Getting Bettah All the Time

Look at what the human body can do, when challenged.

FROM WHYY --Morgan Hurd walked through her gym Wednesday wearing two large shining medals that swung heavily against her small frame.

Her braces glistening, the 16-year-old gymnast smiled ear to ear as young girls cheered, waved American flags and greeted her with hugs.

Morgan has just returned from Montreal, where she became the first Delawarean to win a world championship title in gymnastics. The Middletown resident is only the 8th American woman to win gold in the all-around event at worlds — where she also won a silver medal for balance beam.
“I felt incredible, I was so happy, I started crying, actually,” she said.

What you can't see in the picture is that Morgan is wearing eyeglasses.

Not only has Morgan received attention for her quick rise to the top, but also for her bubbly personality, and for wearing glasses during competition.

She wears a strap that hooks to the back of her glasses and wraps around her head so it stays in place. Morgan tried contact lenses, but sometimes chalk would get in them, and she’d waste her practice time trying to clean them out.

“I’ve gotten [attention for my glasses] ever since I started competing, because there’s really only been one other known gymnast, Kami Moore, that competed in glasses,” she said. “It’s just such an uncommon thing, because people think they can’t do it, because they’re afraid they’re going to break or something.”

Read more here and watch video. 

***

More on Scott's renovation. The Walmsey Guys put in the bathtub today. Scott couldn't leave home since they needed to ask him questions.

I viewed it but you can't really see it.

Scott, let's take a walk in the Pennypack. We drove over, said hello to Lauren, David had already left. These are the last precious seconds for Lauren who is on vacation.

Twas certainly good to see the place again. My left leg was hurting tho so we couldn't go as far as we would have liked.

Prior to that I went to Mom's house where my nephew Alex Pomper was visiting.  Can we get a shot of this photographer off the Net?

  Tyler picked him up at the airport, with his wife Kamelia and son David. All in a tiny little car like the many clowns who come piling out.

Siri... please send in the clowns



Before we walked at the Pennypack, we stopped at the police station.

Hi, I said, where do I drop off my drugs.

In the green box, ma'am.

And so I did. Many were over 10 yrs old

Percodans, Percosetts, Oxycontin....several bottles of each.

How do I feel now that I did it?

Pause.

The same.

Gonna go watch Sherlock Holmes videos at Scott's. They came from the East Cheltenham Library.

He said we like those British names, Basil and Nigel.

Visit with Dr Foxhall - U T I - Driving to the Birthday Boys Before it Got Dark

I was pretty sure I had a U T I, so I drove over to his office at the Schilling Campus of AMH. Quite a few people in the Waiting Room, including kids, with their moms trying to shush them.

This one family had two little boys, maybe 3 and 4, and they each had their own bottle of water. The kids were reading from the kids' shelf of books.

Finally they were called back while I waited in misery. My problem was that if I had peed at home, I wouldn't have enuf to pee now. But if I hadn't peed at home, I might have too much and would pee all over the floor.

This is what happened to me for the first time with my new U T I.

As soon as I was taken in back, I was made to pee. The teeniest amount came out but fortunately they had enuf.

My urine was loaded with bacteria. From both bladder and urinary tract. This is not good if you've had a kidney transplant.

I entered Dr Foxhall's examining room. He's tall and very handsome. He got a giant pair of glasses.

  Brazen me, took this a couple of years ago.

The moment I awake this morning, I ran downstairs to take my Cipro pill. One in the a m, one 12 hours later.

He told me to keep my blood sugar down. When you're sick it goes high. But I'm feeling much better. AND I've gotta run The Daytime Meeting. I better get the name tags out. Hold on.

As I listened to Gregg Whiteside on WRTI I wondered, How can he do this day by day?

I'd love to do something different. Here come the Trash Men in their mighty green trucks. Should they give residents a chance to do the job? I'm so weak now I can barely lift two books at once to take up to bed.

Alex Glijanski had written me a thank-you about my World Mental Health Day. I credited him for getting me back on my feet again. He's slowly retiring.

"Mindhunter" will be on Netflix soon. And the Basil Rathbone version of Sherlock is waiting for Scott and me at the library.

And I do have several ideas for short stories.

When I was at Dan's last night - he did not like my books - Grace would say, Tell me about your day. They seem to favor their mother, who surprised them all by going with her friend to a free concert.

For dinner, Nicole bought burritos. Briskit burritos. I've got one in the fridge, wondering how I'll dispose of it.

On WRTI Daniel Behrenbaum is playing what sounds like a Bach Fugue.

So yesterday, Zeke knocked, walked in, and removed a bunch of magnets from my fridge. I said nuffin and he replaced em when he left.

What? You're having egg salad for dinner?

I usually bring my dinner to the Demings.

Zeke is fascinated by everything I do.

And how was your day?

At Dan's Nicole had picked up some burritos.

Altho I finished me egg salad, Dan gave me the remainder of his briscuit of beef burrito!

Then Nicole surprised us by saying she and her friend were going to a free concert!

Max was on the couch falling asleep.

Grace was playing a game with tiny action figures.

I gave Dan two of the hard backs I'd bought for his 41st b'day.

Alan Dershowitz - I'll pass, said he.

World's Best Detective Stories from England and America - I'll pass, said he.

Of course I was hurt.

Guess why I'm leaving now, I announced.

Cuz you don't wanna drive in the dark, said Max. 

Poem: Smile - Poem: Photo ID

Hello, my 22 faithful readers!

First I'll beguile you with my poem Smile below.

SMILE

Anyone smiling out there?
As I rowed home from Hatboro
where Mark made me 50 copies
of my Guest Editorial

Gregg Whiteside of WRTI
said Jack Moore was
not smiling.

What? A little rain's
gonna make you glum?
Make you wanna mount
The Ark?

I was all gussied up when I
entered the grocery store,
red earrings, a revealing blue
tank top, and a perfect smile
for when I went to the Photo ID
place.

Closed today, Veterans Day.

Drink up the falling rain
my spacious yard that doth
not flood.

I'll go on my screened in
back porch, wear my rain hat
from the Baltimore Aquarium
and sail along on Pearl of the Lake
munching pistachios and reading
Terrorist by John Updike while
shucking off the world like
an umbrella collapsing.



***

When I arrived at the Photo ID place in Huntingdon Valley, I waited about 45 minutes before they called my number, which I believe was A 706.

With all those numbers flashing on and off I couldn't remember my number, so I kept looking up at the panel of three numbers.

GETTING MY PICTURE TAKEN AT THE PHOTO ID PLACE

Some people say, It's only a picture. A photo ID.
I walked in like Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard
Red earrings swinging like a sweet cuppa tea

Took my seat in the back of the room, rather like a
concert, and saw the most marvelous people.

France Nuyen stopped in, we'll always remember her in South Pacific.
And Ruth Bader Ginsburg  with her lace collar like Rembrandt's Buergers

Perhaps you think I was enjoying myself. Using my imagination like
a POW or Mary Queen o Scots up in the Tower, praying to her God

Then my number flashed on one of three screens
In my shorts and tank top, I fled to the front, as if I
were a refugee making the final cut

Formalities were mentioned -are you a citizen, do you speak
English, are you an organ donor?

Blonde Leslie took my photo. Very nice. Friendly.
Every four years we take these, she said.

My hopes ran high for a picture suitable for framing.

Overexposed. Had I come in the afternoon when the sun
was shining over the fitness center, things would be
different.

My photo looks like Icarus flying too near the sun
and fell into the Icarian Sea.

O hubris. You made such a fool of me.

Some people say it's only a picture.
A photo ID. 

***

http://ruthzdeming.blogspot.com/2017/10/poem-smile-poem-photo-id.html


LANCE  cHAREN!

Reading - Poems: Preparing to Go to Mom's House for a Sunday Visit - The Library Book Shelf by the Back Window

Lynn brings all these goodies. I ate generous portions of bagels and cream cheese, cut in quarters. Mom has a voracious appetite, I kid you not.




I was super angry she canceled her appt at Costco so she won't be getting hearing aides just yet.

Made sure I sat near her and yelled so she could hear me.

FB poem about her

PREPARING TO GO TO
MOM'S HOUSE FOR A
SUNDAY VISIT

Thanks to my sister Lynn
we often visit Mom on
Sundays.

I've loaded the car
with things to show
the family

Thunder Paws, the book
I bought by Bill Hess,
pantaloon jeans I
bought and can't stand

Ritz Crackers too sweet
and tempting, they beckon
from upstairs

What's that rollicking sound?
The washer downstairs. Dyou
separate the white from the
darks?

My clothes are never quite
clean, but I walk in a perpetual swirl
of gray.

Don't laff. I'm a responsible
adult, with no one to tell
me what to do.

The best!  

***

Just got home from the Upper Moreland Library. Tomro is Dan's 41st b'day. Thank god he loves his life, job, wife, kids.

I always get him books for his b'day.

From the library, I paid THREE DOLLARS for the following books:

GREAT DETECTIVES by David Willis McCullough

Entire short novels are published like The Chill by Ross McDonald



CHUTZPAH by Alan M Dershowitz - A Bold Call for a New Attitude by and toward American Jews



ALL TOO HUMAN: A Political Education by George Stephanopoulos



DARWIN'S ATHLETES:  How Sport has damaged Black America and preserved the Myth of Race  by John Hoberman





  Professor Hoberman

Dr. John Milton Hoberman is a Professor of Germanic languages within the Department of Germanic Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of numerous books and articles on sports, specifically on their cultural impact, their relationship with race, and the issue of doping.
He is a European cultural and intellectual historian, who has interests in Sportwissenschaft and the history of racial ideas. He has published nearly one hundred sports articles and books in American newspapers and magazines and in Der Spiegel.

Then I got mhy own books out. Rem and I had been emailing about how much we both love John Updike, so I borrowed Licks of Love and Terrorist. I sat on a rolling step-stool and read the end of terrorist.

I told new Dorothy that I had never seen such good books in the last stack of the library, where I sat and read. Updike also wrote Gertrude and Claudius, but I thought it would be too difficult with the olde languages.

So now I've gotta write a poem. Hold on, gotta get something to eat.

***
Our fresh cherry tomatoes and Feta cheese Ellen gave me.

***

THE LIBRARY BOOK SHELF BY THE BACK WINDOW

The light streamed in but I was oblivious
caught as I was in a world of R's and T's, U's and V's

Updike. I'd read Pigeon Feathers while babysitting
at the Schonbergs in Cleveland.

His Rabbit Books I bought at a garage sale
and couldn't get off the first page

Stuck in a small town in Pennsylvania,
Rabbit's playing basketball with neighborhood

Kids who refuse to trust him. I trust you,
Rabbit, and remember the worn, yellow

Paperback pages, perfectly. What's this
Updike? You've written a book called

"Terrorist?" Adjusting my eyeglasses
I sit on the small stepstool, and read

The last pages. Really? I think.
Really? And set it aside in my

burgeoning pile. "Lucky Licks"-
a book I never heard of.

Affairs in suburbia. Who does
he think he is?  Cheever?

"Sex without love," I read.
And toss it into my pile.

Driving home, I imagine
lying on a blanket in my

Backyard, the sun slanting
against the fence

And reading, just reading,
till dark. After a snack

Of apple and cheese,
I go up to bed

And read all thru the night
some jazz playing on the radio

Until morning comes. 

Yoga and Mindfulness - Energizing - Princess Drosophila published - Poem: Yoga Program at the Giant

 Jamie Nichols was our wonderful guide. Catch her at Nourishing Storm in Hatboro PA. 

Katy, below, had a rest from stresses at home like dealing with an adorable rambunctious nearly 3-year-old.

Below.... who would wear a belt to do yoga?  Rich and Scott! Scott wears a belt to work as it's good for lifting heavy loads.

We also had Christina there, a social work intern. I'd forgotten all about taking photos, it's been so long since I lost my beloved purple Nikon.

I was quite challenged. It was difficult to stand on my feet, probly b/c of my protruding disk.

Ada mentioned that in the beginning she found the floor hard but after a while she didn't notice it at all!

In fact, she felt like she was floating.

Jamie commented that Ada had gone to a higher level!


 

 As a gift, we gave Jamie some autumn-colored mums and little pumpkins. Jamie had a name for them: Jack-be-littles.

Autumn is her favorite time of year.

Here's my Facebook poem of the day:

WHO WOULDNT WANNA EAT OUTSIDE

The weather is fine, as I dip
into my aromatic egg and cheese
The squirrels are playing
checkers on the sycamore
and the woodpecker is playing
a solo game of Catch the
Tasty Buggers on Nancy's tree

Is that Michael Pretorius on the radio
inside?

A whole host of wonderfuls await
us on this tasty Saturday morning.

***
Speaking of food, Scott is on vacation and one of our traditions is going out to eat.
We had a spectacular meal at Carabbas on Maryland Road in Willow Grove.

I said to Scott, maybe I'll go in and get a quick M R I!

He said Why don't you buy a new Lexus while you're at it. Thompson Autos moved up here to our neck of the woods.

Laura was our server. She's also going to vet school at Manor College - tough work - and will soon become a vet nurse. She's got a lab retriever pup.

   We both had salads. He had the trout dish. Everything is grilled which makes it super-delicious.

I ordered butternut squash ravioli. Since it had no protein, Laura added some incredibly tender chicken filets.

For dessert I had the apple cortina. Someone must've invented this dish of a crispy pie crust with soft apples, hazelnut pieces, caramel syrup and vanilla ice cream.

I pushed it away after I was full. Scott said he knew I couldn't eat the whole thing.

As soon as we came home we walked around the block. The long way. I was huffing and puffing.

***

This is the first time I've used my new Nikon silver camera.

It's a royal pain in the butt.

Remove the card from camera, insert it into the laptop.

You can barely see these slots they're so darn small!

***

My poem Princess Drosophila was published on In Between Hangovers. View it here.



***

When I first went to Goddard College in Plainfield, VT, I would get drunk and feel horrible. It was the thing to do. We do learn as life goes merrily along. Apricot Brandy. Hmm, are the liquor stores still open?

Here are some unpublished photos especially for you, Dear Reader. Anybody on here?

 Buying the camera at Larmon Photo in Jenkintown. Cheaper than the previous camera which is still lost. Unlike the terrible story of the journalist who goes on the submarine to interview the guy. What does he do? Stabs her to death.

On Netflix I'm watching Gerald's Game. Wonder who stars in this film? I've watched half an hour so far. Can't read the cast as it will give too much of the plot away.

To organize my desk I brought downstairs a three-tier inbox. It does help. 

Oh! Before the yoga program today I relaxed on my red couch by listening to Terry Gross interview their TV critic David Bianculli. 

    He's written a new book called The Platinum Age of Television. He profiles many of the early TV heroes in the book, including Louis C K. Can't wait to read it!

YOGA PROGRAM AT THE GIANT

Asanas.

Christina, Rich, Ada, The Chod (Scott)
Katy, and Ree-ROW, stood in a circle, touching
palms.

Lean to the right, said Jamie.
We held each other up to form a
line of trees.

Arms up, she said, to create leaves
and branches.

Sure enough, the room on the second
floor of the Giant Supermarket
sprouted tall maples, the leaves
glimmering in the light, yet
starting to fall in this,
early autumn.

We missed the ones unable to
be there. My mom, with a newfound
interest in meditation, which she
considers the ability to focus.

Don and Joan from down the street.
He puts vinegar in the cracks on
the sidewalk to keep weeds from
growing there.

Don, don't look now, but your
trick don't work.

My mountain of weeds in my front yard
towers like Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Look real close and you'll see Eva Marie Saint
saved by Cary Grant. She's still alive, though,
he's settled in the crack of eternity.

Go outside now and look at the stars.
A barely visible whiteness across the street
bodes the rising of the moon, in her floor-
length bridal gown. 

Addiction-Free, A Life of Meaning Awaits - from the Intelligencer

My Guest Editorial appeared in the Intelligencer on Friday, October 6, 2017.

Sorry about the spacing below, all squeezed together. That's good ole Blogpost for ya. 

ADDICTION-FREE, A LIFE OF MEANING FOLLOWS

by Ruth Z.Deming

For his then-girlfriend's 30th birthday, Stephen Stills wrote Judy Collins a song: “Suite Judy Blue Eyes.” It’s getting to the point where I’m no fun anymore / I am sorry / Sometimes it hurts so badly I must cry out loud / I am lonely.

Was Stills, now 72, speaking about his cocaine addiction?

Both Stills and Collins, now 78, are on a world tour, and appeared in August at the sold-out Keswick Theater in Glenside, where mixed drinks are served.

Americans love their booze. And their recreational drugs, which occasionally lead to addictions. It's why Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolfe has declared war on heroin and opioid abuse.

The shocking statistics reveal that in Bucks County, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids -- heroin and opioid-based prescription painkillers -- rose to 185 last year, up nearly 50 percent from 2015, reported the Inquirer. They further noted that overdose deaths rose by 43 percent in Montgomery County, claiming 253 lives.

We may all know someone who has overdosed. Instead of living a meaningful life, they are now dead.

Members of New Directions Support Group, which I founded in 1986, for people and families affected by depression and bipolar disorder, have often used illegal drugs in an attempt to feel “normal.” Sobriety is a long journey filled with both victories and setbacks.

No one is immune from drug addiction, or, for that matter, depression and bipolar disorder.

“My bipolar cousin calls it ‘The Family Curse’ since bipolar disorder runs in our family,” said Doris, a mom and grandmother. "A minute of depression and I feel like I don't want to live anymore." A prolific published poet, she stays in touch with her psychiatrist to keep suicidal urges away.

Mark, 66, has his own story. “I suffered from the deadly threesome -- alcoholism, mental illness, drug addiction. The drugs don't have to be from the street," he said. "They were prescribed: 23 antidepressants and anxiety meds over 20 years, usually more than one at a time. Street or pharmacy, your brain doesn't care.

"These meds have a really poor track record when combined with alcohol. They can't work if you drink."

State Attorney General Joshua Shapiro recently discussed Pennsylvania’s participation in an investigation into the manufacturers of opioid painkillers and their role in the addiction crisis, telling Talk Radio 1210 about his approach to substance abuse.

“… Number one, [is] holding those doctors and nurses … accountable. So, we’ve doubled the number of arrests of docs in the first quarter of 2017 versus the first quarter of 2016, who are illegally prescribing or selling or giving away things like Percocet and Oxycontin and dangerous opioid painkillers.

“The second thing you’ve got to do is get at the root cause. Get at the supply chain. For so many people, that’s these opioid painkillers. I announced that Pennsylvania is one of the lead states in a massive, bipartisan, multi-state investigation into the opioid manufacturing industry.”

At the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, the Counseling and Psychological Services center tells incoming freshman it’s OK to ask for help, said Dr. Meeta Kumar.

“Twenty percent of undergrads at some point or another come to us,” she continued. That’s almost double the rate 15 years ago.

Like colleges everywhere, Penn has seen a rise in students dealing with anxiety and depression. A survey last year disclosed that 20 percent of college students had once been diagnosed with depression, up from 10 percent when the survey began in 2000, according to Penn Live.

Anxiety, in the past few years, has overtaken depression as the top mental health concern, said behavioral health expert Dr. Micky Sharma.

“The millennial generation has grown up in a very fast-paced society with high expectations,” he continued. Students’ coping skills are “not as high as we’d like them to be.”

Mark, a substance abuser in recovery, has such good coping skills today he chaired his first AA meeting.

With the smell of coffee permeating the room, he says with confidence he’s been clean and sober for 14 months.

His life, at last, is full of meaning.

Ruth Z. Deming is founder/director of New Directions Support Group of Abington and Willow Grove.. Visit www. Newdirectionssupport. org. A psychotherapist in private practice, she and friends participate in a weekly writers’ group “The Beehive.”