Nature Lover and friends keep in touch

[maki2]

This morning was a lovely bird watching event. Lots of small swallows in the sky catching their breakfast on the wing. Normally they would have been 3 miles east of this dry desert area to feed over the agricultural fields doing their best to catch all the mosquitoes.

The town of Yuma has Putin a park with walking paths and some marsh lands and trees over at the spot where the historic wagon crossing of the Colorado river was in Yuma. That crossing is why there is a town here as well and before that a tribal settlement followed by a fort to keep the settlers safe and of course a Spanish Mission. I have not yet explored that old Yuma area of town as it has been pretty windy this last month so I did not feel like being a tourist out for sight seeing. But maybe I will get around to a few hours of that this coming week. There is nothing really old left though. The original mission and settler buildings were destroyed in Indian raids. The mission was later rebuilt at the same location to match the look of the first one. It is now on the tribal land.

I woke up this morning realizing it is now spring… in SW Arizona. No more nights in the 30s. Days are now in the 70s or 80s. I plan to savor this new feeling. It will be fleeting and brief, just a few weeks, soon the temperature will climb into the 90s and I will need to migrate to higher elevations.

 

[bullfrog !]

There were some vining flowers on some of the older buildings in Yuma when we were there in early spring many years ago that had beautiful blooms. Desert should be really blooming this spring with all the moisture recently although maybe a little late due to colder than normal temperatures.

 

[nature lover]

Well, I’m gonna come from out under my rock for just a minute or two. Thanks you guys for posting. It’s no secret all my friends on here know I’m bipolar. if you go back to my original posting and follow me through you’ll see I am up and down,up and down, up and down,… the roller coaster that I ride is evident everywhere in my life. Right now I’m just a few feet higher than the bottom of the roller coaster track. I’m at the point now where the weight of what I’m riding in. It’s so heavy. I can barely get it up the hill. My attempt at symbolic language may not be understood so I tell you this real thing. I’ve been way down. but I am in the beginning of trying to pull myself up the hill. Still living in a van although it’s been the same parking lot since September.

Spring has sprung here in Pennsylvania grass is green up. The little trees are very green there’s crocuses in daffodils blooming and gardens and there’s a few wildflower starting to appear. Snow drops, spring beauties, etc. The red wing blackbirds are back just the males at this point, but that’s part of their schedule for spring. I smell a skunk two weeks ago. So Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog was not right we got spring a little earlier this year.

I haven’t taken a picture since July that’s just how low I’ve been but things are gonna change and if they don’t, you’re invited to the funeral. at least stop in for the meal after the funeral because you’ll really enjoy it. We Pennsylvania Dutchmen overeat everywhere, especially at weddings and funerals.

i’m on my way to another doctors appointment this afternoon. I have such a large bill owed to the hospitals and doctors that they won’t let me die. when I am dead, they lose all chances of getting any of the money paid.

God bless the nomads. You know I was just thinking again Jesus was a nomad. But he didn’t have a van.

 

[Morgana]

van is the new donkey

hang in there and good luck!

 

[bullfrog !]

Good to hear from you! Hope you get to hear the birds singing and the frogs croaking soon and get some good photos. Spring in the mountains is muddy but beautiful and summer is even better after a wet spring.

 

[NctryBen]

Hey, good to hear your still at it... I’m soaking up 80’s in Texas and leave tomorrow towards Minnesota. Monday night at home will be 5 degrees. Far cry from 80 right now. Doctors are calling me as well as those darn maple trees.

 

[maki2]

Hey, good to hear your still at it... I’m soaking up 80’s in Texas and leave tomorrow towards Minnesota. Monday night at home will be 5 degrees. Far cry from 80 right now. Doctors are calling me as well as those darn maple trees.

Did you get a recall on that wrist fix?

 

[maki2]

No more worrying about camping in one time zone and errand running in a different one. Pacific time and most of Arizona (except for tribal lands) are now in sync with each other until next fall.

All is peaceful here in camp today. Full cloud overcast, perfect for some outdoor chores without getting too hot. No need to deploy the shade cloth. Cloudy tomorrow but chance of afternoon rain and wind gust so no working outside tomorrow or Tuesday which is also cloudy and windy.

My breakfast is done, time to get to those chores. Hope all is good with Nature Lover and his friends too.

 

[nature lover]

Goes without saying it’s been a long time since I posted. I’m back in the hospital with a blood problem. I had zero platelets and therefore bruising and bleeding and I’m under treatment with IV steroids. You gotta do what you gotta do. Now even my doctor is telling me I can’t live in a van anymore. OK then if I can’t live in it. And I won’t live in a nursing home or a high rise apartment in town with nothing green and windows that are sealed shut because of climate controlled interior. Then I’ll just have to die in the van. Don’t take that as a threat of suicide it’s not. But l would literally rather die free in my van, then locked in the alternative.

I never got to Florida this winter, so I may never see it again, but I hope to. It’s an interesting life isn’t it?

if I do die in the van, please give me a Viking van funeral. lay me on the top of the van, throw some fuel on me and burn me while the van speeding down the Interstate. Relax I’m just joking around. But if you can’t do that, make sure you film it and put it on Bob’s channel.

 

[Sofisintown]

Easy, Tiger... You will get through this, like you did so many times. Just be nice to the ladies (nurses) and they will be nice to you. Get well soon.

 

[bullfrog !]

I for one enjoy the photographs and how good they make me feel as I won’t go fight the bugs and humidity in Florida to actually see them. Sure hoping you get the opportunity to take some more! Best wishes!

 

[maki2]

Naturelover, there are possibly alternatives to nursing homes. You need a local person the help figure out a place you can go. Some towns have arrangements where there are two or three people in a regular type of house set up with handicapped aids with care givers stopping by and a “house mother” on site. There are Meals on wheels programs helping out those types of households. It could even be there is one the outskirts of a town with a view of the countryside.

Find a social worker to look on your behalf. Be proactive, get a housing assistant looking for you to land. . I know it is not your idea of Florida bird heaven, but it might not be nearly as bad as being imprisoned in a nursing home.

Most of all wishing you a speedy recovery so you can get out of that hospital.

 

[nature lover]

Thanks for the well wishes guys. And maki2 there’s a social worker here in the hospital who put me in contact with one under the same system at my family doctors they’re all under the Penn medicine label. But today I’m really grading strength. I was able to walk a couple hundred feet with walker I have much more strength since my plate lights are going up. Apparently, this is a promise been going on for months with me. I’m just getting less and less pilots and loosen energy and strength. I think a good cure, for it would be a nice big pecan pie warmed up a little with some ice cream on it and a cup of coffee.

 

[maki2]

Pecan pie and ice cream sounds like the perfect cure. So does apple pie, or peach, or cherry…

But none of those are on my menu tomorrow, I am stuck in camp for another day until a windstorm is over. But I can have pancakes with real maple syrup for a treat!

 

[vanbrat]

My Dad is going through the same thing, hang in there, he is now on the flat and level of it we think but it has been a long journey for him. We can tell when things are going south because he has no energy at all. And a few pints of blood help a lot.
There are a lot of different types of senior housing around here and I'm guessing there too. The one they like is right in the middle of a town really close to Seattle. The one I would have chosen for me is in a tiny town right up next to the Cascades in a mid-sized complex next to a big park and with it's own duck pond. You may be able to find something like that for yourself. They can still get out and camp of a bit, just not full time anymore. She has to many memory problems, and he isn't always safe behind the wheel. If you have a social worker, I am guessing she knows what is out there. Make a list of things you want and make sure being close to green space is on your list. I am looking forward to more of your photos.

 

[TooFarGone]

@nature lover - I haven't been on this forum for awhile. I started looking for an update on your status after I logged on today. I'm sending you good thoughts and my prayers, such as they are. It's good that you are being treated and starting to regain strength. I'm not bipolar but understand depression (it's been a lifelong struggle for me), and not touching your camera for months, and stuff like that. Thank you for staying in touch here.

 

[maki2]

Nauturelover
Popeye told you to eat your spinach.

 

[nature lover]

Knc, kuc, kuc, knc

 

[maki2]

Sorry Naturelover “knc”’and “kuc”
is absolutely not covered by your health care insurance or even recommended by your health care provider for increasing your platelet count.

But you likely can get a senior Medicaid food supplement allowance for spinach

 

[NctryBen]

NL... good to hear your getting the help you need. I pray you’ll be back in Florida again... when the weather allows. I imagine it’s getting pretty warm there. But whatever you do... stay safe and healthy.
I pray you break outta that place soon!