SAVED BY MR. POTATO

Another classic sunrise last Monday as we drove the 3 hours to Kitchener for my follow-up appointment with the surgeon. I'd been looking forward to this for the 6 weeks healing time because he could officially clear me for driving, backpacking in Mongolia, etc. BIG disappointment: a patient "went into difficulty" in the Operating Room and my doctor was called there, cancelling his whole afternoon schedule! My next appointment not until October 29!! Rats.

On the scenic drive home we passed through Goderich one year since a tornado ripped through the historic core with 100-year old elms. An attempt is being made to restore the town square, but how can you replace century trees? Arriving home after dark, the power was out! The best we could do was boil tea water on our little backpacker burner.

But the really bad news was the continuing medical emergency of Pat's brother-in-law. He has been airlifted to London for advanced treatment.  Pat and the sisters spent many nights in hospitals and the son flew in from the States. We see the glass as half-full whenever there is any minor change for the better.

We did manage to get some comic relief from all this grief.  With a little artwork, a potato from Pat's garden came alive and had some fun, like a snowman before the melt. But in this case, Mr. Potato got into just a little too much hot water....

FALL FOR IT

Tomorrow (Sept. 24) is my 5th week checkup ---- a 3 hour drive to Kitchener to see The-Doc-Who-Doesn't-Shave. I'm expecting an excellent review because I've been feeling great, walking for hours daily, and finally driving the car (don't tell him: it's taboo til after tomorrow). Sleep is getting more sound and I'm always hungry --- normality!!

Fall arrived yesterday and it's very noticeable up here as daylight hours gets shorter and the temperature drops. This is the time of year that the sunrises are most spectacular because there are usually clouds to add drama to the sky. The Coast Guard still patrols offshore but most fishermen now hold their rods by the harbour wall in town. The rain/sun/rain is plumping the pumpkins and making the morning fire cozy.

Two cliches for you and I to live by: #1 Every cloud has a silver lining. And #2 Keep searching for your adventure, whatever it may be ---- it's just over there under the rainbow...

HALFWAY TO THE NORTH POLE

We finished our Toronto sojourn last Thursday with more walks, including past the big and splashy new Ripley's Aquarium (2013). Bad luck ---- I was 3 days early for the Ukrainian Festival but I probably would have gone over my limit on cabbage rolls anyway. The consolation prize?? --- eating a lemon meringue pie on the steps of a church. Holy egg whites, Fatman!

This week also brought major family news. First we got an ultrasound of the boy who will (all fingers crossed and prayers for his healthy delivery in February) be our great-great-nephew. And in Toronto we had an unplanned rendezvous with a second cousin who has become quite an accomplished computer graphics wizard (and recently engaged!). On the negative side, a brother-in-law was kept in hospital with painful complications from surgery. As for me, the recovery is coming along quickly. On the outside, the worst evidence is my arm scar fading away slowly but surely. On the inside, I still have some tightness in my chest but that too is fading.

Pat's Master Gardener group had their annual fundraising plant sale. But in the past week, wasps have built the grossest nest I have ever seen --- in the barn! It looks like an alien pod that could burst out with creepy scaries. So to get far enough away we went halfway to the north pole ---- the 45th parallel runs through the nearby pretty village of Lion's Head. It's Canada's annual Terry Fox Run for cancer research, an event we support every year in honour of all our loved ones who have been besieged by this disease. Go Terry Go! 

BOOSTED BY THE BUZZ

It's been a month of confinement and restriction since the surgery thing. My sleep hours are getting longer if not normal yet. The prickly feeling in my chest is going away slowly, from bottom to top. I've regained 5 of the 10 pounds I had dropped. Bring on the perogies!

In other words, it was time to have some life. We went into Toronto for a buzz-boost and were not disappointed.  Our Beach neighbourhood is green and blue and charming as ever, especially with take-out Chinese from the Goof. The downtown core is being dressed up with structures such as Sherbourne Common (art conceals waste water treatment), the Underpass Park (play area installed under the expressway), and the Yonge Street For People (two lanes of traffic replaced by greenery, outdoor patios, and space to stroll.

Grand iconic Maple Leaf Gardens has become half giant grocery store, half giant Ryerson U sports complex. A full size hockey rink in what used to be the air above the original hockey rink! Impressive creativity. Chinatown brings fond memories of last fall in China.  Yonge-Dundas Square has nightly musical surprises --- for us it was an itinerant  flute/guitar/violin troupe from Peru.

We're checking out places to stay downtown: this time it's about 280 sq. ft. of newly done studios above a furniture store/ballet school in the Little Italy/Chinatown/university area. Very mixed, very cool, very right for us. On our hour long walk we went by last night's Film Festival world premiere. Joshua Jackson and Marisa Tomei in Inescapable. Very Toronto, very Canadian to just walk up to the Hollywood celebs. Great buzz, just what the doctor didn't order but I like it!

WET, RED, HEALING

Finally got some much-needed rain this week --- so heavy you could hardly see the manure pile at the corner! But then the glorious sunrises light up the dawn this time of year. A tree frog has been squatting on Pat's comfy deck chair; guess who's been bumped to an old plastic one? My bike is still in the shop but there's no hurry these days. Pat goes dumpster diving for yesterday's newspaper when we're in town. Nothing too dramatic/traumatic in that paragraph...

The sun/sun/rain combo of the summer has yielded the best veggie crop in our garden's history. A tomato tsunami, bucket of beans, pail of potatoes. There's even a red trifecta of fresh tomato, strawberry, and late blooming rose!

OK, OK. My recovery is coming along well, day 24 post-op. I had a follow-up with the local doc who thought all was normal. I still have that prickly sensation in my chestbone but the incisions are calming down. My birthday this week was a lot of fun with combo cards of Get Well + Happy Bday, and a plaid-clad portrait. The only mystery in the week is ---- what's the main ingredient in LEAK soup??