Ruth's Commentary.

I was at the Therapists office, yesterday, and happened to glance at their newsletter while I was waiting for my appointment to start. 

One of the therapists had this to say about this poem: .......is written by a woman during an early phase of her struggle with Alzheimer's. For me, it described her process as her memory and physical abilities were fading." 

I actually read the poem before I read the reason why it was posted and it just spoke to me of aging, really, as there were so many correlations between the two things. (Perhaps Alzheimer's is merely an accelerated type of aging...or perhaps, it is merely the brain aging, before the body, instead of "in-sync"?) It just really spoke to me.....and so.......I am republishing it here.

I find it takes too much hurry

An scurry to keep pace

With most of what is called

The HUMAN RACE.

And I'm eyeing the sidelines now

For some sit-down space.

Here-to-fore, competition

Really stirred my ambition and blood

(Which is now all glopped up with usage

And sluggish as mud.)

Also, the other juices that used

To keep this carcass well-oiled

And in running condition

Have long since dried up-so that 

What I used to get done in 1/2 day

Takes a week-

With strung-out muscles

And bones that creak.

Too, my mind forgets to remember and

My tongue can't find the right name

Or word, to my great shame.

From now on, it's the sidelines for me.

I'll gaze at birds and trees

And runners running

While I sit by

Reading and sunning.

Or saunter away for the view from a hill

Or have a chat with a friend

Who remembers me still

Or hold hands with Bill.

Or snuggle a grandchild

Warm and soft on my breast

Let the world race by

I've found what's best.

I fell madly in love with the way in which this poem reflects not only an awareness of limitations, but an embracing of them. It is truly Buddhist in it's simplicity and acceptance of the natural (or not so natural) process of aging. I don't know who this woman is/was, but it is my intention to honor her by publishing this so that everyone may try and attain the same easing into the aging process. 

May I be as blessed. Mona.

Rich's Run-In with a Groundhog.

I know I wasn't going to post for awhile, but the strangest thing happened when we returned from picking up a chair for my daughter. I had gone in to get the camera, so I could take a photo and send it.

When I came out, Rich said there were two groundhogs fighting in the middle of the road. I guess so..............by the time I got up there, they'd moved the fight to the side of the road. The one that was winning the fight ran off when we got close, and by that time, Rich had gone to get a giant stick. I told him to keep it away while I went to get a towel and a box, as the littler one was pretty stunned. He told me when I got back, that the big one had actually charged him, which I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of. Sounds kinda' funny. I told him he should feel sorta' blessed, as how many people get to get "charged", and hissed at, by a wild critter, in their lives............:)

Anyway, he fended it off, and I got a banana box and a towel. We managed to pick up the littler one wrapped in a towel, and I put it in a box, and put it in the shed, to recover from it's obvious shock.

As you can see, it's got quite a nasty scrape on it's right rear quarter and looks pretty darn beat up. I also saw a tooth mark on it's back, right by it's spine, which made me think it might have a broken back. Hoping it's just shock. It did have it's eyes open and it's head, up, so it was alert enough.

I covered it with the towel and by the time we'd gotten back from Crown Point; it had gotten out of the box, and was sitting on top of another box, staring at the door. We left the door open, and I came in to make some cocoa. By the time I got back outside, it'd gone, so I am assuming it just had injuries and not anything too life threatening, as it wasn't crawling around the yard, or anything. There's tons of dens out there, and as much as I hate the little beasts when they get in the garden, I still hate to see anything suffer, needlessly, so here's hoping that the little bugger made it. (There was some blood in the box, so it's got at least one nasty....but I figure that even if it just crawled off to it's den, to die, at least it got that option.)

Geez, there's just never a dull moment around this place............signing out from The House of Found Goods. :)

re: Random Notes

These are going to be all over the place, as things have been somewhat hectic lately. I apologize in advance. :)

Well, yea, so, I did a month-long liquid cleanse, (using vegetable broths w/miso, nut milks, and essiac solution); lost 30 pounds and got my alkaline levels up to 8.5, which, if you study these things, means you know that's about as high as we test for (on dip-sticks).

I felt pretty good, but of course, got a UTI, as the UT needs to be very acid, in order to fight germs off. The good news is that I was also able to do some serious healing and my neurogenic bladder appears to be heading in the right direction.

I came off the fast, for mardi-gras, (because I really wanted to try King-Cake, which I'd never had), but I now regret it, as I realized I am pretty much a compulsive eater. I love food and use it as a recreational drug. Since I also realized that I have absolutely no control over this with my perpetual sweet tooth; I am much better off staying on liquids for the immediate future, since I can really only work on one major health problem at a time. My goal is to get my bladder back to full function, and the digestion is just going to have to take a back-seat, for now.

I did end up going back to the ER for the UTI, along with some other acute issues I was having, but I think this may have been a healing crisis, as afterwards, for a short-time, I was really doing well.

I had found a site called help for IBS, and was following the diet-guidelines and it was good. Of course, the diet reminds me of a baby-food diet, so I can take it or leave it, and that's really helpful incentive to go back on liquids.

I don't think I did it a moment too soon, as my Pudenda Neuropathy like issue has re-announced itself, slowly, but surely. I went back on the amitryptaline, pyridine and tramadol, yesterday, but I am hoping that the amitryptaline and pyridine (along with some ibuprophen) will be enough to manage this latest acute issue, once my alkaline levels come back (hopefully, in a few days time).

Luckily, there wasn't much in my stomach, when I started taking these guys, as I can already feel their effects on my intestines. I also wanted to note here, that any kind of acid on my UT is bothersome, seems like. I was drinking Kukicha tea (which has only the most nominal level of caffeine in it (7 mg per cup); but even that little bit, seems like too much acid irritation. Of course, I had also started taking cranberry powder, and Vitamin C, which are also acid producing, so I am pondering dropping the cranberry, for now, even at risk of getting another UTI.

While I was feeling good; I filed an appeal for disability and consulted an attorney. Seems as if the guy was much too passive, as he didn't mention that while I may not have a malpractice case, I could perhaps, sue for compensatory damages, regardless. He also said that he didn't think I'd win even a disability case because I was too bubbly (my words, not his). BAH. I feel that Rich and I should have been much more aggressive, all along the way, and now I need to find an attorney who will be aggressive in pressing my case. Who knows how many attempts this will take? It's a bit frustrating, to say the least.

 I did take his advice to heart in that I really need to find a medical psychiatrist that can speak to the fact that I no longer work, even for myself, partly because of my medical issues, and partly because the liquid fasting is causing a lot of PTSD to re-surface. So, I was lucky enough to find that resource and will be meeting with them in a week or two.

The rest of the month is a daily venture to one doctor's office, or another, and since I don't have any recipe development going on, at present, then this will probably be my last blog, until the first of April, when I will once again try and get my home-bakery license finalized.

Stay tuned, and may you all walk with the Goddess in the interim. Rara Avis signing off from The House of Found Goods.