Adrenaline: The Breakfast of Champions

Before I was fully conscious, I was dialing 1-1-9 (before I realised it should be 9-1-1) by Darlene's order because of Cristina was having a seizure. When the worst was over we tried our darndest to keep her awake and give her juice. Being the only one trained in administering her emergency glucagon needle, I didn't actually do it because LD and Darlene were too uneasy about it. I rode with her in the ambulance.

Now she's doing much better and will spend a night in the ward. Cristina wants me to post this so people become more aware of diabetes (type I in her case) and are less weirded out by it. We visited her for a bit and are now heading to the beach for a much needed break...

... No two trips to the beach have been the same. This time 25 feet of the beach was missing! The long-lasting storm from two weeks ago ripped it all away. Also, we saw the birth and death of water spout (tornado at sea) right before our eyes. 'Twas quite amazing. Nature's forces are so powerful. Since natural phenomena are manifestations of realities in the spiritual realms of God, we cannot even imagine how powerful spiritual forces are! The first chapter of The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh is a good start, but maybe I can attempt use the knowledge of physics that I did and hope to gain to learn about spiritual reality through physical metaphors.

We visited Cristina a couple times throughout the day. One time we saw Halva who was there for sharp pain in his neck that is spreading. Lloyd and Millie came over, too. Lloyd is painfully dealing with kidney stones, and his grandson Terron is plagued with constipation. Ivan, the man who had a seizure at a devotional gathering last month, is also not feeling well. Why is everyone getting sick? Up here* people are very open with discussing health problems. It ain't nothin' to talk about your constipation, prostate pain or anything else. Until this moment, I thought it was strange, but that's just my ingrained American culture manifesting itself. Why hide or be embarrassed by illness when everyone's body is prone to disrepair? In a culture where much medical care is based on home remedies, pride would only get in the way of your health. But then again, you've got to be sensitive to each person's boundaries. Let's hear it for moderation!

Desmond, Lloyd and Millie came to Feast this evening. Tastyey treats, which followed the spiritual ones, included papaya, Oreo-style cookies and tea. I make it a point to avoid caffeine for the most part and usually opt for herbal, but I do enjoy the way Darlene prepares the Lipton variety. On an island that adopted so much from the British (spelling, driving on the left, nurses wearing silly white things in their hair), it's a little strange that tea isn't part of the culture. Maybe the Bahá'í­s will bring it back.

<– The mosquitos take their toll. (I'm still going strong in my abstinence from insect repellent.)







*In the Caribbean "up" means "south" and "down" means "north." I have no idea why. No one has been able to explain it to me yet.