Long night.  Very long, but really a long day.

I awoke yesterday morning around four.  I’m still up.

This is the new reality: our on-call shift for the weekend is now 24×7.

And it’s been a rough night.

The thought of brighter times has kept me going, kept me from throwing the pager across the room and climbing into bed for some sleep.

Yet sleep might not come until tomorrow.

So far I’ve been paged 107 times since midnight.

And the day is young.

I have no creativity, no worthwhile or witty content bubbling around in my head.

I barely remember my own name.

Were it not for images like these still loitering about my laptop searching for the light of day, I might have to forgo all hope of seeing nature this weekend.

Aside from the nature outside my windows, I mean.

This kind of workload cannot continue, will not be tolerated.

I just can’t do it.

Perhaps I can grab a quick nap later today.

The sooner the better.

This weekend sucks.

I might try to spin that into an artistic sentiment if I had the mental wherewithal.

But I don’t.

— — — — — — — — — —

Photos:

[1] Elvis, a large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), gliding by the shore on a bright morning

[2] An American coot (Fulica americana) swimming toward shore in the weak light of dawn

[3] A juvenile ring-billed gull (Larus delawarensis) standing atop a light post and watching me closely

[4] An American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) suffering from a majorly bad hair day swims away while screaming “No pictures!”

[5] A male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) perched atop a shrub singing his crazy head off

[6] A juvenile red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) perched in a treetop surveying its kingdom

[7] Elvis again, a large male muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), taking a refreshing bath near shore