A Word About Heat Stroke/Heat Exhaustion

It was a brutal day for heat in Phoenix yesterday, although I believe our high was ONLY 112, but since we are in monsoon season the humidity has been high.  My good friend Magpie of "In Over My Head" made reference in her post yesterday about shopping for a camper shell and waiting for installation and then doing some cleanup work "and then I wilted." 

I have spent the last two days with a handyman doing some spruce-up things on my property, one of which was getting the lawn put back together after having been gone for almost a month.  I had been outside innumerable times, took a trip to the famous home supply place for stuff (in a non-airconditioned vehicle, mind you) and I finally got to the point of feeling slightly nauseous, a bit clammy, sweating profusely even though I was in the house with the temperature registering 76 degrees.  I couldn't seem to get rid of the dry feeling in my mouth.  I had taken a shower and started drinking water (100 ounces in a little under two hours) and my body still craved more.  I  mentioned to Sam, the handyman, that I did not feel well and I could not come back outside to answer any of his questions or to help out.  He said if I had some potato chips I should chow down on them because they are very high in both sodium and potassium.  11 chips equal 9 percent of your daily requirement of potassium. 

Who can eat only 11 chips?  Not me!  I LOVE potato chips.  And even though I try to practice a low-salt diet I know that sodium is necessary to make the body crave water in times of dehydration.  I ate a big bowl of potato chips, drank more water, and in a short while I felt good again. 

Just wanted to share this little tip with my blogger friends.  I am so pleased to find this healthy reason for indulging in a bowl of potato chips!

Thanks, Sam!

 

Cock of the Walk

The main man

Alley ~ San Augustine, Texas

Of the many pictures I took on my day trip to San Augustine, Texas, last month, these three I find the most intriguing.  I went to that sleepy little East Texas town in search of historic places and I did find many, but I loved what I saw walking down a couple of alleyways.  These three pictures are of the same building.  The first shows the building; the second, the doorway; and the third, one of the windows.  I believe the black on the building may be soot from a previous fire and the orange is rust and discoloration from water.  The door has an interesting portico that looks quite new.  I did not have an opportunity to walk around front to see what type of establishment might be on this site.  It started raining quite heavily right after these pictures were shot so I left and went home.  Oh, by the way, all three pictures were straight out of camera, no enhancement and no cropping.

Christ Church ~ San Augustine, Texas

Mrs. Frances C. Henderson, wife of the first governor of the state of  Texas (J. Pinckney Henderson ~ Feb. 1846 ~ December 1847) was instrumental in founding this Episcopal Church in San Augustin, the town known as the cradle of Texas Independence.  In 1848 the Rev. Henry Samson was sent to do missionary work, but unfortunately, his first service was the burial of his oldest child, who died of scarlet fever the day after the family arrived.  The child's remains are interred under the church altar.

The original church building was constructed in 1851 but was devastated by a storm in 1859.  Saved were a few of the interior artifacts, including the rails and the hand-hewn pews, which were placed in the new structure some 11 years later in 1870 and remain through today.  The Gothic tower was added in 1891 to relieve the building strain caused by the vibration of the bell.

This little church sits on the most beautiful grounds I've ever seen.  The day this picture was taken was quite hazy and I hope to return to San Augustin in the not too distant future and perhaps get a better, brighter shot.

Visit the San Augustin cemetery at my Project 365 blog.

9/100 Strangers ~ Robert

Robert was a seatmate on a flight between Phoenix and Dallas earlier this month.  He jumped on the plane in Albuquerque where he had been visiting his daughter for the purpose of attending her baby shower.  He was exuberant that he also had had the opportunity to see an ultrasound picture of his soon-to-be born granddaughter.  Robert, who lives in Dallas, is a missionary working in the Caribbean. 

First Methodist Church of Nacogdoches

Magnolia Blossom

Mom's magnolia tree actually still had a few blooms and several buds in early July.  There were gone by the time I left at the end of the month.

Stockman Community Church

Stockman Community, Shelby County, Texas

A sleepy little community in Deep East Texas

Vacation Photos

If you're interested in seeing my picture-a-day vacation photos, PLEASE VISIT MY 365 PROJECT BLOG.  I completed the 365 photos on July 23 and I am posting them in chronological order at that site.

Arizona's Badlands

I learned this trick from my daughter ~ sit near the wing of the aircraft and concentrate your photos on the landscape or the clouds. 

In the US the "Badlands" generally refer to South Dakota but as I was traveling from Phoenix and flying over New Mexico this area said "badlands" to me.  I tried to imagine what it would be like to traverse this land in a covered wagon or on horseback or even on foot, as many people did.  Many did not survive but those who did conquered the West!  If you look closely the S-shaped curve shows a moving train, the transportation mode that connected east to west in this great expansive country we call the USA.

I've been away for the past three-plus weeks.  I hope to get caught up with everyone's blogs within the next few days.

Going Home

My vacation this year has been moved up a few weeks due to some health issues my mom has been having.  So about this time tomorrow I'll be heading up this road ...

and when I get to the top of the hill I will be there.

I will have limited access to a computer and the Internet while I'm away but there will be fun things in store when I return.  I'll look forward to catching up with all my bloggie friends toward the end of the month.

The Old Movie Theater

Garrison, Nacogdoches County, Texas

I grew up in a little town of about 1,500 people in the 1950s.  The 2000 census listed its population as 844.  One of these two buildings on the town square (which really isn't a square because it only has three sides) was the movie theater where we watched The Lone Ranger, Sky King, Ma and Pa Kettle, The Little Rascals, The Three Stooges, Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Hopalong Cassidy, Ava Gardner in Mogambo, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Laurel and Hardy, Tyrone Power, Stewart Granger, Joseph Cotton, and lots and lots of Tom and Jerry and Woody Woodpecker cartoons.  I say it's the blue building but my friend thinks it's the brown one.  I think I win because I believe those two windows on either side of the door aren't really windows but are glass-covered boxes which held the movie posters.  But I just may be having selective memory.  There was a balcony but we never went up there because these were the days of segregation and people of color had to sit there.  They were not allowed to sit in the downstairs portion.  They went to a separate school.  Their fathers were laborers, their mothers were maids.  Many of them never finished high school, much less went on to college.  We silly little privileged white kids (although my family was not very affluent, we had a certain privileges because of our race) didn't know any of them.  I'm glad those days have changed.  Although our society has changed, and thank God for that, we still have many prejudices to overcome.  Someday, but probably not in my lifetime, my hope is that people everywhere will accept their neighbors for the richness they bring to our lives rather than their color or their religion or their nationality or their political beliefs.  Tomorrow we celebrate our independence day and in addition to a day of celebration, it should be a day of reflection to ponder what independence really means.

East Texas Rainbow

This is my mom's back yard which looks out on her pasture and her creek (which is surrounded by all those trees), and it is of course topped with that beautiful Texas sky which has no pollution and in which you can see a bejillion stars every night.  The pink flowers at the upper right are from a crepe myrtle tree.  I'll be going there soon and will show you more of it then.

8/100 Strangers - Lisa

Lisa is one of the street people you might encounter near the grounds of the Arizona State Capitol.  She actually encountered me as I returned to my car after a tour of an historic home in the area.  She said, "Whatcha doin'?  Just takin' a buncha pitchers?"  I replied, "Sure.  You want me to take your picture?"  She stood very straight with her shoulders back and posed.  When I showed her the screen she asked if I'd take another one.  I did and asked her if she liked that one any better.  She told me she'd like to take my camera and take a picture of her sister.  I had to politely decline, and as I turned to go to my car, she waved and said, "God bless you."

And God bless you, Lisa.

P.S.  I received an e-mail this week from the wife of Guy - Stranger 5/100 (posted here on June 19) - who said she believed that was the best picture that had ever been taken of him and that it captured his personality completely.  My goodness!  I walked around with my peacock feathers all fluffed for several days!