My last weekend in Two Harbors

This past weekend was unfortunately my last in Two Harbors. I really wish I had more time to do things in this area! On Friday, I met up with a PTA from the clinic at her church and helped her paint the backdrop for the Christmas pageant. We ordered pizza and hung out--which was really nice. I met her friend Liz and we had a good low key night. It snowed Friday night (about a few inches) and it was beautiful! Since not too much accumulated, the roads were cleared fairly soon. On Saturday I checked out a craft fair in Two Harbors. I hear that you can usually find a craft fair in this area every weekend from Thanksgiving to Christmas. People are very talented, and if I had more money, I would have spent it. Then it was on to Duluth for me. I met up with my friend Rachel from class for lunch down in Canal Park. We checked out Amazing Grace, which is a cafe/bakery that my first CI recommended. It was really good--and for the record, their sandwiches are huge! Since we were down by the lift bridge, I meandered down there and then checked out some of the stores in Canal Park. During the summer, the area is pretty busy. Some of the stores are rather touristy, and some are more fun and functional. Duluth Pack is an REI-type outdoors store that has some really neat stuff. I then drove up the hill to Enger Park, home of Enger Tower. Enger Tower has a great view of the port and the city, but it was closed for the season. I just got to peer over the scenic overlook, which is not as dramatic. It was nice though. I wish I had gone earlier in my stay here so I could have checked out the view from the tower. I probably would not have had a Statue of Liberty-esque line either.

Sunday was another good day. I was sad that it was my last Sunday at the church I have been attending because everyone is so welcoming and apparently glad to see me. That afternoon, the pastor and some others had a Christmas concert at the local assissted living/nursing home. It was called "The Three Pastors" kind of like "The Three Tenors." So obviously three pastors participated, and then they were joined by various members of their congregations on various instruments. There were some solos, duets, and trios. I really enjoyed it. About a half hour before the concert started, snow began to fall. The concert was in the big open lobby of the assissted living home, and they have a three-sided balcony and a wide staircase. The balcony has lounge chairs, and other chairs were set up as well. The balcony also has several large windows, so I really liked watching the snow while listening to Christmas music. Some of the residents were pretty funny too. I could hear them "whispering" to their hard of hearing neighbors... "Oh, he plays the guitar!" "He's singing in French!" "What is that red box for?" The residents lined up along the balcony railing had quite an impressive collection of rollators/Cadillac walkers (like Grandma Moore had). They seemed to enjoy the concert. And if that wasn't enough Christmas for me, I went straight over to the Baptist church for the Christmas pageant that featured a wonderfully painted backdrop. The play was really good. The kids were really cute and really into singing some of the songs. There are always a few shouters, and this play did not disappoint in that area. The play was called "Hotel Bethlehem" so several travelers arrive and fill up the rooms before Joseph and Mary can come. Then the baby is born and shepherds arrive... and the shephers were two teenage boys and two adults--one of whom is the pastor. They wore sunglasses danced on stage during their song! They did the Night at the Roxbury head nod, some air guitar, and some other moves. The congregation obviously loved it, as did the kids. I wish I could remember some of the other funny events and other funny things that kids did and said. Overall, it was really enjoyable. The cookies and bars afterwards didn't hurt either. :)

I had two evals today in the clinic, and they both went pretty well. I didn't do much with the second. The man has some severe cognitive deficits, and he had a painful fall onto his hip. His caregivers said they had never seen him cry before, and his gait completely changed after the incident. He also resisted doing stairs. Because he was agitated and nervous with the new situation in PT, we thought it would be best for my CI to take the lead so he would have fewer people to deal with. After the interview with him and his caregiver, Sara did a muscle energy technique with his sacroiliac joint (using the strength of the patient to make minor changes in bony alignment) and he improved! His walking went back to his normal. It was kind of neat to see, and to experience how to perform an eval on a cognitively impaired adult that cannot communicate verbally.

My other exciting event today was ice skating! While treating a patient (high school cross country skiier), I mentioned that I had ice skates in my trunk and that I was hoping to do that before I left northern MN. When I was charting at the end of the day, he stopped by the office after practice to let me know that the final open skate at the arena before December 21 was tonight from 6:45-7:45. I was so excited that he stopped by, because I probably would not have checked in enough time to go tonight. So I skated and had a great time. I did fall once when I ran into an elementary school aged boy (who stayed on his feet), and he was very apologetic and helped me get back on my feet. I told him it was more my fault than his. I felt a little dumb, but it was pretty obvious that I was not skating near as well as the other people at the rink. Anyway, I have probably babbled enough for this entry. Hopefully it will help make up for all the days I didn't update...