Greetings,

It's Sunday so where are the birds? I meant to make more of a fanfare about the fact that last week, Jennifer E. Melton, our resident bird photographer has run out of bird pics. She signed off last week, and I thought about asking Jennifer about re-running the birds all over again, but these are her images and she'd like to do things with them. They are for sale at Mary Lou's Books on North Broadway in Berea, if you'd like one to hang on your wall or give as a gift.

If all goes to plan, there is an artist in town who mentioned something about having a portfolio of bird sketches...I need to return to a conversation she and I had and hopefully we'll have new birds all over again. If not, I don't have a plan B quite yet.

That's a warbling white-eyed, by the way, which we don't have in Berea, but they do have in our sister city Hokutu, Japan.

Meant to. Yeah, I meant to do a lot of things this past week. Which led me to the conclusion that I need to be on vacation this coming week. The news on my health front lately has not been good, and even after leaving the hospital, which I told you about already, it's still not good.

My thyroid is attempting to take over the world, and in its quest for domination, is dragging me along like Just Married cans, and I feel banged up by every twinge of sensation within 50 miles of wherever I stand. I am so sensitive, testy, jumpy, agitated, and while not quite emotional, ready to pound on you for justice. Also, tired.

So, before I get into a fist fight over things I don't even understand, I need to eat ice cream while sitting on the couch for a week. And, after that, I am looking at surgery or some other kind of procedure, which I really don't want to think about. But if I don't, the resulting heart failure from the inflamed thyroid won't be manageable. Then, you know, things stop.

I'll listen to bird song, art song, watch the World Cup, some baseball, and trust that nothing newsworthy requires me to put down the Thomas Merton autobiography I have been slogging through because I really do want to finish it. And I will not go near Facebook.

If there is a meeting that needs to be covered, I will hand it over to William Bryant, my new part-time reporter and journalism student at EKU. Look for his byline. He's doing great and he loves to learn new things, which commends him.

I also want to name check Connor Williams (no relation to William), a Berea College senior who has been helping me with the podcasts which we record at the Berea College News Radio podcast studio. And, Erin Teegarden, who recently graduated from Berea College and now works at FAHE, but also helps me out with some clerical work and writing columns. I have been so blessed by these helping hands, whose time has been funded by Partners for Rural Impact and the Bluegrass Community Foundation/Press Forward Blue Grass.