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Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Pain and Happiness

Our black dog and I have a lot in common. He has elbow dysplasia and has had multiple elbow surgeries in his life. There's probably another in his future because the elbow clearly hurts him. Similarly, I have a degenerative spine condition. I've had multiple spine surgeries, although I hold out hope that there won't be more. However, I've been having a tough time lately, with pain from both my neck discs and my low back discs radiating into my limbs. Like R, daily life hurts me but I still try to live with joy and purpose.

R is a great example in that regard. As long as R can still run around in the forest, he has joy in his life. For me, as long as I can ride my bike, play with our pack, and study our wildlife, I can be happy regardless of pain. I think that both of us have a harder time with sedentary life than being outside in motion.
Today, I rode my mountain bike to check a few trail cameras after my time outdoors with Shyla. Much to my amazement, I am still seeing a fair bit of bear activity. I think that this year is different from most years because the bears' lower elevation foods failed. Consequently, an unusual number of bears are up here, either foraging on our Kinnikinnick berries or getting ready to go into dens. Time will tell whether they plan to stay active or hibernate earlier than usual.

The bears are looking mighty fat, which is wonderful to see!

I believe the bear in the next photos is Dot, our youngish female bear who has a tiny white dot on her chest. She's been active throughout our neck of the woods for the past month. I'm very hopeful that she's going to have cubs in a den near here this winter!
After sniffing a bear marking tree, she marked it herself. While male bears mark trees most intensely during mating season in early summer, female bears mark trees most intensely in autumn shortly before they retire to a den.
Her marking behavior has been vigorous recently. She tends to spend about a minute thoroughly marking each bear tree she passes. I also captured some video of her marking a different tree which I'll share soon.
About an hour after Dot, a much larger male bear arrived at the same tree. He marked it too, albeit briefly. I'm not certain which male bear this is. It could be Tiny or it could be a bear who is just passing through our area. Tiny tends to disappear in late summer and autumn, returning just as winter arrives. I'm certain he dens in our area although I don't know exactly where.
Since I got out to ride my bike and enjoy nature today, it was a happy one for me despite the spinal pain. And finding bear photos on my trail cameras made me SMILE!

And I even managed to avoid getting caught in the rain. The morning clouds, which looked pretty, brought a cold rain to our area later in the day.
I bet we all have certain "touchstone" things that make life okay, almost no matter what. Mine are playing with our pack, immersing myself in nature, and watching our wildlife.

20 comments:

  1. You seem to have the best attitude you can with all the pain you live in. I think it is amazing that you fight through it!

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  2. Hope you have plenty of pain free days so you can fill up your page with these wonderful pictures and have yourself more adventures

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  3. Great outlook on life! I love seeing those bears. They're so interesting!

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  4. Purrs to both you and R, you two are seroiusly amazing! Howdy Dot, nice to see you!

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  5. Seeing the photos of your wildlife makes me happy and smile, too! I'm sorry about you and R's pain! ~hugs~

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  6. Seeing all the wonderful wildlife your cameras capture and all the beauty in your world makes us happy. We wish we could find a way to take away that pain.

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  7. Walking by our stream (when it's flowing) with Otto and or our extended pack. Being in Nature...enjoying the changing light. touchstones for sure...

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  8. I just love your positive attitude and bet it makes such a difference!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  9. Being out and about with so much to see probably keeps your mind off the pain as much as possible. So happy the bears are fat. We were worried earlier in the year that they wouldn't find enough food.

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  10. Your camera, high altitude bike riding, the Duo, and Runner, all combining to help you through tough times. Down here, I have the trees to walk under, a cat or three to cherish, photography, quilting, but most of all, my wonderful blog friends. Hold on tight to your good days, may they be more than the others.

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  11. It is so amazing how you and R can work through the pain. Being outside like that, it seems like nothing else could be wrong.

    Anne and Ziggy

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  12. it's great that you both can carry on even with pains. I know what pains an elbow can cause when it turns into a hellbow :o(
    Is it a sign for a hard or long winter when the bears look that way, before they start their hibernation?

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  13. It's obvious that both you and R are troopers that totally love life and want to be happy. Bless you both!

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  14. You're right. Concentrating on things that are much more interesting and fulfilling than pain can play a huge role in helping us deal with it. For me, it is being with my horses and doing things with them, as well as being able to go out into the fields with Tommy to throw him the ball endlessly as I enjoy nature.

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  15. You are so lucky to live in an area with so much natural beauty...and then of course dogs always help.

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  16. I am a firm believer in a body in motion, stays in motion. I always feel better after a hike, or a walk when my bones start to hurt. Love the bear shots.

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  17. Love this post - the parallels between you and R are amazing and cannot be avoided. It was meant to be that you are together, just like Shyla was sent by K to heal your shattered heart.

    Indy helps me every single day to heal from the loss of my son - he reminds me that life is meant to be lived out loud. That scars tell stories - they show that you have been in a battle and fought hard and long. My scars are not visable like yours, KB - but they are there and run deep. I just started to "telework" this week and I'm so thrilled that I get to spend Tuesdays and Thursdays at home with Indy! More walks and more joy, more treats and more of his head in my lap, snoozing while I work away!!!!

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  18. Those are great beat photos in the fog. I have elbow issues. Mom bought these braces. We are going to ask my surgeon/neurologist today if they will help. We'll let you know
    Lily & Edward

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  19. Sorry to hear you are having flare-ups and numbness with radiation. I do so admire your working through all of it and not letting the pain define your life. I hope I could be so brave if faced with chronic pain. But I'm not at all sure I could.

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  20. I empathize so completely, KB.
    And lately, I am struggling to get myself up and about and outside, even though it makes me feel so much better in my heart when I AM outside. Thank goodness for the animals, because no matter what I feel like, I MUST get out there and feed and water, regardless of anything else. They are a lot of work, but I cannot imagine what I'd do without them!

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