Well, Hello!

In the nearly 29 years I've lived in our home, and of the abundance of squirrels that have made and make our yard their home, I've never once seen a baby (or juvenile) squirrel among them until this past week. It's so adorable! I've been seeing it sunning itself on top of a feeder on the side of our house. Tammy commented that it seems lonely because it's always by itself, never interracting with other squirrels. I'm not sure what to make of it because the squirrels we have around us are all gray squirrels but this little one appears more red than gray. I suppose it's possible that it becomes more gray as it ages. How fun it would be to get it to take food from my hand but I don't see that happening. I'm content to observe it from behind a window on the side of our home. 

There's an Instagram account I've been following called babygirlbabysquirrel. The owner of the account rescued a baby squirrel from another animal's mouth in September 2018 and has had the squirrel living in his home with him since. Patiña is allowed to go outside but she always returns after a short time, until recently when she spent the night outside; that was a first. He posted a 'story' video yesterday that showed Patiña running with another squirrel through the limbs of a tree in his yard—possibly a mate? I'm curious to see how his relationship with Patiña evolves if she has a family in the wild.

For the past 5 months or more I've been experiencing off and on (mostly on) the smell of smoke when there's no smoke present. At first, I thought our gas fireplace was in need of a tune-up—something that should occasionally be done. I had it serviced but the lingering smell of smoke continued. The odor is so strong sometimes that my body's conditioned response to smoke kicks in and and my eyes burn and tear, sort of like I'm downwind from a campfire. It's the strangest thing. Tammy experiences none of this. I can sometimes go for maybe a few hours without noticing it but other times, such as the past few days, it's ever-present. The only relief I seem to get from it is when I'm outdoors where it's less noticeable. Tinnitus is something I've learned to block out and live with. I'm not sure my brain will be able to block out this odor.

An online search revealed the problem to be Phantosmia, an olfactory hallucination. The causes of phantosmia can be many but the most concerning potential underlying problem for me was a possible brain tumor. Rachel was in a carpool with a guy about my age a few years ago who was experiencing similar symptoms and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I had a CT scan a few weeks ago which ruled that out. It's very likely there's nothing that can be done to resolve the problem but I did make an appointment with a neurologist for Friday to discuss it—something my primary care doctor suggested I do. 

I drove up to Bemidji one week ago, about a 480-mile (772 km) roundtrip, to get my first of two Moderna vaccines for the Covid virus. I had tried numerous times to secure an appointment closer to home but was unable to find one. I didn't mind the drive. After I was vaccinated, I took a seat for 10 minutes in a waiting area in case I experienced a bad reaction to the jab. I chatted with a woman there who was also unable to find an appointment for the vaccine in the cities and was making the 8 hour roundtrip as well. Fortunately, on the drive back I was able to phone the Walmart pharmacy 10 minutes from home and schedule an appointment for the follow-up vaccine in a month. I don't want to appear to be overreacting by traveling so far to be vaccinated but my doctor suggested I get vaccinated ASAP due to my blood clotting condition, Factor V Leiden.

I'm thankful for the efforts of scientists around the world who have been working for the past dozen years to find a cure for the kind of coronavirus that's running rampant across the globe. How much more helpful it would have been had we had leadership that took the pandemic seriously instead of trying to "play it down" and ridiculing attempts by more responsible leaders to keep it in check. I can only hope that the next time we're faced with a similar situation, and we will be, that Republicans will act more responsibly. That seems like a very big ask of current Republican leadership, tho.

After a mostly mild winter, spring has arrived—my favorite season. Golf courses are opening and I've been getting some outdoor miles on both my road and gravel bikes. I'm excitedly awaiting the opening of the mountain bike trails after they've had a chance to dry out. Riding trails when they're muddy causes large ruts and is very much frowned on—it also comes with a hefty fine for those caught violating closed trail warnings. 

I did two stained glass projects in the last week: here and here. I'd like to see if I can add at least two more sun-catchers to my inventory before my interests turn more fully to outdoor activities and I close up my shop for the warmer months.

I've deleted the Facebook app from my phone and only peruse the site when I'm on my laptop, which isn't all that often. If I appear to be ignoring a comment, this is why.  

And I finally got a haircut!

That's all I've got.