Category: A Daily Tree

This tree (slightly blurry foreground) is going to be gravely disappointed when winter comes back, which it will.

Art tried to take a walk and fell down on his face. Not really a cognitive failure this time, as far as I can tell – more likely just stumbled on a rock – bad luck (Friday the 13th, as Jan pointed out).

This was just on the road (Port Saint Nicholas Road AKA The Expressway), only steps from our house. I had been out on my own walk, with the dog, so I found him lying in the middle of the road when I got back to our house. At first I thought it was a log that had fallen out of someone’s pickup truck, because of his brown coat. Then I realized, and in the moment I found him, he was unresponsive. He did finally respond. It took about 10 minutes to get him to stand up – he’s too heavy for me to simply lift (and he resists my effort to try to lift him because he claims it hurts his shoulders, which is no doubt true, but having him cuss at me while I’m trying to help because it hurts isn’t helpful).

Finally I got him to the car. I got my wallet and such and we drove to town. We got him to the clinic (the sorta kinda “emergency room” on the island) after a 30 minute drive. He was still bleeding.

They cleaned the wounds (sorta), did some xrays, checked vitals. He’d broken his nose and there was gravel embedded in a deep gash between his eyes, and a large patch of missing skin on his forehead. After two hours (I suppose it’s just a matter of being “under observation” but of course he complained repeatedly at how long it was taking), they gave us some prescriptions and gauze and antibiotic ointment and sent us on our way. They want us to keep the wounds as uncovered as possible but keep them moist with the antibiotic. For the broken nose, they gave him an anti-inflammatory.

I knew he wasn’t feeling too terrible since he decided to spend the drive home criticizing my driving.

When we got home, I walked up to the spot where he’d fallen down 5 hours earlier. There had been so much blood. The drizzle had washed some of it away, but some blood was definitely still visible in the mud of the road.

Some days are harder than others.

[daily log: walking, 5km; dogwalking, 3km]

This tree stood aside as I commuted home as the sun set at 3:30.

[daily log: walking, 4km; retailing, 6hr]

This tree is down at the neighbors’ house. I took it a few days ago, when things were snowier.

Today, it rained a lot. The snow has washed into a kind of slush underlain with ice.

We went to the neighbors and had a Christmas dinner. Other neighbors came from farther down the road, too. It was a very low-key Christmas.

[daily log: walking, 4km; dogwalking, 3km]

This tree was down at the ice-covered beach.

The air was so cold that the freshwater running down from the river was freezing on the surface of the salty sea. Then, as the tide withdraws, it leaves the sheets of ice lying on the beach.

I’ve been struggling lately, feeling discouraged by my various projects and obligations. Not just discouraged… bored, too, I guess.

I spent a few hours today trying to start our generator. I thought it would be easy. A brief power failure this morning reminded me that it was something I wanted to make sure worked. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. It’s brand-new – I’m not sure what’s wrong with it. And it’s too cold outside for me to want to spend more time troubleshooting it (I’d rather not start a gasoline engine indoors!).

There’s a quote attributed to Vincent Van Gogh: “I take great care of myself by carefully shutting myself away.”

This is relatable, today.

[daily log: walking, 3km; dogwalking, 3km]

This tree stands along the road a little bit west of our driveway.

The neighbors’ dog and I took a walk. Here she is resting a moment at the top of the west driveway.

The continuous rain-snow-rain-snow thing seems to have ended. Now cold air has arrived from northeast, and things will get very cold, but clear.

[daily log: walking, 3km; dogwalking, 3km]

This tree is along the snowy road. I took it a few days ago. More recently, the snowy road is an icy road.

Art and I went to town today, to do our “Thursday shopping” one day late. We didn’t go yesterday because I thought the roads would be too icy to drive easily. I thought the same thing today, but we went anyway, because I saw forecasts of a snowstorm coming, and I thought: “Well, the roads aren’t going to get better, they’re going to get worse.”

Indeed, the road was very icy. I drove very slowly, only slid around a little bit a few times, and the scariest part – the 6-mile hill – was much better than the other parts. I think some good Samaritan must have spread some salt or sand or something on the steep parts of the hill. We survived. And shopped.

[daily log: walking, 2km;]