The 5th Year

     I have a lot to celebrate today and everyday, 5 years ago on this day I went home from work on my bike and that's all I remember.
     I woke up in a hospital bed, I remember my mom and dad and Tim- I think that was it. Memory then was very fuzzy after being doored by someone exiting a car. Don't remember it happening but my body gave me a few mementos to remember the event by: concussion, complete with brain contusions, lung contusions, fractured skull, fractured clavicle, vertigo, and short term memory loss. My memory was so bad I'd travel to appointments with pad and paper if I had to go alone.
     It was a rough 2 solid months of recovery- I sat home with a cat and parrot. It was depressing- being ordered not to work, but not actually sick. A doctor finally cleared me to start going for walks- actually he recommended it, to build my confidence and short little walks to see how I felt. I'll never forget my first birding walk, the birds, the nature was so therapeutic. Nature and the outdoors heals me- it calms me, focuses me, I get some exercise, and I happen to love the creatures that occupy the outdoors.
     So, I celebrated today. I had just enough time before the sun set to walk around by myself in the salt marsh and enjoy that I still get to live, savor the sights, and experience what life throws my way.

As the tide dropped it invited more and more leggy birds to come feed. A blue heron holds onto a spot it likes. Later black-crowned night herons, yellow-crowned night herons, and greater yellowlegs noisily joined this bird.

This is a female mantis and she is GRAVID! Her fat abdomen is full of eggs. This fall she will leave behind an ootheca, a case that will contain her eggs and over winter attached to a twig or woody reed. She will die with the oncoming cold, but if her ootheca makes it through winter- without becoming a high protein survival snack for a bird-- her babies will emerge in the warm season that follows.
She is a gorgeous creature, I'm in love with mantis'.

Goldenrod- a lifesaver for migrating nectar eaters. Goldenrod blooms into fall and is a lifeline for monarchs, bees, and others. The goldenrod was also amazingly fragrant, and that combined with the smell of salt in the air was perfection.

The most wonderful thing was watching the monarchs carefully select a roost for the night. In the dropping temperatures, the monarchs must rest, they are solar powered and in the night there is much danger. Monarchs find a nice tree and gather overnight for safety. This was one of two, perched together, inches apart.
When they overwinter in Mexico, their roosts are amazing and massive, a natural wonder of its own.

I spied this little corn snake in a tank in the nature center. What a cute little noodle! Reminded me of my late Jake. 

A perfect evening walk to remind myself how fortunate we are to experience the natural world around us.

AND- this Saturday 10/6/18- I am participating in a Global Big Day birding outing with friends- and via the Feminist Bird Club- we are raising money for CVTC- to support victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Please consider supporting us by visiting our donation page, here!

Wish us luck!