A day in the park

The Barn at Whitnall park

I know, I know. I've been trying to stay in a chronological order to update this blog. It's my attempt to bring the blog up to date.
But, I couldn't resist posting this to share a fun day we had at Whitnall Park.

By the way, my assistant was with me all the while. Rebel that is.

We had a great day watching all the folks enjoying one of our greatest parks. They were cross country skiing, snowboarding, tubing, running and, of course, sledding.
 
It was a beautiful clear day in between snowstorms. Every tree ad bush was covered with a layer of white. You just knew these views wouldn't last long. I absolutely had to capture these images.

As we travelled through the various areas of the park, it quickly became apparent that I was not the only one with this opinion. There were people taking pictures everywhere.
From small point and shoot cameras to obvious professional / hobbyists with expensive rigs.

If you'd like to see my "view from the road" click on this link to FLICKR.

Thanks to the ANGELS....

Trying to catch up on this blogging thing. The image on the left was taken by my son Tim in January 2012. Notice the smile. This was before my knee replacement surgery. Little did I know.

This also shows what a big boy I was. Approx 310 lbs. and this was after losing 15 lbs on doctors orders.

The surgery was the least part of my worries. It was the rehab that tested me, my friends and family.

A few weeks later, I was home and had a reaction to a sleeping pill. Cousin Fran got the EMTs and I was back in the hospital. More testing and off the AMBIEN then back home. This time with "Visiting Angels" to babysit thru the night for a few weeks.

All goes well for a while and I think I'm doing fine. No need for "Angels". Suddenly early one morning ( about 2:30am) I wake up and I am losing motor functions. Fortunately, Tim made sure I had my phone nearby and luckily Fran's number came up. After much confusion and mumbling on my part, Fran decided to come over and get the EMT's again. ( I firmly believe that she saved my life.)

The EMTs checked my sugars and I had a glucose count of 47. Damn close to a diabetic coma. EMTs administered glucose and I started to come back quickly. Back to the hospital for more tests.
Apparently I wasn't eating due to pain drugs. I had lost almost 65 lbs! Yet I was still taking the diabetes meds without checking my count.  Doctor switched my meds and the "Visiting Angels" were back.

This January was one year. I'm happy to report that the surgeon says the knee is OK and I don't have to see him for 2 years. YEA!
My regular Doc says my diabetes is back under control. I don't need to see him for 6 months. I have kept the weight off. I excecise a little and watch my diet. I check my sugars regularly too. While in physical therapy many friends and family members helped drive me there. A big THANK YOU to all of you.

If there is a moral to this whole experience I believe I am under the watchful eyes of many Angels. Not just the "Visiting Angels" but the ones in Heaven and the "Angels" in my family.

An update...Finally

Well here it is Feb 2013 and I haven't posted here since Sept 2011.

A friend of mine started a blog for a school project and that got me thinking.
It's time to dust off the cobwebs and update this puppy.

Speaking of puppy, Rebel is now two years old and doing fine. I noticed that the blog started to be mostly about my pets. That's understandable since I had recently lost Whiskey and adopted my new friend Rebel.
Well, as the blog subtitle says, this is a sharing experiment.
If the sharing takes the direction of pet stories...Well then so be it.

I am however going to make an honest attempt to re-direct the focus to share more experiences. And more pictures. So strap yourself in and hang on we're going for a ride!

Sorry! I couldn't resist.
Here's my buddy enjoying one of his favorite pasttimes.
Watchin "Animal Planet"!
He will actually come into the room and sit and watch .
Until a commercial comes on, then he ignores it.
Smart dog!