The Iceman Cometh

No, I am not referring to the all-capitalized ICE. I stay far away from making any political commentary on social media, or most places for that matter. Our area was hit with ice in the form of winter storm Bern, a system that caused much chaos and damage across a large portion of the United States over the weekend.

Forecasts for the area were grim, with predictions of up to .50" of ice for our location. When ice forms that thickly, the likelihood of trees falling and taking down power lines rises dramatically. We were so fortunate that in our neighborhood we predominantly had sleet, which tends to fall to the ground and not stick to items in its path. While we were prepared for a loss of power, that did not occur here. We are so grateful that we avoided the worst of the storm. I'll gladly take being stuck inside for a few days over having no electricity.

We had plenty of food and extra water just in case, and are lucky enough to have a gas fireplace in the house. It has a battery charger in the event of power failure, so we would at least have had that as a heat source if the power had gone off.

Making sure that the bird feeder was full before the precipitation began was good for entertainment. The birds and squirrels were very active in the yard during the storm. I never get tired of watching them, and taking pictures.

backyard critters

There is still some residual ice on the side roads and walkways, so I will stick close to home again today. In fact, I cancelled my six month dermatology appointment for this morning as the secondary road out of here is shaded and never treated. I hated to do that because it is so hard to get an appointment with my doctor, but it was not an emergency and certainly not worth the risk of an accident.

There is another storm heading this way over the weekend, and hopefully we will again be lucky and avoid the worst of it. I guess we didn't move far enough south!

New Year Involutions

Involution is defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as "the regressive alterations of a body or its parts characteristic of the aging process". That seems like an appropriate word to start not only a New Year but a new decade of years in my life.

Back in late October at my annual physical my blood work came back with an elevated TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) level. Because I had just had both the Covid booster and flu shots, we agreed to wait and retake a blood sample in four weeks to see if there was an anomaly due to the shots. With our travel I could not get in to have it redone until December 18th. I got the results later that day, and my thyroid level was even higher than before, which was not the result I was hoping to receive. The doctor put in a prescription for Levothyroxine, which is a medication for hypothyroidism. 

It is interesting that when the thyroid suppresses TSH release, too little thyroid hormone can cause your pituitary to make excess TSH. Thus the high TSH levels in the blood. It seems counterintuitive, but there it is. I began taking the medicine on December 20th, and so far have not noticed anything positive or negative about taking it. They do say it can take 4-8 weeks before you see any improvement in symptoms. Because I do not have any of the symptoms of hypothyroidism (fatigue, numbness, constipation, unexplained weight gain, depression, or being unable to tolerate cold temperatures), I have not experienced anything different.

The most annoying thing about the medicine is that they want you to take it at or near the same time each morning, waiting 30-60 minutes before eating breakfast. I don't wake up at the same moment every morning, so I keep as close to the same time as I can. Since you also should not take calcium as soon as you take this drug, I have just adjusted to taking all of my over the counter vitamins at lunch instead of first thing in the morning.

My doctor will see me again on February 3rd to see how all of this is going. I presume they will draw blood again to see if the drug is doing its job. Hopefully all will be well. I hope to stop this New Year Involution in its track.

the cold never bothered me anyway

Peru & Ecuador - Part 9

Friday, December 5th was our last full day at Kuyana Lodge. The options for excursions that morning included a hike through the jungle, which the guide said would be much longer and harder than any we had done so far, or a hike through a cave. In light of the described difficulty, my family opted to do the cave trip.

I have no fascination with caves in general, but once he said that the water would be chest-high in places, my decision was made. Chest-high water on most people equates to being over my head. I also did not relish the thought of slogging through water in knee-high boots, which would immediately be filled at that depth. While I brought water shoes for the Galapagos portion of the trip, the sand had rubbed the tops of my toes raw on the last expedition we did there. All that combined made it easy for me to say that I would remain at the resort. 

As no other guests had arrived at the lodge yet, I again had the place to myself. We had been told that more people were coming that night, and it was obvious from the staff activity that more guests were expected. I took the time to rearrange all my belongings in the suitcase and backpack for the next morning's departure before strolling around the resort snapping photos. Then I parked myself at the pool until my husband and daughter returned. They both agreed that I had made the correct choice in staying behind as the cave hike was dark, cold, and strenuous.

around the resort

The rest of my family returned in time for lunch. We then spent time at the pool. An afternoon rain shower came in, so I entertained myself by taking pictures of the rain drops on the pool water surface.

rain on the pool

For our last dinner there was a marked difference in the dining area. Now that other guests had arrived, there were different place mats, the napkins were folded all fancy, and there were candles on the tables, along with a large leaf with the guest's name on it. Those things actually made us feel pretty insignificant since we didn't have them for the other meals while we were there. Ramona was also brought out of her living quarters for the meal. From other reviews that I have read, I think this is a frequent occurrence while guests are there. She was not previously brought out to dine with us, only to join us on the one hike.

last dinner

Following dinner we returned to our cabin. We had to pack for the next morning's departure and get through one last tepid shower. In the morning we enjoyed one final delicious meal before the prearranged car arrived to pick us up for the three and a half hour drive back to Quito.

last breakfast

sunset out the hotel room window

We elected to stay at a hotel near the airport as we had a fairly early flight out the next morning. Luckily the restaurant for the included breakfast opened at 5:30 so we were able to eat before heading out on the airport shuttle. Everything went smoothly at the airport, and we left on time to Miami, where we would catch the plane for the last leg of our journey. Our daughter was on the same flight to Miami, so it was nice to have some final time with her on the plane and in the American Airlines lounge in Miami.

We all made it home safe and sound. It was an amazing adventure, and one that we will be talking about for years to come. Super big bonus was that none of us got sick, either on the trip or after we got home. That is always a concern with travel, especially in cold and flu season. Now - where to next?