Sometimes I am the bird...

...sometimes I am the statue.

This past week has that kind of feeling, as I came back to work after some vacation time.

Typically, the first week after vacation seems like a punishment, with long hours and a pile of paperwork to deal with. Sometimes my group's policies have changed while I have been away, so I have to figure out the 'new' way of doing things.

I had a call night which was rather benign, with no cases after 10 o'clock. Friday night was another story, with cases keeping me busy until 2 a.m. I tried to go home three times; once I got as far as a gas station(I had a feeling I would need a full tank), the second time I got home and just started eating when the pager went off. If I had waited ten more minutes, I could have added some meat to the pasta my wife had prepared for me. The third attempt got me home for good. I put more than 100 miles on my car that night.

Even my clothes suffered last week, with a patient's blood sprayed over one of my white coats.

I have seen some interesting things while driving home late at night. Some of the things are comical, such as a compact car(complete with trailer) stalled out in the center lane of I-35 - facing the wrong way. Or the time I was stopped for speeding - 77 mph past a sheriff's deputy who was on the side of the road with his lights off. When he heard that I was responding to an emergency call(THIS IS TRUE!), and I showed him identification tht proved I am a doctor, he started berating me for not driving a 'doctor's car.' He thought this was funny and let me off with a warning.

I will never have a 'doctor' car - not as long as there are Noisykids alive.

One night, I saw a radio tower hit by lightning. It started with a bolt of lightning dropping out of the clouds, only to stop in what appeared to be midair. I didn't realize a tower was there until after the lightning faded away and the beacon lights on the tower flashed on again.

All I could think was how beautiful the lightning was, and how manmade fireworks can't compare to the wonder of God's creation.

Some things I see on the way home are tragic, such as this account of a furry brown creature strike. Sometimes I drive home, fighting back tears, remembering a bad day at work. The greatest consolation on days such as that are when I come home, I find that my wife and children have spent the day praying for me and my patients. I don't tell enough families that my work is fortified by the prayers of my wife and the Noisykids.

Let us consider some more candidates for the new and improved Scorpion Stalking Duck official photographs:

How about this scorpion?

Why limit oneself to scorpions? How 'bout a Louisiana Crawdaddy?


The Duck wants to stay as model for Scorpion Stalking Duck!!

The Scorpion - yes, THE SCORPION, is not taking this sitting down!!!!!!!!!!!

The Scorpion and the Duck are Intellectual as well as photogenic!

Why not change the blog name to Scorpion Stalking GOOSE?

This is a fine young duck. He would take the job for less pay....I am sure the 'suits' in the front office would like that.

These three believe that something old, tried and true would be a better blog for the world.

All of these folks would jump at the chance for celebrity!