CHRISTMAS IS UPON US

Years ago, a friend introduced me to the concept of a 'Christmas Wish List' on a Bulletin Board in her home. This seemed a great idea until I tried it. If it was a child's list, that was great because you usually coordinated with the parents. Otherwise, you didn't know who else might have bought the same item. Adults never wrote anything on it. Before my grandchildren all grew up, I had a list made out with a name and space for each child, so they could write what they wanted when they were here, usually at Thanksgiving time. It became an aggravation because they wrote ridiculous requests that took up their whole space, filled the spaces of other children, and the list was made totally useless for the intended purpose. Now they are grown and scattered throughout two continents. I no longer see them all at Thanksgiving, or Christmas.

It is a challenge to figure out how to change a tradition that no longer works. There are several challenges here. In my 'golden' years I need very little and find myself trying to unload more than I accumulate. I long ago realized that no one wants my left-over stuff, kitchen utensils, appliances that still work but no longer perform the latest functions, out of style clothing, books that are dated, and sheet music from the last 70 years. If I can't think of what I might want, how can I expect anyone else to guess? If I give a suggestion such as a plant, I end up with a jungle; if I say something funny, I end up with a library of hilarious stuff I have little time to read. Writing checks, while perhaps useful to the giver, hardly seems festive. I have given gift certificates and gotten gift certificates, sometimes to places I might not have chosen but to which I was happily introduced. When I ask anyone else what they want, I most often get, "I don't know."

There is no respite as the time grows shorter to the now dreaded Holiday. I detest wrapping and mailing things, though I used to love to make pretty displays of wrapped presents under the tree. Wrapping and mailing gets to be a greater cost than the gift therein. I feel it takes precious time out of whatever life is left. The stores are mobbed and the whole shopping exercise is torture. Shopping online has become a far better experience, though one has the sense of Russian Roulette as reports of card information being compromised reaches the media.

In short, I'd like a suggestion as to how the pleasure of giving and receiving at Christmas could be brought back other than in my dreams and childhood reminiscences. I say boycott the merchants and only buy what you see that you want to give throughout the year to whomever it might give pleasure. If it 'tis the season to be jolly, where did I go wrong?

WHAT MAKES SOME PEOPLE DEFY DEATH

Evel Knievel seemed determined to gain publicity by defying death for years. However, he paid a very heavy toll for staying alive. It has always puzzled me what kinds of chemicals and hormones pour through the veins of these people.

This man is more successful, at least at this point in his life. Glumbert is a dance movement vision as he rides the slope down on an impossible angle. The amateur blue collar version of a slingshot is rather impressive as are the screams of the girl 'slung'.

I, on the other hand, am ready to pass out from fright during a horror movie and intensely dislike the sensation of suspense. Pride and Prejudice is about as suspenseful as I can tolerate. When I here awesome rush, I can't imagine enjoying the experience!

MY SEVERAL LIVES

I'm looking back at my several lives though I have only had one birth, and have never died. Just as the child we used to be still lives within us, so do the many lives 'we have had'. I consider my lives as being somewhat distinct from one another, by virtue of the major focus at the time: job, relationships, major life tasks, other factors.

Childhood was my first life. My parents planned most other than that which was forced on me by my two older sibs. I did what I was told to do unless I decided there were things I was told not to do, that I did do. Much of that period makes it seem a miracle that I survived to the next life. My second life was college, graduate school, the move out of my parents' home to live with my sister in an apartment (causing my mother angst and shame), to be warm in the winter (my father believed it was healthy to be cold), and for my first professional job. This was a profoundly exciting life. I drained everything I could from brains that interested me.. I learned a lot but hadn't the foggiest idea how to put it into order and make things work My third life was my first marriage, the birth of my three biological children, and a move to the Chicago area for ten years. This was a life of two extremes...the happiest and the unhappiest times of my life. The enormity of realizing that I alone was responsible for the support and upbringing of my three children was very heavy indeed. My fourth life was a marriage that lasted 34 years. In it, I moved back to the East Coast, to my new family with 3/5 ths of my nuclear family, and settled 'near-enough' to my family of origin. This took all my middle years, energy, youth, and patience. However, I honed many skills during this period, professionally and personally, and I reached some clarity as to what I wanted out of life for myself, at last. My fifth and, presumably, final life is as a widow, a senior, and cramming in as much life as I can before afterlife (though I don't believe there is an afterlife)....however long that may be.

When I discovered that I had so many lives, I asked myself why, or to whom, that was significant. After all, most people gauge their lives by age of majority; dreaded thirty (which used to mark the start of old age to the under-thirty); forty, the beginning of the real slide down to old age (one's body collapsing in male or female menopause); waiting for retirement at 65 (before which there are fantasies of rest, fun, choices for what to fill your day after which it never turns out to be any of that), and the last chapter, TBA....to be announced. No one can plan the last chapter since there are no guides. All you can do is fantasy what you want it to be as you get creakier daily.

I talked to someone with Alzheimer's the other day, whom I had called to wish a Happy 80th Birthday. She was delighted that I had remembered. She told me she does crossword puzzles and writes poetry to keep her head working. Then she said, "Who am I talking to again?" My idol remains my father who used to learn a new English word daily until he was 103; Daniel Shore on PBS, well into his 90s and still doing brilliant news commentaries; and my great-great grandfather who died in Greece at 112, fighting the Turks.

Writing a script for this life has certainly been the most difficult. It would be easier if I ever took anyone's advice on how to live my life but that doesn't seem to work for me, so I will slug on and enjoy every moment I can while it is still on the profit side of the ledger.

It is a time for retrospection...not because life can be relived but despite past difficulties I can now focus on the good parts. There are no cliff-hangers; I know how all those past lives ended.

SULFITES AND NITRITES/ NITRATES(continued)

There is research that suggests that nitrite/nitrates help strengthen the heart, especially after a heart attack. While this may be true, the form ingested may offer the significant clues. I've noticed that I am unable to eat much grilled meat over charcoal. It forms nitrates while cooking. Adding nitrites/nitrates to processed meat is another culprit though I have never experienced hives after eating vegetables which may contain them. I was shocked to find that even those foods with no additives may not be healthier. There are many associated with additives. The sources on the Internet are limitless in their cautions about limiting additives in your food.

Why, then, does it cost more to eat healthier food. It shouldn't, but it costs less to use additives, to lengthen shelf life, keep bugs out, deter mold and lots of other reasons. Foods that don't spoil quickly can be shipped further and stay in warehouses longer.

I am making a non-scientific guess that my reactive hives are my body's alert system, telling me to stay away from these compounds. Whether that is accurate or not, I get punished by my body, giving me hives or a headache, when I use these forbidden substances. It has been a many year hunt to find out what else I might be sensitive to in foods. Those chemical names tell me little when I am in the store. There used to be open cooler bins of shrimp years ago. I couldn't imagine that there could be something bad in raw shrimp. Nevertheless, I got hives every time I ate them and learned only later that sulfites were sprayed on them to keep bacteria down. It turned out, after being accused by husband of being a snob, that I couldn't eat potatoes or lettuce in McDonald's, years ago. The FDA stopped that a while back though I still avoid fast food restaurants.

I urge all of you to take the time to look at the links and, at least, read the list of additives that cause you harm. It pains me to see the really bad things people do to their bodies through ingestion, not only of smoke, drugs but food, currently sold as legal and presumably healthy!

SULFITES AND NITRITES

sulfites:[SUHL-fites] The salts of sulfurous acid, which may be used in food processing for any of various reasons, including the deterrence of insects and diseases, inhibiting bacterial growth and preventing spoilage or oxidation. Sulfites, which may be added as a preservative to packaged and processed foods, can cause severe allergic reactions (such as hives, shortness of breath and even anaphylactic shock) in certain individuals. For that reason, in 1986 the Food and Drug Administration prohibited their use on "fresh fruits and vegetables intended to be sold or served raw to consumers." In the United States, the words "Contains Sulfites" (or similar verbiage) are mandatory on labels of foods that include sulfites.

From Barrons Wine Loving Companion: sulfites; sulfiting [SUHL-fites] Sulfites, the salts of sulfurous acid, have been used to preserve food and drink for eons. Today sulfites can be found in everything from beer to cookies to pickles. All but a tiny fraction of wines made today contain sulfites, small amounts of which are a natural by-product of fermentation. Additionally, winemakers around the world prevent spoilage and oxidation by adding controlled amounts of sulfur dioxide in a process called sulfiting. In the United States, the words "Contains Sulfites" are mandatory on wine labels if the wine contains 10 ppm (parts per million) or more of sulfites. The upper limit is 350 ppm, but most wines contain less than 150 ppm. Sulfites can cause allergic reactions in certain sulfite-sensitive individuals.

A former wine drinker, I have had difficulty making people comprehend that I am not a teetotaler when I refuse wine or beer, until I drink Scotch or Vodka. Then they probably think I don't know what I am doing in refusing even the 'sulfite-free' wine offered. One need only have hives once to realize the agony of feeling like you are walking through a swamp on a hot day at dawn. You are ready to scratch off any part of your body that has a slight itch.

ni·trite (nī'trīt') n. The univalent radical NO₂ or a compound containing it, such as a salt or an ester of nitrous acid. ni·trate (nī'trāt', -trĭt) n. The univalent radical NO₃ or a compound containing it, as a salt or an ester of nitric acid. Fertilizer consisting of sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. Learn more about nitrates .

When you are sensitive to MSG, sulfites and nitrites or nitrates it takes more than just a lot of fun out of life. (to be continued)

MSG, AUTOLYZED YEAST AND HIVES

For those of us poor souls who are sensitive to MSG in our food, I encounter two reactions in others. The first is a headache (I don't usually get that) or hives (you can scratch everything off your bones, or wish to). Many years ago I learned that MSG will engender that reaction in me. Last night I woke at 3 AM feeling as though every mosquito in the world had joined the global reunion on my body. Finally, in desperation, I yanked my body to the medicine cabinet, teeth chattering as I left my nice warm bed, and took two chlortrimeton (anti-histamine) which I will only take at night. After a bit more than a half hour it had taken effect and I fell back to sleep.

With the push of the government on ridding us all of obesity, it is confusing to me why the public has not been made more aware of these additives. I realized that I had mistakenly bought a bag of sour cream and onion baked potato chips, thinking it was unflavored. Stupidly, I fell into the 'gee, these taste good' trap and ate too many before I checked to see what was in them, having checked quickly at the store to make sure no MSG was contained. Sure enough, the ingredients list read 'autolyzed yeast extract'. Now I not only had been poisoned but with the extract it was industrial strength!

The list seems to exclude anything that tastes good...or is it that anything that tastes good is on the list because of it? The reaction to MSG ingestion is not usually considered allergy causing since it does not seem to lead to an anaphylactic reaction. Bully that it won't kill me instantly, but going through life scratching is hardly what I would call a good life. The itching seems to be greatest about 4 PM, 11 PM and in the middle of the night. Apparently this is when my body is at its lowest point, fiven my Circadian rhythm.