Desert Messenger

16 www.DesertMessenger.com May 2, 2018 By Jackie Deal Taxes! That's why I had to come back to Oregon before April 15th. I remember when I was fi rst married. My husband, Ron, and I were going to do our own taxes. I wanted to claim everything and he wouldn't claim anything. We had our fi rst big fi ght! From then on we had our taxes done by experts. So Monday I trouped in to AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) who've done my taxes for years. I got someone's cancellation or I'd have been sitting on their doorstep at 6am in order to get a "walk-in" at 9am (I did that last year). Today the sky is a gray blanket and wisps of fog trickle down into and around the hills. We're actually in the foothills, our "mountains" are totally dark evergreen cov- ered but we are also ringed by higher mountains. Only not today. No mountains on the horizon, for that matter: no horizon! Oh, that does remind me of something. About thirty years ago my hus- band and I both got our pilots licenses. I was practicing solo. Now one of the things they pound into you is you DON'T fl y into a cloud. Never. Never. Never. Well, I was doing "touch and goes", practicing landing and taking off. There was a little fl uffy white cloud right in my way. He was in my way. How dare he! And so with a devil-may-care attitude I shot into that little white cloud. White! White! The entire world was white, there was no left or right and worse, there was no up or down! Without a horizon you lose your orientation in space. For a few brief seconds I knew total terror and I understood how planes could go into a death spiral from disorienta- tion in the clouds. I shot out of the little white cloud (he was little) and into a welcome world anchored by a horizon. Yes, there are instruments, "artifi - cial horizons" and later on we prac- ticed with those although I never became profi cient with them. Another white-out. The "Grape Vine" pass in California; only about 1500 feet but noted for its multi car pileups in the fog. The weather was iffy but not too bad; I was driving. I remember there was a truck in front of me and a car passing me as we chugged up the grade. Suddenly, in- stantly the fog descended and total- ly enveloped us. There was no truck in front, there wasn't even a car be- side us and there was also no shoul- der or ditch! Nothing but white fog. To slow down or stop meant getting whopped from behind. To swerve meant steel on steel. And where was the road? My husband calmly said, "Just keep it straight." How can you go straight when you can't see where straight is? Fortunately the fog lifted just as quickly as it came and we were all okay. I'm sure that when the fog hangs around it's entirely possible for 10-20 cars and trucks to pile into each other. The Tehachapi Pass is where that huge mud slide occurred several (two? three?) years ago. I was head- ed to Arizona down Interstate 5 and left Sacramento about 9 am. Listen- ing to the radio I kept hearing about a bad mud slide blocking the pass but I thought, "Oh, sure, they'll have it cleared out. Don't worry." I contin- ued on and got as far as Buttonwil- low; someday I'm going to go see But- tonwillow, wouldn't you love to live in a town called Buttonwillow? I was ready to turn into Bakersfi eld when it hit me: the road was blocked. Nobody goes over that pass. I remember the picture of an 18 wheeler almost bur- ied under mud and the muddy mess that should have been a road. Travelogue What to do? I turned around and went back to Sacramento. I cut across south of Lake Tahoe, which would have been beautiful but it was foggy, rainy and stormy. Spent two nights in a casino waiting for the storm to pass and then two more days. Rumor had it that here was a "radioactive spill" and we couldn't travel until tests showed the air and soil were clear. Nobody would say for sure what had happened but I was ready to leave the casino and get into little ole' Quartzsite! I often picture my "guardian an- gel" poor little wings worn down to a stub, halo askew and harp long ago forgotten. She has a full-time job! There's a song I heard on the car radio something about a "Halo that's broken and no longer shines", that's my guardian angel. I just got a phone call from a very dear friend. She had an episode of not feeling well in Quartzite, went by ambulance to Parker and the doctor told her it was just upset stomach. Now in Colorado she's just had a stent put in the right coronary ar- tery that was 80% blocked! Bring a retired RN, Intensive Coronary Care, I was speechless with fury. And for me to be speechless—that takes a lot. Something to pound into your heads: women don't always have the same intense symptoms of a heart attack as men do. My Mother-in-Law claimed she had no pain with her heart attack, "It just felt like a truck sitting on my chest." Now to me, that would be painful! Another friend had only a pain in her elbow. Other symptoms are profuse sweating, nausea, weak- ness and sometimes a feeling of "im- pending doom". My husband also had a fairly "silent heart attack". I argued with the EMTs and insisted he had to go into the hospital; they reluctantly took him in and he had an immediate open heart surgery with 4 bypasses. I guess the fi nal word is: if you or a friend or loved one think you're hav- ing a heart attack.. Hang in there. Insist. You may be right! Call 7 days a week 8am - 11pm EST Se Habla Español in up to 6 rooms Where available. 1-855-820-5828 $ 14. /mo. 95 Add High Speed Internet Upgrade to the Hopper® 3 Smart HD DVR Subject to availability. Restrictions apply. 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