Getting high(er)

 Only 2 more days in the month of June. It has sure been a busy month!

A compass in the sidewalk outside our local history museum surprised me, that State St. in Black Mountain flows North-east to South-west...rather than just E to W. Well, it does have a few bends that are almost unnoticeable.

And it tell us the elevation is 2,499.1 feet above sea level. I'm going to move to Durango CO at the end of July, and it's 6, 532 feet in elevation. Not sure exactly what part of town it is, since there's a big hill behind my soon-to-be-apartment building, with Fort Lewis College located up there. 

But the message to me is it's 2-1/2 times higher than where I now live. Thus all my trips up to the mountains nearby on the Blue Ridge Parkway. (You thought I just loved them, which is actually true.) What will I do when I have really high mountains to climb? OK, I'm not planning those trips until I can acclimate to the altitude where I'll be sleeping! Pulmonologists are saying I may acclimate in a few weeks. I still get to sleep with oxygen and my CPAP. And I have portable oxygen for possible need as well.

The other day I talked to scheduling in Durango and made my first doctor's appointment. A primary care provider. I'm learning to talk to the people on the ground, so to speak. The insurance folks thought another doc was taking new patients, so I called there for an appointment the month after my move. Nah, when I got the scheduler at the hospital where all the doctors are part of a network, she said that doc wasn't taking new patients, and what kind of doc did I want, an internist or general practitioner.

I honestly didn't know the difference. But I told her my major needs and she said a GP would do well. Of course he'll probably be 25 years old, and I may have to drive through awful traffic to get to him, where the first choice was 2 blocks from my soon-to-be apartment. 

There have been times in my life when I was unemployed and had no health insurance. We stayed healthier then, I think.

Wouldn't it be nice to have good healthcare that is free and no longer dependent upon profit making insurance companies?

How is it that this country has gotten into this mess?

My soon-to-be apartment building on the left, but my apartment will be on the other (west) side of the building.

I can't wait to see this boulevard covered in snow! Of course I may eat these words!

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For climate change interest:

See the new site as described in this NPR article for up to date info that's no longer available from NOAA due to the government cutbacks. climate.us

https://www.npr.org/2026/06/26/nx-s1-5869615/climate-noaa-data-trump-doge?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=npr&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&fbclid=IwY2xjawSrZTNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFvcFV4MDJVTjB4b21xdURnc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHj6tvo_8YB7uXgj3HtJr8fpZQMUyFeuvqZ4qlFdBdGE3cdB9c3y01gA6w3w1_aem_nHmjFgA4B9JfVK5bHI1GnA

Sitting in my backyard at 3175 feet

 

You may have noticed some of these shots from my Sunday travels post several days ago. But here are just Blue Ridge Parkway scenes. Starting at 2720, just 300 feet higher than where I live in Black Mountain, the aim was to try breathing higher altitudes.

Although I only sat here a few minutes, I worried about sunburn. The next week I did have puffy sore lips, the only sign of difficulty!

Willow and Ruthie from Lafayette LA came by and we talked about St. Gertrude of Nivilles as the patron saint of cats...which of course they had never heard of.

Closeup view with some purplish flowers. 

Farm land below, while you might see the cut of the Parkway as it traverses a midrange mountain slope.

Somewhere in the distance is my home in Black Mountain. I travel about 14 miles from there to this lofty view. It costs about a gallon of gas for the round trip!

OK, why do I cut myselfie off? Because there was a bit of something on the end of my nose, but nobody around to tell me. And of course I couldn't see the photo worth a hoot in the bright sunlight.

Which reminds me, why did my iPhone stop offering panoramas and portrait settings? Now all I get are video and photo choices...with different things within photos. ARGH!

My 3175 foot elevation is lovely, and with low humidity I can breathe ok. Of course I haven't tried doing anything strenuous yet!

The lack of foliage means you can clearly see the devastation from the hurricane storms in Sept. 2024. 

The Craven Gap area (a trail as well as a road that goes up to several homes off the Parkway) was hit hard by either wind going up the gap, or water coming down. Trees are littered all over the woods helter skelter!

A recent hiker at Craven Gap saw this wildcat.

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Tomorrow I'm going to try the "Sit and Be Fit" class, at least up to the marching and heavy breathing part at the end! It's at the Lakeview Senior Center. (written on Tuesday 3.24.26)

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And an astronomer said, Master, what of Time? And he answered: 

You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.

You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.

Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life’s timelessness,

And knows that yesterday is but today’s memory and tomorrow is today’s dream.

And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.

—Kahlil Gibran

On Time

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Sharing with Skywatch Friday

Going somewhere

 

You recently saw some of the efforts of my son, Russ, in packing my pottery for a move that may happen in a few months.

Friends came over to winnow through dishes, serving items, baking things, clothing, linens etc. this week. The thrift store will have lots of old stuff coming its way soon. Of course I'll still have all I need for daily living, as well as furniture, about half of which won't be going with me.

In order to go somewhere with a drier climate and less triggers for my coughs from Bronchiectasis, I plan to move out to the southwest corner of Colorado this summer, when an apartment comes available. It's also closer to my youngest son's home. 

My plans depend on so many things that are out of my control.

Unknown photographer of Blue Ridge Parkway view.

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So I'm hoping to be going somewhere, but much can happen between now and then.

But having my heart stress test Friday this week, as well as talking with my pulmonologist, has given me some changes in my breathing needs. We shall see how this affects my plans. The best laid plans of mice and men....and Barbara too!

Sharing with Sepia Saturday this week!