Friday: Downpour Delay

With a hard rain for a short time in the night, we woke to a drizzle, and the grey clouds from the west that usually signal imminent rain.

But as the hours passed, and the rain didn't begin, we decided to head up and do what we could: maybe halted by storms, maybe successful progress, but we needed to try.

Finishing up around the door took some doing. And every one of the panels needs to be cut at the top. We had reached a good rhythm when the neighbors stopped by for an hour or so. This week, I was less anxious to get on with the work, and so we stood and chatted.

Then on to the panels, a race now to finish up the front before either full nightfall or hard rainfall.

We had one panel to go when the wind whipped up and the driving rain began. We had been watching the storm cloud skirt us; we could see the rain falling a few miles away, coming in grey streaks. In Virginia, usually the storm goes from nothing to full blast. So when the storm struck, we didn't bother with finishing off the panel nicely (I was glad: Phil up in the lift with lightning near didn't seem prudent). Phil put in "stitch" screws, the little screws that hold the panels together. That will protect the insulation from rain exposure, and keep the panel from blowing around, but we didn't need to stay in the rain.

I ran down the driveway, down to the moon garden to pick basil for pesto for dinner, and was sopping wet by the time I reached the RV.

But overall, a good effort, with much accomplished.

On the job site, there are periods of five minutes when Phil needs to drive screws and I have no clean up to do. I bought a book entitled Cancer Salves which has been utterly fascinating. As the front cover blurb says, "In the 1950s, the use of herbal cancer salves for tumor destruction and removal had a 75 to 80 percent success rate." Apparently, for tumors and cancer that is either on the skin or can be palpated (for example, breast cancer), these salves can be the equivalent of surgical removal, except with fewer side effects and greater long-term success. (Lower incidence of recurrence, more complete removal of the unwanted tissue. Some salves even selectively target cancerous tissue specifically.)

I have enjoyed reading this book. It fits in with my general understanding of how disease and healing work: a removal of a tumor is simply removing a symptom, not actually healing the body, just like taking a tylenol to lower a fever is not actually healing, but simply suppressing a symptom, not addressing what is causing the fever.

If you are curious about alternative remedies, you might want to read this book, too. I think too often the word "cancer" is so terrifying, there's no chance after a diagnosis to adequately consider alternative treatments, that don't require the big three: cutting, burning, or poisoning (surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy).

But be advised: there are a few pages of photos that raised my eyebrows! Isaiah and I had a few minutes of horrified exclamations. Body drainage of toxins is not pretty.