Dear reader,
This week I made two podcasts.
This first podcast,
“I cry for My Country”
emerged from relentless self-interrogation: What am I feeling about America? What is the origin, the heart of this vague tangle of feelings and evasions that is hovering about me? How can I stop taking refuge in trivialities? What needs to be said? What is urgent, important, necessary? And then, the fear: What if what emerges is too sentimental? What if it reveals a side of me that is not politically sophisticated? What if I start to cry? In other words, the podcast emerged from a pool of tears: tears for all the suffering fools and all the suffering wise, tears for the National Guard and the Capitol Police and D.C. police and the politicians and the farmers and grocers and nurses and ambulance drivers, even tears for the mad insurrectionists whose crimes against the Capitol are capital crimes and yet who in some future universe after just punishment will require mercy.
This second podcast,
“The Post-Covid-19 Acute Renal Failure Happy Kidneys Diet”
emerged from a deliberate focus on the present moment: What am I doing now? What am I learning? What am I engaged in? What is my focus? What am I trying to change? How has my recent illness changed me, brought me to new awareness, caused me to grow or explore new ground? What is my subject? The answer was, trivial as it may sound: The Post-Covid-19 Acute Renal Failure Happy Kidneys Diet!
One thing that’s driving me nuts: I thought bananas were like the greatest thing, but I’m told by the Healthline web site to avoid bananas because they are high in potassium. Apparently it’s tough on the kidneys. …
Healthline has two pages, “The 20 Best Foods for People with Kidney Disease” and the aforementioned “17 Foods to Avoid If You Have Bad Kidneys.” I don’t totally fit the category (lucky me!), because I don’t have chronic kidney disease and I don’t have end-stage renal failure. What I do have is damaged, freaked-out kidneys after five weeks in the hospital. So I think once my kidneys get their bearings, they will come back good as new! Meanwhile, I want to follow the best possible diet for my kidneys, to give them the best possible chance of recovering as quickly as they can.
Since, apparently, Covid-19 attacks kidneys, there must be people out there for whom this information will be useful. I will try to alert Covid-19 survivors in case it may aid some. If you know a Covid-19 survivor who might use this information, please pass it on. I cannot vouch for its scientific rigor or accuracy, but, gee, it’s on the Web!
Of the twenty best foods … the first one up is cauliflower! …
Thanks Cary, that was a great podcast. I think our fathers were of the same generation. My father passed in 2018. He was a writer, and I remember him writing an essay in favor of crying. Sadly, he and so many males–not just of his generation–were given the message that this was a sign of weakness. He understood that it’s something that makes you human.
I’m still here in America and struggle to have compassion for those who were fooled by this “leader” (I run into them every day), but sometimes it’s difficult. I continue to try hard to be optimistic.
Thanks again!
Well done and well said, Cary!
Good to hear you sounding stronger, Cary!
Thanks Sandra … I am indeed feeling stronger … and angrier, and sadder, and more alive
I cry with you, Cary. Now I can cry. I wouldn’t dare before, not while the lunatic was still in power. I refused to break down. Crying would have been admitting defeat, although I must admit I cried for the children at the border, and whenever the news profiled individuals who died from COVID-19. But we needed to keep a brave face here, stand up, and be counted. I just hope to God that in these next 4 years we can recover from some of the shame and abuse we suffered, and that we can prevent the next wave of psychos from taking power again. Thank you for your heartfelt and healing thoughts, and keep eating that cauliflower!
Marilyn Alan
San Francisco
Thanks. Wow. I’m glad I’m not the only one. It’s been messing me up!