought about the porch being slippery. It had not rained recently. And it had not snowed.
I stepped out onto the porch, and the next thing I knew, my feet flew out from under me and I landed on my right side, hit my head, jarred my shoulder and my hip and my back and my elbow.
The porch was covered with ice and frost. Which I realized *after* I had gone down with a huge crash.
I laid there for a few seconds, seeing stars. I always thought that was a cliche, just something someone made up to describe the experience of hitting one's head. It's true, though, as I found out. Not necessarily that you see stars, but that you see twinkly lights in your field of vision.
I got to my feet. Nothing seemed to be broken, and I found that if I walked slowly, I could navigate well enough. I went out into the yard with Pixie, and a few minutes later when I got back into the house, it came to my attention that my elbow hurt. A lot. I pulled up my sleeve. A nice one-inch long strip of skin had been peeled back along my elbow. And my head hurt. Boy, did my head hurt. Just walking around was enough to make it pound.
As soon as I thought I could manage the steps, I went downstairs and got a rug to put out on the porch. I should have done that a while ago. I *know* the porch is slippery when it's covered with frost. I just wasn't thinking about frost this morning.
Live and learn, as they say. Because you can bet I will be thinking about frost on the porch after this!
Cream of the Crop: The copies of my new book, "Cream of the Crop," arrived yesterday afternoon. I was thinking that it would be at least another week. So, if you have ordered a copy, I will be getting them shipped out in the next few days. If you would like to order a copy, send me an e-mail at -- bigpines@ruralroute2.com -- and be sure to include your shipping address.
Nightshade: Our little black kitty cat, Nightshade, injured herself again (hip and/or back) so it was back to the vet this afternoon for another shot of cortisone and some pain medication. The lady I talked to at the clinic had just written down "check cat" after I called this morning. The rest of them thought that it was Juliette I was bringing in -- and they were all worried that she had taken a turn for the worse after her illness with an intestinal infection that started a week ago today. But, no. Juliette seems to be doing fine. For the moment, anyway. Still improving slowly. (I don't like to jinx these things by sounding too definite about progress.)
As for me, my hives are worse than ever, and I am about ready to jump right out of my skin. If they're worse yet by Monday, I may have to see about getting some cortisone for myself. I wonder if they'd give me some at the vet clinic? Nah. . .probably not. . .even though it seems like I have practically been living at the vet clinic lately.
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, October 06, 2005, 17:59
Something White
As I walked around the path on the south side of the hayfield this morning, I saw something white in the tall grass. I stopped, stared at it, and shivered a little. Yesterday the dewpoint was in the 70s with a temperature of nearly 80 degrees. I wore a tank top and sweated profusely while I was doing my morning chores. We had the air conditioning turned on in the house to cool the air and to keep the humidity lower.
Today, the temperature is in the 40s with a strong 30 mph wind out of the west. I wore a hooded sweatshirt, a zip up fleece jacket and gloves to do my morning chores. This evening, we will more than likely turn on the furnace for a while to take the chill out of the house.
As I stood there looking at the white thing in the grass on the south side of the hayfield this morning, it twitched and bounced and twitched and bounced. Our Springer Spaniel, Charlie, was a little ways ahead of me and only about 10 feet from the twitching, bouncing white thing in the tall grass.
'What *is* that?' I thought.
The white thing was just about even with the old washout that's on the south side of our hayfield. Years ago, the washout was a raw gully carved out by water running off the field. Now it has grown up to trees and does not erode anymore. There are many such washouts all around the area, the result of soil erosion going unchecked for years, until farmers started planting trees to stop it.
White I watched the white thing, Charlie kept sniffing his way forward.
And all at once, it hit me what the white thing was. . .
The white thing was the white ring around the neck of a Ring-necked rooster pheasant. The rest of the bird was well camouflaged in the tall grass, but once I realized it was a pheasant, I could see the rest of it.
The pheasant was very aware that Charlie and I were close by. Slowly and carefully, he turned, crept through the grass and stopped.
It was then that Charlie caught the pheasant's scent.
He sniffed and circled, sniffed and circled, trying to figure out where the pheasant was, his little docked tail going ding-ding-ding-ding as Springers are supposed to do when they catch a scent. If it was up to me,I wouldn't have had his tail docked, but it was already done by the time we got him. I once knew a Springer without a docked tail, and it didn't seem to affect his hunting ability one little bit.
Charlie kept sniffing and circling, coming closer and closer to the spot where the pheasant had been sitting. And once he reached that spot, he looked up, saw the pheasant a few feet ahead of him, stood in a point stance for a couple of seconds -- and then charged toward the pheasant.
That was enough for Mr. Rooster.
With a squawk and a cackle-cackle-cackle, he flew up, sailed across the open space and landed in a tree.
Charlie was very proud of himself for finding the pheasant. Of course, I knew he would. I think this was about the only time when I've been out walking with Charlie that I saw the pheasant before he did. What usually happens is that Charlie is sniffing around, finds the pheasant, flushes it, often right next to me, so that it explodes upward with squawk and a cackle, and I am so startled that I practically jump right out of my skin. You would think I would be used to it by now, seeing as we've had Charlie for 10 years, but I am not.
I suppose I will be seeing more rooster pheasants now that fall has arrived. I know there are hens around, too, but I rarely see the hens.
The trees are starting to turn. The sumac are bright red. And some of the maples in the hills are becoming pink and scarlet and sunshine yellow. The five-leaved ivy is vermilion and burgundy. And the aspens are turning gold. The woods are perhaps 25 percent color right now. The air is raw and damp. The hills are covered with a fine mist today. And I am glad for my hooded sweatshirt and fleece jacket and gloves.
Somehow it seems appropriate to see a rooster pheasant on the first day that really feels like fall.
Hives: I've still got my hives, but they *might* be a tiny bit better today. I am no closer to knowing why I broke out in hives. I hope they go away soon. I am getting tired of being itchy, taking diphenhydramine and feeling groggy all of the time!
Juliette: Juliette continues to improve very slowly. Every day she is a little better. She has started eating small amounts of kitty food, although she has not regained all of her strength yet.
Horses: This morning I closed the gate at the end of the lane and opened Isabelle's pasture gate so she could go into the L pasture next to Kajun's pasture. She tore up and down the lane, kicking up her heels and bucking. She did this for perhaps the first 30 minutes, with Kajun running along beside her on his side of the fence. He coughed a couple of times because of his heart condition but otherwise seemed all right. They sniffed noses over the fence. Isabelle squealed and struck at Kajun a few times. Eventually, Isabelle went into the L pasture to eat grass, and Kajun went back to the barn to get out of the wind and to eat hay. I am hoping that by letting Isabelle into the other pasture that she and Kajun can work out any "issues" they might have with each other in a more safe environment with a fence between them so that no one will get kicked and seriously injured. I would rather not have anymore vet bills for a while, if I can help it.
LeAnn R. Ralph