I'm finally starting to feel better and slept until 9am this morning, three hours longer than usual. I didn't have a car because I slept so long, so I took Charlie for a walk through the neighborhood. We're not far from Highway 21. In the second photo, you can see the fence that separates a neighborhood and the highway. There is a lovely, wild green space between the houses and the fence which Charlie and I found this morning, as well as actual trails.
Parts of Sherwood Park are built on wetlands and there is an extensive, interconnected web, of small stormwater lakes and wetlands which protect against flooding. We have three of these small lakes/wetlands within walking distance. The county leaves the areas as natural as possible so there are lots of birds, plants, trees and small animals, sometimes large animals too. Once in awhile a moose has been known to get stuck in the neighborhood. My point is, it's lovely to walk through the trails, listening to the birds, watching the progression of flowers as the season progresses. Blue asters will be blooming soon enough, which means fall is not that far away.
I've had a sore throat for eleven days, probably the worst sore throat I've ever had, until the next one, of course:) It's much better this morning and I feel human again. I tested negative for both covid and strep, so a viral infection of some sort (thanks Jack). He bounced back much more quickly than I did of course.
I'm off work this week so my friend and I are going out to visit the Skaro Shrine, a grotto built by pioneers to honour the Virgin Mary. It's very important to her and there is an anual pilgrimmage to the shrine every August 14th. I've been there once but not with her and I'm looking forward to visiting the shrine with her.
Other than that, not much planned for the week. Puttering in the garden and the house. Walking the dogs. Jack comes back on Wednesday. My middle daughter is in Iceland this week with her father and fiancé. I'm looking forward to what she has to say about the country and the countryside and I'm not jealous at all.
That's a lovely area with the trails. In the US we're trained to look at that, and shudder and think about ticks and chiggers. Do you have them that far north? Charlie sounds like a great dog.
ReplyDeleteApparently we do have ticks, not something I've ever thought about. I'm itchy all over now. I shall take better care in the future, avoiding long grass, and checking the dogs for ticks.
DeleteI just looked up chiggers and now I'm even itchier!
Here in England, I have never heard anybody refer to "strep throat". Perhaps our equivalent is simply "a sore throat". Not jealous about the trip to Iceland? That's funny because I detected a morsel of jealousy as the blogpost ended.
ReplyDeleteI've heard vague references to a shrine/grotto honouring the Virgin Mary around here, but didn't know any details so thanks for that link. Enjoy your visit there! Glad your throat's starting to feel better.
ReplyDeleteI would enjoy a trip to Iceland! I'm so glad your sore throat is better; dreading swallowing is NO FUN. Love the walking area; it's got what Washingtonians like--lots of green. August 14th is my late husband's birthday. He would be 70 this year.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great area to have so close. Charlie must have loved it. Good to read you are feeling better. It's also commendable you are not jealous!
ReplyDeleteIt makes all the difference in the world to have green spaces to walk in, doesn't it? Glad your throat is getting better. Did Miss Katie ever come down with it? As I recall you were visiting her when you first got sick. The grotto sounds interesting!
ReplyDeleteI just skimmed the article about the grotto and although I am sure that many find comfort in it, to me it represents a whole hell of a lot of human work hours dedicated to honoring a magical being.
ReplyDeleteI am getting worse and worse about religion.
I am so glad you're feeling better. Finally. This has been rough.
Glad you're feeling better. I haven't been caught up on Blog Reads and am trying to do better at staying connected here in the Land of Blog. A lot is going on and then it makes it difficult, doesn't it? Whenever anyone gets to Travel extensively, I have to confess, I'm jealous... le sigh.
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