Trick or Treat

Getting the Lead Out

Finally, Dr. Eric Heiden removed the bullet from my knee yesterday. Actually, he did two separate procedures. First he did arthroscopic surgery inside the knee, where he poked two holes, one for a camera and one for his tools. He found both menisci were torn (also called torn cartilage). I think this is left over from when I tore it in high school playing soccer. He took nine pictures inside the knee. They don't make much sense to me, but I think this one shows a tear.


Then he took a couple x-rays to figure out where the bullet was, inserted a surgical needle to find it for sure, and cut about a two-inch slit and pulled it out.


This is what an unfired bullet looks like.



















This is what a bullet looks like after it's been stuck in a knee for almost four months. Even though three doctors told me I should leave it in the knee, you can see the flat part, where I'm pretty sure a tendon was rubbing. You can't see them well in the picture, but there are striations on the flat surface that I think were caused by the tendon. Thus the sharp pain I exprienced from time to time, like whenever I walked.





The two smalls holes on the front of my knee were for the arthroscopy. The small hole on the side is where I think the doctor inserted a surgical needle to locate the bullet. The slit down the side is where he extracted the bullet.

Last Camp This Year

I decided that I wanted to go camping one last time this year--now that I think about it, the only time this year. I thought about inviting Jared, Jackson, and Tanner and thought we could take the trailer. It turns out they had too many things going on this weekend, but I decided the trailer was a good idea anyway. So I headed up to Mirror lake way on Friday night. The only other people up there were a handful of deer hunters, and they were looking pretty bored.


I have one suggestion for the forest service. Since the Mirror Lake campground has been closed since Labor Day, I went on to campgrounds I don't know so well. At the Hayden Fork Campground, don't you think they could put this sign before the last chance to turn around, like before the road splits? I found that backing the trailer down a hill and around an S-curve in the black of night is not easy.

The nights are getting pretty cold. I left water in a bowl to flush the toilet--the trailer has never been dewinterized from last year, so I had no running water--and it turned to slush by morning. Most of the streams had ice, and many of the beaver ponds were capped with a thin ice sheet.


I don't know whether you can see it in this video, but the running water is completely sealed under ice.


I fished for a while on Mirror Lake, but you should know that the fish are all safe and growing bigger for next year. A man and his young boys started fishing close by. One of them said, "I got one." A little while later he yelled, "I got another one; that's two in 30 minutes." I had quit fishing and was finishing reading a biography of Benjamin Franklin at this point. But when he caught the second fish, I started casting lures again. A few minutes later he hollered for the whole lake to hear that he got another one. Then the brother said, "Was it just seaweed again?" He said, "Yeah, I guess, and the fish got away." So I don't think he actually caught any, and neither did the other two groups of people I saw fishing.

The beavers have been busy (get it?) getting ready for winter.










I hoped to get a picture of a beaver chewing on a tree--I waited quietly for about two hours--but I guess Saturday was grass-gathering day.







I saw this river with the low sunlight reflecting on the rocks and wanted to get a picture. From the road I just had to go down a short hill and across a small meadow...

















I didn't realize the meadow was squishy full of beaver ponds and all their connecting rivulets of water. I ended up balancing around the narrow mostly frozen edge of a beaver pond, worried that I would fall in the water on the right or down the embankment and into water on the left. After I took the picture, of course I had to go back the same way.











I like aspens at sunset. And they turn so white in autumn.



















The day was so nice that I called Chieko from the pay phone at the ranger station and told her I'd be staying until Sunday morning.

I found a forgotten log where the forest service had cut down some pine beetle-infested trees and chopped it up for a camp fire. I also borrowed a bigger log from a non-campground camp spot, since I had neglected to bring a chair.


I wanted to get a picture of me sitting by my raging campfire (I did get quite a nice fire going), but this was the last picture before my camera battery died. (And don't believe the guy at Abe's of Maine when he sells you a non-Nikon battery and tells you it's just as good. It is a worthless backup.)

My Favorite Time of Year

Fall is my favorite season. I love the crisp air and changing leaves and the smells all this brings. My favorite place to go in the fall is the mountains. The Uintas in particular.


I spent most of Saturday, the first day of the deer hunt, hiking and driving along the Mirror Lake Highway. I saw a lot of hunters but heard only one shot all day. Near Christmas Meadows was a family of deer grazing peacefully. I parked very close and they didn't seem to mind.






I met a family of pine cones enjoying a post-picnic siesta in the sunshine.












All the forest creatures were in quite a pleasant mood that day.
























Mr. Beaver got a little spooked when he tried to take a bite out of Miss Aspen and her two brothers showed up. So Mr. Beaver headed home for the night.


















And a fine night it was.

Where In the World Is Michael

My work week, at least the evening part.

Looking west from Yerba Buena Island

Looking north from Yerba Buena

Moonrise

Oakland Bay Bridge is on the left.

Golden Gate Bridge

From the north side

Megan's Not-a-Homecoming

Megan gave a wonderful missionary report today, and her friend sang a beautiful hymn.















Then we went to Paul and Cindy's house for dinner.














The butler.



















Serving chocolate pretzels and almonds.



















These are MY trains. Do not touch or play.













Nice haircut.




Marcus's Peanuts performance.
















All in all, this was a very nice day.

I didn't take a lot of pictures--Nancy probably has better ones--but what I have are posted in my gallery. Click on the "Get password from Michael" link to the right under "Pictures to Download." If you've lost the user name and password, email me for them.

Summer to Winter in Utah

Autumn in Utah doesn't really exist. We jump right from summer to winter, as these roses can attest. 

Conference Sunday

After dinner and conference we held the first and last annual back deck long jump contest.

Addy led off. Actually, she was doing just fine, running to jump, when her mother caught her. She might have won if not for the interference.

Maddison made a very good showing.

I think Marcus started the whole contest.

Paul's strategy was to grab the clothesline and swing out for a win, but, alas, there was no clothesline.

Mick was the most determined, making several impressive jumps, including a pirouette of sorts.

Very few people can beat Spencer at a competition, and today was no exception.

Tanner wasn't even there, but I think he has the best way to end the day.