always at sea level: What's Been Happening at the Outpost?

The advantage of not writing for such a long time is that I now have something to tell.... starting with I am a couple of pounds lighter. No it's not due to my reduced intake of all things sweet but the removal of that darn cast. My anticipation of that moment was right up there with Christmas morning as a child.

I'm assuming we all know what a 'dremel' is and when the nurse produced a super-sized one and assured me that it would only slice through the fiberglass cast leaving my tender skin beneath totally unscathed I had only her experience to assure me.

“How does it do that?” was on the tip of my tongue as soon as she finished grinding through one side. She admitted to being as amazed as I that the whirring blade sounding like a giant dentist's drill cut the cast like butter but did harm my flesh as it pushed through.

I was also a bit leery when a stainless device with handles about a foot long called a ' cast spreader' was produced. After several tries of trying to wedge the reversed tong-like apparatus into the tiny grove and a fair amount of pressure the two sides separated and my arm was freed. The sensation of blood returning to my swollen fingers left me all a tingle. I still smile when I think of that moment and how good it felt.

We're not done yet. A short wait and Dr. Smith arrived to remove the pins but first we had a nice chat about his hunting trip, which was successful. Got himself a nice moose. I don't consider myself a baby about getting needles but I will not watch the procedure. Two relatively painless injections to freeze the wrist took no time at all. A swift glance at the tray beside me, holding an array of scalpels and what looked like a regular pair of pliers had me swiftly turning my head to concentrate on the scene outside while all the time holding a conversation with the doc. He really had a good time hunting. It was only when he said announced that it was all done and everything looked good that I felt I could now face him. Trying to avert my eyes from the blood running down my wrist from the 2 small cuts I saw the pins sitting on the tray and was surprised to see that they looked more like welding rods than the thin wire that I had pictured in my mind.

Never having a broken bone before or being able to talk to anyone about such an experience I was so unprepared for how useless my arm would be. Here I was planning to do all the chores that are still undone back at the OP as soon as I got back, ha.

Just lifting my arm was a feat and as for moving my fingers let alone my wrist was impossible. An extensive session in rehab taking me through all the exercises I must do to regain full mobility of my wrist was the last step.

Well it's been almost a month now since the cast came off and I think I'm doing OK.

Fingers are still stiff and the wrist is still painful as I am constantly tying to move it in positions it just doesn't want to go. Using my left hand has become a habit and sometimes I have to remind myself to try and use my right. I can turn a door handle (slowly) hold a pen and write (slowly) type (pretty fast) and hold a fork ......but I cannot manoeuvre it to my mouth. Yet. Enough about me.

Even though we are only 2 ½ months into our stay the weather has been different. September delivered rains that were more associated with January and October graced us with days that we normally only see in May.

What a welcome sight this was.

Thursday November 7^th 8am the appearance of the barge had us breathing a sigh of relief. This if really late in the season to be making the trip down the coast.

Fuel, propane, water, an assortment of groceries, a bottle or 2 of rum and the TV!

This year for the unloading and loading of the barge, Robert and Terry from Masset flew in to lend a hand. They arrived on Tuesday giving them a chance to carry down a lot of the heavy equipment that was going out. The addition of man power had the job accomplished within several hours.

The crew apparently had a rough ride down the coast and took advantage of our calm bay to enjoy lunch before heading back out to the open sea.

Why are they sitting at such a strange angle? The work boat wouldn't stay running so instead of taking a line to shore they dropped their anchor to hold them and while they were eating the barge drifted a little.

As usual each year I spend a few minutes catching up with the crew and signing, as best I could, all the paperwork before they head off. At most I was gone for less than half an hour and upon my return this is what I found. Appears I'm not the only one looking forward to watching some movies on the new big screen.

With an extra day to put in before the scheduled plane will arrive to fly our company back home, there is always wood to chop.

It wasn't all work. Late Friday afternoon playing a game of backgammon at the table right beside the patio doors proved to be rather exciting.

There was evidence in the past week that a bear was among us, just never expected him to show up at the front door. Even as we watched his every move and Terry made what I can only assume were bear calls, he never altered his slow ambling pace nor paid much attention to us at all.

Saturday dawned with the promise of a beautiful clear sky. Great flying weather.

The quiet isolated life that we lead at the OP isn't for everyone. After 4 days Terry and Robert were already looking forward to re-connecting with family, friends and cell service.