BOO !

Hype or Health?

I am in a bit of a quandary.
My uncertainty is with regards to the H1N1 flu bug that, according to the media, will soon grow to pandemic proportions.
Do I listen to the media?
Or do I follow my own skeptical heart?
For one, I am doubtful and mistrusting of the pharmaceutical industry - that which holds our health care system within its sovereign grip.
Indeed, the science of medicine has come a long way across the past two centuries. It has increased the understanding of how our bodies work on a physical level and how disease affects our bodies on that same plane.
But I believe our health is much more than the sum of those two parts.
It is a whole - an entirety.
A combination of things we can see and feel.
As well as a composition of those that are ethereal and intangible.
There is, too, a difference between the medical industry and the creation of drugs in an attempt to heal us. We have to keep in mind that, for every drug that masks or corrects a symptom, there are side effects - sometimes deadly ones.
This leads to what I feel is another misconception - the idea that our doctor can heal us. A doctor cannot heal us.
We mend ourselves.
We are responsible for our own health and healing - whether it is physical, psychological or spiritual. We do fall ill, that is a truth - some more ill than others and we do what we may, depending upon the circumstances.
But we are in charge, whether we believe it or not.
Secondly, I am very skeptical of the media. Our news has gone from reporting circumstances within our immediate locale, to satisfying a lust for sensation, through vivid detail pertaining to war and famine, to depicting ghastly acts of violence upon each other and warnings of impending pandemics.
All on a global scale.
These accounts have mutated from simply maintaining public awareness to an attempt at keeping us bound within the clutches of fear - the most powerful and perfidious means of control.
Furthermore, it is imperative that we heed and accept our own responsibilities. We have to be culpable for our singular actions - and reactions. Instead of allowing others to dictate, by following along as sheep to slaughter, we are obliged to gather up the reins and steer our own direction - to reason and decide what is best for us on our own terms. Doing this, and doing it within the confines of what is socially acceptable is not easy.
But it must be done.
Life is difficult but, in the end, it will become far more so, as long as we continue to permit outside influences to do the thinking for us.
I could go on and, veritably, I could argue on both sides of the fence. It is a fine line and I have merely scratched the surface.
But again I look back upon my original dilemma...
Do I have my children immunized against swine flu or not?
My instinct, albeit cynical, yet which I trust most implicitly, tells me No.
Then my head speaks to me with the logic of the press, saying Yes - for how could I forgive myself?
I weigh the chances.
I keep myself informed.
But, I do not fear.

Missig...

I'm ot able to write much.
Well, I guess I still ca but I have a letter o my keyboard that refuses to work.
ow I kow where all those lost socks from the dryer go - somewhere betwee the letters "M" ad "O"!

Homework

Smoking Waters

this morning ...

Bobby had a choice - either bring a load of firewood inside or shovel the walk...

This is the backlash from the storm Grace was experiencing on her wild, northwest coast. The winds off the Pacific are blowing north and the edge of the disturbance is dumping snow farther inland - right on top of us!
This morning Bobby and Jenny could not wait to get out and frolic in the white.
Tucker took one look and did a quick one-eighty back to the house.
The roads are treacherous, with black ice and drivers who have yet to adjust their habits for the poor conditions.
Gene cannot work today, as the shell of the house he is building is under almost four inches of snow.
I am home with Tnu and Jack - a warm fire is radiating from the grate.

A Laurentian Mountain Point of View

This is the view from Mum and Dads' deck in Quebec. Beth and I just spent ten lovely days visiting with my folks.

It Wasn't Me!

As a rule, I don't begin praying fervently for snow until the end of November. Therefore, I cannot take the blame for the snowstorm mother nature set upon us last evening. Dusk brought a wind howling down from the north that quickly dipped the thermometer below freezing and dashed thick snowflakes against the window pane. Within minutes two or three inches of snow had blanketed every exposed surface. The storm let up as rapidly as it descended, leaving everyone surprised and shivering in its frosty wake.

If you enlarge the top frame it gives you a good idea...

Fallout Across the Border

Spiderman, Spiderman,

Does whatever a spider can

Spins a web, any size,

Catches thieves just like flies

Look Out! Here comes the Spiderman.

Is he strong?

Listen bud,

He's got radioactive blood...

Of course, the thought never ocurred to me, but one cannot cross the border into the United States carrying radioactive cargo.

Since the 9/11 scare, security has been tightened quite significantly. No doubt this law is in place to avoid the transport of unstable elements such as Plutonium, Uranium, Strontium, Palladium, Eugene, etc.

Eugene?

Apparently we lit up the Geiger counter as we passed through the border gates on Saturday. My unassuming family van was instantly surrounded by gun-wielding guards with hand held radiation detectors flashing red. They instructed Gene to pull over and informed us that we were "hot".

Luckily, we had been forwarned and Gene produced a letter from his doctor explaining that he would be radioactive for a period of time after undergoing an ECG stress test.

We were quickly separated as a border officer guided Eugene to a small room where he monitored his radiation levels. The officer also asked him questions regarding the stress test and gathered other information before allowing us entry into the country. Meanwhile, my vehicle was searched and I, too, was "Geiger counted", but we were green to go.

Fortunately, radioactivity is not contagious!

The crossing back into Canada the following day was less eventful, with only having to fill out a declaration and make a duty payment on some items we purchased while in the US.