Back-Alley Wanderings in Urban Vancouver

 I am recovering from a first-ever Urinary Tract Infection. Horridly uncomfortable, as many of you will already know. So very grateful for modern medicine and that I live in a country with very accessible health-care: The doctor on call at our clinic called me back yesterday, listened to my symptoms, prescribed the drug which my husband picked up five minutes from home. I had two really uncomfortable nights, mostly because I didn’t recognize symptoms early enough, but neither fever nor discomfort this morning.

 Still tired, though, so I’m just going to post these photos of my Saturday-morning walk through some back alleys in our neighbourhood.

 Dollops of odd, often sad beauty here. . . .

 Bold and unlikely colour combinations that startle one into admiration. . .

 Wistful?

 And yeah, I sat down on that curb, just for you . . . .

My caregiver is bringing me breakfast in bed now, soft-boiled eggs and toast and tea, on a tray. Honestly, I’d probably be more comfortable eating it at the table in the other room, but he’s being so solicitous that I will risk the inevitable splats of egg yolk on my pyjama top.  Later, I will answer the comments on my last post, and by then, perhaps you’ll have left new comments here on this one. I hope that your week has begun well, this Monday morning . . . .

29 Comments

  1. Georgia
    16 October 2017 / 5:13 pm

    UTI, ugh. Dippin' eggs, as my children called them, are the cure for many ills.

    I think Paul Simon was wrong…everything does not look worse in black and white 🙂

  2. dottoressa
    16 October 2017 / 9:26 pm

    I'm so glad that you're feeling better
    Take care and drink a lot of water
    Breakfast in bed is such an excellent tradition (even better if you are healthy)
    Dottoressa

    • materfamilias
      17 October 2017 / 1:35 am

      Yes, I'll be paying much more attention to hydration. The scary part was when the doctor told me to track my fever (I did have a slight one) as an indicator of possible kidney involvement, in which case she wanted me in the hospital for drip antibiotics. It did climb a bit, but then dropped to normal after the second pill — we are so very lucky to be able to control something that used to be so potentially serious. . . .
      and lucky to have breakfast in bed as well 😉

  3. Anonymous
    17 October 2017 / 1:33 am

    Let your beloved spoil you. And do what Dottoressa said: drink lots of water.

    You have become a real alley cat with all those interesting alleys to prowl. I really enjoy these walks with you.

    Ann in Missouri

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:27 pm

      So glad you enjoy coming along for the prowl (and thanks for seeing me as an alley cat 😉

  4. LPC
    17 October 2017 / 2:05 am

    UTIs are the WORST. Glad you are recovering. And I love all the geometry of your city, somehow it feels curative in this situation.

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:28 pm

      There's much to be said for regularity, geometric or otherwise 😉

  5. K.Line
    17 October 2017 / 2:06 am

    Ugh. That sucks! Don't worry, you will feel well very soon. Just take lots of vit C with lots of water and wait for the drugs to kick in.

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:29 pm

      The drugs are very effective — I can feel them killing anything that dare live in my body (even the good guys!)

  6. hostess of the humble bungalow
    17 October 2017 / 6:17 am

    Oh my your first UTI? They are painful and not fun
    hopefully your last…hydrate big time and enjoy the eggs in bed:-))

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:29 pm

      not much fun at all! But I guess I'm lucky to have avoided them so far…

  7. Anonymous
    17 October 2017 / 8:01 am

    Sorry about this Francis – hope you hit the ground running again very soon 🙂
    Wendy in York

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:29 pm

      Thanks Wendy — good to see your face next to Sue's on IG!

  8. Anonymous
    17 October 2017 / 8:05 am

    UTIs are very, very dull and lowering to the spirits. Someone close to me has them and I have learned that swift action is vital. So is resting because they are peculiarly tiring. Hope you are feeling better and knocking back the cuppas to get the system flowing again.

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:30 pm

      Thanks for acknowledging this — the discomfort is over, but the fatigue remains and the lowered spirits. . . .

  9. Eleonore
    17 October 2017 / 12:24 pm

    Ugh, that reminds me of the UTIs I had in the summer of '89, shortly after my mother died. Two bouts in short succession. Never before and never again – strange ways of the body. I agree with you: it is a privilege to have modern and accessible health care. Hope you are much better by now.

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:30 pm

      Yes, the mind-body-spirit connection will NOT be denied!

  10. Ceri in Bristol
    17 October 2017 / 5:18 pm

    Painful. Hope you feel better soon

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:31 pm

      Thanks Ceri. I'm on the mend….

  11. lagatta à montréal
    17 October 2017 / 7:29 pm

    I had one about three weeks ago – I was so out of it that I don't remember the exact dates. The antibiotic made me even sicker than the horrible initial pain (I react badly to all of them) and I had no appetite whatsoever for several days – I just drank great pools of water so it was back and forth between bed and loo… Fortunately I had some homemade stock.

    Better how but still sleeping 10 hours a night.

    I only had that once before in my life, over 30 years ago, but it seemed more normal with all the mess of periods etc. I had been doing nothing out of the ordinary this time except that I'd had a huge rush of work, often 15 hours a day.

    Are you taking any probiotics?

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:33 pm

      I'm so grateful for the antibiotics that I don't want to grumble too much about the way it devastates good flora and fauna along with the bad, but yest, probiotic yogurt will be the next phase. Glad you're feeling better yourself — lots of sleep is a wise response.

    • lagatta à montréal
      20 October 2017 / 12:07 am

      I suspect this can kill in countries without good healthcare and poor sanitation. I simply have allergies and poor reactions to antibiotics, but in this case there was no choice. I've been taking BioK+, which is a great help. I also take that with me in capsule form when travelling.

      My body simply commanded sleep, and my little cat has been a great sleep aid.

  12. Lorrie
    18 October 2017 / 5:16 am

    Ugh to the UTI. Yay for modern antibiotics! Hooray for caring husbands!

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:33 pm

      Hear, hear, hear!

  13. Rosie
    18 October 2017 / 10:01 am

    Definitely hooray for caring husbands!
    Hope you relaxed and enjoyed your breakfast treat …you can always wash your pjs 🙂 Glad to hear that the antibiotics are working and hopefully, by now, you're feeling much better.
    Take care and thanks for sharing the great photos
    Rosie

    • materfamilias
      18 October 2017 / 6:34 pm

      Much better today, hoping to be back at the gym soon. . . . I'm glad you enjoyed the photos — I had fun taking them.

  14. Hummingbird5
    19 October 2017 / 6:54 pm

    Hope you're feeling better now, a few days after this post. I love the photos from your walks, and today in particular, the sweet, simple graffiti tribute to dear Tom Petty.

    • materfamilias
      20 October 2017 / 2:58 pm

      Isn't it sweet? Made me wonder how much that song had sustained whoever was haunting back alleys with a spray can. . . . not too far from where I snapped that, someone was still sleeping on a sheet of cardboard, their red sleeping bag coccooning them from view, their belongings piled around them.

    • materfamilias
      20 October 2017 / 2:59 pm

      Whoops, too many c's. . . cocooning.

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