Black-necked Stilt

 

 

 

Impeccably dressed.

 

 

 

The tower

 

 

At the birding center.

 

With kids on it!

 

And parents.

 

And a view of the boardwalk and flats below.

 

Back on the island

 

 

A view of the bay side.  The Laguna Madre.   A vast, extra-saline, warm nursery for the bigger creatures that live in the Gulf.

 

With the bridge to get here in the background.

 

And the view from the deck.

 

This is unusual

 

 

 

A roving band of 150 cattle egrets in the field.

 

They hung out for several hours.

 

We see them around this time of year.  They gather for migration.  But we’ve never seen them in the park like this before.

 

We told Jesse

 

 

Becky and Brian were coming for dinner and the super bowl.

 

She waited on the deck.

 

And waited.

 

And watched.

 

Watched.

 

And finally.

 

Rewarded for her patience.

 

Driftwood

 

 

 

Marooned and salt encrusted in an inland sea.

 

At the dry edge of Sal del Rey.  The lake expands and contracts with local rainfall.  There is no outflow.  It hasn’t rained much lately, so there is a lot of exposed shoreline.

 

 

Things change

 

 

Judy’s hearing has been slowly degrading for quite some time, but it just made a quick drop off.  Meniere’s Disease, but without the vertigo.  Significant tinnitus and hearing loss.  The Tinnitus doesn’t go away as the hearing does, it gets louder.  Don’t know why it happens, and there isn’t much to do about it.  It might be related to viral ear infections she got years ago.  The hearing in her left ear is essentially gone.  It’s not coming back.  With a hearing aid, she can still hear out of her right ear.  The Ear Nose and Throat guy she’s working with is doing what he can to preserve the hearing she has remaining in her right ear for as long as possible.  Basically, the only treatment is to prescribe a diuretic to reduce any fluid buildup in the inner ear.  That’s it.

 

We compensate as much as we can.  First order of business is to position in front of her and face her when speaking.  Maximum range is about 5 feet, and it helps if she can watch you talk.  She can do a one-on-one conversation, but multiple conversations in the same room, or restaurant background noise are deal-breakers. 

 

On the television, we have a gadget that sends the TV sound directly into her hearing aids.  When we’re out in the car, we wear the walkie talkie headsets.  Around the house, I wear a multi mike on a lanyard around my neck and it Bluetooths directly into her hearing aids.

 

Doing what we can with what we’ve got.