Physical Therapy Rocks into the River of Dreams

Our prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “In the.” Start your post with the words “In the” – that’s the prompt! Enjoy!

For more info on #SoCS and #JusJoJan, visit our host: Linda Hill by clicking HERE!

In the beginning, I thought of a couple of song titles like ‘In the Middle of the Night,” “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” and “In the Year 2525.” The latter is a somewhat depressing song, but I liked it when it came out in the early 70s maybe? I have to check…… Well, I was close. It was 1969. My first car was a ’69 Doge Dart. It was used of course. That car took a lot of neglect from me, but it was still running when I sold it a few years later. A lot of crazy stuff happened in that car. I should change the subject, now, quickly, before I reveal too much.

I want to make sure I share about my physical therapy for mild vertigo. But I also want to make sure I thank Maggie, who blogs at From Cave Walls, for encouraging me to get to a physical therapist soon. My dizziness was relatively mild, but she encouraged me to nip it in the bud.

What I learned was fascinating. I might use that word too much, but I like it and so does Mr. Spock. Where was I?

I did not have the common crystals run amuck in my ears. The problem was with my vestibular nerve. Maybe there was a virus or something that triggered the dizziness. But I’ve always been “motion sensitive” getting motion sickness since childhood. The PT exercises I learned over four sessions involved a lot of head turning. But first there was the test where you read an eye chart while the physical therapist shakes your head back and forth. When I first went in, I failed that test miserably. (The therapist did not say this of course.) Most people can read 2 to 3 fewer lines on the eye chart while their head is turning compared to when it is not. I had a difference of 8 or something. I could barely read the second line with my glasses on! After the fourth PT session, which is what Medicare would pay for, the re-evaluation test revealed that I had a difference of only one line! I did almost as well with her turning my head as with my head stationary! I was ecstatic! I asked her, “Were you turning my head just as fast?” She assured me that the head turning part was the same. I hadn’t done all my PT exercises every day, but I did some of them on most days, and it paid off! The dizziness is rare now, and much less noticeable. Doing the exercises on my own occasionally should keep the dizzies away or at least under control. They might even help with motion sickness, but I’m not taking any chances if I go on a boat or plane.

Good thing I stepped out of the stream for a minute to look up the song, “In the Middle of the Night.” Good ol’ YouTube showed me that it’s really titled, “River of Dreams.” All these years, I liked that line, “in the middle of the night,” and didn’t really know what the song was about except that I liked the sound of it. Turns out, it’s a good song, and very fitting for the stream of consciousness.

Below: one of my pieces of physical therapy equipment and goats at the sanctuary.

My PT equipment. Some training required.

Magda just wants her head scratched.

Brothers, Jack and Henry

Remember to visit Linda’s post at the link above for more info and streams of consciousness!

Yum Yum Yummies in the Stream of Consciousness

The prompt: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “yum.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun! But also, we have the whole weekend since Saturday is Christmas day! Thanks, Linda.

Well, I certainly took advantage of the all-weekend long option. Not procrastinating, but I was happy to have both of my adult children and their significant others come over Saturday night which was Christmas night. There’s something about having them all under one roof that feels yummy (especially if we stay away from politics.)

My son and wife brought their dog Rumpke who is not friendly with other dogs, so we walked her with Marley who does like other dogs together. They didn’t exactly get along, because we were careful, but there were no fights. My granddaughter spent the night Saturday and went to church with me on Sunday. I love singing with her. At age 10, she has some talent for singing and knew a lot of Christmas songs from the radio and from Grandma. My daughter made me some gingerbread and I had bought ginger snaps and pumpkin pie. Those are my favorite flavors – cinnamon, ginger, cloves – along with dark chocolate, but not together. Yum!

When I first read the prompt, way back on Friday night, I thought of the yum yum tree that lingered in the back corners of my mind. There is such a thing as a yum yum tree. It has interesting looking fruit.

Source: Polynesian Produce Stand

Being curious, I looked up Yum Yum tree before I started this post. Yes, I bent the rules some, but I’m in the stream of conscious, now. There are a lot of restaurants named The Yum Yum Tree. There’s also a movie from 1963 which is probably what I vaguely remembered from my early years. The movie, I discovered, reflects typical gender stereotypes from the early 60s. It looked entertaining, but not worthy of sharing.

I also thought of the song that goes, “Yummy Yummy Yummy I’ve got love in my tummy, and I feel like lovin’ you.” Do I want to share that? I don’t know. It’s a catchy little tune…. Nah. I’ve had enough sweets for a while.

I hope you’ve been enjoying your holidays in whatever way works best for you. Here’s to a wonderful new year full of hope, peace, strength, and many joyful moments!

For more yummy stream of consciousness posts, and the rules, visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking HERE.

SoCS: There’s Still Good in this World.

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “opposites.” Use the word “opposites” or write about things that are opposites. Have fun!

It’s a good topic. Thanks, Linda. Though yes, I know, it’s a prompt, not really a topic in the SoC world. I don’t really believe in opposites. Oh, I know they exist – up/down, in/out, black/white…. But most things are somewhere in the middle. I don’t really like the opposite ends of the poles. We have enough polarization.

You might say, “but middle of the road is boring.” I don’t mean we all need to be smack dab in the middle. There are lots of colors in between black and white. Lots of places between up and down. It’s all relative. A person can be an antivaxer and still be a good person. Like maybe they like dogs for example. Dogs are a great uniter. I know people on the other end of the political spectrum from me who like dogs. It’s a bit baffling, but then, dogs are great. Unless you’re one of those people who don’t like dogs which I don’t understand. But maybe you have some good quality that I like or can relate to.

They say opposites attract. I’ve written about that before, about how David and I are opposite, or very different in some of our personality traits. But opposite isn’t the best word for that. We complement each other in that he is more of an extrovert, very practical, precise (except when he uses sarcasm which I kinda hate) and not very imaginative when it comes to seeing dogs in clouds. But he has a lot more energy than me, we both love dogs, and he’s learned to like Mama Cat. He’s a good guy. We have similar values when it comes to spirituality, politics and lifestyle.

Going back to in or out, maybe we want to sit on the fence, though that is not always comfortable. If Santa comes down the chimney, I hope he doesn’t get stuck in the spiderwebs. Yuck. That happened in the Hobbit movie. (Spiderwebs, not Santa coming down the chimney.) That’s one of the parts I don’t pay much attention to till the Elves come. I always watch the elf parts. What does that have to do with opposites? Are elves and dwarves opposites in LOTR? (The plural could also be dwarfs.) They are very different, but they fought together against the orcs. I don’t watch the orc parts either, until the elves come.

The point is, we can always find some kind of common ground whether it’s dogs, or fighting the dark side…. But what if someone is on the dark side? They probably don’t know it. Or maybe they do. Darth Vader was on the dark side, but there was still good in him, and the good won.

Speaking of good, I should rap this up and wish you peace on earth and good will to all, as in everyone being blessed. God bless us all, everyone!

Here’s Sam’s speech about there’s still good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for. Not fighting with violence, necessarily, but fighting to find the good, working for peace, or just putting one foot in front of the other, or giving a kind word of encouragement.

For more Streams of Consciousness, rules, and such, visit our good host, Linda Hill by clicking here.

SoCS: Trees! Plus, a New Family Member

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ….. “tree.” Use the word “tree” or write about a tree. Any kind of tree. Enjoy! You can learn more about Stream of Consciousness Saturday and find more streams at the blog of our excellent host, Linda Hill.

Woohoo! I get to write about trees two posts in a row. So many possibilities, but I’m not to plan. Hmmm. There’s a sycamore in my yard close to the house. Who’s been leaning for years since a hurricane whose name I’ve forgotten. She’s sent up a slender new trunk, there’s probably another name for this skinny spike, not really a trunk, but the point is, for balance. In 50 years, it might be another trunk. The tree leans over my neighbors back yard mostly, not her house, and has survived and stood strong for many subsequent hurricanes. I bet the roots go under my house and her house, maybe even across the street, joining with other roots of the many trees in my urban forest.

I’ve been reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Understory. Almost finished. Slow reader. It’s disturbing and beautiful. At first, being trained first as a technical writer (well one class), I thought the book was wordy. I’ve had to look up a word almost every time I pick it up. But now, it’s become poetic. The book is about several people from all over the country/world who come to love trees and desire to save them. The scientist writes about how trees communicate with each other in the air and underground, which brings us back to my urban forest. So many leaves on my pathways now, making them soft and covering tiny animals and plants.

The larger animals, like squirrels, who have had the run of the yard for a couple of years since we have not had a dog and Mama Cat lives inside. Now we have adopted a dog. A big one. Bigger and more energetic than we would have chosen. It’s a longish story and related to the fact that my daughter and her fiancé already have two big dogs in their apartment. Marley is their brother. Their mother, Leilu, my grand dog, just crossed the rainbow bridge at age 7 due to cancer. Marley’s first adopter called Ayla to say she could no longer care for him for financial reasons. Last night was his first night here and he whined enough for David to go get him from his crate (which he supposedly has slept most of his 6 years) and slept with him in the spare bedroom. Marley is going to be a challenge, especially where Mama Cat is concerned. I’m reading about that, scheduling obedience consultations, and we go to the vet Monday.

Yesterday, during his first run in my backyard, Marley rolled in the leaves and something very stinky. I’m glad my daughter gave him a bath. He’s a husky / pit bull mix (a pitsky), very energetic and LOVES to be with people. He’s very curious about the smell of the other animal in the house, but we’re taking that slow. Marley is not allowed in the cat side of the house.

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  Marley with floppy ear

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  Marley is a good boy.

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  Thanks for the bath, Ayla

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  Mama Cat’s New Catio
  with reinforced fencing over the screen.

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  Mama Cat on her catio looking at wildlife

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  Mama Cat in her room

SoCS: Can We Just Go Without Screaming?

Revolution.

I’d like a quiet one, please.

Is that possible?

Anything is possible, right?

But we need to speak up

For a revolution.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Children. Animals. Planet Earth.

But the planet is speaking to us.

Are we listening?

Not enough.

So we must speak for the planet.

Sing for the birds.

Dance for the children.

Hope. Believe. Speak.

Try to speak with kindness

Not with hate.

Whenever you can,

Strive for peace,

But not peace at any cost.

Balance the cost.

We each make a choice

Every day. Every hour.

All is not lost.

There are still possibilities.

Perhaps we may not go quietly.

Can we just go without screaming?

~~~

I keep wanting to add something, to clarify…. Maybe we do need to scream. Maybe some things are screamworthy. This just reflects my stream of consciousness. I don’t like loud. Chanting is good. Singing is good.

Sing it with me: “All we are saying, is give peace a chance.”

And…

I’m stepping out of the stream a bit now, because I found this relatively short TED talk about a quiet revolution. Susan Cain talks about quiet leadership and empowering introverts for the benefit of all. She offers this quote from Mahatma Gandhi:

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

~~~

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is……. “rev.” Use “rev” or find a word that contains it. Have fun! Thanks, Linda!

For more streams, rules and such, visit our host, Linda Hill by clicking here.

SoCS: Betcha By Golly Dr. Seuss Knew a Thing or Two

Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “golly gee.” Use “golly gee” or another interjection that displays the same sentiment in your post. Enjoy! Thanks, Linda!

Golly gee whiz! Gee willikers! Wiskers on a fish! Fish who can talk! Dr. Seuss knew all about them. So many things we have yet to see. After all, “the universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” That’s one of my favorite quotes, but I don’t know who said it, right this minute.

Expressions of amazement like, golly gee, remind me of my dad and the 1960s. Sometimes he’d say,
“Holy Mackerel!” or “Holy Mackerel Andy!” Maybe it was in response to one of his children getting an A on a test. Maybe it was when he caught a big fish. Maybe when he saw something amazing on TV, in living color no less, like a giant horse or a flying saucer. No, something bigger, something fantastic! I can’t think of what that would be right now. But the TV is on now (Friday night) and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is coming on, so we go back to Dr. Seuss.

I like the animated version of The Grinch better than the one with actors. I guess there’s a nostalgia in the sweet singing of the Whos down in Whoville. A lot happened in those 30 minutes. My favorite line is the one about,

Maybe Christmas doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas means a little bit more.

Something like that.

Those old expressions of amazement are lots of fun, they’re the cat’s meow, a real humdinger, like that Dr. Seuss guy.

The first song I thought of when I read the prompt was “Betcha By Golly Wow, by the Stylistics. It doesn’t get much smoother than this. 1972. Golly, that was a year to remember! My high school sweetheart left me standing there for the long and winding road so we could both grow up and grow up some more, till the time was right for another Betcha by Golly Wow.

Thanks to our Stream of Consciousness Saturday host Linda Hill for this fun prompt! For rules and more streams, visit Linda’s post here.

SoCS: Living Color!

Our Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for today is…. ““black, gray, and white.” Use one, use ’em all. Bonus points if you use all three. Have fun!“

There are a lot of colors in between black and white. Not just gray which some people spell, grey. I go back and forth. Most of the world, and most skin colors, are something other than black black and white white. Though it’s okay if your skin is black or white, but most people are not. Most people seem to be some combination of brown, pink, white, black, yellow, orange, red…… and then there are the green folks on the planet whose name I forget from the movie Avatar which is full of wonderful colors!

Some people like black and white photos. I like some other colors in photos. There’s a thing now where people are painting their rooms gray – sort of a dark gray. That might be okay for an office. Neutral can be good, but I think it would get boring in a house.

When I was a little kid, all we had was black, white, and grays on the TV. Even Lassie was in black and white, but I loved that show anyway, and cried when it was over. Now, I prefer color, unless I’m watching an OLD movie, like, It’s a Wonderful Life. I LOVE Christmas movies!

It’s a Wonderful Life does a pretty good job with black, white and gray, plus George Bailey’s imagination!

Color is one of the top ten things I am thankful for.

Living color!

This was a big deal in the 60s!

I’m thankful for Linda Hill, our SoCS host and her weekly prompts and our colorful wordpress community!

Happy Thanks Giving!

For more streams of consciousness, rules and guidelines, visit Linda Hill’s SoCS prompt post!

SoCS: Gratitude and Angel Art

Our Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “close eyes and point.” Grab the closest printed material to you when you sit down to write your post, open it up (if it’s a book, flyer, etc.), close your eyes, and point. Whatever your finger lands on, use that as your prompt. Have fun!

Thanks Linda!

It’s Friday morning, earlier than I usually write my post for SoCSaturday. I’ve got a busy day getting ready for tomorrow’s artisan fair at my church. It’s a big deal to me. The forecast is for a lot of rain, but it’s an indoor event, so I hope they don’t cancel it. This afternoon will be clear skies, or at least not much chance for rain, so that will be good for the set up. I’ll share some more later about that if the stream takes me there.

So, sitting at the table which doubles as my desk, there is a pile of papers to my left. The one on top is a green piece of scrap paper that I’ve written notes on from one of my organizations – Northside Food Co-op. I live near the northside of town which is part of a large food desert that includes my neighborhood. We’re starting with a Saturday farmers market and the plan is to have an affordable grocery store in the area. I signed up to be on the community engagement committee. (This was after telling myself not to sign up for anything new.) Anyway, there was a zoom meeting and a guest who is a former resident of the northside. The young African American woman talked to the committee about growing up without regular access to food, the poverty of not knowing, watching her mother struggle, and some personal trauma that she experienced. I asked her what helped her get through these things, and she said she just did – she got through it. She shared a spiritual awakening as an adult that has given her enthusiasm to go back and help those in the old neighborhood.

I didn’t point with my eyes closed, because when I looked at the green piece of scrap paper trying to decipher my notes, I was pulled to the word, “gratitude” in the middle of the paper. The young woman who grew up on the northside said,

“I have a purpose. Gratitude is a big fire inside.”

That would make a nice one-liner for Wednesday. But here it is in the stream. A big fire inside makes me think of heartburn, so I don’t normally think that way. But for some people, a fire inside is a motivator for enthusiasm, a warm glow that gets things going. I could use some of that. I’m pretty busy right now, but I need more exercise as I get older. There is a tendency to want to be a couch potato which is okay sometimes. Good thing I have all these ideas that get me off the couch and nice weather of the autumnal kind to get me walking outside.

This morning David texted me that he has known me for 50 years. The party where we met in 1971 was on November 6th. That was so cool that he remembered, even if he remembered it a day early. He is the farthest thing from a couch potato. It’s interesting how partners compliment each other. I’m a night owl and he’s a morning person…….

I am filled with gratitude that God brought David back to me when the time was perfect. I’m also grateful that I have the flexibility in retirement to be busy, when ignited by the fire inside, or to sit on the couch and watch the Lord of the Rings or whatever I want to watch.

Here’s my favorite recent piece I’m taking to the artisan fair Saturday. I believe I already have a buyer!

“Blessing the Whales” ~ Acrylic on Wood Panel

Here are some other projects I’ve been working on for the artisan fair. David drilled holes in the mimosa cookies so they can be ornaments. We had to cut the mimosa way back when we had the roof redone. It grew back well.

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  Angel on Mimosa Cookie

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  Angel with Golden Dog – acrylic on canvas

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  Fun with shells – a work in progress

Maybe this is my way of thanking the angels for all these years of protection and nudges.

~~~

For more streams of consciousness, rules, etc. visit our host Linda Hill by clicking here.

SoCS: No More Scary Ghosts!

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “boo.” Find a word with the letters “boo” in it or use “boo” as is and base your post on it. Enjoy!

Knock, knock.

Who’s there?

Boo!

Boo who?

Well, you don’t have to cry about it.

Ooooold joke. Works best when spoken, with a grandchild, niece, nephew, or someone who likes simple silliness.

I haven’t cried in a long time. Not real crying where I need to remind myself to breathe so my stomach and head don’t hurt. I know how to do that. I mastered the art of real crying at the turn of the century. Thankfully, no need lately. Oh, I’ll tear up a bit at a TV show. Just yesterday, watching a Blue Bloods episode I’d even seen before, I got a tear in my eye. It doesn’t take much.

Whining is another matter. I try not to whine out loud, except to the cat. But I will whine in my head. Why did I have a touch of vertigo yesterday? Am I not able to bend over and arrange my little pebbles on my winding pathway just the way I want? Is it a sign that I am being too precise. Funny how I want a pebble just a certain way, in a certain place, but it’s gotta look wild and natural at the same time. That’s my landscaping style. Maybe this stream will come back around with some photos.

I don’t like to be scared. Maybe there was a time when I liked scary movies. Now, I’m ready for the Christmas movies. Remember when we could scare ourselves silly as teenagers at sleepovers? Or later going to visit the old railroad tracks? There was this thing in North Carolina called the Maco Light. It was near a railroad station in Maco, NC. The name is similar to my maiden name with one less c, but definitely no relation. Some guy lost his head in a train accident. He was workin on the railroad trying to warn an oncoming train with a lantern. His head was never found, or so the legend goes. When I was in my late teens, it was said that you could see old Joe looking for his head, swinging a lantern along the train track. A bunch of us convoyed to Maco one night to look for the light. We didn’t see it, but we scared ourselves silly walking along the track in the dark quiet near midnight. We screamed when a generator came on. Or was it really a generator? I have no idea. That was what? 1975? We had fun with just our imaginations. (Okay, maybe some beer, too.) I think they tore up the tracks after that. Keep those crazy kids from comin out disturbin the peace…

Now, I don’t want to be scared. Ba Humbug on scary movies and headless railroad ghosts.

I do like my neighbor’s decorations though.

Neighborhood Decorations. I like smiley ghosts.

And then there are Patrick Swayze ghosts. The movie Ghost wasn’t that scary, except for the bad guys. It was more of a romantic comedy about a ghost. I might watch that one again.

Getting back to the winding path….

It’s taken me a few months to get my winding path this far. I had a lot of roots to dig through and work around for the bricks. It’s till a work in progress. Maybe I’ll add some bottle caps and melted marbles. A little at a time.

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  Before

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  Yesterday

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  Close up joy rock

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  Close up Compassion Rock

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  Close up Peace Rock

~~~

Stream of Consciousness Saturday is hosted by Linda Hill. Thanks, Linda!

For more streams, rules, etc. visit Linda’s blog here.

SoCS: What Ifs, Wildlife, and the Revenge of the Pokeweed

Thanks to Linda Hill for today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday : “if.” Start your post with the word “If.” Enjoy!

If you’ve ever read Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “If,” you will know it is inspiring. It inspired me when I was in my early teens. Then, when I was in my early twenties, I saw an “If for girls” and an “If for boys,” in a gift store. It made me really mad. You see, the original “If” by Rudyard Kipling ended with the words, “You’ll be a man my son.” I overlooked that and took to heart all the ifs he listed, like, “If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too, ” which I remember by heart. The idea that those “ifs” by Kipling could not apply to me, and that I had to have a separate If poem about sugar and spice and everything nice, (I really don’t remember what it was about, but it must’ve been something like that) really irked my feminist spirit in the 70s. I’m glad I haven’t come across it since, so maybe I should let it go for now.

Here’s a practical warning: If you ever come across pokeweed, with it’s strikingly beautiful, dark magenta berries and stems, BEWARE! Here’s a picture or three.

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  Pokeweed in early fall

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  Most of the berries are gone now

• 

  Here’s a better photo of the berries

Those of you who’ve been here regularly know that I’ve allowed an urban forest to grow in my backyard. I thought the pokeweed berries were pretty. Such an interesting color. So I let them grow, mostly where they wanted. I’d read that the berries have been used for dye, but to be careful, because they are also poisonous.

Since the pokeweed dies off in the late fall, I decided to cut or pull up about half of it on Sunday. I wore gloves, but did not wear long sleeves. The pokeweed is the only thing I can imagine that has caused an awful, itchy rash on my arms from where I carried the cut stems and leaves to the curbside plastic trash can for pick up. I won’t show you the photo of my rash, because, well, this is not Facebook, so I’ll spare you those details. But it’s weird that the blisters continue to emerge after five days. Thank God for benadryl and prednisone. One for night time and the other for daytime. I bought a long sleeved men’s shirt at the thrift store for when I cut (or more likely pull up) the remaining pokeweed after it’s all brown and dried out. Maybe I should wear a mask.

On a more positive note, lets imagine good what ifs. What if we all start learning how to get along better? What if we start protecting the planet better? What if we get a fun surprise? What if I make it to 90 years old and still have all my teeth? What if your dreams come true? What if you fly?

Speaking of flying. I took some photos of an egret yesterday at the lake with my friend. It was hard to get close without the bird flying away. But that’s okay. It came back. Plus there were alligators!

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• 

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  Before it flew away

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  After a while it flew back

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  Earlier we saw an alligator

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  Gator and turtles

Egret incoming

~~~

For more Streams of Consciousness, rules, etc, visit our host, Linda Hill and join me in sending prayers or good wishes for her son Alex to feel better.