Round and Round to Lethbridge and Back

 In a few other tidbits of the summer past (yup, still blogging about the last one), figured I could do a highlight reel of the rest of the month of August and move into some very late fall blogging.  To start with, this little birthday duo arrived in my mailbox for my birthday.  If you don't know the Awkward Yeti cartoon, you are missing out on the best humor the medical profession has to offer.  Each "character" in the cartoon is an organ.  Sometimes they are friend, sometimes they are foe, and heart and brain are truly two opposites that attract.

Shortly after they arrived, in true heart fashion, the plastic, passport and laptop came out and heart had me convinced to book my flights to Canada!  Brain is usually notably absent when heart makes credit card purchases.

The we had some time to reflect on the recent surgeries.  Below on top left image 1 you can see what a meniscus tear in the knee looks like, should you find yourself with a torn meniscus and be wondering what it might look like inside your own 'kneeball.'  That little 'flame' of cartilage causes a ridiculous amount of discomfort and instability for its size.  Image 2 is what it looks like after the old nip and tuck.  As for images 003 and 004, apparently the inside of your knee isn't supposed to be furry.  That, my friends, is what decades of volleyball, badminton, track, martial arts, jogging, cycling, and a bundles of skydiving joy gets you....early arthritis.  As a special favor, they lawnmowered that off and shaved off some bone too...and now my knees make funny sounds when I walk.

For those of you wondering what a 'bucket handle tear' in the meniscus looks like, that little fella was captured in the next image below, on the other side of the same knee.  Turns out if you get one of these, you are having surgery, no way around it.  That little fold over tear was the reason I couldn't stand or walk on that leg for the whole year between the accident and surgery.  Before...and after,

So I took my freshly fixed knee and decided to try my hand at some wedding photos.  This lovely is my first bridal photo (18....so young).

And the bridesmaids are definitely some lovely young ladies.

And that's a wrap!



Wedding candid.

Now Lethbridge is the home of a pretty fabulous structure -- the Lethbridge High Level Bridge, or the Viaduct bridge.  Constructed in 1909 to get the coal from the mines to market, this 107 year old bridge is still one of the longest and tallest bridges of its type in the world.  Remember the Hurricane Gulch Bridge I blogged about on while riding the Alaska Railroad's Hurricane Train?  Well that amazing bridge is 206 feet above  the water below.  The Lethbridge High Level is 314 feet tall, and 1.6 km long.  So it's a pretty amazing structure.

And being back on the prairies means being prepared to see a little bit of wild and a little bit of wacky at random intervals.  For no discernable reason, I drove up along side what may or may not be a displaced loch ness monster...because there isn't a lot of lake or loch action in the middle of all this farmland.  (See also the blog Monuments of My People -- prairie people seem to build their own modern totems across the grasslands...giant easter eggs, impaled helicopters, giant sausage links...you never know what you'll find).

The prairies can be a bit timeless.  Sometimes people leave things somewhere knowing they will be there when they come back.  Apparently that can be a few reincarnations later.  But there is honor in the prairies.  It's not yours...leave it be.  This truck will likely stay here forever.

Sometimes I miss that prairie stability.  Or maybe it's just Canada Day tomorrow that's making me a little homesick.  I hope everyone back home has their picnic baskets, camping gear, and weekend plans fully packed for Canada's favorite summer weekend!