Anniversaries, Space & a Baby Rat

Here's the photo of the baby brown rat that Charles mentioned in the comments of my last post, for those that are interested. Click for a larger view.
In other news--brace yourself--today's the 15th anniversary of comet Shoemaker-Levy crashing into Jupiter. I swear it doesn't seem like it was that long ago. It's also the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, which brought Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong to the moon.
In other anniversary news, tomorrow (Fri., Jul. 17th) is the 6th anniversary of my moving to the New Orleans area.

The Shoulder Verdict

Had my appointment with the orthopedic specialist this morning. He said that my recent X-ray & MRI indicated a lot of inflammation & some calcification in my problem (left) shoulder. As a result, I got a cortizone shot & a printout of exercises for my rotator cuff muscles. Traditional swimming's still out for now, but I've already noticed a difference while driving; I could actually turn my steering wheel with that arm! It's the simple things in life that bring happiness.
Here's some more recent bird photos...

New Painting

Perhaps the recent removal of art-stress from my life has made it easier & more satisfying to work on art. Although I'd thought I was finished with it, I still seem to be churning out paintings...

"Primary Curves"
10x8" acrylic on canvasboard

More Fledglings

Blue jay fledgling.

Male cardinal feeding fluttering fledgling.

Tufted titmouse fledgling.

Red-bellied woodpecker fledgling.

Red-headed woodpecker & fledgling.
(Thanks to Charles for taking this photo while I was at work.)

The Rains Stop & Other Things (Updated)

As suddenly as it came on, my back problem seems to have largely disappeared. It's not completely better, but I can walk & move again, even if I still need to take it easy. During my 2 weeks of non-walking, I was stuck on the couch most of the time, watching TV. To break up the mind-numbing monotony I did a little painting;

"October"
8x10" acrylic on canvasboard
(The trees are done in metallic gold paint, which
can't be accurately captured in a static image.)
In other news...
Because I'm feeling better (& with Charles' help,) I managed to set up my art display at the Causeway branch of the library, which will run through the end of August.
A gentleman from the Times Picayune newspaper called me this morning to interview me about Abita Artists (which I founded last Summer.) It will run July 12th. (Update, 7/13/09; The interview doesn't appear to have run on the 12th. I'm waiting to hear when it might run, instead.)
Published today, I also have a few works in Anthology of Friends; An Original Collection, Volume 4.

When It Rains...

Unfortunately last Thursday I woke with something seriously wrong with my back. Standing & walking for any real length of time are suddenly out. Fortunately I managed to get X-rays yesterday. I probably won't be doing much blogging/visiting until this is fixed. Apologies in advance.
Here's a picture of a blue jay fledgling in our backyard;

Did you know that the blue jays' fondness for acorns and their accuracy in choosing and burying good ones are credited with spreading oak trees after the last glacial period?
I also forgot to mention that I saw my first great crested flycatcher out back about a month ago. In addition, our local group of 7 crows recently became 10.
In yet other news, another one of my photos was featured on the front page of the St. Tammany News on July 1st.
In yet even other news, the Int'l Space Station will be making some passes over the US in the coming days. Click through the link to see when to keep your eyes on the skies!

Fledglings & Shoulder Update

This year's fledglings are starting to appear. Here's a very short video of a mother cardinal feeding a chick in my backyard yesterday evening;


There were 2 mothers feeding 3 chicks (2 presumably female & one clearly male.) Here are a few more pictures;



This morning I saw a red-bellied woodpecker chick (following a parent around,) but I have yet to get a photo of it. We've also had young crows around for a while now, but it's difficult to distinguish them from the adults. We had a group of 4 that became a group of 7. Here's 5 of them out back this morning;

Shoulder news; The recent X-rays I had do indicate a possible labral tear. An MRI has been scheduled for this coming Friday. The anti-inflammatory medication the new doctor put me on last week has been helping quite a bit. I'm still being careful not to overdo it with that arm, however.