As you can ascertain from this post, I survived the ankle surgery! Quite the ordeal, but Brad and I have two friends going through heart valve replacements up at Mayo right now, so comparatively minor in context. Just wanted to give a quick update as some of you had reached out. Unfortunately, once they got everything opened up, the doctor discovered the injury was worse than expected – not what you want to hear as you are clearing the fog of anesthesia. I’ll get more details during the followup. From Linda’s understanding, in addition to the multitude of expected repairs, the tendon was torn severely beyond initial assessment and strongly suggested those extra 48 miles in the race …..were not helpful (I’ll spare you Linda’s commentary, there might be delicate ears looking over your shoulder). Been some rough nights so far, but Linda is taking great care of me and Brad and Jan are keeping good tabs on me. Won’t keep you any longer as I know you would rather get to another adventure from Brad. Oh, apparently there were some comedians in the operating room as Linda found this when we got home…admittedly, I do laugh out loud every time I see it!!
Take it away Brad…
It’s not very often that Wildlife Intrigued photographers are at risk from their subject matter. Not often, but it does happen. Upon reflection, it does seem to be that Jan is the one that most often steps into harm’s way for these stories.
It was a lovely February day on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. By lovely, I mean clear skies and no rain. The temps, however, were hovering just above the freezing mark. Sea spray overnight had frozen on the fences and seagrass near our hotel on the ocean. Jan and I decided to wait until the temperatures were at least in the 40’s before venturing outside. Cold fingers and cold camera batteries do not make good photos.
After lunch at one of the cool breakfast/lunch restaurants on the island, we chose to drive to Jarvis Creek Park. You may remember Jarvis Creek Park from last year’s visit. The park includes a nice pond/lake (depending on your definition), nearly one mile of paved walking and fitness trails, clean restrooms, picnic areas, a fishing pier, and even a bike repair station. On the other hand, before you let the children run amok in nature, it also has alligators. We’ve only ever seen the gators close to the water in the lake, but nothing stops them from crawling up the bank to the walking path, except maybe the effort to get uphill. (see here for gators from Jarvis Creek Park)
But that’s not what this story is about. This is a story about a threat not from the water, but from the sky. Well, almost a threat in retrospect.
Jan and I had been wandering around the lake trying to photograph some spastic flying blue streaks (tree swallows) when we paused under the pine trees near the water. Jan was a bit further along, still trying to catch the tree swallows (future story) and I was watching a gator try to get down it’s first meal of the season. It was rather gruesome, so no photos here. We both paused for a second to give our memory cards a chance to catch up, when there was a minor kerfuffle from a tree near the water.
Hit the jump to fly to the rest of the story!
Continue reading Pounce…by Brad Marks
Wildlife Intrigued 