Recovering

Surgery went fine.

Typing one handed is not fun.

More another day.

old photo from Cotswold walking trip in 2014

Surgery on Monday

I am having out patient surgery on my left thumb on Monday morning.  It has become too painful to continue without fixing it.  My right thumb has similar issues and even though I'm right handed, it's the left that has given me the most pain.

I've been wearing this brace which immobilizes the joint and provides some relief.  But thumbs are so necessary for doing so much.

The doctor assured me its a quick and easy fix and I'll be pain free once it heals.  He will remove the tiny bone that has no cartilage and replace it with a bit of tendon from my arm.  Not sure I totally understand how that will work but take his word for it that it will.

That being said, I may be MIA for a week or so.

Calvert Cliffs State Park

The western shore of the Chesapeake Bay has some incredible cliffs that have been eroding through time.  Many of these are now in state ownership to preserve them.  They are known for the fossils that can be washed out including shark teeth.

Sunday the 8th we headed to Calvert Cliffs State Park arriving about 11 am.  The parking lots were filling fast.  We parked and took the trail to the beach, 1.8 miles away.

The trail was through some very lovely woods and along side a creek which became wetlands 

  

 partially due to the beaver dam.  

The creek emptied into the bay at a small beach.

The cliffs to north and south were closed to the public.  

Above looking north.  Below the creek we had to cross at the bay to go south.

It was high tide too so the little strip of sand was a bit crowded. 

We stayed a bit and chatted with a local resident at a picnic table and then headed back.  We passed so many people, adults, children, babies and dogs headed to the beach.  Many looked like they planned to stay awhile with their chairs and coolers.  I don't know how they would all fit.

We didn't find any fossils but someone had left this on the picnic table.  If you look closely you can see the fossils of shells.

The Chesapeake is a major waterway to and from Baltimore.  A large container or tanker ship passed by.

We took a detour after leaving the park to find the Bay House - a vacation home that my parents built in the early 1960s.  Despite all the development and new roads I got us to Drum Point and to the street.  Someone was mowing the lawn when I took this photo.  I spoke to him and discovered he lived across the street and was mowing for the owners who were on vacation.  The development is no longer a vacation home community.  People commute to Washington or across the Patuxent River to St. Mary's County and the Naval base there.

I sent the photos to my siblings and it generated lots of memories for them and for me.

Turtles

Three trips to parks and three turtle sightings.

In June Dan and I visited Wye Island and I wrote about it here.

We saw this turtle crossing the road.  It wasn't bothered by my walking up to take its photo.  In fact it was quite speedy crossing.

On July 3 we had a walking trip from Vantage House courtesy of the Fitness staff to Quiet Waters Park outside Annapolis, MD.  We spotted this turtle along the path.

On Sunday, a lovely day to be out, we drove to Calvert Cliffs State Park, and hiked 3.6 miles round trip.  More on that hike to the Chesapeake Bay in another post.  Along the way we spotted these two turtles in the wetlands along the path.

I don't know how the turtle above climbed up that old stump which was several feet out of the water.  The one below was content to be half in and half out of the water on that lily pad.

So nice to see creatures in their natural habitat.  They don't have it easy.