Wednesday, September 25, 2013

An Unpredictable Brawler

Wednesday, September 25, 2013
1:30 p.m.




















In addition to dealing with increasingly frequent periodic emotional waves, I've also been experiencing bouts of physical distress.  Nothing life threatening, at least as far as I know, that is.
But, I am battling a worthy opponent for sure.  This mysterious combatant, who attacks me at his (or I guess it could be her) will, has literally taken control of my life.
He (we'll go with the he) selects the venue, when the starting bell is rung and how many rounds we go.
He is wily and catches me off guard with sneaky sucker punches.
This unpredictable brawler, who sometimes chooses to lay dormant during the brightness of day, seems to gather strength from the shadows of pre-dawn darkness.
Although, what I contend with may not be emergency room serious, it has affected the quality of my life.  I feel that making plans is no longer an option for me.
Oh, of course, I have sought medical advice.  I have even had body parts removed.  Okay one body part removed.
To prepare for future skirmishes, I have adjusted my lifestyle to the barest of minimums.  I have eliminated the consumption of all toxins or those I have been advised to eliminate, anyway.
I confess that I crave some of the things I have had to give up.  It is painful to think that they may forever, now only be recalled through blurred sense memories.
Yesterday, as I followed my usual, early morning routine of sipping my tea and gazing out at a glorious sunrise, I found myself actually looking forward to the day.
But, within seconds, my adversary made his presence known with a powerful jab to my weak spot, leaving me wounded, dazed and down for the count.  Well, down and out for the rest of the day, anyway.
He got the best of me, that whole day, he got the best of me.  I gave in and gave up.
This morning, after a restless sleep, filled with writhing snake nightmares, I awoke to another day.
And, this day, as I followed my usual early morning routine of sipping my tea and gazing out at a glorious sunrise, I noticed that the sky was too blue, the air too crisp and the shimmer of the dew on the red and orange leaves too brilliant to give in and give up.
Then, I caught a glimpse of Joe smiling at me from his frozen-in-time photo.  I thought about how he never gave in, how he never wanted to give up and how he always, always had hope.
This is when daydreams of Southern California vacations and visits with my beloved grandchildren replace the nightmares.
And this is when I believe I can beat this palooka, knocking him out with my famous LG's one-two, left hook, straight right combo.



Other stuff

A couple of times, while out for a car ride, we have come across what looked to us like a burial ground for old telephone poles.
This last time I had to stop and take some photos.


We couldn't figure out what this was.
But I did know where we were.  So I googled "Ocean Gate NJ, Telephone Poles."  Ahh the power of Google.

Turns out that:

"Ocean Gate was a high-frequency (shortwave) radio transmitting station providing telephone communications to ships at sea (high-seas service) and to overseas locations, under call sign WOO. In addition, the June 1958 List of Coast Stations issued by the International Telecommunications Union identifies Ocean Gate Radio (WOO) as "open to correspondence with aircraft", one of 19 US coast stations so authorized."

Ross, to read more about this, go here.

5 comments:

  1. I hope you feel better soon. And can at least figure out what it is.

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  2. Hope things even out a bit, both physically and emotionally, for you soon. I also loved that you googled those stranded telephone poles...that is so very much something I would do.

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  3. The telephone poles against the blue sky and water are a very attractive sight. Even more so, because of the history behind them!

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