The COVID Chronicles #72: Statistical Update, Knowledge vs. Experience, & Lenten Fasting

 As of this morning, the state of Arizona has had 814,528 cases of COVID-19. There have been nearly 16,000 deaths. 

Maricopa county, the most populous county in the state has seen 509,000 cases of the virus and 9,061 deaths. 

In our county, there have been 11,145 cases of the virus and 265 deaths. 

I took a half-day off yesterday to take Wife to a dental appointment. She was getting mouth and teeth scanned for nighttime mouthguard which will prevent her from grinding her teeth while she sleeps and which we hope will reduce or eliminate the headaches that this often causes her. We also were able to renew her drivers license for 1 year while her permanent residence card renewal is still being processed. We had made an appointment at the local DMV for yesterday morning and arrived an hour early, but I neglected to bring her SSN card (b/c I was told she would not need it), but she didn't know her SSN and therefore we had to drive the ~40min back home to get it, then ~40min back to the DMV, then I had drive her back home, then drive back to get to work by 12pm. 

On the way home we another little argument of knowledge versus experience. My defense was I was told we did not need to bring her SSN card when I made the appointment on Monday, but she countered that defense by asking me if in my experience of renewing drivers licenses, if I needed my SSN, which I had to admit that I did, so in a humorous, but serious point, she stated that this would have been good time to use my experience rather than my knowledge. 

On Wednesday, I started "whole fasting" for Lent. I try not to eat anything during the day and then eat a very light meal when I get home; usually miso soup, oatmeal, rice porridge, or all three. During the day I drink a lot of tea, both Earl Gray and English Breakfast (both decaffeinated). I may also eat a (couple) spoonful of peanut butter if I really can't bear it or perhaps munch on a bag of pretzels.

I have been trying to do this since Wednesday. I plan to continue doing daily whole fasts during Lent t see how it affects my health and my spirituality. After 3 days, the withdrawal from caffeine has been hardest and I've been experiencing brain fogs & and some depression. 

As my body has withdrawn and detoxed from other stimulants like sugar, I have felt more tired at the end of the day and falling asleep on our couch much earlier while watching Netflix while Wife works upstairs. This may also be caused by making up the "sleep debt" caused by drinking coffee and other stimulants like sugar. I feel good this morning. 

After 3 days though, I admit my head feels much clearer, I feel much more rested this morning, and the amount of poo that came out of butt yesterday afternoon was more than I had seen in a long time. It felt like I completely emptied my colon.

It's Saturday. I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing today, but I feel like I have the energy and the will to begin preparing our flower and vegetable gardens for the spring and summer planting. 

All for today! 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The COVID Chronicles #26: Quarantine (Is Not Quite Over)

Image
We are still holding at 39 cases in our county. 14 are still active cases while 25 have been released from isolation. The age group with most number of cases has been 20-44 years and not surprising, given the demographics of the county, the highest number of cases has been in the hispanic or latino community. Still no reported deaths from COVID-19 in our county. For the state of Arizona, we are currently at at 8,640 cases, with 276 new cases being reported yesterday. There are 362 reported deaths in our state as of this morning. This family has kept me entertained through all this.... The first thing Wife told me this morning was a friend of ours who lives in the northern part of the state, in a place I will refer to as "Red Rock City", had told her the stay at home order for AZ had been canceled. I looked up Google News and told her that was poppycock, aka "fake news", but that 2 county sheriffs were refusing to enforce the stay at home order. I just ques...
Read more

Lenten Fast Post #3

On Saturday, I fasted all day. I did have a breakfast in the morning after sunrise b/c I legitimately felt hungry, so I had 1/2 cup of instant oatmeal, some blueberries, an apple, 3 dates, and a banana. I did not eat again until well after sundown when I got some chicken nuggets and chicken fries from Burger King b/c I was waiting on a locksmith to let me in house b/c I had locked myself out.  Sundays are "feast days" in the Methodist tradition so I had a balanced breakfast and then did not eat until after 7pm, when I had spaghetti, salad, and 4 St. Louis style ribs.  I have eaten nothing today, so I'm very much looking forward to dinner, which I expect will be a roasted potato cubed with carrots, leftover ribs, and a salad. Prior to the breaking of the fast, I will of course offer up a prayer and then break the fast.  All for today. 
Read more

The COVID Chronicles #39: Hail Storm!

Image
We had about 30 minute hail storm yesterday here in Old Mining Town and it did a number on our vegetable garden. It also knocked out power for about an hour. Wife was home alone and took the video above.  It also did a number on our vegetable garden. Below is a picture of what is left of our volunteer squash plants. It looks like we had one already starting.  Here's what it looked like before: Here's the zucchini plants:  And the beans:  So tonight, I raked up the leaves that were torn off our apricot tree and buried them in the new compost bed. Then I lit a fire of dried grassroots (that were still very wet in the middle): 
Read more