I have a fracture, or a microfracture, or maybe just an irregularity, in my fibula at the ankle, and I’m supposed to stay off it for 6-8 weeks so it can heal. So far that means I’m walking less, and trying to use a cane when I do. The timing for this injury, one week before a 9-day trip, was poor. Airports, hotels, campuses, all are so Large. I limp ten minutes just to get from my room to breakfast. The pool–best type of exercise for me, if I could get there–is probably a quarter-mile away. Common activities like getting into and out of cars take forever, and of course I can’t just pop to the grocery store and grab a few things, so I’m constantly both frustrated and exhausted.

Those are excuses, not that I believe in those, excuses that explain why I’m just posting pictures today instead of writing more.

On the happy side, my husband has become even more my champion, and the weather in New Jersey is balmy and green. Was there truly winter here? I went outside to sit on the patio like an old lady and immediately saw a pair of dragonflies mating under a chair.

Between chapters of my book I admired the hotel landscaping.

I couldn’t give tours at the aquarium last week, so I spent some of my down time taking pictures. We have a new exhibit of squid eggs. Each pod is about three inches long, and is itself a cluster of many eggs.

Here is a blurry photo of some strawberry anemones. They are each less than one inch in diameter.

The rocky reef tank had three interesting things going on. Here’s another fuzzy photo, this one of the large hermit crab, whose shell is almost the size of my fist.

This seastar has extruded its stomach against the glass. Did it find food there?

The giant green anemone behind it appears to be pouting.

I actually got a good shot of this lumpfish. Lumpfish dart around and attach themselves to things like this rock.

Just looking at these pictures lightens my stress. Nature provides nurture.