Photo-a-Day Challenge

Making Do

My week in photos

Since Valencia returned, or became more visible, I haven’t seen much of Vander, but there he was Sunday morning, sitting on a utility wire with his deformed leg tucked into his chest. Obviously, he makes do with that crippled leg. Hopefully, it doesn’t decrease Valencia’s romantic interests, and they’ll nest in a month or so.

Ben and I are mostly over Covid, except I’m very tired all the time. Of course, I’m working. No choice. January deadlines are set in stone. Consequently, I worked for six hours on Sunday. Just like Vander, I must make do.

As Syau and I walked Sunday evening, I saw this Great Egret in the shallows where our lake ends near a sidewalk. I watched him for at least two minutes, during which he didn’t move. Strange.

In the evening, I made this Lemon Berry Yogurt Cake:

I really should have chosen an easier recipe. By the time I was through, my energy was depleted. The cake was delicious, but my IBS disapproved. It appears I can no longer tolerate blueberries, although they’re considered one of the easiest fruits to digest. My list of digestible foods that I like is shrinking — I’m down to eight.

Ben had dialysis on Monday. No one asked about his Covid, and he was put in the main treatment room — no more isolation.

I worked for a client while Ben was at dialysis. I was also supposed to work in the evening but was so tired I couldn’t do it. Obviously, I didn’t make do very well on Monday.

I have what is called Covid fatigue. I am more tired now than when I had Covid last week and was heavily congested, coughing, sneezing, and experiencing several headaches each day. Covid fatigue can last two weeks to several months. Seriously? I have no choice but to power through.

Plus, my acid reflux has been creeping back. Because of Covid? I don’t know. I just know that my reflux was at least 90% better before being sick with Covid last week and is now at least 40% worse. I’m sticking to the crazy diet, not eating or drinking from 6 pm to 7 am, and taking Pantoprazole every morning, so why am I getting worse??? Next week, I go for esophageal radiology tests at a hospital.

IBS, colitis, food allergies, acid reflux, constant back and leg pain from a childhood horse riding accident, and Covid fatigue — what’s next? None of my ailments can be cured, and treatments are inconsistent or ineffective. I could say that I have to make do or die; although none of these problems are fatal, they strip much of the joy from living.

I laughed at this Eastern Phoebe scowling at Syau and me. The smallest birds often have the biggest personalities.

Do you see the wispy tail feathers on this Great Egret? They indicate that he is transitioning into mating mode. As we advance toward spring, he’ll grow additional feathers even more elegant than these, and the area around his beak will turn neon green. These physical changes will help him woo a mate.

I fought off Covid fatigue on Tuesday, walking Syau twice — but slowly — and working 3 hours. I also took two short naps, which didn’t help much. I’m getting a full night of sleep but wake up feeling as tired as when I went to bed eight hours earlier.

The Whistlers are AWOL again. I haven’t seen or heard one since last Tuesday. But I did enjoy the light fog over the lake Wednesday morning.

I’ve been energetic enough in the mornings to walk Syau — until Wednesday, when our mile-long walk felt like three miles. I was dragging when I got home.

It appears that winter has exited Florida. The air feels springlike, and the coldest temperature forecasted during the next ten days is 42F, with many daytime temps near or above 80F. Today, we had our patio doors wide open. But I’m still recovering from last year’s record heat, and I don’t relish an early spring, which likely means an early summer.

I worked Wednesday afternoon and rested for a while after arriving home. Although I was tired, I had chores to do. I vacuumed, mopped, and gathered the trash and recycle for pick-up tomorrow. I wanted to bake but had very little energy, so I chose an easy recipe:

Since peaches aren’t in season and fresh fruit disagrees with me, I used a small amount of dried peaches. I also skipped the topping. Baked goods are generally sweet enough without glazes, frostings, and toppings.

Scones are traditionally made with lots of butter that has to be worked into the flour. My Covid fatigue said, “Oh, no, you can’t do that!” This recipe substitutes heavy cream for butter, so the mixing of ingredients is easier and quicker. As I’ve said before, scones are my favorite sweet thing to eat and bake. Even when using a butter-based recipe, they are easier to assemble than cakes, pies, or cookies. I also like that they aren’t as sweet as most baked goods. Since Ben won’t eat anything for longer than three days, I like that a scone recipe makes just enough for us for three days. No waste. I'd only bake scones if it were up to me, but Ben wants more variety.

Thursday was cloudy but very warm. Our high for the day was 83F.

Still struggling with Covid fatigue, my walks are rote. I pay little attention to what’s around me and am lucky to get even one photo. This squirrel was the only photo for Thursday.

Louise Peacock covered Weeds & Wildflowers on Thursday because Ben and I had appointments. We were happy that Ben received a good report from his cardiologist.

I normally don’t work on Thursdays, but there were problems at my largest client's office, so I went in for a couple of hours in the evening. Two hours of solving problems and typing memos to the people who caused the problems and to my assistant about how she should have handled them.

Heavy rain woke me several times during the night. By morning, our total rainfall was almost an inch.

Friday morning was damp from the nighttime rain and very gray. As Syau and I walked, I heard plenty of birds but saw very few.

My only photo of the day was this vine. Known as Pathos or Devil’s Ivy, it’s a landscape or house plant gone wild. Many trees in our neighborhood share their trunks with Devil’s Ivy. As a climbing vine, it’s a favorite for lattices, trellises, and arbors, but Devil’s Ivy rarely stays where planted. It’s listed as an invasive plant in South Florida and is on the “caution” list for Central and North Central Florida. The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences refers to it as “a monster” plant. I, however, haven’t seen any damage caused by these vines. They seem to exist in harmony with the trees they climb. Maybe, unlike South Florida, our annual freezes help contain the vines.

I worked while Ben was at dialysis. Since I worked Thursday evening and was very tired Friday, I chose not to work Friday evening. I have one more long weekend of work, so I must make do.

Around here, Japanese Camellias typically bloom in December and, sometimes, November. But those months were so warm that the Camellias either didn’t flower or the bushes only had a few blossoms. After our cold weather earlier in January, I saw a few more Camellias, but not many, and the ones I’ve seen aren’t as attractive as in years past. This Camellia was a singular exception and the prettiest one I’ve seen. Interestingly, it’s the only flower on one of the largest Camellia bushes in our neighborhood.

Snowy Egrets are usually knee-deep in water, so I’m stoked when I get a shot of one above the water. I just love those long yellow toes and legs! Like the Great Egret in a photo earlier in this piece, this Snowy is starting to get his mating plumes. You can see a few wisps on his belly and a tuft just beginning to grow near his tail feathers.

Although not colorful, I think Brown Thrashers are very attractive birds. Unfortunately, they blend well in the leaf and tree debris, making them easy to miss. This guy was on the sidewalk just a few feet ahead of Syau and me.

I worked all Saturday, and Louise Peacock again covered Weeds & Wildflowers for me. Although I spent two hours at that office on Thursday solving problems, my first 1.5 hours this morning were again spent solving problems — all of which occurred on Friday. How can there be so many screw-ups in one day??

Despite that time suck, I finished all but one of my tasks with a January deadline, and it’s the one I dislike the most. I’ll have to work Sunday to get it done. Another day of making do.

After arriving home in the early evening, I had to rush to eat before my 6 pm deadline. This reflux diet of not eating or drinking (not even a sip of water) from 6 pm until 7 am is difficult and annoying, and since my reflux has worsened since getting Covid, I wonder if I will have to continue on the diet and pills indefinitely.

I also made a quick batch of Cool Whip Cookies. There are a couple of different versions of the recipe, but this is the one I like the most:

It’s easy, and Ben likes them. I had no energy to bake anything more difficult than these cookies.

Knowing I was very tired, Ben walked Syau while I filled his pill box for the next week and washed his dialysis blanket, cap, gloves, and scarf. Yes, it is so cold in the treatment room that Ben wears a warm jacket, covers himself with a heavy quilt, and wears a cap, scarf, and gloves.

As January comes to a close, I keep reminding myself I won’t have to go through another January at my largest client’s office. There, my work more than doubles each January, and I am so sick of it. I thought the managing partner would hire someone by now so she/he could go through a January with me, but that hasn’t happened. I still have to close the books for three companies — the firm and the partners’ companies — but there won’t be anyone around to learn those procedures either. Oh, well, not my problem.

It was a long, difficult week, but I made do.

© Dennett 2024

If you don’t already participate in the Weeds & Wildflowers Photo-a-Day Challenge, I hope you will join us. This is our third year sharing our lives, neighborhoods, activities, travels, and experiences through photos and short narratives.

Here is a list of our Photo-a-Day storytellers:

Erika Burkhalter / Eileen Vorbach Collins / Anne Bonfert / Sasha Meyer / Tracy Aston/ Lisa Bolin / Juan O. Aguilera / David Wade Chambers / June Nguyen / Mia Verita / Susan Alison / LensAfield / Barbara Radisavljevic / Diana Lotti / Barbara Dalton / Kim Zuch / K. Barrett / Sandra Barrett / Shruthi Sundaram / Gustavo Mendez / Olive Wilson / Jane Frost (Jane Grows Garden Rooms) / Jillian Amatt / Scott Younkin / Penny Grubb / Shell Parsons /Ivy Shepherd / Lynne Nardizzi / Ken Martin / Amethyst Qu / Beth Bruno / Julia A. Keirns / Krasi Shapkarova

Please let me know if you’ve participated in the Photo-a-Day Challenge and don’t see your name here.