#160 / 2010 Winter: New Orleans

GOING  HOLISTIC

#160

And again on Dec. 4^th I report online:

I want you all to know how much it has meant to me to be able to reach out to so many people so quickly and easily. It has made the whole path a lot easier to walk. Before we left Panama City we made a stop by a Chinese medicine clinic that wZ just insisted we visit for some support and information on diet and routine. We left with a huge bag of Chinese herbs to be made into a teaish, brothy kind of tonic for Joe. We are fine. I am more concerned right now for our friends and family who are so upset. The anguish and suffering in my poor sister's voice was so painful to me. We are really fine. Actually I feel better knowing the truth of the situation. When we saw the young American man who was our Chinese herbalist and holistic medicine man, a personal friend of wZ's who worked us in his busy scedule, he was visibly shaken by what he read on Joe's report. I told him we were at peace with what was to come. He told me he has never met anyone who took such devastating news so calmly. I merely said "We are practical people, realists." So we want to stress here we are in New Orleans having a very good time. We are focused on the fact that Joe feels just fine today, we are anxious to see how the herbs treat him. There is a lot to be thankful for, particularly his New Mexico State Health Insurance. My god, he almost passed that up last summer, but I insisted he fill out the renewal card. What fate would have held for him without that insurance I can't even imagine. So... I can leave him and go shopping in the Quarter, spend time alone now, and be at peace. My mind is no longer racing ahead, I feel all put back together again. We're basically back to normal, but with new knowledge. I will tell you the one rather grisly thing I saw in the Quarter yesterday by the French Market. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw a man dragging three really large fish through the street from the wharf. I walked over to see what was going on. The fish looked like bodies being dragged through the street. A fishmonger drugged these three large fish by a rope across the market steps for about half a block. He set up right there where the vendors and cafes are located. People were taking pictures. One of the poor fish was still breathing, its chest heaving and falling, and most of the skin had been rubbed off its back. It was horrible, like some 14th century French scene of paupers being readied to be drawn and quartered. I still can't figure it out. We will go to the Maple Leaf Bar for the open-mic poetry Sunday at 3 pm. After that we will head out toward Texas. Thanks to all of you again Beatlick Pamela