Walking Over Riding, Highland Summer Conference, Nutritionist

   
    A little over a month ago we were without a car. It might have been a tragedy for some; we don't live in California where many live 90 minutes away from their jobs. We actually live close enough to our places of work  that we could  walk to our place of work. But how many people can say that?
   But there are a lot of advantages to walking over riding. First of all, look at the price of  gasoline. When I was a kid gas cost 25 cents a gallon and the last time I looked it was $3.40 a gallon for the lowest grade, regular! A jump of over 1000 percent! Of course, I can't "totally" blame those on Wall Street for speculation that jacks up the price. No, this started in the 1970s when the OPEC nations raised the price of oil every 6 months, and even now, oil is hurting our economy. But does that stop people from buying gas guzzling SUVs? Heck no! But what if your two SUVs no longer worked and you couldn't afford to fix them right away?
     Those living below the wages of those who can afford SUVs know what I am talking about. Sometimes expenses become so great that you have to eliminate something. So we eliminated the use of a car for a while. We walked to work, to the store, got a few rides to church, and did away with long trips to another town for entertainment. We even walked to the movies! How many of us can arrange that? But wouldn't a lot of you like to?
We burned calories and saved at least $50 a month on gas (we were already doing some walking, remember). It's possible to live a while without a car.
    And I attended an interesting writing workshop, the Highland Summer Conference at Radford University recently. The teachers, poets and published writers, were very patient with the six pupil class (though a few other teachers also sat in). It was unlike a writing group I'd been to where they seem to be merely critical of what you do, what I call the "slash and burn" approach to writing criticism. They pointed out strengths and improvement ideas and were encouraging. It was slanted toward Appalachian experiences, but not totally.
    But man, I snacked and ate way too many sweets. Before the conference began I went to an area nutritionist/pharmacist and spoke to her about my medical history, including the fact that I wanted to find out how to improve my hormone levels and immune system. My oncologist's only recommendation was only to stay on a medicine that has caused a number of side effects and which I know is just making me older inside and (therefore) giving me a weaker immune system, which already failed me once. I don't want it to fail me again. 
    So she took a hair sample and will see where I have deficiencies and what I need to do to help my immune system. Why don't doctors suggest this? Why do they always just throw a pill at you?