Author: donhall930

Cute little fishing villages on the Coasts of Anywhere have become the darlings of the Cruise Industry. Honningsvag, Norway was our Port yesterday….. we pulled in at precisely 8 AM, and started disembarking about 10 minutes later, we were some of the first off of the ship, our (my!) goal was to get to that ‘cute, little’ fishing part before the hordes descended upon it. We had it on good authority that at least one other ship was going to be sharing this Port with us, so time was of the essence!

                                We were successful! And hopefully the serenity of a quiet Saturday morning can be felt as you peruse the attached photos. It seems that the fishing fleet takes the weekends off, so all of the brightly colored boats were snuggled in for a few days.

                                Honningsvag is the northernmost city of Europe and sits on an arm of the Barents Sea and because of this, it is a very popular place to visit and observe both the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights. ‘City’ is loosely used here as the population probably qualifies it more as a ‘village’ of sorts as that number  hovers around 2500 depending on the season. And we just upped that number by about 30% as soon as we pulled in!

Honningsvag was first settled/discovered/invaded/ about 10,000 years ago (more on that later) and it took until 1996 for them to achieve that ‘official city’ status in order to qualify for government assistance when it came to infrastructure projects and the like. They acquired that status not on the population factor, but on the strategic port factor. This place is an important stop for the commercial trade industry, including liquid natural gas transportation ships.

Now for some ‘Port’ photos!

Getting back to 10,000 years ago…… so the original peoples that made their way here from the south-central part of Europe (working theory) are the Sami. Very similar in nature to any other indigenous folks from around the world, they had no political boundaries and thus covered the entire northern range of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia with their nomadic villages and herding practices.

They live in an area called Sapmi.

We all know it as Lapland.

Their story has been echoed around the world, the most familiar adaptation of would be our own Native Americans. We heard stories from the Sami reindeer herder that we met yesterday about the government’s attempts to ‘assimilate’ them all into the locals by sending their children off to boarding school, forbidding them to speak their native languages (there are several dialects) and other ways and means to just have them all ‘go away’. Interestingly, the Sami are the only indigenous peoples to be recognized by the European Union.

Our excursion yesterday afternoon comprised of a relatively short bus ride to one of their local ‘camps’ where we met the Herder and his family. This particular family’s heritage in this way of life goes back as far as it possibly can because the only way to have the knowledge, traditions, and particular working ethic of reindeer herding is to be born into it, and that is what is changing for them all. The changing lifestyles that we all experience over the years are available to these folks. We heard the story of how their grandfathers walked or rode larger reindeer in order to cover and control their herds. Our Herder uses ATV’s and he joked that his son uses his drone to accomplish the same thing!

“The times they are a changin’”

Their traditional Winter in the South and Summer in the North grazing ares follows the natural migration patterns of the reindeer that they have had domesticated for thousands of years. There are no more wild reindeer as the Sami have had them under their care and control for uncounted years. The reindeer are like any other herd of domesticated animals…… cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and the list goes on, that have been harvested for their meat and hides. We had the opportunity to sample a bit of reindeer meat, and I can see how this protein source has attained the modern-day status of a delicacy! During our presentation we sat on logs in a tent identical to a teepee that were covered in reindeer hides as soft as can be. These too are sold and the families reap those benefits as well.

           We were treated to some of their ethnic songs which apparently are rather unique in their form and style and had a most pleasant rhythm and sound to them. They are called joiks and it was this practice, (obviously among others) which is incredibly old and unique, that helped establish these people as their own and helped them gain back their ‘independence’.

           It is a good story.

In the Land of the Midnight (and anytime!) Sun

The goal for yesterday was to see some elusive-type critters….. whales, walruses, seals, polar bears (?), and unicorns.

What we saw were skunks.

Not the real kind, the ones that come into use when you get nothing, nada, none…….  aka……skunked.

To say that the weather has been with us would be a tremendous understatement, so we were hoping for at least a ‘sighting’ on our 4.5-hour maritime excursion to set the balance back a bit.

                     Nope.

                     But at least the weather was ‘acceptable’!

                     We embarked on a good size catamaran that held all 146 of us very comfortably. Plenty of deck space to handle the instances when (if) that ‘sighting’ was to occur. In the meantime, there were seats and tables inside for everyone to be comfortable at until “Thar she blows!” was hopefully to be heard from the lookout posted at the masthead (Oops! sorry…. thought we were on the Pequod!) Actually, he was just in the pilot house 😊

                     Well, that turned into a big negatory as all we saw were icebergs, glaciers, and birds. Now, in fairness, these were fun to see in their own right…… we don’t get many icebergs and glaciers in Texas or even New Jersey….. and for the birds, we NEVER get PUFFINS(!) there either!

                     So….. here are some representative cool pics of yesterday’s foray into the fjords and bays of Svalbard!

One of the good tricks of photography is when you are handed lousy weather and lighting conditions for acquiring good color renditions, then switch to Black & White and pretend you are Ansel Adams! It actually works! A few examples…….

Now for what you’ve all been waiting for…….. the Critter Pics!

Now what you’ve all been waiting for…… the cutest birds on the planet and the reason that thousands of people ‘flock’ (get it!?) to these northern parts…..

PUFFINS!!!

Now just a few more to wrap it up for this one…..

Polar Bears and Sled Dogs

                     If Longyearbyen has a Claim to Fame, it would probably be the fact that the local Polar Bears are a genuine threat to survival. There are only a few apex predators that will actually hunt down and snack on humans……. they include some of the big cats, (leopards and tigers) the big Nile and saltwater crocodiles, and Polar Bears. The rest of the ‘feared’ critters are dangerous only when frightened, or if they feel the need to defend themselves, but not because they want to chomp on us.

                     Sighting a Polar Bear is a rarity, but not uncommon enough to NOT have defensive measures in place up here where so many humans live in proximity to so many bears. This aspect of life up here has led to the actual Warning Signs becoming somewhat of a tourist attraction themselves.

Photos are mandatory!

The rules of engagement are also mandatory if you decide to step outside of the town limits. Here you will find those signs and sometimes the listed rules. In fact, the Town has scheduled “New Guy” meetings to help newbies get acclimated to life up here and one of the topics has to do with how not to become a PBS (Polar Bear Statistic)

One of the rules is that you MUST have a rifle or flare gun with you if you travel outside those town limits!

We learned all about this stuff and about Husky Sled Dogs on an excursion that took us about 10 km outside of town, well into that Polar Bear Zone. Our destination was Barentz Camp, the actual spot where Willem Barentz, in a rudimentary cabin built with the wood from his stranded ship, over wintered in 1596 with seventeen men from his crew. His name should be familiar to you if you were paying attention back in Geography class because the Barents Sea (which is right here between Norway and Russia) is named for him.

                     The ‘camp’ is now home to a dog sledding operation that provides any kind of dog sledding expedition that you could want, from a few hours to a few days, all year ‘round. We went there to learn about this activity and get schooled in Polar Bears. We were able to meet some of the retired dogs who were very friendly, and a few of the ‘mushers’, and then go into a warming hut, have some snacks and hot bev’s, and then see a presentation on the bears.

                     Here are a few of the interesting facts that we learned about Polar Bears,

They can smell prey (usually a seal) as far away as 18 miles, and sniff them out from under three feet of ice and almost a mile away!

                                           There are two types of bears around here, one is the ‘local’ kind. These number about 250 bears that live around Longyearbyen. The other ones are the ‘pelagic’ kind that move around and live in the water amongst the ice floes.

                                           Since the 1970’s there have been six fatalities and twelve serious injuries from bear attacks. On average, two bears are killed each year in self-defense.

                                           They can swim almost two hundred miles and can sprint at about 22MPH for several hundred yards. After that, because of their dense fat layers, they overheat quickly and need to stop or jump in the water to cool down. But that’s not much of a safety margin because the average human can run only about 15 MPH for short bursts! And if you have a full “Snack Suit” (parka, snow pants, etc.) on, your speed decreases significantly and the PB has no problem getting you out of that Snack Suit!

                                           They live on average of fifteen to twenty-five years with oldest known local one here getting to thirty-two years old. The kiddos hang with Mom for about two years and their biggest threat to survival sometimes is a large male PB, who will kill and eat them if he can get past Mom!

Today is a day on the water. We embark on a ‘Safari’ in quest of any kind of wildlife that is presenting itself for our viewing pleasure. One of yesterday’s forays had the chance encounter with a walrus. That would be a good one for us!

We shall see!

Report and (hopefully!) photos tomorrow!

In 1901 an American tourist and industrialist visited the island of Spitsbergen in the Archipelago of Svalbard. He was shown an example of coal from nearby coal mines, and the rest is proverbial history. Buying up the local claims and setting up shop on the coast of the nearby Adventfjorden, John Munro Longyear started up his new venture, the Arctic Coal Company and his base soon became known as Longyear Town, or locally as Longyearbyen, which is our next port of call and can now be seen off the starboard rail.

                                Rumor has it that this eclectic collection of international peeps has suggested that they change the name of their home twice a year to Longdaybyen and Longnightbyen according to that big yellow thing that is either above the horizon or below it every six months. Currently it is above, giving the region 24 hours of sunlight a day. In between, of course, there are days of a twilight kind of effect…… the light does not act as if the wall switch was just flipped!

                                Longyearbyen hosts a highly diverse, international community with nearly 50 (!) nationalities represented among its roughly 2,300 residents. This unique demographic makeup is driven by the Svalbard Treaty, which grants citizens of signatory countries the equal right to live and work on the archipelago without a visa or standard Norwegian Residence Permit. They just need to have a job and be able to support themselves.

                                But…… they cannot die here or be born here!

                                Yes, if you’re gonna croak best get yourself to the mainland since that’s where you will end up anyway because there are no burials allowed there. The permafrost preserves bodies instead of letting them gradually decompose. This is an issue because if you are carrying baddies in your body then they too are preserved, giving them an opportunity to inadvertently infect again!

                                As for being born….. there’s nothing to stop that, but the practice is to transfer to the mainland several weeks before your due date because the local clinic is fine for basic medical care but lacks any kind of specialty equipment. Hence the departure, and the hopefully joyful return!

                                Longyearbyen is considered the northernmost permanent settlement in the world sitting at 78 degrees North Latitude or 816 miles from the North Pole. In comparison, NYC is about 3500 miles from the Pole. There are other research settlements that are farther North, but none of them are ‘permanent’.

                     More later after our visit to a dog sled camp ….. woof!

And our First Port of Call

                                After a quiet morning walking around our local downtown section of Reykjavik, we headed for the ship! The Viking Neptune is considered, and falls into, the ‘Small Ship” category when it comes to cruise vessels. She is still plenty large enough to accommodate 930 passengers. Weighing in at about 49,000 GRT (Gross Registered Tons) and 735 feet long, she is quite a bit smaller than what we usually sail on. The smallest Princess vessels, the Island, and the Coral, are almost 1000 feet long and weigh in at 91,000 GRT and will hold twice as many passengers. But bigger is not necessarily better as smaller ships can access ports that either are off-limits to larger ones, or they would need to tender in to shore.

First, let’s look around Reykjavik!

Back to the ship……

                                Embarking only 930 passengers is far easier to do than the larger vessels and it shows. The entire process took about seven minutes! (of course, so much of the important stuff is done ‘online’ nowadays). The Neptune is only three years old and definitely not in need of any refurbishment any time soon. As you may imagine, Viking takes very good care of their vessels. Interestingly, all of their ‘Ocean Ships’ are built exactly with the same specifications and layout. The only differences would be style and décor, and then of course, age.

I would say that our stateroom is about average for a cruise ship, except for the bathroom. Here that category of ‘average’ goes off the scale! The storage for items is notably more than others and the shower may be twice the size!

One overnight and we arrived in our first Port, that of Isafjordur. It’s way up on top of Iceland, rather remote as you may imagine and its sole reason for existence is fishing. Its name does not include the word fjord for nothing as it sits nicely down in one of those deep, protective geological marine devices!

It’s crazy how the Cruise Industry morphs local economies, for good or bad……. only the locals can decide. Isafjordur began accepting cruise excursions around 36 years ago in the early 1990’s. Nothing was official until 1994 when a local tour operator opened up shop and prior to the Covid Stall, almost 100,000 passengers per year had made their way into town. While we were there an additional two ships were berthed and I counted a total of seven buses at the waterfalls that we visited.

That’s it for now, two days of “Day’s at Sea” coming up…… it’ll give me a chance to catch up on all of this!

As exciting as it was to see the waterfalls, geyser, and the rest of the Golden Circle on our first day, our second day was that much better because we experienced something of a novelty around here….. sunshine! Not that the sun never peeks out, but according to the locals, getting days in a row of it is a rarity.

                                We were happy for our one day.

                     Solrun picked us up at 8:30 and we were a bit more energetic than the previous day after the flight and time difference. That was a good thing because we had a FULL day in front of us. It’s not that Iceland is overly large, (it’s about the size of West Virginia) it’s that there is a definite amount of driving need to get from good spot, to great spot, to incredible spot! It’s a good thing that the landscapes in between are noteworthy in their own right.

                     Our destination for the day was the South Shore which has Black Sand Beaches, cool Waterfalls, views of the Glaciers, and PUFFINS! Solrun did a magnificent job of ferrying us from place to place, skipping some for later in order to arrive at a spot earlier than the other tourons, and then getting us back there after those same had vacated!

I have a confession to make.

I lied to you all.

It was innocent enough…..

I must have lost some brain function as of late because I promised you that there would be no Tectonic Plate discussions forthcoming.

But here we are at Tectonic Central!

The Actual Place where we can SEE the convergence/divergence of two of the Earth’s basic plates in action! The Eurasian and North American Plates here in Iceland show that rift between those plates as makes its way all the way to the surface in dramatic fashion. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and tremors galore illustrate Tectonic Action better than I could ever do!

But I’ll save that for later and try my best to keep it to a minimum!

                                We departed Newark with little fanfare which is the sign of a good flight. The goal on these overnight flights is to try and get as much sleep as possible. ‘Possible’ being the operative word here. Lots of distractions on planes so some semblance of restraint is necessary. Movies, snacks, libations, and full dinners are the ones to try and avoid because everything else is also trying to keep you from sleeping. I was mildly successful…. no dinner, no movies, just a double Baileys and some pretzels!

                                The issue came after we had successfully (phew!) landed in Reykjavik and taxied up to the gate assigned to us. The usual hustle and bustle of us passengers disengaging our seatbelts before we were supposed to, just waiting for the opportunity to jump up, grab whatever and crowd the aisle. We did all of that with the precision of an F1 Team but then we waited….. and waited….. and waited…

                     The main door did not open. Never.

                     Looking outside we spied the issue. The Jet Bridge Driver was gallantly attempting to get that contraption to get close enough to the side of the aircraft to release us from our confinement.

                                Attempt after attempt was……. attempted.

                     It got to the point where we all wanted to get out and say, “Let me do it!” It seemed simple enough, just grab the joystick and maneuver it over and be done with it! But apparently it was more serious than that cuz even the maintenance guy could not get it to snuggle up! We watched for an hour. Yup…. one hour.

                                Eventually they rolled one of those old-fashioned stairways up to the rear of the aircraft and we deplaned row by row from the rear! AAAARG! Here we are in Row 4, anticipating a timely exit because we have a Tours by Locals tour beginning as soon as we can get ourselves through the system and off to the hotel. Needless to say, the one hour turned into two and then we still needed to get through Customs, etc. We were the first to arrive for the day, which means that we’d have been inside with zero lines in the Official Area, but now we’re mingled in with the ‘others’. More delays.

                                Finally, we made it out of the Airport courtesy of Viking’s transfer driver, Ollie. All this time I’ve been in contact with Solrun (she is our TBL Guide for the next two days). She waited patiently for us to arrive at the hotel and get ‘processed’ and have some breakfast. Introductions completed, she suggested a change to our itinerary as we had lost those two hours. Instead of trying to complete a tour of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula, which required quite a drive just to get to, she suggested the tried-and-true Golden Circle. This is the requisite tour just outside of Reykjavik which is sizeable in its own right. We were trying to avoid this as it could get quite crowded, but we yielded to Solrun’s advice and away we went.

                     Just as we had feared, the weather was not what would be considered ideal. But at least it didn’t rain….. much. I’m afraid that there will be no gorgeous landscape photography to ponder over as sunlight is a key ingredient of the same. But we did see some really cool waterfalls and geysers, and we had lunch at a unique spot…. a place that grows 40% of Iceland’s tomatoes, in huge greenhouses. And inside of them they serve lunch, most of which consists of several versions of their homemade tomato soup and incredible bread! As it turned out, all of this completely filled our day and we returned back at the hotel around 6:00 pm.

                                Dinner was had across the street at a place reminiscent of a food court but with a nice twist. Instead of a bunch of fast-food joints there were small individual high-end kitchens that were individually owned and operated. They shared the dining area, the plates and silverware were real, there was a bar for liquor sales, and each had its own ‘beeper’ system that allowed them to carefully prepare your meal without a long line queued up in front of them impatiently waiting for their dinners to be presented. I had a wonderful Linguini Carbonara that ruined any chances of me repeating that dish anywhere else because it was the best one I’ve ever had! So now I need to fly to Vietnam for a haircut and Iceland for Linguini Carbonara. I can see how this could get expensive!

Well, here we are……. In about sixteen hours we will be winging our way to Iceland, the first stop on our Northern Nordic Navigational Nirvana. I may have reached a bit too far in my Alliterative Attempt there but considering how long I’ve wanted to visit Iceland and Svalbard, maybe not!

We will be aboard the Viking Neptune for the next two weeks and if all goes nicely you will be seeing some stunning photographs of what we will be experiencing! The ‘stunning’ aspect has nothing to do with my ability to render a photo and everything to do with what Mother Nature has laid out in front of us, for our (and your) viewing pleasure. The only caveat is the projected weather forecast which, so far, is not working in our favor. We shall see. I may need to resort to dramatic Black and White photos that seem to look good when Color is not in the cards.

This will be our first Cruise aboard a Viking Ocean Ship so be prepared for some comments about that aspect of this voyage. This ship is smaller than what we are accustomed to as Viking operates at a different level than the larger ships that we are usually on with Princess. Last year we did a Viking River Cruise and found Viking to be as Top-Notch as their reputation insinuates, I’m quite confident that all of that will transfer nicely to their Ocean Ships.

The Voyage begins in Iceland and then goes waaaaay up to Svalbard before turning southward towards the Norwegian Coast where we will hopscotch down the coast visiting little fishing villages and the like. We disembark in Bergen, where we fly home to Newark via Munich.

The best part is Svalbard and to appreciate where this place is you will need to have map or better yet, a globe in front of you…. go ahead, I’ll wait……..

                     OK! Now find Iceland and then travel way up and to the east until you see a patch of islands that are too far north to support any kind of normal civilization. I say normal because there are a bunch of folks that call Svalbard home year-round. That fact might be considered abnormal only because they choose to live their lives in either total darkness or total daylight! We will be there in 100% daylight, no matter what time of day it is and you can bet you’re going to get a Lesson on this anomaly, sans (thankfully I’m sure you are thinking) any references to Tectonic Plates!

So get ready, meet us in Terminal B at Newark Airport, passports in hand, and you can board with us, we should all try and stick together for logistics sake. We will be disembarking in Reykjavik and immediately embarking on a Two-Day Excursion courtesy of or favs at Tours-by-Locals…. no time to waste!

Please be dressed accordingly.

“By the time we got to Woodstock we were half a million strong…..”

                        (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young 1970)

                        So there she sat, alone in her NYC hotel room watching on TV the mayhem that would define the times, as it unfolded upstate in the fields of a local dairy farm. Joni Mitchell missed Woodstock because of a Dick Cavett Show commitment that same weekend. But she still managed to write the defining anthem of that experience, thus enlightening us again with her ability to bring life to musical notes. She recorded it on the album of hers that she was currently working on, but it didn’t strike that proverbial chord within us until her boyfriend, David Crosby of CSN&Y, suggested that they include it on one of the albums that we all had at the time DéjàVu.

                                    So, by now, you’re probably wondering where all of this is going.

                                    I will tell you.

                                    We’re going to Woodstock.

                                    This time we’re not “a half a million strong”, just the two of us and about 15,000 of our best friends and we’re going to see James Taylor at the Bethel Woods Performing Arts Center which sits smack-dab on the properties that were the site of the now infamous festival.

                                    The Backstory.

                                    It’s early 1969 and the promoters of this festival are getting a lot of pushback from the residents of the town of Woodstock, NY. The town of Woodstock was already a haven of sorts for artists and musicians (Bob Dylan frequented the hamlet) so the promoters wanted to capitalize on this and sought to build a recording studio (OK) and have a big, outdoor, three-day concert, (not OK).

                                    Now pressed for time as the deals had already been signed with the performers, they scoured the nearby towns for one that would allow them to hold their festival (nope, nope, and NOPE!) Until, about forty miles away, they came upon a child of God (like the way I wove that in???!!!) who owned a dairy farm. Max Yasgur agreed to let them use his 600-acre farm for the festival. If you mistakenly travel to that little town of Woodstock (which does have an exit on the NY State Thruway) and ask for directions to the concert grounds they will say, “Go West young man!” while pointing that way (about 50 miles or so) to the even smaller town of Bethel, deep in the area known as the Borscht Belt. (more on that in a little bit)

                                    And now it is really safe to say…. and the rest is history.

                                    My sleeping bag made it to Woodstock courtesy of my friend’s sister. She scoured the neighborhood for camping supplies to borrow. I never saw my sleeping bag again……. and now that I think about it fifty-seven years later, I never received an apology or an offer to pay for it. Oh well.

                                    I told you just a minute ago that we would further explore the Borscht Belt (and show our age at the same time) so here goes…… Henny Youngman, Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason, Woodie Allen, Joan Rivers, Mel Brooks, Rodney Dangerfield, Buddy Hackett…… and the list goes on, and on, and on……

                                    I am positive that you all remember them! The common threads that run through that list are several, the two main ones are that those folks are Jewish, and they cut their teeth in stand-up comedy at the various clubs and resorts in the Catskill Region that catered to vacationing NYC inhabitants, dubbed “The Borscht Belt”.  Note the past tense of the word ‘catered’ as these once world-renowned businesses no longer exist. Their demise was brought about by several factors, air conditioning being one of them as the City became more tolerable with this modern appliance. Jet travel took some more folks that instead of spending a few weeks up in the mountains, they jetted off to far-away places during their vacations. And of course, Time changes everything, including habits and norms, kids don’t want to follow what their parents did, so gradually the business eroded to the point of no return and now there are only a very small handful of old Jewish resorts left upstate, and these have evolved into a more modern version of their ancestors. I’m sure that you’ve seen Dirty Dancing, this movie takes place in the heart of the Catskill Region and toys with the idea that those days are numbered. Another good one that combines the bungalow life, and Woodstock is “A Walk on the Moon” set in the summer of ’69.

The Borscht Belt shares that nomenclature with other areas of the States such as the Bible Belt, the Sun Belt, the Rust Belt, etc. and as far as the borscht part is concerned, that comes from the traditional Eastern European (but mostly Ukrainian Jewish) dish of the same name. Plus…. it is nicely alliterative!

                                    I grew up in this part of the country (the greater NYC Metropolitan area), and I remember as a kid watching on TV all of the advertisements for the resorts upstate, each with its own jingle and motto. There was the Nevele, Brown’s, the Concord, and of course, Grossinger’s and hundreds of other Jewish owned and operated hotels, resorts, and bungalow communities in the area. There is a Borscht Belt Museum and many Historical Markers in that area. It is worth the drive if you are in any way local to see what was back in the day. The Museum does a fine job in bringing you back to those times.

                                    The genesis of this trip is the James Taylor concert, this coming Thursday night.  James and I go way back, I think it was 1971. I was so enamored with him that I found out all that I could about him, both positive and negative, and even unearthed a rare recording of him and his group The Flying Machine from 1967. (this is not the Flying Machine that sang “Smile a Little Smile for Me, Rosemarie”) Anyway, I heard rumblings that this may be his last tour and that he may retire from Touring, so I hastened to my laptop, dug out my credit card with the most Available Credit on it and brought up Ticketmaster on the screen. I headed right up front, center, but not the first row as I have found that the first row is not the best seat in the house……  unless you are attending a Chocolate Concert and free samples are being distributed from the stage! I then went to the Camping Module and booked a spot for Miss Biggie so we’re going to take her up there. The Center has both a very accomplished Museum and a nicely laid out campground and RV Park.

Our plan is to then proceed west from there, out to DuBois, in mid Pennsylvania where Sherry’s moms Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday.

                                    We will return to Northern NJ on Sunday.

            In time for me to report to St. Barnabas on Monday.

                                    Film at 11.

                                    It’s always good when that proverbial Silver Lining sticks its head out. In my case this reclusive entity was sitting just north of my spleen on that CAT scan that was rapidly ordered when I made that hasty rendezvous with the guardrail on Rt. 24 a few weeks ago.

                                    Had I not made ‘contact’ and necessitated further investigations, then it may have been a while until the disruptive aortic valve in my heart was discovered. As it was, apparently this little guy is bad enough that it almost took precedence over the spleen, but what good is a heart valve if there’s no blood to pump through it, hence they stopped the bleeding first.

                                    The past week has been a flurry of Doctor’s appointments, each one checking off its own little box on the MDL (Must-Do List ) before valve replacement surgery. Luckily, I am a candidate for the MIP (Minimally Invasive Procedure) that has an IHSR (Incredibly High Success Rate), and I should be able to RTC (Report to Training Camp) the next day and resume a full workout regime. Well, that may be slight exaggeration because I will need to spend a night in the hospital with the Breakout scheduled for the next day…..unless. Unless I fall into the 10% of the peeps that end up needing a pacemaker. This is only because of the proximity of the Valve and the Circuit Breaker Panel that is really close to it. Sometimes they don’t get along and need a mediator to calm things down, and that guy is the pacemaker. If that happens, I’ll be in the Slammer for an extra day.

                                    Then…. watch out! ‘Cuz I will be at 100% and that will make all the difference! Apparently, my AVA (Aortic Valve Area) has been somewhat compromised. Also known as Aortic Stenosis this valuation is as follows:

                                    Normal: > 2.0 cm²

                                                Mild Stenosis:1.5-2.0 cm²

                                                Moderate Stenosis: 1.0- 1.5 cm²

                                                Severe Stenosis: < 1.0 cm²

                        I clock in at a whopping < 0.7 cm²

When we went to the Cardio Guy he had a nifty video to show us. It was a visual explanation of how the procedure was accomplished, from the initial incision, through the ‘balloon’ thing opening the bad valve, to the insertion of the new valve being nestled right in, on top of, the old valve, and it begins working immediately as it is really only a ‘check valve’ that works mechanically when the heart pumps blood out. Currently mine is not opening enough and is making the heart work harder to get the blood out. In hindsight, with all the ramifications of the lack of blood flow, I’m betting that a good many of my ‘issues’ (including the sleepiness) may be traced back to this.

                                                That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

                        All of these festivities are scheduled for Monday the 22^nd, This time I’ll be at St. Barnabas only because Morristown won’t have me any more after that failed break out attempt that had the S.W.A.T. team fully engaged!(see previous Post 😊)