Another post from the great north with some good news to share. Linda has now made it through her four surgeries and has been officially discharged from the hospital. “Hip Hip Hooray!” I’ve been through a number of “situations” over the years (unfortunately, many of them self-induced). Some of those bumps in the road took just about every ounce of fortitude I had to get through. Even with all that, I have to bow to the resolve Linda has shown over the last 4 weeks – three of which has been spent up here in Viking territory. Weeks of being poked, prodded, sliced, sawed, cracked, studied, sampled, wired, tested, extracted, stitched, scanned, radiated, incubated, anesthetized, sponged, pressurized, cauterized, medicated, IV’d and worst of all bombarded by some of the worst TV shows imaginable (think marathons of Yes to the Dress, Millionaire Listings and in the I’d rather beat my head with a hammer than watch category, Below Deck private yacht cruises). I can’t even find the words to convey how proud I am of her up with all that and staying positive even though she has many more months of recovery ahead of her.
On a personal front, just glad I do not have to write up the latest +1 to my birding list from a truly uncomfortable folding hospital chair!
Many of the plus ones as of late (well, to be honest, most of the posts this year) have come from birding trips to fiscally more responsible states than Illinois. In a change of pace, today’s featured feathered friend comes courtesy of a trip up to Starved Rock State Park which is a relatively short drive away. Ron and I had the opportunity to do some birding together back in May 2015. Not exactly the best weather as we were drenched by morning showers and it didn’t really lighten up much the rest of the day. Any shots deep under the tree canopy required dizzying levels of ISO and significant time in the digital darkroom. We still managed to have a lot of fun as is always the case when out with Ron in the field – even managed to get a few new feathered specimens in the tin. The Northern Rough-Winged Swallow you see before you is one of those new additions.
Hit the jump to see and read a bit more about our uniquely textured Swallow.
