(This is the Douglas Island bridge. I realized that of all the pictures I post here, very few of them are actually of Juneau as a city. So I'm adding this to my "urban" series.)
It hit 50 degrees today. It may not be the first time we've climbed out of the 40-degree range this year, but it definitely seemed to be the most sustained and noticeable duration of warm weather yet. My neighbors were out in droves - laughing, jogging, riding their bikes. I was having a generally bad day. Early doctor's visit. Left my jacket there, with my camera inside the pocket. May or may not get that back. Reality-check call to my health insurance company. Bad run on a treadmill. Tight deadlines at work. Had to run a bunch of errands with my car. Every time I climbed inside, the sticky heat of the interior stoked my grump. The most beautiful day of the year, and I was stewing in my own bad mood. Well, that and a cloud of stagnant moisture that is finally evaporating after a winter of ice buildup. I opened the window because I thought the cool, salty breeze and sunlight would make me feel better. But it doesn't really work that way, does it? Bad moods definitely want to go and hang for a while in the dark.
Not that it was that bad. Everyone has bad days. Everyone. All the time. They're good for the soul, in the long term. I think some of my mood today stemmed from a doctor-scheduled appointment to get an MRI tomorrow. This can only be a bad thing, and here's why: If they find nothing, then I'm no better off than I am now, except for I'll never know what's wrong with me. I could just be a massive hypochondriac. And how do you recover from that? But if they find something, then that will confirm another fear of mine - well, two fears - fear of surgery and fear of the implication of wasting two whole months and then losing an entire summer. How will I forgive my lazy self? And if their findings are inconclusive, which is the most likely scenario, then not only have I wasted two whole months, and who knows how many hundreds of dollars, but I'll likely have to go on believing I'm a hypochondriac until I can plunk down a few thou for a specialist in Seattle. Wow. Getting old is fun.
So no, I'm not real excited to get an MRI. I can't make myself believe that anything that can come out of it will be good news. Why get it at all? Because life never changes through inaction.
Check out my blog, Jill. Had the same experience with the MRI that you're fearing. But I'm gonna take it someplace else for a second viewing and then I have to make the surgery decision. I'm reading and lamenting with you. Anytime you want to "gripe", I'll listen. Shoot me a note at enduroeejit@gmail.com...I wanna tell ya something!
ReplyDeleteHi..its thrilling to read your stories from sub -continent India...where we used live in tropical conditions..Great,...
ReplyDeletecongratulation for your blog.
ReplyDeleteI am Massimo I live in Italy, I am an architecht. My personal website is www.massimopivato.it If you want to see some photo about Italy the link is http://www.massimopivato.it/photo.html
See you soon
Massimo
Jill-
ReplyDeleteIt was Enstien who said doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result is insane...
doctors and tests can be a real pita but keep on keeping on....
Beautiful pictures - looks awfully cold though! I'm writing to you from tropical Darwin Australia.
ReplyDeleteGood moods are over-rated.
ReplyDeleteGood Luck
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being named a blog of note.
ReplyDeleteI damaged my knee several years ago and postponed the MRI for 10 months. When I finally got it it lead to a scoping and my scoped knee feels better 6 years out than the one that wasn't done. Good luck, it's not so bad and if you're hurt it should help you get better.
I gotta say, I visited alaska two summers ago, and can't wait to come back and vacation again. It's a breath of fresh air reading your posts and seeing what the great white north has in store!
ReplyDeleteHi, I would like you to know that I frequent your blog and it has been added to my "short" blogroll because I can't get enough. My husband and I would love to visit Alaska someday and this just adds to the excitement! Thanks
ReplyDeleteTime, it takes time. Unfortunatly, when you're in a bad mood time stretches; when you're injured that stretch feels permanent. It isn't. You will heal and if that healing is imperfect you'll adapt. That's one of things we humans are best at: adapting.
ReplyDeleteA summer lost would suck, but there's a lifetime of summers ahead. Right now it seems like you feel you're in a sprint to heal. Maybe you're in an endurance race, the finish line is long way away, but it is there. Slowing your cadence, riding within your abilities, persevering, you know how to do this. You've been here before just in a different form.
Look, I know this is almost worthless, the reassurance of some old fart of an internet stranger, but it will get better, I promise.
If they scope it, you'll be back in a matter of a couple weeks; if they do reconstruction, you'll be back in a couple of months at top notch - after a few weeks you could do some slow, flat riding. I've had both procedures done, and the MRI will tell you what you need. And like others have said, it is better once it is done. You will be back for sure. And for something philosophical -- "Only you can make a bad day better or a good worse." -- Me
ReplyDeleteI love your photographs, they are awesome. I have always wanted to go to Alaska... hopefully I will be able to do that one summer.
ReplyDelete"stoke my grump" i may have to steal that from you, great quote!
ReplyDeleteFabulous blog!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work!
God bless,
Bill Corrigan
Long Island, NY
Fun fact: Alaska was once part of Russia, and was the setting of the 90s TV show 'Northern Exposure', and temperatures there are typically very low, which is why they wore coats on 'Northern Exposure'!
ReplyDeleteThis blog is pretty amazing. Definitely the best one I've come by since I got an account. Keep on keepin' on.
ReplyDeleteJay
Except "Northern Exposure" was actually filmed in Oregon! They fooled us all! ;-) Great show though...
ReplyDeleteGood luck w/ the MRI, Jill. When I finally got mine a couple months ago, it was a mixed bag. Upside - nothing to serious. Just a lot of fluid build-up which was keeping my kneecap off-kilter, so had to go on some anti-inflammatories. It was confirmed that the VMO had atrophied somewhat, so had to get some PT. I also discovered that I have a shallow femoral groove (just a genetic abnormality), so I'll have remain diligent about keeping the muscles around my knee strong to avoid this in the future. As long as I keep doing my regular exercise routines though, I'll be fine. Downside - if I had done it sooner I could have lost less inactivity time.
Like you said, getting older sucks sometimes...
Hi Jill,
ReplyDeleteThe uncertainty must be killing you. Try to remember your current situation is only temporary. It's all bound to change some time, just a matter of letting time take it's course. Difficult I know.
A few years back I picked up some tropical disease that ate out my long thoracic nerve fiber. It totally changed my life and caused me a lot of pain. The muscles in my shoulders atrophied and they couldn't be worked because there was no nerve to tell them what to do. :(
Back then I did Chi Kung and it really helped me deal with the frustration although it couldn't cure my problem it helped me feel like I was doing something practical to improve my situation.
I gradually regained the use of my right arm, but it will never what it was. Accepting that it would take time was crucial to my overall health, mental and physical. I had to get over thinking that this must be fixed now. That did not come easy.
I've had a good time checking out Juneau on Google earth and trying to match up your photos. Those mountains really jump off the page when I scroll over them. It looks like an awesome place.
Jill--GREAT blog!!! My parents took me away from civilization the summer before my 9th grade year (1984)...to Juneau. I was grief-stricken. What was I to do during the 14 months of winter, and would I have to take a dog sled to school, and more importantly--did they have cable up there????
ReplyDeleteI have since moved away (migrated to Knoxville, TN to pursue a MA in forensic anthropology--a degree which I am proud of, but am not using in the least) and have proudly kept my Alaska license plate (the old, ugly orangey-yellow one; the only design available at the time) on the front of my car.
I still consider Alaska my home state (though I firmly believe "home" is where you happen to be at the time), and proudly answer honestly (and seriously) the variety of questions I'm asked (such as, "where did you get that license plate?")when people find out that I'm from Alaska.
I'll be checking your blog often; good luck on the MRI, and know that you have 3 people in South Carolina sending you good thoughts (well...maybe 2 people sending good thoughts. Our 10-month-old has learned to growl, so he'll probably be growling you well-wishes.)!!!!
--Chauntelle
(Oh, just for trivia--my husband and I were married on the Taku glacier, and apparently the people who printed our wedding announcement in the Knoxville paper thought this had to be a mistake and corrected it to "AT Taku glacier.")
I've really enjoyed your photos... thanks.
ReplyDeleteHey Jill, your writing and photo's are amazing as always. Congrats on your blog being recognized, you deserve it. The whole deal with your knee really sucks, I don't know what to hope for from the MRI for you, but good luck. I look forward to seeing you guys in a few weeks.
ReplyDeletePlease view these clips and videos and check out the website that follows. The following clips prove that a criminal network within our government/private sector was responsible for the collapse of the three World Center buildings on 9/11 and consequently the death of thousands. The only way for us to assure that we do not fall prey to another government-sponsored terror attack is to make the truth behind 9/11 known all throughout the country and recognized all throughout the media. The traitorous perpetrators of 9/11 would be deterred from carrying out another scheme of mass deception for fear that it would trigger the country to revolt against the government, rather than rally the country around the government like 9/11 did. So please share this with others and press for the truth to be recognized for the sake of our security and sanity.
ReplyDelete-molten steel spewing out the side of tower, which could only be produced by an incendiary device containing an ingredient like thermate/thermite since jet fuel does not burn hot enough (around 800 degrees C) to melt steel (around 1300 degrees C)
-an example of what thermate/thermite does to steel which is usually used to weld or cut steel
-firefighters describing molten steel as lava-like at ground zero
-cleanup team finds hot steel glowing red and orange all over ground zero
-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani unwittingly admits on news that he got warning to leave WTC complex that morning because the towers would be coming down despite firemen, fire department, police department, and reporters on scene not knowing
-Building 7 collapses at nearly free fall speed (about 7 seconds--free fall speed for bldg. that height is about 6 seconds) which defies laws of gravity unless all significant points of structual resistance to the collapse were removed by controlled demolition charges. The reason the towers didn't fall at nearly free fall speed is because their demolition was top-down, not bottom-up like Building 7. Footage of their collapse confirms this.
-leaseholder of WTC complex accidentally admits on PBS special that they "pulled" Building 7
-Other segment of same PBS special unwittingly confirms that "pull" is a term used for demolishing a building as a contractor uses the same term to describe demolishing Building 6 weeks after attack. The official explanation for the collapse of Building 7 was that fire and debris damage from the towers weakened the building's structure. The admission that Building 7 was demolished proves that the building's collapse was prepared BEFORE 9/11 since it would have been impossible for a demolition team to place demolition charges all throughout the building in a matter of a few hours, especially in a building with an ongoing fire and damage from debris.
-BBC reports Building 7 (Salomon Brothers building) has collapsed due to fire damage weakening the building BEFORE it actually collapsed, showing that the perpetrators scripted the collapse for the media by preparing an explanation for the collapse to avoid any unfavorable speculation in the immediate aftermath. As you will see, they got it out too early. (Forward this clip to 14:45 to see the report. The comments added highlight the blunder.)
-confirmation that the Salomon Brothers building is Building 7
-emergency workers instructing bystanders to get back because Building 7 is "coming down soon" and is "about to blow up"
To get a better idea of how all these pieces fit into the puzzle, I recommend watching the two videos below and checking out the online journals below. The videos provide more in-depth explanations and also show how 9/11 was not the only time and place that false-flag terrorist operations have been carried out. The journal shows some of the scientific work that has been done to expose the official story as a fraud.
documentary on World Trade Center controlled demolition
documentary on western government terror
www.scholarsfor911truth.org
I hope the MRI goes well, Jill.
ReplyDeletethis is my comment spam huzzzaaahhh!
ReplyDelete