Physio Therapy

As some of you may know - I have a serious shoulder injury, which has been getting progressively worse this last couple of years.

The pain has been so bad - that I have been forced to give up some of my favourite activities - like playing the violin, various sports, and it has seriously hampered me being able to look after my flock. Thus - I have had to reduce my flock so that I can reduce my work load. This has been very distressing to say the least.

However - there is hope on the horizon.

Earlier this spring, my physician suggested a different form of excercise to help strengthen my shoulder and try to put me back in shape.

KAYAKING!

My wonderful husband - ever supportive of all my endeavors, has embraced this sport with me:

And so:

Recently - we travelled to see my daughter in Gagetown New Brunswick (a two day drive):

We of course wasted no time in renting kayaks and heading out onto the
St John River for a day cruise. We spent 5 hours out on the water - and I took some absolutely
beautiful pictures.


This one is a particular favourite -
(click to see larger), as we are heading up the
river and under the Fredricton Bridge.
That's my husband (Kevin) and my Daughter
Brittany up ahead in their kayaks - I stayed behind in my kayak to get the shots.

We had a great time - and more on that vacation in another post.





We try to get out at least once a week - and for
a minimum of a 2 hour paddle - but prefer a 4 - 5 hour paddle. Surprising - when you are out there - you lose complete track of time.


Last week - we managed to get out twice - which was a real treat.



So - on Wednesday night - we loaded up the car
with the kayaks and all the gear.
Yes - I get lots of funny looks:
(The kayaks are actually Longer than the car).










And after work on Thursday - we headed straight
out to The Pinery - which is a local
Provincial Park about an hour from here.

Here's a picture I took as we were heading up the
main channel. This channel was dug out in the 1800's to help drain the local farmland - it is about 100 ft wide - and 10 km long (6 miles).
It's not very deep - probably only about 8 feet.
This was a very relaxing paddle - we probably did about 4 kilometers in each direction - or a total of 5 miles. For part of it we were paddling into a decent headwind - so on the way back - we were able to relax a bit and drift.
This is a great way to relax after a hard day at work.


And - lucky us -on Saturday - we
were headed down to Leamington - which is on the north shore of Lake Erie (near Windsor, Ontario) - so - we left the kayaks on
top and after completing
our business at the kayak store - we headed
off to Point Pelee - which is the southern - most
mainland point in Canada.

We decided that we would keep to the marshes because the lake was quite choppy.
There are several small lakes - and trails throughout the marshes that you can canoe or kayak in - and so off we went. In the middle of one of the lakes there was this HUGE - probably about 2 acres in size patch of water lillies.
Here is a picture of Kevin as he eases his kayak in close to the water lillies. Look at the size of the lily pads - they were about 2 feet in diameter - and the flowers were about 8 - 10 inces across - many of them on stocks that stuck 3 feet above the water.

We played on the marshes for about 3 hours in the 95 degree weather before packing up and heading home.

So far we've discovered that we LOVE kayaking (yes - those are our kayaks in the last 2 pictures). We have taken the plunge and gone out and purchased a couple of sea kayaks - and all the gear - expensive - but worth it.

And is it helping my shoulder you ask? Yes - the short answer is yes. It's been great therapy.
I'm hoping that this will strengthen the muscles - and help out with all the pain.
So far - no complaints from me. Besides that - it's great excercise, and quality time spent with
my husband and children. I highly recommend it.