Rockyview General Hospital, reflected

Around 1992, i lay dying in this hospital, from a bacterial infection of the blood stream! My firm belief is that I had become so run down that my body could no longer fight the bacteria that all of us have in our bodies. It came on so suddenly, after visiting a high-risk family that I was 'working' with. Maybe half an hour after I got home, I began shivering and couldn't stop. Ended up going straight to bed, my doctor made a (rare) house call, and I was rushed by ambulance to this hospital. It all happened when there were no hospital beds available, but thankfully my doctor was able to arrange for another patient to be sent home. My temperature was so dangerously high - I still remember the huge bowl of ice that was placed by my bed, with a fan - and I was in the most terrible pain! I swear it was as bad, if not worse, than giving birth! If my temperature had gone up one more time, I wouldn't be here, writing about my experience! I was a medical mystery that not even the Centre for Diseases (?) could solve. I was put on six of the most powerful antibiotics, and thankfully they worked.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockyview_General_Hospital

Just an extra bit of information - in September 2007, an adult black bear wandered into the Rockyview Hospital. A security guard spooked the animal with his flashlight and it darted into an entrance. Fortunately, "there were no patients or staff in the area of the hospital where the bear trespassed." What a sight that would have been!! It then ran across 14th Street and climbed a tree. Wildlife officers tranquilized the bear and released it outside the city.

This photo was taken on 21 November 2015, at the end of a day trip with friends. We had been told about a Pacific Loon that was out on the Reservoir, so we called in at North Glenmore Park, not far from our meeting place.

It turned out to be a fun day for a group of us, driving SW of the city into the rolling hills to look for birds. We started off ‘well’, when our driver reversed into another birder’s car right there in the parking lot where we met early morning. The crunch sounded really bad, but maybe that was partly the crunchy snow. Thankfully, damage was very minimal!

We had had a fair amount of recent snow. Absolutely love the scenery SW of the city - never get tired of it. I think my favourite time of year to see it is in the winter months - as long as someone else is driving : )

Our drive took us southwest to the Millarville area, where we were hoping that we might just see Wild Turkeys, a Gyrfalcon or a Northern Hawk Owl. No luck with the last two, but we were lucky enough to see a number of distant Wild Turkeys at two different locations. Just couldn't get a decent shot of any of them, especially when they were moving about through the trees. I had had a look for these months ago, when people were reporting seeing them, but I wasn't able to find any.

I think we did just as well, if not better, with mammals than bird species, seeing several beautiful male deer and a couple of distant Coyotes. Then, later on, we were amazed to see a group of three Moose and just a short distance along the road, a group of five Moose. To see even one lone Moose is exciting, but to see eight in one day was amazing and most unusual. Unfortunately, they were all too far away to get even half-decent shots, but I may post one sometime, just for the record. I will add our leaders' final species list when it is available.

Towards the end of our trip, a friend asked what I was going to be doing afterwards and when I said I had no plans, invited me to go along with him and his friend to look for Great Gray Owls and Snowy Owls. I said I would just grab my backpack from the car I had been riding in, By the time I had got my things out, I happened to turn round to go to their car, when I discovered there were no cars left!! Thank goodness my original drive was still there, as the vehicle I was going to transfer into was way down the road! My friend had forgotten me, lol! When he suddenly realized it, he had stopped and was either going to turn around or back up and had instead gone half way into the snow-covered ditch. Impossible to get out, so he was going to have to get a ride with someone else till he could reach a place where cell phone service was available and then call for a tow truck. I'm so glad I wasn't in his vehicle - can't help but wonder if my added weight might have caused his car to roll over, lol! And so I returned to the city with my original friends - safe and thankful. Thanks so much for driving for the day, Andrew - much appreciated! To my other friend, who shall remain anonymous (lol), I do hope it didn't take too long for your car to be rescued!

For a list of the bird species seen, see list under the following link:

flic.kr/p/AUDnyd.