Survival mode

The oasis and I are in survival mode. Every day is over 100° and no rain in over a month. None forecast either. All I can do is be grateful I have enough water to keep things alive until the monsoons kick in. Meanwhile, no interesting odes to be had. 

Saw this nice male Hackberry Emperor while watering.

I couldn't get this lovely male Chinati Checkerspot to come out of the vegetation for a better dorsal photo. If I had been more patient, perhaps, but I had been watering trees all day, the temperature was 103,° and my knee was throbbing.

Now I'm in town for two days before I have to go do it all over again. Surely my knee will be much improved by then. Today I got by with half as much ibuprofen as I needed 3 days ago.

My sister, a year younger, is going through a similar situation. In February she fell up on the mountain and didn't think that much about it. But the knee pain wouldn't go away. She got concerned that using her knee might be making it worse, so had an MRI. She found out today that she had fractured her tibia, but it's healing nicely. Mine will too.

Both of us have resolved to abstain from our climbing behaviors. And even be extra careful on flat ground. I get tangled in sticks and tall grasses all the time. About a year ago that caused me a hard fall. As far as I know I've never broken anything, but I don't want there to be a first time. I can't prevent becoming 80 soon, but I can choose how safely I do it.