Close to home...

The day started full of promise with a sunrise start.

With the sun still low in the sky, Shyla demonstrated her progress on "taking a bow".

And, then, with no warning, the ocular migraine began. A couple of years ago, I had my first "ocular migraine", and, unfortunately, these have progressed to full blown migraines. The "light show" - shimmering and glimmering lights in my visual field - is the first hint of what's to come. Today, it was a whole day of a headache that hasn't let up yet. It really hasn't been my lucky month.

So, when you're feeling good, kick up your heels like Shyla did!

As soon as I arrived home from our hike, I flopped onto the bed with a dark cloth covering my eyes. Nurse Shyla was on duty, lying with her chin resting on my chest, keeping close track of her patient. She is such a sensitive soul.

Since I can't write much more today, I thought that I'd share a couple of wildlife photos from our yard. When winter truly takes over, the animals start spending more of the nighttime hours in the vicinity of our house (and I'm sure they're also near other people's houses - perhaps due to the packed snow trails near houses).

First, a coyote pair, both with thick and warm coats, walked past a camera.

Then, a few days later, a very small looking bobcat walked past the same camera. I wonder if this is the bobcat kitten. The camera takes only one photo every 30 seconds so it's tough to know if another bobcat was nearby.

Finally, a bobcat walking carefully in my narrow track on a very snowy and shaded forest slope.

You can tell by looking at the photo that this slope gets no sun in the winter, so the snow is several feet deep by late winter - and absolutely no animals venture onto it. The cat is walking in my narrow track... and, soon, I suspect he'll leave the forested area altogether.

That's all for today. Have a good weekend and kick up your heels if you're feeling good!