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Who am I?

I am an obscure great-great-grandson of Oscar Adolphe Barcelo & Eugenie Beaudry of Montréal.

And I am an equally obscure great-grandson of George Henry Leandre Barcelo & Sarah Anne Bird of Winnipeg (Manitoba) and Langdon (North Dakota).

Sunday, 24 March 2019

"Aboriginal Aspirin" │ Marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) for a Healthy Stomach │ Two Natural (Dietary) Hemorrhoid Treatments │ Dealing with Stress


My recollection is that it was 10:51 p.m. last evening when I was into my bed.

By 2:00 a.m. this morning, I was awake and ─ despite earplugs ─ I could hear music from somewhere outside.

It seemed to be rather heavy on the beat.

I got up at 2:15 a.m. just to come here to my computer to turn it on and log into it so that it would be all loaded and warmed up for later use, and then I returned to bed.

Soon, as I lay with the drumming of a song just coming to an end, it dawned on me that I recognized the song, even though I did not think that I had noticed the tune itself nor any vocals ─ it was a Roy Orbison hit.

The widow next door must be into her cups ─ this blaring Roy Orbison music happens on fairly rare occasions in the wee hours.

And then the volume increased, and every song was 'clear as a bell.'

Sometimes the same song would play in succession, and it was becoming most annoying. I'm 69 years old, and a huge Roy Orbison music fan; but this was ludicrous.

And it went on and on.

I rose at 2:50 a.m. to get to work on the post I am nearing completion at one of my six hosted websites. My youngest stepson ─ suffering from a cold's bad cough ─ had not yet gone to bed.

Of course, once I was up, I no longer had my earplugs stuffed into my ears.

The nearest wall of the woman's house is maybe a dozen to 15 feet from the wall of our house ─ and my bedroom is located right there. In fact, the head of my bed is immediately against that very wall.

And even though I have never been in the woman's house, I suspect that her living room ─ and her stereo ─ must be right on the other side of her home's nearest wall.

As for my computer, I keep it in a small room next to my bedroom, and so it is a room removed. But the music was nearly as loud as if someone here was blasting it downstairs.

She never stopped playing the blaring music until around 4:45 a.m. ─ thus, possibly for as long as 2¾ hours, if the original distant sounds I had heard around 2:00 a.m. when first I was becoming aware were her responsibility.

I was actually coming to feel oddly unwell from the aural intrusion ─ and as I said, I am a big Roy Orbison fan.

The woman must be well into her 50s, if not even her 60s as yet. How can she not have outgrown this foolery?

I hope she has a deserved hangover today, if drink was behind the lengthy episode of mischief.

My youngest stepson had retired well before the music had stopped; and since his bed's head is also immediately next to the nearest two walls of the neighbouring houses, I do not see how he could have gotten to sleep ─ perhaps he plugged in his own music, for he has no end of electronic toys.

His older brother sleeps downstairs roughly beneath the location of my upstairs computer, so even though he was not as near to the wall as are the beds of his brother or I, there is no question that he must have also been disturbed by the noise.

I worked on the website post until the day's content assignment had been met, and then I dallied here for a time before returning to my bed ─ it was very possibly after 8:00 a.m. by then.

I was to sleep some more, but not for as long as I hoped nor needed ─ my eyes have that somewhat burning sensation of being inadequately rested.

My younger brother had spent the night at the home of his girlfriend Bev, and after my nap I found that he was downstairs reading the Sunday morning edition of The Province that I subscribe to. 

And when he was done with that, he retired to his bedroom to rest up. I took the opportunity to get out to the backyard tool-shed for some exercising out there.

My big plan for the day was to get out and hike the 1¼ miles or so to the nearest Staples outlet so that I could print out two donation receipts I require before I can drop off the income tax returns for my wife and I that I recently completed.

But following my exercise, I decided to see if I had it in me to slip back into another nap.

I had to eventually give it up ─ I was just wasting time, although I was perfectly comfortable in bed again.

When my brother finally emerged from his time in his bedroom, I avoided being downstairs for concern that he would want to watch some T.V. ─ he needs me to operate our T9 Android 8.1 TV Box, or otherwise he has to settle for whatever he can find with the basic cable package we have.

But he instead decided to head away for the afternoon early ─ it was 1:22 p.m. when he bade me adieu and headed out the front door.

The day was overcast to varying degree ─ sometimes it would get quite bright outside when the cloud cover would thin out for awhile.

My wife had texted me around 10:30 a.m. to take a frozen chicken out of the freezer, but I had no idea when she would be home to cook. If she was working at her friend's Thai restaurant, it mightn't be until the evening.

Well, it happened that she showed up soon after my brother had left.

I still intended to try and get away on my errand, so I gradually got myself readied for the foray. And then when I was all dressed here upstairs, she finally noticed me ─ she had been downstairs cooking and interacting with her two sons.

She insisted that I should let her youngest son drive me, for he was about to head out to a Tim Hortons just over half a mile from here, using her car.

I was not wanting a ride, but neither was I feeling like hiking anywhere ─ I hate the environment hereabouts, finding it far too busy even on a Sunday.

So I suggested to him that I could at least ride as far as he was going, and hike the rest of the way to Staples.

When he wondered what it was I was after, and then learned about the printing job I had in mind, he offered that I should just wait until tomorrow ─ he would print out the two documents when he returned to work (he had taken the past two weeks off).

And that cinched it ─ any vestige of resolve to be out walking anywhere utterly dissolved. Besides, why blow a few dollars printing at Staples when I can wait a day and have the job done for free?

So I remained home.

Even so, I wanted some exposure to the day, so I donned a tank top and went out to the backyard to sit in a lawn- or deck-chair for just over 40 minutes while facing into the obscured Sun.

I was in jeans, but my feet were bared and planted on the lawn.

Alas, I underestimated the temperature and should have worn my hoodie and not just a tank top to shield my torso. Often when the cloud cover was thin, it was quite warm. But on other occasions heavy floating clouds must be somewhere up there drifting about; and anytime one got between me and the Sun, an unpleasant chilly breeze would kick up.

I had to spend my time slouched down in the chair with my arms folded across my abdomen to retain some extra warmth.

Nevertheless, I succeeded in spending just over 40 minutes out there, beginning at 2:58 p.m.

When I returned into the house, my wife was eating, and queried whether I wanted some food ─ there was lots, she declared.

But I had eaten before she arrived home, and I would not be doing so again until the evening. I usually only eat two meals a day.

I was not to have my wife's company for much longer, for just a few minutes ahead of 4:00 p.m. she left, saying she would be back tomorrow evening after work.

I want now to offer a little health-related information concerning two different plants ─ the first being two related trees known (among other names) as the balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) and black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa).

This isn't a plant whose benefits involve consuming any of the tree. Rather, a salve or balm is made from the bark and buds that is demonstrated to relieve inflammation and pain:

HSIonline.com

You can easily find all manner of articles about this pair of related trees, but I will link to a random half-dozen ─ note that there even seems to be some indication that a little of one or both of the trees have figured as a dietary addition, but you will have to research that for yourself before you go out there and start trying to gnaw on the tree:
I performed a few Amazon searches, but I was not very happy with the results that displayed for various products. Consequently, I won't link to anything.

The second plant is definitely one that can be ingested ─ in fact, it is supposed to be extremely beneficial for the stomach. The plant is marshmallow (Althaea officinalis) ─ in other words, a mallow that is common to marshes or bogs, I reckon:

HSIonline.com

There are many articles about the plant and its benefits available throughout the Web, but I will link to these as a starter for anyone interested:
My stomach is in good shape, insofar as I know, so this isn't anything of concern to me ─ although marshmallow does have lots of other attributes.

My Amazon search was far more fruitful than it was for the trees ─ at the bottom of this post, you can see the search results that turned up just by using the botanical term Althaea officinalis.

I will leave you with two further articles ─ one or the other may be of some relevance to you.

The first offers two natural treatments for hemorrhoid sufferers that are supposed to be superior to creams and similar commercial  preparations:

JacksDailyDose.com

That second dietary 'remedy' is nothing I would have ever imagined!

The other article deals with stress and how best to try and alleviate it:

DrMicozzi.com

As far as I am concerned, if the cause of the stress is beyond anything that the sufferer can possibly escape, then I don't see how any stress-busting suggestions can do a damned thing.

I have almost finished with posting photos that were taken early last year when my wife and her two sons arranged a small reunion in Bali with five of their Thailand family members, so I want to work on this second-to-last batch.

The photos below were likely all taken on the morning of February 2, 2018 ─ and the first is a selfie by my wife:

















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