Who do you know who suffers from sore, painful knees, hips, fingers or shoulders? You love this person who has arthritis and you are going to go shopping to buy them something for Christmas. Why not combine a cozy lap blanket with an herbal pain reliever and a deep-tissue cream that could bring comfort as well as warmth?
I’m not a shopper so I was stunned Wed. night when a friend and I went to a movie in Seattle’s endless mall area with a big AMC. We were thinking the parking would be easier. Whoa! People are out shopping already—in droves and into the night. In this blog, I’m inviting you to shop. ‘Tis the season, right?
You might appreciate choosing gifts that bring better health to those you care about. This is an invitation to shop for health. Bring meaning to every purchase.
Have you watched Annie Leonard’s Story of Stuff? Take a minute to watch before piling up a mound and consider the necessity of each purchase and how it got to the store and what the received is going to do with that gift later.
I make an argument for buying a Shaklee product over something else because I believe in the company’s philosophy of living in harmony with nature in every aspect of their corporate life. In the end, stuff is stuff, and all the great suggestions I have for you about things you can add to a Shaklee product to make a sweet, health enhancing gift still accumulates stuff. It is tricky being a fierce environmentalist and a sales person of goods I love and buy myself.
So, having suggested you buy nothing this Christmas here goes my suggestions for what to buy for someone who has been complaining of arthritis. After all, I know you and I are going to buy some stuff anyway.
Joint Health Complex and Peggy Cappy’s CD meditation for back health. I listen to this CD nearly every night and I’m convinced her quiet words have helped heal the arthritis in my lower back. You can add an orthopedic pillow. This is the one I have used for the last 15 years and I love it.
If you decide to do any of these suggestions, I’d love to hear about the results. You can shop for the Shaklee part of the gift at www.GrandmaBetsyBell.com/shop. Or you can click on the links above.
Have a great Thanksgiving, pain free and full of love.
Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,
Betsy
206 933 1889
Enjoy the list. I hope you get some great ideas. Let me know if you have questions.
In my last post, I talked about the pain of plantars faciitis along with some suggestions as to how to alleviate that debilitating pain. Today, I want to address the care of your feet, i.e. blisters and how to heal and prevent them.
Last Wed. Betty and I hiked 11 miles along Rattlesnake Ridge, overlooking North Bend, WA., a trail 45 minutes from Seattle. It is a through-hike requiring two cars. We chose the long uphill route dropping to the Ledge and thence to the lake below. Rattlesnake
People fall to their death from the Rattlesnake Ridge ledge
ledge is infamous because so many unprepared people can easily get up there–it is only 1 1/2 miles, and every year one or two fall off to their death below.
View from Rattlesnake ledge
In spite of arthritis, chronic pain, aching joints–hips, knees, ankles–, you still want to go walking. Your feet must have the best possible support. For me, this has been a huge challenge because I have bunions which require double wide men’s shoes. At one point I developed a metatarsal neuroma or Morton’s neuroma . I mentioned Dr. Huppin’s Foot and Ankle clinic last week. He knew exactly what modifications to make to the orthotic inserts to take the pressure off the 2nd toe and spread weight over all the toes.
He and his partner, Dr. Hale, publish a guide to shoes that helps a person choose the most stable shoe. They even consider and recommend a flip flop! Here’s the link where you can sign up for their recommended shoe list and guide lines on how to choose a shoe that will keep your foot stable.
On the Rattlesnake Ridge hike, I make a huge mistake. I ignore a hot spot between my big toe and the 2nd toe, a place where I have rubbed countless blisters. By the time I get home late that night, after another event, I can hardly walk.
I’d like to share what to do to avoid that suffering. Blisters are serious business. I knew a woman who ignored a blister her ski boot rubbed. It developed septicemiaand she died before they could airlift her to a hospital.
Women on Wed.hike to Red Pass on the Pacific Crest Trail
In my pack I carry a tape made by a German company. The product is called Hansaplast and is not available in the US, only Canada and Mexico in North America. But of course anywhere in Europe you can purchase rolls of this magical thin, easy-to-tear-with-your-fingers tape. If I’m not going to Europe, I ask a traveling friend to buy it for me. Usually I put a piece of this tape on the areas of my feet most likely to blister in my hiking boots before I begin the hike. Usually, if I feel a hot spot, the way I did when we hiked out of Commonwealth Basin up the Pacific Crest Trail toward Red Pass, I stop on the trail and take off my boots and sox and put the tape on, thus preventing a blister. But on Rattlesnake Ridge, I ignored everything I usually do.
The blister kept me awake all night. In the morning I punctured it, cleaned it carefully and put Second Skin on it. This is the second thing to tell you about blisters. Second Skin is a must for your pack first aide kit. Don’t leave home without it. You leave the second skin on for 5 days and by that time the blister is completely healed. I hiked again yesterday, 8 miles on Tiger Mt. with quite an elevation gain. Before going, I used the Hansaplast and a pair of liner sock.No blisters or sore feet.
One more suggestion for protecting your feet and legs: walk with hiking sticks and use them to lift your body up and lower it down on the steep bits of trail. Your upper body gets a work out and your legs and feet have less stress. We spent much of our time on Tiger a little bit lost. I was glad we were 5 and that my smart phone GPS could locate us, but nothing helped poor signage. We are determined to master the maze of wilderness trails on this complicated mountain, a foot hill of the Cascade Range, blessedly protected by forward looking environmentalists. Known as the Issaquah Alps, Tiger and Cougar and Squak mountains form a corridor of wilderness in an otherwise densely developed exurban Seattle.
More than anything, keep moving, Gentle Reader, keep moving.
Before you go, what is your foot sore story and how have you kept sore feet from keeping you in your chair? Let us hear from you.
Can an arthritis sufferer who is also over weight benefit from Medicinal Herbs & Herbal Supplements? Perhaps you are one of those people like a friend of mine. She’s in her late 40s and has been unable to get to her ideal weight for her entire life. She was a fat baby. She has eaten the perfect diet: low carbs, lean protein, plenty of fruits and vegetables and hardly any snack foods that most of us would consider OK for once-in-a-while treats. She has developed aches and pains, those joint issues that come when a person exercises a lot (trying to get that weight down) and fears arthritis is creeping in. She already takes medicinal herbs and herbal supplements made by Shaklee which help with pain relief. I have described the benefit of Pain Relieve Complex in several previous posts.
In desperation, she consulted a physician who suggested the Atkins diet. For the beginning months she ate nothing but protein and then slowed added carbohydrates in the form of raw vegetables, 25 grams a day, no more. (One protein source she loves is Shaklee’s Instant Protein Soy Mix, a pure, non-GMO protein source with no carbohydrates at all.) She began using the medicinal herbs and herbal supplementGlucose Regulation Complex.
Taken in the middle of a meal, the herbs in this Glucose Regulation Complex unlock the doors of the stubborn cells and allow the sugars to enter! Voila! And Halleluiah! At last her body is using the glucose to energize her and the pounds are coming off.
Medicinal herbs and herbal supplements abound on the market today. How do you decide where to buy them and from whom? Let me suggest the following bench marks to consider. If your product does not meet all these requirements, look further, or shop for the Shaklee product. (If the Shaklee corporation makes the medicinal herb or herbal supplement you are looking for, you are in luck. If not, ask these questions of the manufacturer before you buy.)
Does the company control the source material from which the medicinal herb or herbal supplement is created?
If not, does it inspect with a plant chromatography methods? In other words, does the batch of raw material pass through a thorough inspection of all the properties to determine if there are contaminants, and if the plant material is what it supposed to be?
Has the company conducted double blind scientific testing to see if the medicinal herbs and herbal supplements manufactured by the company itself reached the blood stream in the human body and performed as predicted? Was the study conducted well enough for a peer-review journal to publish the results?
Does the company provide a money back guarantee on the medicinal herb or herbal supplement so that if the customer does not get the results they are looking for, they get their money back?
If all these points cannot be answered in the affirmative, I would not recommend buying that medicinal herb or herbal supplement.
OK, then. Are you one of those people who are ready to try a medicinal herb or herbal supplement to see if you can get your body to accept glucose into the cells? If so, please take a look at Glucose Regulation Complex. The active ingredients include
Other ingredients include Magnesium (as magnesium oxide) and Zinc (as zinc gluconate)
These ingredients help the sugars you eat get into the cells where they belong. End of sugar cravings!
With the loss of extra pounds, arthritis pain goes down and maybe even away. Of course, I can’t predict your individual outcome, but what if Glucose Regulation Complex worked for you the way it has for my friend? Why not give it a try?
The side benefits of Glucose Regulation Complex include lowering cholesterol. The scientific information you will want to study is in this pdf. I have put the document on the resources page of my blog www.grandmabetsybell.com/resources/.
Feel free to pass this post along to friends and family who struggle with weight loss. This may provide the missing ingredient.
I’d love your comments so others can benefit from your wisdom.
A new customer is determined to make changes in her habits so she is supporting better health for the future. She worries about the high cost of eating organic. Not every fruit and vegetable is equally laden with pesticides and herbicides. When you are working toward an organic diet, you can expect your food bill to go up. You expect that. But is there a way to move gradually to organic.
Why bother going organic? For the arthritis sufferer, the joints are susceptible to toxins that come into our body in processed and fresh non-organic foods. The joints have poor blood flow so it is harder to flush these toxins. If your arthritis is crippling, painful and keeps you from exercising, the build up of toxins in the joints can cause inflammation and be difficult to alleviate. By all means, keep walking, keep moving those joints if at all possible to get a flow into them which will flush toxins out.
For the rest of us, pesticides are not a good thing. They create stress on the immune system and could even cause cancer. The toxic chemicals coming along for the ride on our fresh fruits and vegetables are especially harmful to children whose bodies are small and can not handle the stress.
I share this web site which includes two videos for your consideration.
Not all fruits and vegetables are bad for us.
The harmful effect is greater on children and adults with compromised health.
Stick to foods that can be peeled: watermelon, cantelope, pinapple, corn, and peel the non-organic apples, potatoes, peaches.
Avoid the dirty dozen. You’ll find them on the web site above where you can down load the infomation and carry it in your purse when you shop.
Another way to get past the cost (and check carefully, sometimes the price difference isn’t that great.) is to prepare half an apple for the kids. Quarter them and that way they will have the great benefit of the organic fruit without the pesticides. Serve less. Make the organic item go farther.
Good luck with this change. You will be amazed at how wonderful the organic produce tastes. Treat yourself. Have fruit for dessert and forget the ice cream. Yummy.
These beautiful fall days have many of us moving and shaking. Great time for working in the garden, chasing our soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, football, field hockey playing school children and perhaps you are among the older adults who play geezer basketball and master’s tennis. My favorite thing to do in the fall is hunt chanterelles. Eight of us hikers recently had a successful day. We were lifting legs, stooping, reaching, climbing steeply through giant sword fern, around old stumps, over huge fallen fir and cedar trees. This is exercise. Well rewarded.
So many chanterelles!
I am having such a consuming time writing the story of my courtship with my first husband that I haven’t been taking time to workout at home. Perhaps some of you over 65 have found Silver Sneakers, the Medicare Program that encourages Active Older Adults (AOA) to remain flexible and independent. I tried my first class this last week. When I saw all the chairs set out, I thought this class would be way too easy. Not at all. The chairs were for balance when standing behind them on one foot. They also gave us a platform for 80 repetitions of getting up and down out, standing—sitting, standing—sitting. We used weights and bands for increasing upper body strength. What fun to be in a room full of smiling gray haired men and women having a great time.
On Friday mornings I go to an AOA salsa dancing class, led by a gorgeous, slim older woman who can lead the rumba, salsa, cha-cha-cha, and mambo to Cuban and Brazilian music. We trill our tongues, clap the flamenco and sweat. Fabulous.
I brought 3 new hens home from my grandson’s birthday celebration on his family’s farm an hour north of Seattle and these young ladies are not being welcomed into the established coop of 3 Rhode Island Reds. They flew over my 6 foot fencing and scattered into the neighborhood. Picture this old lady trying to corner a frightened chicken and having to climb a rockery with a blanket in my hand. We did lose one little black hen, which broke my heart. They are not settled yet. I’m pleased that I have the energy and stamina and flexibility to chase chickens. Take those classes. Life in the suburbs! You may have to use all that strength moving and shaking in some unexpected ways.
A little Araucana is not accepted by the Rhode Island Reds.
How about you? What classes are you taking to keep fit? Let us know. While you are responding, “like” my fan page on Facebook, www.facebook.com/betsybellshealth4u
How many of you have suffered from chronic hip pain? You’ve been to the doctor, the chiropractor, the massage therapist – and nothing seems to help for very long. Julie Donnelly is a Deep Muscle Massage Therapist with 20 years of experience specializing in the treatment of chronic joint pain and sports injuries. Thanks to Dr. Chaney, I received this excellent article written by Julie about a very simple technique you can use at home to experience dramatic pain relief.
If you enjoy today’s post, please forward this email to a friend.
How Can You Relieve Chronic Hip Pain?
Making Hip Pain Go Away
Author: Julie Donnelly
Hip Pain Getting rid of hip painthe ball releases the tightness in the muscle
Do you have joint pain or stiffness? Does it hurt when you’ve been sitting and you try to get up and walk? Have you tried to stretch and either it feels good for a few minutes and then you’re back to square one, or maybe even worse, it hurts more than it did before? Do you sometimes feel like your joints are just tied down and you’re no longer flexible? Do you maybe even blame it on “old age?” The odds are extremely high that all that’s happening is your muscles are in spasm.
If any of these statements fit you, you’ll really love today’s message. As a bonus, at the end of this blog you’ll learn a self-treatment technique that you’ll love if you ever have hip pain.
I’ve mentioned many times that a tight muscle pulling on a tendon will cause joint pain, just like pulling on your hair will cause your scalp to hurt. And, just like the only way to stop the pain in your head is to let go of your hair, the only way to stop the pain in your joint is to release the tight muscle.
Another analogy that I use frequently has to do with stretching and why you may feel worse AFTER you stretch than you did before you stretched. If you took a 12″ line and tied enough knots in it so it is now 11″, and then you try to stretch it back to 12″ without first untying the knots, you can see what would happen. The knots would become tighter and the fibers on either side of the knot would be overstretched and could possibly even tear. If the line was attached to a fixed point on either side you can imagine the strain that is happening to the attachment points. This is exactly what is happening to you when you when you stretch a muscle that is tied up in knots (spasms). You can see how important it is to first release the spasms before stretching.
Today I’d like to share with you how to do one of the Julstro self-treatments that we teach on the Julstro self-treatment DVD. So many people have hip pain that I’d like to explain how to treat the tensor fascia lata muscle which is located on the outside of your hip, between your hip bone and the top of your thigh bone:
Using a tennis ball (hollow in the center so it is a bit less intense) or a Perfect Ball (solid in the center so it gets in deeper) place the ball right where the side-seam of your pants is located – between the two bones. If you are in a lot of pain, start by leaning into a wall. If you want to go deeper into the muscle, lie on the floor on top of the ball. You may need to move an inch or so to find the “epicenter” of the spasm, but you’ll know immediately when you locate it. Always make sure you keep your pressure to a “hurts so good” level, you’re in control so don’t over-do.
Once you find the spasm, which is also called a “trigger point,” just stay still on it for 30-60 seconds. Lift your weight off the ball for a few breaths and then press into the ball again. This second time you’ll find that it won’t be as painful as the first time because you have already pressed out some of the H+ ions that are causing the spasm (and the pain).
Keep repeating this for a few minutes and then slightly move your body so you can find other trigger points that are around your hips. You’ll probably find points that are a little bit toward the front of your hip, so make sure you rotate your body so you’re facing more toward the wall or the floor, and then rotate your body so you’re back is more toward the wall or the floor.
This one simple technique has saved several of my clients from thinking they needed hip surgery! It will help you move easier and with less discomfort – and often it will totally eliminate the pain from your hip completely.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Thanks to Julie for this advice. For those of you who have sciatica, try this method to get rid of hip pain. Let me know how it works for you.
Sore back? Been traveling, sitting in an airplane for hours? Did you enjoy a vigorous hiking holiday slogging miles over boulders, roots and bogs for days in a row? Maybe you had back surgery, successful but still stiff and cranky. Or perhaps, you joined a new salsa dance class (that would be my recent experience) for the first time and the instructor had you swinging your hips in directions they hadn’t gone in 50 years.
There’s nothing that slows you down more than a sore back, whether it is caused by over-exersion, chronic arthritis, or a sudden move that sets everything zinging. Here are four tips to get you moving comfortably again.
1. A muscle relaxant for a few days won’t kill you and will give those spasms a chance to quiet down. There are a lot of over the counter medications to chose from. My personal favorite is Aleve. I can usually manage flare ups with frequent doses of Shaklee’s Pain Relief Complex, a herbal COX 2, 5 LOX inhibitor that will not damage your stomach. 99% of the time I can manage a sore back with Pain Relief Complex. It gives me peace of mind to know I am not hurting my stomach or creating any bad side effects.
2. To relieve a sore back my friend alternated between hot compresses and ice, getting the blood to move through the low back. The joints are not easy to flush with blood flow so this is an excellent therapy, especially if you have the leisure to work on the problem. The hottub is excellent for the heat. I use mine every night sending the jets on any sore muscles. In the case of acute sore back, more frequent cold/hot changes will speed the healing along.
3. For immediate relief for a sore back, rub Joint and Muscle Pain Cream or other menthol analgesic into the area. For years I relied on Arnica Montana or Icy Hot cream, but I have found that the pain-relieving effect seems to penetrate more deeply and last longer.
4. I use the Back2Life machine daily and when my back is more sore than normal, I will relief the sore back by getting on the floor with my knees over the top of this contraption several times a day. It’s gentle motion is like a Feldenkrais manipulation. The small, steady lifting and lowering motion of the Back2Life machine, relaxes and opens up the sacrum, allowing blood to flow into the irritated and inflammed area. The machine is set to do its work for about 13 minutes which is just about as long as a busy person can stand to be still, lying on the floor. Past posts about the Back2Life Machine.
In addition to these excellent sore back relieveing strategies, I like to put Peggy Cappy‘s soothing voice on before I go to sleep every night. In fact, her voice usually puts me to sleep. She takes you through a muscle relaxing meditation for about 20 minutes beginning with the eyes and facial muscles. By the time she has progressed through the entire body, you are so still and relaxed, you couldn’t move an arm or a leg. The last part of the CD takes you even deeper and she talks to your “inner mind” about the way sore and damaged joints restore through rebuilding healthy new cells using the nutrients offered by the blood stream. I am convinced that if I were to get an MRI of my lower back and spine today, the deforming and pain-causing spinal stenosis and osteoarthritis would be less evident, just because of her CD. Sound to woo-woo for you? Never mind. Listen to her relaxing CD anyway for relief from the SORE BACK that has you moaning. To read a past post about Peggy Cappy, click here.
Probably the most effective strategy of all is moving. As soon as you can tolerate even a little movement, get up and walk. It is only by getting blood flow back into the disturbed joint that healing can be accelerated.
I wish you well in your journey to a healthy back, and the end of the sore back experience.
Vitamin D, seems to be the miracle supplement as research turns up more benefits. In my recent travels, along the Inside Passage in Alaska, I worried about the many “round” people from the cruise ships. They may not have gotten a diagnosis of diabetes from their doctor. But they may, like many of us, walk around leading what seems like normal lives with pre-diabetes.
Dr. Steve Chaney describes the condition in his recent newsletter. [To read the whole letter, go to Resources: Diabetes is a deadly scourge.] He says that when we become overweight our tissues become insulin resistant. Initially our pancreas responds by pumping out more insulin to keep our blood sugar levels near normal. It also starts releasing fatty acids into the bloodstream.
At this stage our blood sugar levels are pretty well under control, but our blood levels of insulin and fatty acids are higher than normal. We are asymptomatic for the most part, so many of us never realize that we have a problem.
And lots of us are pre-diabetic!
When the normal range goes to pre-diabetic and beyond.
My grandfather on my mother’s side was diabetic. He was a Swede-Finn, emigrating to New York City in around 1900 and joining the dock builders union. He worked hard, driving piles, helping construct the Brooklyn Bridge and the piers along New York’s maritime harbor. Then he sat down. His knees hurt. His hands hurt. His back hurt. He had arthritis and moving his body hurt. Then he developed diabetes.
My mother was never diagnosed with diabetes. I suspected her of being very close to slipping from pre-diabetic to diabetes in the last 10 years of her life. Her shoulders hurt. Her hands hurt. She had old age arthritis at 55 and began taking Motrin. I remember her and my father both taking drugs for their aches and pains when I was in high school. They both slowed down, walking less and less. She was never diagnosed with diabetes. She died of pancreatic cancer.
This family history is a major driver for me to stay slim and active in spite of major arthritis.
Dr. Chaney points out that there are several published clinical studies showing that lifestyle changes (weight loss, exerciseand a healthy diet supplying all of the essential nutrients) can significantly reduce the progression of pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes.
Excercise
Supplement with Vitamin D3 by Shaklee
This is a blog about managing arthritis. See how stiff joints, slowing down, mild and more severe osteo-arthritis, the kind that comes with aging, can be part of the pre-diabetic cluster of conditions? The primary focus of Dr. Chaney’s article is the research about the benefit of Vitamin D on keeping the pancreas healthy. Make no mistake, however, Vitamin D by itself will not prevent diabetes.
Do not let your aches and pains keep you from moving. Keep those joints active to the maximum extent of their flexibility.
Take Vitamin D if you are over weight and suspect you are pre-diabetic. But there is no magic bullet.
I was talking with a young woman today who says she doesn’t want to take pills. I’m all for avoiding medicines if possible. It was a major challenge for me to understand vitamins are food supplements, foodlets, if you will. Yes, they are in pill form. I seldom refer to my vitamins as pills. They are my supplements. I take them to fill in the gaps and to compensate for the sluggish utilization of nutrients that comes with age. We do not make Vitamin D from the sun the way we did when we were 10.
We are going into the winter months when those of us in the north will get less and less sun exposure. Why not supplement with Vitamin D3? Especially if you are little round in the middle. Then, by all means, consider the 180 Turnaround program for losing those extra pounds. You’ll be thrilled with how much easier it is to move with even 10 pounds less to carry around.
To your good health,
Be well, Do well and Keep moving,
Betsy
206 933 1889
PS If you would like to comment or ask a question, please email me at betsy@hihohealth.com. I’ve had too many spammy comments and have limited access to the comment section, but I would still love to hear from you.
In the end, and in the beginning, there is only one thing we –you and I– can do to bring lasting health to our aching bodies. Life style change. As I travel the Alaska Marine Highway, eat in the cafeteria on board, snack along the wharf in the various Inside Passage towns, I struggle with how to maintain my eating habits with poor choices everywhere. Some people go on vacation and throw their healthy life-style to the winds for those 7 – 21 days. Unfortunately the stomach doesn’t know you are on vacation and when the deep fried foods, extra sour dough bread with butter come rolling down the intestinal track, the joints react.
I’ve been having a few digestive and joint issues until yesterday when I found an IGA in Skagway with a ripe peach, some snap peas, and carrots. Amazing how getting back to the healthy routine will quickly restore one to their mobile less-pained body. Did I mention I also found a 4 mile round trip hike up to Dewey Lake right out of Skagway on 2nd Ave?
hiking in Skagway, Dewey Lakes
So good to move after strolling. What a difference.
This article about the new weight loss drug Dexaprine came across my desk. Dr. Chaney talks about the hazards of relying on a magic pill to take care of the pounds that weigh our joints down. It simply doesn’t work. Read his whole article here.
Want to really make a difference in your health? Lose 10 pounds. Safely. Let the fat go, keep the lean muscle. Have the energy to work out, or a least begin a walking program. Change the way you eat, permanently. That’s what the 180 Turnaround kit and the Lean and Healthy Kit are all about. Consider these Shaklee products as a way to launch yourself into a permanent life-style change. Personally, I’ll be drinking –or pouring over my breakfast cereal–a Shaklee 180 smoothee for the rest of my life, just as I have been doing ever since I achieved my goal weight 25 years ago with the Shaklee shakes and vitamins. Why not? Excellent science behind the product. Delicious. Sustains energy all day. Convenient to use (I have packets with me on this trip.) Cheaper than the fast food items at Starbuck’s or McDonalds. Begin today.
Be well, Do well and Keep Moving,
Betsy
PS to catch the latest on the Alaska expedition, click here
PPS Leave me your diet success/struggle stories in the comment section.
My sister-in-law, Joan Bell, arrived last Wed. just as I was cleaning the paint residue from the back garden and deck. We were Alaska-bound and she had the excited energy that quivered, “Alaska, here we come.” Of course, I had a few more things to do to be ready for our Friday morning departure. We got away by 9:30 on the 16th, heading north in the Shaklee car, my 2002 Prius. Two stops along the way included the return of an air purifier to a customer after getting it fully functional once again, and a lovely lunch stop with the Schleh family in Mt. Vernon. All three grandchildren were there, a rare opportunity. Young adults are hard to gather in a clump. They were between fairs. Daniel and Ian proudly showed me their belt buckles, winnings for showmanship in the Skagit County Fair. By now they have hauled into the Monroe Washington State Fair with Boar goats, Saanen goats and Highlander cows. This will be the first year in many that I will not watch them parade their animals around the ring.
Young travelers to Alaska bring their own state-rooms.
Over tuna salad, Joan Schleh, my step-daughter, regaled us with her tales of jumping on a ferry for Ketchikan, fresh out of high-school, back-pack laden and ready for work in the canneries. She had heard the call: Alaska, here we come, figuring she could make money as well as the Filipino women who were working the line. Without a map or a number to call, she got off the boat after 36 hours of sleeping on the deck and sharing pot luck with other campers. Unable to locate the friend-of-a-friend, she boldly caught a ride to where there was work and signed on. Two weeks later, she’d called home and discovered there was a job waiting for her in Washington, DC and she caught the next ferry home to try her luck on the other side of the country. It was just as well. No place to stay at the cannery, the foreman had cleared a shelf and indicated the space was her’s for the sleeping. Joan’s children listened to their mother’s adventure, rapt with attention.
Bellingham, WA from deck of the Columbia
We departed from Bellingham, the starting point of the Alaska Marine Highway. My great friend and sponsor in Shaklee lives in B’ham where she has become a well-known ceramic artist. We stopped by a gallery featuring her work on our way to the ferry. The Columbia is the biggest boat in the 11 boat fleet. About half the crew got off with us in Ketchikan having worked a week, traveling up to Juneau and then back down to Bellingham, thence home.
In stark contrast to Joan Schleh, Joan Bell and I enjoyed a cabin with bunk beds and a bathroom with shower, money enough to eat in the dining room after drinks in the luxurious bar. The inside passage proved to be as intimate an encounter with wild shoreline, leaping Orca whales, porpoise, harbor seals and eagles as advertised. While we are disappointed that the uncharacteristic cloudless days of July are gone in this early Fall, the mist and fog drape the low-rise islands with seductive vails, layering green on green, reaching higher and higher into the cloud cover. Armed with rain pants and umbrellas, we are loving the cloud-play and ever-changing weather.
Intimate harbor in front of Christmas House B&B in Ketchikan AK
Here in Ketchikan, we are tucked into an old 1940s cabin on stilts with high-tide water under the floor boards, an old propane burner in the center of the patterned linoleum floor. Our windows look out onto an intimate harbor complete with eagle, heron and king-fisher. Both of us have slipped into memories of cabins in Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire and Oklahoma from our childhood family vacation days. We have 4 nights here and will not run out of things to do or places to visit. Just today we spent several hours at the end of the road going north where its turnaround is just beyond a well-kept state park. Various civic groups helped construct one of the safest, most extravagantly beautiful stair-filled hiking trails I have walked. The deep sun-dappled rain forest floor covering is a Bigalow carpet of moss and tiny golden mushrooms. Moss drips from the prickly branches of the Sitka spruce. Brilliant red berries hang from elderberry shrubs and light the path from the centers of bunch-berry dogwood. Salmon swell the swollen river plummeting down from the steep hill that characterizes these Inside Passage islands.
We spent the late afternoon at the fish hatchery at the extreme south end of the Tongass highway watching black bears feed on salmon, along side flocks of argumentative seagulls. Even though three enormous and grotesquely out-of-place cruise ships dock in Ketchikan every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, the streets and coffee houses are not overly crowded. I’m not sure where all the people go. Perhaps they are swallowed up in the various tours offered by entrepreneurial guiding services.
My step-son, who fished further north during his high school and college days, scoffed that Ketchikan was worth 4 hours at most. Certainly not 4 days. We are content to gaze out our window, sleep late, cook local sea food, read and read some more in between long wandering visits to the magnificent parks and trails our rental car takes us to. Four days will be perfect.
In spite of old bones, creaky knees and complaining hips, we are both moving comfortably helped by Pain Relief Complex and, in my case, a long session on the cabin floor to get things oiled up and moving. That is the main remedy after all, moving.
Let me know if you have ever answered the call, Alaska, here we come.
Be well, Do well and Keep moving yourself. And pass this along to your friends.
