Labour Day has come and gone. The days are getting shorter. The air is getting cooler. The end of summer is finally upon us. Can I get an “Amen”?
For most, at the first sign of summer’s end, around the world you can hear a hear a resounding ,”no,no, no…say it ain’t so”. Not this girl! I couldn’t be happier to see the back end of this summer that never was.
To be honest I almost wish I was young so I could go back to school. The first assignment of the semester would be “How I Spent My Summer Vacation“.
My summer started out with the spider bite that wouldn’t quit. I’ve already told the tale here (Bite Me) so I will just remind you with this.
I know. Gross!
By the time our 1st of July, Canada Day long weekend rolled around, I was able to use my hand well enough to shift gears in my car again. I decided to head home to Niagara Falls to have some fun. Long weekends are not fun on the highways in Southern Ontario. A drive that normally would take two hours can turn into four, six or even an eight hour drive.

I would like to say this was Holiday traffic but the reality is this is pretty much every day on the 401.
The truth of the matter is that any journey that uses the Ontario 400 series of Highways is… well…hell! At the best of times you are in for a situation that is much more like a parking lot than a highway. Having conquered the 401 West and maneuvered my way through most of the 403 all I saw were break lights and more cars stopped as I approached the QEW to Niagara route, which I consider my halfway point. As I often do, I got off the highway looking for an alternative way to reach the QEW. Dundas Street across the top of Oakville was clear sailing all the way. Do not ask me why but there were few cars on the road. All I can say is thank God! As I approached the stop lights at Dundas and Neyagawa Boulevard they turned yellow and I hit the brakes. Except…there were no brakes. My foot went right to the floor and my car went right through a red light. As I approached the next set of lights they were green and I was in the left lane. Somehow I had to get off this road. I made a left hand turn in front of cars approaching the intersection with my heart pumping and horns blaring in my ears. I was able to gear down and use my hand brake to come to a full stop. May I just say, “That was one of the scariest things that has ever happened in my life!”. I was stranded half-way between here and there on a long weekend. CAA came to the rescue. I was towed back to Pickering to a garage someone recommended. The good news was that no one died. The bad news was that the brake lines did and the cost of fixing them was more than the car was worth. Yes, that’s right folks. The girl who spends most of her spare time driving to Niagara Falls on both sides of the border no longer has a vehicle.
It was time to practice my big sad eyes with He-Who now every time he wasn’t using his car so I could still cruise. For the record, my big sad eyes have never worked on He-Who, I don’t know why I thought they would now. It seemed there would be a lot of walking in my future.
Near the end of July I was happily starting training on a job I would be doing for a few weeks while someone was on vacation in Ireland. The location of the job had their parking lot under construction so you had to park on the street and walk in. I drove in with the woman training me and we both walked from her vehicle . And then this happened…
I don’t remember a lot. Walking. Something catching my foot. S-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n as I try to right myself a few times and then being surrounded by a lot of people. As I lay on the ground trying to figure out what happened I could see the bent pole sticking out that had interrupted my stroll into work. I was carrying files in my right hand and a camera bag over my shoulder so I wasn’t able to put my hands out to break my fall and I landed flat on the right side of my face. A three-point face-plant, if you will. There have been x-rays and CT scans, Doctors and hospitals since then. Broken glasses, chipped teeth, nerve trauma to my face and a pretty severe concussion. Most have been fixed or healed or at least they will in time I’m told, with the exception of the head injury. My memory is toying with me right now. Concentration is difficult. Words are not my friend when I am talking, reading or writing. This post has taken me a little over a month to sort out. I’ve been having a really hard time keeping up with the blogs I follow. I have started commenting again and hopefully there aren’t too many mistakes. He-Who has had to write some for me so I don’t miss a deadline. Fortunately, he is a better writer than I will ever be so that works. He will also look at this and edit it so I don’t embarrass myself too much with grammar, spelling or thought process.
It’s October now and everything seems so alive with colour. We went for a wonderful drive yesterday and I took some pictures. A sure sign that summer is over and I for one am glad of it.
Holy crap!
I’m glad you’ve healed enough to at least go out and enjoy the beginning of autumn.
Hope your improvement comes both speedily and completely!
Thanks El Guapo. It is my favourite season and by next week it will be blindingly beautiful.
I was given a bubble wrap suit when I retired. May I ship it to you?
That’s hysterical! I think my family has actually been looking into finding me one. Maybe you could share your tailor’s name.
I’m so glad to see you back and happy to know that you’re at least coming to the end of it all.
Wowsa.
“Happy Fall” would be just plain mean, so Happy Autumn!
“Happy Fall” does seem more appropriate but I’ll stick with the Autumn for now. Thanks for that.
What a shitty summer! May your autumn (I was hesitant to use the word “fall”) be safe and uneventful. And may the only thing on your body that swells in the near future be your heart.
Welcome back!
Thanks, Elyse. I will try to keep the swelling down to a minimum.
Oh, Michelle! I so feel for you. What a shitty summer, indeed. You have been through the ringer all right. Fall will be better, fall will be beautiful. You’re due for some good karma, a happier time. Hang in there. It’s good to see you back here. Take it slow, as slow as you need. Your good health and mental state is the most important thing! xox
Thank you, Amy. Fall is feeling very productive for me. At least that’s what I am going with 😉 . I will just be happy when I stop referring to people as “the boy” or “the girl” because their identity has run away on me.
Bloody Hell you have been in the wars! Speedy recovery Michelle
Thanks, Jim.
It actually was quite “bloody” for awhile.
Holy Crap! I can’t help but think of the woman who was training you…I’ll assume you will forever be a story told during training sessions. Be well, be careful and enjoy all Autumn has to offer…looks like you’re off to a good start those photos are stunning.
It has been quite a ride. Yes, they are still talking about it there. At one point they were asking for “the picture of the day” to see the different colours my face was changing. It was almost as colourful as those Autumn photos. You can’t beat Mom Nature, though.
I hope you’re healing quickly! On a positive note…your photos are beautiful!
Well let’s face it they are no “Sherry Lachelle Photography”, but I really enjoyed taking them.
Thanks, Sherry.
Michelle, I join the others in hoping you’re healing well, and I hope the rest of the year improves for you. As for the car, it’s hard to know what to wish for, isn’t it? My wife and I spent most of our anniversary in 2002 sitting in traffic between Ottawa and Niagara falls. It was one of the hottest days of the summer and the air conditioner in our car had stopped working that morning. I couldn’t imagine spending so much time, every day, just trying to get somewhere.
For what it’s worth, I think you and He-Who are both excellent writers.
Charles, my ex-car hasn’t had the air working for years. I actually cut my hair really short because I had to drive with all 4 windows down all the time just to not cook in the summer.
Thank you for the compliment. Both He-Who and I had some fun making up stories about what had happened. People were looking at him funny whenever he was with me. You could see it in their eyes that they thought he had been beating me or something. He was really uncomfortable until we started playing the story game.
Well you certainly seem to influenced by Hollywood action movies & television. They have a constructed reality, when we imitate them it turns into a deconstructed reality. I hope you are doing better, and suggest to take more great colourful fall pictures. Try to avoid ending up with colourful pictures after a fall. Just don’t fall, crash or encounter anymore monster creatures. Take care & stay well. Your comments & support of my blog are always much appreciated. 🙂
Perhaps that’s it…I watch too much TV. He-Who threatened me with an intervention the other day. I’m not going to tell him you concur.
Thanks for having a look at the pics. Our colours are playing catchup with yours.
Ouch x 3. Should only be good stuff for a while now!
Thanks, Bruce. I hope your are right.
Michelle, Michelle, Michelle, If it wasn’t for Bad Luck you wouldn’t have any luck at all. Both Ruth and I send our condolences . Things have to get better after all of this! I know what a wonderful caring person you are and you deserve better. God is looking down on you and things will improve. With Love, Cousin Ray.😄
You would be surprised how many times I have heard that “luck” thing. Then again, maybe you wouldn’t.
Thanks to you and Ruth for thinking about me. I hope you are both well and having some fun.
Oh no, that’s awful!! I’m so sorry you fell. How are you healing these days? I’m relieved you’re safe too. Those are mighty beautiful pictures btw. I hope Fall is much kinder to you.
Thanks, JG. The colours are just getting better every day. You would love them and I am sure you would be getting some great photos of them if you were here.
Yes, I would! You have read my mind. I was out taking pictures of just that thing for my “saturate” photo challenge. 😀
Gads, Michelle.. only you!! I’m so sorry to hear about this (oh yes, I’m sure I’m far more sorry to hear about it than you are to experience it!!). How are you doing now? Is there improvement? I will cross my fingers for that and for an UNEVENTFUL (!!!!) future… sigh… hopeless, I think, considering who I’m talking about… ;0
I do hope you’re okay or at least recovering at a reasonable pace, and particularly hope that He-Who isn’t planning some foul dead-of-night deed to put you out of your misery… OMG That’s SUCH A SICK JOKE, and so me.
What did you think of the Dexter ending? I was a little let down.
TAKE CARE! L
I have been dying (not literally) to talk to you about the ending. If I am correct you didn’t see it when it aired, as you were galavanting around Italy, and watched it after your return. You missed all the “I’m A Lumberjack and That’s OK” renditions. It was very sad to see how easy it was to mock such a brilliant show. I would have be OK with them just showing Hanna and Harrison walking away and leaving it at that. It was a shame to go out that way.
You’ve been through the wringer, haven’t you, Michelle?
I hope the coming months are kinder to you, my lovely friend.
By the way, I’m overjoyed you emerged relatively unscathed!
That was quite a summer. I gave this post a “like” in sympathy with you. Did you have a busy time these months! I am so sorry to read about all the misery that fell down upon you. Hopefully things are getting and feeling better now. On a different note, those fall pictures are gorgeous – may the rest of the year be as delightful as these images!
I have a real problem stopping taking pictures in the fall. Everywhere you look everything is so beautiful and colourful. It’s hard to make choices. It is just starting and I have hundreds of pics already.
Thanks for the good wishes, Otto. Things seem to be sorting out. Slowly. But they are sorting out.
Oh, Michelle – I agree, roll on the next season and leave the summer from hell behind (especially when one is an Autumn girl!). I’m appalled at your injuries, but more appalled that I’ve been so inattentive I haven’t visited before now and seen what’s been happening in your world. Keep smiling dear and enjoy the gorgeous russet season … and take lots more pictures and get better soon. 🙂
There really wasn’t anything to see as I wasn’t writing. For a long time I wasn’t commenting either as the words were really scrambled in my head. People started sending me Facebook, twitter notes, email etc. to see what was up so I thought I would explain.
I’ve already taken a lot more photos. Now what to do with them? 😉
I feel kind of badly ‘liking’ this post… because… OUCH! I mean… that’s really kind of… BRUTAL! You had me feeling bad at the spider bite thing… YIKES! Strange to say, but some of the nicest people seem to be almost accident prone. My wife is the same way. She just randomly tips over sometimes. I saw he fall over on a couch once… apparently that can happen. Anyway, the point is I hope you are feeling much better now and that the change in weather brings you a change in luck as well! 🙂
Please don’t tell He-Who about your wife. He already suspects I am a random tipper overer. I told him that that isn’t possible because I am built like a Weeble. They wobble but they don’t fall down.
Just sing that old song of united freedom, ” Weeble Shall Overcome” . 🙂
Love your photos. Hate that you had such a bad summer. It is my favorite season, but autumn is also nice. Happy to hear someone felt let with Dexter.
Thank you. I am usually a fan of summer. This one was different. 😉
Wow Michelle… spider bites, that car incident – which was very scary and I was positive reading this that that would be the cause of the head injury, and then that fall. I hope the impending scan says everything is all right. Must be disquieting to have forgotten things from before the tumble.
Unfortunately, I continue to forget things. I have some trouble with words and numbers. People have gotten use to filling in the blanks or figuring out what I am trying to say when I am talking to them. There has been nerve damage to my face as well which at times can put me into bed with pain but things seem to be getting better. Just not very fast.
My best wishes, Michelle. Honestly and sincerely.
Thanks, Trent. Much appreciated.
Well, I finished my post and my “editor” vetoed it. I’m trying to write another one now.
What??? Who’s your editor?
My husband.
The one who watched you take a beating by that wave? I think he has to let you post, come on!
Hahahaha…yeah, that’s the one. It isn’t a matter of “let”. He’s really very good at letting me take liberties with poking fun at him. Apparently, I crossed a line with this one. We’ll calm down and work it out. No worries.