The Middle Of June With A Texas-Sized Aching Back

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, on this 15th day of June, we can see it is yet one more blue sky morning in Texas.

I heard thunder booming in the middle of the night. At least I assume the booming was thunder.

I am starting this Wednesday with a major pain I've not had in a long long time. That being my lower back is in full ache mode. I think I strained my back moving a BIG TV.

I read this morning that tomorrow around a quarter million Dallas Mavericks fans are expected at a Victory Parade. A quarter million is a lot of people. Out in the heat. I have no idea on what Dallas streets the Victory Parade is taking place.

In my current state of aching decrepitude I do not know if swimming would exacerbate the ache or make it better. What I do know is I am medicating myself with ibuprofen.

Tandy Hills Cure Backaches

My back is no longer aching. I took it to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Area for a walk around noon. The first mile or so was a bit dicey and then the pain seemed to just melt away and I was back walking normal.

It is October 3, a couple weeks into Fall. Leaves are starting to turn and for some reason, this year, wildflowers continue to pop out and color up the Tandy Hills.

Today it was large herds of big yellow flowers that have sprouted up. Are these some type of Sunflower? I have no idea.

It was clear and in the 60s when I took my backache cure. It is still in the 60s, but it is not longer clear. Now it is raining.

Oh My Aching Back Paining Me In Texas

Anyone who has ever had their back go out on them knows what I mean when I say there are few things worse.

When I got out of bed yesterday I could barely stand up. This got better as the day wore on. A long walk helped.

The worst type backache is where something snaps and the back is totally out. That has not happened this time.

My back used to go out on me fairly regularly, like once every couple years. It has only gone totally bad on me once in Texas, early on in my exile, when I was mowing the lawn on a riding lawnmower and I reached forward to pull a lever.

Instantly went out on me. That time took around 6 months to totally recover. I have had short bouts of aching back syndrome, since, but not where my back turns totally dysfunctional on me. I suspect I will quickly recover from this bad back bout.

I thought swimming might help, so I did so this morning. Felt much better afterwards. I'm going to limit the amount of time I spend clacking on this keyboard today. I think too much keyboard clacking may be a contributing factor to back pain.

Taking A Fall & Being Good At Noon In Hot Texas

I had my bad brain freeze up this morning. That has not happened in a while. With a bad brain freeze I'm unable use my imagination. It just goes blank.

To thaw the brain freeze I decided to go unusually early to the Tandy Hills Natural Sanatorium Sauna Area. Even though it was early, it was HOT.

As I was walking along, on a downhill, rocky path, my phone went off with a text message noise. I reached for the phone, flipped it open and slipped on the loose rock, totally falling down, hitting hard on my right hip, wrenching my back real bad.

When I got back vertical my back was in full backache pain mode. I thought, first total brain freeze, and now my back is out. Yet more misery in this hell I am living. My back has not gone out in a long long time. I was telling someone, just a couple days ago that I never get backaches anymore, due to, I thought, yoga, stretch and exercise ball routines I do religiously. I thought when I said that that I was possibly jinxing myself.

When got stable enough to walk, it was very hard to get to the top of the hill. Each step brought a gasp of pain. I got to where the trail is relatively flat and the walking became less painful. I was pretty sure I'd put my back out. That can take a long time to recover from. So, I'm happy, now, a couple hours later, to be able to type that my back is not out. No pain. And the brain freeze has melted.

And what was the text message that caused all this havoc? Well, it was from my mom and dad. It said, "be good at noon." What in the world does that mean? It perplexes me.

Bald Heads, Back Aches, Mountain Biking, Swimming, Hiking & American Idol

Yeah, that's me with my newly shaved bald head and a backache. Yesterday I said I was going to Sprouts Farmers Market around noon and then going to River Legacy Park to go mountain biking in the late afternoon.

The mountain biking did not happen. I believe I had over done a yoga stretch and my back muscle rebelled. The rebellion took place while I was in Sprouts pushing a cart full of fruit and vegetables. I believe my back seized up in what is known as a spasm. It hurt.

Having my back go out on me is the worst. I'd rather recover from a painful surgery than a backache. The pain I was feeling, that came in bursts, was the pain I've felt before that leads to my back going out. So, I was not pleased.

I got out of Sprouts and made it back here, took some ibuprofen and did the stuff I've learned to do to thwart this type disaster.

By the time I sat down to watch American Idol, a half hour after the show started, my back was feeling no pain. It did not take me long, fast forwarding through boring parts, before the DVR was caught up to being live with American Idol. I grew bored waiting for commercials to end.

So, I offed it and went to bed. It didn't matter to me who won the thing, but I was a bit surprised this morning to see that Adam Lambert was not the winner. It seemed like he'd been already crowned months ago.

By morning, no back woes, up way before dawn, in the pool as the sun came up.

But, fresh woes, WeatherBug just went off with a Level Orange Air Pollution Alert. This means if you are old, infirm, have breathing problems or just hate air pollution that you should avoid breathing today. I hit bingo in at least 2 of those categories.

I wonder if this Level Orange thing should stop me from going hiking the Tandy Hills today. Probably not.