John Muir Trail Planning: Getting My Permit

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Jan 21, 2015 at 16:59:15 PM PST

I've also revised my hiking plan a bit. Here's the dirt on how to get a permit.

Seasons, San Diego-Style, at Mt Gower

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Jan 11, 2015 at 02:33:15 AM PST

Some people say they don't want to live in San Diego because they like the changing of the seasons. To them I say: Good. Stay where you are. We're overpopulated here. Enjoy shoveling snow.

However, we DO have seasons here. They just don't involve snow (unless you go up in the mountains). The Kumeyaay people referred to the seasons as cold, rainy (winter); wildflowers (spring); hot, dry (summer); and harvest (fall). That sounds about right to me. We're currently in cold rainy but the first signs of wildflowers are already here. And I AM EXCITED. It's kind of like when you first see Christmas decorations come out before Halloween and you know it's not actually Christmas season yet but it still means that it's coming. If wildflower season is your Christmas.

I wanted to share a hike I did this past Thursday up Mt Gower, an 8 mile hike in Ramona. Because a sadist constructed the trail, I did not get to the top. Well, I am sure I could have but it was late in the day and I wanted to get down by sunset. And the reason why it took me so long was that I kept taking pictures, enjoying all of the signs of San Diego's winter and upcoming wildflower season.

Up to Trouble Again

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Dec 16, 2014 at 00:01:00 AM PST

In case anyone else is interested in how one goes about planning a 220 mile hike, I'll share my plans here.

Step one: Figure out the basics - start, end, and resupply points.
Step two: Figure out everything else in between.

Easy, right?

Wow! Vitamin B12!

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Nov 28, 2014 at 09:26:03 AM PST

I caved a bit on my 100% no supplements stance when I found that taking lysine supplements helps prevent/get rid of cold sores. I've taken that for years. Aside from that... nada. I try to eat a diet made up a wide variety of whole foods, mostly plants. That oughta do the trick.

I've also been a champion sleeper for most of my life. At least since high school. Back in the day, I literally slept in every single class in high school, including lunch and gym. I still got good grades, so nobody really bothered me about it too much. After school I'd get in my bed and sleep til dinner. Then I'd go to bed around midnight and wake up the next morning tired.

As an adult, I've always had a really hard time with mornings. Extremely hard time. It's not just that I don't like them. I oversleep alarms all the time. I've missed flights often enough that I won't even book a 6am flight now. Why bother? I won't get to the airport on time.

I tried weaning myself off caffeine recently, and I was able to do so... but then I slept all the time. Something was making me sleep a lot, and it wasn't the caffeine addiction. I went back to drinking too much coffee. Otherwise I'd never get any work done. Even still, I can sleep 10 hours at night AND take a nap during the day.

I've never been an athlete. I don't go fast. Ever. I'm not very strong, either. Even when I work out regularly, I plateau at a very slow pace compared to other people. I've always thought something was wrong with me. This past year I've done so much hiking and I've clearly gotten into very good shape - for me. But I still go very slowly.

So, a few weeks ago I went to the neurologist for my migraines. The PA ordered a bunch of tests. The doctor did an EKG and then sent me to the lab, where they took a bunch of blood. This past week, I had a cardiac stress test (a treadmill test). I was huffing and puffing and having a hard time breathing - but my heart was totally normal.

Wednesday, I went back to the neurologist. This time, the doctor himself saw me. He began looking at my test results. Everything was normal. Excellent in fact. Very healthy liver, kidneys, heart, etc etc etc until... Vitamin B12. I was low. Not even very low. Just a bit low.

The doctor ordered another test (methylmalonic acid) and a B12 injection. He said if I need the B12 then it will help, and if I don't actually need it, it won't hurt. Other than, you know, the pain of the actual needle. That hurt a bit.

The methylmalonic acid test will find out a bit more about my B12 deficiency. Apparently, B12 is supposed to do something in your body, and if it isn't doing it, you'll have high methylmalonic acid levels.

We get B12, as you likely know, from dietary sources. Entirely from animal products, which means vegans need to take B12 supplements. But I am no vegan. The doctor said that some people's bodies do not absorb B12 from their diet very well. And the B12 deficiency could be the cause of my fatigue.

The PA also prescribed a few other supplements: magnesium oxide, vitamin B2, and CoQ10. I've since looked these up, and each one has been shown to improve migraines in studies. So I'm taking them. She also has me taking an herb called Butterbur that has had some effectiveness in treating migraines. If you want to take it, don't get the actual plant itself (which is normally what I do). Instead get some sort of pill or capsule form that has the plant goodies with a toxic compound found in butterbur (called PAs) removed.

It's been two days since I got the B12 shot. I don't know if it's due to the B12, but I've never had this much energy. Ever. Or if I have, I don't remember. I feel great. I don't even know what to do with myself. There are so many extra hours in the day when you aren't sleeping all the time. It's utterly wild. This could really change my life. I always wondered what it would be like to be a normal person who was not tired all the time. I might get to find out.

Now, if only it wasn't so cold outside, and if there were some mountains to climb...

Book Review: The Wild Wisdom of Weeds

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Nov 13, 2014 at 17:48:53 PM PST

Blair establishes herself as an expert on the subject early in the text, telling how she spent an entire summer living off of wild plants. The book is organized around 13 extremely common weeds that you can find no matter where you live in the world, give or take Antarctica: dandelion, mallow, purslane, plantain, thistle, amaranth, dock, mustard, grass, chickweed, clover, lambsquarter, and knotweed. I've personally found all 13 here in Wisconsin, and all but two in San Diego (although it's possible I just wasn't looking hard enough).

For each weed, Blair tells how to recognize it, why it's useful, and what to do with it. She provides recipes too.

This is where the caveats come in. It appears Blair is a raw vegan, or at least her recipes are. This type of cuisine can be delicious, but if you are not a raw vegan yourself it can be limiting. You might personally find it more useful to have a recipe for dandelion pesto with dairy cheese in it and instructions to cook it, rather than recipes for raw foods, which often call for dehydrating foods and never bringing temperatures above 114F or so. On the other hand, if you ARE a raw vegan or you enjoy that type of cuisine, then this book is for you.

My other caveat is that Blair is a spiritual person, and her spirituality comes through in her writing. If that's for you - and a lot of people will find it very appealing - then that's great. If it isn't for you, I fear it might turn some people off. That would be a shame too, because there are not too many books out there covering such a crucial topic, and this one is full of valuable info.

My recommendation is to get the book, and if you aren't into Blair's flavor of spirituality and raw veganism, just let that stuff go. Read the book, and learn what you can from it. You'll almost certainly find a wealth of healthy food growing in your own lawn. Then look online for non-raw, non-vegan recipes using these delicious plants.

An Update from Cheeseville

by: Jill Richardson

Tue Oct 21, 2014 at 11:34:45 AM PDT

In the meantime, I've been kept 100% busy between teaching, doing homework, having migraines, taking care of basic needs like eating, and the occasional walk out in nature. But now that the trees here are putting on a show, I felt compelled to share some pics of fall in Wisconsin.

My street

I Hurt

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Sep 27, 2014 at 22:45:17 PM PDT

This week, I tried to switch to healthier practices. And, in fact, I did do that. More sleep, healthier food, less time under fluorescent lights, some social time having fun, a massage. It wasn't enough.

I cannot even communicate what it's like to live with chronic pain every single day. Unfortunately, far too many people know exactly what it's like because they live with it too. But if you don't know, I can't tell you. There's just no way to describe it that would possibly be adequate. But I can try.

Monday through Friday of this week, I spent every single day with a migraine. They ranged in severity, but Friday's was pretty bad. So was Wednesday's.

It's anxiety-producing. Every time I think about my day, my week, and my life, I dread the future because I know it will be filled with more migraines. I feel fine right now, as I write this, but I know when Monday morning comes I need to go back to school, with its fluorescent lights, and I will get another migraine. And I will do that every day, all week, except Tuesday. On Tuesday, I have one class, which I'll attend via Skype. I cannot imagine a life like this, with a migraine every single day. It's just so hard to get up every day, often feeling fine, and go to a place that I know will leave me with a migraine for the entire rest of the day. There's a lot of dread and anxiety that goes with that.

When I'm invited to a place I want to go - a party, a restaurant, or an event on campus - first I get excited about going, and then I remember that the place might give me a migraine, since I get them from fluorescent lights and projectors. Barbara Ehrenreich and Naomi Klein are speaking on campus. I've already RSVP'd. I love them both. Then I remembered they might show powerpoints as they speak, and I'll get a migraine. Do I go? Do I skip it? Can I find out about the powerpoint in advance? (In the case of Barbara Ehrenreich, it sounds like I'll be in luck - I know someone who knows her, who says there's no way she'll use a powerpoint... but what if they set up a camera and project her face onto a screen while she speaks?) This causes a lot of anxiety.

I have to do this with every single place I go. I had to do it for a party this week. Thankfully, it was OK. The week before, another party wasn't OK. There was a TV, and I made them turn it off. Then they turned on a fluorescent light, and I made them turn that off. I hate asking people to turn lights and TVs off. I'd rather just go home and let them have their TV and their light on. Then my friends moved rooms, and I couldn't ask them to turn off the light because it was dark out, so I sat outside alone for a while, until they joined me out there and had a bonfire.

Migraines are a time suck. Think about your day, and how many things you have to do. Now imagine getting all that done while either having a migraine, or not doing it because you need hours of extra sleep to get rid of a migraine. When I'm at school, I have to stick it out with a migraine til I can go home. When I'm at home, if my head hurts, then I try to sleep. I have to get my school work done, and I have to eat and shower and things like that. Other things fall through the cracks. Fun stuff, exercise, dishes, the litterbox, some of the work I'm supposed to do.

It's a vicious cycle. Stress, poor diet, goofy sleep schedules, lack of exercise, and anxiety lead to more migraines. But the migraines lead to stress and anxiety and goofy sleep schedules and all the rest, since when do I have time to exercise and cook healthy meals if my head always hurts?

It's alienating. Everyone else goes to class and works in their offices. Not me. I skype in to many of my classes. I work from home. I can't go to movies. I don't watch TV. I don't get the pop culture references. For my Friday seminar, I sit in a hallway outside the room and listen in, while everyone else sits around a table inside the room and participates. I wish I could attend classes with everyone else, and socialize with my fellow students before and after class. I wish I could see the chalkboard or the computer for my statistics class, so I know exactly what my professor's talking about as he lectures (I can only hear it) and I could take notes on what he writes on the board.

People ask how are you and the right answer is "fine." But I'm not fine. I'm on the verge of tears much of the time. Can I make myself just say fine and pretend? It's gauche to say otherwise, to tell the truth. "I'm not fine, I'm a mess. I'm desperately looking for someone or something that can help. Is it you?" Then the person who was just being polite is stuck hearing my sob story and that's not what they were committing to with the simple question "how are you?"

It's expensive. For years, I spent a fortune on full price prescription drugs and I could not get insurance (pre-existing condition). Then I got insurance. Still, I need weekly or biweekly massages, and those aren't covered. I need healthy food. I'm having a hard time taking the bus to school and might have to pay for parking. Cars are key to making a quick escape when your head is killing you. There's nothing worse than waiting an hour for a fucking bus when you've got a migraine. Add to that all the jobs I cannot do because of my migraines. Anything with a projector, TV, video, or fluorescent lights, basically. As much as I'm struggling with school, at least they are putting up with me because I'm a student. A corporation would want to fire me. I'd be earning a lot of money if I was still in software consulting, with a migraine every day. But why should I get a migraine every day to earn a living?

It's maddening. I'm too disabled for many jobs, but not disabled enough to be officially disabled. I am capable of doing work - from home - but so far have not found a way to make enough money to live on that way, despite five years of trying.

There's one thing I haven't tried yet: botox. I'm going to try it. As soon as possible. I've gone to my primary care doctor and I've gotten a referral to neurology for botox and everything else related to my damn head and all this pain. Apparently it takes six months to get an appointment. I've called the neurology department several times to ask to speak to a nurse to see if she can get me in quicker. Apparently, she's just now working on scheduling patients who were referred in early September, and my referral came in much later. Because why would there be any urgency to help patients with daily head pain? They can wait six months. Right?

Sometimes people think my problem is made up. I've had bosses ask me "If you could make your headaches better, would you want to?" as if I'm doing this on purpose. To inconvenience them.

Lots of people want to help. They tell me to drink more water, try Imitrex, chant a Buddhist mantra, give up gluten, try acupuncture, and on and on. I've tried 20 different medications by my last count. They don't work. None work. Except for Percocets, which is addictive, so you can't take them frequently. I save them for emergencies and never use them more than once every two weeks no matter what.

Many times I feel lazy. I am embarrassed. I sleep a lot. I never have enough money. I must be doing something wrong. It makes me ashamed of myself. But the truth is that I am not lazy, I am disabled. Despite this, I hold myself to the same standards as everyone else, as all of the able bodied people. And I don't measure up.

I couldn't make my life work as a freelance journalist. I was happy for the most part, but did not earn enough money to live on. I thought grad school would be a solution. I knew it'd be tough. I knew I'd have to move away from California and to a place with cold weather and no mountains. I knew there would be a lot of reading, and a lot of work. Fine. I can do that. But I can't do it with a migraine every single bloody day. Nobody could.

So where am I now? I hurt. Physically, emotionally. I hurt.

Grad School Kicking My Butt

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Sep 22, 2014 at 12:00:21 PM PDT

Grad school has been kicking my butt, but not in the normal ways that it generally kicks butts. For most people, it's just the work that gets them. I can handle the work. For me, it's the lifestyle and migraines. Thus, I have not been blogging - but I also have not been doing anything blog-worthy. Mostly, I've been getting to class, getting home from class, doing homework, eating, sleeping, and having migraines. And petting my new kitten.

New kitten. Her name is Sierra. Sitting still enough to pose for pictures is not one of her skills at present.

Quick Update

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Sep 07, 2014 at 20:02:14 PM PDT

Second, I apologize for my absence on here. This month's been nothing but stress. I left California on July 29 and arrived in Madison on August 3. The move stressed out my cat Meg, who stopped eating and became ill. I wrote an article about what happened, because I could see it happening to anyone. Or any cat, rather. If a cat stops eating for a few days, he or she can become ill like Meg did. I did not know she was sick until I took her to the vet August 15.

Meg's condition took a severe turn for the worse the evening of August 16. The vast majority of cats who suffer this problem recover, but Meg did not. I spent 10 days doing everything I could for my cat around the clock - literally - and she did not make it.

The day Meg died was also the first day of grad school orientation, which lasted a week. Then this past week was the first week of school. Calling it a disaster would be an understatement. I think some things have been resolved, thankfully. But this will be a wild ride. It's the first time I've ever been assigned a research paper in a math class.

Just a reminder - this blog is set up for anyone to write, not just me. So please feel free to post whatever you'd like on here.

Weed Rage

by: Jill Richardson

Sun Aug 24, 2014 at 21:33:30 PM PDT

In my yard, I've got plantain and dandelion. I've found curly dock, thistles, burdock, black mustard, wild oniony something, and poke growing around town. (Note: Poke is toxic unless you know what you're doing with it.) Another friend has lambsquarters and mallow in her yard. She's even got lemon balm and catnip growing in her yard as weeds. And one lucky neighbor had an enormous supply of purslane (probably my absolute favorite edible weed) growing under their fence in their front yard.

Unfortunately, my lawn was mowed shortly before I arrived. My edible treasures were cut down to nothing. I was waiting for it to grow out to go nuts gathering dandelions and plantain. Then I'd occasionally walk past the neighbors to gather purslane to eat - and to gather the seeds and broadcast them in my yard. And I got a lemon balm start to see if I could establish it in my yard too.

Then, two days ago, the owner of my place (I'm renting) had a lawn mowing service mow the lawn - and all of my weeds. And my lemon balm. I am pretty upset about it.

Today I went for a walk to gather mallow, purslane, and lambsquarters. Thankfully, some neighbors do not mow their lawns too regularly. But the neighbors with the purslane apparently weeded it all by pulling it out by the roots.

This is, honestly, upsetting. I realize these people are normal and I'm the aberration. But we as a society are using lots of resources to grow and transport and buy food and then were are using more resources to get rid of the free food growing right in our own front yards.

Not to mention what we do with medications. I'm not against Western medicine, and I rely on prescription drugs for my migraines. Sometimes, I have not had the best luck using herbs. But sometimes I have. Odds are you have too if you use aloe on your sunburns. The other day I was picking up some stuff at Walgreens and the person in front of me was getting some dyed red probably ineffective and bad tasting god knows what for colds. And that's where herbs are really your friends. A good herbal tea and some homemade soup can do far more for your upper respiratory symptoms than the bullshit stuff you get at Walgreens. And here we all are going to lengths to eradicate these helpful plants from our yards.

Thank goodness echinacea comes from an ornamental flower. At least people around here cultivate that instead of mowing it down. If only they could reform their attitudes about dandelions too!

One more complaint? There are several trees in the neighborhood sporting signs saying they were treated with pesticides. Great. There goes my hopes for getting a beehive and raising my own honey. Because you can't control where your bees forage for pollen and nectar, so if anyone uses pesticides it can spoil it for everyone who wants to raise bees within several miles.

Stay tuned and very soon I will have a book review of a new book about edible and medicinal weeds. I'm just finishing up reading it. It's called the Wild Wisdom of Weeds by Katrina Blair.

Gardening in the Frigid North

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Aug 15, 2014 at 21:48:58 PM PDT

Even so, gardening here is like night and day from California. My entire world has turned upside down, garden-wise. For example: If I put worms in my compost bin, will they freeze and die during the winter? I don't know the answer. I have a hunch that with enough mass, a compost pile could generate enough heat to keep worms alive through the winter, but how big does it have to be to do that? My new one isn't the generally accepted 3x3x3 size that a pile ought to be, since it's just a little bin outside my door. The exact size my worm bin has always been... in California. Where it doesn't freeze all winter long.

Here are some thoughts.

Keeping the Lights On

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Aug 15, 2014 at 12:15:55 PM PDT

An angel swooped in and paid the $60 owed on this blog, which is why it's up and running again, but it costs $15/mo and they bill me monthly. I just received a bill for August. I'm going to try to stay current with the bills, which will be easier once I start getting paid regularly from my teaching assistantship. This month's going to be rough financially, thanks to the move. If anyone reads and appreciates this blog, or perhaps writes on it and gets value from that, you can help keep the blog up by sponsoring it for a month.

If you would like to sponsor the blog for a month, you can send me money on Paypal to the email address OrangeClouds115 at gmail dot com, and I will send it directly to the blog people as payment. As a thank you, I would love to recognize you by name on the blog or post an ad of your choosing (it can be for a product but it can also be for an event, a website, or just a bit of text saying whatever the heck you want) on the top left corner of the blog for the month.

Thanks,
Jill

Backpacking Food: Successes and Failures

by: Jill Richardson

Fri Jul 25, 2014 at 13:00:44 PM PDT

The Best Way to Hike Mt. Whitney

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jul 14, 2014 at 15:53:33 PM PDT

I think that's the wrong reason to do the trail. Don't hike it because it's the tallest; hike it because it is GORGEOUS. It's an incredibly pleasant, relatively easy trail (with the exception of a part near the top), and it's a really worthwhile hike even if you don't plan to go to the top.

Read on to find out why most people hike Whitney the wrong way (in my opinion) and how to do it right.

Whitney's summit is smack in the middle of this pic.

Yosemite Wildflowers

by: Jill Richardson

Mon Jul 07, 2014 at 15:28:24 PM PDT

Lousy or not, the wildflower display was spectacular. Here are my photos. They are mostly taken at altitudes ranging between 7000-8000 feet, although a few come from lower altitudes as I descended the Yosemite Falls Trail. We backpacked from Porcupine Flats at Tioga Rd, past Yosemite Falls toward Eagle Peak, and then backtracked to the Yosemite Falls Trail, taking that down to Yosemite Lodge in the valley. I also did a day hike to North Dome and hiked along Indian Ridge and on the trail toward Eagle Peak.

Here we all are, ready to go!