Weak in the Knees

Isa 35:3 NKJV  Strengthen the weak hands, And make firm the feeble knees.

Here we are again... first, an update on Georgia.  She has more or less recovered from her two surgeries and we are just awaiting results to find out if she needs chemo or radiation or both.  It’s kind of frustrating- as these things can be- because 2 weeks ago we drove to Amarillo to discuss this only to find out that the doctors couldn't say anything and simply needed her to sign a permission form so they could then get the needed test.  So, 7.5 hours of driving and 4 hours of sitting around just to sign a form.   Oh well, we made the most of the trip and did some needed shopping.  And BTW, just in case you missed it: Georgia's Cancer Treatment Fund. [link removed as this is now an old post]  We've gotten some very generous and very much appreciated help from friends thru this.  

It's been a very windy spring.  The wind is the worst thing about NE New Mexico... it can be just incessant sometimes.   And destructive?  Stuff never rots here- it blows away long before that.  I've heard it said that if the wind doesn't blow, the summer rains don't come.  At this rate, we oughta have a genuine wet year.

A touch o' a breeze

In New Mexico you have to draw for just about every hunting opportunity and this year I was fortunate enough to draw a rifle bull elk and archery deer tag.  I’ll go to the spot where I killed the cow elk a few years ago and with that in mind, Derek and I took our turkey tags out for a little turkey hunting and elk scouting.  We didn’t see a single turkey or any sign, but we did see quite a few elk and picked up a decent shed antler. 

Shed elk antler

We walked- according to Google Earth- about 3.5 miles up and down canyons and my knees just flat-out gave up.  That’s the first time that’s ever happened.  I've gotten muscular tired before, but this time, my knees just quit and going downhill was painful.  I was carrying my new pack- a Horn Hunter Full Curl- with about 20 lbs of stuff in it, but still...  On the upside, now that I know I can’t rely on my inherent conditioning anymore, I have all summer to get my knees strong enough to pack out the big bull elk I’m going to take this fall. [< update!] The next day, I felt pretty good with no lingering stabs of pain, so I guess it’s good that I can still recover.

In the archery world, Derek and I traveled to ABQ in early April to shoot the State Animal Round.  Derek shot very well and, as usual, won.  I shot good at first and then fell apart a little bit- the uphill and downhill shots got me.  I ended up 2nd place, missing 1st by 1 point.  But, we got our scores in from the Vegas Indoor Round back in Feb and got a surprise.  This was a "sectional" shoot, covering CA, AZ, NM, CO, UT, and NV.   Derek took 1st place is now the Sectional Champ!  My score was good enough for 2nd and I'm not complaining about that.  Scores aside, we're having fun shooting.

David’s 13th birthday has come and gone.  In observance, we went to the grave site and placed some solar-powered crosses on the site.  We went back a few days later at night and they were all lit up and looked nice- as nice as a grave site is going to look, I suppose.  That was Weds night.  Thurs, Derek and I went elk-scouting and turkey-hunting.  Saturday, my gout returned and Sunday, it hammered me.  I really need to get a number on this thing.  It’s probably not any particular food I’m eating, but may be a result of general kidney decline.  For now, I’m drinking lemon water and lots of it, and here on Sunday evening, it’s feeling better.

We have cattle on the ground, it’s rained a little, the grass is greenish, and here we go into another cattle season- my 19th.  Hopefully, I’ll be showing pictures of green grass soon.

Early morning visitors