Ever the optimist

January 1, 2026

At least I hope there'll be traveling in the coming year, although if 2025 taught us nothing else it was to not take anything for granted. We are optimistic though, and certainly much more upbeat than at this time a year ago. Many things seem possible as we look ahead. The knee replacement surgery thing will obviously slice up the calendar and dictate what is possible, but it's easy to imagine a trip abroad fitting in somewhere depending on timing of the procedures and how well rehabilitation goes - maybe late spring between procedures, or late fall after the second one? Or both? Lord knows we don't have a wish to stay in this country this year any more than we have to. But even when we are staying close to home there's bound to be some traveling happening just to get a change of scene. We could pretty easily make it up into western Canada for example, or to the Palouse, or along the southern Oregon coast, or back to Minnesota to visit our son and his daughters - there are lots of possibilities even if we never make it to England or southern Spain or northern Italy or southwest France like we'd love to do again. At this point we make no predictions at all, but we've certainly got an attic full of ideas percolating around.

And in the meantime, there's always the birds. 2026 got off to a very promising start this morning when I drove over to Reid Park for a short loop as soon as last night's light rains passed on and before this afternoon's heavy rains commenced. I came home with five new birds to add to the list, finding nearly all of the ones I was hoping for today. You can't hope for a much better omen for the new year than that.

Oh - and about the title of the journal, in case you're a newcomer? Tyenne (the brand name for tocilizumab) is the injectable medication I take every other week to hopefully keep GCA, the autoimmune disease I'm afflicted with, in remission. It made the headline for the journal because of the constraints it places on our travel options. It's a long story, but the short version is that it's essential (by keeping GCA in remission it's preserving the eyesight in my left eye, after the disease blinded the right one last year), it's a very expensive drug, I can only get a single month's refill at a time under our insurance plan, they won't ship it overseas, and it needs to be kept refrigerated. As a result, we're limited in how long we can be out of the country before we need to return to build up a new supply. This is a new situation for us as of last summer and one we're still working out, but we can live with it. We hope you'll come along for the ride.

I'm out here almost at the first light. The wigeons haven't even gotten the sleep out of their eyes yet.

Some fireworks to celebrate the new year.

#61: Verdin. This is a typical shot of this tiny bird - it's hard enough to spot them, much less to get a clear shot.

Today's list: American wigeon, Mallard, Mexican duck, American coot, Bufflehead, Canvasback, Swan goose, Ring-necked duck, Neotropic cormorant, Western bluebird, Verdin, Gila woodpecker, European starling, Mourning dove, Common raven, Ruddy duck, Yellow-rumped warbler, Lesser goldfinch, Vermillion flycatcher, House sparrow, House finch, Great-tailed grackle (22)

Today's ride: 5 miles (8 km)
Total: 5 miles (8 km)

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