Ever since I downloaded the birding app…Merlin, from the Cornell Lab…my ears perk up when I hear a bird. I’m beginning to notice if it’s a call I haven’t heard before. We are in the midst of a massive display of birds as they migrate south for the winter. The chances of hearing a new one is pretty big right now.
As I prepared to write my post last night, I caught the call of an unfamiliar bird. It was rapidly getting dark out and this bird was very close in our forsythia and flowering quince thicket outside our bedroom window. I quickly pulled out my phone and recorded the bird’s call and the app identified it as a Swainson’s Thrush. I did not set eyes on the bird itself, but so far this app has been really accurate in identifying bird calls.
When my youngest went off to kindergarten and I was walking in Glenwood Canyon every day for exercise, I took a geology class to give me something to look for and explore as I walked. It passed the time, I learned new things, and it gave me a greater understanding and appreciation for my surroundings. That’s the way this app is for me. I am a lifelong learner. Any time I can learn new things, I’m a happy camper.
We left yesterday morning at 7:30 to go to Columbus for my parathyroid scan. They’re still trying to find the two that went AWOL during surgery. It was a very long day. A Sestamibi scan isn’t hard to do. They give you an injection of a nuclear isotope, then they wait fifteen minutes and do the first scan. The first scan takes about ten minutes to do. The hardest part is laying very still after they tell you NOT to move! My ankle itched. My elbow hurt. I had a hair tickling my nose. But I did not move.
An hour later, they do the second scan. This time with a CT machine. That one takes twenty-five minutes. I made the time pass by counting to sixty twenty-five times. I didn’t make it…I kept falling asleep. The third and final scan is just like the first one…ten minutes of laying perfectly still. They handed me a card with my name and the name and amount of the radioactive isotope they gave me. The technician told me if I have to go through an airport scanner, I would set it off and to show TSA the card. Cool! Now I want to make reservations and fly somewhere before it leaves my body in three days!
The Nuclear Medicine tech was the nicest guy. His name was Mike. We made small talk. Somehow, Marshmallow Ranch came up…I mean, when DOESN’T it come up, right? Anyway, mike says when the kids are all grown and off on their own (they have SIX!), his wife is all about getting an RV and cruising the country full time. He said he was the one unconvinced. I gave him some sage advice…have his wife join Girl Camper and listen to the podcasts and learn all things camping and try it out for a year or two before committing to the whole enchilada.
I don’t regret the way my story unfolded, but maybe I should have held onto my Colorado house and leased it out or used it as an AirB&B. But, then again…if I had, I may not have ended up dating Mr. FixIt at all. And that would be tragic to have missed all the fun and love we have together. By the third scan, Mike informed me he’d had lunch with his wife and she was going to look up Marshmallow Ranch. So, Mrs. Mike…if you’re here, welcome to this wild ride. As my Mr. FixIt says… “There’s always an adventure with Ginny McKinney!”
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“Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.”
Jeremiah 17:14 NIV