New normal

Kelly caught this snake so I could photograph it up close and personal. It's a Western Black-neck Garter Snake, a real common species here.

I saw this Neon Skimmer today and accidentally didn't have my camera settings right. I thought this gave the dragonfly a nice neon-y look.

Otherwise, not much going on. Two weeks ago today I fell and hurt my tailbone. Not thirty minutes after me thinking that it only hurts now when I go up steps, I slipped in mud and fell again. Camera got all muddy again. This time there was no hard tree root and I caught myself with my shoulder. My bad shoulder that won't let me raise my arm up. That shoulder. So I felt the pain there and in my neck, but I think I'll be OK. I know from experience my neck won't move in the night, and I'll have to move it with my hands for a couple of nights, as I had to with my last fall, but never sweat the small stuff. I'm sure lots of people live with worse. Too bad muddy places are the best for dragonflies, and of course, very little ground here is actually flat, especially when I'm going down to the water's edges a lot. Love water, not complaining. 

The stucco tank is leaking a little, at least an inch a day, but as the level goes down and the pressure lessens, so will the leakage. I'll keep patching it every winter, but I'm sure it'll always leak a little. Just have to live with it and be glad for what water I have and what habitat I can maintain.