Now this is cutting it a little close. Welcome to the last day of June or what we call at Intrigued HQ – “PPPD” or Potential Post Panic Day. That day comes on the last day of every month since the beginning of this blog over 18 years ago. A tip to the hat to all or blog friends out there with amazing output production (some of you crazies are daily ha). An early goal of getting into this format was to produce at least 6 posts/articles per month. Over that many months there has been some close ones when the “panic” sets in and our official (overpaid) post counting staff calls us up on that last day and says “Hey {snip}. we are short of our goal” – I censored the content of that call to protect all the kiddie ears out there. Brad has been a big help these recent years keeping those calls down, but things got away from me this June with all the doctor appointments etc. Fortunately, you can still bet on the “sure thing” we’ll get it done if we can – ultra runners are all about the grind.
While parsing through the photo queue, I noticed this series sitting in there and thought this was a fitting feathered friend to feature as it was also a “sure thing”…well, almost.
Hit the jump to read about another member of the Towhee family.
It’s official, I can now coast until the new year as the last of the 2024 stressors completed last Saturday night. I was slightly worried going into this last ultra-race of the season. Torqued up my ankle pretty bad during the haunt work that didn’t seem to be responding to my customary barrage of rude insults and brash comments regarding its lily-livered condition. Even broke down and had it forcibly unjammed by my Chiro, plus cut my taper short to give the weak-ass, dirty bilge rat of a joint several days of rest (link here). With all the extra attention. it was STILL tender race morning. I’ll do my regular race recap later, but in summary, about the only two things that went right the entire day was I got up on time and I willed myself across the finish line. Everything in between pretty much the proverbial shit show. Dispensed with the nag and went full blown crush on the bad ankle at mile TWO (slid off a rock under the leaves in the dark), stomach issues prevented me mid-race food, stung by ground PO’d Hornets on 3 of my 5 loops, unexpected heat and switched to just plain water for loops 4 and 5 because the stomach refused any fluids with flavor – exception was the lifesaving ginger ale at the aid stations preventing me from hurling. Oh, and with the ankle destroyed, didn’t dare take the shoe off. No dry sock changes led to massive blisters on feet for last two loops. Not the best outing and certainly not the worst, but all things considered, one of the hardest finisher buckles I’ve ever earned – and I’m damn proud! Wife and friends have chosen the less glorious word “crazy”..which, ironically, brings me to today’s post. While I do my best to even stand, Brad is going to take you out to one of my favorite places to bird in Henderson, NV.
Take it away Brad… (note, responses will likely be delayed as he and Jan are still out on assignment in faraway lands).
During a return trip to Las Vegas to catch Death Valley, Jan and I had a list of birding assignments from Intrigued HQ. Originally, we had planned a full day at each, but we lost most of a day to a flat tire on our rental car trying to pick up an unplanned birding location. (See A New Low link here.) Suffice it to say that we now had one less day and had to consolidate destinations within the remaining days of our vacation.
One day we had to split between two destinations. In the morning, we went to Clark County Wetlands Park. After literally running through Clark County Wetlands, we headed to the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve (HBVP) just before noon. Based on our experience, try to get there early because they close at 2:00 pm. You will want to reverse these two destinations if you must see them the same day like we did. We were also informed that they lock the parking lot gates promptly at 2:00 pm when they leave, capturing you and your car inside. We did get the local number to call in case we lost track of time and found ourselves captives.
With the over 40 different species of birds we saw on this trip, I thought I would give you a slow pitch today. This should be an easy guess on today’s subject.
Hit the jump to knock this easy pitch out of the park.
Hoo boy, this morning’s run was a bit sticky! We have had a relatively mild summer to date, but this week we are back to our normal late summertime in the Midwest weather. Normally not a problem for me as I train in these conditions in order to survive the July ultra, however, we all know what happened to those plans. Speaking (or more literally, typing) of which, I returned to the “scene of the crime” a few runs back…
I know some of you were worried about the fate of that tree per my last post. It is still standing at the moment. The Corp of Engineers caught wind of my late night plans and had their troops waiting for me when I showed up in my Ghillie suit and chainsaw. Didn’t fully think through the camouflage strategy with a bright orange saw. You get to live another day you bastard Ent, but I’m still coming for pulp!! I’m through the last of my heat races so heat conditioning is not as critical…miles are more critical as the “runway” is extremely compressed to the 100K. Translated, mercury bursting or not, lace up the shoes and minimally get 10 miles checked off. Got up earlier today in hopes of beating some of the misery (“feels like” is going to 115F) – didn’t help a lot, my face looked like 50 shades of …red.
Hit the jump to read more about this richly hued species and where you can likely encounter them.
I have to say, this has been quite a week! Started with a trip down to the St. Louis area for the boy’s agility show. Raven was a rockstar qualifying 8 out of 10 runs placing in all if I remember correctly. Ruger, well, as they say…at least he’s cute. He did qualify on one of his runs – he’s young and still getting used to the big ring stress. Went for a run the day after and blew my May training goal of an 18 mile day out of the water with a 22 miler (the cooler temps were greatly appreciated). Then, as if that wasn’t enough, had a fun outing with the Intrigued staff – except the lawyers, they are still on double secret probation thanks to their previously mentioned copier stunt. Word has it Brad might cover that event, so I’ll leave those details for him. Retirement life is certainly good!
For today’s feature I am adding a new entry in the “in a Tree” series.
Hit the jump to see more high branch topknot glory and for the bonus content!
First off, want to extend a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there. I can’t imagine the stress and willpower it takes to raise a child, especially one like me – hats off, keep up the good work. I purposely waited to publish this post as this weekend brought with it a tremendous amount of sadness. Yesterday officially marks the end of a complete cycle of holidays/celebrations since losing my mother on Mother’s Day last year (technically a week ago because of the floating holiday – link here). As the year went by I would slowly come to terms with the emptiness and then a holiday or event would immediately bring it back front and center – major holidays – one less gift to ponder, birthdays – one less card to receive or buy, exciting life accomplishes – one less phone call and most of those are coupled with one less visit. I think it was extra hard as Mom was the last of the parental figures in our lives – we were officially on our own. Decided to go for a short five mile run yesterday to be with my thoughts. Eleven emotional miles later I had remembered numerous good times, reminded myself all the sacrifices she had made, recommitted to all the life lessons she lovingly bestowed and gave one last thanks for the moral foundation instilled in me. Acceptance will be easier from this point on. Our Mom and Dad were a true blessing.
In recognition of a long year, thought I would go with a featured feathered friend that also knows a thing or two about “long”.
Hit the jump to learn more about the prolonged hunt for this long-billed one.
It has been a while since I’ve had the chance to get back to the blog, but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. It also gives me a chance to post my favorite bunny pictures.
Hit the jump for an update and another blast of bunny cuteness.
I predicted it – we’ve come to the end of this short month and I’m scrambling to hit my monthly quota. Hats off to my fellow bloggers that are far more productive than I am – not to mention those dedicated souls that are releasing content daily. I need at least one if not two really long runs between posts just to figure out what my next topic is going to be. Luckily I managed to get a decent 9.5 mile run in yesterday that resulted in this bundle of cuteness being selected to close out February.
Not sure what the key trigger was, but somewhere in the fog of fatigue I remembered our trip to Las Vegas in February 2020 – possibly thinking about warmer climates being confronted with unexpected snow/ice on the difficult ascents and descents where I was training. That led to remembering I had not processed a single picture from that trip – thousands of pictures just sitting there alone in a cold dark folder in a long forgotten drive hoping with all their bits to be found and presented to the world – yeah, my mind is all over the place when trying to forget that my legs aren’t lounging on the beach sipping drinks with tiny umbrellas.
Hit the jump for more background on our extremely cute Goose.
Welcome to February everyone! Not sure how to feel about that yet. On one hand glad to be past the worst of the Polar Vortex which will hopefully allow me to get off that instrument from hell … the treadmill. On the flip side, I am officially one month closer to the 50K which translates to one notch higher on the stressometer. Oh, it also means the post counter goes back to zero so make that two notches on the stressometer. The best way to keep that under control is to start early and that means not a moment to spare. Let’s go back to the spoils from the Vegas trip last November.
This particular specimen is referred to as a Cinnamon Teal. Not a big stretch to guess how this Teal got its name. Linda and I were nearing the completion of the pond circuit at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve when we noticed an individual pointing above average glass towards the corner of a nearby pond. Talk about a dog whistle for photographers. We slowly made our way over there being very careful not to disturb whatever he was focused on. Eventually I made it to a point where I could see the area of water that was holding his attention. Excitement dimmed just a a bit as his rapid-fire shutter was waving at a Snowy Egret hanging out near the edge of the water. Don’t get me wrong, Egrets are pretty cool, but if there is one sure bet you are going to see at Henderson, it’s a Snowie. Out of courtesy, we hung back until he was satisfied with his shots – not sure he ever knew we were there.
Greetings from the Midwest Tundra. It is currently -7F not including windchill and I am pretty sure that is close to when appendages start falling off. Tonight the first lunar eclipse took place over a supermoon. Thanks to Ron reminding me, I managed to get out and witness it – actually that reads as if I put a lot of effort into it. We were heading back from a night out, stepped out of the car when we got back to the house and looked up. There it was, only a sliver left and radiating the blood moon hues. Thought about getting the Beast and snapping a few shots to share on the blog. Then my nose, ears and a thumb fell off. Decided to pass on that idea – sorry everyone. To our credit, I did help Linda with a photoshoot in the early morning. Her client wanted pictures of her three dogs in the 5″ of fresh powder we received yesterday (on top of the 12″ we already had). Think it was a balmy 5F out then, which was enough to put a serious sting in the fingers. They say positive thoughts can get you through uncomfortable times. Time to click our heels three times and entertain visions from the desert.
Hit the jump to read a bit more about this desert songbird.
How is this for a weird experience? I mentioned a few posts back that I was recovering from a back injury, but I didn’t go into too many details. Now that I am completely healed from it, thought I’d loop everyone into a bizarre injury that had me pretty worried. The last thing I need when training for a 50K event is to have an injury – especially in such a critical area. Usually On Sundays, some friends and I do long training runs on a hilly nightmare of a course through a local cemetery (figure they can bury us where we drop). A few weeks ago we were taking on the course in pretty warm weather for an early January day – mid 40’s accompanied with a strong wind. Decided I was too layered up for the conditions so took my Gore-Tex coat off, removed a layer and put the outer shell back on (important tidbit for later). Although a rocky and uneven course, we know every square inch of it – no slips, bobbles or wobbles occurred up to mile two. That is when I felt something pierce my lower back. I noted the strange feeling to my friend and kept on running – quirks and pains happen all the time – runners learn to ignore them because they almost always work themselves out. 2 more miles and my hips started seizing up. 2 more miles and serious pain started radiating from the lower back. 3 miles later we were back at the car and I was trying to figure out a way to stand without letting my friends see any hint of tears. 30 minute drive home and I couldn’t move without a knife twisting in my spine. Most concerning was a 5×8 inch badly swollen red bulge near where the initial stab was felt. All I could think about was the setback to the 50K training (goals are not taken lightly around Intrigued). For brevity, will skip to the juicy part. Got into my doctor the following day – explained the story above preparing myself for the herniated disk diagnosis. Was not expecting the doctor to hypothesize that it sounded like a spider bite. The recluse would have destroyed skin by now, so they speculated Black Widow, grabbed a magnifying glass and went to work finding the holes. Good news, not a Widow, instead they pulled a stinger out of my spine what I imagined to be the size of this bird’s bill.
Not sure who was surprised more, the doctor or me. Apparently a dagger wielding demon of an insect decided to unload all the venom it had a few inches up from my waistline and directly into the center of my spine. From there it traveled my nerve network down into the in the hips and up the back causing the lockup. Remember, this is the first week of January – those things are supposed to have died off or went into hibernation. No way it stung through the outer running shell. We have come to the conclusion that a wasp,hornet,large ass bee or possibly a Tarantula Hawk (link here) sneaked into the coat when I was removing the layer, panicked at mile two and unloaded everything it had into the spine – I could see a blood spot on the base layer next to the skin. The good news is 5 days of steroids had me back on the trails this morning running in 5″ of snow. I bet I know what you are thinking right about now – what the hell kind of bird is that?
Life Intrigued 