I only got in 4 miles on the exercise bike, yesterday. Fatigue and trouble keeping my lungs clear. The tree pollen is not quite so bad today (Wednesday), but it’s cold out there and I have a lot of housework to catch up on. I drank a lot of water and used the inhaler, this morning, and my breathing’s fine, now (%SpO2=92, PR=69). Also took 3g of l-glutamine. Laundry is done…but not the dish washing. O how I hate washing dishes!
Spring Flower
And the red flowers have also bloomed. I had thought these (this one and the yellow flower in the previous post) were tulips, but they just don’t look like it. They are very small, the petals are narrower and pointed, and they don’t really form a cup.
First Flower of Summer
First Flower of Summer Spring
Ignoring the fact that snow is anticipated for Friday night, the weather seems more summerish, now, than spring (of which we’ve had practically none until this past week). My tulips on the north side of the house are finally up—close to a month late.
End of the day
All in all, fairly successful. I got some of the laundry done and put dishes in to soak. Tim called to let me know my gun was in, so we picked that up mid-afternoon. Not so much stuff in the safe, and so there’s room for both it and its molded case. Has to be cleaned before I can try it out. The sights aren’t adjustable, so I don’t have to mess around with that.
I did get a noon session of 3 miles in on the exercise bike, and after the news, tonight, I put on another 4.7 miles. Only had to take one puff on the inhaler, today. I did take glutamine before and after exercising. And my blood oxygen saturation is doing better. I watched part of Bones this evening and decided that I don’t care for the current direction, so it’s off of my list. I do enjoy watching reruns of earlier seasons, though.
Tomorrow, I have to wash dishes . . . and do more laundry. And pay first-of-the-month bills.
Ah! Some of the yellow tulips on the north side of the house have bloomed. Photos were taken.
Morning observation
I didn’t use the inhaler, this morning, but instead drank a couple of glasses of water and took an antihistamine and 2g of glutamine. Within the hour my breathing felt comfortable, but my blood oxygen saturation is still a bit low (%SpO2=93, PR=70). I’m having a cup of coffee and two ounces of nuts (almonds and walnuts) for breakfast. Supposition: the glutamine will provide enough additional energy to the muscles for productive coughing to keep my bronchial tubes clear during the day. The daily allergy index percentage is horrid, and the allergen is tree pollen.
Because of working a shift at the range, yesterday, I didn’t have time for my noon session on the exercise bike. I got in 5.5 miles later in the evening…and wrote to the volunteer coordinator to tell him that I will not be signing up for any volunteer shifts in May. What I didn’t say was that the exercise and patterned eating have to be priorities for now. We have volunteered regularly each week for a couple of years, now, and Al will still be putting in five hours a week. (What I did say was that depending on how things work out, I may be available later on in the summer to fill an occasional volunteer slot.) I think I have an allergy break between the tree pollen and the ragweed.
Progress
After skipping a number of days, I got back onto the exercise bike. When the announcement of the lowered river crest (basement probably won’t flood), we took time to move the bike from the rec room to the gazebo in the back yard. (For a five-dollar rummage sale discovery, it’s not doing too badly.) My mileage went up from 2.5 miles a day for four days straight to one afternoon session of five miles and another in the evening, for a total of ten and a half miles. Now all I have to do is repeat that every day until I die with suitable increases periodically. Hmmm. I’ve taken no albuterol, but did take both l–glutamine and antihistamine, and I’m really feeling pretty good, tonight. Mentally it feels like too much work. I did take the netbook with me, however, and read a few chapters in a paranormal romance.
The neighbor across the back fence is already out preparing his garden for planting, while we have a snowdrift that’s at least a foot tall.
Back again . . .
In the interim, I have pretty much retired from freelance work since I last posted here in February of 2012. I never did quite recover from the breathing problems due to smoke in the air that began in the late summer of 2011, and so have been living a hermit’s life except for the local marksmanship center, which has the most marvelous HEPA filtering system installed. Smoke in the neighborhood is a continuing problem. I’ve started on a new regimen that includes protein supplements, which have been boosting my energy and returning strength to my muscles. I’m back to the exercise bike several times a week and making progress. It also allows me to cut back on using the inhaler.
In the meanwhile I have been getting organized. I am finding it easier to write whe n I have separate places to put posts on various topics. So far, snapshots and comments on everyday life are at Postcard Art, photo art is at Quiet Spaces, and thoughts and observations on books and poetry that I’ve read are at Patchwork Prose, resurrected from my very first years on the Internet. I will be repurposing my business site, I think, since I’ve paid for the domain name for five or six more years.
I should also mention that I let myself be persuaded to run for the office of vice-president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Not my brightest move, but I imagine I’ll survive it. I managed interim secretary for quite a number of months. When I felt much younger.
On Hiatus
In the process of realigning time, tasks and priorities. I expect I will be writing something somewhere over the next six months, but most likely not here. Or Facebook, which I am liking much less with the new format, although I am still tracking family, organizations, etc.
In the interim, feel free to write, email, or phone.
It’s been a while
Too many things have been changing, and I find that I am retreating into myself until I get it all sorted out, again. This is not good for writing output.
2011 SFPA Online Halloween Poetry Reading
The 2011 Science Fiction Poetry Association’s annual Halloween Poetry Reading is online and, I suspect, in its final form. SFPA members reading their own spooky poetry include
- “Pumping Up the Local Economy” by David Kopaska-Merkel
- “Wicked Karnival: A Tribute to Tod Browning, Jr.” by Stephen M. Wilson
- “A House with No Windows” by F.J. Bergmann
- “The Head” by G. O. Clark
- “Sentient Shadows Rise” by David Glen Larson
- “A Night at Hotel Sedgewick” by irving
- “Not Alone” by Ann K. Schwader
- “The Cosmic Web” by David Lee Summers
- “All Creatures Great and Small” by Elissa Malcohn
- “Death in a Harlequin Suit” by Karen A. Romanko
- “Vision Stalker” by Elizabeth W. Bennefeld
- “Vicious Trees” by Mary A. Turzillo
- “Waking Beauty” by Lyn C. A. Gardner
- “Secrets” by Deborah P Kolodji
- “Renovation” by Kath Abela Wilson
This is my sixth year of serving as editor of the Halloween Poetry Reading page. I have enjoyed it very much. We had a nice turnout of poets; I am hopeful that next year, more people will step forward to contribute Halloween art, also. Not that I mind doing most of the pictures, but it’s nice when there’s more participation in all areas. In addition to my artwork, there are pictures by Geoffrey Landis and Kath Abela Wilson.
