I love the quote by Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking Glass..." from the Jabberwocky...

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"to talk of many things:
of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--
of cabbages--and kings--
and why the sea is boiling hot--
and whether pigs have wings."

So if you'll indulge me talking of many things, I'll let you in on the progress of my back and legs. I am doing so much better. The experts tell me it will probably never completely heal, but I am able to actually walk upright and move around with a lot more ease of movement, for the moment. The key I believe is several things in combination...(1) faithful, diligent prayer for healing; (2) stretches taught by the physical therapist AM and PM; (3) the little ultra-sound 10-min treatment; (4) cold, then hot, compresses; and lastly, (5) restorative yoga poses using two different DVDs. I do 1, 2, and 5 each day; the other two as necessary. So far this past week, I've been almost pain-free!!! Only one relatively "bad" day when I made cookies, so I was standing a long time. But the cookies are so-o-o-o yummy...it was worth the sacrifice.

Mama Blue Jay

Top right -- sleeping chicks

Top right center -- chicks begging for their next meal

The Blue Jay nest at the back of Steve's shop. I believe that's mom at the top; the pink and gray pointed beaks are the three babies. There was one built a few years ago in the same spot. That family had four chicks. I had to lock our Jackson up in the house when the babies started learning to fly. The birds would fall out of the nest and Jackson would try to scoop them up in his very large mouth! This year, Sam didn't really pay much attention, so I didn't know when exactly they all abandoned the site. But they were fun for a few weeks anyway...