Hal, thanks for letting me tag along as you and Cameron took the pictures for this episode. Seeing your creativity in full swing was so much fun. An amazing experience
Hal, I love this post--and all of them! You probably know this one, because Wendell Berry is a poet, like Mary Oliver, whose poems show up in UU services frequently, but it seems right to post it here to share in this honoring of places to lie down:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
...and the couple of times i saw you play at Unitarian (not going more when you were there i've regretted) ...i didn't even notice a lie down... i'm an olde skool kent peep ...i probably would've figured you were fixin' the wheels or somethin' somethin' ~~https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb9sYsK76jU ~~Our Cats' And Dogs' Olde Fav"-"In The Morning" w/'70s including family, friends, video- Arlo Gutherie
i remember you around town back in the 1991...i wish i would have known...i'd already been thru a life of various levels of daily pain...the year one minor tiny accidental blow to the back of the head got me my first of a BIG list of diagnoses...often w/conflicting "fixes", and more trouble from the 'script tries then help. I love seeing your lie down photos, it's inspirational...except i'd give a lot to be able to comfortably lie down, any which way for a more than minutes...i'd need a fleet of various filled pillows, on all cotton, silk or wool carefully washed cloth covers...i have 2 beds too! i know whatchameanjellybean...my night bed is now about 52 inches off the ground...grown taller as i add mattress toppers...my last 2 layers real sheepskin...It was too embarrassing when i was a wee girl to express: "The Princess And The Pea"-Hans Christian Andersen was me. i've always seemed a wee weird to others as well.
And as another person who has had to lay down due to my condition (for me it is 95% of every day) I can validate the extreme comfort of being horizontal.
Although I have been blessed to never having been as challenged with my health as you have, I have had similar experiences to performing when sick. The illness falls away when on stage, whatever that stage is, and when you stop it comes back. Magical.
When you talked about laying down by the piano with only your feet sticking out, the picture that flashed in my mind was the Wicked Witch of the East with her feet hanging out from under the house. It would have been fun to have some silly socks on.
I hope you are well. I always enjoy your emails. Take good care.
Back in high school, at the onset of my fibromyalgia but years before I’d get any kind of diagnosis, I was in the marching band. During home football games, we’d play the national anthem, play from the stands, do our half time show, and then have the third quarter off before playing from the stands a little more. My sophomore and junior years, I fell asleep in the bleachers during every third quarter. I was the drum major my senior year, so there was a similar bit of “how do you think it looks to others?” that forced me to fight through it. I’m very glad that I currently live a life where I rarely have to fight through it.
Hal...I love the way you write about your thoughts, your experiences. I don't have CFS but I have had two brain surgeries and recently, a bout of radiation. I am in bed by 5:30 to 7:00 most nights. I LOVE to lie down...and I concentrate on how good my feet feel on the cool sheets, on top of the foam topper. I relate to your foray into pot too, and I agree it's nothing to waste a life on. I remember my own arrogant attitude, when, around 1970, I came out of a store downtown Lodi, CA. I was braless and overheard a woman nearby expressing shock and disgust. I turned to her and yelled, "Oh please! God forbid that we should expose anyone to the bodies God gave us!" Uh boy. You wrote:"...like the life force is not there. The flow is gone and my battery is on empty. The life force is not there and I need to get close to the ground. This is what I feel like and have felt like for many years off and on (mostly on), beginning after my first brain surgery in 2006. I have tried to explain the feeling. You expressed it perfectly. God bless you Hal!
Thank you for sharing. You make me really understand what you experience and how stupid the term chronic “fatigue” is. They should call it the lying down disease. It ain’t just being tired.
Hal, I love you! My daughter has been siffering with MECFS , Pots Syndrome, etc for over 1.5 yrs & tries to continue working. Her boss is heartless which breaks my heart each day. She's done so much for this company & gets no respect : (
Thank you for another great episode. This surely struck a chord with me. I used to have a next door neighbor who would bother me whenever he saw me lying asleep outside in my lawn chair. It was a couple years after the onset of my ME and it really angered me to be disturbed.. He said he was just checking to make sure I wasn’t dead. Now I sleep 12 hours daily between the bed and sofa and rest in between. I agree. It’s necessary to have two separate sleeping places. May you have an exceptionally good day.
Hal Walker is my hero ❤️.
The photos are really really funny.
Thanks for noticing, Margot. Cameron, Annette and I had fun getting those shots. :)
Hal, thanks for letting me tag along as you and Cameron took the pictures for this episode. Seeing your creativity in full swing was so much fun. An amazing experience
I was so pleased when you chose to come along with us instead of being dropped off at your car. ❤️
Hal, I love this post--and all of them! You probably know this one, because Wendell Berry is a poet, like Mary Oliver, whose poems show up in UU services frequently, but it seems right to post it here to share in this honoring of places to lie down:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Sending horizontal love!
Nice, Hal. Can’t wait to open that package! And that last shot…😂
...and the couple of times i saw you play at Unitarian (not going more when you were there i've regretted) ...i didn't even notice a lie down... i'm an olde skool kent peep ...i probably would've figured you were fixin' the wheels or somethin' somethin' ~~https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb9sYsK76jU ~~Our Cats' And Dogs' Olde Fav"-"In The Morning" w/'70s including family, friends, video- Arlo Gutherie
i remember you around town back in the 1991...i wish i would have known...i'd already been thru a life of various levels of daily pain...the year one minor tiny accidental blow to the back of the head got me my first of a BIG list of diagnoses...often w/conflicting "fixes", and more trouble from the 'script tries then help. I love seeing your lie down photos, it's inspirational...except i'd give a lot to be able to comfortably lie down, any which way for a more than minutes...i'd need a fleet of various filled pillows, on all cotton, silk or wool carefully washed cloth covers...i have 2 beds too! i know whatchameanjellybean...my night bed is now about 52 inches off the ground...grown taller as i add mattress toppers...my last 2 layers real sheepskin...It was too embarrassing when i was a wee girl to express: "The Princess And The Pea"-Hans Christian Andersen was me. i've always seemed a wee weird to others as well.
These photos are too funny! Love them!
And as another person who has had to lay down due to my condition (for me it is 95% of every day) I can validate the extreme comfort of being horizontal.
Although I have been blessed to never having been as challenged with my health as you have, I have had similar experiences to performing when sick. The illness falls away when on stage, whatever that stage is, and when you stop it comes back. Magical.
Listening to your album. Love the harp.
Love the train tracks picture. 😁
When you talked about laying down by the piano with only your feet sticking out, the picture that flashed in my mind was the Wicked Witch of the East with her feet hanging out from under the house. It would have been fun to have some silly socks on.
I hope you are well. I always enjoy your emails. Take good care.
Back in high school, at the onset of my fibromyalgia but years before I’d get any kind of diagnosis, I was in the marching band. During home football games, we’d play the national anthem, play from the stands, do our half time show, and then have the third quarter off before playing from the stands a little more. My sophomore and junior years, I fell asleep in the bleachers during every third quarter. I was the drum major my senior year, so there was a similar bit of “how do you think it looks to others?” that forced me to fight through it. I’m very glad that I currently live a life where I rarely have to fight through it.
i love listening to these Hal. i also love my weed as a moderate-severe girly. do you meditate in silence or with an app?
Hi Loucifer! Thanks so much for listening. Keep enjoying! :) I meditate in silence. ✌🏼
Hal...I love the way you write about your thoughts, your experiences. I don't have CFS but I have had two brain surgeries and recently, a bout of radiation. I am in bed by 5:30 to 7:00 most nights. I LOVE to lie down...and I concentrate on how good my feet feel on the cool sheets, on top of the foam topper. I relate to your foray into pot too, and I agree it's nothing to waste a life on. I remember my own arrogant attitude, when, around 1970, I came out of a store downtown Lodi, CA. I was braless and overheard a woman nearby expressing shock and disgust. I turned to her and yelled, "Oh please! God forbid that we should expose anyone to the bodies God gave us!" Uh boy. You wrote:"...like the life force is not there. The flow is gone and my battery is on empty. The life force is not there and I need to get close to the ground. This is what I feel like and have felt like for many years off and on (mostly on), beginning after my first brain surgery in 2006. I have tried to explain the feeling. You expressed it perfectly. God bless you Hal!
Thank you for sharing. You make me really understand what you experience and how stupid the term chronic “fatigue” is. They should call it the lying down disease. It ain’t just being tired.
Hal, I love you! My daughter has been siffering with MECFS , Pots Syndrome, etc for over 1.5 yrs & tries to continue working. Her boss is heartless which breaks my heart each day. She's done so much for this company & gets no respect : (
Hi Hal:
Thank you for another great episode. This surely struck a chord with me. I used to have a next door neighbor who would bother me whenever he saw me lying asleep outside in my lawn chair. It was a couple years after the onset of my ME and it really angered me to be disturbed.. He said he was just checking to make sure I wasn’t dead. Now I sleep 12 hours daily between the bed and sofa and rest in between. I agree. It’s necessary to have two separate sleeping places. May you have an exceptionally good day.
Railroad tracks? Seriously?
{Giggling}
I love you, Hal.