Summer in Saskatchewan

Before we moved here, everyone told us the winters are harsh but the summers are beautiful. This summer hasn't been quite as nice as most, with more thunderstorms and cooler weather. However, it really has been lovely anyway. Even when the weather feels "muggy" before thunderstorm, it is nothing like the humidity in the Midwest or on the East Coast. The conditions have been well within the limits of what I find to be comfortable summer weather – warm enough during the day to wear shorts and a T-shirt, and cool enough at night to have no trouble sleeping (though we do have air conditioning for the particularly hot days). In addition, there is a near constant breeze that makes even hot days feel comfortable.

This pleasant outdoor environment has provided a little extra motivation to spend time on outdoor activities. I haven't been to the gym at all this summer, because I am finding more enjoyable ways to get exercise. I have regularly been going out on my recumbent bike, exploring some of the many miles of paths the city has to offer. At the end of July, there was a parade and fireworks to kickoff the local equivalent of a county fair. After having missed the fireworks on Canada Day because there was no way to get close enough to see them without walking quite a distance, which was beyond my ability level, we were excited to have a second stab at watching fireworks this summer. This time we planned ahead, made sure we had all the lights we needed on our bikes, packed a blanket in a backpack, and rode to the parade and then to a good spot to watch the fireworks. The parade was fun (reminiscent of a Eugene celebration type parade), the fireworks display was lovely, and being able to get there by bike was freeing. Except for our being a bit underdressed (it got unusually cold that night), it was one of those perfect summer nights.

View of the provincial legislature from our fireworks-watching spot in the grass along the lake

 In addition to biking, Jeff and I have been going for walks. It started out as walks around the block, or up and down our street, with me using Jeff's hand as my walking aid. We have progressed to taking longer walks, probably close to a mile sometimes, and to doing some "interval training" where I use Jeff's hand as a support most of the time, but let go for intervals. Last week, we went for a couple of walks where the "intervals" were quite long, and I was mostly walking on my own. However, I look a bit like a drunken sailor when I walk for more than about 10 steps with no support, so passersby sometimes do a double take or subtly check-in to make sure I'm okay. I don't mind too much; even if my walking is awkward, the fact that I can do that at all is proof of progress from even a month ago.

Another nice thing about Saskatchewan (in comparison with the Pacific Northwest) is that there are real lakes, complete with natural sandy beaches. A little over a week ago, I went swimming in a lake for the first time in quite some time. We chose a popular beach, and unfortunately went on a day when it seemed like everyone else had the same idea – there was a general chaos of the littlest kids running in and out of the water with various buckets and toys, older kids splashing and swimming, adults standing here and there in water up to their waists, teenagers and young adults flirting and pulling one another into the water from inflatable floats, and preteen girls screaming at the top of their lungs for no apparent reason. The level of activity and noise would probably has been a bit much for most people, but I found it fairly overwhelming as I was at the same time trying to keep my balance and stay afloat. It was fun, but I have a feeling that lake swimming will be more fun next summer – and by then we might have figured out some less crowded places to go.

Late this afternoon we returned from a weekend camping trip. We went to Echo Valley Provincial Park, located in the Qu'Appelle Valley, only about an hour from Regina. I have mentioned before how flat it is here. But the Qu'Appelle Valley is like a secret terrain that you can only see from the very edge of it or from inside of it – approaching by car you see prairie, prairie, prairie, prairie, and then suddenly a drop-down into a deep low land with rolling hills on either side made perfectly smooth by centuries (millennia actually) of wind. It is unexpected, and such a change from the flat prairie above it that it seems almost surreal.

My feeble attempt to capture what it looks like from the edge of the Valley

The campground was not exactly serene – we were much too close to our neighbors on either side, and it was the kind of campground where everybody has a radio, lots of people are drinking way too much, and some people even have a satellite dish set up to get the Saskatchewan Roughriders football game on TV. But the setting was lovely, and we even had a chance go hiking. With Jeff holding my left hand, and a trekking pole in my right, I set out on an adventure not really knowing what to expect. We knew that there was a 3 km loop interpretive trail, the type of trail that a class full of fifth graders might be taken on. However, we also knew that there would be steep sections and staircases, and I was not sure how I would do. We started out with the intention of turning back if need be. Long story short, we were able to finish the whole loop and did it so quickly we assumed we had taken some sort of shortcut. The website says it will take about an hour, and it took us about an hour, even though on some of the steep sections Jeff was holding me up from behind and I was just barely able to make it up with his help and some heavy leaning on my trekking pole.

At the hike's highest point

 After the hike I was quite tired, but also excited to have been able to do something like that. Jeff was also tired, because he had helped me more than a little bit. But I was surprised that this hike did not take me to my limit, and I was curious about where my limit was. So I got Jeff to agree to go on another hike this morning. There are about 10 km of trails in the park, all linked up to one another, and we started out again with the idea that we would turn around once I felt that I needed to. We ended up walking for a total time of a little over an hour and a half, including a few breaks. I don't know exactly how far we went, but based on maps I think we went something close to 5 km., with a good bit of uphill and downhill (I hit my limit just as we got back to the car – I had to sit down and rest when we had only about 100 m left). I definitely relied quite a bit on Jeff's help, but knowing that I am still getting better, the fact that I can do this now makes me hopeful about what will be able to do in the future.

Bonus wildlife picture – this dragonfly stayed on my leg for several minutes

Trip to Eugene

There are lots of things I could write about for this post, but some of them will have to wait. I will do another post about summer in Saskatchewan soon. Today I will write about my trip to Eugene, which is where I was the last two weekends, and why I haven't posted for a while. Some of the highlights of the trip:


Our first full day in town after traveling and a good night's sleep, we celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary with dinner at a favorite restaurant, and a walk in Hendricks Park

 followed by ice cream at Prince Puckler's. The next day, we had the good fortune of seeing our friend Emily who is usually in Seattle but happened to be in Eugene for work. We had dinner on the outdoor patio of a pub down by the river, followed by a walk in Alton Baker Park, and once again ended the evening with Prince Puckler's ice cream.

 The following night, Jeff and I were in charge of organizing a bachelor/bachelorette party for my sister and her fiancé. As best man and maid of honor we took our duties seriously, and did our best to embarrass the bachelor

 and bachelorette

 with a photo scavenger hunt followed by karaoke. Jeff is very much in his element organizing silly events and playing cool at karaoke.

 The evening after that we got to visit with our friend Alison and her baby just a few days before they moved across the country (we were lucky with our timing). Once again, after having some delicious Thai food, we decided to end the evening with some Prince Puckler's.

 The next few days after that are a bit of a blur. There was lots of getting ready for my sister's wedding, a little bit of visiting with other Eugene folks, and then the wedding itself. I don't have a single picture from those days, or from the wedding. But the wedding was lovely, and hopefully I will be able to post a picture or two in the future when I get some pics from someone else. The next day was spent hanging out with family, ending with a walk by the river

and of course one final visit to Prince Puckler's. Anyone who has talked with me anytime in the last couple of years knows that I really love my ice cream, and knows how much I lament no longer having access to an ice cream shop with really good high quality locally made ice cream in a ton of great flavors. I simply did not realize how unique that is, and somehow assumed that there must be ice cream shops like that everywhere. But there are not, so to anyone who lives in Eugene: don't take Prince Puckler's for granted. And to anyone who happens to make a visit to Eugene: be sure to visit Prince Puckler's. Obama did. End of ice cream rant.

The day after that we came back home. All in all it was a very nice visit, and I would say I was completely successful in my quest for good food, good ice cream, and good company.

Speedy Gonzales

Today Jeff got a speeding ticket. He has been stopped at least four previous times for speeding, but each time did not get a ticket, and said he would stop speeding if he ever did get one. He has now vowed to stop speeding, not because he thinks it is dangerous but because he does not want to pay for another ticket. I have always maintained that speeding is dangerous, and the facts back me up, but I will be happy to see him slow down regardless of the reason. If you happen to be riding in a car with him, feel free to remind him of his new resolution :)

So I survived my week alone at home, and my solo trip to Portland. It was indeed a bit more tiring having to attend to things like cleaning litter boxes, watering the garden, and being in charge of making all my own meals, while still trying to go to work full-time. However, I managed, and it gave me a bit of a confidence boost to know that I can be that independent. My trip to Portland was also extremely smooth, thanks in large part to little bits of help from several friends. I had a wonderful time visiting friends that I hadn't seen in years – I saw some people that I hadn't seen for 10 years, including the groom – and catching up with others I had seen more recently but still don't get to see as often as I would like. I realized after I got home that I had neglected to take even a single picture, so I will have to instead take special care to commit these episodes to memory.

Next Saturday Jeff and I leave for a 10 day trip to Eugene for my sister's wedding. Besides wedding-related events, my plans mostly center around making sure I get a good dose of Prince Puckler's ice cream and some good Thai food. I think I probably will not be disappointed.

With all the busyness of summer trips and the like, certain aspects of my rehab have not been as prominent in my day to day. In some ways I am constantly working on my rehab, and in other ways certain things have plateaued. One thing I recently realized is that I have started to settle into habits with certain things, like how I get in and out of a chair. While what I'm doing is functional, it isn't exactly normal, and it is making me think of something one of my physical therapists said more than six months ago: once something gets easy enough (not easy, just easy enough), it's time to move on to the next level. It has been nice that certain things are getting easier, but if I truly want to improve, I'll have to make those things harder again.

It doesn't work to do hard things all the time, but to build in some more challenging activities where I can handle them is a good idea– like trying to be a little bit faster sometimes with how I get in and out of a chair. I keep being reminded of the developmental psychology concept of the "zone of proximal development." This refers to the fact that there are certain things at certain ages/stages that kids are more ready to learn than others; that if you try to teach a one- or two-year-old to read it will simply do no good (and depending on your approach, may actually do harm), but if you provide opportunities for learning to read to a four- or five-year-old, the child will readily learn. Even a few months ago if I had tried to alter my patterns for activities like sitting down and standing up, it probably would have been not only counterproductive but also dangerous. But I think that I've entered a new "zone," and now while Jeff is practicing slowing down, it's time for me to practice speeding up!

Five things

Things have been busy! A few of the most notable things that have happened recently, are happening now, or are about to happen:

1. My mom came to visit. It was fun to show her where we live now – the house, the city, and the province. We did lots of things including making pancakes with farmers market haskaps, touring a local orchard, swimming in a local lake (I waded in about halfway up my calves), and going for a bike ride.

2. I got a new bike. A woman was looking for a good home for a recumbent bike, and gave it to me. I had been using my bike with the stabilizer wheels attached, but it was really challenging and a little bit more like therapy than leisure. At first I felt guilty about taking the recumbent bike, since I already had a bike to ride, but then Jeff reminded me that not everything has to be therapy, and riding the recumbent bike is really fun. I can go much faster and can go for longer without getting tired because it is not challenging my balance. Also, the stabilizer wheels may not have been attached 100% correctly – my mom tried riding my bike with the stabilizer wheels, and deemed it unrideable. Jeff had previously noted that it was extremely difficult to ride with the stabilizer wheels. We believe the problem may be that the wheels were not perfectly parallel to the back wheel, making it veer to the right all the time. We have removed the stabilizer wheels, and will try reattaching them again, and I may find that my balance wasn't so bad as I thought it was, and that it wasn't me it was the bike. For now, I'm having a great time on the recumbent.

3. I went swimming at the pool. I was pretty scared to get in the water, but it turned out that being in the water was actually really easy. I can keep myself afloat, and can do all kinds of things in the water that I can't do on land, like jump up and down. Unfortunately we went when the pool was exclusively filled with lap swimmers (even though it was an open swim time) so I felt a little silly trying to see whether I could jump on 1 foot (I can).

4. Today Jeff left to go visit friends and family in Ontario, and I am home alone for several days for the first time in over a year. So far so good! But this means that I have to do for myself all the things that Jeff usually does for me, so I am likely to be a bit tired and doing things the minimalist way for the next week.

5. On Friday I will get on a plane to head to a friend's wedding all by myself – my first time traveling alone in quite some time. I have help planned for getting to the airport, will be helped by airline staff when I make my connection, and will be picked up by a friend when I arrive at my destination. Everything is all planned out, but I can't help feeling like I will need a bit of good luck to make this trip go smoothly.

Also, since I will be away next weekend there will probably not be another blog post for two weeks. So if you don't hear anything from me, it is not because I had some horrible accident while being home alone, or because things went horribly awry on my solo trip. I'm just busy having a fun and busy summer!

Camping and Canada Day

Today is Canada Day, which means that I am not at work, and will instead be barbecuing this evening. It is also one of the biggest camping weekends of the summer. A couple of weeks ago Jeff and I decided that we would like to go camping, and made plans to go last weekend, but decided to stay home after there were thunderstorms predicted all weekend. We tried to get a campsite for this weekend instead, but there were literally none available through the province's campsite reservation system, so we went midweek last week instead. Flexibility like that is one of the perks of academia, especially in the summer when campus is fairly dead.

We headed to Lake Diefenbaker which is about a two-hour drive northwest of Regina, though it took us a bit longer because we took a wrong turn (or rather, failed to take a left turn).

Views of the Qu'Appelle Valley, which we would have missed if we had stayed on the correct road

We eventually made it to our campsite,which was nestled in natural stands of aspen and birch trees. 

We had to buy a new tent, because the one we already had is a tiny two-person backpacking tent, which is too hard for me to get in and out of. This one seemed massive by comparison, but getting in and out of it wound up being harder than I thought it would be, and so was a source of some serious exercise throughout our trip.

The Franklin's Ground Squirrel was our constant companion at our campsite, with as many as three at a time chasing each other around camp at meal times

Despite already being tired, I decided to attempt a new feat on this trip, so after our first night in the tent, we went for a short hike. It was a 1.5 mile loop, fairly flat (though there were some small hills, and the terrain was definitely rougher than the floors and paved sidewalks I'm used to), and would be considered a very "easy" hike. I have been taking walks with Jeff where I use him as my support – no crutches or canes – and we decided to try the trail using this strategy. Although I was literally falling over by the end, I was able to finish. We took a couple of rest breaks, and all in all it took about an hour and a half – an average speed of about one mile per hour, so quite slow even by slow hiking standards, but definite progress from where I was even a month ago.

Early on along the trail

 We are learning about the different ecosystems within Saskatchewan. The particular area where we were is actually formed of sand dunes, and cacti grow there. I had no idea – I thought it was all just grassland here, but apparently there are many very diverse areas within the province.

Jeff with a prickly pear cactus

Running down a sand dune

Later that afternoon we went to the lake, where Jeff swam and I sat in a camp chair on the sandy beach.

The water was not very deep – about 40 feet out, and still barely waist deep – but the sky is enormous here

Sunset over the lake on our last night

 Overall, camping and hiking were difficult, and I was limited in what I could do, but this was definitely a successful experiment!