63 bar steady 29.86 1mph SSW dewpoint 32\u00a0 Beltane<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Moon (Hare Moon, English medieval)<\/p>\n
Outside this morning planting Chiroggia, Golden and some other kind of beets–this morning they were plants, already started indoors.\u00a0 Nantes Carrots, too.\u00a0 Same thing.\u00a0 All four are heirloom seeds, species of long ago, kept alive and healthy by the folks at Seed Savers Exchange.\u00a0 This also means we can collect seed from any plant we let go to see and expect them to reproduce their parent plant, an expectation only realized among hybrids by cloning or vegetative reproduction.<\/p>\n
Kate made a call, after we consulted about where to plant the beets and carrots.\u00a0 “This bed,” she said, “was not too stressed.\u00a0 It hasn’t had tomatoes for a couple of years.”<\/p>\n
The call was to Jon, checking up on little Gabe, still in the hospital.\u00a0 As she talked, I only heard one end of the conversation.\u00a0 “You’re kidding.”\u00a0 She looked toward the ground, eyes hooded, “You’re kidding.”\u00a0 You’re kidding is Kate talk for OH MY GD.\u00a0 Gabe is a factor 8 hemophiliac.\u00a0 This is the same kind as the Czar’s family, a particularly intractable kind.\u00a0 Treatable, but tough to deal with over a lifetime.\u00a0 A chronic disease.<\/p>\n
Gabe has the right Dad.\u00a0 Jon is a model diabetic, controlling his insulin levels and remaining lean, athletic.\u00a0 He’s suffered from diabetes, fought his own demons with it.\u00a0 Once he had it fairly well controlled, he developed Addison’s, another immune mediated disease.\u00a0 He had already added a poorly functioning thyroid gland.\u00a0 In each instance he has learned about the disease, managed it and gone on with his life, allowing himself no secondary gain or restrictions other than those absolutely necessary for handling his conditions.\u00a0 Then, on top of that, he began to have aches.\u00a0 Rheumatoid arthritis.<\/p>\n
Jon understands both poles of handling a chronic disease:\u00a0 the physical and the psychological.\u00a0 They are equal in importance since a stubborn resistance to manage a chronic condition only makes it worse.\u00a0 On the other hand, good management creates a sense of psychological well-being impossible otherwise.\u00a0 Good psychological health makes handling the various regimes more doable.<\/p>\n
I’ve never been sure of the old, God doesn’t give us more than we can handle, but in this case I can say that if any one can handle Gabe’s life in a psychologically and physically optimal way, it’s Jon.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
63 bar steady 29.86 1mph SSW dewpoint 32\u00a0 Beltane \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New Moon (Hare Moon, English medieval) Outside this morning planting Chiroggia, Golden and some other kind of beets–this morning they were plants, already started indoors.\u00a0 Nantes Carrots, too.\u00a0 Same thing.\u00a0 All four are heirloom seeds, species of long ago, kept alive and healthy by … Continue reading Gabe<\/span>