Good News, Bad News...

Yesterday was a banner day in my life.  Who knew that getting a shot would make my day a banner day???  But that is life in this now, COVID-19 world!

I had a noon appointment at the Chena Health Group.  I had never been there, but I was able to find the building very easily.  The hardest part was finding the clinic in the building.  I first went to the side of the building that made sense to be the front.  It was not and was actually an exit.

So back the way I came and found an entrance that dropped me into the hallway on the 1st floor.  I ran into a person there who indicated that I needed to go to the second floor and then got the suite number for me.  The folks in Fairbanks are so friendly and helpful.

Up the nearby flight of stairs.  I am doubled masked and so breathing was difficult.  Of course, the stairs that I used were the farthest away from where I needed to be.  By the time I found the check-in desk at Chena Health, I was puffing.  Thank goodness I had to take a seat to fill out the forms.  I was able to fill out the forms and catch my breath before getting down to the business of the day.

Chena Health has been vaccinating for several weeks.  Up until yesterday, they were administering the Pfizer vaccine.  Yesterday they switched over to Moderna.  I was happy with either.

So I was vaccinated, waited the required 15 minutes with no immediate side effects, and headed out.  One step to... hopefully... getting back to some sort of normality.  That is the good news.

Now for the not-so-good news.  Thus far it is not bad, bad news.  But we are not done with it yet.

Last week I noticed what seemed to be a stye developing in the corner of my right eye closest to my nose.  I get them from time to time but they usually hang around a day or two and then disappear.  They, also, mostly appear on the far side of my eye, this one started on the wrong side.  And it seemed to be a little farther down from the edge of the lid.

It did not go away, so I called my eye doctor and headed in last week to have it checked.  Dr. Ellis looked at it, poked at it, and said it did not seem to be a stye.  She thought it might be a cyst,  So I came home with an amazing eye mask to apply heat to the eye a couple of times a day.  (I may use it at nighttime to relax before going to bed!)

Nope... nothing happened.  It stayed the same size and is now harder when I touch it.

Back to the doctor today.  She looked at it again, although now there is a reddish ring around it.  She consulted with Dr. Mills and I now have an eye ointment... or will once I pick it up... to apply 4 times a day.  I rub it on the lump and then put any excess left on my finger along the eyelid edge.  I will do that for a week and then see what happens.  If this does not work, then I will likely be off to an Opthomologist for further evaluation.

This tiny tube of ointment is costing me around $230.00.  Something better happen!  YIKES!!!!!

See... not too bad.  Just want it to go away.  No pain, I can see fine.  I just know this is not normal.  I will keep you updated.

Another Moose...

 Well, my camera on the driveway caught another moose in its lens.

I do check my cameras during the day.  I spend most of my time down in the craft room on the lower level of this split foyer home.  I am usually facing the back of the room/house either watching TV, playing Aminal Crossings on my Switch, or sewing.  So I am not usually able to look out the front window in this room.  And even if I could, the windows in the room are not all that big where I could see the entire front view that my camera can catch.  So I check them several times to see if I had anyone approaching the house, to see any deliveries that might have been left on the porch or any animal that might meander across the front of the house.

The other day it was getting dusky and I noted that there appeared a light from headlights on a vehicle that remained still instead of the usual movement in the turn.  I pulled the SD card from the camera and reviewed the time frame to see what might have been happening.  At first, I could not figure it out as the vehicle appeared to stop for a period of time before pulling into the far right side of the duplex that is visible from my house.  It made no sense until I looked a second time.  That is when I saw her... Momma Moose had returned.  

She had wandered out from the wooded area that you can see at the top of my driveway.  She wandered out onto the driveway and stopped for well over a minute.  Then she began to move out toward the road. Shortly after she moved, a youngish calf came out of the woods to join her.  Just as the calf started to walk on the driveway, the car approached from the right side of the picture and caught the animals in their headlights.  Being smart, they stopped, as you do not move on a Momma Moose with her young.  They are really very protective and can be VERY aggressive.  Take note that when the vehicle approached, Momma turns and goes back to her child.

The moose family stands there for another minute or so.  The vehicle makes a couple of little movements forward trying to get the little family to move.  Finally, Momma heads back into the woods, followed by the calf.  The vehicle then turns into their driveway so they can get home.

So, I made a 3-minute video so you can see it... maybe.  This all took place in a section of the driveway that is the farthest away from the camera.  If you have the ability to enlarge the picture on your phone or computer, you will get a better look.  If not, you will have to look very, very closely to see it.

So... enjoy!

A snow event...

It has again, been a while since I have posted.  I cannot figure that you would enjoy the mundane parts of life during this COVID-19 thing.  I get up, I putz around, I cook and eat then I go to bed.  Rinse and repeat!!

But once in a while, some fun things happen and they manage to get caught on one of my many cameras.

When I was in Parkesburg, I had many cameras all over my home so my family and friends could keep up with me and be able to look in to see if I was still alive and kicking.  It was a safety and comfort thing for me.  Those cameras needed a web site in order to be used.

After getting to Fairbanks, I decided to use different cameras.  There is a company called WYZE that has developed cameras that are small, high def, and cheap ($20).  I have been following the company since they began and have each of the three versions of their cameras.  They do not need a website, just a phone app for viewing.  I can share the cameras with my family members, so they are more secure with little chance of outsiders looking in.  Each camera has a micro SD card slot and can continuously record so as not to miss anything.  But the WYZE company provides the ability to save 12 seconds of a motion event and notify you, should you want that.  That way I can see that there was motion and check out what had happened.

I have several cameras pointed to the outside area of my home.  It allows me to see vehicles arriving, deliveries coming... and as you may remember... even porch pirates.

It has been a strange winter thus far.  We had a big thump of snow on November 7, 2020.  Then we had little sprinkles of snow that had me plowing a small layer off the driveway before Brian came at Christmas.  Then nothing until last weekend.  It has been cold and the snow that has fallen is still around.  We have had frosty weather that has kept the snow stuck in the trees and on the overhead electrical wires.

This is the front window view using my Sony still camera but taken from just above the "Waves" camera.  The "Waves" camera is a camera that I had given to Rob back when Kate was in the hospital in Seattle.  He used it to check on me when I was in Seattle and then after they bought this house, they had it here to watch the inside of the house before we pointed it outside.

When I am upstairs and I look out the front picture window... this is the view I see.  It is a picture postcard, lush in the summer and beautiful in the winter.  It gives me a sense of peace and calm when I take the time to sit and enjoy this landscape.

I want you to look carefully look at the picture.  Especially the power lines.  When the temperatures get below zero (and it happens frequently here in the interior of Alaska) Hoarfrost begins to appear.  The surfaces get so cold that any moisture in the air freezes on whatever it touches.  While the snow does land on the top of the wires, the frost builds up and builds up UNDER the wires.

As the temperature warms-up or as we get winds (which is rare here in the valley) the snow will fall off the heavily laden tree limbs and that will sometimes cause power 'blips' or outright outages when snow or tree limps interact with power lines.  The 'blips' are annoying as the power goes out and then comes back on in just a few seconds.  But it is out long enough to reboot the router for my internet and to make me have to reset the clocks in the kitchen.  Anything electronic has to restart and reboot. 

February 7, 2021, I was watching TV in my craft retreat (the place where I spend most of my time), it was light outside and there was no wind to speak of.  Suddenly the house went dark and quiet, only to come back to life a few moments later.  Annoying!

I took that time to go up and unplug the internet router so I could put that device on a battery backup device that I had brought with me from Parkesburg... I had unearthed it last year but put it in a safe place that I finally found just a few weeks ago.  Hopefully, that will prevent the router from turning off during the 'blips'!  Didn't think much about the 'blip' until I took a look at the motion notices for the cameras and saw the activity you will see below.

This is the view from the new Driveway camera.  I am just glad that I was not out getting the mail or walking Miles!!  If you can enlarge pictures on your phone or tablet or computer, you can get a close-up look at the action.

Please take note of the power lines after the snow dumps.  Enlarge the picture if you can to see the movement.  There is no wind, but something happened to give those lines so much sway and bounce.  You gotta love winters in Alaska!!!