Up Before The Sun Breathing Free On My Little Brother's Birthday With Spencer Jack Building Bridges In The Skagit River Sand

I am vertical well before the arrival of the sun on the morning of this 26th day of September.

September 26. Today is my little brother's birthday. Happy birthday little brother. My little brother is my great grand nephew, Spencer Jack's, grandpa.

Last night Spencer Jack's dad emailed me a picture of Spencer playing in the sand on the banks of the incredibly shrinking Skagit River.

What makes the banks of the Skagit River so sandy, I am sitting here wondering? The banks of the Trinity River aren't sandy.

It is already a week ago today that I found I had a dead battery, followed by a huge increase in my allergy woes. Now, a week later, the allergy woes have greatly abated.

During the course of my allergy woes I was very troubled to learn that I was over using the nasal sprays. That over use causes what is called the rebound effect. The rebound effect means the over use of the nasal spray causes the nasal passages to quickly clog up again.

I Googled "nasal congestion rebound effect" and read some awfully dire info about the dreaded rebound effect. One person said recovering from the rebound effect could take up to a week and one should be prepared to spend a couple nights unable to sleep.

I was mortified.

Then I read a suggested cure that made sense. As in keep one nasal passage clear by continuing to spray, while the other nasal passage clears up. When that happens quit spraying. The person making this suggestion suggested it would take a couple days.

Well.

Monday night I sprayed my left nostril. Early in the morning the right nostril was clear. When I got vertical, Tuesday morning, both nostrils were clear. The left nostril clogged up during the day and I used the spray one time to clear it. That was the last time I used the spray. This morning I am pretty much cleared up.

What a relief.

Below is a cropped version of the picture my nephew sent me last night of Spencer Jack making bridges in the Skagit River sand. The orange arch in the lower right of the picture is Spencer's version of La Conner's Rainbow Bridge.

On The First Day Of Fall I Have Been Practicing The Buteyko Method Of Breathing Foul Texas Air

I had a very rough early first day of Fall. As in my allergic nasal congestion woes rendered sleeping very difficult.

It seems there is an epidemic of nasal congestion in the D/FW Metroplex. I come to that conclusion not based on anything I've read in what passes for newspapers in this ill-served, newspaper-wise, part of the planet. I came to the epidemic conclusion due to the number of people I've heard suffering from the same symptoms I suffer from who formerly rarely suffered such symptoms.

Elsie Hotpepper is a recently joined member of the epidemic.

I have been vertical since sometime between 4 and 5 this morning.

My  clogged desperation was so great that I Googled "nasal congestion." There are a lot of suggestions as to how to remedy this woe.

I had, in stock, a jar of mentholated Vaseline. One of the suggestions suggested rubbing some inside ones nose. I did so. Now everything smells like Eucalyptus. But the nasal congestion remained.

I already had saline spray and was using it. Maybe it had some salubrious effect, moisturizing wise, but not decongestant wise.

Then I found the nasal decongestiing method you learn about in the YouTube video above. It is called the Buteyko Method. Here's a blurb from the website from whence I got the video....

Over 90% of people with nasal congestion can get a relief in less than 2 minutes if they slow down their heavy breathing using a simple breathing exercise. This easy respiratory exercise to clear a stuffy nose was invented by Soviet MDs practicing the Buteyko method. More than 180 MDs taught this most natural remedy to thousands of their patients with asthma, sinusitis, hay fever, chronic mouth breathing, rhinitis, and many other conditions.  This treatment and remedy also works for children, pregnant women, and those with symptoms of fatigue.  The exercise can be applied during night sleep as well.

Basically you mouth breathe in a deep breath, then pace for 20-30 steps whilst pinching your nose to prevent breathing, then sitting down and exhaling through ones nose. Stand up and repeat. I did several repeats. The totally clogged nasal passages did open up a bit, but I did not get the total relief I was hoping for.

After practicing the Buteyko I left my abode for a walk around the neighborhood, holding my breath and exhaling through my nose as I walked. When I got back to my abode I was still clogged up. So, I gave in and squirted 4-Way Nasal Spray into the clogged zone.

Instant relief.

I'd stopped using the 4-Way last night because I thought I'd over done using it and had caused the dreaded rebound effect, where overuse causes the clog. Taking a break from the 4-Way seems to have been a good plan, because I have now been breathing clear for a half hour.

I believe this first day of Fall is the last day we are scheduled to be under the dire AIR QUALITY ALERT. Until the next time.