Beautiful sunsets make me smile. This one graced us with its brief presence last night.
I told Meredith we were planning to leave on Tuesday. Hopefully, that’s still the case, but I tweaked my back (which was SO much better) yesterday and I’m hurting again. In fact, I had to get up during the night and come downstairs to the den where I used some Tiger Balm, turned on the heating pad, and proceeded to sleep sitting up for the rest of the night.
It amazes me that I actually pulled that off.
May I take a moment to say how frustrated I am with this whole thing? Just think of all the curse words you can and you have a pretty good idea of what I’ve been saying.
I actually like the smell of Tiger Balm, but I’m getting tired of both it and my heating pad. But ever grateful for them because they’ve really helped. (I always run these things by Mer, since she’s a therapist and my brother-in-law is a chiropractor. They know their stuff.)
Anyway, I’m going to be positive. I’m determined to get on the road sooner rather than later.
I briefly wrote about the passing of Pat Conroy yesterday. I truly loved his rich and beautiful writing style. He was an artist with words. One of my favorite blogs has a tribute to him today, which includes a short video of Conroy speaking to a group of his readers. What an amazing man he was. It’s here at Jungle Red Writers.
I need to read some Conroy ASAP.
I’ve been meaning to share two of my favorite Instagram accounts with you; both of them have to do with animals.
Black Jaguar White Tiger – Run by an incredible man who rescues animals, including lions and tigers. He is based in Mexico and the work he is doing is of the utmost importance. He posts lots of videos of these incredible creatures – the latest is of a baby tiger drinking milk from a bottle. Oh, heavens. Beautiful. The Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation does essential work for the protection of our wildlife.
Pumpkin the Raccoon – a Bahamian raccoon that was rescued by a family and now lives indoors with his dog buddies, Toffee and Oreo. I love this feed.
I find Instagram intriguing. Most of us post brief descriptions of our photos, but then there are those who treat it like a blog, with long descriptive passages. Some of those IGers have blogs as well and they’ve, for whatever reason, turned predominately to IG. Others have never had blogs, so IG seems to be their version of a blog. Since Instagram is meant to be something you can scroll through rather quickly, I tend to avoid paragraphs of writing. I’ll look at the photo and continue on my way. Maybe because I also read blogs, I don’t have too much patience with lots of words in this particular form of social media. But I am equally sure that a lot of people tend to spend most of their social media time on Instagram, so they have no problem with that.
It’s free. It’s fairly quick. Maybe that’s the attraction in this time of short-attention spans. A blog post takes time to craft. IG is much faster. Though yours truly, not especially a whiz with a phone keyboard, finds it takes time enough with lots of curses along the way as I retype words, correct auto-correct and insert the dreaded hashtags.
By the way, whenever the heck we leave for Florida, I may not post everyday but I will do my best to post to IG as we make our way South. So follow along on my IG account.
New post on Just Let Me Finish This Page: Gone But Not Forgotten: Harper Lee and Pat Conroy.
Happy Sunday.
I remember reading The Prince of Tides about 30 years ago when I was home sick from work for a couple of days. I’ve never forgotten it … may have to reread it in honor of Mr. Conroy. I have South of Broad on my shelf, yet unread, so I must get to that too. He was indeed an artist with words. Have a good safe trip to Florida and take care of that back. Hope your seat in the car is okay for a long ride. Oh, or maybe you are flying. Whatever, take care and have fun. You need the break!
No, we’re driving because we love to drive on trips and we haven’t been able to do that for years. Add to that the fact that we finally have a trustworthy car, and there you have it!
Claudia I am with you on the back pain. I finally ordered a back brace and it will arrive today. I need to wear it when I pick up and hold that little Scout of mine. I will see if it helps. I also need to get some Tiger Balm. I am so ready for my back to be OK again. Like you there can be many curse words said with the pain. We are heading into some lovely sunny days here and that helps my mental state at least. Heading to church in a little bit. I have found a wonderful place to worship with my family and I receive such comfort there. Take care of that back!
hugs,
Linda
PS I’m with you on Conroy, an artist with words for sure.
Mine is my lower right back near my hip. It’s so frustrating! And, like you, I want to pick up my Little Buddy when I’m in Florida! Have a lovely day, my friend.
Reading about Pat Conroy’s passing made me realize what a disproportionate number of novels I have about the American South on my bookshelves. So many wonderful writers!
I hope the tiger balm and heat afford you some relief – back injuries can take so long to heal. Don’t think for a moment I’m making light of your situation, but the thought of you using my particular brand of curse words is very funny.
Oh, I love some curse words, Barbara!
My hubby is having a hard time with his leg…he pulled a muscle. So, I told him about the Tiger Balm…thanks! It’s so easy to tweak a muscle…hope you feel better. I love taking road trips…you get to see so much more of the countryside! And the best part…you can stop whenever you want. I will check in on Instagram …my kids use it a lot. But, I could see myself spending way too much time there. Enjoy your day! ;)
It can be a time suck, that’s for sure! Happy to hear the Tiger Balm is providing some relief for your husband.
Ice and Advil always helped me. It takes the inflammation down. But you have to be careful with the Advill.
I had a bad disc in my lower spine. The MRI showed it was pressing against the nerve that controls bladder and bowel functions. I didn’t want surgery but it wasn’t a choice. My back would be like yours. I had a lamenectomy. I still have another bad disc but that surgery helped my back and hip pain.
I am excited you are going to see Meredith and her family. Have fun.
Ice only works in the immediate aftermath, then heat is recommended. Unfortunately, I’m well past the immediate aftermath, Debby!
Deep and/ or chronic pain is something, to me, that is similar to grief. Until one experiences it, we can’t know the depth to which it reaches. It is hard to explain, and everyone has a tip for you on how to get through it. A lot of the tips might be useful, but so much is particular to the pain we have. As we grow older, we certainly encounter it much more often. “The Golden Years”,,,, yeah, right.
Is there a battery operated heating pad, or one you can plug into the car somehow that you could use periodically on the trip? We use the heated seat feature a lot, even in the summer (with the AC blowing) if one of us has back or leg issues going on. Sometimes it helps ~~ oh, and there is MY tip for you!! ?
Mine is plug-in – I don’t know if there’s a battery operated heating pad. I don’t have heated seats – Dad lived in Florida so he felt no need for them.
I read The Death of Santini yesterday on my Kindle app and have been reading My Reading Life hardback again. I seem to be more drawn to his memoir writing than to his fiction although I love The Great Santini. His funeral is Tuesday and I’m close enough to go but feel I’d be intruding on his family and friends’ grief. I hope your back feels better soon. Enjoy your trip and time with family.
What an incredible writer he was, Laura. I love My Reading Life.
Tiger Balm….the balm of my childhood. The miracle cure literally forced down our throats when we had sore ones….actually, Mom was quite gentle with a little bit of Tiger Balm at the end of her finger, she’d dab a bit at the end of our mouth, as we gagged and protested. Tiger Balm on foreheads for headaches. Tiger Balm on sore spots (like back twinges). Tiger Balm in our nostrils to unclog nasal passages. It was only much later on, when I learned to read, that I saw and bothered to read the warning on the label: “not for internal use.” Aack, my brothers and I had this stuff in our mouths?!?! My mom’s very typical Chinese response, “Hi-ya, my mother used it that way, so I use it that way.” (Sigh) How does one fight maternal logic?
Have a fun drive. I love car trips, spotting an intriguing sign or place on the road and stopping to explore, just meandering to the destination. Make frequent stops to ease that back, and bring the Tiger Balm!
And the heating pad!
I’m sorry to hear your back is acting up again. I hope the long drive to FL won’t make it worse. Good thing your brother-in-law is a chiropractor. Maybe he can work on your back a bit while you’re there?
Two of my all-time favorite books are Pat Conroy’s Prince of Tides and Beach Music. I had no idea his wife was author Cassandra King until I read his obit.
Love Instagram and like you, don’t read paragraphs as I’m scrolling through on my phone. Thanks for those two feed suggestions. Just followed both. I have one to suggest to you: Goats of Anarchy. This woman rescues goats from abusive situations. Those goats are so darn cute and have the sweetest faces! Love the video clips of them hopping (yes, goats kind of “hop”) around. Anyway, you’ll see if you check it out.
Oh, wonderful, Melanie. I’ll follow Goats of Anarchy right away! Thank you. I’ve seen goats hop – they’re enchanting.
I just had Don stop at our local bookstore to find something by Pat Conroy that I hadn’t read and he came home with $5 hardcover copy of South of Broad. I’m very happy.
PS – I just clicked on your link in this post to go to your book blog, and the link is not working. Just a heads up!
Thanks Melanie, I’ll fix it!
I hope you MOSTLY don’t post from Florida. What you need, dear friend – and in my most humble non-professional opinion, is a complete change of scene and some seriously-recuperative rest in warm, hopefully-sunny Florida. With lots of time to talk with your sister, and play with your nephew. So don’t worry about us – we will be here when you’re back. Take care, be safe and have lots of fun. ☀️ ?
Well, I’ll post, of course, but definitely not every day. I have to share some picture of Little Z, don’t you think? I can’t wait to see that boy.
But when I’ll see him depends on this darned back of mine. xo
I’m sorry to hear that your back it acting up again and hope it does not delay your Florida trip for too long, if at all.
The sunset photo is beautiful! Perhaps it is was a prelude to the warmer weather moving your way this week.
Hopefully only a day or so, Sue. We do have warmer weather coming up this week – and rain.
I was thinking like Melanie above..maybe your brother-in-law could give you some treatments to help…I would love to see some pictures..especially Little Z and Uncle Don…but mostly I wish for the two of you to relax…take some deep breaths and enjoy your family and each other….
We’re so looking forward to it, if we can actually get on the road, Nancy!
We plan on doing just that, Nancy.
May I suggest Salonpas patches for your back during the drive? They’re like little heating pad patches and work well for us. Capsicum(? Sp) is the active ingredient. I have ruptured discs, DH has spinal stenosis and we use these in addition to or in lieu of prescription drugs. I am surprised Mel didn’t suggest ice ad our neurologist insists we alternate ice with heat. (No new damage here). We also just returned from Florida and I’d wager you feel better within a couple of days after your arrival. Rest, recuperate, restore your equilibrium and enjoy the journey. ((Hugs)) from your normally silent reader.
Good idea, Sandy. We’ll look into that. Ice doesn’t really work for me unless the injury involves lots of inflammation – like my sprained ankle or on a severe bruise. Thanks so much!
By the way, that sunset is georgeous.
Thank goodness I noticed it and had the camera at the ready.
I have bad sciatica and the last go round was bad enough that even Aleve would not help so I know your pain. I actually got past it in a few days by using ice packs and a homeopathic called BpS by Liddell Laboratories. If you have a health food store near you, you might want to check it out. Hope you feel better soon and have a wonderful trip.
Thanks so much. It’s so annoying!
I don’t really live ‘rural’ yet I kinda do. There are a ‘wild’ few acres in the hillside above our home. We get a lot of wildlife…have even had coyotes and mountain lions on more than one occasion. If we didn’t have so much fencing, I’m certain we’d have deer. We’re on a path to the river for the animals coming out of the hills and canyons; they’ve been doing it forever and were here first. It’s a search for water, and we’re in a severe drought. We get raccoons. A lot of them. It’s hard for me to imagine one as a pet. They are aggressive if confronted, in my experience. (It’s nice to know someone else has a different experience.) A sad thing from a couple of weeks ago: A juvenile raccoon was apparently ill or hurt, climbed into one of our outside feral cat igloos…and died. The hot SoCalif weather of successive days prompted inevitable nose-wrinkling. I had to have Animal Control come out and it was a real mess. I hope he didn’t suffer. It has bothered me.
Segue. It poured at 3am. We did get a little bit of rain! An inch!!
I’m so sorry your back is bothering you although I’m glad to have the reminder about Tiger Balm which I’ve forgotten about over time. You’ll have to take some sort of cushions or padding with you to be comfortable on the road trip. Maybe when you get to Florida, your brother-in-law can provide some insight/help to the injury. Sometimes ‘timing’ of things is so darn unfortunate. I can remember two occasions I’d really looked forward to, several years ago when I was so blinded by migraine that I could scarcely get through the day. I remember more about the headache than I do the event/outing. Fortunately, I haven’t had a bad migraine in a good ten years. Knock on wood. Mine are prompted by problems in my neck. I hope by the time you read this that you’re feeling better!
I’m feeling a bit better. Don reminds me that we’re not on a schedule and we can leave whenever we want.