Southwest London Underpath

Hiking about in the southwest of London, Ontario, I discovered an underpass for suburbanite walkers, joggers and bikers. With all the development in the area, the far western end of Commissioners Road is getting quite busy. The underpass gets local folk across the roadway without interfering with traffic flow. On the first nice day, I'll return as the path itself is worth a picture or two.

A plus for London: Toronto

An armoured general guarded the First Emperor in the afterlife.

The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army is now showing at The Royal Ontario Museum (the ROM) in Toronto.

If one goes on a Wednesday the tickets are discounted. My wife and I, and another couple, took in the show this past Wednesday. It was excellent.

ROM: Go for the Terracotta Army; Stay for the dinosaurs.

As I have mentioned before in my posts, one nice feature of living in London, Ontario, is its close proximity to Toronto. We made the drive to T.O. in a little more than two hours.

Toronto is a classic "Nice-place-to-visit-but-I-wouldn't-want-to-live-there" place in my opinion. I say that having lived there for a number of years in my youth.

Just one of the many places to grab a bite in Baldwin Village.

But T.O. really is a nice place to visit. Between the ROM and the Art Gallery of Ontario lies Baldwin Street with the Baldwin Village bistro and patio saturated row of restaurants. After the show we stopped in at the Vegetarian Haven for a vegetarian dinner before hitting the freeway for London.

Toronto really is a fun place to visit and London is blessed to be almost the perfect distance from the big city. Close enough for a day visit and yet too far away to encourage daily commutes.

Giant pencils support the canopy in front of the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. As I said, Toronto is a fun city.

Falun Dafa in Springbank Park

Not knowing a lot about the Falun Dafa group I'll keep this brief. Falun Dafa, London, is part of the Falun Gong movement which has run into serious government opposition in China. They meet on Sunday afternoons in a London park for their exercises. Last Sunday they met in Springbank Park in the Byron suburb.

Falun Dafa is active at the University of Western Ontario, the local university in London. For more info on Falun Dafa visit: www.falundafa.org.

Ah, to be young!

Some folk are quite dedicated when it comes to their exercise regimen. This young women certainly is. Our photo today shows this young Londoner in the middle of her Sunday workout. She is completing thirty repetitions of climbing and then descending a long, wooden stairway leading from a parking lot to the Thames River where it flows through Springbank Park.

For notes on how this image was taken see: Rockin' On: Photography.

One tough job!

The city is doing some work on the walkway beside the Thames River running through Springbank Park in London, Ontario. The fellows making the pavement cut wear dust masks but still . . . One has to wonder how much of the dust gets through the filter.

Thistle

It is amazing how beautiful a weed like this thistle can look when viewed up close. The field near my home is a flat, snow-covered expanse in the winter. Now, in mid-summer, it is turning into a veritable jungle with some weedy growth reaching ten feet into the air. At ground level there are thousands of different colourful flowers. It is different plot of land in August.

I'll be back! That's a promise.

I've got a good reason to get my health back.

Less than two months ago I was healthy. Oh, I've had health problems and serious ones. But teamed with the wonderful medical folk here in London, Ontario, I've surmounted the worst that has occurred.

Then in mid June in Sonoma, California, I suffered a serious V-tach event with my heart racing to 300 bpm. It took an emergency cardioversion (defibrillation) of 200 joules of electricity to shock my heart back into proper rhythm. I was given beta blockers to prevent a re-occurrence.

Then in mid July in London, Ontario, I went blind temporarily in my left eye. I was off to the hospital emerg again. I had suffered a TIA event, often a precursor to a stroke. I was given Plavix, a blood thinner.

Within hours I had an MRI of my head and neck to confirm what the doctors suspected, hardening of the arteries with plaque in my carotid artery. The good news: My arteries are clean. The bad news: I have micro bleeding throughout my brain.

Tuesday I must go to the Cardiac Institute and as the month progresses I have quite the number of medical appointments. What caused the V-tach event? Why is my brain bleeding? Am I reacting poorly to the blood thinner? Should I stop the Plavix? Was the baby Aspirin I used to take responsible for the bleeding? If I do stop all blood thinners, will I put myself in position to suffer a stroke?

I am beginning to feel as if I am starring in an episode of House.

All of this is taking a great toll on my free time. My blogging has suffered. My photography just isn't happening. And worse, I haven't been able to chase some very good local stories for Digital Journal.

Sorry team. I will be back doing my small bit for citizen journalism. Just give me, and my doctors, a little time. Who knows, maybe there will be a good medical story here. Now, I must go; It's time for my beta blocker.

Cheers!