This paper-thin mucous covering protects the snail from the heat, and creates a shady little hammock to chill in (literally) while waiting for the air to cool. I had no idea until just a couple of days ago that snails had this extra strategy for maintaining moisture- thanks to u/Lattestilll for helping me out!
I love this spot, but watching people gleefully harm the waterfowl and other birds by feeding them all day is just breaking my heart. They're feeding them right next to the sign that says No Feeding. Yesterday someone was encouraging their kid to try to forcefeed the sandhill crane. The overpopulation right next the pier is so extreme that birds are fighting each other over food and space in a way that is so unnecessary with empty land around them. They are nesting close to the food source so goslings are piling on top of ducklings etc. If one bird gets avian flu there is going to be a massive bird wipeout. It's bolstering the cowbird population which harms nesting bird populations. And on and on.
I wish the Burnaby Lake staff took a stronger stance as well. The sign clearly isn't cutting it.
I am going away the end of May/ beginning of June and have 2 cats that will need some food, love and attention. I am really worried about hiring someone I don't know. If anyone has personal recommendations for anyone wonderful, I would love to hear about them! Thanks!
Would love personal experience stories. In the past, overdoing it has meant a couple weeks of more intense pain, and wall to wall couch time. Over the past few months, there have been quite a few unavoidable demands (things that can't be helped like sick/ injured family members). I don't know if I haven't been able to rest sufficiently between exertions, or if pushing through has set me back permanently- my pain, strength,, balance, brain power and eyesight just are nowhere near where they were before the demanding past few months (and they were pretty pathetic before that!). I am wondering if anyone has experineced permanent setbacks from the cumulative effects of too many exertions, or whether rest really does the trick.
I'm in one of those moods today where I am thinking about all of us, and the complexity of what we manage. Even our most caring friends and family might sympathize with our pain or disabilites, but it is so hard to convey the full scope of heavy issues we all try to cope with with all the time. I made a list of quotes, most just from posts here for the past 4 days or so, that come up time and time again, that show the enormity and complexity of what it really means to have a chronic illness:
I feel like I am slowly being erased.
I am tired of not being able to afford being sick.
My doctors are giving up.
How do you handle loneliness?
I just got dumped for being chronically ill.
I worry about my partner being my caregiver.
All of my friends slowly stopped talking to me.
I need hope.
I need help.
How do you cope with the loneliness?
I feel like a bad mom.
I feel like a bad partner.
I just need it to stop. I’m tired.
My friends think I’m faking.
How do you accept that life is never going to be what you envisioned?
Autoimmune diseases seem to be conceptually such a mystery to otherwise intelligent people
How do you cope mentally?
What can I do for work?
I am so scared.
It feels like illness and fatigue eroded who I am.
How do you continue to fight for yourself?
What deals would you make to get rid of your health problems?
I miss myself so badly.
How am I supposed to exist?