All posts by richardhoeg@gmail.com

Falling Down … Getting Back Up!

When you fall down, you get back up!
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Today I took my first bicycle ride up the shore since I collapsed due to my bad heart valve. I told Molly I was going on a ride, and she asked if I wanted her to come along. I thanked Molly, but said I needed to conquer my fear on my own (I was greatly afraid of collapsing and crashing).
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While I am not out of the woods yet, and have another heart operation scheduled for April 2nd, I am doing well. However, when your last ride led to a crash due to “blackouts”, taking your first ride since getting a new valve is scary.
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Everything went fantastic, and I saw perfectly … no blackouts … no crashes. Given the 40F sunny day with light winds it was a great day to bike the shore. I both cried for joy, and then hummed the theme from Rocky.
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I was dog tired upon getting home, but it was a good tired. Oh yes, Molly was smart and decided to take a bike ride of her own. While I am certain she just wanted to get out enjoy the fantastic weather, just perhaps she also wanted to insure her husband was okay. It was nice to see her bicycle by on the other side of the road.
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Oh yes … remember I always bike with my Canon Sx70 Super Zoom camera. The Bald Eagles are migrating north. Seen during my ride today.

Snowy Owl Success

Late yesterday afternoon I looked outside and noticed my local trees were looking quite windblown. I had planned on looking for Great Gray Owls just before sunset, but any bird which hunts by hearing would find the conditions difficult. Wind whistling through the trees is noisy which makes hearing voles running beneath the surface of the snow almost impossible. Great Grays during windy conditions often do not hunt at all … hungry or not. Expending energy with little chance of success is dumb, and drains life energy.

Thankfully Snowy Owls hunt by sight, and as long as the wind is not too strong it is possible to find them on the tops of tall trees, power poles and light poles. After an hour of searching I found this immature male a bit before sundown.

Knocking Signs of Spring

This male Pileated Woodpecker was defining his territory yesterday afternoon. There are three really good “hollow log sounding board” trees in my yard. Every woodpecker for miles around knows those specific trees. My local woodpeckers are definitely starting to think about love! A lot of knocking going on …