Meeting and Being Greeted by Old Friends on the Trail

Yesterday, Superdawg and I took our first real post-op walk. There had been a few outings venturing just a few houses down, but this went all the way to a neighborhood pond, a distance of about a half-mile. It was humid and there were some thick, dark clouds around, which were a sad reminder of the devastation the monster EF5 tornado inflicted in Moore, Oklahoma.

On a brighter side, we were serenaded nearly all the way by Mockingbirds flitting about rooftops and hedges. Perhaps they were guarding nests, but their songs sounded happy, not menacing. It is amazing how these hyperactive birds can belt out over 400 different song types and imitate virtually anything. Indeed, as Harper Lee wrote in her great novel of the Old South, it would be a sin to kill one.

It is wonderful to be back in the outdoors and in a position to see many of our old friends -- the swans, the cormorants, the ducks and geese, the turtles, the cardinals and orioles, squirrels, and even occasional white-tailed deer. Coyotes now are around but they tend to avoid humans. Soon the walks will be longer and I will have more to report. The bionic knee is now getting better and stronger by the day. Thank you Lord, thank you dedicated PTs, and thanks of course to the knee doctor.

© Robert G. Holland  2013