Antarctica Part 3: Exploring Explorers

Antarctica has claim to the largest piece of ice on the planet. It reaches a 4.5km depth and is up to a million years old at its thickest point. It is also is Earth’s largest fresh water reserve, containing 60-70% of Earth’s total fresh water (the remainder is made up of lakes, rivers, other glaciers, and underground systems). It’s difficult to comprehend the scope of this, but for comparison, only .3% of Earth’s total fresh water is surface water - that is lakes, rivers, swamps, etc. That means almost all of Earth’s fresh water is either under ground or stored in ice, and the majority of it is in Antarctica’s ice.

Welcome to Antarctica Part 3: maybe I’ll stop telling stories long enough to get past day two. 

(In case you missed them, here’s Part 1 and Part 2 ).

We left off aboard the National Geographic Explorer, enroute to Tay Head Island, when Michael Jackson’s voice (our fearless expedition leader) came over the intercom: 

“There has been a pod of killer whales spotted at 3 o’clock” (that’s straight off the right or starboard side of the ship). Immediately everyone rushed outside to catch a glimpse of this rare sighting. (Later Will would ask the captain if they can feel the lean of the ship when the entirety of its human capacity inhabits one side - nope). 

These are Type 2B killer whales, a smaller killer whale that appears a little more yellow and grey then black and white. This is due to a layer of algae on their back. These killer whales have an interesting spa treatment practice. They will swim very fast and continuous from the cold waters of Antarctica to the warm waters off the coast of Argentina and Uruguay. This will regenerate their skin, the equivalent of humans shedding dead skin cells, and will make their black and white colours appear more vibrant. 

Photo credit: Jonny Reid

MJ convinced the captain to alter course and cruise along side the porpoising pod. It was an improbably unique way to enjoy lunch. But as all things end, we eventually said goodbye to our flippered friends and corrected course to Tayhead Island. Here we were sanctioned a sort of choose your own adventure. You could enjoy a short scenic walk along a beach, or take a long hike around the island, exploring a few areas, and ending with a moderate hill climb skirting the edge of a glacier. We chose the longer option. 

Back in our cabin, we had to decide what to wear on a 4km hike in Antarctica. The temperatures we experienced in Antarctica ranged from +8 to -6 degrees Celsius (though the winds coming off the ocean made it feel colder, and it was consistently windy). Boarding the zodiacs involved a fully waterproof outer layer and camera equipment in waterproof bags, plus a life jacket. We learned the hard way that sunscreen on the small portion of your exposed face was a must (we both ended up burning the underside of our noses from the glare off the snow). Drinking water was allowed on shore, but no food, and if you had to use the washroom you would be ushered back to the ship and not allowed to return to shore. So it was suggested to take your bathroom breaks accordingly. 

Landing #3 - Tay Head Island

Here was our first sighting of fur seals.

These adorable creatures with their cute feline-looking whiskers are actually quite temperamental, and can turn on you quicker than you would expect a seal would be able to move, and that’s because these guys aren’t actually true seals. True seals are more like sausages with flippers. Fur seals are pinnipeds. They have four leg-ish looking flippers that move independently of each other, and they can run up to 24 km/hour. Though this is nowhere near as impressive as their 48 km/hr speeds they are capable of in the water, I guarantee it’s a lot faster than Will or I would be moving in our waterproof rubber boots and -4 degrees Celsius worth of winter layers. IAATO says: stay 15m away at all times. 

Not outrunning a fur seal in this garb.

We were divided into small groups and trekked around a rocky beach. Some great photos of the groups were taken on this hike. 

You will notice Will and I are the only guests who opted out of the trademark National Geographic bright orange parka. We got questioned about this constantly, to which we answered “we’re Canadian. We don’t need more parkas.” This is true, I own 3 parkas, one of them is even bright orange, none of which I even bothered to take for the balmy Antarctica summer. And I’m glad we made this decision. Looking back at the photos, I find it hilarious as we are so easy to spot.

Photo credit: Jim Pfitzer.

Photo credit: Jim Pfitzer.

Fur seal carcass.

Cheeeeeeeese!

We hiked to a colony of Adelie penguins, who chose a nesting site with a view! This was clearly the nesting site for the “overpaid 1%” penguins. 

 Here you really get a sense of how close the Skua predators fly to the penguin nests. They literally hover just overhead. 

Photo credit: Jim Pfitzer.

Our hiking group lucked out and had both National Geographic photographers along as guides. They were being extra helpful and and offered to take photos for everyone.

Photo courtesy of Susan Seubert.

Photo courtesy of Jim Pfitzer.

We continued to the final segment of the hike, walking along a Glacier. 

Where’s Waldo?… I mean Amy and Will.

Photo credit: Jim Pfitzer.

On the return route to the ship we dodged a few more fur seals, then once again loaded back onto the zodiacs and shuttled to the Explorer for happy hour and recap. 

This one of a kind day had one last magical surprise to deliver. The captain steered us to view a few tabular icebergs, which we reached just in time to catch the iceberg colours against the setting sun, and quite possibly my most favourite sunset experience ever. 

These are classified tabular iceburgs because they are at least five times as long as they are high. This one is about twice as high as the ship, which sits four stories above the waterline. These icebergs are 65% under water and 35% above as opposed to the more typical 85% under and 15% above. Because of their long, flat shape, they are less dangerous and unpredictable in their movements than typical icebergs which have the tendency to turn, flip or roll without warning (we never witnessed this, but apparently it’s quite a spectacular event). Once a tabular iceberg is more than 10 nautical miles long it gets assigned a number and a letter. 

Here’s a little info on ice in Antarctica, courtesy of a presentation given by Naturalist and Parks Canada employee Serguei Ponomarenko (who also happens to be an Ottawa resident) - coincidently him and Will worked in the same building for a period of time).

 Glaciers are formed by heavy snow falling in a single area, compacting under the weight of itself over time, eventually becoming so compact it squishes all the air out and becomes ice. Usually this happens high in the mountains as it’s colder at altitude and there is more snow there than rain. The accumulation of ice becomes a glacier, and once the glacier gets heavy enough, it ‘advances’ by the shear weight of itself rolling down the mountain. So it's really not so much advancing as falling. A glacier is considered ‘retreating’ when it’s melting back in the summer months when the snow accumulation is outweighed by heat and rain. Once the summer heat has stopped, and the snow starts to accumulate high in the peaks again, the glacier will continue to roll down hill.  When the snow accumulates faster than the melting happens, the glacier is considered ‘advancing.’ When the amount of melt is happening faster than the accumulation phase, the glacier is considered ‘retreating.’  However, in Antarctica, the accumulation happens a bit differently. The snow piles up in the middle of the island and blankets the landscape, forming more of a snow pyramid that is now 4.5km thick at some points. The accumulation sort of rolls down the sides of the pyramid and spreads like a bridal dress train over the ocean’s surface, creating the Antarctic ice shelf. This shelf is subject to the forces of the ocean waves, currents, and tides, along with the summer melt. It will inevitably shed pieces in the form of flat, tabular iceburgs, like the ones pictured here. 

Same routine every day. Sunrise, gym, shower, coffee, breakfast, then back to the room to change and wait for our zodiac group to be called to disembark for our next landing (and the next one is a really good one). 

Landing #4 - Snow Hill Island

Photo credit: Jim Pfitzer.

 We landed on the vast beaches of Snow Hill Island, visually stunning with its remnants of volcanic activity and teeming with fossils. Michael Jackson just happens to be a trained geonoglist, so he got us properly pumped for the geological wonder we were about to encounter. Snow Hill Island also happens to be a protected historical site, and part of a great but lesser known Antarctic expedition that you’ll get to learn about next! 

Snow Hill’s volcanoes erupted during the Crustatous age 65-100 million years ago. The eruptions started undersea, and took with it various crustatous creatures from the sea floor. The sandy seafloor sediment combined with the volcanic lava created an environment prime for making fossils out of these unfortunate shelled creatures. Fossil hunting was some of the promised fun on this landing site, and Will and I wondered how easy it would be to find said fossils. As we walked along a sandy, eroded beach edge, Will smartly suggested it might be as simple as digging in the sand shelf. I put my untrained archaeology skills to work and within seconds had a handful of fossilized remains of these ancient shelled creatures. 

Once we knew what we were looking for, it was hard to take a step without finding some small remains of a world that existed long before us (a full extinction event ago!). I really got into this archaeology project, and spent much of my time on this landing site starring at the ground. We were not allowed to keep our treasures (IAATO says: remove nothing from a landing site, not a rock, feather or fossil), but we were allowed to pick them up, take pictures, then scatter them back on the beach for the next impertinent traveller to ‘discover.’ 

Another dead seal carcass we found on the beach, this time a leopard seal.

We took a short hike up the side of a volcano, and were rewarded with great views of the beach and a closer look at the volcanic dikes. Dikes are formed as volcanic magma is forced up through cracks in layers of rock, then hardens in place. As the landscape around the dike erodes it creates these beautiful structures resembling a stone wall, warning off unwelcome intruders to the temperamental and unforgiving landscape. 

Amidst our view from the lookout was the Nordenskjold hut, a pre-fabricated Swedish shack transported by Otto Nordenskjöld and his men to be used during the Swedish expedition to Antarctica (these Sweeds were doing it long before Ikea).

The little blue tent in the left on this picture is part of a temporary Argentinian camp to do maintenance on the hut.

This expedition is such a crazy story, definitely my favourite historical recount we learned on the ship. So let me tell you a tale… 

In 1902, Otto Nordenskjold and a crew of 28 men left Argentina aboard their vessel aptly named The Antarctic. They were enroute to Antarctica with a mission to advance science and exploration, thus commencing the Swedish Expedition. They arrived to the South Shetland Islands in January 1902, right where we are now, at Snow Hill Island.  

Six men were dropped off on Snow Hill, with some supplies including their little prefabricated hut, and a plan to spend the winter on this island exploring and conducting science experiments. 

The wintering party. From left, front row: Gösta Bodman meteorologist, Otto Nordenskjöld geologist and leader, José Sobral scientific assistant. 

The Antarctic left Snow Hill Island with the remaining 23 men, to spend the winter in scientific survey of South Georgia and Tierra del Fuego.

The six men left on Snow Hill soon learned the ‘sheltered’ landing site they chose was in fact quite exposed and storm-prone, so they didn’t get much accomplished during the long winter months. With the excessive storms came massive ice build up. By November (spring) the ice had still not broken up enough to get a ship in the bay. It became quite apparent the planned return of The Antarctic and the remaining crew was not happening. The ice block didn’t improve in the summer months of December or January or even February. By the 18th of February, a storm froze the ice over completely, once again socking them in to spend A SECOND WINTER in their tiny little Ikea hut. 

Meanwhile, The Antarctic spent its first winter exploring the nearby islands of South Georgia, just as planned. On November 5th, 1902, set out to collect the men from the Snow Hill Island hut, also as planned. But as we already know, they were unable to get through the Antarctic Sound due to the continued accumulation of sea ice. On December 29th, 1902 when their attempts to wait out the summer melt seemed to be faltering, they decided to send three men to fetch the Snow Hill party via dogsled. These three men started at Hope Bay and needed to cover 320km on dogsled to reach Snow Hill Island. They made good progress at first, but as it was summer they eventually met with open water blocking their path so they returned to await The Antarctic to rescue them from where they parted ways at Hope Bay (which was the intended plan, it was just supposed to be with the other six men from Snow Hill in tow). 

However, after dropping off the team of three and their dogsleds at Hope Bay, The Antarctic was damaged beyond repair by sea ice, and the remaining 20 men were forced to abandon ship in lifeboats. Luckily winds were on their side and they reached Paulet Island February 28th, 1903, some 40km away, where knowing they would have to survive the winter and try to find help in the spring, they built the stone hut pictured here.

Recognize this hut? We visited Paulet Island as an earlier landing site in blog #2. 

OK, so let’s recap. We are now moving on to horrible Antarctica winter #2, an unplanned part of this expedition, and at this point we have six men at Snow Hill knowing they are spending another winter there, but thinking the 23 men should be able to come get them next spring or summer. However, three of those men are stranded with dogsleds at Hope Bay, also thinking The Antarctic will come get them, but The Antarctic has sunk and those 20 men are stranded at Paulet Island wondering WTF they are going to do because no one knows where they are. 

By spring 1903 (keep in mind this is September-ish), the three men at Hope Bay accepted the obvious fact that something has gone wrong, The Antarctic has probably sunk and is not coming for them, forcing the terrifying realization that no one else knows where they are. So they made the hard decision to once again head out for Snow Hill, hoping the original six crew members remained. They left a written note in their Hope Bay hut explaining their trajectory, and departed for Snow Hill (more than 300km away). At a parallel occurrence, September 29th, 1903, two men from camp Snow Hill left on a routine multi-week expedition (they decided to continue explorative outings more to get out of the tiny Hut rammed with six men than for any specific scientific discoveries). October 12th, two weeks into this expedition from Snow Hill, they miraculously ran into the three Hope Bay men at Cape Well. The five then returned to Snow Hill, reuniting an elated nine crew members. These nine men now assumed it most likely The Antarctic fated tragedy and now resided in Davy Jones’ Locker with the 20 unaccounted for crew. 

However, as we well know, these 20 were actually stranded on Paulet Island, though their situation was not good, and they did lose one man to illness that winter. The 19 remaining crew were trying to formulate a plan since no one knew they were there and probably figured them dead. They decided to throw a Hail Mary and sent six of the 19 men in their little life boat to see if they could reach the three men they left at Hope Bay. '

‘The little life boat that could’ miraculously made it to Hope Bay, but arrived November 4th, five weeks after the three men left for Snow Hill. They did find their note depicting such, so they set sail for Snow Hill, but keeping with the trend of this entire ordeal, they were trapped by sea ice 24 km out from Hope Bay (remember more than 300km from Snow Hill). They decided to abandon their raft, and attempt the remaining march on foot. 

This is where it gets both incredible and confusing. Meanwhile, November 8th, 1903 in Argentina, the Argentinian government launched the pre-arranged rescue mission plan since The Antarctic and its crew had not returned, as was anticipated, before the winter of 1903. So the government launched a rescue mission and found the now united nine members trapped at Snow Hill. That SAME DAY, the six crew members who abandoned their wee life boat and were now on foot from Hope Bay finished their long trek through the ice and snow to find the nine partitioned crew members, AND an Argentinian rescue mission - best day ever for those guys. 

The remaining 13 men at Paulet Island were rescued on November 11, 1903 (since the six that set out in the little lifeboat were able to direct them to the final stranded crew members), thus completing the horrific Swedish Antarctic Expedition with only one fatality. Incredible. 

The workers occupying these tents were here for two months to do maintenance on this historical hut, which is now a museum of sorts. 

You can tell the camp is Argentinian by the Messi jersey displayed outside the tents.

We were able to enter the Swedish hut, which remains carefully preserved as it was left, with the addition of a few pictures of its original inhabitants. To enter is like walking into a time capsule. The bleak Antarctic winters would be uncomfortably perceptible in these tight quarters, questioning what it would be like not knowing if you would safely leave, or if this small, dark Ikea shack would ultimately serve as both your final residence and final resting place.

This landing had a couple more fun surprises up its magical sleeve. As we were walking back to the zodiac, a Weddell seal appeared ashore, clearly after eating a large meal, barely making it ashore before it collapsed comatose. We stopped and admired it with some of the guides, laughing while we debated if this guy would make a worse big or little spoon in a cuddle. (IAATO says: don’t anthropomorphize the wildlife). None of us tried to spoon the seal. 

Well that was a long one, but you made it. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Annie's Story

“Sometimes love does not have the most honourable beginnings, and the endings, the endings will break you in half. It’s everything in between we live for.” - Ann Patchett on losing pets                                                                                   

Annie was born in August 2008 to a litter of 12. I never did get her exact birth date, but I like to say it’s August 27th because that is my brother’s birthday and that annoys him. 

I picked Annie from a chaotic Kijiji photo of 12 newly mobile kittens. She was a long-haired cat and quite small, so as a kitten she was a tiny fluff ball. Annie was my first indoor pet and I never thought to have a crate, so when I took her home for the first time, I left her free in the back seat of my car. She was totally freaked out and scaled the upholstery while I navigated our way to the pet store. She never ended up liking car rides. 

Annie was an energetic kitten, and spent her first year terrorizing my roommate’s 12-year-old cat, Cooper, and 1-year-old Spaniel puppy, Drake. She loved to hide in places too small for the puppy and stick her paw out trying to get the dog to grab it. Paw out, paw in, paw out, paw in. They both loved that game. It eventually progressed to the backyard as Cooper was impressively street savvy and taught Annie how to be an outdoor cat. Though Annie never ventured far from the yard, she would eventually make her way outside the fence and stick her paw through to tease Drake who was sanctioned to the back yard - and paw through the fence game was born. Annie loved to play with Drake, and those two developed a special relationship. Drake took a liking to cleaning Annie’s ears, a tendency that continued when they would see each other years after they stopped living together. He was the only dog Annie ever let handle her.

Annie had a few favourite toys as a kitten. Honourable mentions go to the crinkly fish, a large stuffed dog, and any Q-tip dirty or clean. She would play with the Q-tips like children’s juggling sticks, throwing them into the air and batting them back and forth. One day when Cooper was quite obviously feeling sick, Annie was joyfully playing with her Q-tip when she spotted Cooper, sitting on his own in quiet misery. She gingerly approached him and laid her Q-tip on his back as a feel-better gift for a sick friend.

Annie’s pent up energy was a challenge as a young kitten. She would sprint up and down the hall, waking everyone in the house. We would get out of bed in the middle of the night to remove annoying crinkly fish from the midnight games. Annie would pull at the carpet under our doors trying to get into the bedrooms, or coax us out to play. It was during these years that Will met Annie and he was less than impressed with her kitten enthusiasm. However, Annie held the seniority trump card so they were going to have to figure it out.

Any door left open, Annie would venture inside. Once she got shut in our liquor cabinet and it took us quite a while to find her. She always meandered out like nothing happened.

It wasn’t long after that Annie and I moved in with Will. Unfortunately for Will, this brought on an explosion of allergies and we were doing all we could to try and make it easier on him. I first tried some simple yet ineffective anti-allergen pet wipes. We had a few attempts at bathing the poor cat which, surprisingly, she tolerated enough that no-one was hurt in the process. However, we all hated bath time so it didn’t last long. We settled on haircuts, which we did ourselves, turning our long hair domestic cat into a magical creature from a Dr. Seuss book.

Post haircut nap.

Both animals post haircut. Both cold. That’s why they are so close together.

If there was ever a cat that could be considered the life of the party it was Annie. Back in the day, Will and I frequently hosted our friends, and Annie was always happy to be part of it. Our friends liked to playfully tease Annie. You could often see Annie walking around after hours, wearing some kind of unique hat or covered in glow-sticks. A party guest once used her sweater to dress a bunch of bananas. It was all in good fun and Annie would faithfully show up for some cuddles from whomever was offering or happened to be passed out on her couch.

Annie was an oddly social cat, and didn’t appreciate independence the way some cats do. She was unimpressed when we would go away for the weekend. It didn’t matter which familiar face we would charge with her care, she was not happy with us. When she was younger she would defecate in our plants. As she got older she would make her resentment known through avoidance. She recognized when we were packing our bags and would try to escape through an open door. Though eventually she conceded that we weren’t going to let her escape and she would make her grievance known by going to one of her sun spots, avoiding us as we left the house. Will and I came to know call this place as ‘Annie’s protest spot.’

The Protest Spot

Annie loved being outside and became a fairly street savvy cat herself, and she loved to hunt. She would leave her catches on the front step like a child hanging their art on the fridge. This wasn’t our favourite habit, and Will would use a shovel to launch the late mouse into the trees, which Annie would promptly retrieve, and repeat. Once Annie brought a live bird into the house. I’m not sure why she thought this would be a good idea. She also once caught a baby rabbit. This was the worst. I was sitting in our living room when I heard muffled meows at the front door. I opened the door to let Annie inside, and she was carrying a thankfully still living baby rabbit. I hit my knees in tears. Annie dropped the bunny and swaggered into the house obviously proud of herself. I called Will bawling. ‘Annie caught a baby bunny!!!” “Is it still alive?” “YES AND I CAN’T CATCH IT!” As I tried to gather it and take it to safety, it hopped away. I like to think it survived and is now the rabbit that torments my garden.

Annie loved the summer heat. Even on the hottest days she would lay in the direct sun on the black shingles of the shed, or on the surprisingly hot steps of our deck. Hot summer nights were her favourite. It was always a chore to try and find her in mid-July before bed. She would ignore our calls, and if we found her she would bolt under the hedges or into the neighbour’s yard so she could spend the night on the prowl. I didn’t love the idea of her spending nights outside, but she did. In the morning she would be waiting by the door in anticipation, wide awake, hungry, and obviously excited about her overnight escapades. I would let her in and she would run straight to her food dish, then follow me around the house meowing. She was a VERY vocal cat. 

Annie loved the heat, but she HATED the cold. She understood ‘Annie do you want to go outside?,’ the same way a dog does. She would skip along to the door and wait impatiently for you to open it. But the first snowfall of the season, when you opened the door and the ground was white, she was pissed. She would let out an angry cry and turn away in protest. She eventually would cave and venture outside for warmer winter days, but was never thrilled about it.

Like a spoiled child, Annie was thoroughly unimpressed with the addition of her little puppy brother, Stewart.

Already not impressed.

She was six when we first brought Stewart home, and quickly established herself as dominant. That wasn’t too hard with Stewart as he’s pretty sensitive. We thought it was best to give Annie her own space for opportunities to take breaks from Stewart, so Annie was granted her first bedroom, also known as my office. We equipped the room with a small couch, litter box, food, water, and a bed by the register, then blocked it off with a baby-gate with a cat door so Stew couldn’t get in. This worked like a charm and Annie became very protective of this space. She would sit inside the gate and taunt Stew from inside. If the gate was open and I was inside, I would occasionally invite Stew in for a sit on the couch. Annie did NOT approve of this. She would swipe at Stew on his way in, and growl at him when he jumped on the couch. He was visibly uncomfortable in this room, just the way Annie liked it, and he preferred just to avoid it altogether. Stew and Annie did eventually sort out their relationship and even played together, but always on Annie’s terms. If she was feeling it, she would sprint by him in an attempt get Stew fired up (which always worked) and hide behind a door in the bathroom. Then, as if from memory, a little paw would stick under the bottom of the door enticing him to ‘grab it’. Paw out, paw in. Stew didn’t catch onto this game as well as Drake did, so often I would step in and play with her.

It didn’t take long before Annie tried to claim Stew’s crate.

Stew and Annie were always concerned about each other. If one was out of the house for an unacceptable amount of time, the other would go searching. When reunited they would share a little sniff to check in and see if the other was ok. They didn’t cuddle the way some pet siblings do. They didn’t like sharing a blanket, however, they would tolerate it for ‘The Good Blanket’. This is a particularly soft blanket I received as a Christmas gift some years ago, and I purposely allocated it to myself, putting it away every time I was done using it so no pets could lay on it at their will. It was my TV watching blanket. However, the forbidden fruit was much coveted, and as soon as it emerged, both animals miraculously appeared, jumping onto the couch and capitalizing on the opportunity to cuddle with The Good Blanket.  Annie curled in my arms and Stew curled in the crook of my legs. It is worth mentioning behind my knees was Annie’s original spot until Stew noticed the blanket combined with the shape of my legs made a very convenient bed. This spot was one of the few things Annie truly sacrificed for Stew. 

We thought it was funny how the animals would pick up on each other’s habits. Annie started greeting us at the door when we came home the same way Stew did. They both started following Will to the bathroom when he was home all the time during the pandemic. Annie also learned to come for treats when Stew was getting a reward. She was cute about it though, and would save the end of her treat for him to finish off. It became such a ritual that Stew would wait in anticipation a few feet away while she ate part of her treat, looked at him, then walked away allowing him to dive-bomb in for the finish.

Annie picked up on Stew’s technique of asking for the door.

Annie developed a uniquely entertaining relationship with Will. Young at heart himself, he loved to find little games to play with Annie. They developed a modified game of squash. Annie defending the stairs as her side of the court, and Will throwing her favourite crinkly ball, bouncing it off the wall toward her. She would stop it from going by and bat it back. Will also discovered Annie had a hilarious tick. There was a certain note on the harmonica that made her crazy, and like a switch, she would launch an attack on his leg. He of course tested this theory by standing in one place, playing the note, watching her come running and just before she swiped at him he would stop. She would just walk away casually as if nothing happened. Then he would move to a different spot and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. It was amusing to watch those two. With Will’s creative mind he discovered things about Annie I would have never thought to try. She loved to scratch her lips on the end of his electric toothbrush and the peak of his hat, and you could often seem him crouching down to allow her to do so. He developed this unusual way to pet her. It was sort of a two handed Vulcan neck pinch looking massage lengthwise along her spine. She loved it, and would eventually flop to the ground purring she was so happy. I never attempted this as I would undoubtedly do it wrong. Annie really valued attention from Will - somehow they even wrote a song together (featured at the end of this blog). She would only nap on one of the four identical dinning room chairs, and that chair was Will’s.

Cuddling with Will.

Annie’s favourite hangout spot when Will works from home, the register next to his office set up.

Sleeping in Will’s mandolin case.

As Annie grew older her body predictably started to fail. We lowered her world to the floor as she could no longer jump very high. She had a few minor injuries. Once she was limping around for a few days. I hated seeing her struggle and decided I would try and intervene. I picked her up, held her paw and tried some simple physiotherapy tricks on her little kitty wrist. Her whole body relaxed, and she let out a sound of satisfied relief. I think I was as surprised as she was when I put her down and she was walking better.  We were very lucky, despite a few minor booboos, Annie was a healthy cat.

Annie took a sudden decline the last two weeks of her life. She was sleeping more, even for a cat. She no longer asked for the door. She stopped playing stair squash with us. She was moving noticeably slower. The last few days she stopped eating and we took her into the vet. The news was bad, she had acute kidney failure with literally off the chart kidney numbers. Annie spent the next two days in emergency care trying to recover, but it made little difference to her kidney function. However, the IV fluids and pain meds allowed her enough stability to make it home for a short time. The next 36 hours were a gift we could not have predicted. We laid with her in her favourite spots. We sat outside in the sun and watched the birds. I slept with her on the couch.

Shortly after this photo was taken Annie had a seizure while we were lying there. I thought it was the end. She pulled through.

Her favourite neighbours were able to say their goodbyes.

This picture was taken by our neighbours of Annie hanging out with their cat, Sans-nom, outside their window.

Sometimes she was well enough to purr when she was cuddled, but she was fading fast. Getting her to eat was a challenge. She always loved a freshly opened can of wet food, eaten directly from the can, never off a plate. In the end I was opening a new can to encourage her to lick the top few morsels, then tossing the rest of the can in the trash only to open another a few hours later tying to get her to eat. Only once in these last few hours did she attempt to eat anything else. She heard Will giving Stew a treat and she hurried as well as she could to join. Will presented her favourite treat. She ate a tiny shaving, then walked away, leaving the rest for Stew one last time.

The morning of Annie’s last day with us.

She was so thin and so weak but persisted in climbing the stairs to her room to use the litter box. I tried putting other boxes on the main floor but she wouldn’t use them. We think her vision was gone. She was sticking her paw in the water dish to determine where the water level was at. Her eyes appeared clouded over, though her hearing remained acute. She listened to the direction of the birds. She acknowledged when you said her name. She knew you were talking to her. 

Despite her oddly social tendencies for a cat, I was Annie’s person. Annie made a point of getting up with me in the mornings, no matter the hour. As soon as she heard me, she would jump off of whatever surface she was sleeping on and come to greet me. She would follow me around and paw at my leg until I picked her up for a cuddle. We developed a morning meditation practice together. I would sit in my usual place in her room and she would jump onto my my lap and settle in for some quiet time until the timer signalled we were finished. She would then hop off and carry on with her day. Annie loved these periodic moments of calm including laying with me in the hammock. My friend once took a picture of her waiting for me outside the bathroom. “I just thought you would like to know she does this,” he said as he showed me the picture of her sitting and starring intently at the door. She was also not shy to let me know if she was frustrated or angry with me. I would pick her up and she would turn her head away, deliberately avoiding eye contact. It would take a bit of encouragement but once her point was made she would have a change of heart, curling into my arms for a cuddle. Annie had a lovely way of showing affection, tucking her head into your body, or stretching out a paw to touch your face. It was a show of affection so deliberately simple and clear - one I am grateful to have experienced and will forever miss. 

I still don’t quite understand how this song happened, but it remains one of my favourite Annie things. I never get tired of listening to it, though it now confuses the dog. This is Annie and Will’s song.

Special thanks to Dr. Ian Cameron and the staff at Westboro Animal Hospital for the excellent care. Your compassion during these last difficult days was invaluable to us, and we are extremely grateful you were the ones guiding us through.

Annie ~ August 27th, 2008 - April 5th, 2021

Physio In Your Pocket: Medial Elbow Pain

Pain to the inside of your elbow can limit your ability to golf, climb, lift weights, swing kettlebells, and many other competitive and recreational activities. Knowing exactly how to heal this type of injury is not intuitive as the pain is located at your elbow but most of the rehab exercises involve your wrist and forearm. 

Here I talk about medial elbow pain, or medial epicondylitis, and which exercises start your rehabilitation. 

These are early stage rehab exercises for medial elbow pain, and I recommend you gauge the number of sets/reps you complete on how painful/ sensitive your injury is. There is a wide range of tolerance levels for this injury, and not everyone will be able to start with the same number of sets/reps. 

As always, when you are trying to build strength by adding load to an injury, start with a weight and rep scheme you know you can handle and slowly build from there. 

Physio In Your Pocket: TENS and NMES units

This week on Physio In Your Pocket, I talk about home electrical stimulation units, specifically TENS and NMES units.

Check out this video to learn which one is right for your injury.

Physio In Your Pocket: Home Office Stretches

Do you work at your desk, sometimes for hours, without moving? This is amount of sitting is not only detrimental to your body, it’s harmful to your health.

It’s simple to counter these negative effects with a few easy stretches. I recommend getting up from your desk hourly and completing one or two quick stretches to take your body out of the position it it is repeatedly subjected to while seated. Home offices are particularly conducive to this routine as you often have both the space and the attire to move easily. This week on Physio In Your Pocket I demonstrate some of my favotire home office stretches to complete throughout your work day.

Physio In Your Pocket: Home Office Ergonomics

I am starting to see a lot of injuries from sub-optimal home office set-ups. If you have been working from a random corner of your house over the last few weeks, chances are you are one of them.

I bet you are realizing how important office ergonomics really are :)

The good news is there are some easy changes you can make to adapt your home set up to your body. Check them out in this video. 

Video Blog: New Zealand Trip 2012

This was my first big international travel experience. I was very excited. I filmed everything. We did a little montage of the first half. This is our experience, fun, funny, and adventurous.

Physio In Your Pocket: Deadlift technique

There are several ways to injury yourself deadlifting, most of which can be avoided with proper form. In this video I have a guest, coach Shane Miller, explain proper deadlifting technique.

Shane is the owner of CrossFit 819. If you have any further questions you can reach him on Facebook or through the CrossFit 819 website.

Physio In Your Pocket: Proximal hamstring pain deadlifting

Your hamstrings are the massive group of muscles that make up the back of your thighs. They are also a major contributor to your deadlift strength. The type of deadlift you choose will dictate how much contribution your hamstrings should have to the movement. For example, a straight leg deadlift biases the hamstrings more than a regular deadlift. However with any type of deadlift, it is fairly easy to overload the hamstrings and cause an injury. Often this pain happens at the proximal hamstring tendon where it attaches to your ischial tuberosity (those little bones you sit on). If you are experiencing pain either from or during deadlifts, high up the back of your thigh near where your thigh meets your butt, this video is for you.

In the next video I will have a guest, coach Shayne Miller, discuss deadlift technique to help you fix your deadlift problems.

Physio In Your Pocket: Back Pain Deadlifting

Deadlifts are a commonly avoided exercise, but they shouldn’t be. They are an important part of your baseline fitness, and I recommend all my athletes do them, especially if strength is not a major component of their sport (think runner or yogi vs. CrossFit athletes). However, as with all injuries, if not done with good technique or proper attention to the number of reps and how much weight you are using, you will get injured. This is especially common with deadlifts because you should be able to lift the most amount of weight possible in this position. How do you think cars get lifted off people in heroic feats of strength and adrenaline? It’s a deadlift, albeit an insanely impressive one! Since this is your strongest lift, it’s not usually long until you realize how fun it is to lift heavy things. Once that realization kicks in, it can be tempting to sacrifice good form for lifting volume. Without these considerations, the most common injury you will sustain is a back injury. There are several back tissues and structures you can injure deadlifting, and unfortunately, they are all rehabilitated somewhat differently.

In this video, I explain how to properly deload your back after a deadlift injury.

Disclaimer: This does not cover ALL the considerations of things you can injury with deadlifts. In particular you should be wary of nerve injuries. If you have any: numbness, tingling, pins or needles, loss of sensation in you leg or foot, leg pain (especially if it is both sides), groin pain, or changes in your bowel, bladder, or sexual function, these are serious consideration and you need to consult a local health care practitioner.

For the rest of you, this will help you decide what to do during the deload phase after a deadlift injury.