Dreaming about Sunshine...

We've had so many cloudy days that I've had dreams about sunshine. They're totally normal dreams, like I'll wake up (in the dream) and see sunlight shining through my bedroom window. In the dream, I sit up in bed and look out into my backyard through the blinds and see lush green grass and trees, with golden morning sunlight streaming through. Only to wake up and see nothing but clouds (or, darkness, depending on the time).

And, of course, with the clouds, we've had rain. So much humidity that even when it wasn't raining, the ground stayed wet. Fog nearly every night. I don't have to tell you how much pain I've been in- you can assume
"a fuck-ton" of pain. And, with that pain, I've had the drag-me-to-the-floor exhaustion. Most nights, when I get in bed, it almost feels like my muscles are vibrating with pain.

AAAANNND... I'm on day seven of the generic of Cymbalta. The "mild" side effects I've had have been slight dizziness and a little nausea. Nothing I can't deal with, but having that on top of everything else has been a wonderful little trip through a suburb of Hell. I suspect actual Hell has lower humidity. "Actual Hell"... Hell Proper, really. Back to the generic of Cymbalta- it does seem to be helping me sleep better. I'm still taking one muscle relaxer at night (with my Vicodin, still) and one in the morning. The pharmacist told me to stop taking those as I needed and that the side effects would last about a week or two.

I'm just waiting for the "makes the pain go away" part. That's all I want.

The other day, I was reading an article or something about fibro (because, why not?) and it gave an excellent description of how fibro feels. I've likened it to being hit by a truck, thrown from a horse, post-workout pain, lactic acid overload, and so on. The article- and I can't find the damn link now- said it somewhat like this: "When someone is poked in the arm, they feel pressure. Their brain receives the signal that pressure has been applied to the area. A person with fibro feels pain." So, where a normal person feels acknowledgement of touching, a fibro sufferer feels like they're being stabbed with an ice pick.

The "ice pick" analogy is my own. Just don't poke me in the goddamn arm, okay? Or stab me with an ice pick. A hug is way nicer than both of those things.

As for the "talks about photography" part of this thing- about a week and a half ago, I got to do something cool...

~Thee Bluebeard Visits Santa~ (and Santa is a familiar face from Bristol).

And later that week, I caught a couple photos of a cardinal. Normally, cardinals in my yard fly away and sit just out of zoom lens range for me. But I was in Racine and this cardinal apparently hadn't gotten the memo from the others to avoid me.






And because the holidays are being crammed down your throat, here are a few photos I've taken in the last couple years. Happy Whatever Holiday You Celebrate!