First ride of spring

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Above: About the only thing green is the moss on the logs

Above: I can`t wait to see the woods come back to life

Above: This Partridge came right up to me while I was trying to photograph it.

Hello and Welcome, Yesterday I got a call from my doctors office. The nice lady on the phone told me that my Doctor wanted to see me and "follow-up" on my chest x-ray.
Oh, just what an ex-smoker of 30 years wants to hear. I`m glad they didn`t call me Friday night and let me sweat it out all weekend.They were able to get me in this morning at 11:00 am. Yesterday after getting off the phone it occurred to me that
when they ex-rayed my right side. They may have seen some old damage from an injury I received a couple years ago. While that is not exactly what happened, it`s pretty close. I had fallen back-wards and landed on a porch-wall right across my back.I say
a porch wall because the porch was not capped yet. It was kind of painful and it hurt when I would try to breathe. But I didn`t think I had actually broken anything. This injury (due to pain) caused me to favor my left lung. And this went on long enough to collapse these honey comb type things at the lower part of my right lung.
And I guess it went on long enough for these honey comb type things to harden in their collapsed state. So what it amounts to is this, I have lost some lung capacity
in my right lung. Not enough to hinder me (in normal life) but none the less I have lost some. Well that`s "pretty good news" compared to what it could have been.
So I decided today would be a good day to take a ride through the woods at Indian
Springs. I don`t really like the way the woods and grass-lands look this time of year. Everything still looks dead. Michigan looks nice under a fresh coat of snow and
also looks nice when everything is in full bloom. But in this "still dormant" state
it looks kind of depressing.
At about 4 miles in you come to an open grassy area with hills and sparse trees. I was just kind of riding slowly scanning the area for Deer and Wild Turkeys. Then I heard something in the brush to my right, so I stopped and watched for a minute. I see this Partridge just kind of foraging for bugs or something just inside the brush line.I took out my camera and waited to see if she would come out and show herself long enough for me to take a few pics. Problem was, it was so sunny that I could barely make out the view window. So when the Partridge came out I could barely see it. Yet alone zoom in correctly or try to center it in the frame.
Before I realize it the Partridge is literally right at my feet. So as you can see I was zoomed in a little too tight. But it was incredible none the less to run across this fearless Partridge. So I guess there is more to this "photography thing" than I realize. My son asked me latter, Why I didn`t just shut-off the viewing window and use the actual view finder. I told him I was using the new camera and could not remember how to shut it off. lol Crappy photography aside, "Today was a Wonderful Day" And it`s good to be reminded just what a wonderful gift life is.
Well that`s about it for today. I did get word that the parts for the Nishiki are
in the truck and on the way. I need to start getting my paperwork ready for the book-keeper who does my taxes. So I may not be doing much "bike wise" for a few days.
But if I get a chance I will. Till next time, Ride Safe and remember to RESCUE-RESTORE and RECYCLE whenever you can. Cheers, Hugh