alzheimers news-last day

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-LAST DAY
if my amnestic mild cognitive impairment does as it
is expected to do
progress to full blown alzheimers disease
could i or should i or would i
choose my last day

my cousin about my age posted online on facebook
this article
the last day of her life from the nytimes magazine

i know she must think about all this a lot
since like me
her mom and dad both died with dementia
she watched them dwindle away
as did all her dads siblings
including my mother who was a sister to her dad

we all know what that final course is like
i saw it first hand in my mother and my younger brother
it was so difficult to see them in those final stages
with all the health issues that that entails
almost cruel it seemed

so i think about this a lot
and
i have thought about this a lot
and
this article just makes me want to pause a minute
and
think about this article

could or would or should i plan something like this

now ive seen on tv these specials on euthanasia
where folks are allowed to legally end their life
now i will admit though that it seemed some of
those folks had more living to do
but
there were many whose time had come
cant we let them die with some dignity at the time
and place of their choosing

now i watched still alice the movie about the
college professor who had alzheimers disease
she planned hers out
even got the drugs set aside in a drawer
with the instructions on her computer on how to
do this final episode of her life

the problem was she couldnt understand
and
follow the directions

i look at my mothers disease progression
and
my younger brothers progression
and
i think at what point would be the point to
do this final episode of my life

i think of times in their disease
and
think definitely before them
then
at earlier times
no definitely not yet

so timing is the problem
for you see i plan to extract all i can out this
final journey
but
when no more can be extracted
then
its time

but
am i going to be like still alice where ive waited
too late

i think this person in this article was a brave brave
person
to do what she did
she left on her own terms
before the final deep despondent for everyone involved
heart wrenching loss of humanity decline
occurs

now
i know thats the thing to do
i would want it that way
but
scheduling it seems to be the problem

i want to be remembered as a good family doctor
a good husband
a good father
a good grandfather

an advocate

a volunteer
an organic gardener
and
not as a shriveled up shell of myself at the end
both physically and mentally

take a moment
read this article
dont judge

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-garlic harvest

COUNTRY N NEWS-GARLIC HARVEST
well we wont have to worry about the vampires for
a long time here at the country n
as
we harvested our 90+ heads of garlic
im sure those vampires wont even come near here
heck i bet they wont even show up on our tv either

now this year is the first year
i have grown garlic in my new hugulkultur like beds
with its rich rich deep soil

it seems the garlic heads are much bigger this year
now this one is an elephant garlic that got left in the
ground from last year and grew this year
its hand size
elephant garlic doesnt have that strong garlic smell and flavor
like the smaller one does

on the rest of the garlic
i waited until the side leaves began to brown some
then

i dug the soil off some of the garlic heads in the ground
so i could watch them
when i noticed their growth slowed down

and
if they got these little knots on the side
which are baby bulbs
i pulled them

if you leave them in the ground too long
which i did two years ago
you get these small little baby bulbs growing
and
the garlic is drier and less flavorful

so i waited until the growth slowed
i made sure and didnt water them a few weeks
before they were harvested

i pulled all of them up ie i harvested them
laid them out under a covered area
so they could dry out
usually 2-3 weeks

then
i will cut off the bulb from the stems
and the roots from the other end

this is what they look like when we store them
usually in mesh bags hanging in our kitchen closet
waiting for us to use them

we use a lot of garlic
besides keeping vampires away
not sure if they work on zombies
they make food taste better
may help slow down and prevent heart disease
and
alzheimers disease

so this year
we have had a good harvest
with good garlic bulb production
which we will enjoy usually until after new years
each year

good ole country n organic garlic
cant do better than that

the organicgreen doctor

water where art thou

WATER WHERE ARENT THOW
i saw posted online this morning the drought areas
for the united states
here in central texas there is this real dark area
the darkest color that can be put on the map
that sits just west of us here at the country n


this is the recharge area for the lakes that feed into
the main water source for austin texas
lake travis
which is still only 1/3 full

despite all the rain thats fallen on austin in the last
several weeks and months
they are way ahead of normal
but
all the water flows through the streets into the drains
into the creeks into the colorado river
then into the gulf of mexico
but
very little gets into the lakes where its needed

heck
lake front wink wink owners have to drive their
four wheelers down the coves around the corner
a long distance
to even dip their toes in the lake

its such a cruel thing that nature can do to an area
so much water but not enough to drink

all this rain thats flooding in from the west south
and southwest onward to the areas north and east
of here
but its not dumping enough to
that recharge zone where its  needed

even here at the country n
despite all the wet days
we still do not have full rainwater capacity
we are only about 50% full

there may be some hope today as all this moisture
from all those directions may converge over us
if it hits the recharge zone it will miss us at the country n
if it goes too far west like it appears this  morning it might
both of us will miss this rain
then
we will be back to where we were

needing rain


i read where lake mead in arizona is low real low
lower than its been since the lake was built
ie when they were filling it up
tucson gets its water from there
pumping it up over the mountains down to the city
but
some degree of rationing may have to occur
then
california and nevada is sucking water from there
and the colorado river for its use

then i saw a special on tv about the poor quality of
water in india
basically the sewage runs into the rivers and lakes
people bath in it and drink the water
which then goes into the sewers back to the lakes
etc etc

it seems
that the crisis we all may face in the future
is not isis
or
not enough oil
or
maybe not enough food
or
climate change
it may be water
good plentiful safe water

of course
i dont see enough being done about this

but
we do try to do our part
here at the country n

the organicgreen doctor