Posted Monday 8/22/22 (Note: 8=2+2+2+2….I love numbers…)
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2
Happy Monday, friends. 🙂 Time is of the essence today as I am booked to the gills, so off we go.
Before I jump into the topic, I need to remind you that the Walk to End Alzheimer’s is about a month away! Holy Smokes!!! Here is my link:
https://www.facebook.com/donate/485347779680154/
If you could join my team and/or come to the Walk on 9/24 in Springfield (or the closest one near you), that would be awesome. You will love it! Also, please donate if you have extra coin. 😉 I hate asking for money, but it is a necessary evil. It is part of the deal if we are going to kill this disease some sweet day.
Exhale. Inhale. (Gears shifting…)
Both of my parents are/were nature lovers. My step mom and step dad are too. Where did we lose that in modernity? I mean, when I was a kid, I spent nearly all of my time outside. I loved fishing, shooting my Daisy BB gun, playing sports, and just loving the outdoors. We would go to the creek, hike, or visit our “Dead Aunt and Uncle’s House”—distant relatives who were not dead nor our aunt/uncle…not completely sure how they got this nickname! 🙂 — and hunt arrowheads. We collected animals, it seemed like, having at various times a pet rabbit, squirrel, duck, and more… Nature was natural for us. 🙂 Do younger generations know what they are missing, or do they just watch YouTube videos of nature to scratch that itch?
I mean, I get it. Nature can be ugly. Just this week I saw a few things in nature die. However, if we are to enjoy nature, that, for now, comes with the territory.
Here are just a few things that I saw in nature this week the last 3 runs:
The mushrooms were this:
https://www.ediblewildfood.com/chicken-of-the-woods.aspx
Amazing… I think I saw 8 or 9 deer, and I only ran for about 2 hours in the 3 days.
Mom would certainly approve.
When mom was first diagnosed in 2009, she stepped up her nature/walking game. She walked everywhere and fished when she could as well. In fact, she did nearly everything right after her diagnosis. She had stopped smoking years ago. She ate more fish and less processed foods. She did brain games and other mentally stimulating things. She played the piano…a lot. She journaled, sort of…at least wrote things down a lot. However, the more dementia is studied, the more we realize that the disease is already taking up residence perhaps long before the first symptom peeks out from the shadows. By the time her symptoms, she had passed what Lisa Genova refers to as “the tipping point”. Here are a couple of videos from her:
(LINK)
Dr. Genova agrees with the Beta Amyloid hypothesis, and this may, or may not, be 100% true because of some research challenges. However, it is a very solid and easy to understand discussion and I still believe, as a layman, that BA does have something to do with this mess…. I love her discussion at the end about resilience! You are more than you can remember! Give it a look. 🙂
Nature is beautiful. Its Creator, the Sovereign Lord, created it to not die. No dementia. No hawks eating the bunnies. No road kill. That is why, to this day, death FEELS unnatural despite what we say to the contrary.
Then sin arrived.
When death entered the world, things changed…everything changed. So here we are…
What do we do with this data?
We work within the framework we are given. We try to live in a way that maintains our body, knowing fully that nobody gets out of here alive, whether by dementia, heart disease, or something else. This matters so much. I am a Christian and would be happy to discuss the hope that is within me because I (and mom) stake my confident hope that death is not the end, but the beginning.
I hate dementia. Of course, I hate death too, in general. Christ feels the same way too…
#EndALZ
Not much to report. I will go see mom tonight and we will listen to some Alan Jackson hymns and have supper as we try to do often. Everything SEEMS stable these days again. 🙂 Here are some pictures of mom enjoying nature last week with my sister: