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Getting high for high blood pressure

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I'm an anxious person. I've long recognized this, and I've blogged and used social media to share how I deal with it. I've made friends, critics and followers over the years. My hope has always been that we be kind and help each other deal with our lives -- the good, the bad and the ugly. We're all on this planet together. Last week, I felt incredibly anxious. Turns out my blood pressure was super high and I was acting crazy. Thank you, Alexandra at Duke City Primary Care, for your quick action to bring it down.  I also want to thank the kind budtenders at Budder Pros in Moriarty, Chris and Matt, who recommended a chocolate bar that helps with sleep. It calmed me down so much that my bp went down considerably as well.  The meds I was prescribed help but leave me a little depressed and wanting to take naps.  The chocolate bar simply relaxed me...no depression...no sleepiness.  If you have high blood pressure, like me, try cannabis to lower it. Cannabis cures.  Th...
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My journey to find calm in an anxious world

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I haven't posted about my anxiety lately but that doesn't mean I haven't had it. I've been busy discovering over the last few years that there is no one single answer or cure for anxiety.  It started with an emergency visit to the hospital and finding out that I did not have a heart attack; I had a panic attack.  That's when my journey began. I started visiting my health care practitioner regularly to get a handle on my health. She prescribed an anti-anxiety medication that I continue to use. I was so relieved that it worked quickly.  But after a bit, I found that the meds alone didn't take away all of my anxiety. I needed something to take the edge off. I started trying different combinations of medical marijuana -- indica and sativa, leaning toward indica. Cannabis calms. Still, the anxiety lingered and that's when I started paying attention to what I do in my daily life and the many ways I could find calm.  I've learned, after many stumble...
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Obvious signs... not so obvious messages

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1036517156700455div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> Yesterday was hell on wheels. Everything went wrong all at once. I found out I didn't win the gymbird 10,000 step contest. I could handle that...no expectations.  Then I got an email saying I didn't make it past the first interview for a job I think I'd love. Sniffle Then, at the local grocery, my card was declined. Thank goddess for Jason, the guy behind me. He paid my tab. You rock, Jason!! You are a kind person. At some point late in the day,  I thought about my pocket rock. I knew when I reached into my pocket, it wouldn't be there. It wasn't. What I didn't know is when I lost it. I checked my bathrobe pocket...my bedside table, the floor...no luck. I had had that rock for quite a while. Losing it when everything was wrong made sense. It's a sign of transition...time to move on somehow. I needed to pick out a new one.  Just days b...
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Agnes: Bethel light worker

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I've lived in Moriarty now for eight years, and I believe it is a place of healing, full of light workers, also called angels, who have helped me through difficult times.  These days, for example, when I need hugs and a shoulder to cry on, I go to the local grocery store. Many of the employees there have become my friends. They care and give me pretty good advice when they can. That's what happens in small towns.  In this second post in my series about Bethel Storehouse in Moriarty, I am talking about another light worker, the person who has volunteered there the longest. That dedicated angel is Agnes Salazar.  Agnes has been volunteering at Bethel since day one (Bethel just celebrated its 38th birthday).  "I took a year off during Covid," she said, "My grandson passed because of Covid. I didn't want to take any chances. So it's been a total of 37 years." At that point she proudly mentioned that she would be 89 in the next few days.  "I don'...
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Building community for 38 years

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Today I celebrated with the Moriarty community the 38th birthday of Bethel Storehouse. It was a grand time with bounce houses and games... friendly faces everywhere.    When I first moved here, I discovered the thrift store was a great place to pick up household and yard items to help me settle on my homestead.   During Covid, I was among those who were generously given food boxes from the storehouse. They even gave me dog food for my furry friends.  Living alone on the homestead, I would go to Bethel to see friendly faces and share stories. I also got good quality clothes and shoes. I love thrift stores!  Friendly staff and volunteers Linda Smith has led the nonprofit for 37 of its 38 years. When I praised her success, she said, "It's not me. It's the community. They make Bethel work so well."  They live up to their mission statement : "Our Mission for Bethel Community Storehouse is to be a Christ centered non-profit mission providing food, clothing...
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Changing our diet to save the planet

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We walked out of Walmart today with our groceries packed in paper bags, bags like the ones grocery stores used back in the day, no handles or ties. I'm old. I remember them well.  My son complained a little at the inconvenience, and I said, "Maybe they actually care more about saving the planet than they do about making your life more convenient in the short term." Good for Walmart, I thought, whatever their motives. And that led me to think, what would happen if businesses simply quit selling meat and started selling plant based foods? What if they did the right thing despite inconveniencing their customers?  I've been wondering this for a while. When Carl's Jr. came out with the Beyond burger, I was encouraged; all they had to do, in my opinion, is go vegan across the board. Who cares if customers don't like it as well as dead cows? Who cares if it helps save the planet?  Look, you don't have to like it as well as meat but you can...
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"You are", "you're", "your"..."ur"?

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You might think that someone like me, an educator with a degree in English, would be preaching correct grammar and spelling, holding onto traditional ways of expressing ourselves in the written word.  Lately I've been bitching about the misused apostrophe in the word "it's".  I'm not insisting, however, that we relearn it all and do things traditionally; I'm saying let's move with the times and make new rules that reflect change. Might be easier that way.  After all, once upon a time, contractions were not allowed to be used in academic writing. You could not smoosh two words together to make one, even though we did that when we spoke. That changed quickly. It was impractical not to.  We're looking at the same thing as we progress to an even more technical age. Ideas are more important than spelling. Conciseness is valued.  Most importantly, no one can spell anymore. I mean, why the hell do we continue to spell it "though", "enough"...
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