I love summer. We have been having a heatwave in Ottawa for quite some time now and it is perfect for me. Not only because I miss the heat from when we were living in St. Maarten in the Caribbean, but with ALS the lack of circulation means that I am always cold. In fact, I have to ask people if it is hot, I just don't feel it! When I'm cold, my body cramps and freezes, when I'm warm I have much better movement. Poor Travis, he is the opposite and is always hot, so it is a bit of a war back and forth with our air conditioning, though marriage is compromise and we are both pretty good at that.
It is also much easier for me to get out and about and I am trying to take advantage of that. After the Walk for ALS Keith & I took a trip to Bowmanville and visited with family. For one night only, we definitely made the best of it and had a great time with Wendy, Mike, Brad, Brooklyn, Erin, Sue & Wayne. Love you all!
What better way to spend Canada Day than in Algonquin Park? As we have in previous years, we stayed at Killarney Lodge, the only place I have found so far that has accessible cabins in the woods. It is so perfect for us, we have our own cabin with a ramp, toilet seat raiser, shower chair and accessible dining room. Travis can even wheel me down to the water. I feel so grateful for this experience. As we were driving into the park, we saw a moose. Nothing I would rather be doing on Canada Day! Travis took me canoeing, swimming in the lake and he tried paddle boarding for the first time while I hung on to the back and got a free ride in the water. We spent most of our time feeding chipmunks, listening to the call of the loon, and of course I achieved global domination (Risk!).
Our balcony garden is thriving due to Travis's green thumb, put your requests in now for homemade hot sauce and homemade pesto!
I am also continuing my advocacy work for ALS by participating in focus groups and letter writing to ensure patients living with ALS have their voices heard on issues at a local, national and international level.
Check out our summer photos on the gallery page of this blog.