Countrymouse Posted November 2018
On My Mind
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Replacing the much lamented 'On My Mind' profile option, this thread is for musings, jottings, whimsies, preoccupations and the rest of the thesaurus for anyone to jot down anything they please.
I can't remember what the maximum character count was before, can anyone else? But anyway it wasn't very many so let's keep to that.
Anyone who’s been camping will tell you that a handful of dry leaves sure comes in handy when there isn’t any toilet paper around (and as anyone knows, unfortunate, accidental brushes with poison ivy can happen!). But you may be surprised to learn that before the mass production of toilet paper, the choices for “cleaning up” were far more varied than you might imagine.
In rural agrarian communities, handfuls of straw were frequently used, but one of the most popular items to use for clean-up was dried corncobs. They were plentiful and quite efficient at cleaning. They could be drawn in one direction or turned on an axis. They were also softer on tender areas than you might think. Even after toilet paper became available, some people in Western states still preferred corncobs when using the outhouse.
I know that this is a popular belief but has anyone referenced an an actual living person who used this method, or are we just making assumptions - are we sure this isn't a cob with the husks still attached (very common) and it is the leaves not the actual cob that is used (which would IMO actually make a lot of sense and be be pretty clever)?
(I just have to add - when I was young my grandparents did not have indoor plumbing although thankfully they did have TP, I know my way around an outhouse!)
Though the cv test is through the nose, may not work. Same is done for flu had one last year. Won't do that again if I can help it.
It seems it's all I think about these days. I had a thought the other day. I wonder how children in their impressionable years will be affected by this. I wonder if this will imprint itself on their brains and they will have this niggling thought in their psyche from hereon where they think they need to social distance themselves from people. Imagine how confusing it will be for them when one day mom is telling them to keep their distance from others and then when this is finally over they are told it's suddenly alright to be near others again. Confusing I imagine.
I think it will be weird for everyone won't it. I have this odd feeling when I see other people now where I see them as some kind of a health threat to me. It's weird and sad all at the same time isn't it?
A psychiatrist was on a PBS show that I was watching earlier. He says that we are grieving and we have to acknowledge and accept that it is grief. Loss of life, loss of work for some, loss of school for others, loss of socialization, loss of freedom to shop everywhere, etc.
Then he said that he lost a son a few years ago and even as a psychiatrist he had no idea how painful grief was until he grieved personally. I loved his transparency. He was so honest about his feelings.
He said it was a grief similar to 911 or a natural disaster but we felt that there would be a closure one day to that situation but with this situation people are grieving differently because we don’t know exactly when this virus will stop spreading. Interesting thoughts on the topic, isn’t it? There is loss of life in all of these tragedies.
And what about sudden death? I think that is super hard. My friend who kissed her husband goodbye one morning. He had a heart attack while driving home and died. He was not even sick. No heart trouble. He wasn’t overweight. He wasn’t old. He was in his 40’s. That type of shock is awful! His widow was in shock for a long time afterwards.
I agree. with him saying we saw and felt the ‘calm after the storm’ and we saw the ‘explosions and fire’ go away after 911 or another fire. Still, some deal with PTSD afterwards in all of these situations.
Regardless, it was interesting commentary on feelings. I do agree that we must grieve because he said if we suppress our feelings we will do more harm in the long run.
The psychiatrist said that we all grieve differently and some grieve for a lifetime. I have seen people who never stop grieving for their spouse. Hard to see because I want healing for them.
The Today Show had a ‘life coach’ on. He said that we must live in the present and not the past or future. He was promoting meditation exercises to do just that.
How is your area? It’s spreading rapidly here.
I suffer from depression/anxiety and it's gotten worse since this started. But I don't want to focus on myself cause it's not about me. Just trying to look ahead to when things get back to normal whatever normal is.
It does make us feel like we are in a twilight zone existence. Unnerving and sometimes depressing too.
And as I saw how countries started shutting down everything, I immediately thought of the Great Depression... Funny, I, too, seem more concerned about my livelihood and not so much about my health issues. Is this because I’m considered the ‘breadwinner’ in this household? And is more concerned on how I’m going to pay the house insurance, the land tax, the utilities, if the plumbing breaks down, my no-more health insurance status, etc....
Riverdale, you’re not alone. I so very sincerely hope we will not be going through a Great Depression II. BUT!!! We still have the Internet! We can reach out across the pond (several ponds) and share our thoughts, fears, encouragements, knowledge and laughter.... I truly did wake up this morning being grateful that we still have power and internet.
I did not see this coming! Ahhh, I have some really bizarre dreams. This is the stuff of nightmares! This tops any sci-fi book I have read or sci-fi movie I have watched. Dreams only last a few moments. This crap has been going on too long, right?
Guess we have to make the best of it. It’s been interesting having my husband around all the time! Good thing I really love him! LOL
Well, I am blessed that I married a great guy. We’re a team. The only thing that we have never agreed on is the way the dishwasher is loaded. Geeeeeez! He is anal about it! Hahaha, hey that’s a small thing, right?
My brother was mentioning the 1918 pandemic. How bad it was.
Funny story is my husband does not like the dishwasher. That is funny that your's has a certain way to load it.
Your brother is right. Life is cyclical. We tend to put it behind us in order to function and move forward but are reminded of the past when the pattern is repeated.
'If she never remembered me again': Loving someone with dementia
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/remembered-loving-dementia-200115113735588.html