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By Update on Lapis, Doc Ellen’s Truck

UPDATE on Lapis, Doc Ellen’s truck, GoFundMe campaign. I want to say thank you to everyone who has shared with me their thoughts about repair work on my truck. I have talked to several different mechanics. They all agreed that $6800 is the best cost. I asked them what they thought the reason was for the failure of the transmission. They felt that it was probably a failure of the torque converter and that took the rest of the transmission out. My late father taught me that routine maintenance was the way to keep a vehicle in good shape for many years. He was correct. All of my six prior pickup trucks, used in my veterinary practice, had each lasted me at least 200,000 miles (except for the one lost in the accident that halted my veterinary career which because of its sturdy build, saved my life). I always had people wanting to buy my used trucks because they knew I was a nut about the maintenance on them. When I sold my used trucks I also handed over the maintenance records to the new owner. As was my practice, Lapis had had all of her routine maintenance. At the age of 71, when I bought Lapis, I had hoped that she would be the truck that would take me through the rest of my rambling days. Alas, at least the original transmission is not going to do that. I did ask the various mechanics what they thought the useable life of Lapis would be if the transmission was replaced and they all said that with proper maintenance (there’s that word again) she should be good to go another 100,000 miles. The sunrise photo is my reflection on the sidewall of Lapis on a cold winter morning at Jordan Lake. Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers, suggestions and donations that have come in for Lapis: at this point the campaign has raised $750. Peace and grace, Doc Ellen. If you would like to help with the funding of the repairs, please use the linkhttps://gofund.me/5c10e422 or the QR code. Donations can be made anonymously.

By Disgruntled Chipping Sparrow

Jordan Lake. Dawn this morning was nicely cool and crisp… at least to me! However, this immature chipping sparrow was definitely not happy about the drop in temperature. Most birds have a body temperature of 105 to 109°F. So this morning when the air temperature was 67°F this little bird fluffed up to trap its own body heat because it was actually feeling cold.

By Osprey Sunrise

Jordan Lake. It is 23 minutes after sunrise. Mom Osprey has gone fishing and is returning to the nest area to feed her two fledglings. They’ve been out flying and trying to catch fish on their own but she is quite willing to help them along – especially first thing in the morning with a nutritious breakfast.

By Dare the Sun

Jordan Lake. This morning was considerably cooler than it has been for more than a week. Apparently it was cool enough for this bald eagle to dare to cross above the glowing heat of the solar disk as it rose into the mists above the lake at dawn. Leave it to a bald eagle to be that arrogant.