I Can Walk Three Miles Per Hour!

The Top of Hermit Gulch Trail on Catalina Island

For the last two nights I've been sure to ingest my pills, not just remove them from the bottles and leave them on the counter.  I still had some anxiety yesterday but today I'm back to feeling pretty good - which is great!

I went for a walk today that included a short incline which I haven't been able to climb for most of the last two years.  It felt amazing!  I was so encouraged that I almost started walking up one of the hills I used to walk every day.  Fortunately I stopped myself, knowing that overdoing it could set me way back.  I kept to the flat surfaces for the rest of the mile and came back feeling tired, but not exhausted, fatigued, short of breath or in pain.  In the picture above, the highlighted area is the end of a trail I used to climb on a regular basis before I became ill.  I've missed the beautiful view from the top that includes seeing the Pacific Ocean from both the windward and leewards sides of the island.  The picture below was taken on the trail near the top.  On the day this photo was taken, clouds overflowed from the windward side. 

Almost to the Top of Hermit Gulch Trail

I have an app on my iPhone, Motion-X GPS, that records my average speed (among other things) which today was 3.0mph!  I can look back at other walks I've taken in the past and the average speeds were more like 2.5 or even 2.1.  A few months ago, not long after I got the app, I tried to up my walking speed and ended up in bed for about two days afterwards, feeling horrible.

I so hope this lasts.  I'm so afraid it won't.

Stroller Ban at an Aquarium??!!

http://www.mom365.com/Preschool/Posts/2012/Feb/Will-Stroller-Bans-Hurt-Aquarium-Business.aspx

Yesterday I read the above post on the Our365 website about the Cleveland Aquarium banning strollers in their facility.  This struck me as pretty outrageous considering aquariums are such a popular place to take small children.  I would never be able to take my daughter anywhere without her stroller, especially a place that would require so much walking and standing like an aquarium.  After reading the post, I looked down at the comments and the first one I read (Teresa) really got my blood boiling. I just had to put my two cents in and I did (that's me - Kristy).

I don't mean to come down on Teresa, after all, there was probably a time in my life that I would have made a similarly insensitive remark without even knowing I had.  I realize it's very hard to appreciate your health until you don't have it anymore.  I used to hike to the top of one of my favorite trails here on Catalina and admire the beautiful view and fresh air at 1500' but I never thought to feel thankful for being able to get there.  I took for granted that I could walk or hike almost anywhere I wanted.  (here's the comment and mine if you didn't read the original post)

Teresa February 18, 2012
We have a membership to our local aquarium and they have a similar policy during peak hrs. I think it makes sense, stollers are ***bersome and some ppl use then like battering rams in busy places! Those "umbrella" stollers are one thing, but to parade your SUV of a stoller through busy places is just inconsiderate. Though I am bias, devote fans of slinging our child. It works well for us!

 Kristy February 19, 2012
This is terrible! We recently took our daughter to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA where they DO NOT have a stroller ban. Great aquarium btw. Sure strollers can get in the way but so do kids not in strollers, people in wheelchairs, elderly or disabled people who move slowly, etc. This is clearly discrimination! And to the first commentor who wrote that people are inconsiderate who bring "SUV strollers" and carries her baby in a sling, I just hope you realize how lucky you are that you are well enough to carry your child. I have Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue and can barely lift my two year old, never mind carry her. My trip to the aquarium was exhausting and very painful but as a chronically ill person these are sacrifices I always have to make. I would never have been able to bring my daughter to the aquarium without my "SUV stroller" (which doubles as a walker for me to lean on since I don't walk very well).

Here's the link to the Cleveland Aquarium contact page if anyone feels like voicing their mind.  I know I will.
http://greaterclevelandaquarium.com/plan-your-visit/contact/

Oh....My Beautiful Garden

When I returned to Catalina after being gone for so long, I knew one of the things I would have to confront was the state of my beloved gardens.  The only people here while I was gone would never have  noticed (or cared) that a plant was withering away and dying from lack of water.  Actually, it wasn't as bad as I had envisioned.  It had rained several times while I was gone, so it was more a matter of overgrowth than anything else.  I did loose one Thyme plant that I'd grown from seeds because it just wasn't mature enough to handle the long dry periods, but I couldn't really complain.

Every time I walk out my door I am reminded that I am unable to kneel down or bend over my beautiful plants to care for them.  The weeds have grown in all the spaces between the bricks.  Only I haven't forgotten that the bricks are there I think.  One plant has grown across more than half of the walkway I use to get to my washer and dryer.  Every time I step around it I cringe and think "one day I'll feel well enough to get my shears out and cut it back".  I've been home for fourteen days and it hasn't happened yet.

Before I got sick, the garden was one of my favorite, most peaceful places to be.  When I went through a very difficult time, at the end of an eight year relationship, the garden saved me.  I spent so much time there and felt so at peace touching the plants and dirt.  The two cats that have lived in the garden for the last three or four years sat near me while I pulled weeds and trimmed plants. 

I so miss being with the plants and the dirt.  I hardly see the cats anymore and the garden is overgrown and messy looking.  It feels like a symbol for all the dimensions of my life that have withered away or have been overgrown like the bricks in the garden.  Meanwhile, I watch helplessly, as it becomes wilder and wilder, returning much to the state it was in when I first moved here five years ago.