Sunday, April 27, 2014

Dragons in False Creek

This is part of my series of walking around Vancouver to show you sights and sounds of our City.  I am doing my best to walk, or hobble, as my foot is not working as it should


I have shown you scenes from this area before.  We are in False Creek, site of our Olympic Athletes Village.   That is the Science world dome on the right


That is BC Place in the background and during the summer you can watch various types of water craft go back and forth on this quiet waterway.   Here we have two girls kayacking . . .


No, they have not come closer.  I am using a Sigma Super Zoom HSM 18-250mm lens and I am nearly zoomed to 250mm and on a crop factor body like the Canon T2i this approximates 400mm so they are really quite far away from where I am viewing


There are also several Dragon Boat teams practising.   This year during June 20-22, 2014 there is going to be our Dragon Boat Festival  (read here)

As I am not in a physical condition to do much walking until my foot gets back to normal I was just sitting and doing some people watching, until I noticed the Dragon Boats lined up as if to race. I nearly missed the start




I didn't think I did much walking but I guess it was too much.  I should have stayed home and put my leg up  I read that I should raise my foot above heart level to help circulation.  I could barely walk and all night I tossed and turned as my foot was hurting all night . . .


16 comments:

  1. Not suggesting that it's the same problem, but ~ten years ago my foot was so sore and swollen that I could barely walk. I forget what the specific problem was but the podiatrist gave me a cortisone shot in my foot and told me to get shoes with a lot of arch support and walk lots. I did and the problem went away. He said the problem was lack of arch support for too many years.

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    1. Richard:

      I had been advised "many years ago" the same advice as you. I am stubborn and don't listen. Either that or I have selective hearing, sort of comes and goes. I was told to get better, quality shoes but I opted for the Merrill barefoot series of closed shoes with zero lift. I thought I should strengthen my foot muscles and my idea worked, until now.

      It would kill me if I couldn't ditch my shoes and sandals during the summer

      Delete
    2. That's what I kept telling myself as I used to always wear Birkenstocks or sandels during the Summer (none of which have any arch support). Given a choice of lots of pain and sitting around or wearing footwear with lots of arch support, I'll put up with the shoes.

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    3. Richard:

      I generally buy name brand sandals; like Teva or Chaco, or shoes from Merrill or Keen. All of these have arch supports.

      I heard that Birkenstocks are making a comeback. Now you can find and dust them off

      Delete
  2. Bob, it is such a pleasure to walk (make that hobble) around town with you. I hope that things will sort out themselves and you will be better soon.

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    1. Sonja:

      I think I am getting better. I don't think I could even cycle as I can't put too much pressure on the pedals and don't forget we have lots of steep hills here in Vancouver.

      Delete
  3. Is that one girl texting and kayaking? What has the world come to?

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    1. Trobairitz:

      NO, she wasn't texting. She dragged her phone out to use her camera for a selfie, and then had to put it away. They noticed me snapping their photos, and waved to me. I have a few others which I would have liked them to have but how to contact them ?

      Delete
  4. Robert, the Reverend has left a new comment on your post "Dragons in False Creek":

    Sorry to hear this. Hope that recovery comes in short order.

    Sorry deleted in error

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    1. Robert:

      getting better by the hour, I hope . . . we'll see later. Thanks

      Delete
  5. Bob, we've lots of dragon boaters around here too, but more sailors and rowers ... I tried rowing, but found out it really works better if you have at least minimal coordination. Really, there's a chance you could avoid the pain and discomfort and disability with a good pair of shoes and/or orthotics - isn't it worth a try (they might even make orthotics for Tevas - after all, they have landed a man on the moon!)

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    1. Karen:

      You are much too modest. You ride a motorcycle and you have to be co-ordinated to do that. Anyone is able to row, but not ride.

      Orthotics are covered by our medical plan, perhaps I should check into it but I'd rather be shoeless

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    2. Shoeless is fine as long as you only walk on sand. If you insist on walking on hard, un-natural surfaces like concrete, streets, pavement and floors, then shoes are a good thing.

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    3. You know that we only harass you because we care...

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    4. Richard:

      I know but it has been getting worse the past couple of days. Today I can barely walk and it throbs and my doctor is closed on Wednesdays

      Delete
  6. Ed:

    It was suggested to me to buy better, orthotic type shoes many years ago but since then I have this problem come up a few times now but it generally goes away in a week or so. I did switch to brand name shoes and most with arch support. All of my sandals have support of some kind except perhaps for my favoured Merrells which are the zero lift barefoot style. I'll get this sorted out. But thank you for mentioning the Ecco's . I have seen them but have never bought a pair

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