Hoofin' It: It's been about a week since I've able to get out for a walk; the two procedures on Monday and Tuesday took a big bite out of my time and energy, but it's also been raining fairly steadily. This morning, the weather was clear so I used the opportunity to walk down to the Fern Ridge area and take some pictures.

This is a path through a small wooded section down by the reservoir. Noticed it last time I was down there but thought that, while inviting, there were probably any number of hungry, carnivorous animals hiding in wait to pounce on unsuspecting travelers. Went down it today and lived to tell the tale.

No bears or mountain lions...for now.

The Pacific Northwest has cornered the market on scary-looking trees. Here's a particularly creepy one, along the same path.

"Psst...come a little bit closer, Traveler."

A blue heron fishing below the dam. Was hoping to get a little closer for a photo but they're notoriously shy.

Don't stand so close to me.

Kirk Pond as seen from the top of the levee. Doesn't seem that large when you're standing at the one end (Clear Lake Road runs along the south side).

No Led Zeppelin jokes, please.

Oregon is mushroom country and fall/spring rains bring out all sorts of odd folks who hunt them for money. I've heard stories of people fighting to the death over fungi...well, not really, but some of the edible varieties are supposedly worth a bit of coin. What I know about mushrooms is practically zilch, but I suspect this is just your garden-variety toadstool.

Smurfs sold separately.

An inmate at the alpaca farm. Walked up to the fence to say "hi" to this guy and his buddy and they quickly backed away. Guess they hadn't heard from other area livestock that I'm that guy with the carrots.

"Be-bop a-lu-la, I don't mean maybe..."

Last and certainly least, a picture of me after the walk. Tried to get a decent shot (honest!) but gave up after a few attempts and went for the comic effect out of frustration. Yes, it's twoo Trieu true, my hair is that gray. No, it's not quite that thin. I'm blaming it on the sweat and the angle. Yes...that's it.

The tradition of ass-ugly photos continues...

That's it for now. Monday is the big start of the chemotherapy treatments. Until then...

Update: Anybody wanna see a couple of dirty pictures? Well, Tom's Boogie Wonderland is a family website, pervert...go to another blog, you shameless smut-seeker. However, I do have a couple of snaps of the area of the power port installation, underwhelming as they are. Think I mentioned that the site was covered with a dressing, but not sure if I elaborated on its nature. Over the port itself was a small band-aid sized strip of gauze which was held on by a clear square of adhesive about 3"x5". It was starting to itch so I removed it just before my shower today. Thought there might be a curious reader or two out there who'd like to see what the fuss was/is about.

Links will open in a new window, so you may close them quickly if you're too horrified by my nekkid flesh. Each photo is about 270 KB.

The first photo is of the entire site. There's a tiny red cut about three inches above and to the left of the port itself, toward my shoulder; at first I thought this was just a mark from the monitoring equipment used during the procedure but now I'm able to feel a short length of tubing below the skin at this spot. It does itch (and sometimes pull) a little, but it's nothing too bothersome.

The second is a close-up of the site of the port. Sorry, but I'm leaving that bit of tape on until my appointment Monday. True, you can't see much, but I can feel the port below the skin (feels like the diameter of a quarter, but maybe an eighth of an inch high). I truly expected to see the port itself atop the skin when I pulled off the dressing, so,  yeah, I was disappointed.

Again, the big reveal underneath the dressing was somewhat underwhelming, but being a nosy sort myself, I thought that there might be someone out there who'd want to know and see more. Apologies if you're not that type.