Mother Earth Goddess Card & Visitors

MOTHER EARTH GODDESS CARD

Last night was the monthly Goddess party, where gals get together under a full moon to share food and drinks and draw a monthly "goddess card". For several months I've had the "Butterfly Maiden, Transformation" card. Last night the card I drew is Mawu, the Mother Earth card. The meaning of the card has to do with taking care of the environment--gardening, recycling. I wasn't too excited over this card, as its not nearly as exciting as some of the other cards in the stack (such as Aphrhodite), and I believe Patrick and i already do quite a bit for the environment with recycling and gardening.

Well, I was very wrong and my thinking was short sighted.

This morning I I took the kids to the refuge center for kids film festival and we watched 45 minutes of films about nature and the environment. The last film centered around chemicals in the water table and how frogs are highly impacted by this --causing birth defects and decreased reproductive rates. At the end of the movie, they said, 'Heres what you can do to help reduce chemicals in rivers, etc...' Then they showed a scene of someone reaching for shampoos at the grocery store, and the narrater talked about being a wise consumer of products with chemicals. In the scene was bottle of Nora's hair detangler--Nora said VERY loudly, "Hey mom-We have that at home!!". That got a good laugh, but made me realize that maybe I do need to step up to the plate more with cleaning our house of toxic chemicals and making cleaning products out of vinegar and borax.

ICE SKATING LESSONS

Two weeks ago we started the kids with a 1/2 hour, 1x a week ice skating lesson. Its a LOVELY service offered by the city. Patrick and I have tried many times to get the kids going on ice skateing on ponds, and it was hard. Part of our difficulty was that there wasn't other kids around to motivate or be a "model" for Nora and Stuey.

At the ice skating lessons, the kids inch along (literally) the ice...going in a line, around cones. And they learn how to get up correctly when they fall. In the two sessions the kids have had, there have already been improvements. I believe that it will make ice skating trips to local ponds more fun in the future!

VISITORS

The past 2 weeks we've had several visitors, including Thomas and Rose visiting from Seattle and Dicky visiting from Maine. Thomas and Rose came to Kodiak for the weekend for a friend's 40th birthday party (Happy Birthday, Rob!). Dicky (Patrick's brother) also paid a visit from Maine.

Zoya

photos: Dicky and I at the Powerhouse restaurant

Patrick and the kids at the Powerhouse.

Stuey at the ice skating lesson. nora in the background.

Thomas and Rose over for dinner.

Nora and I walking at Spruce Cape Trail.

Jeremy M.D. & Karen R.N.

In St.Lucia, I was visiting my friends Karen B. and Jeremy L, whom I first met in Kodiak 4 years ago. Jeremy is a doctor who was working at a local medical clinic here. They lived in Kodiak for 3 years and Karen and our family became friends with them during the course of that time.

Karen and Jeremy recently moved to St. lucia when Jeremy accepted a job as a contract doctor with the Peace Corps--a 1 year position providing medical care for vounteers in St. Lucia and the surrounding islands. There are 6 islands (I believe) that will be under his care--His job duties include ordering supplies and equipment, seeing volunteers for medical care as needed and fliying to surrounding islands and making contacts with doctors and clinics. This is in case a volunteer on an island needs medical attention-they can then be referred to a known, reputable provider.

Jeremy was in the process of setting up his office and clinic in St. Lucia when we were there (see photo). The peace corps provided the hosue we stayed in and the car Karen and Jeremy used. Jeremy was a peace corps volunteer in Ghana (I believe) for 2 years many years ago, so he has experience with the organization.

Karen is a nurse, with a speciality in Emergency Room nursing. She has worked in ERs throughout Alaska and in Portland. She is looking into working in St.Lucia and deciding on where to work (there are several hospitals in the area of Castries where they live). The process to get her license could take several months, as she has to get a work permit with her visa. Fortunately, there is a great need for nurses (as always!!) so hopefully the process will be smooth for her! I"m eager to hear about where she ends up!

Zoya

Patrick's favorite photos

Patrick put these photos on our blog and requested I write more about St. Lucia. The best part was sleeping in every morning, and enjoying the sunset from Karen and Jeremy's deck every evening.

I'm finally feeling recovered from returning...I am caught up on sleep from the 2 nights of little sleep when I was at the hospital and the time change/jet lag. Wow-i really hit the ground running when I returned! It feels good to be home and back to work and with my family. At work there were lots of new physical therapy referrals and birthing class requests when I was gone, so that was fun to return to. Its nice to see that my business was purring away when I was gone. The fax machine was busy!

The evenings in Kodiak are much lighter now-I really like it and Nora noticed it tonight as well. She said after dance class, "mom-normally its dark now but today its light." The days are getting brighter and brighter...makes me get spring fever. I know Patrick will not want to hear me say that!

Oh-and Karen and Jeremy have a blog--check it out! Its www.meetmeinstlucia.blogspot.com

Zoya

Pictures are of us ladies in St. Lucia!

Jumping Back into life with Both Feet

My trip home from St.Lucia was smooth and uneventful. I read 2 books, watched a movie, and slept. For 29 hours of travel, it was amazingly smooth.

I arrived home at 8:30 am on Saturday, and at noon headed to the hospital for a doula client who was in labor. Katie had been with her for 12 hours, and I went up to help so Katie could have a few minutes at home and take her daughter to dance. I felt guilty for not just arriving home and having to go to the hospital, so Katie and I "tag teamed", taking 3 hour shifts with the mom. I was there for the final 6 hours--from 6 PM till midnight. The mom ended up having a 36 hour labor, and I was glad to have Katie to share the shifts with.

I slept for about 3 or 4 hours, then woke up, on St. Lucian time-I believe. It took me a while to go back to sleep. Typically when I hit the bed after a long birth, I"m OUT until sunrise. It is a 5 hour time difference between St.Lucia and home.

Coming home to the family on Saturday was wonderful. Patrick and the kids came to pick me up at the airport, and it was so fun giving stuey and nora little squeezes and hugs. They kept saying, "I love you, mommy". Patrick said that yesterday morning at 6 AM the kids went racing into his bedroom excited with squeals as they said, "mommy's coming home!".

The time away was very rejuvenating. I definitely went into it with the mindset of just enjoying the rest, and peace--which I did! Kodiak is cold and snowy, which is fun to come home to.

Zoya

Photos:
-Karen, myself and Mary Jane at lunch on our last day in St. Lucia...dessert! Coconut rum-cheesecake, coconut tarte....yum.
-Mary Jane, Karen and Jeremy atop Pigeon Island in St. Lucia.
-An interesting food find at the grocery store-1/4 lb veggie burgers!
-Going to the local market down town in Castries.
-One of my favorite dining experiences in St. Lucia-Dukes. A yummy outdoor grill spot where locals bring in the catch of the day and grill it right there! They serve marlin, tuna or durado with a side or rice topped with incredible garlic sauce. We ate there 2 times. In the photo is Karen and Jeremy's friend, Susan, as we waited for the fish.

Pete Jackson Built this House

Every House has a history including ours, and if you ask Stuey who built our house he will tell you, 'Pete Jackson built this house'. He knows this because we showed him where Pete Jackson signed his name in the cement of our mantle piece. And Pete and Louise Jackson did indeed build and live in this house from the early 1970 or so up into the 1980s. Pete was a crab biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game while Louise Jackson was a teacher and president of the local gardening club. And I should add, while Pete might have built the house, everybody knew it as Louise Jackson's house. That's what people told me when I bought the house in 1996 - 'Oh, that's Louise Jackson's old house' and inevitably, 'She had beautiful gardens'.

To this day, remnants of her gardens still exist all around the house. Old stone walls, crocuses and primroses everywhere, and 2 very lush spots in the yard that need mowing twice as often as the rest of the lawn because they were where she kept her geese and had a vegetable garden. But we really did not know much about the early history of the house until Zoya contacted Louise and sent her pictures to show her how much we loved and appreciated her house. We learned that Louise was very sick (she has since passed away), and we received a letter in return with some old pictures (second photo from top).

Today I was showing Nora and Stuey all the old pictures and Stuey kept on getting Pete and Louise confused with me and Zoya. But he sure got excited each time when I told him the man was Pete Jackson. Each time he'd say, 'Pete Jackson built this house'. Nora was also captivated and even asked if she was in mommy's belly when the pictures were taken. The pictures intrigued them. Indeed, they intrigue me - it is amazing how different the house looked 40 years ago. No additions, or neighbors and spruce trees all around.

I love knowing the history of our house. It will always be Louise Jackson's house, and someday I hope people will also know it as Patrick and Zoya's house. With the history and pictures in mind, I can admire Pete's mantle, realize that Louise set up her Christmas tree right there (and that like us - she preferred to cut down her own tree), and even imagine Louise in the corner reading a book. We even have a bookshelf in the exact same spot that she did. The history brings extra richness and depth to the house.

Photos: Top is of the house from the front yard soon after it was built (Nora thought the car looked 'funny'). Second is of the letter we received with photos and Louise reading a book in the corner. Third is of Louise's cold frame greenhouse. Fourth is of Pete's Mantlepiece and chimney soon after he built it. It looks exactly the same to this day - only as Nora and Stuey commented 'the fan worked back then'. Bottom photo is Louise setting up the Christmas tree remarkably close to where we set up ours each year (she seemed to have liked taller trees than we currently set up).

This is not the first time we have posted old photos of our house - if you want to see more old pictures of our house or a picture of Pete holding up a monster king crab down by the harbor then check out our old blog posts from November 2006 and January 2007. The links are pasted down below, but you could also get there using the archive on the side (open 2006 or 2007 and then hit to open either January or November. Patrick

http://saltonstall.blogspot.com/2007/01/kodiaks-king-crab.html
http://saltonstall.blogspot.com/2006/11/from-archives-4002-cliffsi_116317856800991024.html
http://saltonstall.blogspot.com/2006/11/from-archives-4002-cliffside-1971_10.html
http://saltonstall.blogspot.com/2006/11/from-archives-4002-cliffside-1971.html

Adventure to Soufriere

Before our arrival to St. Lucia, we had booked a few days in a Soufriere hotel-Mago estates as a little getaway.Yesterday afternoon, Karen, Jeremy, MJ and I drove through gorgeous hilly country side, through small St.Lucian towns to the town of Soufriere (pronounced Sue-fray), where the gorgeous "Piton" (prounounced Pee-tong) mountains reside. (there are 2-a grand and a petit).

The Pitons were breathtaking-so stunning and unique in their presence right on the edge of the Caribbean. The day was a hair hazy/misty which left the Pitons looking even more spectacular.

After driving through the town of Soufriere, we went to lunch at a place called Ladera, which is hotel/restaurant nestled right close to the Pitons. Jeremy and I had fish burgers, which were small mini-burgers on buns...with sweet potato french fries. There was a light rain during part of the lunch, and it was so lovely and relaxing.

After lunch, Jeremy drove us to Mago Estates, where Karen MJ and I would stay in Soufriere for several nights for a little getaway before heading back to Castries. Jeremy was going to head back to Castries to return to work today.

As soon as we arrived at Mago Estates, we were concerned. There was only 1 other car in the very small lot. The place had a very negelected, sad feel to it. There was not another guest to be seen on the property. It felt like a "ghost" hotel.

When we got to the room, it was quite dark and no direct sunlight hit our deck. The "plunge" pool which was guaranteed with our room had not been used for years, as evidenced by the dirt in it and the state it was in.

On the web, Mago Estates looked like a lovely nestled-on-the hillside getaway...with little plunge pools in each room and views of the gorgeous Piton views. The lighting was so bright on the web. Our room was very stagnant and well-sad. The thought of being there for several days made us reconsider and we decided to go back to Karen and Jeremy's. We first asked the receptionist if there was any chance of being moved to a room with a functioning little pool and more light, but she said she would have to talk to the manager. (later we found out she was not able to call the manager because the office phones did not work).

I believe that 4 or 5 years ago, it was a thriving hotel. But it has more or less died.

After arriving back to Castries last night, Karen and Jeremy both independently e-mailed the manager, Hans, and he replied this morning saying we would be refunded. Hans said he is going to leave the hotel because it was overwhelmed by the project of trying to refurbish a hotel in despair. It was quite a sad reply from a defeated sounding hotel manager. We could tell we were not the first customers to be displeased.

Karen and Jeremy's place in Castries is so lovely and bright. We love our routine of water exercise, then coffee, reading...beach, drinks on the patio, dinner. Its so lovely and relaxing.

This afternoon we're going to head to the local downtown market. Karen and Jeremy are excited to find out that some of their air shipped goods have arrived and are ready for inspection at customs...Karen is thrilled with the prospect of having her full warm weather ward-robe in hand--and their car! (They've been using the Peace Corps car...a cute Honda!).

Zoya

Photos:
MJ, myself and Karen at a stop along the way to Soufriere
Another stop along the way--to enjoy the view, talk with locals and do necklace shopping.
Karen in front of one of the Pitons
The "Plunge" pool which was promised at Mago estates...in disrepair.
One of the interesting features of the room we left--a butterfly suspended over the fold out couch. It was kind of scary, actually.

Quinine and AC

Zoya is in the British West Indies and it got me to thinking about the Patrick O'Brian series and other historical novels I've read where when they get to the West Indies or West Africa half the crew inevitably dies of yellow fever, malaria or some nasty water born illness. In those days the tropics was a place one did not willingly go to for a vacation. These thoughts made me realize that the only reason the tropics became a popular destination in the 20th century was probably due to medical advances and air conditioning (maybe airplanes too). It was not until 1900 that scientists figured out that yellow fever was carried by mosquitoes, and that, and not advanced technological know how, is why Americans were finally able to build the Panama Canal.

In the old days people went to the tropics and sort of wasted away. The heat sapped their strength and eventually they usually got some sort of fever. Most of the colonial inhabitants were generally partially disabled with malaria - life was short in the tropics.

An interesting tidbit is that gin and tonics were developed by the British as a palatable way to drink bitter quinine. At that time Quinine was the only thing going for malaria.

It's funny because today I think we take air conditioning and advanced medical care for granted. We think nothing of going to the tropics and lying on a beach knowing that we're not going to die of a fever and that we can always get cool if we want to. Another funny thing is that I gather Yellow Fever and Malaria are making a comeback. ... Or rather that's not so funny, but is good food for thought. Patrick

Memories of Hong Kong

Yesterday was a blast in St.Lucia...we started the day off with water aerobics/lap swim once again followed by coffee and breakfast at a little cafe on the water. In the afternoon we went to Karen's friends' pool for several hours. There was a nice small waterfall pool which we sat in for close to an hour (see picture). It was nice and cool!

We've been to the grocery stores many times here and I"m struck by how similiar they are to US grocery stores. Not sure why, but I found this interesting. I guess because US grocery stores have so many processed/fast foods and the same applies here. Yet they have a huge aisle of rice and beans, which was very refreshing!! Karen told me that many of the foods are imported from England, because this is a former english colony.

Some of the more interesting finds was canned bread pudding (blog post and picture to come when I eat it...I bought a can to try it), and yesterday I found Banana Cream liqueur...made here in St. Lucia. I poured some on ice as a cocktail last night, and it tasted like Banana Cream pie in a cup-absolutely wonderful. And the whole bottle was about $6.

There are an incredible number of local rums here. And a St.Lucian Coconut Rum for $5 a bottle which is delicious! Many veggies/fruits in the produce section aren't familiar to me, but overall there are all types of foods available throughout. There are several "regular" grocery store and then one that we went to that is more similar to Whole Foods, but not quite as fancy.
(...and no Tortilla chips to be found!! Karen tried to buy some yesterday for the super bowl party and we couldn't find any at the two large stores we browsed. They have potato chips, cheetos, etc...but no plain tortilla chips.)

Last night we went to "Memories of Hong Kong" for dinner and had a fun time! It is an open aired restaurant with delicious food and drinks. We shared lots of plates of delicious oriental food, followed by warm washcloths at the end! (see photo!). There were wicker laps hanging over each table which would swing the the slightest of breeze. It was a lovely touch!

The restaurant was on a road which had lots of eateries on it, so after dinner we walked down the road for Gelato. One lovely feature of St.Lucia is how warm it stays at night--the temperatures only dip into the high 70's at night and then into the mid 80's during the day. After the sun sets, the breeze is still warm. No need for sweaters here!

Zoya

Beautiful day

A beautiful day today from dawn to dusk. On my way to work I took a few pictures of downtown and the harbor from the Hoser bridge. I am trying to figure out the best view and angle so that when we have the full moon on Valentine's Day I can get the perfect shot of the full moon over Pillar Mountain and town. This was a practice run. I kind of like the 'backed off' picture a bit better.

Then after work I went for a skate ski into Kodiak's backcountry. The conditions actually were not as great as they have been. We've had some wind and it has created areas of bare ice as well as drifts with wind pack on the top. When I hit the wind pack at high speed I'd break through and stop instantly. There were some impressive wipeouts. But it sure was beautiful. And once I got to looking out for and recognizing the wind pack, the skate skiing weren't too bad either. Patrick

Sledding at the pass

After reading Zoya's post below I feel compelled to add that this is my little slice of heaven. Sledding with the kiddos on the hills up by the ski chalet was pure Heaven. Or at least it was up until Stuey crashed into a creek and got soaked. Weirdly enough it has been sunny for the last couple of days and is supposed to be sunny tomorrow, but while we were up sledding we got slammed by a freak snow squall. By the time we drove home it was sunny again.

This is my favorite time of the year on Kodiak. The snow pack is getting deep (peak depth is usually in late April) and the days are getting long enough so that you have the time and sunlight to enjoy it. Yesterday I went skate skiing in short sleeves and my face actually got sunburnt from the reflected sunlight off of the snow.

Stuey and Nora loved sledding up on the BIG hills. WAY BIGGER than the little hill we've been sledding on in our back yard. On the way home they pointed to all the mountains (Barometer and Erskine) they wanted to climb up and sled down. On Nora's first run I kind of under estimated the size of the hill and was horrified at how quickly she picked up speed and all the little jumps she took - and she went a LONG way. But at the bottom she was shrieking with delight.

And then there was Stuey's run. Mid slope his sled suddenly turned about 60 degrees and went straight for an open hole in the snow where there is a small creek. He crashed right before the hole and then fell into the creek. It filled one of his boots with water. However, to his credit he did not want to quit sledding. So we emptied the water out of his boot and did several more runs on the hill across the road by the ski chalet (where there are no creeks to run into). Eventually Stuey's foot got cold so we had to quit. I had to promise Nora that we'd be coming back lots just to get her to leave.

Pretty soon they'll be joining me for my climbs up Pyramid on skiis. I can't wait. Patrick

Slice of Heaven

After a solid nights rest last night, MJ and I were ready for a day in the sun. Today's lap swim was one of the best ever-in an open air pool. I did laps alongside Mary Jane and Karen doing water aerobics with a group of women in the other end of the pool. The warmth of the sun and good music made the perfect combo for laps--helped the 45 minutes fly by!
Pool time was followed by breakfast at a cafe on the water with Karen's friends from water aerobics. There is delicious dark coffee here with cream in it.

Everyone here is very friendly--Karen and Jeremy's friends as well as the local St.Lucians. For lunch we went to The Pink Plantation which was a drive up a windy road on a big hill and enjoyed local fruit juice, salad with local fish on it, chicken curry, fried plantains...and coconut ice cream for dessert. The view overlooking Castries Bay was gorgeous.

So far, one of my two goals of not getting sun burned is working! 70 SPF on my face and 30 on the rest of me. I"ve been told that even with 30 SPF i'll go home with some color--yeah! My second goal is to help Karen and Jeremy set up their blog (YEAH!!!!). They mentioned they would like to start one while down here. I'm thrilled about this-as I've thought their life and travels have the makings of a great blog. They already have a title--"Meet Me in St. Lucia". Keep your eyes peeled for a link on our blog...

A funny moment today at lunch--one of Karen's friends, Faye, was telling us that when she went home to Virginia she had to take care of a piece of paperwork with the IRS. She looked at Mary Jane and I and said, sort of slowly , "Oh and the IRS stands for Internal Revenue Service". Mary Jane smiled and said, "I know. I am a CPA." We got a good kick out of it...we think that she believed that Alaska is part of Canada, as later she asked what Canada's currency exchange rate was. She didn't know that Alaska was part of the United States. This was a surprise to us, as she is a highly educated lady from Virginia! Too funny. I guess because we are connected to Canada people still believe that we are part of Canada!!

Zoya

Photos:
Flying into St. Lucia--The Pitons
Karen and Jeremy on the deck at their house
The Acquatic center where we did aerobics/laps
Mary Jane and myself at the Pink Plantation
Evening light at Jeremy and Karen's deck--where we hang out in the morning and evening. Gorgeous.

St.lucia

We arrived into St.lucia yesterday without any plane delays which was such a blessing considering the storms across the united states-especially in the midwest and new york. Love traveling with mary jane--discovered we both like our coffe cool. Its been so many years since ive traveled with mary jane without kids!
st.lucia is incredible! Sunny, warm, light breeze. karen and jeremy have a beautiful house on a hill with view of the ocean and great patio. This morning we went to the acquatic center where MJ and karen did water aerobics and i did laps. The swim went down in my book as the best lap awim ever! outdoor pool, warm breeze. More later from St.Lucia! Zoya

Off to Warm Places...

This morning I"m off to the Caribbean--St.Lucia- to visit our friends Karen and Jeremy. Mary Jane and I are going together and we've had the trip planned since October. We have 5 flights-24 hrs of traveling before we arrive to the land of beaches and sun. The timing is perfect-mid winter storms here in Kodiak...continued darkness-I"ll be stashing some Vitamin D in my system for the rest of winter!
Looking forward to time to read and relax. And no-the kids aren't coming. They'll be here with Patrick.

Zoya

I thought I'd amend Zoya's post with a picture and a comment. The picture is what Zoya will see while bathing in the sun. Let's just hope she doesn't pull a 'Mayzie' and leave me here like Horton the elephant up a tree sitting on the nest. 'I said what I meant and I meant what I said, An elephant's faithful one hundred percent. ... ' Wait a minute, is that Zoya in the top of the palm tree sipping on a Pina Colada?

Patrick

. ..turned 21 in prison doing life without parole . ..

Yesterday we celebrated Stuey's 4th birthday and it ended with the lyrics, "...Turned 21 in prison doing life without parole...".

The day started with the kids both sick. I should've rescheduled dinner but with me leaving town on Tuesday, I didn't want to have to schedule it for after my return. Bad move on my part.

I'll spare you the details, but the day included Nora biting Stuey's finger, Stuey hitting a friend who was over to celebrate and Stuey spending the last part of his birthday party in time out. It wasn't a pretty afternoon. :( Luckily we managed to get some cake and ice cream in along with a yummy dinner.

After the kids were in bed, Patrick was laughing telling me about the words to a song.....called 'Mamma Tried' by Merle Haggard--the lyrics included, "I turned 21 in prioson doing life without parole...".
Stuey turned 4 in time out!
At least we could get a good laugh out of it while listening to the lyrics of the song last night.

Today included me trying to put a little lego airplane together and Stuey making a house visit apology to the friend he hit.

(The airplane was quite frusturating..I spent close to 2 hours on it today and had it nearly together and Patrick spent an hour on it and got it together--wowsers!! Quite the puzzle! Stuey sat watching us the entire time-very patient and eager to play with the plane. Once it was together, he got about 1/2 hour of play time with it before I accidently dropped it. He took that fairly well).

It was definitely not a great birthday, but we did enjoy dinner with some friends last night, so that was fun.

Zoya

"No pain, no Gain" is so 1980's

Recently I have been frusturated and somewhat amazed by what I call "exercise mania" among a certain group of athletes. I'm all about fitness-as I teach fitness classes myself and try to stay to a regular workout schedule. However, when the body is in moderate amounts of pain, it is time to take a break and let the body heal.

It seems that people have become very desensitized to their bodies. I see this occasionally at my job as a physical therapist. People have had pain for 4 or 6 months and trudge through it, continuing to do incredibly hard workouts....thinking that it will go away. After months and months of pain and ibuprofen, they go to the doctor and then are referred to me. And sometimes they don't particularly like what I have to say. I get bad looks if I suggest taking 1-2 weeks off from the hard core exercise and replace it with a gentle walk or swim.
Some people I run across in physical therapy want a quick fix. They want me to do something to them that will take their pain away--without them having to modify anything in their life. Its not a reasonable expectation. It is very refreshing to hear people say, "let me know what I need to do to help fix this and I"ll do it" instead of "Fix me".

A little about pain physiology--- there is most often chronic inflammation in an area and the goal of physical therapy is to find the source of inflammation and improve the mechanics which will let the area heal. The longer something has been inflamed, the longer it can take to heal, generally speaking. Chronic inflammation ends up with more pre-mature arthritis...as the sustained inflammatory checmicals accelerates degeneration.

I've discovered that there is a facet of the population that is addicted to working out. At all costs to their body. People who are willing to live in pain and put their bodies in continued pain to get a workout high without respecting and listening to their body.

Its hard to get through to this group of athletes who don't want to modify anything about their workouts. When I speak, its as though my mouth is moving, and words are coming out, but they don't really want to hear (or can't hear) what I'm saying. I explain it in the simplest of terms and even add on...."If you take it easy with exercise for 1 week, and your pain increases, then we'll know that you do need that level of exercise. Give me 1 week to see how your symptoms fluctuate." It works. I see it work lots with my athletic clients who agree to try it.

Lately I have felt like therapy bad guy--as if I took someones toys away by suggesting they stop exercising for 1 or 2 weeks. In the end, its their body, their choice on the rehab approach they want to take. Ultimately, my ideas are simply suggestions.

Please, readers--listen to your bodies. If something is hurting, take time to get it addressed...sooner than later.
And the "No pain, no gain" mantra is an 80's fitness/rehab philosophy. That is SO 20+ years ago. (there are many good by-products of the 80's including 80's music and Patrick, but this workout philosophy is not one of them....)

We know a lot more about pain now then we did then. Its not a good thing.

Zoya

Back at the Hospital & an Archive Photo

I left the hospital around 2.5 years ago to open my PT clinic and have loved every moment. There has been plenty of outpatient clinic business for A Balanced Approach and I've been able to carve out a niche in Kodiak for the treatment of neck, pain, back pain, women's health and childbirth education/doula work.

Last week I got a phone call from a local hospital administrator asking if I could do a few hours of physical therapy in acute care. Lately the physical therapy clinic at the hospital has been short staffed. I agreed, and said yes to 6 hours a week. I have enough business to not take the hours, but for a short term situation, I felt I could-and should-help out.

So this week I donned my Providence Physical Therapist badge and returned to the acute care floor to help patients with strength, mobility and ambulation. Acute Care physical therapy is a whole different scene than what I have been doing for over 2 years, so my mind has had to shift gears a bit.

At A Balanced Approach, I primarily see clients for pain (neck and back, largely), stiffness, some deconditioning. People walk into my clinic and I spend 45 minutes with them in a treatment room doing manual therapy, or sometimes exercises. Its very different from working with patients who have multiple medical conditions, and I must check with the nurse before evaluating them. Being away from the hospital acute care from these past 2 years puts into perspective what a challenging job acute care is. It makes me really appreciate the nurses and staff who do that work on a daily basis-on a medical surgical floor. It is a hard job.

Its felt good to do the inpatient work. Partly because I enjoy the staff up there. I know many of them from before when I did acute care at Providence. And I also know some of them from my doula work.

Occasionally I miss the camaraderie of working with others as a team. However, my office manager, Winona, and I have such a great time at A Balanced Approach--she and I laugh lots and we are an efficient duo in running the business. Its a good feeling. To have such smooth teamwork in running the business. And to have a good time as well! As a therapist, I feel much more productive at my own clinic.

The photo I posted was from early 2000's at Providence. At a dinner out at the Chart Room Restaurant. Good times.

Zoya

My Triplet

Ever since last summer, I have heard about a gal who is my "TWIN". People come up to me and say, "Oh I saw you at such and such party..." and I would reply, "I wasn't at that party...". People would SWEAR it was me.

My reply would usually be, "well-I have a twin sister but she doesn't live here. Maybe I have a triplet!"
I finally met my triplet a few months ago...she had been told that she looked exactly like me and was eager to meet me (as I was her)! In fact, one person had a full conversation with her under the assumption that she was me-and she had to correct them. She is very nice and friendly, which was re-assuring--if I'm going to have a triplet its a bonus if she is a cool person!

Her name is Crystal and she has a blog too!
It is http://adventuresofcrystalz.blogspot.com/

I snagged the photo from her blog...Do I think she and I look alike? I say yes.
I can see where people got us confused. Patrick thought so too.

Zoya

On the mountain with SEALs

Every once in a while when I go skiing after work I run into the Navy SEALs training. The Navy SEALs do their cold water training in Kodiak and they also learn about surviving in winter conditions. One of their exercises is to climb a mountain with all their gear, climb back down and then camp. I generally run into them while they are on their way up the mountain. It is kind of cool to skin on by 70 or so troops as they climb the mountain. They are all on snowshoes and carrying 70 pound packs with rifles so it is not hard to skin up the mountain faster than them.

Seeing all the SEALs on the mountain always puts me in a good mood. I chat with them on my way up and am always impressed with their 'can do' upbeat attitude. They always seem very happy - even if it is raining or bitterly cold. I get the feeling a lot of the kids have never even seen snow before, but they always seem glad to be on it. Knowing that these are the types of kids we have in our armed forces makes me feel a lot better about our country. It makes me feel a whole lot more secure. Patrick