citrus writers of Florida

We left Maine in January. Two months later than anticipated due to discovering a blockage in my heart, and dealing with all the craziness of that experience.

And we left a day later than planned due to an unanticipated snowfall—4 inches. Neighbor John who watches our property plowed us out! We weren’t exactly “Snowbound”—I read John Greenleaf Whittier’s poem when I was a teen. I believe 4 FEET and more is what he had in mind.

For our trip, I opted to wear cotton socks with my L.L.Bean loafers. Sure it was cold at home, but we were heading south after all. We’d be warm by dinner time!

We left early in the day in 9° F weather. It would be warm soon, we’d be in the truck until 9-10 PM, and arriving in the southern mountains, in Wilkes-Barre, PA! Warm country.

Driving at speeds of 65-70 mph, the truck’s heater could not compete with the incoming flow of cold air…(Hubby’s analysis). Late in the day, it was so cold, the heat barely warmed our feet. My feet, although jammed into the heat outlet were being cooled. Being a bit of a contortionist, I pulled one foot up to the seat to warm it, and switched to warm the other. The floor area was cold! When we swapped driver, I felt the heat move around my feet at the accelerator a tiny bit. As a passenger, Hubby’s feet got colder.

I determined something was plugging the airflow. Next time we swapped driver, I crouched down and dug into the passenger’s heater duct. I proudly displayed chewed up paper napkins and other fibers. How pervasive was this blockage? Who were the perpetrators? Mice? Squirrels?

I engaged the heater’s air blower to the max. Tissue paper and bits of filter netting, a part of the dash construction to filter dust and debris that might be lodged in the heater passageway to the dash and window air ducts, flew at Hubby and me. Chunks of paper snow! I pulled more and more fragments from the dash’s vent grillwork with tweezers I had packed in the back seat of the truck.

We got more heat!

We arrived to 11° degrees Farenheit in Wilkes-Barre! Warmer socks and shoes were packed and inaccessible in the bed of our truck. With feet nearly frozen we hustled to our room and cranked the thermostat to 73°.

This intense cold lasted for two days. Even with vents cleaned out, we barely got warm. On the third day, in southern North Carolina, it was warmer…in the 30s. I finally dug out my thick cotton socks and a second sweater.

We arrived at our Florida destination late that night, but it was too cold to spend a whole lot of time unpacking in the dark with a flashlight. However, I brought in all that should not be left out in the cold…well, it had been left out for a couple of days and nights… but how cruel can you be to your stuff? My stuff? I like my stuff.

The cold lasted for a few days after we arrived…in the 30s and 40s. Nearly a week later, we have 60° and low 70° weather.

Discomfort is soon forgotten when things get better.

Things are better.

Hope all is well with you all. Leave a comment below. Love to hear from you.

Oh, and keep warm, too.

Here I am at the Citrus Writers of Florida meeting, in Citrus Springs.
My heart fills with joy. But I can’t fill a form without making errors I have to scribble out—street address, phone number, what software do I use for this and that. I scan my cell phone for answers I know I mentioned in past FB posts. I’m not functioning properly. I am too excited.

SO I THOUGHT.

But THAT excited?

I met some of the people I longed to see for the last two years. This was a Citrus Writers of Florida monthly meeting I had just learned about from an author friend. I didn’t think I’d be able to attend for Hubby had appointments out of town. Medical checkups, etc..

We left very early. Hubby didn’t believe it was a twenty-nine minute drive. More like an hour drive, he argued. I had started breakfast, he went to the car and waited for me to appear! He dialed my cell phone. “Are you coming?”

Okay. Nix the breakfast, brush your teeth, see if you are presentable, grab a book, pour coffee in a portable cup, grab a bottle of water, jab a banana and two apples in the purse and off we go. I quickly ate the banana and drank the coffee. (I need to eat in the morning and this would have to do.)

The appointments went well. We cancelled a scheduled scan Doc said was no longer necessary. And another appointment we planned to schedule was already scheduled for next month. So that was easy.

Because of our twenty-nine minute drive, we were early. The nurse immediately called us for our appointment, and said, “Glad you came early. I’ll take you now.” On our way home, I realized now I had time to attend the 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. meeting in Crystal River! Hubby obliged and drove me to the meeting and I had 4 minutes to spare. He planned to read and snooze in the car.

Like I said, it was a wonderful meeting. I plan to sign up as a member.

Returning home, I ate my apple and looked forward to more food. I was starved. After our late lunch, I had a revelation. My sugar level was low. I usually experience signals when it gets low. This time, I was so happy to be somewhere, it just didn’t register.

I have Hypoglycemia. I manage it with protein, and especially with breakfast. I was running on empty and filled my tank with a high glycemic banana, and a black coffee, which acts like sugar. That’s when my system registers too much sugar here, and begins to rid itself of the sudden stockpile. But there are times when it doesn’t turn off when it should and I get giddy, forgetful, confused and sometimes sick to my stomach.

Ergo: my difficulty in filling in a form and remembering simple things and people’s names at the meeting, and trying to remember who had notified me of the event.

I first experienced these symptoms many years ago. I had to convince my doctor that I had low blood sugar. He didn’t believe me until one day, during an appointment, I turned very pale and sick to my stomach. I said, “I need milk. Now.” His nurse sacrificed her lunch milk. I recovered immediately. Doc gave me a home finger test and chart. “Do a finger blood test first thing in the morning. Write the results here,” he pointed to the chart. “And write anything/comments here. Come back in a week.”

In the mornings, I leaned against the kitchen counter and “chased” my finger with a little spring loaded tiny blade gun (I hate cutting and needles). The right hand had a job to do. The left hand wanted to live up to its name, “left” which is past tense of “leave.”

I smeared the blood on paper strips and filled in the numbers on the form. At times, I couldn’t spell simple words. Once I struggled with the word “with.” I gave up on the third try. I won French spelling competitions in grammar school and I was also a great English speller.

I left the misspelling and scribbles for Doc to see. He said, in his ten years of medicine, no one had ever diagnosed themselves with the condition. He agreed. I had Low Blood Sugar.

His advice: monitor and control the condition with nutrition as I had been. It was better than drugs.

So I eat breakfast every morning. And it is under control.

I hope the form I filled doesn’t alarm the group. I was tired, hungry, listening, researching, writing…all at the same time. Talk about stressors. Stressors alone can make one’s sugar act weird.

But I was happy! And still am.

I can’t wait to attend the next meeting.