Totally Unexpected

Hi everyone.

 It is ten PM Wednesday night and I just got home from spending the last

12 hours in the hospital.

It wasn't me this time. It was Ron.

He had a heart attack.

I still can't believe he did but just writing it makes it real.

Ron hadn't been feeling good for two days and we thought it was two 'other things'

 he had been dealing with lately.......asthma and indigestion.

They figured he had the attack Tuesday morning.

You can't believe how surprised we were but also relived in a sense 

that we both knew this morning (Wednesday) that this was different.

Off we went to emergency.

They were great and withing 30 minutes they determined what happened.

Tomorrow morning (Thursday) he is transported to a Halifax hospital

for the 'dye test' to determine where and how extensive the blockage is.

He is comfortable and in no pain thanks to drugs.

He even had something to eat for supper.

We will know more tomorrow.

I will let you all know any developments that arise.

Needless to say we will not be 'blogging' for a while

until we know what the future holds.

I know you will be sending good energy his way and he and I appreciate that.

Thanks for bearing with me but I wanted to get this out.....

I am doing fine and look forward to some sleep tonight.

Water Water Everywhere

We went for a drive on the weekend along the Chebucto Peninsula 

on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean, west of Halifax.

Reflections of fishing shacks.

Moored Cape Islander fishing boat.

Buoys and a Cormorant. 

Again.....

Making Up Stories

Even at my age I am learning more about myself.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had a 'Holter Monitor'

connected to me for 48 hours to find out certain things about my heart.

It was suspected that I may have 'Afib' (Arterial Fibrillation).

This is when one of the upper chambers of the heart goes a little wonky

and cause the heart to spasm/fibrillate.

Last year I had a colonoscopy and had to be anesthetized.

In preparation for this the anesthetist thought he could 'see'

a little 'afib' happening.

He recorded this and sent the ECG report to my GP

who in turn called me in to discuss this finding.

He thought that at this point it was okay to not medicate

and said he would monitor me.

So a year went by and I had an appointment with my cardiologist.

She heard what the anesthetist 'found'

but disagreed with his findings.

And to make sure she ordered the Holter Monitor.

These past six weeks I have been awaiting the results.

As I am prone to do I expect the worse and go from there.

I have always done this for most of my life.....

I jump to the worst case scenario and hope for the best after that.

I must have, I know I did, learned this as a child, as a way of 

not getting my expectations too high as to the outcome.

I have always been aware that I do this and have been told so as well....

it is that obvious.

I stress myself out and imagine the worse to come.....

never thinking that I could be 'making up stories'

that have no substance to them.

I know this comes from having a mother who was sick

for most of my childhood and I thought, I guess, that

everything was much the same in life.....and would not get better,

so accept the inevitable.

I do try hard to stop this train of thinking

and for the most part I am successful.

But sometimes it gets carried away.

I saw the cardiologist yesterday.

The results were good!

No sign of 'Afib' at all.

All of these photos were taken by Ron on the weekend in the 'Hydrostone' area

in Halifax's North End.

Contemplative Monday

The following passage is from 'Heart Advice, Weekly Quotes From Pema Chodron'. 

NOTHING TO HOLD ON TO

" When we talk about resting in prajnaparamita, (click)

in unconditional bodhichitta (click), what are we asking of ourselves?

We are being encouraged to be open to the present groundless moment,

to a direct, unarmored participation with our experience. 

We are certainly not being asked to trust that everything is going to be all right.

Moving in the direction of nothing to hold to is daring.

We will not initially experience it as a thrilling, alive, wonderful way to be.

How many of us fell ready to interrupt our habitual patterns,

our most instinctual ways of getting comfortable?"

Eclectic tastes

I was a child in the 50's.
One of the songs I heard and learned was 'Mr. Sandman'.

I knew it 'by heart'.

Oh yes......my dream came true!

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Saturday Morning Post

Out and about this week.....

Walking to breakfast yesterday morning in Halifax.....

Roof of bandstand/pergola in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax.

Trail leading to Halifax Harbour in the park.

Spring-like morning in Halifax yesterday.

'Down on the boardwalk'.....

Very windy.....and cold this day.

And who did we bump into after breakfast in Halifax yesterday? 

My sister Mary and her daughter (our niece), Brynn.

British warship visiting Halifax this week.....as seen from Lawrencetown Beach.

Seagull and war memorial cross at the park.

Parking lot at the park. That container pier was a yacht squadron when I was a kid.

Came across this sunken boat in Ketch Harbour yesterday.

 Very calm setting in Sambro, Nova Scotia yesterday.

This Snowy Owl caused quite a lot of excitement at the beach this week.

All these birders arrived at the same time wanting to photograph it....and they did.

It stayed around for about 30 minutes.

One of two horses at Sophie's day care yesterday.

And this is Isaac the Newfoundland dog who is staying at 

Country Critter Sitters. He was Sophie's playmate

for the day yesterday.

I Got To Thinkin'.......

Whatever happened to the local railways here in the Maritimes? (click)

Most, if not all, of our Trans Canada Trail system

is made from these defunct rail lines.

Don't get me wrong, I love our trail system here in Nova Scotia

and we use it almost daily.

However, it makes me wonder if going with truck transport,

over rail transport, was the wisest choice back in the 70's and 80's.

It must have been a powerful lobby group that convinced

the 'then government' to abandon local railways.

Maybe it was the trend back then in other countries as well.

Our roads and cities are jammed with transport trucks....

those 18+ wheelers. In fact, last week a young driver

in his commercial van was killed instantly

when the transport truck in front of him detached 

itself from the large container it was hauling

and crushed the van.

Our downtown area in Halifax is over-crowded with these

truck/container vehicles.....from one end of the city to the far end.

As I said, just thinking.....and OK time to stop!

Easy And Nutritious

I got the recipe for these 'Quinoa Sweet Potato Cakes'

from a friend who posted it on Facebook.

They looked easy to do and I gave them a try yesterday for lunch.

To start place four medium-sized sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet

and place in a 350 F oven. When baking potatoes I usually

pierce them a few times with a fork to let out any steam

and maybe just preventing them from exploding in the oven.

It took 20+ minutes to bake.

Next place a cup of quinoa in a sauce pan and add two cups of water.

 Bring to a boil and then cover.....turn the burner off and let

stand till potatoes are baked.

While waiting for the potatoes saute 2 small shallots

 or 1 medium onion (I used onion as I didn't have have any shallots).

I used a small amount of water instead of an oil.

And since I didn't have any fresh herbs growing outside, I used

a small bunch of fresh baby kale.....cutting it up finely

and adding to the sauteed onions.

I also added my spices to this mixture:

Salt and pepper, coriander, a dash of cayenne pepper, and

basil. ( I figure you can use whatever spices you like....I did!)

By now the potatoes and the quinoa ought to be done....

in a large bowl mix them together along with

the onion/kale/spices mixture.

Oh yes, don't forget to peel the potatoes!

Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Now make patties by forming them in your hands.....

there is no limit as to how big to make them.......

I made 14 medium ones.

Place each patty on the parchment-covered cookie sheet,

brush the tops with a good olive oil,

and place in a 350 F oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

There was an avocado creamy sauce in the original recipe

but I/we prefer them plain.

I garnished the baked 'cakes' with a carrot/baby kale salad.

A chutney would also be good with these.

They were delicious!

For more information about quinoa

click here.

We Sail At Noon

Seeing the silhouette on the horizon

I was transported 

Like in a dream

Where navigation is at your fingertips. 

Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

I took piano lessons for five years when I was a kid

and one of the first things I learned was the 'name'

of each line of the treble clef. (click)

This helped me to remember what notes went where.

The lines/notes in the treble clef are EGBDF.

The spaces between the lines are FACE.

There you have it......Music 101!

I was at the beach the other day and noticed that these two crows

looked as if they were about to play a tune....in the COLD!

It may have been a 'love song' considering how they were looking at each other.

And it just may be this one sung by Sarah McLachlan,

who by the way grew up in Halifax:

Contemplative Monday

The following quote is from 'Heart Advice, Weekly Quotes From Pema Chodron'.

TAKING YOUR ARMOR OFF 

"Taking refuge in the Buddha means that we are willing to spend our life 

reconnecting with the quality of being continually awake.

Every time we feel like taking refuge in a habitual means of escape,

we take off more armor, undoing all the stuff  that covers over our wisdom

and our gentleness and our awake quality. We're not trying to be something we aren't;

rather, we're reconnecting with who we are.

So when we say, "I take refuge in the Buddha," that means I take refuge in the courage

and the potential of fearlessness, of removing all the armor

 that covers this awakeness of mine.

I am awake; I will spend my life taking this armor off. 

Nobody else can take it off because nobody else knows

where it's sewed up tight, where it's going to take a lot of work

to get that particular iron thread untied.

You have to do it alone."