Life is Healthy

OK. I've had a few questions about resveratrol and soy. They did not work for me. The only things that have worked are reducing the amount I eat and lots of exercise. Sorry. I have not found any miracles.

Over the weekend, I was tagged by Jimmy Moore —that stinker—to play a game in which I have to list eight interesting or peculiar things about myself. So here goes:

1. I was born at home. Not too peculiar, but considering it was in southern West Virginia in the '50s, it's a bit of a tale. My mother did not go to a doctor throughout her entire pregnancy with me. In spite of that, I was born as a healthy nine-pound baby. A midwife named Garnett Farley delivered me. I was born in my parents’ bed. After I was born, my father took me to the “company store” and weighed me on the meat scale. How’s that for a beginning in life? Hmmm. Maybe it was indication of how I would spend my life. On a scale. And in the vicinity of food.

2. You know how people can do that “Live Long and Prosper” thing with their fingers? Well, I can do that with my toes. Now there’s a skill that will come in handy in the future.

3. I did not start college until I was 27 years old. And then I paid my own way through school. It was so exciting buying my books and getting off to school. There is no way I could go back to school now. I’ve tried, but it’s just too much. My hat is off to anyone who could.

4. I’m completely creeped out by root cellars. Those dirt walls and the roots sticking out—can you tell I grew up in the country? Anyway, one of my worst nightmares is being locked in one.

5. I’ve traveled to more than 25 U.S. states, including Vermont, Delaware, New York, New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Wyoming, Colorado, California, Utah, Missouri, Nevada, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. I can’t remember if there were any others or not. Most of my travels have been for work, but some for pleasure. I also have been to Canada and Mexico. Woo hoo.

6. I was bitten by a six-foot black snake when I was 18 months old. And I can remember it as if it had happened yesterday. It happened in my grandparents’ front yard. I saw the snake, and thought it was a rope. I wondered about it a little bit, and then I went up and kicked it. The snake bit me on my right knee. I started screaming. My grandfather, who had been in the tub, came running out of his house wrapped in a towel. My mother came screaming from some other direction—armed with a hoe. The snake didn’t live another five minutes. Don’t mess with a child when its mother is nearby. Now, I kind of feel sorry for the snake. But, needless to say, the experience left me scared to death of snakes. One time, I completely froze in my tracks, I couldn’t move, because one of those little green garden snakes slithered across my path.

7. I prefer Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi any day of the week. I don’t think I have to say anything more than that.

8. I have had trouble sleeping ever since I was born. My mother told me that when I was baby, the only way I could go to sleep was to put my head under her arm. Now, I can’t sleep if I’m even slightly stimulated. But I love to dream. I have tried to remember my dreams over the years. I think that dreaming helps me make sense of my life. The book, Our Dreaming Mind, by Robert Van de Castle is one of my favorites.

And that’s it for my list. Nothing great. Now, I'm supposed to tag eight people. But I don't have any idea who to tag. Does it count if I don't tag anyone?