say, what???...

i read with some interest each day a column by Dr. Gott re: medical questions.  often his piece is about alternative treatments for common maladies.  the topic for today was warts.  the first suggested solution for warts-- chalk.  for you younger ones who only know chalk in the form of colored sidewalk chalk, i'm referring to the white sticks of calcium carbonate teachers used to write on the board at the front of the classroom before the advent of dry erase boards and markers. dr. gott opined that the chalk acted as a drying agent, causing the wart to drop off after some time.

he went on to review some other "home remedy" type treatments for removing warts.  one method included involved mixing a small bit of "tang" (orange drink of the astronauts) with a bit of water, placing the "tang" poultice on the wart and covering it with a band-aid.

that seems a bit odd to me but my question is this.  how does one decide that using "tang" and a band-aid is going to be an ideal remedy for removing warts?  i admit to having less than a scientific mind. but still, "tang"?

i spent a good part of my youth growing up in the 50's.  modern medicine was still out there on the horizon.  i do remember my granny mac "mopping" my sore throat with a mixture of turpentine, coal-oil and grease.  whoever hatched up that nasty remedy was just a tad this side of demented.  yuck!  i think the idea might have been that i'd find the treatment so bad i'd stop whining about how much my throat hurt. 

back in the time my dad was coming up doctor's were few and folks were forced to come up with their own answers to vexing problems.  it was a process of trial and error i'm assuming.  here, let's try this.  well that didn't do any good, how about we do this, and on and on until some concoction seemed to ease the pain, redness, swelling-- whatever the complaint might be.

the human body is resilient and able to absorb tremendous insult.  grandma's throat mop or a "tang" poultice register barely a blip on the radar screen of healing.  still, what kind of mind conjures up "tang" and a band-aid as a remedy for warts.  maybe it's me who is lacking the vision for dreaming up such a novel approach to common problems like a sore throat or an unsightly wart.  maybe it's just me. aio

remembering camp kowakani...

i somehow let myself be talked into serving as "camp nurse" starting with the second year my baby girl signed up for Camp Fire's "Camp Kowakani".  my first morning on the job was uneventful but as the temp climbed toward the 100's i racked my brain for an idea as to how i could get the campers to drink lots of water, thus staving off potential heat related problems.

the "brilliant" idea i hatched was this.  i'd re-word familiar songs with the theme being, "kids drink your water".  i don't recall what that first song was, but i do remember the boos from the campers when i was called to stage for the second.  and so it went for the rest of the camp, they would boo, i would "sing".  something must have clicked, we had no heat related issues to deal with.

fast forward to year two as camp nurse.  i about dropped my teeth when as i was called to the stage to be introduced. a  resounding chorus rang up from the campers... "song, song, song, song. and thus a tradition was born. i became part of what made "camp kowakani" a fun (and safe) experience.  i even went to camp for a couple of years after my daughter had lost interest in the camp fire experience.

comments after the latest posting at www.monkeyheartdiscourses.blogspot.com suggested i should sing some of those songs to share.  I even went as far as downloading a voice recording program onto my computer and "singing" my campy version of marty robbin's, "streets of laredo".  shall we say, i soon realized why the campers were booing.  there'll be no posting of my singing onto the world wide web to be available via the ethernet forever and ever, amen. no, thank your very much.

i will venture to share my bastardization of marty's famous tune and lyrics.

as i walked out on the streets of kow'kani
as i walked out in kow'kani today
i saw some young campers, they looked mighty thirsty
they looked mighty thirsty, their tongues like baked clay

i told those young campers that they should drink water
i told those young campers they looked awful dry
and most of those campers, they did as i'd asked them
they drank all their water and so weren't so dry...

                                                                             
on hot, dry and windy days like we're having here in the texas panhandle it's important to stay hydrated. remember this, if you wait until you're thirsty to start drinking, you've waited too long. hydrate early and hydrate all day long. water is the best-- even cacti need a drink now and then. don't make me torture you with another cheesy camp song.  aio    

better than any old tie, father's day gift...

have you ever given any thought to whether any of the wisdoms you flung against the wall that is your child as it grows actually stuck or made any impression at all?  were they even listening to, much less retaining, your efforts at passing along the benefit of your experience?

at least in the case of my youngest, i think she was listening, at least part of the time. 

i received an early father's day present in the form of her latest posting on her blog.( www.monkeyheartdiscourses.blogspot.com ) her posting may well be the best pap's day gift ever. 

my take on child rearing has much to do with growing up the son of a hard drinking, dry land cotton farmer.  it was rare that i ever saw any hint of affection from him.  i don't recall ever hearing an "i love you son" from him, or from my mother, for that matter.  being raised in an affection vacuum can have a positive affect, even if the benefit is to the next generation.

the years of my youth were without the pleasantries my children enjoyed. they suffered the unfortunate circumstance of being born into a middle class family, to a dad who grew up in the meanest of situations.  given that happenstance their appeals for this, that or the other thing "all the other kids had" often fell on unsympathetic ears. there is a difference between "wants" and "needs", after all.  attempts to impress upon them how good they had it at 7420 were met with poorly concealed skepticism.

while they may not have been granted every wish, they did grow up in a home where affection-- hugs, kisses and "i love yous" were common.

i'm sure they all grew tired of hearing me harp on ad nauseum about how good they had it.  still, it appears my favorite daughter retained some of my tired truisms and she made the old man cry in the remembering of those good old days.

thank you, baby! XOXOXO. i love you. aio

the human brain, such a delicate flower...

the human being and all that is involved in making each of just that, human, is for most of us never given the slightest, most fleeting, even casual, thought.  we just are. no consideration given to the intricate and complicated blend of cosmic plasma that's involved in making each of us tick.  not a whit of worry given to-- are things are running as they should, until something goes amiss, that is.

consider for instance the human brain, the computer system of our being. it hums along without missing a beat until catastrophe happens. 

a motorcycle rider speeds along, not a care in the world, sans helmet-- the wind blowing through what's left of a now balding pate, not a care in the world-- that is until a car stops unexpectedly in front of the rider and without any other viable option the biker lays his machine down. bike and rider are propelled ahead at the speed of the bike, by forward momentum, into certain injury the result of which is most certainly an uncertain and possibly altered future.

it is not my intent to pick on bike riders.  it is their right to straddle that crotch rocket and without the protection of a car's exterior to carom along at, or above the speed limits innocently assuming home will see their return. sometimes fate has other plans. 

the human brain is such a delicate organ and even a minor bump can upset the apple cart resulting in a bleed into the brain; or, after 60 years of pork sausage every morning for breakfast that final smidgen of plaque seals off the pinhole of circulation remaining, resulting in an embolic stroke of potentially massive proportions.

brain injuries of any source are not something i'd wish on my worst enemy. in the blink of an eye what was a heartbeat beforehand a perfectly capable and functioning specimen from the top of the food chain, can in an instant be reduced to a mute, confused and slobbering wreck, left unable to eat or bathe unaided and without the ability to preclude pissing or shitting himself. catastrophe neglects no race, gender or socio-economic strata, dealing misery without discretion across the board.

it is human nature to live in a state of denial, denying to the very end that any  untoward thing will ever visit itself upon you.  take it from me, it can happen, and does to some unsuspecting soul with every tick of the clock, here, there and all around the world forever and ever, amen. bad things could be coming to a neighborhood called you at anytime and when you would least expect it. on that note, i'll climb off the soap box, at least for now.

ya'll be careful out there, ya' here me? aio   

oh baby, it's hot outside....

It was a balmy 99, panhandle of texas, degrees as i finished up jog-walking 4 miles at noon today.  As the day progressed into mid-afternoon, the temp topped out at a scorching 105.                                                             

All this heat and not a rain cloud, or an oasis for that matter, in sight.  the weather gurus bravely hang their hats on a 20% chance of rain in parts of the area.  kenemac translation = "it ain't gonna rain here today."

i paid the water bill today, which was knocking on the door of a c-note, and it's barely the middle of june.  yikes, something's gotta give, but it doesn't look like the sun is gonna be the one cryin' "uncle" any time soon. 

i'm almost afraid to get the electric bill, there's no telling how much it might be. whatever it is, i guess i'll pay the piper.  after all it was 105 out there today and the a/c is doing it's thing to keep it from being that hot inside. what ever the cost, it'll be a small price to pay. i do like me some cool. aio                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                                

a wider audience....

deluding myself is what i do best. birthing "pearls" of wisdom on whatever piques my interest sometimes seems a waste of my time and that of the handful of faithful readers of this space. nothing very deep or especially erudite will be found within these confines.

i suppose i'm carping about my limited readership; however any words you find here that perhaps bring a smile or causes one to pause a moment, to ponder, i hope are not a total waste.

the agn printed an appeal for opinions about banning the sale of fireworks this 4th of july holiday.  i submitted my last post, called "ban the bomb", for possible inclusion on the op ed page.

today's page included that piece as the lead opinion on the subject.  it saddens me somewhat to think that more people will likely read in one day those words, first posted here, than will have read all the words posted at kidsdonegone since it's inception. still, i can't help feeling just a little bit proud that the opinions page editor found those words worthy of inclusion.

a senior (aged) blogger has to take his victories as they come. aio

ban the bomb...

five days into june, hot, dry and extremely windy continues to be the norm around these parts.  most every day is a "red flag" day and this far into the year, 2011 remains the driest since 1956.

with the heat, wind and multiple "wildfires" seen around here this year the "hot topic" in view of the current conditions, and the fast approaching 4th of july, is whether to ban the sale of fireworks.

it seems like a no-brainer to me. the area grasses are more than tinder dry and can burst into flame at the smallest spark; whipped by the pugnacious panhandle winds, that hint of a spark can be fanned into a massive wildfire, racing ahead of the wind, leaving fear, danger and destruction in it's path .

                                                                     

tens of thousands of acres have burned, scores of homes and other properties have been consumed.  firefighters have lost their lives.

banning the sale of fireworks for this fourth of july is the right decision. failing to step up, to make that hard choice, would be irresponsible.  deciding authorities, do the right thing, for the good of all. aio