* H1N1

It might have been a good idea to take a book or a sudoku to the doctors office today.  The place has been striped clean.  No magazines, health pamphlets, or scrap of paper in sight. Nothing to amuse myself as I passed the time.  YIKES!  The STOP signs were there.  At every corner a STOP sign invited me to cleanse my hands with the anti-bacterial goop. I'm curious to know what 'they' will do when the germs out smart the anti-bacterial chemicals and mutate into something else, as they no doubt will. Germs know how to survive! Man hasn't been able to obliterate them yet!   No holding them back.  They are already attending huge 'germ mutation' conferences figuring it out!  A stack of masks attached to the stop sign made me think --- should I be 'scrubbing up'? Perhaps they will allow me into the OR at the Jubilee if I show up in one of these.   I considered cutting holes in one and placing it over my eyes like the  female version of the Lone Ranger - that might cause a few smiles.  Smiles are scarce in the Dr.'s office at the best of times.

A couple sat across from me in the waiting room.  They looked bored as well.  Mr. Husband looked at Mrs. Wife and said in a voice loud enough for me to hear .. "Want me to show you how to clear a waiting room?  I'll just have a little coughing and sneezing fit -- we will move to the front of the line really quick!"  His wife poked him in the ribs and smiled.  I smiled too.  They reminded me of my parents.

My doctors' opinion on the H1N1 vaccine seemed to have changed since the last time I spoke with him.  I had already decided I 'was not accepting delivery' of any kind of flu - so therefore I would not take the H1N1 vaccine.  This suited him fine the first visit.  Shots were not available to my age group at that time, so he agreed I had made the correct decision.  This time, however, the vaccine was available to everyone -- they had tons of the stuff, were busy peddling it,  and anyone who wanted it could have it.  Perhaps you should reconsider he announced.   Perhaps I should not, I thought to myself.  I still had the same opinion - I don't know what the side affects are, I have been exposed to the Hong Kong flu and therefore have some immunity, and thirdly, it's not really hitting my age group.  So, thanks, but no thanks.  I'll take my risks with the flu rather than the vaccine, thank you. What did you think of all the press on the H1N1.  Did you choose the vaccine?

Don't get me wrong, he's a good Doctor and I like him very much.  He takes good care of me in his way, and has done a tremendous amount for me.   He is still, however, a Doctor of Medicine, and as such believes in scientific evidence above all else.  Somewhere along the way traditional medicine has lost track of the fact we are an entire, whole, complete entity - body, mind and spirit.  As a Dr., he sees each organ and piece of us as separate and apart from the whole, to be treated as such.  I don't agree.  My philosophy is we are a complete 'ball of wax' and must be treated as a 'whole'.  I am a big fan of 'integrated medicine'.  It is slow coming and still expensive.  It will, however, evolve in its time.

And so, I came away from the Dr. with very clean hands.  I believe the media has given the H1N1 as much hype as it can bear, and we as a society have swallowed much of it.  We are so easily influenced. I am constantly reminding myself to question everything, and decide what I think for myself.

                                                      WHAT MAKES MY HEART SING

Hot Air Balloons.  There is a huge balloon festival in Albequerque , NM each year.  That event is on my gondola list.  I have never taken a ride in one either. I am excited to experience that.  It must be incredible to drift through the air without a sound - although I know when they light the 'gas fire' to gain altitude, it's very noisy.  The colours are glorious!  A sky full of them makes a tremendous artistic statement.  Even one in the sky is tremendously effective.  When we lived on the acreage in Alberta, they would drift over fairly often, and occasionally would land in the field.  That was always an exciting happening.  I definitely want to witness the big event in New Mexico.  I definitely want to experience a ride in a balloon.  Hot Air Balloons make my heart sing!