I know that people break bones all of the time — I’m sorry for your pain  – and now I am one of them. At 35,  this is the first broken bone I have had and it dispelled a lot of myths for me!

1. Have you ever wondered how people can break their legs and not know it? Well, it turns out that this can actually happen.

2. Did you know that casts are a bit old school, especially when the break is not a clean one? I discovered that surgery is another “common” option — who knew?!

Here is my story of a particularly bad break . . .

We woke up March 23/12 to our dog throwing up all over our bed. Usually Stefan cleans it up while I clean up the dog and take her outside. Today was no different, although all of our lives were about to take a drastic turn.

(I would like to say that I was out on a gorgeous spring day photographing when I stretched too far to get that perfect shot of a Sawwhet Owl and twisted my leg in falling; however, my story is not that exotic, and unfortunately not even preventable.)

At 7:15 am I was carrying the dog downstairs and thought I had reached the bottom — when I stepped down, I discovered there were actually two more steps, which I promptly fell down, making sure to keep a good hold of the dog who survived unscathed. Now, if you know me, you know that this is not really a big deal — I fall down quite often, whether it is outside, up the stairs or down the stairs. From the shower, Stefan asks if I am okay and I shout back that I don’t know — because I didn’t know. It hurt, but duh, falling always does! My leg was not in a weird position, there was no bone poking through my skin . . . I thought I was okay, as did Stefan, and just needed to rest. The only odd thing, was that my lower leg sort of caved in on itself when I pulled it up — not realizing I was in shock, and not feeling particularly terrible I did this several times as it was fascinating to watch! I lay at the bottom of the stairs resting while Stefan continued getting ready for work, but I think I must have blacked out at a few points.

Anyway, we tried to get me up to go to the clinic, which is when I knew I had a real problem. I couldn’t get up no matter how hard we tried. This is when I knew I had to call the ambulance, although Stefan was far from convinced. Two paramedics showed up and I continued talking and laughing. They were shocked that I had not taken anything for the pain and it was already about 8:15, but we were shocked when they said that I had probably broken the main bone in my leg — the tibia. We needed two fire fighters to help with the stretcher due to our front steps being at a crazy and steep angle (if you come over, be careful, we will need to fix them!)

As a side note, Glenmore trail East is one of the bumpiest roads in the city. I had travelled that road for work for three years and never knew this!

To Be Continued . . .

Alicia N.

This is a huge category of birds, so I will try to break it down by families as found in: Audubon. (2000). Bird: The definitive visual guide. New York: DK Ltd. I have also slotted in other birds using the Mangoverde World Bird Guide http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/index.html.

Please remember that these are for identification purposes, and may not represent the best photos.  Please let me know if you see any errors in identification and feel free to leave comments! As I get more bird photographs, I will add them as new posts.

Miscellaneous

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher (Arizona)

Brown Creeper (Alberta)

Mockingbirds and Thrashers

Long Tailed Mockingbird (Peru)

Gray Catbird (Alberta)

Brown Thrasher (Brooks)

Northern Mockingbird (Arizona)

Bendire's Thrasher (Arizona)

Curve Billed Thrasher (Arizona)

Weavers

Cardinals and Grosbeaks

Warblers

Waxwings

Chickadees and Tits

Thrushes

Varied Thrush (Waterton)

Great Thrush (Peru)

Black Billed Nightingale Thrush (Costa Rica)

Hermit Thrush (Alberta)

Masked Laughing Thrush (China)

Swainson's Thrush (Alberta)

Mountain Blue Bird (Alberta)

Western Blue Bird (Utah)

Northern Waterthrush (Calgary)

Robin (Calgary)

This is a huge category of birds, so I will try to break it down by families as found in: Audubon. (2000). Bird: The definitive visual guide. New York: DK Ltd. I have also slotted in other birds using the Mangoverde World Bird Guide http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/index.html.

Please remember that these are for identification purposes, and may not represent the best photos.  Please let me know if you see any errors in identification and feel free to leave comments! As I get more bird photographs, I will add them as new posts.

Swallows and Martins

Barn Swallow (Frank Lake)

Cliff Swallow (Calgary)

Tree Swallow (Alberta)

Mangrove Swallow (Costa Rica)

Rough Winged Swallow (Alberta)

Lesser Striped Swallow (Africa)

Sand Martins (Peru)

Larks

Horned Lark (Alberta)

Rufous Naped Lark (Kenya)

Nuthatches

Cisticola

Zitting Cisticola (Kenya)

Buntings and Sparrows

Bulbuls

Red Whiskered Bulbul (China) Bulbul (Kenya)

Light Vented Bulbul (China)

Troupials

Tanagers

Friday November 16 (12-9 pm)

Saturday November 17 (10-5 pm)

Sunday November 18 (10-5 pm)

Friday November 23 (12-9 pm)

Saturday November 24 (10-5 pm)

Sunday November 25 (10-5 pm)

This is a huge category of birds, so I will try to break it down by families as found in: Audubon. (2000). Bird: The definitive visual guide. New York: DK Ltd. I have also slotted in other birds using categories found in the Mangoverde World Bird Guide http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/index.html.

Please remember that these are for identification purposes, and may not represent the best photos.  Please let me know if you see any errors in identification and feel free to leave comments! As I get more bird photographs, I will add them as new posts.

Siskens etc.

Wrens

Ovenbirds

Vireos

Crows and Jays

This is a huge category of birds, so I will try to break it down by families as found in: Audubon. (2000). Bird: The definitive visual guide. New York: DK Ltd. I have also slotted in other birds using the Mangoverde World Bird Guide http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/index.html.

Cotingas

Antbirds

Shrikes

Manakins

Tyrant Flycatchers

We saw some interesting things again this trip — here are some of the highlights.

Favourite place to stay — Crickethead Inn — out in the open in the desert near Saguaro National Park with excellent food, service, and walking trails! http://www.cricketheadinn.com/