Water, Water Everywhere

Water is about to become very important.
Why?
Because in a few years we’ll have left the Piscean age and entered the Age of Aquarius. This is the new age everyone’s been on about for the past few decades.

Whatever esoteric, interesting, mystical, metaphysical, or simply weird meanings have been piled on it aside, it means one simple thing: in 2012 the sun will rise in the constellation of Aquarius on the morning of the vernal equinox. And that’s all we can be absolutely sure it means.

It’s the precession of the equinoxes. We learned about it in school. It’s the scientific, empirical side of the new age.

It’s not the end of the world, sorry to say. It’s the end of an age just like the Taurean Age and its attendant bull worship gave way to the Age of Aries which in turn gave way after 2100 years or so to the Piscean Age that we’re in now.

Pisces is the fish. Christianity is symbolized by a fish. The Pope wears the fisherman’s ring. Several of the apostles were fishermen.

The symbol for Aquarius is the water bearer. Therefore, logically, water will be the focus of the age.
It’s getting that way already as we’re finally understanding that clean, potable water is of paramount important to the continuation of life on earth.

Will we worship it?

My guess is no. Some people will, of course. But in general I don’t think so.

Will we be concerned with having enough water to grow crops and keep ourselves hydrated and clean?

Oh, yeah.

In the meantime if someone tells you the world is going to end in 2012 he or she is wrong in the literal sense. The world as we know it will end because we’re going into a different age, but the sun will still rise in the east in 2012 and beyond. It’ll simply be doing it in a different constellation.

**
In a quasi-related matter I love running water and waterfalls. Thomma Lyn’s recent post reminded me of how much I love them so I made my own video of Siffleur Falls. It’s not the best waterfall movie ever, but it’s mine.

Bagged and Tagged

My cousin, the Bag Lady, very thoughtfully added me to her list of taggees for a recent meme. I like being tagged. It makes me feel like I belong in the world.
The rules-- Dog bless ‘em -- are I am to tell seven random and/or interesting things about myself. Then I have to get five blog buddies to play, too, and link to their blogs. And I have to post the rules.

My seven random things:

1. I can read upside down. My best friend in Gr. 11 could do this and I was danged if I’d let her reading skills outstrip mine. It came in handy more than a decade later when I asked a Court Clerk to look up a charge against someone for me. The charge was laid under the Young Offenders Act so she was unable to answer my question, but she kept the hard copy file open and spread out on the counter for a very long time.

2. I was a journalist for about 20 years. I never received a death threat, sadly, but I was threatened with lawsuits many times over.

3. Andy Williams is my favorite singer.

4. I will do just about anything within –-and occasionally without—-reason for the sheer experience of it. I have smoked pot, snorted cocaine, and inhaled laughing gas. I have also mixed amphetamines and alcohol.

5. I broke my leg when I was three. Dad told me not to climb up on the fence gate so I scooted up the second his back was turned. I got all the way to the top, wondered why I wasn’t to climb on it, and then fell backward with the gate on top of me. The hinges weren’t attached to the posts yet. I wore a walking cast on my left leg for three weeks.

6. I like heights, but because of the above I was scared to come back down on a ladder for many years. I climbed down frontward, if at all. If it was less than 10 feet down I’d jump instead.


7. We raised hogs when I was young. I discovered that sows could be ridden, albeit briefly, and it was best to get out of the pen immediately afterward.

I tag: Polly Kahl at Recovery Reconnaisance, Thomma Lyn at Tennessee Text Wresting, Michael at Avatar Lore, and two freebies.

Gratitude Monday – Heart and Hike Edition

Siffleur Falls

It is my great good fortune to live near the mountains. Our section of the Canadian Rockies has plenty of hikes and range from easy to strenuous. On Sunday we took one on the Kootenay Plains that leads to Siffleur Falls. It’s an easy hike with only one real steep section and it is not that steep.
It’s an easy drive out, too. It’s an hour and 45 minutes from Rocky on good highway. It makes for a good day out in the mountains.
I am especially grateful that I can do this hike after having gone through congestive heart failure before Christmas and then slipping back in to atrial fibrillation in February.
Last Thursday my lungs didn’t feel right. My chest was heavy toward the bottom of my ribcage and my lungs felt like they were being tickled inside.
I spent three hours in emergency getting checked out and it appears to have only been heartburn andor anxiety.
The doctor asked me if I’d had heartburn.
Yes.
Then he asked if I’d had any anxiety.

Yes, after my lungs started feeling all tickly I sure did get anxious. I did my best to control it, though. I refuse to succumb to suggestion.
Thursday’s chest X-Ray has been forward to Red Deer Regional Hospital for a more learned opinion. If there’s anything I’ll hear about it shortly. It is my position that there is nothing to hear.
I’m grateful that I got it checked out and that the doctor was thorough. He even spoke to my cardiologist at the U of A about it before setting me free.
I’m grateful for the good care, and I’m grateful that I was able to go hiking with my husband yesterday.

Mike, who is part of the forest in his own way. And me, on the trail to Siffleur Falls.

Friday’s Child - The Desperate Cockroach Call

Originally posted July 8, 2007

In the fall of 2006 dad offered me “all the money I have in the world” to go and clean my sister’s apartment for her.
He sounded desperate. Said he would have done it himself except that he was old and sick.

No matter how many times I explained that a cockroach infestation required fumigation and should be done by experts, that neither Mike (I will not be alone with my sister) nor I could tolerate her cigarette smoke, and Mike couldn’t be around her cat, it wasn’t sinking through.

He’d repeatedly sent her money to get professional cleaners. Each time it was set up it would fall through. I never knew what happened. I can guess that she cancelled it or told them off or accused them of hurting her cat.
Anyway he sent her money for months, and it went to whatever. She complained to me at his funeral a few months later that he kept sending her money and she didn’t know why and didn’t want it.

Back to the call: dad begged me and he seemed quite upset that I was refusing. He went so far as to suggest that if I did it that sometime down the road I’d be happy I’d done it.
No, I’d resent hell out it and probably him, too. I didn’t say so, but I certainly thought it loudly.

He was so upset I told him I’d think about it.
That’s the absolute truth. I couldn’t help but think about it. It annoyed me for days that he thought I should go clean up my sister’s mess and be happy to do it.

I understand why I was asked: dad was plainly desperate to help Dawn even as she’d kept him on the edge of a sharp, thin emotional wedge for years. She complained constantly and blamed him for every little thing that was wrong in her life while simultaneously begging for money.

Did I resent the request?
You bet.
I’m not a martyr and I am not going to put myself in any situation where my well-being is at stake. Heaven only knows what else might have been incubating amongst the cat hair and ash trays. The worst part was dad’s unwillingness to accept that I didn’t want to do it and had good, solid reason for it.

Tree Spirit

Do you see the spirit face in the tree branch?
I took this pic two days ago during a hike along the trails at Twin Lakes. The tree is gnarled and has been through a lot. It looked interesting so I shot from a few different angles.
I did not know the spirit face was there.
I'm glad he is. He seems quite protective of his tree and that's good as it's a very popular trail and the trees need protection.
Please click the photo to enlarge.

The Rhubarb Triangle

I am confident spring is here. The rhubarb has risen.

The three little red points forming the triangle in this photo are rhubarb sprouts, specifically they are leaf primordia. I found them out in the rhubarb patch on Tuesday and I was very excited.

New life is growing out of the Earth, and in a few weeks there'll be pie.

Cardiac 101: How To Cheat On An MRI Test

If you’re claustrophobic like me, then getting Magnetic Resonance Imaging done requires some lengthy second thoughts. I’m lucky in that I am only moderately claustrophobic. As long as there’s light and I can see my way out and I know I can get out I can usually get through it.

I had a cardiac MRI a few months ago. I asked many times just how enclosed I’d be and let it be known about my confined spaces issues. I was assured I’d be okay and it was even suggested that I could be sedated if need be.
I decided I’d be okay. I really wanted one and not just because it was a good diagnostic tool. I was curious as to what all the fuss was about.

The subdued lighting in the room was more than adequate for me. The MRI tube itself is very well-lit, enough that you could easily read in it if you were able to move your arms.
The tube is open at both ends so I could crane my neck back enough to see outside. It helped keep my breathing natural. I was only in part way, too, and my legs from the thighs down were outside the tube.

I was strapped down to a very hard board with some sort of plate over my chest. My arms were held in place by the straps that held said plate securely to my chest.

Bad idea.

I can’t have my arms restricted because it makes me panic. I asked and they were freed.

The test took an hour and the images are viewed as taken. This is good because I had to cheat a bit to get through it. You have to hold your breath as the images are shot. That’s fine. I had to hold my breath for as little as nine seconds to as much as 19 for my test. That’s not so bad for holding one’s breath.

Except they don’t tell you until you’re strapped down and slid up the tube that it’s on the exhale. Take a deep breath then empty your lungs and keep them empty until you’re told otherwise. You must also remain stock-still. The techs are very reassuring and tell you to do the best you can. My guess is the lousier you do the longer it’ll take.

Nine seconds is okay, but even as much as two seconds longer is a long time to go on empty lungs. I was told each time how long I’d have to not breathe so I counted along to keep my mind occupied. No matter how deeply I concentrated fighting for air is a natural response and I had to let some in once.
I got away with it, but I knew there had to be a better way. Hmm, I wondered… what if I leave a bit of air in my lungs?

So I did. I left enough to get me through yet exhaled enough for the images to be okay.
I’m glad I though to do this. If you ever find yourself in an MRI machine I say leave a bit of air in your lungs. That’s not medical advice and I am not a doctor. It’s something I learned from experience that worked for me and it might work for you too.
If it doesn’t, and you’ve left too much air, the techs will tell you.