I’m a Laird

Stuck inside as it is a snow day in Ottawa. Tried heading out for a little walk with my walker but it is to slippery. The walker appears to have summer rubber and no way to change it over to winter mode. Thankfully I am getting confident enough to start walking with cane and it has a spike for ice and snow.

So since I was stuck in the day, I played around with my 50mm lens. Did a bit of time and motion and a bit of portrait photography.

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In March of 2020 we booked two hotel rooms in Toronto for a night in May. My daughter and her best friend were coming from Scotland and they wanted to do all the Touristy things as my daughters best friend had never been to Canada. Covid happened and no travel was allowed. Unfortunately, this hotel would not refund our money but said we could come and stay another time, so long as it was before December of 2021. Fair enough.

Feeling strong enough to make a quick weekend away, off we went to Toronto. We were able to use the stay as 1 room for two nights. We took the bus down and the train back. The hotel was located just a couple of blocks from Union Station (Bus and Train Stops) so I was able to walk to the hotel.

We booked a visit to an amazing new attraction located in Dundas Square called Little Canada. Several very well made dioramas of cities in Ontario and Quebec. They are working on more and as a result of this visit, I will go back and see the new cities they are working on.

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Just another couple of blocks away was the icon Flat Iron Building. Since I knew we were going to be so close, I just had to go and photograph it. We then walked another couple of blocks over to Brookfield Place. The atrium is often used in advertising. After this is was a long walk up to Nathan Phillips Square to the TORONTO sign.

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We then walked back to the Hotel, for a very well deserved nap! Really enjoyed our unexpected trip and I was so glad I was able to have the leg strength for photography. It has taken days to recover from the trip, but it was worth it.

I was a lovely day, so we headed down to Petrie Island with my camera (and my walker for balance). Did a nice 2+ km walk along the pathways and capture what I think are some nice photos. Fall is one of my favourite times of year. Comfortable temperatures, no bugs and great lighting.

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One of my first little outings in a while. I actually felt strong enough to carry the camera and not rely on the tripod to take photos. It was a lovely fall day. Again, random shots.

I really like taking photos of the Burrs. The thin spikes are really interesting.

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As mentioned in the previous post, my photography will be a bit random and sporadic for a bit.

Here are some shots that I have taken over the summer.

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Hello Friends and Followers

Sorry for my absence for most of the the summer, I have been on a bit of medical journey that has kept me away from the camera, computer, screen time and work.

First off, this is not a post looking for sympathy or anything of that nature. I am not that kind of guy. If anything, believe it or not, I prefer to fly under the radar as a bit of an introvert. Some will disagree with that 😉

In January of this year a regular blood test for my regularly scheduled physical showed an unusual result. Long story short and after multiple blood tests, an endoscopy, some kind of electricity test on my leg muscles, an actual muscle biopsy (I now have a cool 5 inch scar on my left leg) I was given the diagnosis that I have an auto-immune disease called Necrotizing Myopathy. Basically my immune system cant tell who the bad guys are and its gone rouge on everything. Most effected are my core muscles and hip flexors.

On Wednesday afternoon of July 21st , things got a bit real.

After my 2nd dose of my very first (chemo like) treatment for my Autoimmune disease (they take 2 days to get), I came home from the hospital and my legs gave out and I fell backwards off the front step of our house on to the drive way hitting my head. Several skull fractures, a broken orbital bone, a broken nose, a black eye, and a small brain bleed (maybe as many as 4), and a concussion means I was out of commission for almost 8 weeks. Good news though if you keep reading.

So with the treatment for my autoimmune disease that I have started, the Doctors are very confident that I will make some kind of recovery but it will be weeks, probably months, maybe years. There is no cure for this but it is manageable. I had been keeping it quiet hoping treatments would get me back on track and no one would be the wiser, but this got real enough to share.

We are so lucky to have the Riverside, the General and the Civic Hospitals here in Ottawa. The care has been 5 all the way despite all the Covid issues. All my Doctors and every person I have had the pleasure to meet on this journey so far have been Superstars, Angels, and Superheros. Last but not least, my amazing family at home has been a god send of help and support. Brenda, Kendra, and Heather are Superstars in their own category. Amazing support and caring even from afar in Kendra’s case.

My poor Mom and Sister who have known since June and been worried sick and not trying to show it are also superstars.

Work has also been super supportive.

Thanks to the few people who also knew but kept this on the down low until I was comfortable enough to share.

If you want an overview of what I have, look up Polymyositis. My Necrotizing Myopathy is a relatively new sub diagnoses. Do your physicals annually as that’s how they caught this early and is giving me a great chance if not actual chance to return to some kind of near normal. Peace out. Love you all. Lets keep moving forward and lets try to be kind to each other.

So for those of you wondering about my weight loss plan, this has been it. For anyone counting, my last weight on this past Wednesday morning was 140.3lbs. When I came out of the hospital (after 6 days) I weighed 130.2lbs. As of today, I am up to 143lbs. This is good news. My most recent blood work is showing that the treatments are working. My numbers are still well above normal but nothing like they were earlier this year.

I am really looking forward to getting back out and taking photos. However it might be kind of sporadic until my muscle strength returns as the camera is simply to heavy to hold for any length of time and I am still walking with my walker at the moment. Good news is, my strength is slowly returning along with my balance.

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We took our first drive out of the city since January 9th this past weekend. Took a picnic and found a nice little spot along the St. Lawrence River in Morrisburg, Ontario. We could see New York State across the River. The weather was perfect and even the wildlife seemed rather friendly.

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I try to walk 5km every day for my virtual walk challenges. Sometimes I bring my camera along. May and June have been quite dry with little rain and that makes walking very pleasant. However today, we had rain in the forecast and I thought I would get a quick walk in before the rain arrived. I almost made it before the rain came down, but not quite. These interesting cloud formations passed over our neighborhood about 20 minutes before the heavens opened up.

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Came across a Public Bell Telephone Booth in my Travels today. I looked up some Stats from Wikipedia as these seem to be rare and harder to find. It is interesting to note that the CRTC put a moratorium on the removal of Public Pay Phones in 2013. I know we had several Public Pay Phones within a few blocks of our house, that are now gone.

Not sure which ones I like better. The colour or black and white. So here they are for comparison.

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Canadian Pay Phone History (Wikipedia )

Most payphones in Canada are owned and operated by large telecom providers such as Bell, Telus, and SaskTel. In the last 20 years, customer-owned coin-operated telephones (COCOT) have also appeared in the market, but their numbers are smaller due to the emergence of mobile phones.

The cost of most local payphone calls is 50 cents CAD, having increased from 25 cents since 2007. Newer phones allow users to use calling cards and credit cards. For coin-paid long distance, COCOTs are less expensive for short calls (typically $1 for three minutes) than incumbent providers (whose rates start near $5 for the first minute).

Dialing 0 for the operator and 911 calls are still free.

The Toronto Transit Commission deploys payphones on all subway platforms as a safety precaution; a blue “Crisis Link” button on 141 payphones connects directly with Distress Centres of Canada as a free suicide prevention measure.

As of 2013, there were about 70,000 payphones across the country.

In 2013, the CRTC issued a temporary moratorium on the removal of payphones in small communities.

In September 2015, the CRTC remarked that “32 percent of Canadians used a payphone at least once in the past year,” and that they are used “as a last resort in times of inconvenience and emergency.^“

Took a little walk around the neighbourhood and came across this interesting Dandelion. Not sure if it was a mutant or just some street fluff it picked up. I though it made for an interesting shot. We also planted a little garden on our patio and these cosmic looking petunia really stand out. I am mesmerized by them.

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