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Last night the sky had regained a little character, but today it has reverted to being anaemic-looking haze.
June is the month I like least.
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As a severely asthmatic child, summer was when I suffered most, although curiously and most fortuitously, in SE Asia the asthma disappeared totally.
When I went back to boarding school in England aged 14, the asthma returned but it was much less severe and in adulthood it seldom bothers me.
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The prejudice against summer remains, however.
Still, I was surprised to be so affected by the recent heavy humidity. My head felt like a ton weight and I could not keep my eyes open, yet when I laid down I felt I could not breathe.
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In the end I had to rally my act before Grant carried through on the idea of taking me to urgent care.
He’s never seen me have one of these “attacks” before because I have not had one since I retired.
There is no cure, but although I have often felt on the edge of death, this syndrome is not life-threatening.
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Only diagnosable by process of elimination, the cause is not known.
Myalgic encephalomyelitis sounds like something you would take seriously but it is better known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and is mostly dismissed as an excuse for being lazy.
For a long time I thought it must be so, because I looked fine and all the tests were negative. But being lazy surely could not make you feel so ill.
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This latest episode was, I am sure, brought on by the recent heatwave and the stress of last week’s medical fiasco.
It has passed fortunately, as it makes concentrating on reading or writing all but impossible.
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Everything has turned green including the surface of most ponds.
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A recent detour took us down a leafy lane where we slowed at the sight of something in the road.
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The sad thing about all our outings is the sight of so much roadkill.
Birds are always looking out for an easy meal, so most of the bodies are re-cycled.
Here, a possum and a turkey-vulture.
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Crows are always ready to help out.
A self-appointed clean-up crew.
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“Who are you bowing to, you dopey crow?”
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“I’s looking at ma feet.”
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Actually, they were studiously avoiding taking on the fox which was eating their breakfast!.
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Nibbs waited while I fetched his, discreetly dishing it up so the indoor gang wouldn’t get excited, it being too early for theirs.
“Service here is so slow these days!”
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Meanwhile, around the corner…
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“I just eats while they fight it out.”
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This squirrel looks awfully tubby to me and I would say she’s pregnant, but it’s too late for the first litter and too early for the second.
Maybe our recent mild winter altered breeding patterns?
Just what we need…more mouths!
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When this summer’s frenzy is over, I’ll no doubt be getting a complaint from the sparrows who have had to put up with this great invasion.
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“We can’t get a beak in edgeways!”
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I should point out that there are plenty of food sources at this time of year. No one starves.
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Least of all him!
Chipmunks are running in every direction and they make sport for cats that are dedicated mousers.
We try to explain the difference and to supervise, but sadly we had a fatality the other day.
The crows were delighted of course. Or one was, anyway.
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Crows don’t miss a thing.
When we eat apples or pears, we toss the cores out onto the patio for the squirrels or skunks.
The other night a squirrel grabbed its piece of fruit and rushed off to eat it in a tree, but a crow swooped in and made the squirrel drop its prize.
The crow retrieved the core and flew off with it, leaving the poor squirrel searching in vain.
It was like that child whose ice cream has fallen out of its cone. I tossed out more nuts as a substitute.
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Up at Scooter’s burrow yesterday, I saw some new flowers that I’d never noticed before.
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In my mind I was thinking waxy snowdrops, but PlantNet set me straight:
Wild lilies of the valley.
Of course! I know them.
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Since I’d bent to take the photograph, I noticed a little yellow flower nearby: Bishop’s weed, says PlantNet.
But that’s what Google said was another name for Queen Anne’s lace.
Definitely not the same thing.
Anyway, a dainty yellow flower.
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During the night another thunderstorm came over, so it was a wet world when I went out early this morning.
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I loitered overlong looking at raindrops on the honeysuckle..
I remember going to visit my cousin Sue in a Croydon Hospital in the mid-1980s. She was supposedly at death’s door, and as she is only 2 years older than me, I was suitably worried what could have taken her so low at a relatively young age. She told me the doctors had diagnosed ME, which hardly anyone had ever heard of then. Her parents were still alive then, and as we left the hospital, her dad said to me. “Just plain lazy and idle, if you ask me”. She actually recovered as such much later, and is still going strong at 74.
Best wishes, Pete.
Hope the ME does not resurface. My daughter suffers with it so we are well aware of its horrendous consequences.
It is good to know Carolyn, that you feel better! Thank you for the beautiful photography of your world! Shame about the road kill!
Joanna
Thanks for sharing.
Oh, that squirrel definitely looks pregnant … or she’s just been eating too much lately (like me)! How beautiful are the wild lilies of the valley – and even more special that they are not planted, but grow themselves. I love your wet world … or at least the pictures of it. You’re right, sometimes it’s a combination of different events that rekindle an old/forgotten medical problem — I’m glad to hear you feel better.