Life in The Fast Lane

I can hardly believe that it is January 2012 already, and here we are for our long-planned vacation in the Florida Keys.  This was the view from the porch this morning as the sun came up.  We are trying VERY HARD to slow down for a month and "smell the roses", but man, this is tough.  

First thing in the morning, we have to explain to this little Key Deer with what looks like a dislocated jaw why we can't feed her.  Not supposed to feed her.  Then, she looks at you with this face...

So, okay.  Upstairs to chop up some Papaya skin into very small bites so that she can get it past those old gums...

Took her a long time to get this down, but she ate every bite, then disappeared into the Mangroves to sleep it off.

See what I mean?  On Vaca and already on a mission.  

See all those little dimples in the gravel?  Those are the imprints of all the tiny little hooves of the Key Deer who nose around at night while we are trying to sleep...CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH, all night long.  But we are only greeted with Miz Crooked Jaw in the mornings.  Thank heavens.  That's a lot of little toes, there!

Tomorrow, I have to travel out to the highway to the Winn Dixie for more shredded carrots. She loves shredded carrots.

Life in the Fast Lane.  Chapter One.

Treating Arthritis with Sean Lennon, Salmon, and Randy Travis

So.  I am having this stupid arthritis FLARE for a couple of weeks now, and cannot get control of it.  My body is sooo fatigued, and all I want to do is sleep.  Meantime, there are books to make, fabric to design, and sewing to do.  And I can't.  There are windows of time when everything feels okay, and so I go at it...and then crash, boom.

Fighting Arthur is like a video game.  There are rules, but every rule has a secret sub-rule, and sometimes more than one.  What you have to do in order to win is to unravel all the sub-rules, and balance your counter-attack with very, very fine maneuvers.  Like following a rigorous diet of low animal protein, no acid, no dairy, low salt and sugar, no nightshade veggies, and lots of PH balanced water and freshly made Ginger Tea.  Hard to do for an extended period of time.  But, I get to eat lots of Salmon, Papaya, Avocado, and Quinoa meals:

Photo courtesy of Ginny Hong Blogspot

The worst part is, you have to budget the energy expended for any physical activity, which is even harder for me to do.  When I start feeling better, I am ready to Rock 'N Roll to make up for lost days, and that's where I mess up, every time.  Then the game has to start over, from scratch.

So today, I'm being still and browsing some of my favorite Blogs, so that I won't mess up and get too active.  I found this wonderful video of Sean Lennon and his lovely girlfriend, Charlotte Muhl, which made my day...

NPR interviewed them in their Music Offices, and recorded the session in a Tiny Desk Concert...you can watch it, and listen to their music here. 

Other lovely finds on this day of Forced (Grrr!) Quiet were the Blogs of Greige Design, which I spent the better part of an hour happily browsing through, and French Essence, which I just adore, and will visit often.

Photos courtesy of Greige Design and French Accents.

Now.  Doesn't that make you feel good?  Even with Arthritis?  If not, there was one final treat from Husband last night...

Randy Travis, live at the Cobb Energy Center Auditorium!

He sang "Digging Up Bones", just for me and Arthur.  And made me feel better.