I haven't felt very good for over a week now. I've had a severe episode of gout, probably the worst I've ever had. I've been lucky in that I haven't had any flare ups for several years. But in late November it hit me big time. It results from a buildup of Uric acid in the bloodstream. With gravity this settles into the lower body, usually the feet. Crystals build up in the joints and they become extremely inflamed and painful. The big toe is the most common site but I had it not only here, but also throughout my right foot. The foot was swollen to about twice its normal size and throbbing. Gout to is thought to be triggered mostly by diet, and a number of things are known to contribute to it. This includes red meat, alcohol, shellfish, anything aged, like wine, cheese, etc.
I've been trying to cut back on booze for the past couple of months and generally it has been going fairly well. At the time of the flareup I hadn't had any beer for several days. My red meat intake is fairly moderate, living with two vegetarian daughters. And I haven't had shellfish in ages. Then I learned that artificial sweeteners are also a trigger, and I've been drinking a lot of diet Cola lately in place of beer.
In response to the flare up I started taking a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. That had limited success in combating the symptoms, but resulted in a whole bunch of side effects. The worst side effect was a spike in blood pressure. But I've also been fighting a headache off and on for a week. My doctor switched me to a different medication but that has resulted in an upset stomach.
I headed out to Nordegg on the morning of Saturday December 6th. Hailey was already out there, as she had headed out the night before. I was still feeling pretty rotten and we pretty much just laid around the cottage and watched a couple of movies. Hailey headed back to the city on Sunday evening as she has on line schooling during the week, plus a couple of work shifts. I stayed on out at the cottage by myself. By Sunday the swelling in my foot had gone done quite a bit and the pain had subsided a lot. My head felt a lot clearer too. The timing of this really sucked as we have been in the midst of a December heat wave with sunny skies and temperatures up well above freezing.
My foot was too sore to take my usual walk around the subdivision. It was really quiet by Monday when all the weekend folks went home. Twenty lots sold in 2020 and during the week there were quite a few contractors working. There are four new cottages in the process of being framed, and several lots are being cleared. My second one will be added to that list in the spring when we start construction of our guest cottage.
On Monday I headed out for a drive up to Abraham Lake. It was really windy and photography was not really an option. Later I headed into town and photographed an old store. For last couple of hours in the afternoon I pulled out my woodworking tools and planed and re-sawed some laminated pine to make the frame of the last door for the cottage. It was a really mild day and the temperature topped out at about +12c. Later in the evening I stoked up the woodstove, made dinner for myself, and watched a movie. It remained very windy overnight, but continued mild. The temperature didn't even drop below freezing overnight.
Tuesday was basically a repeat of Monday. I drove again up to Abraham Lake. This time it was still pretty breezy, but the winds were a lot less than the day before. It wasn't quite as warm but I think it still got up to around +8c in the afternoon. I set up my camera and took a photograph of the lake, as well as a second of a spruce forest along the side of the highway. Later in the afternoon I put together some of the pieces of pine that I had cut the day before, and assembled the main frame for the last door. In the evening I had leftovers from the night before, and watched another movie.
On Wednesday morning I was awakened by a message reminding me that I had an online meeting scheduled with my financial advisor. I scrambled to get dressed and get my computer fired up and was only a couple minutes late for the start. After that I packed up and tidied up the cottage in advance of my return to the city. The whiskeyjacks were swooping around the yard looking for something to eat. I had them eating some nuts right out of my hand. Of course being out there by myself, I wasn't able to photograph them. By the time I did dishes, had something to eat, and packed away all my tools it was time to hit the road. I left the cottage at about 2:30 and had an uneventful drive back to the city. There had been a very light skiff of snow in Nordegg overnight, and it was much cooler. It only got up to about +2c by the time I left. Up on Saunders Ridge east of Nordegg, and pretty much all the way to Rocky Mountain House, there was a lot more snow. They probably had two or three inches overnight and the highway was slushy and partly snowcovered. The roads stayed that way pretty much all the way to Rimbey. After that it was clear sailing and the roads were dry. I arrived home after dark, at about 5:30 in the evening.
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