Monday, February 1, 2010

Treading Water

Now that the holiday season and our cruise are over, I'm struggling to find things to look forward to. It doesn't help that I came home from the cruise with a case of mild-but-constant vertigo, which hasn't even started to go away, despite our being back from the Caribbean now for over two weeks. (It's making me wonder if it isn't a symptom of some underlying ailment, as I don't remember having this problem, at least for this long, the last time we cruised in 1991 -- I really need to call the doctor to schedule a physical exam.) It's making everything, especially running at the gym, a little more difficult. I seem to be developing a tolerance for Temazepam, as it isn't keeping me out all night, even with a benadryl kicker. It's clear to me now that the psychological component of my sleep disorder, which I've never fully understood, has become the crux of the whole matter; in short, I simply can't sleep while my mind is "on," meaning I have to turn it "off" chemically. I'm supposed to see a practitioner at the UNM sleep-medicine clinic later this month, just to see if she has any ideas that my other doctors haven't thought of; however, at present I can't see my way clear of using both a breathing machine and prescription sleep meds for the rest of my life. That's a depressing thought, no matter how fully resigned to it I am.

What would I like to do? We'll probably be going to the cabin later this month for at least a couple of nights. I want to take my mother to Ruidoso (actually Ruidoso Downs) to see the Hubbard Museum of the American West. Dorine and I may be going to Colorado next month with the Albuquerque Youth Symphony on its spring tour of Colorado Springs and Denver. John Brewer and I have talked about doing the granddaddy of all hikes in the Sandia Mountains (after the snow melts): the entire Crest Trail (~28 miles, with loads of elevation changes) in a day. It would also be fun to visit Las Vegas after not having gone there in well over three years. Finally, I'd still like to go camping at at least a couple of state parks, something we managed not to do at all in 2009.

(The photo above was taken at Fort King George on the island of Tobago, which was my favorite of the islands we visited on our cruise.)