Twin Snow Cones, Snoozing Volcanoes, Medication Dilemmas

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

2/25/23

Aloha Snow Shovelers!

Well,  what can I say...mainland weather in many parts of the country has been a bit of a challenge this winter, right? This past week seemed like a doozy, with record snowfalls, millions of homes without power, and transportation grinding to a halt.  And this is still February!

Our wet weather of last week continued at a lower level this week, and although it was less that ideal for

Mauna Kea Summit

us, our "problems" pale in comparison to those of the mainland.  All the moisture brought more snow to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa -- very picturesque when viewed from one of our beaches. Some winters we see only a brief dusting of snow on Mauna Kea and nothing at all for Mauna Loa, but this year we've had quite a bit of snow on both, and it has stayed put for a couple of months now.

Mauna Loa Summit

Speaking of volcanoes, Kilauea is currently taking a nap.  This started about a week ago, when the gushing at the summit slowed and now has stopped completely.  Not good for

tourists, but excellent for our air quality.  It isn't clear how long this pause will last, but it is almost certainly only temporary.  Kilauea has been erupting more or less continuously for tens of thousands of years.  In fact, the latest reports are that the volcano is "inflating," based on sensitive measurements that the volcanologists track. This indicates an intrusion of lava into the cracks and crannies of the volcano's structure that usually predicts eruptive activity, along with an increase in small earthquakes produced as the lava moves upward in the main channels.  Geez I love this volcanology stuff!

I started using the steroid cream for my leg thingy, but stopped when I read the package insert that warned of glaucoma and cataracts as possible side effects.  It turns out that steroids can raise eye pressure, something that is definitely bad, particularly for someone like me who already has glaucoma.  Hmmmm.  Let's consider this -- a choice between smooth skin or eyesight. My dermatologist hadn't known of my glaucoma when she prescribed the cream, and to be fair the amount I'm using is quite small and only for a short time, so even if she had known she might have still recommended it.  Anyway, I'm going to delay using the cream until next week, which will be closer to my next appointment with my Eye Guy.  That way if my pressures increase we'll know it fairly quickly and can either stop the cream or increase my eye drops.  Medication issues are definitely a geezer preoccupation.  Isn't this fun??!!

Karen and I worked out at PF on Tuesday and played golf on Thursday, though we got rained out after 11 holes.  A puzzle this week was the return of the Nenes.  We saw about 25 of them, including two sets of three large babies.  We had thought the Nenes had left after a couple of weeks without seeing any, but apparently they decided to return, and it isn't clear why.  Anyway, it was good to see them, and particularly to see more babies.

Unfortunately for our exercise routine, the pool temp is still recovering from last week's rain and cloudiness and has been below our acceptable level.  Hopefully it will climb back enough in a day or two to allow our daily water exercise.

Ok, that's it.  Off to market and to the beach.  Stay warm, keep shoveling, don't listen to the crazies.