We’ll get to the critter in a minute. Normally any more news on my finger injury isn’t something I’d cover on my blog but the healing process has been so unexpectedly fast on such a significant injury and because I reported it here when it originally happened I decided to share evidence of why I’m so surprised and pleased with its rapid progress.
Many readers will remember that on the 13th of this month in one of the dumbest moves of my entire life I cut off the end of the index finger on my left hand with a huge butcher knife. My doctor said it would “take a very long time to heal” so I reported the incident here because I was afraid the injury would make typing so awkward and painful that I’d have to change the style of my blog posts to much shorter ones.
Today I decided to show you the progress of the healing so far with before and after photos. If you’re uncomfortable with photos like this please scroll no further! I’ll leave extra space below so you can avoid them if you choose to.
This is what the injury looked like 2 1/2 days after the incident. I had removed the “boxing glove bandage” the doctor had put on it to replace it with a custom version of my own that I hoped would make typing a little easier so I took the opportunity to snap a few photos with my phone. This was the first time I’d seen the clean wound without all the blood and I’ll admit to being shocked by how much of my finger was gone (I never did find the piece I cut off).
And this is what it looked like yesterday afternoon, 16 days after the injury occurred. I’m truly amazed by how fast it’s healing. At this point about the only time I have to keep a small bandage on it is when I’m typing (the bandage cushions it a little and prevents any pain at all).
And guess what. I didn’t realize until last night when I was preparing this post that I cut my fingertip off on Friday the 13th! Maybe I should hang a lucky rabbit’s foot or horseshoe over my kitchen sink. Or both.
Ok, on to something a little more pleasant.
I don’t take a lot of “chippie” shots but who could resist this little guy nibbling on berries from a Utah Serviceberry bush in the Wasatch Mountains three days ago. It’s a Least Chipmunk and you can see where it’s taken a small bite out of the berry in his little paws. ‘He’ was sampling them right and left, apparently looking for those with just the right amount of ripening and sweetness (one source describes their eventual sweetness as “insipid to delectably sweet”). He was way up high in the large bush and for some reason that made the scene even more appealing to me.
I can’t think of serviceberry without remembering something from my days growing up (birth to age 18) in and near Cut Bank, Montana. Many folks up there used to pronounce it “sarvis berry” instead of “serviceberry”. I’ve never understood why and I’ve never heard that pronunciation anywhere else. Perhaps (this is just a wild guess) it’s a cultural thing related to the influence of the nearby Blackfeet Nation. Native Americans used serviceberry in an almost endless number of ways and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation borders Cut Bank (literally a stone’s throw away) so there’s a lot of intercultural influences both ways. Our family farm was actually on the reservation.
It’s a little thing but it always piques my curiosity when I see serviceberry bushes or hear the word. Any thoughts Judy Gusick?
Ron
Note:
In a comment below a reader who goes by the name “shoreacres” has solved the mystery of that unusual pronunciation I mentioned. He provided a link that goes into more fascinating detail than this but here’s the gist of it – “”Sarvis” is what the early mountain people called it. It was “Sarvis” because it blooms about the time circuit riding ministers came into the mountains after each hard winter to perform whatever services (or in Old English, “sarvises”) needed to be performed.”.
Here’s another interesting tidbit in the article – “These berries are actually quite good in preserves but are rarely used because they are so quickly eaten by birds.”
Thanks very much for your sleuthing, shoreacres! Now I can sleep tonight… 🙂
Ron, the “before” photo of your finger is certainly ugly. It is amazing how the body can heal…and so fast. Glad for you.
I looked up Serviceberries and Google pulled up Shadbush and Wikpedia lists numerous names of berries. That cute little chipmunk is surely enjoying the berry. What a great photo.
I always get a “lift” when I see Feathered Photography in my mailbox. Thank you.
Agree wholeheartedly about the “ugly”, Alice. Nice to know about the lift my posts provide for you. These days we need those lifts as often as we can get them.
Rate at which finger is healing is truly amazing…When I saw which one it was, I wasn’t that worried though…as long as it wasn’t the middle one damaged!
Not to worry, Patty. Both “T” fingers are still fully functional.
I see what you did there! 😂😈👍
How could you even consider that possibility…?
Wonderful news and shot Ron! Glad it’s healing so well and fast. Perhaps you might want to consider staying in and reading on Friday the 13th.? Just an ounce of prevention.
Charlotte
Ha, that’s probably a good idea, Charlotte.
Wow, what a difference. I’m please it has healed that well, and that fast. Chippie is too cute. Having a feast!
Thanks, Jean.
You finger looks great! I can’t believe how fast it healed. That photo is just too cute. Love that little guy!
Thanks, Debbie.
You heal that fast??? Colour me happy, amazed and a touch jealous.
You will be shocked and surprised to hear that words fascinate me, so huge thanks to you and your commentators for continuing my education.
We don’t have chipmunks so I find them fascinating. And cute. Just the same after cleaning up after small birds (silver eyes) took one bite from each fig I am not a fan of picky eaters.
A triple treat post today. Megathanks.
I know what you mean about picky eaters, EC. Thanks.
WOW! That’s some rapid healing! I know I wouldn’t heal anywhere NEAR that fast, mostly because of all the RA meds, but I’m delighted for you! But to me, it looks more like a slice into the tissue rather than having cut off the tip, which MIGHT be why you never found a piece of your finger lying around the scene of the crime? Either way, it looks like you’ll be intact again very soon and that’s a good thing.
And who doesn’t like chipmunks? They’re just cute, and to some raptors, they’re tasty tidbits, too. 😉 Jack has chased them but hasn’t yet caught one (that I know of).
In the learning something new every day department, I’d never heard of serviceberries or sarvis berries until I started studying Native American history/culture/literature. I grew up in Ohio among humans who mandated an extra tidy subdivision environment, so maybe they eradicated them? Who knows? Maybe I just wasn’t paying attention? That’s also available. I only spent short times in real environments growing up, so that subject seems not to have ever come up in my formative years.
But I love word histories and how they morph over time and over cultures. THANKS to everybody who taught me new things today. I think I’m up to 2093 as a direct result of this blog! But that’s NO reason to stop now. The forget-it quotient is still sky high. LOL!
Nope, there was a good chunk of it completely gone, Laura.
And I agree with you about word histories and origins.
Such a cute fella. And a very interesting bit of history re sarvis.
I agree on both counts, Arwen.
Such a great mid-nibble shot of the chippie! And yay for fast healing — to you and Dick (WOW! Hiking 2 weeks after double TKR!!!).
I’ll echo what others have said about the fantabulous community you’ve attracted! Like attracts like! 🙂
Thanks very much, Marty.
The finger tip is looking great…our bodies are capable of doing some fantastic healing. Where I grew up in the far upper reaches of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, serviceberries were called Sugar Plums. Each spring brings brings fond memories of picking those with my father. The do make a wonderfully delicious preserve…when you can get them. It is a race to beat the critters. Working as a horticulturist for extension, I think ‘service-berry’ is probably the most common name that most people used but I have heard ‘Saskatoons’, ‘Juneberries’, ‘Shad-berries’, Chuckle-berries’ and my friend from Montana called them ‘Sarvis-berries’ when she saw my trees (she was the only person I knew to call them by that name. This was a great year for them and I was able to pick just enough to make a’very small’ jar of Sundae Topping. Enough ramblings but I think nature and everything about her is fantastic with so much folklore to learn about.
I thoroughly enjoyed your ‘ramblings”, Kathy and I’ll bet other readers will too. Thanks for providing them.
Congratulations,’you do good’! I think we tend to heal faster than we think. I had two knee replacements at the same time and thought I’d be laid up for a long time. Not so, I was walking a day later and hiking in two weeks after that.
Your right – cute chippy!
You healed amazingly well, Dick. Thank you.
The surgeon deserves most of the credit.
I think that Feathered Photography must have the most widely experienced, broadly curious, and best-educated gang of blog-followers around– I know that I’ll always learn something
interesting from the Comments stream as well seeing gorgeous ( well, not the fingertip, so much ! ) photography of wildlife, every day……so glad that not only has your wound healed
phenomenally fast, but that you’re feeling well enough to post again—it’s a good wake-up to look forward to .
Those words mean a lot to me, Kris. Thank you. And lots of folks get the credit!
That is great news, Ron. Thanks for keeping us up to date.
Thank you, Brett.
Great picture! I miss the little guys after moving to Florida from New Hampshire- only skinny squirrels here… I also wanted to tell you I picked up a knife to open a grocery item the other day, thought of your finger, put the knife back and used scissors. Yes we can be taught!!
That made me smile, Carol. You’re at least the 4th person who commented on that post saying they’d modified their behavior with knives in an effort to be more careful with them.
Your finger looks fantastic! Good job! I love little chippies. We have them all over our yard. They don’t bother any of the gardens or plants at all. They are so comical to watch. Except, if we didn’t grow our tomatoes in a large cage, they would chew up every one! They eat the pulp and stash the seeds in their burrows. Two years ago we dug up an area of the yard and planted seeds for a perennial flower garden. That summer we noticed tomato plants sprouting up among the flowers. Apparently we dug up their “seed stash” and they germinated. We hadn’t had those varieties of tomatoes for years! Here in New England we call serviceberry trees “shad trees” because they bloom at the same time the shad fish run in the streams and rivers. Cheers!
Sybby, I ran across that reference to shad trees, named for the same reason you mention, in one of the sources I checked out. Only they called them shad bushes instead of shad trees.
Congratulations on quick healing. You and your doctor can now identify the part of your DNA/RNA that produces fast healing and patent your gene. A fortune awaits. Meanwhile, seriously, congratulations on quick healing.
In re Serviceberries, when I was a kid visiting family in West Virginia and North Carolina, hill people called them sarvisberries, consistent with their pronounciation of bear – ba’ar. There used to be relict English, including expressions, words, and phrases, from the 17th century, in the Appalachians. Vance Randolph wrote a number of books on the hillbillies, their ways, their stories and language. Around here, the squirrels get all the sarvisberries and fingertips before they get ripe.
Ha, I can hardly wait to cash in, Martha!
Around here both squirrels and birds get them. Probably other critters too.
It is known as sarvis in the Ozarks too, of course many of the settlers came from the Appalachians. First to bloom in the spring, they were picked to take to church. They are so pretty dotting the bleak woods in spring. Ours is the Amelanchier arborea or in english Common Serviceberry.
Those are interesting tidbits too, Jo. I love learning stuff like this. Thank you.
Wow Ron – fast healing is right & great news for you!! Now if only your back could get “back” to normal!! Love the chipmunk & story of the pronunciation. I will check out shoreacres link. What I’m wondering about now is why the spelling changed from Sarvisberry to Serviceberry?!! Again so glad for the quick healing.
Thanks, Jo Ann. Your question is answered in the link.
I am actually not terribly surprised at how fast your finger is healing – I’m glad that’s going so well. I love seeing Chipmunks, but am very surprised to see one high up in a bush. I tend to think of them as ground dwellers, based on the experience I had with them when I lived in VA. The one time I’ve seen a Least Chipmunk it was also running around on the ground. This one is definitely cute.
I’m sure it was the berries that lured “him” up so high in the tree, Susan. It was neat to see him up there and he was really scurrying around as he was sampling the berries which made it a little difficult to get sharp focus on him amongst all those leaves.
Always like seeing those cute little Least Chipmunks when I’m out. Cute picture. Finger looking good Ron. That is outstanding progress for such a short time. Stay safe.
Everett Sanborn, Prescott AZ
I hope to, Everett. Thanks.
I grew up with sarvis berry in the Appalachians, having heard it from TN and GA family as well as my college botany professor whose family were early settlers in what became the Smokey Mountains NP. I appreciated the connection of the term to the circuit-riding preachers; I had never heard that
That’s great confirmation, Linda. Thanks for providing it.
There’s a Service Creek in Colorado that’s pronounced “Sarvis” as well. I’d always wondered why!
Interesting, Brian. You’re right, it probably does explain it.
I have a friend in Montana who often posts photos of serviceberries. I found — and promptly forgot — the reason for the name. At least it made sense at the time. It’s in a comment somewhere. I’ll try and find it.
The source of the name would be interesting to know too, Shoreacres. Thanks for looking.
Here you go — this is one of the articles I found. If you do a search using the term “sarvis berry” you’ll turn up a lot more. It’s a fascinating story, and from what I can tell, it’s pretty reliable as a source for the name.
Excellent sleuthing, shoreacres. As you said it’s a fascinating story – so much so I’ve added a summary of what the link says on the subject as a “note” at the bottom of my post. Thanks very much!
YES! It’s pretty amazing that your finger is doing that well! 🙂 Chipmunks are cute for sure tho any critter that “just takes a bite” (like my clucks with tomatoes) tend to get frowns from me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier Apparently known by several different names……..;) I have a couple in my yard but have only known them as Serviceberry……….
Well, if you haven’t heard it pronounced that other way probably no one who reads this post has. Guess I’ll just have to go on being curious about it… 🙂