Saturday, August 27, 2005

Thwart, Thwart, Thwart

There's been a whole lot of thwarting going on around here lately!


A few days ago, I posted a photo of the heron which we have been regularly passing by. I said he was always there, always in the same spot. So, we made a special trip with my camera and the telephoto lens.


Thwart! He was there but much further back, so far back that the telephoto lens couldn't bring the heron close enough for a decent picture.


That was in the afternoon. However, we usually bike in the morning, and, sure enough, when we cycled by the bird on the next morning, he was back in his usual spot, relatively close to the road — close enough that had I brought it I would have been able to get a fairly tight shot with my telephoto lens (which I don't take with me on the bike).


Yesterday morning, when Cuppa went out for coffee with a friend, I decided to visit the cemetery, and I wrote about that already (in the post just below this one). However, before going to the cemetery, I and my telephoto lens detoured to the drain, thinking that, since it was morning, the bird surely would be there posing in his photo-friendly spot.


Thwart! He was way back up the ditch once more. Does he somehow sense when I will have my camera and take appropriate evasive action? I took some photos regardless, and rather like the colour of the grassy and reedy bank to the left and the landscape in general in the following picture. But the heron is no closer with the telephoto lens than he was in the previous photo without it.



Hold on; there are more thwarts coming, for yesterday afternoon, after being treated to a farewell lunch by our elderly neighbours who live across the road, we decided to go for a ride. We changed into our cycling gear and got on the bikes.


Thwart! I had a flat tire: my first in over a year. We put the bikes away and did some more packing. What fun!


Then, yesterday evening while I was doing something or other outside, I noticed the sun lowering in the sky through the trees across the street. The sun seemed full, and I thought this would be a good photo op. "Let's drive out to the lake and take some sunset pictures," said I.


On the way, we stopped by the heron's hang out once again.


Thwart! You guessed right; he was far away — again! For something to do, I turned the camera to the side and took the following photo. I suppose that it does in a pinch, but it is most certainly not what I had in mind!



Do you notice the cloud cover in the above photo? Please recall that we had set out in quest of a glorious sunset over Lake Huron, but that must have been interpreted by the universe as a clarion call to immediately dispatch abundant clouds our way. Nevertheless, we continued; perhaps the clouds would dissipate. Hah!


Thwart! Although the eastern sky remained clear, the western sky was almost obscured. The following photo was the best I could manage. I played with it in Photoshop to try to breathe some life and drama into it, but you can only do so much.



With all of that behind me, I called the bike shop this morning and asked if they could fix the flat. Yes, they could, and with some difficulty we crammed and jammed the bike into the car and headed off.


Major thwart! My back spasmed as I was lifting the bike out of the car to take it into the shop. Now, I can barely move. Cuppa is attending to last minute packing, but here I sit — uselessly immobilized. We can probably get help to pack the car tomorrow night, and there's little for us to do on Monday but be here while the movers pack up the truck. But then, we have to get in the car and drive for seven hours, and no one is going to be able to help with that trip. I think that I will be able to manage to do my share of the driving (well perhaps not exactly my share since I generally do all of the driving), for I can adjust the car seat to a fairly back friendly position, but we'll be on pins and needles until we get there.


This isn't at all what I had hoped. I don't want to be immobile right now, especially not now, not as we undertake the most major move of our lives. I will try to handle myself with cheerfulness and good grace, but I feel mighty useless. I feel that I have let the team down.


Thwart, thwart, thwart!


 

8 comments:

swamp4me said...

LOL, that heron has radar!
Sorry to hear your back is misbehaving again. I understand back pain all too well, I'm afraid.
Best of luck with the move. Hopefully you have met your quota of Thwarts for a while.

By the way, clouds or not, the sunset pictures are very nice.

Bonita said...

I like your photos! Well done...I'll be checking back for more.

Gina said...

She of the bad back wishes to tell he of the bad back that you have not let anybody down! If only we could control when and where our bodies would give out on us. Then we could just schedule our lives around it. But that's obviously not the case.

It is a total bummer that your back has chosen this inopportune period to throw a fit. They have a bad habit of knowing just when would be the worst possible time. I can totally understand your frustration, I would be too. But, you are not allowed to beat yourself up over it, AC.

Ice, ice and more ice... Hope you feel better.

Christi said...

I'm one hundred percent sure that no one thinks that you're letting them down. It's not your fault, after all, that it happened. Surely you would rather be taking part in the moving than sitting there in pain! I hope you feel better soon, and good luck with your move!

Sue said...

Frustrating all round... and feeling stressed probably makes the back problem worse. I do hope it gets better soon and that all goes well with the move.

Iona said...

Thwart indeed! I guess luck wasn't around. I understand your frustration with the sunsets, I've experienced that a few time as well.

The Heron story is kind of funny. I realy hate it when that happens. For this reason I rather not take any pictures of animals.

And then your back! Well, can't have more bad luck, can you? I hope you feel better soon. It's bad timing with the move coming up. But don't feel bad, I'm sure you've had enough bad luck for the entire rest of the year!

PBS said...

Oh sorry to hear about your back, that's certainly not your fault! The photos are lovely, I like the colors.

Dee said...

We have a gray heron that visits our neighbors pond in the summer. I wanted to tell you these are some great photos and I do hope your back is better.