I hope everyone is enjoying this time of year

Spotted in Leduc County, Alberta.

Elevator Friday - Marsden, Saskatchewan

Thank you once again Dale Redekopp.

Delineation

Trying to capture lines on fields. This time of year the fields have a great look to them during harvest. I love seeing fields like this as I drive by. Unfortunately I can never get a really good shot.

Tis the season for . . .

If it is not one thing . . .

Just as soon as I started getting mobile mom ended up in the hospital. So far I have made three trips to the hospital to see her, she lives a little over an hour from me. She is in for something relatively minor. The big problem is she requires more care than what her current retirement home can provide. She cannot get from a bed to a wheelchair without the use of a lift. She has also become difficult with staff. I have had to cancel some plans due to mom issues. Once she is better she needs to be placed somewhere and my sister and I are not sure where she will end up. In Alberta if you are an emergency placement you could end up in a town nowhere close to where you live. Once you are in the system then you can be moved to a better location for your family.

The rules may not make a lot of sense but they are the rules that we are stuck with. Hopefully this works out in our favour.

Elevator Friday - near Mannville, Alberta

Thank you once again Dale Redekopp.

Prairie sky

With luck I will be getting off my ass and posting again.

That was not fun

Due to injuring myself by spraining my left leg I have been largely immobile for the last two weeks. Now I can finally hobble about on crutches a bit, not as good as before but it is rapidly getting there. I have a few minor twinges of pain. I can put full weight on both legs. A few more days and I will be a lot better.

A bit of a weird thing is I am gaining sensation in my feet. My feet got slammed hard in the accident and were purple from bruising from the ankle to the ends of my toes. I really was amazed none of the bones in my feet were broken. Trying to walk when your feet feel numb is weird. After many months I have been regaining sensation. Now the numbness is only in my toes and I expect that to improve. I have have nights where it is hard to get to sleep due to my feet aching.

There might have been a silver lining to this. Not doing hardly anything for the last two weeks and having rest forced upon me I believe has been beneficial. I think it was good to give my body an extended rest, especially the legs. I have been going a little crazy from cabin fever but I will take care of that soon enough.

I have an appointment with a rehabilitation specialist on October eighth and I am looking forward to that. I have been told he is good and it is over two hours. Now if I can just have a break from negative things happening to me . . .

Elevator Friday - Lousana, Alberta

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

A step or two back

Got my car back from the bodyshop. They had it for ten days. 

Last Sunday I had a mishap and badly sprained my left leg. The first few days it was painful in the knee and ankle area. It has been steadily getting better through the week and I am able to put some weight on it. Obviously I have been laid up and doing nothing.

So I am not dead, just inactive.

Random sign

Spotted in Alberta.

Still standing

These two are still standing guard at a business in Provost, Alberta.

Elevator Friday - near Lougheed, Alberta

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

Rosenheim School update

When I last visited Rosenheim School in Alberta January 2020 it look like this. 

Recently it got moved September 2024. The next photo is not mine and is used with permission.

It is now sitting near Rosenheim Church on a new foundation and is being restored. It was open to tour today and there were a few displays up. One former student is very notable. Peter Friesen attended this school and was an inventor, businessman, and he and his crew moved the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in 1999. You can look him up.

Random summer photo

Next year

I did not want it to be next year but next year it shall be.

At the end of July I got some disappointing news. I was told I was pushing myself too hard and I needed to take it easier. Last year when I was in a hospital bed I kept thinking about the things I would be doing once I got out and summer arrived. It turns out I cannot do those things yet. I told some friends that a few things we wanted to do this summer will not happen. Thankfully they understood. I shelved some plans and kicked some others over to next year.

Next year.

Abandoned Alberta

Near Thorsby. I stop by from time to time to see if it is still standing.

Some days this is all a bit too much

I have been in a lot of pain lately. It is not fun.

When I see my surgeon I have not had a problem with him prescribing pain medication when requested. Which is good as I have been taking painkillers more frequently lately. My knees and hips are giving me issues. My feet hurt. I can feel pain radiating down my legs. I have spent a couple of days doing very little in the hope that the pain will subside.

I have been seeing a therapist, not a physiotherapist, a different kind of therapist. I have been discussing pain and other recovery issues with her. I have jokingly mentioned to people that I have been spending time with a woman that I pay by the hour. It has been some help. I have suffered more than just physical damage. 

I seem to make some progress, take a half step or so back, level out, and start again with some periods of pain and less pain. There are no pain free days. Recently the last few days have not been some of the better days. With luck it gets better.

The Mercury Monarch post

Recently spotted in Drayton Valley.

The long awaited and anticipated bale post

Canola

Elevator Friday - Lashburn, Saskatchewan

Thank you to Dale Redekopp.

Made a friend at the hospital today

One of my insurance companies involved in my accident last year was pressing for a medical update. That same company is hinting that I should be returning to work sooner rather than later. For that reason, and a few other reasons, I had a follow up with my surgeon today. An updated round of x-rays and a quick discussion with the surgeon. He is happy with my progress and flexibility which will improve in the following months. I still have a long way to go to recover.

Two insurance companies and my lawyer will be getting a medical update. Yes, I have a lawyer and the other party was served in June. This will takes years to settle so the sooner it gets started the better.

My new friend seems nice. Maybe I will see if she is single. My walker did not make it into the photo.

Abandoned Lutheran Church

This is near Torrington, Alberta.

I am trying to get back in the swing of things by going to some places kind of close to where I live. I have been here twice before. The roof is relatively new so someone is trying to preserve it. I believe the church was built in 1906 and abandoned sometime in the 1950's.

I am dying to get out on a road trip for a few days. I cannot make it happen, I have not progressed enough that I feel comfortable trying it. I have managed to take a couple of unassisted steps, it is painful and almost torturous. On the plus side I know I can take a step without using anything for help. I aim to be doing some hiking next spring.

Of course something like this would happen . . .

At two this afternoon someone in my building altered me that someone hit my car. My new car, parked on the street, in front of my building, in a clearly marked handicapped spot. A guy driving a 2023 Freightliner commercial moving van happened to catch his rear bumper on my car. I got out onto the street and had a few choice words. I reported it to my insurance company who got me an appointment with a bodyshop  later in the afternoon. I will get a damage report next week.

Ten days ago on the highway to visit mom a baseball-sized rock whacked my windshield. You can imagine the damage that did. I put in a new windshield yesterday and now this. The luck needs to turn soon.

Elevator Friday - Kirriemuir, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Abandoned barn, Camrose County, Alberta

The remaining parental unit

I have owned my 2025 Mazda CX-30 GX for about six weeks. In that time I made one day trip to Jasper, Alberta, some physiotherapist appointments, and nine trips to visit mom who lives an hour from me.

My most recent trip to visit mom was today. Mom is eighty-three and looking a bit frail. She is getting weaker. She gets around in a wheelchair and needs the help of two staff to get in and out of bed. Her memory is rapidly declining, today it was the worst that I have observed. She still knows who me and my sister are, however I was not quite sure she definitely knew who I was today. She does not remember what town she lives in and thinks I live in the same building.

I try to have a conversation with her, it is not easy. She tires easily and most visits come to a premature end as she easily falls asleep. I do not like to see her, or practically anyone, like this. Time gets us all.

Anthony Hill School, County of Wetaskiwin, Alberta

Elevator Friday - Kinuso, Alberta

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Abandoned Alberta

Near Torrington, Alberta

I owe an update

I am still getting about on crutches. I do not think I have used the walker for about two months.

Some of the pain in my left leg - the one with the most metal - has faded with time. There is still pain, it is not as severe as it was. When I looked at my feet my first week in the hospital both were red, blue, and purple from my toes to a bit above the ankle. They were heavily bruised. I was amazed there were no bones broken in my feet. After all this time I am getting more sensation in my feet. There are still some numb spots but it is getting better.

I had an evaluation in physiotherapy today. After some measurements it shows I have gained a bit of range of motion with my knees and hips. That was a bit of a surprise as I thought I hit the wall in that regard. A therapist had told me that I am doing too much at times. Most of the time I feel like I am hardly doing anything. It does not take much to tire me out. I am incrementally getting better and I want to be back doing some hiking in May of next year. I think that is an attainable goal.

The time has come for the much anticipated bale post

Canola Leduc County, Alberta

Abandoned Barn

Big hay loft in this attractive old barn near Galahad, Alberta.  

Big hay loft means lots of room to store hay for feeding cattle in wintertime...and also a great place for mama cats to have their kittens. 

Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Abandoned Alberta

Near Elnora, Alberta.

Elevator Friday - Hubbard, Saskatchewan

Thank you Dale Redekopp.

Spotted in Jasper, Alberta

I took a day trip to Jasper yesterday because I wanted to get out and enjoy summer. Weather was perfect. It was sad to see all the damage Jasper suffered from the wildfire last year. It remains one of my favourite places.

I missed this . . .

Anyone who has a passing interest in this blog knows I spent a good chunk of last year in the hospital. I missed the spring and summer. I was released in the fall and got to see nature start to surrender to winter. Not that I minded. I got to live another day.

This year I am appreciating ever more the greenery and the colours of summer. It was almost taken from me last year, I came too damn close to dying. I am trying to squeeze in what I can now, maybe I am trying to do too much before I am able. 

In the last few days fields of yellow have started to make their presence known. I missed this most of all in the summer months last year.