itll be me

ITLL BE ME
last night my wife she and i watched the movie
about glen campbells farewell tour
ill be me


there were parts
well lots of it that were difficult to watch

everyone needs to watch this movie
it shows you what its like to have this disease
and
how inside that brain there is still things that
functioned well
and
could be called up for use

over the last five years as ive learned more and more
about alzheiemers disease
have seen it first hand with my mother and my younger brother
and now with my older brother and to some degree with
my father
i was amazed at how well glen campbell was able to
perform on stage singing his songs
and
doing a decent job
yes it was a struggle on his last concert

so knowing what i know now
i realize he was in a more advanced stage
of the disease during the tour

that explains his rapid decline since the concerts
as he had hit that rapid decline
that fall off the cliff that occurs in the later stages

lucky for us he did his final concert and album
before he got to the cliffs edge

i watched with tears in my eyes
as i saw him record his last song
and doing it well

alzheimers disease does strange things
the music seemed to awake something in his brain
from some deep crevice
that defied the stage of the disease he was in

amazing is what i muttered under my breath
as he sang that final song
im not gonna miss you
even though he couldnt carry on a conversation
when the words came out they didnt always make sense
didnt know his family
couldnt dress himself
couldnt find the bath room
was inappropriate whatever that means when he ate

it was good to watch his family and friends
tolerate his behaviors
just going with the flow
not arguing with him
even during the concerts
as he sang a song twice
or sang a different song than planned

thats the way to handle patients
just go with the flow

i didnt find this movie as disturbing as
still alice
but
i was still misty eyed through much of the movie

especially as i watched him and his speech
and his behavior
it reminded me so much of my younger brother
as he progressed with the disease

then
it did bother me a lot
as i realized
itll be me
one day

the organicgreen doctor

guard dog

GUARD DOG
this is our guard dog named
maverick

our two dogs
mother and daughter
died a few months apart from what was thought by the
vet to be a brain tumor
genetic i presume

we were looking around for a dog to replace these two
someone i worked with said
i have this dog
that we have to pen up all the time since
we dont have a fenced yard to keep him in
and
she didnt feel right keeping him penned up
all the time

so i went over to her house to see him one day
no one was at home so i walked up to the cage
where he was

i think or at least i felt that way
if he could have gotten out of that cage
he would have eaten me alive
my what big teeth you have as i viewed him from
the other side of my truck
just in case he got out i could jump in the back
of my truck

there is no way in hell i want that dog

i told my wife she about him
she said i want to see him
so
over we went while the dog owner was there

well that guy was the sweetest guy ever
out the cage he went
running around in the neighborhood
then he came back

he licked my wife and even licked me some
nothing like my solo encounter with him

so we took him
up he jumped in the truck
sitting between my wife she and i
slobbering all over the truck
with an exciting look on his face
i wanna go home with you guys

that was 12 years ago

heres what we have learned about mr maverick

when a stranger comes to our property
he does that guard dog thing he did on me
folks wont come inside the gate
now living in the country thats a good thing

i now call him our burglar alarm system
i doubt that few folks are brave enough to enter our
property
only a ups guy and the tax assessor office have tested him
one of them i should have pretended we werent there
bet you can guess which one

now mr maverick
loves my wife
if i ever laid a hand on her
i think he would eat me alive

now he also dont like armadillos
if they come on our 1 acre fenced area around the house
they never leave on their own two feet

now the other 9 acres are theirs and other animals to play on
and
dig in
and live

now he is gentle also
licking our previous male cat named peaches
why he was called peaches is another story
and
letting peaches sleep on him

we call him a horse and cow whisperer
the neighbors horses and cattle
just come up to him and rub noses
they seem to have a silent conversation with him
they arent that way with other dogs

once when he had a large wound from a wire
from a fence he crawled through
i was cleaning the wound like i would a patient
he looked at me with those eyes
clamped down on my hand
just enough to let me know to stop what i was doing
let that wound heal on its on is what i did
for
i saw what he did to that big ole armadillos back
once

he loves kids
but
to be safe when kids are around he is always penned up
in a caged area that is 20 ft x 40 ft

but one flaw mr maverick has
is
that he hates gun shots and hates storms

ive seen him on a clear sunny day start acting crazy
wanting in the house
getting there if at all possible
then
later that day here comes one of those texas weather changes
with thunderstorms and lightning

hes better than any weather app you could get on
the iphone

when they hit he is going to get onto our fenced in porch
if he cant chew or force his way through the gate
somehow he appears in his hiding spot between a
rainwater tank and our hot tub
never can figure out how he get there
he feels safe there i guess

we even have a large dog house inside our enclosed garage
that he can get in
heck i even feel safe going there during a big storm
but
not mr maverick

he wants his spot

so i acquiesced yesterday
i fixed the gate to our patio
so that he could push it open when he needs to

now hes happy
he promised
i wont get on the porch unless that storm is a coming

so
sometimes you have to compromise some
and
think outside the box

the organicgreen doctor

alzheimers news-activity updates

ALZHEIMERS NEWS-ACTIVITY UPDATES


youve seen that papa john commercial with peyton manning
that peyton should be a comedian
now
pappa john how come he doesnt have grey hair
in central texas and dallas and fort worth
will be donating $5 every time you buy
two large pizzas with one topping and a brownie

last year in dallas they ran this fundraiser and raised
several thousands of dollars for the alzheimers assocation
they should have ran it during the super bowl

so if you get hungry for a pizza
get a pappa john
order as above
use promo code 2015alz
this way you donate to the alzheimers assocation
and get a pizza



on monday august 3 at the dell diamond
yes as in dell computers diamond
at the round rock express game
they are the triple a team for the texas rangers
lots of their players end up in the majors

the link will be posted later

buy your tickets using promo code forgetmenots
wear purple that night
enjoy the game


here are the walks to end alzheimers that we will
participating in the order they will occur

saturday september 26 2015
the williamson county walk
will be at the beautiful san gabriel park in georgetown tx
williamson county is one of the fastest growing areas in texas

fell free to donate and or join my team organicgreendoctor
or join another team or form your own

saturday october 10 2015
the travis county walk 
will be at camp mabry in austin
a beautiful spacious area with part of the walk through
a wooded area where you may see deer roaming around

this walk has a large number of walkers but since there is
so much space it doesnt feel that way

we will be walking with the austin regional clinic team
soon to be registered as a team
come join us

saturday october 17 2015
the little rock arkansas walk
will be at the clinton library along the arkansas river
another beautiful location

we will be walking in honor of my brother joe who died
with the disease
my mother nell who died with the  disease
my father charles who had the disease
my oldest brother who was just diagnosed with alzheimers disease
and
myself

saturday november 7 2015
the bell county walk in temple
will be at the beautiful pepper creek trails

i will be the
honorary chair for this walk
giving a short talk before the walk

we will be walking with the organicgreendoctor team
join or donate to our team

we are on the cusp of a cure
the feds are adding $300 million this year for research
the alzheimers association makes large donations to research
as well as caregiver patient health care providers education
and support

its these walks that are the major source of funds for
the alzheimers association

we need your help

the organicgreen doctor

country n news-always something

COUNTRY N NEWS-ALWAYS SOMETHING
we have changes coming to the country n this summer
and
we have been busy getting ready for them
more on that in the future

the garden is growing good
getting lots of tomatoes
eating tons of them
i drop by during my morning break
pick a mater off the vine and eat it
enjoying the juicy flavor
giving me a boost as i continue doing my work outside

well i did it again
i turned a valve to move rainwater from my large tanks
to smaller ones to make room for more rainwater
for when the next storms come through

problem is
i set my timer then turned it off and forgot about it
later
i found a lake of water in my pasture
the water was gushing out of the overflow pipe
like an artesian well

one time i did this and lost 2500 gallons of water
this time i just turned the valve off
and
never even looked to see how much i had lost
all i can say is thank goodness for the wettest spring
in years around here

that pasture will be real green this summer

i have a john deere riding lawn mower
that i have really abused over the years
its a tough one for sure

i recently was mowing along the front of my property
where the road crew had put in a new culvert
without my input of course
they left it rocky and cut and trimmed back some of my
oak trees

well i was going fast mowing along the area they
had been working on
when i heard and felt a kaboooooom
as i came to a sudden stop
it took awhile for me to get off what was a stump
left under the grass
unbeknownst to me

i continued to mow my yard
we only maintain the one acre the house sits on
we let the other 9 acres of pasture just go back to
nature
taking over it is
she nature seems to know what to put in the pasture
to attract deer birds quail doves turkey roadrunners
lots of lizards and of course snakes

the snakes dont bother me
but it sure gives my wife she the hibby jibbies when
she sees one of those big ones
like i got out of the chicken coop recently with two
things inside either two golf balls
or
worse two eggs
dont worry he wont be stealing anymore eggs
he was stuck in the coop so i had to make a
decision to euthanize him
he was almost as long as i was

my wife she wasnt to pleased when i bought him
up to the house for her to see
she got the hibby jibbies when i tried to hand the snake
to her

i usually let them go and rarely ever euthanize them

....as i continued to mow
i noticed i was stuck in the yard
thinking i hit a real wet stop
i tried to get out of the area
but
finally i realized i had knocked the left rear tire off the
rim
and
maybe did more damage underneath the mower

the problem is that now that all the wildflowers have
bloomed
its time to mow the 1 acre yard
and
since we have had so much rain its like a small
jungle out there
and
my wife she gets a little nervous walking around
out there

its not a good time of the year to get a riding lawn mower
fixed so ive found out
3 weeks it will take
may have to get me some rental goats to mow this down

there is always something happening here
which makes it interesting
i dont think i could ever live in an apartment or condo
or even in town
anymore
and
be happy

the organicgreen doctor

dear ms b-has times changed

DEAR MS B-HAS TIMES CHANGED
we sure enjoyed seeing you turn over
also we liked the pictures of your dad holding you
and
right beside it was a picture of me holding your dad
when he was your age

i thought about that a lot
how far we have come since i held your dad like he
is holding you
well its seems on some things we have changed some
and
not for the good


the supreme court may wipe out the only attempt to
provide healthcare for its citizens
we are an embarrassment to the industrial countries
when it comes to health care


we are debating whether to fly a flag over a state capitol
a flag that yes i agree belongs in a museum
now when i was younger i embraced that flag
seeing it as a symbol of the times
a sign of rebellion against the status quo
a rebel against the war discrimination excessive police
force against minor infractions and people of color

well i was wrong about that flag from my deep south
roots
it is in 2015 is a symbol of racism
seen offensive by a large section of our population
a symbol of their placement into slavery
so
i understand what it may mean to my ancestors
but
its time has come to put it to rest
in a museum
then let history sort this out
history always tells the truth


then
the supreme court will rule on same sex marriage
same sex couples have been around for years
ive known them as have all of us all our lives
its time to rule that its all legal
and
then we move on

im sure your generation will look back on all this
and
say
what was all that uproar about anyway
its about just doing the right thing for people
many of whom are your friends neighbors fellow employees
and relatives

lets just move on and do whats right

now ms b we have a lot of hope for your generation
to do the right thing for society
and
we are leaving things well many things not in very good
condition
like our earth our climate our political system our economy
lots of social issues

i hope yours is the one that can fix all that

next
get some teeth and start crawling

the organicgreen doctor