Knee Surgery Update

I decided to give a progress report on my knee, just in case my other knee goes bad some day and I want to look back at my reaction to the first surgery.  I sure hope I don't have to go through another surgery, but I am so happy with the results I just might consider it again if necessary.  My only complaint at this point, 7 weeks after surgery, is that discomfort in my knee wakes me at some point each night, I think as a result of keeping it in one position for too long.  But it is just discomfort not pain.  The only pain I feel is when the PT pushes on the bent knee, trying to get just a few more degrees of bend.  But I can already bend it to 105 degrees on my own, which is pretty impressive.  The only thing I can't do is walk downstairs normally, alternating legs; that is apparently the last thing to return to normal.  There are even times during the day now when I completely forget about it and just go about my business.  I take a walk every day and can easily do a mile, which is much more than I could do before the surgery.  I can't wait to get back to aerobics class but that should probably wait until PT is done, probably at the beginning of January.

Knee Surgery

On October 5th, I had total knee replacement surgery at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.  Hence the hiatus in blog posts.  Recovery is going well, but I probably won't be doing anything blog-worthy for quite a while.

Cape May Point

We are back home again, this time from our annual family trip to Cape May Point.  This time we rented the house at 318 Knox Avenue, which was very nice.  There was very little bird watching to be had due to high winds from the east.  Any birds around were hunkered down out of the wind and many must have been blown westward.  But we enjoyed our usual activities of miniature golf, biking, and walking on the beach.  One bike ride takes us by Willow Creek winery where the way they prune and support their grapes is very impressive.

And of course we had our usual brunch at the Mad Batter.

Albany, Oregon

I got back from Oregon late yesterday.  A highlight was visiting the future home of the Albany Carousel.

It is a completely volunteer undertaking and the craftsmanship is outstanding.  You can go through their workshop and see the works in progress.

Catching Up

We drove back to New Jersey on September 12th since we have so much to do here.  I spent the 14th in NYC doing pre-op stuff for my upcoming knee-replacement surgery.  Then today, we drove to north Jersey to pick up our new Tesla.  It is a great car but with a long learning curve.  It will be a long time, if ever, before I learn all the possible options.  Tomorrow I head to Oregon to visit my Dad.

2015 Paddling Summary

Even though our stay was shortened this year, we still managed to do 17 paddles.

Ausable River

Cedar River Flow

Floodwood to Polliwog

Follensby Pond

Floodwood Rollins Loop

Fulton Chain of Lake (One to Five)

Hoel, Turtle, Slang

Little Tupper

Long Pond

North Branch of Saranac River

Piercefield Flow

Raquette River Axton to Crusher

Raquette River Axton to Falls

South Creek to Second Pond

South Creek to Weller

Stillwater Reservoir

Upper Saranac Lake

Paddling Cedar River Flow

Today was another beautiful day for a paddle, though somewhat warm in the low 80's.  We tried to go up the Cedar River, but the water is very low and a large beaver dam blocked the way.  We figured there would be more dams upstream and that the water was probably too low to allow us to reach the lean-to.  So we just paddled about 6 miles around the flow.

A Great Quote

From the book I'm currently reading: "When Will There be Good News" by Kate Atkinson.
"Twenty-five million sperm needed to fertilize an egg, because only one will stop to ask directions."

Paddling South Creek to Second Pond

What a beautiful day for a paddle, especially since there was no wind.  The morning fog had not yet lifted when we reached Middle Saranac.

We went around Ship Island looking for the eagle but had no luck.  Then we headed for the Saranac River outlet, paddled the river, and went through the locks.

We stopped along the narrow section of Lower Saranac for lunch, choosing a spot with a beach where several folks swam.  The winds were still calm when we got to the main section of the lake and the sun started peeping through the clouds.

We paddled by Bluff Island but did not stop.

Paddling the Flow

It was very foggy this morning, so I did an early morning paddle on the Flow.  It stayed foggy the whole time I was out so it was very quiet and peaceful.

I love the way the spider webs are bejeweled by the fog.