EMFing

Every now and then if I've been on the computer for more than one hour, I become exhausted. It hits me like a ton of bricks. I become so exhausted I can't sit up and the weakness compels me to lay down. However, I have found if I don't lay down and instead get away from my computer and move around, I recover in about twenty minutes especially if I go outside. This exhaustion doesn't happen all the time, but I can't figure out the pattern or reason what might be causing it. It seems to be all about the computer.

EMFs?

I asked my new naturopath about this and I got the deer-in-the-headlights look which forced me to say quickly, "Never mind."

I just watched a new film called Surrounded by Sam Weider. Sam and his wife, Jacqueline, began having off and on unexplained health issues that became worse over time. Eventually Jacqueline was diagnosed with cancer and died. He discovered a book in her office called Zapped by Ann Louise Gittleman about EMF sensitivity. Then he contacted a EMF specialist or "building biologist" who tested his house. Sam features both the author and the biologist in his film.

It was fascinating and scary to watch the radiation tester beep like crazy around cordless phones, metal lamps, and air purifiers. Sam used to have tables with metal legs and it seems this caused his whole office to electrify like a giant microwave! His wife used to sit in the middle of this EMF shit storm. The building biologist also tested all the electronics in the bedroom: three lamps, an air purifier, television with DVD player, alarm clocks, cellphone chargers and, wait for it, the BED MATTRESS with METAL SPRINGS! With all these things plugged in, regardless of whether they are turned on or off, it electrifies the bed springs! Wow. How can one sleep well if one is wired?

Tips to reduce EMF exposure in your home:

Get all electrical devices out of the bedroom. Move your bed at least six inches away from a wall with electrical wiring and outlets. Sam actually had an electrician modify the electrical wiring and install a kill switch so everything even in the walls can be turned off at night. It doesn't matter if appliances or fixtures are turned on, the electrical current is still sending signals.

Disable cordless phones.

Disable WiFi.

Around the computer desk, use cable shields on the electrical cables.

Do not use fluorescent lighting of any kind including compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Don't use your cellphone in enclosed spaces, such as a car.

One of the most interesting facts was that cancerous tumors start appearing after ten years of cellphone use especially in those who use their phones continuously. Over the years I've read a lot of articles on how cellphone use causes cancer. It's shocking to me how the general public so addicted to their phones have discounted and ignored the warnings. I have a neighbor who is constantly on her phone. Even when she is walking her dog or riding a bike. No one seems to care.

Several years ago I visited the MCS/EMF sensitive community in Snowflake, Arizona and learned a lot from the residents there. 

I used to have a cordless phone, but now I avoid telephone use, especially cellphones, as they give me migraines. My Tracfone is rarely on and only if I must make a phone call. 

I have very little electrical devices in my bedroom, just my alarm clock as I can't stand the sound of ticking so little wind up clocks won't work for me. I have NEVER watched a television in my bedroom. The thought of destroying my sleeping area with radiation has always repulsed me. I only sleep in my bedroom. I don't even dress in this room.

I junked my microwave years ago. 

After this movie, I went around my whole house and unplugged all the lamps! I also realized in the fifteen plus years I've lived her, most of the room's light bulbs have never been changed. I'm very conscientious about turning off lights when not in a room

 So why do I become exhausted when on the computer? 

I have not one but TWO computers with screens and external speakers. I actually have three but the laptop is rarely turned on let alone used. In this same room, my office, I also have a router, a printer, two lamps, and a television with DVD player besides all the cables and electrical outlets. I'm surrounded by these devices. It's not clear why the exhaustion isn't all the time when I spend most of my time in this room.

It's such a mystery.

The Sensitives (movie)

I finally got around to watching The Sensitives a documentary film about people with chemical and electrical sensitivities directed by Drew Zanthropoulos. Great filming, outstanding photography, and I enjoyed how the dialogue was mixed over the various shots. Nicely done.

Some of the scenes were very interesting. Like the refrigerator full of supplements. Good god! I was hoping someone would address whether they do any good especially since there are theories that supplements add to the problem. That is a whole lot of financial investment for empty promises.

There sure were a lot of dogs in this movie. Barking dogs. With so many MCS/EMF people who have hearing sensitivities it still amazes me that MCS/EMF people are so thoughtless to subject others to their barking. The community down in Texas was featured - little, safe, EMF-proof houses in close proximity - with dogs milling about all over and barking! Like a ghetto. That place would be my personal hell.

One of the residents yelled at the new tenant to stay away from her house because he stinks. LOL! He's one of the stars of the film so it was a bit discombobulating to think this sick man stunk of toxic poisons, the poisons that make him sick. He called the place "a concentration of crazies." Well, that's not nice, but I totally get his sentiment. It has to be frustrating. This is my worry about moving to a community of any kind...I know I'm a pain in the butt and I don't know how much patience I'd have dealing with other people equally as obnoxious as me as we try desperately to control our environment. It sounds like a war in the making.

Not sure why someone suffering from MCS/EMF thought it would be a good idea to get on a plane and fly to Washington, DC. She couldn't participate in the conference in another way? Was the risk really worth it? They showed her walking along a busy city street filled with passing buses. I was gagging just imagining the fumes. I realize not everyone is as sensitive as I am, but if she has to use a wheelchair after a toxic exposure, I would think the travel risk would NOT be worth it.

She also invited a cigarette-smoke-saturated interviewer to sit on her bed with her dog. She told me I wasn't allowed to sit on the bed with or without the dog! And I didn't even stink! It was a little disturbing she was willing to smell people to determine if they had stink on. There is a lot of risky behavior going on here. The scene where she was testing EMF frequency with a transistor radio was fascinating.

I was a little envious of the support system all these people have. There was a lot of discussion on family members being taken for granted or not being recognized for all the work they do and the self-centeredness of those who are suffering. I think sick people in general are self-centered. It's their reality to do whatever they can to help and protect themselves and that makes them self-centered. In these scenarios, the wife does all the cooking and the ninety-year old grandmother does all the shopping. Their devotion is pretty amazing. I wish I had such devoted people in my life! I think chemical sensitivity would be that much more tolerable if I had a twin to share the experience, someone I could lay around in bed with, someone who totally understood my situation.

I kept pondering the difference between a family support system and no support system. The MCS/EMF people featured in this film who have family support seem far more dependent and helpless than, for instance, the woman who lives alone and is capable of doing a lot for herself. Is she less sensitive or just doesn't have the luxury of relying on someone else? The daughter of the man said if he had to live alone he would be forced to cook for himself rather than have his wife do everything for him. Can he cook for himself? Maybe the daughter doesn't understand his sensitivities, but clearly she thought he should be making more of an effort. And if he can't cook for himself, how could he even think of living alone in the first place? I suppose the appliances were less problematic in the Texas house? The film wasn't clear on these issues.

There were few moments of poignancy and personal emotion that were very descriptive. I think the best one was the phone call received from a woman stranded somewhere, having bad reactions to the environment, and in a panic not knowing what to do. That was very moving and exceptionally descriptive for such a short scene.

In summary, it was interesting, nicely filmed, perhaps a little disjointed and somewhat slow. Again, I would have liked more poignant moments or a different organization of stories to emphasize what it's like to have these kinds of limitations. It needed more of an emotional punch throughout. I found it confusing seeing in one scene where the subjects are so sick they can't function and then in the next scene they are risking exposure on purpose. I know that's reality and maybe that was the point, but a filmmaker would have more control over what is presented which would control the storyline.

Still, well done. It wasn't exploitive, but very honest and compassionate.

EMFs and Cell Tower Locations

There is a website called Antenna Search that will locate cell towers and antennas within four miles of your home. I know we have towers because I can see them on the far hill. I didn't know we had NINE!?

EMF/MCS Community!

There is a MCS/EMF-free community being planned by R. Chris Young who is founder/owner of EMF Experts, an EMF consultation services business. Here is the advertisement:

EMF-Free Community in White Mountains

Join us on our 40 – 120 Acres in NE Arizona.  Offering MCS / EI / EHS camping facilities (water, shower, toilets), a tiny homes 'neighborhood' in the trees, larger building lots for lease, and tracts of adjacent pristine EMF-quiet acreage available for purchase.   Great year round weather, within easy drive to low-EMF amenities (medical clinic, banks, stores etc).   In process and planned to launch 2016 or 2017. 

Now, I didn't know any place in Arizona was green so I'm skeptical. The photos on the website/blog look like some place in Montana. Is it really that green? It sounds too good to be true. He says he's been searching for the perfect spot for quite a while, touring the country and scouting every western state. The White Mountains of Arizona fit all the requirements. He wants people to get on the blog post, fill out the questionnaire, and he hopes to get enough people to present a list to the powers that be and have building codes circumvented so the dream community may begin. The email response says he's received loads of replies. Sounds so hopeful.

There is also a community naming contest. His ideas are Emfree Acres or Emfree Vistas. Hmmm...sounds like a rest home or a cemetery...not a good connotation. He's liking the Emfree bit. I think it sounds too much like a chemical corporation. Any ideas?

For more information and photos click HERE.

Electronic Warfare

We are doomed! It seems the United States Navy is planning Electronic Warfare training which will send EMFs across Washington State. It's bad enough there are so few places on this earth where cell phone towers and Wi-Fi are not found, but this is purposefully using high levels of electronic radiation to pollute an area filled with people and wildlife. How many people already have EMF sensitivities? And the studies on bats, birds, and bees showing how EMFs affect their own natural radar and directional systems? What is the fall-out of such experimentation? Has anyone in the government or in the military even considered the ramifications of this? I doubt it.

Here is the article from the November 2014 issue of the Environmental Health Bulletin (EHB) a newsletter edited by Melinda Honn from Arizona:

Briefly, the Navy is proposing to turn a large part of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, as well as a portion of northeastern Washington, into Electronic Warfare training ranges.  A giant antenna resembling a house-sized golfball will be installed at the Naval Station at Moclips, just outside the Quinault Indian Reservation on the Olympic Peninsula.   

According to the data in the Environmental Assessment, I calculate that it will have an effective power of 5 million watts. It will be capable of sending 64 simultaneous beams at frequencies of between 2 and 18 GHz. The golfball will only be 40 feet off the ground.  In addition, three mobile, truck-mounted antennas will be moved around between 15 different sites in the Olympic National Forest, and three more mobile antennas will operate from 8 different locations in the Okanagan and Colville National Forests in northeastern Washington. They will each have a power of 100,000 watts, and will be in use 260 days a year, 8 to 16 hours a day. The city of Forks will be directly in the line of fire, right between three of these locations and the Pacific Ocean.  The locations in the Colville National Forest are next to the Colville Indian Reservation, about 70 miles orthwest of Spokane, and one is only 3 miles from the city of Oroville.  In addition, UHF transmitters will be added to an existing tower on Octopus Mountain in the Olympic Peninsula for communication with aircraft and ships.  Needless to say, the peace of the Olympic Peninsula will be destroyed forever. The radiation in both locations will impact predominantly native Americans.

You may voice your opinion until the end of this month:

https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?Project=42759

I don't want EMF sensitivities nor do I want to be forced to live in a desert surrounded by car-eating rats secluded in a house lined with foil, but I might as well pack my bags for Snowflake now!

Damn.

Home Bound from Snowflake

After assessing all my discombobulation, I decided I needed some distance from it so I took off, heading home, planning to get to Flagstaff while thinking on route and knowing if I decided I needed to stay longer I could always turn around and head back to Snowflake.

“Standin’ On the Corner in Winslow, Arizona”

Winslow was on the way to Flagstaff and this town was exactly how I had hoped Snowflake would be! It has a real main street with an historic downtown. The neighborhood houses look like the historic districts of Phoenix with eclectic little houses in various styles. 

At the main intersection on the street is a huge Route 66 logo and on one of the corners is a statue of a guitar player standing on the corner to commemorate the Eagle’s song “Take It Easy.” I’ve looked forward to seeing this roadside attraction the whole trip having read about it in a book.

 

 

 

 

It didn't disappoint! I also took a walk in the historic La Posada Hotel built in the 1930s. Beautiful. The art collection was wonderful. Although I really liked the town, outside the historic main street the place feels depressed with lots of closed businesses and rundown buildings.

Starvation

Unable to get much in the way of food in Snowflake might have contributed to my overwhelming desire to leave (besides my introverted need to turn off all the people). Next stop was Flagstaff where I looked for New Frontiers Food, a health food grocery store much like Nature’s Oasis in Durango and Whole Foods although both are much better than Whole Foods. I definitely overdid it, buying all kinds of bad things, and one big salad! They had gluten-free pumpkin pie!!!! I couldn’t help myself and felt so much better after gorging.

The Vortex

My sinuses cleared outside of Flagstaff and I took this as a sign. Instead of west, I headed south to Sedona and Prescott via 89A. Beautiful. The 200 foot ponderosa pines were gorgeous and it was so nice to see more green and shade. The pine smell was lovely and the twisty/turny drive down the mountain was scenic.

On the road between Snowflake and Sedona I had time to think. I can still turn around and go back to Snowflake, rent the house in the middle of nothing and have myself an adventure. Now that I’ve stepped back from Snowflake and escaped to a greener and slightly less dusty environment, there is something depressing about Snowflake with the desolated landscape filled with sick people. Maybe that’s what’s bothering me? All these people seem much more sensitive than me and most have EMF sensitivities. The insides of their houses are lined with tin foil and most have all metal furniture. It feels very institutional. It looks ugly. Living like that would be a constant reminder of illness and substandard health. I could take that twenty acres and make it beautiful. It would be a wonderful challenge, but once the challenge is over could I survive in such a soul-sucking atmosphere? Would my own self-created beauty be satisfying enough?

More importantly, do I really want those people showing up at my house unannounced like they do at the Incredibly Generous Woman’s house?  I think she is extroverted and has encouraged that, but I’m an introvert. I don’t want constant guests even if I need people like me in my life. I want visitors on my terms. I could set boundaries, but I fear that would alienate people and I wouldn't want to do that. Still, those people are MY PEOPLE. It would be so nice to be surrounded by people who get me. Or maybe I just need lots of land lacking in toxic neighbors in a beautiful area and I’ll be great. The problem is how to afford that without going into major debt. Twenty acres for $25K is too tempting to write off so quickly…hmmm…

The vortex is not what it once was. Fifteen years ago I remember Sedona as a tiny little town with a few health food stores, a few more new age shops and that’s it. It’s suffering greatly from urban sprawl and it is now a gigantic tourist attraction. I stopped to get information on camping then headed to Prescott. This took me down, down, down into the valley where the landscape changed back to desert and the temperatures rose from 59 to 75. I took one look at the desert landscape and realized I had had enough of desert. I changed my mind, did a fast u-turn, and headed back up to the forest area.

 

I selected a free campsite up above the valley in the ponderosa pine area called 535 which is an unmarked road to the left. There is another free camp area called 237 which was to the right further up the highway. I didn’t want to drive in too far and most of the sites at 237 were right next to the highway so I went back to 535. I really wanted to camp at the Cave Springs camping, but the fee was 18.00 and the store closed at 4pm where you could buy a shower token for $4. It was past 4pm when I went back. More importantly, I was worried I’d spend all that money and be surrounded by a forest fire of campfires. I value my lungs. So I’m up at freebie camping, all alone in the woods. It is much warmer here than Snowflake at about 50 degrees, and I don’t think there are any car-eating rats around. All night cars and trucks were driving up this dusty dirt road, even at 5am. It’s Friday night. I wonder if it’s kids having a party? The dust did a number on my sinuses. I don’t like dust.

California

Left early around 6:30am. In Flagstaff the highway was white with ice and the temperature read 23 degrees. It wasn’t nearly that cold at the campgrounds. An exit sign outside the city read “Devil Dog Road”. HA! That road has history!



 

The scenery along I-40 was desert and desolate. Blah...blah...blah. Kingman was 70 degrees. I was planning to camp just north of Barstow but the town was like an urban ghetto: lots of rundown buildings, degenerate-looking men and homeless women with filled shopping carts wandering the streets. I was uncomfortable stopping for groceries, although I didn't see any grocery stores. There was no way I'd camp there even in the vicinity. It didn't feel safe.

I knew passing up my planned camping spot meant a long day of driving. I considered twice turning right and going up the east side of California. I regret not doing that. For some reason I thought California would be lush and green. I was wrong. Dropping into the valley at Bakersfield was horrible. The smog was so thick I couldn’t see anything. This is just like Los Angeles and I'm pretty sure the air was blown up from L.A. Lots of agriculture along the highway but viewing it through brown-gray haze was anything but appetizing. Lungs were heavy but not nearly as bad as it was in Boise which leads me to believe the haze was smog rather than agricultural poisons. I was determined to keep driving and not stop until the sky cleared.

I headed north on I-99 hoping to reach my friend’s house in Chico. The roads in California, even the highways, are in such bad shape with pot holes and patchwork, but the California drivers drive them like a race track. Everyone is going at least 10 miles over the speed limit. Lots of traffic, too, even for a Saturday afternoon. 

The smog stopped around Modesto and my body stopped just north of Stockton. My right leg started cramping up from all the sitting and driving. It got dark really fast and I needed a place to stay. There were two RV resorts at one exit and I impulsively pulled off. One didn’t take tents and the woman told me to go to the other just on the other side of the freeway. I was disappointed they were both next to the freeway. But I couldn’t find the other one! After driving up and down the road, I finally figured it was actually about five miles down the road. (Idiot woman!) Very expensive, $38 with a discount, but showers, laundry and wi-fi were included. Most importantly hardly anyone was in the tent camping area so I was isolated from campfires. It was very quiet and the temperature was much warmer at around 58 degrees all night. It was wonderful to be warm!

Woke early, took a gloriously long, hot shower (first one in a week!) and left around 7:30am.

 

Drove state highway 12 to Mendocino through Napa, Sonoma, Petaluma, and Fort Bragg. Beautiful towns with gorgeous vineyards as far as the eye could see, but the road was really horrible. Mendocino is my friend Urfa's home town. She visits it a lot and talks about it all the time. I've always wanted to see it so I can picture it when she tells me things. Mendocino is gorgeous!!! Right on the ocean. Very artsy, hippy-ish and expensive. I wish I could live there. It’s depressing not having the finances to live where I want. The twisty/turny forested roads in and out of Mendocino were stunning along with the ocean views, but they were very time consuming so I didn’t get as far as I would have liked for the day.

Going north up the coast I got off Hwy 101 and took the scenic Avenue of the Giants with the enormous redwood trees on each side. Who would ever think a tree could get so large?

At one point I checked out one of the Humboldt State Park campgrounds: overpriced at $35! The ranger was rude and unaccommodating so I left.

 

I raced down highway 101 trying to get to my free campground before dark, but didn't make it. I had no idea where it was so I found a campground on route at Big Lagoon State Park just south of Crescent City for $20. I’m in the trees next to the beach and I can hear the waves roar, but it’s dark so I can’t see a thing. Love it. It’s off-season so hardly anyone is here, but if it were during the summer I’m pretty sure all these closely situated sites would be filled and the campfire smoke would be unbearable.



Entrance to my campsite from beach

 

Between yesterday and today my patience is running thin. I’m irritable and snappish. California does that to a person. I think I’m tired and eager to be home. OR maybe it’s because I haven’t eaten any rice in a week? I feel like I'm starving all the time. It must be the lack of rice.

Woke early after a great night's sleep and hit the highway for home. I came upon a warning sign "Elk Crossing". Yeah, how many of these did I see in Colorado? This one didn't faze me until I dipped down into the valley and came upon a whole herd of elk all over the road and surrounding landscape. There must have been two hundred of these huge monsters unfazed by my van. I was tempted to stop and take a photo, but I didn't know if they might view my van as a threat and those antlers didn't look safe. I didn't want to end my vacation being maimed by elk.

Drove up the northern California coast and into Oregon looking at Crescent City, Cave Junction and Grants Pass, all places people have suggested I might like. I really loved the dense green landscape. The best town was Grants Pass. At 34,000 it's more like a city, but it has a quaint feel about it. The air smelled really clean. They have a good health food grocery store called Gooseberries and a little section in the historic part of town for other businesses catering to the healthy minded. I really liked it. Stopped a few times to check real estate prices. Nothing compares to Snowflake's cheapness and of course, everyone tells me construction loans are nearly impossible. This is always discouraging and I hear it too often.

Arrived home around 8pm after a scary drive in the dark on Suicide Highway. I survived! So did the van! It's nice to be home.

Sinuses cleared in northern California and stayed that way all the way home. I really hoped a higher elevation would cure me of all discomforts, but it seems it really made no difference. The dust and dryness at higher elevations was a problem. I anticipated walking into my house and having a respiratory reaction or smelling something bad from being away from it, but nothing. The house was freezing cold with no heat, but other than that, I was fine. I'm happy my house is safe for me. And then I went out to visit Peter and give him a good massage. He missed me. With rabbit fur flying, my sinuses congested and throat started itching. After all that driving to find a safer home, Peter is the cause of all my discomfort. I guess I kind of knew that already. I love him, but he is a pain in my ass on so many levels.

For my next house-searching road trip, I plan to scout eastern Oregon.

Still contemplating Snowflake...maybe I'll drive down again in the spring when everything is in bloom.

I'm in Snowflake!

Snowflake desert with EI housing

I got to Snowflake around noon and drove up and down Main Street looking at the businesses and neighborhoods. It doesn’t really have a town center and Main Street is more like a big strip mall. I was disappointed. I expected more from the Mormon founders. I found the health food store and ate lunch. It’s very small, with lots of supplements, but lacking in my favorite foods. All the meat was frozen. Lunch tasted moldy. I can’t imagine getting my weekly groceries there. I checked out the supermarket which had no gluten-free products, although it had an awesome bakery. During pre-MCS days I would have spent a lot of money there, but it’s virtually useless to me now.

I drove to Show Low which also has a very small health store. There is a Safeway, but I don’t shop at Safeway as it's one of the worst corporations on the planet only second to Monsanto. I worry about lack of food. Currently I drive 1 ½ hours for organic food and it’s getting old. I’m not interested in moving somewhere which requires the same.

I checked out some hotels. The Silver Creek Inn  in Taylor creeped me out. The room was so small and it had a musty smell. The Holiday Inn Express in Show Low was absolutely beautiful and the reception woman was outstanding and accommodating, but the room smelled like "new" chemicals. I'd suffocate by morning. The Heritage Bed and Breakfast in Snowflake was also beautiful and smelled nontoxic, but I worried about privacy and being in too close proximity to other guests. Each room has its own bathroom and television and wi-fi is available. This was a reality check. All along I was assuming I'd be able to stay in a hotel if I absolutely had to and now I finally realized it's not even an option. I felt really vulnerable.

At this point I realized I needed a contact. Not knowing anyone makes moving long distance very difficult. I had planned to meet with the real estate agent tomorrow, but I needed a personal connection, one that wasn’t trying to sell me something. I had been in touch with a woman who was currently building in Snowflake. She was incredibly inspirational, sending me photos of her property and house construction at various steps and telling me she would introduce me to others when I visited. I felt we did some online bonding, but when I emailed to tell her I was leaving for Snowflake, her response was, “Have a nice trip.” I wondered if I was reading too much into such a terse response, yet she offered no way to contact her when I arrived. I figured I’d email her when I arrived, but I knew wi-fi would be lacking. I felt as if she just blew me off.

 

So here I am in Snowflake, realizing I need help connecting to the town through humans. There was another woman who I emailed and phoned a few months ago.  She had volunteered her driveway, but I knew she just had a guest who left same day I arrived and she had been at a conference in Phoenix. I assumed with so much humanity overload, she would be exhausted and not want another guest so soon. I know I'd feel that way. I emailed her before I left for Snowflake and she told me to call when I arrived.  So I did. Her response was, “Do you like rice noodles?” I was a little taken back, but replied I wasn’t sure as I never had them. She said, “Come on over and we’ll feed you!”

The Incredibly Generous Woman

The Incredibly Generous Woman is the acting “leader” of the MCS community although I’m pretty sure she’d laugh at that label. I believe she is the one who has single-handedly created and developed this community through her personal outreach and constant hospitality. She invites chemically-sensitive strangers to stay at her house while she connects them to resources and helps them meet others. I asked her at one point if it gets to be too much or if she has boundaries and she said she screens people. If they indicate at all they need her to take care of them, she shuts it down. She has no desire to care for anyone so people need to be self-sufficient or if unable to care for themselves, they need to bring a caretaker when they come. She wasn't shy about stating her needs and rules for visitors.

When I arrived, she had several people at her house with more arriving as we sat and talked. One is a filmmaker doing a documentary on chemically sensitive people. It was wonderful to sit in the living room and talk to other MCSers. They get me and I understand exactly the experiences they describe. The discussion ranged from hearing sensitivity to the non-support of spouses to how many of them came to move to Snowflake. At one point I expressed gratitude for the social experience explaining in eight years I’ve lived in my house I have never had this many people over at the same time. In fact, I don’t think that many people have visited me TOTAL. This is what the Incredibly Generous Woman does. She brings people together and makes them feel comfortable and welcome. She is the glue to this community and their centralizing force. Oddly enough, we both majored in art history in college! I love the way she giggles all the time. She strikes me as a very happy, well-adjusted MCSer. The group discussed the rats that infiltrate the cars, living on top of the engine for protection and warmth and eating the fuel lines. Good God.

Snowflake
Temperature Range: 55/26 (brrrr...)
Elevation: 5,579
Population: 5,564 (2012)

My first impressions of Snowflake: I have no problem with the landscape, I LOVE the overwhelming silence, the houses seem well-built and rather cute for being all metal and the MCSers I met are friendly, helpful, and supportive. I still haven’t figured out the logistics of finding a place to rent first and I am determined to do just that before making a commitment. I have no idea if I will have serious reactions to sage, juniper, and the grass that covers the desert here. I don’t want to make such a serious mistake that I find myself miserable and transient. Many of these people claimed they took a leap of faith and purchased real estate as they didn’t have a choice being so sick. Some did not tolerate the Snowflake environment and left while others stayed. Most of them seem to be sensitive to EMFs which is a real issue anywhere else with the radio towers and frequencies. Some have had bad reactions to the tin foil that is used to seal the houses from the EMFs. I am not sensitive to EMFs…yet.

 

Camping in my van in the Incredibly Generous Woman's driveway was...cold. No. Freezing. The temperature was nearly the same as Durango so I couldn't figure out why I couldn't warm up. I laid shivering for too long even dressed in multiple layers of wool. Finally I remembered I brought my below-freezing sleeping bag. I've never really liked it because it's polyester and the feel of polyester makes my skin crawl, but its purpose is to keep you warm in freezing weather and that's exactly what I was desperately needing. I removed it from it's storage bag. It was cold. I wasn't hopeful. As soon as I slid into it within seconds I was warm. Wow! So glad I didn't sell it in that last yard sale!

Day Six: Movie Stardom

It’s very odd to have a filmmaker with a huge camera follow you around and listen to your conversation. The Filmmaker is doing a documentary on MCS featuring people and is in Snowflake to film the Incredibly Generous Woman. He is here off and on filming her and others so this wasn’t his first visit. When he asked if it was OK to film me I said sure because I think contributing to public awareness is important, however, all night I kept thinking I don’t want to be in a movie talking about personal stuff!  I could imagine my relatives and neighbors watching me on the big screen as I talk about how much I hate them and their ignorance. But when morning came, the sun was shining, I marched right into the house without thinking and...ignored him. Keep in mind I hadn't had a shower or washed my hair for almost a week. I definitely was NOT thinking. I deserve an Academy Award for pretending I wasn’t freaked out knowing the camera was capturing every mundane word out of my mouth. Then I had to fight to appear natural when the words coming out of my mouth felt like I was reading from a script as I carefully censored what I might say. AND THEN I kept wishing the Filmmaker would stop filming so he could participate in the conversation. I felt it was rude to exclude him and he was exceptionally articulate and thoughtful so I valued his insights. Later he said it was fine to talk to him while he's filming. He's just gathering footage he will edit later. He asked me to tell him about my van camping system so on film for the world to see I explained my pee bucket. Jeez...definitely not thinking!

New construction next door

 

Kitchen (white section) is separate from house.
In between will be the entrance and shower room for decontamination.

Little white house is spouse's "play house" for toxic office equipment
or arts/crafts projects.

We spent the morning walking through the desert, talking and filming. The Incredibly Generous Woman pointed to the neighbors, explained desert floral and fauna, and discussed chemical sensitivity. She showed me the neighbors who are building a new house. It's the same color as my van so I loved it immediately. A construction worker was laying the ceramic tiles for the bathroom. Beautiful. Yep, I could live here.

 

Neighbor to the east.

 

Incredibly Generous Woman's house. See the second car with the hood up?
That's to discourage the rats from moving into the engine. Eewww!

I shared my eco-village vision and we discussed building codes and construction rules. I dug some of the dirt to do a soil sample, but it was all rock and sand. I couldn’t get down further than maybe six inches. Hmmm…I probably wouldn’t even have to have a rock foundation for my cob house here, but I would need to figure out the drainage as the water tends to sit right on top of the sand. I used the topsoil for the sample. It's all sand, of course, and it looks like chocolate milk. I was told it's useless to weed unless it's monsoon season. Yep. I tried pulling up some grass. It doesn't want to move. All morning the Incredibly Generous Woman kept talking about connecting me with others so I was hopeful I’d get to meet more people, see more houses, and get more information.

The Worst Real Estate Experience of My Life

I met with the real estate agent in the afternoon. I had a bad feeling about him. He was really nice, but didn’t really seem to understand what I wanted.  Or maybe he deals with too many people like me: idealistically arriving in Snowflake and then changing their minds as soon as reality hits. I'm sure wasting his time gets old. His office stunk. His truck stunk. We drove for miles on horribly maintained dirt roads. He, in his four-wheel half ton pick-up and me, in my non-four-wheeling van. Really? I’m not really sure why he thought that was feasible.

We looked at an EI house that is for sale. The owner is considering renting it. He wants $600 a month which seems really high for the size of house and the amenities. It's not like there is a view! Way out in the middle of no where on 40 acres (he’s only selling 20 acres). It’s very depressing and much more isolated than anything I’d imagine. But quiet. Really quiet. God, I love quiet.

 

For sale or rent.

It has propane to heat the water and the radiant flooring, solar energy for electricity, and water is delivered and stored in a 1,000 tank. The walls were covered in tin foil sheet rock. Incredibly ugly, but the agent said in another house the same owner built, he covered it with some kind of plaster and paint. The covered porch spans two sides of the house. Awesome porch. The agent pointed out the porch faces northeast and the winds and sun will come from the southwest. I could put Peter on the porch and screen the whole thing in, but I don’t know if Peter would like living on cement. I made a comment about needing to buy a gun for backcountry protection. The agent agreed explaining about the packs of feral dogs that roam the desert. Although I appreciate his honesty, he wasn't a very good salesman! Hmmm...I’d never sleep at night with Peter outside in a cage and packs of feral dogs milling about.

 

The front yard...40 acres...desert as far as one could see.

Unfortunately, the owner still had it filled with his belongings. I could smell something that was bothering me but I couldn't tell if it was from his stuff or the propane. I'm not sure the propane was even hooked up. I was a little disappointed no one thought to make it presentable to prospective buyers or renters. And they wonder why it's not selling.

We got back in our vehicles and four-wheeled it to the second site over ditches and washes, through sand, dirt and mud. It took at least an hour to get to the next property. I was totally lost and my sense of direction was befuddled. Several times his four-wheel vehicle would spin out, but most often he was miles ahead of me. It was scary and stressful. I worried I’d get stuck, destroy my shocks, or end up in a ditch. At one point he took a wrong turn and I had to back out of the bumpy dirt road for about 500 feet. He said “Don’t worry there are no ditches.” I replied, “In this van, every bump feels like a ditch.” He promised the next road was better. It wasn’t. It was worse.

I was swearing like a truck driver and in tears whole way. When I finally caught up to him at the property, I rolled my window down and without hesitation as calmly as possible said, “I need to get to the nearest road NOW. This is scary, stressful and unacceptable.”

He smiled and calmly said, “OK." Then pointed to the desert, "This is the property.”

I said with a glare and too much sarcasm, “Great." I was not impressed. That’s an understatement. I didn’t give a shit and I was angry. I wanted to get out of there.

Instead of taking me to the nearest road, off again we went four-wheeling to the next property. If I had any idea of where I was, I would have left him. This property was actually possible. Twenty acres with all utilities for $25,000. That price is unheard of in most places, but this is the desert.

However, I’m still not clear on the logistics of moving [Peter] and I’m determined to rent first. Construction loans are impossible so even if I purchased the land, it would be years before I could build anything on it. Without renting first, it could be a huge financial risk.

Needless to say, my head was pounding when it was over. My sinuses were a mess probably from the dust. The van was covered with dirt and sand. I opted not to see the last property. I just wanted to go HOME. My house in mold country was looking really good. At least the rats don’t live in your vehicle’s engine and eat the fuel lines! Scary!

I realized these last couple days I have expressed fear many times. Everything was scary.  I’m sure everyone thinks I’m strangely fearful. I never thought of myself as fearful, but I know I’m careful. Perhaps this is my subconscious telling me this isn’t right? Twenty acres for $25,000? Where in the hell would I ever find silence, solitude and that much land for so cheap?

I hesitated going back to the Incredibly Generous Woman’s house with my new-found negative attitude and hysteria, but I calmed down by the time I made it out of the desert. I spent the rest of the night deprocessing my stressful experience and trying to regain rationale so I could make better decisions. Again they talked and laughed about the rats that eat the fuel lines or how they steal items out of the compost, store them on the car's engine so when you heat up your car it smells like food. I don't think they realized how much this creeped me out. I'm not fond of rat wrangling.

 

All night the Incredibly Generous Woman kept asking me repeatedly if I want to meet others or if I wanted to see something. I kept saying “yes”, but she never contacted anyone. After spending the whole morning not doing much, I worried if I stayed another day if it would be another day of sitting around doing nothing. They all wanted me to stay for longer to get a better feel, but I kept telling them I have work to get back to and every day I’m gone, I’m losing money. I’m pretty sure most of them are on disability or not working. I felt like I was running out of time and time wasn’t being used efficiently. Then I found out she had an appointment the next morning and I didn’t want to be sitting around doing nothing for another morning waiting. Camping in freezing weather, hunger, car-eating rats, four-wheel driving stress, and lots of extroverted human contact made me want out of there. I absolutely HATE being dependent on people, but in a community of sick people, I couldn't very well head out and knock on people's doors. Frustrated, I planned to leave tomorrow morning early for California.

Sleep as Remedy for Discombobulation

I woke up early. Last night was not nearly as freezing as the night before. On the way out I should have turned right to Snowflake, instead at the last minute I turned left, back to the twenty acres. My head was clear, wasn’t pounding painfully, and I wasn’t in tears. I was thinking clearly and needed to revisit this property one more time rather than impetuously leaving at the first sign of discombobulation. I was pretty sure I could find it again.



 

 

 

Building site right in the middle of it all with septic and water already there.

The neighbors were burning a pile of something and the smoke filled the air. Obviously they were not chemically sensitive. The weird thing about the desert is sound and smell travel much farther than a place where there are trees, landscape and other buildings. While hiking through the desert getting dirt samples, I was on a hill maybe a field away from the Incredibly Generous Woman’s house. The Filmmaker was in her backyard. He could talk in a normal voice to me from that distance and we could hear each other plainly. It was amazing. If my requirements are I don’t want to hear or smell my neighbors, this might not be as good as it looks. I still worry about the plant allergies and Peter’s health and safety.

Still, I could raise goats on this land. They'd eat everything down. Then I could pave parts of it with stepping stones, use landscaping rocks and create a beautiful rock garden. I'd sit out in my rock sanctuary and watch the sunset every night and the sunrise every morning. I can see the creative possibilities.

I wonder if this is when I need to practice being brave and stop being scared. Maybe I should view this more as an art project than housing? More like adventure than an impending mistake? More like excitement than worry? Is it practical to wipe out my bank account with an impetuous move buying desert land that I might not be able to sell if it becomes a nightmare? It would take me a few years to gather up enough money to build. Is the investment worth it? Or should I trust my instincts and walk away, something I don’t do often enough. Impetuous courage or common-sense instincts? Hmmm…it might be fun or it might be hell.
 

I stayed in Snowflake all morning. The local college allows the public to use the wi-fi and even sit in the student lounge. Very accommodating.  I tried to get a hold of the Other Woman for some inspiration, but she never responded. Judging people is so strange. This one seemed very accommodating and wasn’t, where I assumed the Incredibly Generous Woman wouldn’t be welcoming and was. Before I left the Incredibly Generous Woman clearly made sure to let me know if I decided to stay or just wanted to hang out and sleep all day, I was very welcome. My issue is I don’t like to stay long enough to become a burden on anyone and although she thought the option of sleeping all day would be a good use of time, I didn't. Two days is enough unless I can see a clear plan that will keep me busy. Sitting around being unproductive would drive me insane. In addition, I’m so used to being alone, isolation makes visiting people constantly draining. I’m an introvert. She must be an extrovert.

I meant to take some photos of the town before I left, but with too much on my mind I forgot. I drove out of Snowflake around 11am feeling like I wasn't quite finished with it, but needing to distance myself so I could think which is what I did all the way home. And I was hungry. I needed to find some good food.

 



The Elimination Experiment, or Fatigue Testing

After five doctors and no answers, I'm determined to figure out why I'm always tired so I'm attempting some elimination tests.

The Paleo-Hashimoto's diet I been on has been very successful. I have not had any episodes of exhaustion. The "exhaustion" is when I am so tired I can barely move, lifting my arm takes enormous effort, and the only thing I am capable of doing is lying in bed. I'm not tired or sleepy and I can't sleep, I just can't seem to move. It's very frightening. It's the memory of those exhaustion episodes that helps me maintain my will power and keeps me from eating gluten and chocolate. I believe it's the gluten that provoke the autoimmune attacks on my thyroid.

The underlying fatigue started when I moved into this house eight years ago, maybe even a few years prior although it wasn't very apparent. I don't feel like exercising. I can often work through the fatigue with walking, gardening or projects, but no bike riding or stretching/exercising and even sitting still and reading feels like great effort. I experience the fatigue more in the spring and summer, and most often in the afternoon. I feel so tired I just want to nap, usually around 2pm to about 5pm.


Fatigue Theories:

Hay fever allergies are known for symptoms of fatigue and it's a little coincidental that most of my fatigue takes place in the spring and summer. As a child I lived in the country, dealt with hay fever, and as soon as I came of age I headed to the city where all my hay fever issues went away. I've now moved back to the country to get out of the pollution. There isn't much I can do about hay fever other than take drugs like Benadryl. Benadryl will clear up the respiratory symptoms like runny nose, sneezing, and sinus congestion, but it also causes fatigue. If all this fatigue is caused by hay fever allergies, my only alternative would be to move back to the city where I don't have allergies, but then I would have to suffer chemical exposures which are worse.

Air-borne chemicals  During the spring and summer the city sprays the streets, sidewalks and parks with herbicides and my neighbors spray their lawns. I do notice during the spring and summer there are days when if I go for a walk my lungs start feeling heavy and hurt. In addition, when my neighbor does laundry, it stinks to high heaven and pollutes the whole neighborhood. Incredibly toxic. Is it causing the fatigue?  Other than staying inside all summer, there isn't much I can do about air-borne chemicals other than to continue to do what I can to avoid exposure.

Mold  In the dirt? In the air? Spring and summer is when the ground and air warms. Does it activate mold growth? Every now and then if I dig in the garden, I become very tired. Might be a correlation or the correlation is the exercise? I don't know. I'll not dig in the dirt and use it as a test.

Computers and electromagnetic field exposures  I can keep track of the time I spend on the computer, but other than that it is another uncontrollable variable as I have to work.

Water-borne chemicals  I tend to feel tired once a month consistently and this leads me to believe there might be a connection to the city's water treatments and the fatigue I experience. I love soaking in the bathtub. I can take very short showers and see if that makes a difference and during the time period in question, avoid bathing all together and use it as a test.

Adrenal fatigue  Any number of things can contribute to adrenal fatigue, but stress is the number one factor.  I tend to be very reactive to emotions and sensitive to stress, but I don't have much on a daily basis. Bathing in hot water affects body temperature and puts a lot of stress on one's adrenals which could also affect energy levels. I have done some experimentation with adrenal support and nothing has made a difference. I'm at a loss for what else to try. No bathing might make a difference.

Diet  I've done well to reduce my intake of bad foods, but I still have my guilty pleasures and most of them are NOT on my Paleo-Hashimoto's diet. Although I don't eat a lot of the forbidden foods, every now and then I do treat myself.  Dried fruits are high in carbohydrates and affect blood sugar, and I'm addicted to raisins and dates as snacks. Yogurt (dairy) is known for inflammation, and unfortunately, when I get bored with the same old foods I treat myself with high fat, no sugar, plain yogurt. Potatoes are also high in carbohydrates (sugars) even though I eat them rarely, I haven't stopped completely. Grains are not on the diet either and I rarely eat gluten-free grain products with rice flour, potato flour or other substitutes, but every now and then for something different, I do. Rice is a carbohydrate and even though I don't eat it nearly as much as I did prior to starting this diet, I start feeling discombobulated if I go without it for up to two weeks. I also eat a lot of eggs, more than any human should consume. Are they causing fatigue? Let's find out. Can I give up these foods for three weeks? I'll need to add some recipes to my diet that will keep me full and satisfied like more beef and lamb.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome  One doctor suggested chronic fatigue, but I don't seem to have the other symptoms that accompany this condition. If so, there is nothing I can do about it.

Menopause and Hormonal Changes  Maybe. Not much I can do about this, either. Old people feel tired and nap a lot. I'm in that in between stage - I'm not old enough to retire, but I'm old enough to start feeling like I should. Damn.


Elimination Plan:

For three weeks I am not to soak in hot baths. Brief showers only except between the 19th and 25th when I sponge bathe in distilled water. No eating problematic foods (eggs, yogurt, dried fruit, potatoes or rice, gluten-free flours) for three weeks. I can't avoid the outside which would be ideal, but I can't stop what little exercise I'm getting and it's summer. I need sunshine for vitamin D. I'll keep track of everything I'm eating as well as anything unusual that I do or that happened during the day, for instance, air pollution encounters, labor-intensive projects, when I take a shower, and how often I'm on the computer.

Notes and Highlights:

The first day: NO FATIGUE. The second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth days: NO FATIGUE.  Even after strenuous work, walking, or computer time, I didn't feel the normal afternoon fatigue. There were a few days when I felt a little tired around 6pm, but nothing that stopped me from functioning. I had high hopes that I was doing something right until the evening of the ninth day.

Day eight I was exposed to long grass and my hay fever symptoms went crazy. Later that night, I wanted to eat eggs. I couldn't stop thinking about them. It's the only thing I wanted to eat, but I didn't. Sinuses were painfully raw and respiratory tract was uncomfortably congested. The next day allergy symptoms were still bothering me, but not as bad. Later that night I started pacing around the kitchen like a caged animal. I'm hungry, but nothing looks good. I didn't eat rice although I know it would have stopped me from pacing. Tenth day woke up tired and stayed that way all day crashing around two in the afternoon and sleeping for two hours. Allergies?? Or maybe coming down off of allergies?

Around day five I started feeling like I want to exercise! Nothing strenuous, just stretching and movement, but normally I don't even feel like I'm capable of any kind of exertion.

After a week of no raisins or dates, I didn't even care. I really thought I'd have problems giving up the sugary stuff.

Air-borne chemical encounters clearly gave me headaches and migraines usually within a few minutes and the intensity depended on the encounter. Getting one whiff of that sickly-sweet laundry detergent wafting over from my neighbor's house nearly killed me one morning. I ran back into the house and stayed there for a few hours with the windows closed until I thought their laundry was done. Didn't seem to have any correlation to fatigue, though.

Around day seventeen I was COLD. My whole body cold. And hungry. I wanted to take a bath just to warm up, but instead crawled into bed for about an hour. Didn't sleep because I wasn't tired. Hungry all day, but nothing sounded satisfying. Later in the day I wanted to eat eggs. I didn't. I ate rice...I couldn't wait any longer.

The Challenges:

I added a "forbidden" for one day and stop for four days to see what happens.

RICE: no negative effects, felt better, no hunger and no fatigue

GLUTEN-FREE CUPCAKE WITH SUGAR: YUM! I couldn't help myself. I was awake later than usual (lots of energy), I seem to have more hot flashes, and slightly tired about four hours later with slight headache, but no crashing type of fatigue.

EGGS: The cravings indicated eggs might be an issue, maybe associated with hay fever? Eggs are really high in zinc which assists detoxification. As soon as I ate them I kept having to clear my throat. Then I ate them again and again all day. I felt a little tired at the bewitching hour (2:00pm), but not much and no crashing. I ate them again and had no reaction at all.

YOGURT: The yogurt was heavenly, I slept good after, and awoke with lots of energy the next morning. It's not yogurt!

POTATOES: Yum! I baked them as French Fries in olive oil. No fatigue. I do wonder if I ate them a lot or repeatedly for days if they would also produce fatigue. So several weeks later I tried that and experienced no fatigue.

GLUTEN-FREE PANCAKES: These are made with rice flour and some other stuff. I eat them so infrequently, maybe once every two or three months so it's been a while since I've had them. I went picking blueberries and thought this would be a good opportunity to make blueberry pancakes and test the reaction. I ate one pancake and felt really awful. About an hour later the headaches started and then I crashed and slept for two hours. All before noon! Fatigue and headaches the rest of the day.

BATH: I was getting a strange rash on my calves before I started this experiment which only got worse every time I took a bath. It nearly all went away during the bathing elimination phase.  I took a fast dip in a cool bath thinking a hot bath was causing the rash, and my calves started burning anyway. I had planned to take hot baths the whole day to test the fatigue, but if one short cool dip would cause the burning, I decided to wait to add hot baths later. I took that cool dip when the chemicals in the water are at their worst.

About a week later, I just wanted a bath and it was time to do a bath challenge. To soak in hot water. It was wonderful. Two hours later I did it again. I felt tired immediately after and crashed, sleeping for two hours. Took another bath and the headaches and nausea started. I jump in the shower with a gallon of heated distilled water and tried to rinse the water off. Even so, I woke up the next morning with nausea, pain in my lower back, a headache and fatigue and later that afternoon, crashed and slept for one hour. It took two days to recover and the whole time I felt groggy and tired. Is it the chemicals in the water? I've had problems with them in the past. Or is it the heat stressing my adrenals? I have no idea. Maybe both. But the rash didn't come back with the second bath. I think maybe the rash and nausea are from the chemicals and the fatigue is from the heat.

DRIED FRUIT: Oh, raisins and dates...my addiction. I was surprised it was so easy to give them up. For me, dried fruit might as well be straight sugar. I had a bad feeling and almost considered not using them as a test, but I needed to confirm. I bought a small bag of dates and immediately felt sick after eating some. Ate a few more of the dates the next day and around 2pm crashed for nearly FOUR hours. Good to know.

DIGGING IN THE DIRT/MOLD THEORY:  This was the last test. I cut all my lettuce and gave it to the food bank then the next morning I dug out all the roots. I dug deep and got my nose down in the dirt to make sure the exposure was good. No fatigue at all.


Conclusion:

Besides the normal dietary restrictions of gluten, sweeteners, dairy, tomatoes, mushrooms, pork, shellfish, high glycemic fruits, juices, junk food and processed foods:

*Stay away from hot baths.
*Stay away from bath during city treatment periods.
*Stay away from flours or grains (other than rice).
*Stay away from dried fruits.

*Limit egg intake.

*Continue limiting rice intake no more than once every ten days.

*Avoid potatoes and yogurt because they aren't on the Paleo-Hashimoto's diet, but if I treat myself, I know these items not causing the fatigue.

*Hay fever reeks havoc on my body. Oh well.

*Stay away from chemicals. Knew that.

The closer I get to following Dr. Kharrazian's Hashimoto's diet, the better I feel. The rice is still a cheat but I don't have a clue why it makes me insane not to eat it. I'll avoid potatoes and yogurt, also cheats, even though they don't affect me. That random fatigue episode after the hay fever reaction is puzzling, but I feel closer to an answer. Non-scientific tests done at home without laboratory control are really inconclusive at best. I have no idea if combinations of things create the fatigue or other variables, but this is the best I could do.

The plan and challenges took about two months total. I'm so tired of eating pot roast...