Pacific NW News Service
Online Since 1991

January 06, 2014

I contracted Guillain Barre in Feb, 2010. From there I spent 5 and a half months in various hospitals, much of the time totally paralyzed. When I came home on a date of my own choosing, I started the long way back to stability. Those days including today are pain filled. GBS is neither a virus nor a bacteria. It is a syndrome. There are no magic bullets. Younger folks usually have easy cases and are back to work or school in a short time. I was 64 when I went to the hospital first. Strike one against me was my age. In a few days on ICU I was receiving oxygen through a trach and food through a peg tube. Nobody in the family know if I would live or when I did awake whether I would have a normal brain. Thank goodness I have always had an abnormal brain:-) I am kind to myself and say eccentric. Anyhoo I can walk without help but I need the walls of the apartment to help me...and I can only put in so many steps per day. My only regret is that I do not get to go out and do a freelance job in photography. I a now relegated to the seniors arena, taking pictures of cultivated flowers and an occasional bee. Well? At least its something.

On the Trail of Eagles, our photographer was again in Idaho braving the cold weather.
She mentions that scavenger birds are fairly smart and if following eagle droppings
they can be successful. Not careful? The an eagles entree!!!

Minnesota: Wicked cold plunges state into deep, deep freeze 

Newspaper behind bars boasts compelling storytelling

Then and Now: Then and Now: South Hill in snow perpetually ...
The Spokesman Review
Since developers built the first homes on Spokane's South Hill, driving there in the winter has been a problem. Early streetcars climbed with the aid of ...

Colorado River Drought Forces a Painful Reckoning for States

 Pro Photographer Janice Smith and friend

 "-41C the mist in the background is coming from the river. burrrrr" Janice

These early snowfalls, starting in October, make Alberta winters feel pretty darn long. It's guaranteed the province will see snow for seven months this season (it usually snows at least once in April and sometimes into May and the summer months, depending on where in the province you are.) It can be kind of depressing, to be honest.  

.........but
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."― Anne Bradstreet

 

"Instead of dreading your cold morning commute or complaining about the slipping, sliding, and getting stuck - do something about it! Despise driving in the winter? Start saving for some winter tires! Or better yet, trade up your car for an all-wheel drive vehicle that will ease your driving stresses. Or you could invest in an automatic car starter so that you don’t have to get into a freezing cold car each morning! Once you shift your attitude to dealing with your problems, rather than just putting up with them, you’ll find that winter doesn’t have to be so painful."
― Anne Bradstreet

 Pro Photographer Janice Smith and friend

Canoeing

Janice loves to Canoe and I cannot blame her. I am going to have to ask about bears. Being a native to this wild area, my guess is that Janice has that sixth sense. There is spray which makes the animal mad and he kills you quicker..then there is a rifle, but Canada is more likely to do as in the US. They get mad when you kill wildlife.....some might remember A River Runs Through it with the man vs Grizzly shots at the end........all is well with movies but I am a conservationist. I conserve real well and do much of my travel through others eyes...Janice Smith is a great photographer....not an amateur or well practiced, but almost on par with Rick Price.

 

 Pro Photographer Janice Smith and friend

Autumn Canoeing

...and if you know winter is coming then you take advantage of every minute that comes before the snows. At a low angle, your camera click is the only thing making noise, with an occasional slap of water against the boat. These are the kind of days one wishes would last forever....but soon reality of winter sets in. Temps have been extremely  cold and Alberta is blowing some of its cold down to the Norther Plains of America. Our newspapers and TV stations are having a field day as if it never got cold. I, your editor, replace a whole drive Shaft at -40 degrees. I had 4 changes of cloves and about 12 rest breaks but most of my time was flat on my back in the  outdoors, under a K5 Blazer.

MORE ON JANICE SMITH TOMORROW