The Plans Change

Well, I bought a ticket to go to Florida on Monday, which is the earliest I could depart without leaving Olga alone. Dave comes back from Seattle the same day -- in fact, we'll pass each other at Heathrow! I'm planning on being there a week, all in Jacksonville. My mom continues to decline gradually. My brother and his family went to see her last night and she was sound asleep. She apparently isn't eating or drinking much. I hope I get there in time, but I am resigned to the possibility that I won't.

Dave offered to change his plans and join me in Florida, but I think it's better that he just come home to be with the dog. I can't deal with scrambling around for dog care and then worrying about her in some kennel.

Otherwise, yesterday was pretty low-key. I repotted an orchid that I think is dying and I'd intended to throw out, but I decided to give it one last chance. Its roots seem healthy and quite compacted, and I thought maybe it just needs more space. It's lost all its leaves, though, so I don't have high hopes.

I took a walk up to Cricklewood (above), which felt good.

Here's some more artwork from the recently repainted Mill Lane Bridge. I wonder if this is Judith's mother? I'm guessing yes. And her cat (or dog?) on a leash.

In the afternoon we had some excitement. The starlings were out on the bird feeder, making their usual racket, when suddenly I heard something that sounded like a thud and they all took off.

I looked out in the garden and there was a raptor of some kind on the ground, and I think it got something, perhaps one of the birds. There's a shadow in the grass in some of my pictures, and the raptor was covering it with its wings, like they often do to protect their kill. It flew away a few moments later because the neighbor's cat jumped up on the fence, and when I went out to look in the grass there was no sign of a kill, so it must have carried it off. The starlings have not been back.

Wild Kingdom!

In the evening I watched "Rocky," which I haven't seen in decades. Someone gave us the DVD in the library. It was OK -- boxing is completely alien to me, so that aspect left me flat, but it was interesting to watch the characters evolve and I love the street scenes of Philly in the '70s. And of course the music. It's the one Sylvester Stallone movie I could ever bring myself to watch. (I think I rented "Rambo" many years ago just to see what all the fuss was about, but I remember none of it.)