If so, you are sharing a curse with several thousand other people, at least.
My husband bought one of those garden seats that can be used as a kneeler (depending on which way you turn it). If you want to stop sitting on random precarious things, you might try buying something. There’s something about having searched for and found and bought (or acquired) some unusual gizmo that will make people carry the prized object around like a stuffed animal or security blanket. It’s easier to form new habits than to extinguish old ones.
I am so sorry to hear that you are not well. I am home pretending to be debilitated by the aches from the flu and COVID shots I got yesterday so I can goof off. (I’m retired! Why do I need an excuse to goof off?)
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This story from a few months ago feels fitting for this thread:
I was looking for Echo Azures along the Shell Road trail with my mom one day and while we were on our way back, a coyote emerged from the underbrush and took a good look at us. I stopped my mom dead in her tracks because she hadn’t noticed it. I silently pulled out my phone and got some shots before pulling out the binoculars for some better shots. It stared at us for a few seconds before going back into the woods. The resulting photographs is this observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/216968813
Another coyote story, I was walking home from my classes and stopped to look at how beautiful the sky was. I took out my phone but not before noticing that there was a coyote running for its life being chased by the local house cat. It passed 2 meters in front of me and ran off into an open parking lot before the cat gave up its chase. That was the closest I’ve ever been to a coyote but seeing a tiny cat chase that big wild dog was very funny to say the least. It was serendipitous that I was able to snap these photographs because I would have been too stunned otherwise: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/166185971
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Oh, your second coyote story reminds me: a few years back, we had coyotes roaming the neighborhood. One was chasing a local stray or indoor / outdoor cat up the alley, just as we looked out the back window. We had the perfect view of kitty jumping our neighbor’s fence and escaping as the coyote did a high-speed faceplant into the chain link. 
I mean, I should feel some sympathy for the coyote. No doubt he had one heckuva headache later on. But it’s not every day that you see a classic Road Runner cartoon happen in real life!
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Same here!!
Yesterday, when I was cleaning my quail coop, I found a huge American toad nearby missing a foot. It was healed over, but the leg ended at the tibia and fibula, with no toes or other foot bones. He was still very energetic! I wish I got a picture of his leg, but I don’t like to handle amphibians any more than necessary due to their delicate skin. That was pretty cool.
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Sounds like a scene straight out of a cartoon! Thank you so much for sharing!
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I was trying to find a frog when SMACK!
I walked right into a thistle clump.
Which was full of wasps.
Nothing much happened, though. I walked right out. Phew!
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https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/200572694
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165372556 (my professor’s photos, much better)
During my primary undergraduate research, which was in Trinidad, we went on a hike near the Matelot River. I did not prepare to be swimming in this river, however once the rain started, I didn’t have much of a choice. The group I was with decided to ford across, as the river level was rising. Needless to say, my hiking boots were soaked, and I did not bring socks, and we still had several more miles (and hours) to go in the tropical forest.
One of my colleagues had originally planned to do a survey of velvet worms, and after a couple of days closer to our basecamp, decided to give up to pursue his other research he had planned. That is, until we stumbled across this beautiful equatorial velvet worm! Truly one of the most magnificent little creatures I have seen.
We retreated back to the road after a couple of kilometers, however the water level was not going down, so one of the local guides decided to chop down a few bamboo shoots that were only 20-30m tall, and we ended up having to climb across the river, which had become rapids by now, hanging onto a shoot that was only 6" across.
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Wonderful serendipity strikes again, I was out trying to photograph grasshoppers and I just so happened to kneel down to try and get a shot in before noticing a blue-gray blur land in front of me. At first, I thought it was a moth, but then I realized that it was a Gray Hairstreak. I had never seen one before, and here it was, 20 cm right in front of me. I immediately got to snapping some photos before it flew away, disappearing into the brush. The Gray Hairstreak had only been photographed twice in the area and both times were earlier this year. I had not expected to see one in September, so having this happen was wonderful.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/240976759
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Slightly similar to what happened to me once. One day, I went to the bathroom and saw a carpenter ant wandering around. Suddenly, it was caught by one of these long-legged, house spiders that live in dusty corners. After fighting for a while, the ant escaped. After recovering, it started wandering around again, and… guess what.
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Recently, I saw a peregrine falcon playing with a turkey vulture.
The vulture was gliding in circles, I believe it was descending. Out of nowhere, the falcon appeared, with some strong wingbeats, to then start gliding. The falcon started gliding in circles, but the other way around, as if the vulture glided clockwise and the falcon glided to the opposite direction, counterclockwise. So, when they both met, they both extended their feet and held each other, as if they were combining a handshake and a give me five.
They kept gliding in circles and doing this same ‘‘greeting’’ every time they coincided, until they got out of my sight.
Peregrine falcons are probably my favorite animals. They are as amazingly dexter and prodigal in their movement, as they are smart, and curious, and playful, and loving, and beautiful.
Of course, I’ve seen peregrines playing multiple times. One of their favorite games is to follow their couple mimicking exactly every movement, kind of like a Simon says. They also like to stoop on little birds like warblers just for fun, or, as I observed in the US many years ago, they chase gulls just for the sake of chasing them.
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The GHO in the radio tower made me think it would be a good call sign.
“You’re listening to WGHO. Great music, great nature, all the time.”
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Just wondering if you’re worried at all about the risk of direct contact with wild birds – given the Avian Influenza situation.
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@broacher I have several bird feeders at the moment. I’ve always taken the necessary precautions (regular washing, wearing gloves when contacting them, etc), but I’m now considering taking them down at least for the upcoming migratory period. Shame, as I was looking forward to watching the incoming arrivals, but I’d really rather not encourage anything. Bird flu scares the crud out of me…
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Yeah, we took our feeders down for the same reasons. And the little chickadees and friends who would freely eat of my hand (or land on my camera) at the local park? [sigh] Sorry friends.
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On drug trafficking interdiction patrol with the British military in the Belize jungle in 1990, we found that shoals of little nibbling fishes would quickly clean our pans when taken to rinse in a stream. Needless to say it only took one swim to decide to wear trousers tucked into socks…
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