Aerie Report, Mid-day, August, 13, 2011

A quiet day at the Aerie. Terry has scooted off to an all day event (ANG or EGA?) up in New York state somewhere and will not be back until this evening. I'm kicking back reading, doing X-words and tending the cat herd.

The weather has been marvelous the last few days with highs only in the mid 70s and night time lows in the 50s. Grey clouds currently fill the sky but there is no immediate rain on the radar. This afternoon we may get a stray T-storm or two passing through the region. We could use the rain.

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I had a female hummer impale herself on the screen door leading to the porch. She was probably trying to avoid a very territorial male and ran head on into the screen.(Do some birds need glasses?) Her stiletto bill pierced the screen and she hung there for a few seconds getting her bearings before managing to disengage. Left a tiny little hole of two broken threads at about eye level. (Mine, not Terry's. It was over her head.)

Speaking of hummers--I've seen five (three females and two males) trying to get gain exclusive feeding rights on the one feeder. They chase one another around like crazy. The females are a bit more tolerant with one another and there may be two sitting on the feeder at once, but the males.... They will chase any other hummer that dares to come feed or even investigate the possibility of feeding. They zoom around chasing "intruders" and darting just past your head so you instinctively duck. The whirring of wings and the little chirps as the females realize they are under attack remind me of the forest chase scene from one of the Star Wars movies in which two imperial land scooters (or whatever they were called) take off after Luke and Leia as they dodge between the trees on Endor. Makes be wonder if the folks writing that scene had hummers in their back yard.

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Got fixed up with an appointment to see an orthopedist about my knee. August 24th was the earliest they could arrange for an appointment. In Corning, NY. The nearest facility in Troy (where I had the MRI done) would have been some time in September. I imagine that, with all the drilling and pipe laying going on in the area, there are a number of worker's comp cases being tended to and they take precedence over some damn fool who does damage to himself.

Considering the delay in seeing a specialist, I asked about some physical therapy and was told that could be arranged. The doctor would call the therapist and the therapist would call me to schedule an appointment. That was yesterday around noon. No call came back, so I've got to wait until at least Monday for the PT folks. Meanwhile, I've progressed from using the crutches to a cane and even walking without that extra support for short distances. (I'm still not going up and down the stairs Hell, by the time I get to see the orthopedist, I may be doing cartwheels. Which would be cool, 'cause I've never been able to do them before!