Welcome to Allergy-Ville

Some people get allergies...and I'm part of that group. My first allergy was to chocolate--and happily I outgrew that one by the end of my teens. It was NOT fun being the only kid on the block who could not eat chocolate. I remember going to birthday parties where everybody got all 3 flavors of Neapolitan Ice Cream but I only got Strawberry and Vanilla. I remember getting lots of Peeps for Easter as it was the only candy that did not have chocolate on it.

In my 20s we moved to one of the allergy capitals of the world...the Central Valley in Northern California.  Springtime there is a nightmare for allergic folks as the blooms spread their pollen everywhere. One spring I coughed so hard I broke a rib! I was teaching elementary school and my kids tried to best each other bringing me the colorful boxes of Kleenex. I went thru about a box a day as the allergy morphed to a very runny nose alongside the  cough. My young students thought it was funny I had a backpack that I wore on my belly filled with tissues. 

In those days, we would load our little motorhome up on Thursday night and when I got home from school on Friday, we would head out of town where I could get some rest and relaxation in a non-allergic place 160 miles to the east. We even brought our laundry with us and we did it at the campground. It was not a vacation--it was absolutely necessary to get away from the bloom. We would come back on Sunday night and the allergy would start up on Wednesday. The get-away gave me 3 days of relief before the persistent cough and running nose returned.

Finally, my good doctor advised allergy shots which I took 2x a week for over a dozen years. The persistent spring cough and runny nose disappeared. The shots "worked" and while I no longer dreaded spring, I was careful. Somehow I knew the allergies could reappear. 

Fast forward to now--and my reaction to springtime allergies has morphed again. I live in 2 locations that get spring at different times of the year. Spring in the desert is early while spring in the mountains is late. Now I get vertigo--two times a year. I thought coughing so much to break a rib was bad--try walking around dizzy all the time? It might be worse. When I have vertigo, everything is miserable. 

This year springtime in the desert was not too bad. I had a couple of days where vertigo "started" but a squirt or two of Flonase solved the problem. No big deal! Move on. Now it's springtime in the Rocky Mountains and the flowers are having a grand time blooming their heads off...and a squirt or two of Flonase is not even touching the vertigo. Have you ever tried walking, without moving your head? All I could do for nine horrible days was sit in a chair, in a darkened room and look forward. Eating was difficult. Getting out of the chair involved a series of motions a contortionist would have loved. I did not want to jar my head and start the spinning again. Writing in my blog was impossible. Moving my fingers on the keyboard made me dizzy. Dizziness is not any fun. I increased Flonase to a dozen or more squirts, quadrupled antihistamines, put hot compresses on my head, took seasick medicine...and none of it stopped the world from spinning out of control. I could stand to do some coughing right about now. It's far easier to deal with a broken rib than a spinning world!

Finally, after nine pretty bad days I dragged myself to Urgent Care. Driving there was a real test of courage. Nineteen miles and I could not turn my head. I did not go speed limit and the other DrC acted as eyes for corners and turns. I made it to UC and saw a doc. He heard my history and sympathized and said "I need to give you a big gun to stop that vertigo" and he did. Forty milligrams of Prednisone is a "Big Gun" medicine. I've never taken 40 mg of Prednisone EVER. But that's what he said to do. I start with 40 mg for five days, then 20 mg for five days and finally 10 mg for five days. Fifteen days is a major dose of Prednisone. 

It took 11 hours for the Prednisone to start working its magic. The world stopped spinning. At first I did not know what was wrong. Nothing was turning around? I was not dizzy. I felt like my head had been gone through a pummeling. It felt bruised and a little achy but it was not spinning like a top and the scenery was standing still. It was the most amazing feeling. I was able to move my head without feeling like I was tilting out of control. I've been on Prednisone for 2 days now. My world is back to normal --  or I should say I'm back to normal. I have a thirteen more days of this marvelous wonder drug. I'm wired like you cannot believe. I can't sleep for very long. The world is not spinning! Glory Days! I hope this does the trick and the vertigo will remain GONE during the rest of spring! 

I moved from Geezerville to Allergy-Ville, in an aspen forest with a healthy understory of plants in bloom. It's absolutely beautiful. It has been absolutely awful for me this spring. I'm thankful I went to Urgent Care. My world stopped spinning. 

For those of you who suffer with springtime allergies I wish yours never morph into something worse than a cough, a sneeze or a running nose. Vertigo is not any fun. I hope mine is "verti-gone." Remember, we're all in this together.

Funnies from Geezerville

I've not written in a while...been affected with seasonal spring allergies...aka Vertigo. I'll write about that later. In the meantime, my sister sent me a bunch of funnies...and so I disgress from my usual format with a bit of fun. I hope you enjoy!

A good laugh can cure a lot of sorrow and woe (and even vertigo). Remember, we're all in this together.

The Race

Today the "famous" Oscar Mayer Weinermobiles were raced on the Indy 500 track. I know this has nothing to do with me or what I normally write about, but the whole idea of 6 bulky Weinermobiles "racing" around the track just tickles my soul.

 Lord knows...we need a little bit of soul-tickling right about now.

PS. If you want to see the photo-finish, where the winner won by half a bun...click here.

Baby It's Snowing Outside

There's a sound of snow...actually there's no sound when it snows and that's the sound. When it snows the forest goes oddly quiet. The aspens don't quake; the birds don't sing; and the deer hunker down until it's over. The quiet tells you it's snowing. Then, you open your window shades and you see what looks like a coating of powdered sugar across the landscape. It's quite pretty. The folks who live here full-time are very tired of that "powdered sugar," but the snowbirds are enjoying it. It's a matter of perspective. The good thing about a May-snow is it does not last long. This was a May-snow, and an hour later it was a memory. 

Addendum: After the snow we had rain...then a loud thunder and lightning storm, then a very hard rain, then hail that covered the ground like it was a light-weight blanket of snow. The hail melted, the sun came out and we had blue skies til nightfall. The only thing we did not have was lots of wind. The locals say if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes--and today was an example of what the weather is like in the Rocky Mountains.

Guess What Again?: Thank You Bob Edition

When you think that all is finally going right...I mean we had snow this morning,  but now all is right. The plumbing is working; the heater is working; the house is doing well. Earlier in the morning, after seeing the snow, I scanned the house and did not see any problems. BUT, when I get ready to leave the house, I see the following across the driveway.

There's no way to leave the house.  My plans come to a screeching halt. The tree might not look very big but the base diameter of the trunk is about 6-8 inches tapering to 4-6 inches at the top. The tree is about 25 feet tall and it's quite heavy. I'm guessing the tree is between 20 and 25 years old. It's quite heavy as aspens are more water than wood this time of year, and that means I cannot just pick it up and move to another location. My Jeep might be able to do that, but frankly, I don't know how to attach it to the Jeep to push it around.

The first thing I do is get the saws-all and try and cut it. The saws-all is no match for this tree. This tree is very green and the even though I have the heavy-duty blade on the saws-all, it's not making a dent into the soft wet timber. Next I call my friend Bob and Bob comes to my rescue. About 10 minutes later, I hear the distinctive sound of a chainsaw. Bob is parked in the driveway and the tree has been cut into rough thirds making it possible to use the driveway. Bob is a "jack of all trades and master of most" and his huge 25-inch chainsaw sliced thru this downed tree like butter.   I thank him, give him a hug and he's on his way--as am I. Thank you my friend. One more time, you've come to my rescue. You have no idea how much I appreciate you Bob.

Guess What?

 Welcome to the Rocky Mountains.

It's May 15 and it's snowing. Snow happens in this neck of the woods. But, OH was I surprised when I opened the shades this morning. I was not expecting to see a winter wonderland. I knew the sky was going to be gray, but the snow was unexpected .

Normally I see deer lounging in this area, but even the deer are hiding today. It's not a lot of snow, just enough to look pretty. I'm sure the full-timers are not happy to see it, but for a snow bird, it's fun to look at. I also know it will not last long and I do not have to shovel it.

The screened porch is ready, but it will not be used today...it's just too cold. Life in the mountains is always interesting---but then so is life in the desert. All is good!

Happy Mother's Day

 

It's Mother's Day. Sadly, my mother is no longer with us but her loving memory will never fade. She was born during the Spanish Flu epidemic and almost saw the turn of the century. She was a product of the Depression. She graduated high school at 18, the same year she lost her father, who died  2 days after her birthday). At that time, she knew she was the responsible breadwinner of the family as her mother had never worked, and she had 2 younger sisters to help support. She managed to graduate from business college as a bookkeeper. One of her jobs was in a furniture plant, and that's where she met my father. 

Ever sensible and level-headed she planned everything. As a child of the depression she was the consummate saver. She saved aluminum foil until it could not be cleaned any more. She recycled long before it was a common thing to do. She always made sure she had something for that proverbial rainy day. She taught me those lessons well. I see myself doing the same things my mother did. I also see my mother every time I look in a mirror as I look so much like her.

After she married my dad, they had 2 children and 3 grand children. She loved all of her kids and she did not believe in playing favorites. I remember asking who she liked best and she said she loved all of us the same. I believe that to be true. My mother was dominant, opinionated, and all too often, right. The kids on the block knew better than to "beg" my mother for something if she had said no to a request. She was not like the other moms on the block. She marched to her own drummer and did not really care what other people thought. She lived by a very definite set of rules, which were relatively easy to follow.

I remember playing rummy with her in the afternoons. We had an on-going rummy game that lasted for years. It was the best part of the day. Spending time with my mom, before everyone came home, playing a game and talking about everything and anything. The game ended with either my sister or dad came home and then it was time to start dinner. 

The hardest part was letting go. Somewhere near her 50th anniversary she succumbed to Alzheimer's  disease. She lived another nine years. A vibrant, with-it woman gradually declined. It was the worst. She loved me; she taught me; she made me who I am. I still miss her more than a quarter of a century after her death. A mother is forever. Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Geezers in the Mountains

 

The geezers have left the desert and landed in the Rockies.The mountains are weird. They are snow covered. The valley is GREEN. We are in small town America. It's very different from Geezerville. In fact we are not in a Geezerville. We are in a community of many different-age folks living in harmony with each other and nature. In Geezerville we live in harmony in our 'hood...there is not a 'hood here. It's the land where the buffalo roam and deer and the antelope play.

The drive here took a day longer than we planned--but plans are always ready to be changed. The doctor in SLC gave the other DrC a clean bill of health on his head wound and we don't need to see him for 5 months. That's pretty incredible. 

It's early spring in the Rockies--so I'm expecting to have spring allergies all over again. The aspen trees have just started to leaf-out with some tiny baby-green leaves. The understory in the forest is about 6 inches tall. Today I saw 3 skinny mama deer. That tells me they had their babies. A spotted fawn does not have a scent so they are relatively safe in forest. The mamas take a break from their fawns during the day and hang out in our back yard and they know their babies are safe hiding in the understory.  When the mamas are ready, they will introduce their babies to me. We play the introduction game every summer. I love it.

Once more the house made it thru a cold WY winter. There are a ton of last year's leaves awaiting raking. The landscaping needs to be spruced a bit too. All this will happen in the near future, but for now we have to get the house up and running. Progress is being made--slow progress but still progress. It's ever so good to be in the mountains enjoying the greenery we sorely miss in the desert. For now, it's time for us to get in touch with a beautiful mountain spring and summer. I hope you can do that too. Remember, we're all in this together. 

Life in Geezerville: Jet-Lag Edition

Two days home and I'm still pooped. I need to get busy and get ready for the move to the high country in a few days, but I'm not there yet. I'm too pooped to get ready. I'm too pooped to do much of anything but tell you I'm pooped. Jet lag is real. I have it. We have it. I heard from a friend who told me she avoids jet-lag by not going overseas any more. That's good advice. I might even remember to take it the next time I book a cruise to some delicious faraway place. In the meantime, I'm jet-lagged and it's not a pretty picture. Bottomline, if you travel, go with a partner and then you can commiserate together. Remember, we're all in this together.

Life in Geezerville: Getting Home Edition

The nice folks at Geezerville let us back in. It's good to be home. It's good to have a stable floor beneath our feet. It's realllllllly good to sleep in our own bed. This morning started at 2 AM in Oslo, Norway. It's ending at 6:30 PM in Geezerville. I know there's a way to calculate how many hours we were up, but I'm too tired to do it right now. I do know, we were up toooooo long. Travel is fun, until it's the day to go home. That day can often be an ordeal. 

From the get-go "things" were off. Our platform bed at the Radisson Blu was a set of mattress springs covered with a 3-inch soft-cushiony-foam mattress-topper. When I got up at 2 AM I found myself falling to the floor. Seems like the cushiony-foam mattress-topper wiggled around so much that it threw me out of bed. Thank goodness Norwegian furniture is low to the ground, so I did not fall far, but it certainly woke me up. We finished packing and went to the lobby to check out of the hotel and get breakfast. 

The van that picked us up was outfitted for a wheelchair with a ramp and ample room...wish we had had that van throughout the trip. The drive to Oslo airport was long but at 4:30 in the morning there was NO traffic. It was a van of beauty!

At the airport, the wheelchair and walker seemed to cause a lot of issues, which took over an hour to solve. Then, the wheelchairs that I had ordered were NOT ordered.

We flew to Heathrow (LHR). Our last experience there was negative and this one followed suit. We finally got stuff squared away after lots of walking we were taken to our plane in a heavy-duty "Lift Van." We entered the plane thru a door I've never entered before....starboard side, next to the door where they deliver food.  We found our "suites" and settled in for a long flight. 

What seemed like a hundred hours later (I exaggerate only a little) we landed near Geezerville. We had been fed 2 rather unexceptional meals. plied with champagne, and treated very well. My flight attendant, Amelia, took really good care of me. Thank goodness for Amelia. 

We landed right on time. There were wheelchairs to greet us. We collected our luggage and wheeled thru the 3rd set of customs for the day. Our pusher wheeled us to Pole 23 and we were picked up by our driver, Elizabeth. HOORAY. Ninety minutes later we were home.

It's been a long day. We arrived home and collapsed into our comfortable furniture. Before this cruise, I did not know very much about Norwegian furniture but now I do. It's hard. It's low to the ground. It's difficult to get into and get out of. It is modern. It is slick. Its neutral tones are very calming. Viking calls the style Sleek Elegance. I'm calling it Bleak Elegance.

So, the bottom line. Will we cruise again? YES. Did we have a good time? YES. Are we glad to be home: YES! It's good to be back in Geezerville.