Be the chicken and more

Back in the fine old days when we had chickens, I remember watch/ing Bruce Morton or Kirby or one of the other roosters drink water out of the bowl cut out of milk jug. He bent down and drank, then raised his beak skyward and swallowed.

This memory came drifting back to me through the allergy- or cold-induced fog I have been in most of this week because on Monday I learned that I should drink like a chicken ... sort of.

As everyone who knows me or anyone with Friedreich's ataxia knows, I cough a lot. At work no one even bats an eye anymore when I start violently hacking.

I met Monday with a speech therapist who told me that I could perhaps solve some of my coughing issues by making drinking two separate steps: taking liquid into my mouth, then swallowing it. She also told me that if I bent my head down to my chest, I would make it easier for liquid to go in the right pipe. granted, it is the opposite of chickens really, but I have mucus clouds in my brain.

She also said I had loudness in my lungs and she would show me how to use it. She agreed it takes more energy to speak loudly but said it actually saves energy because when you talk softly people ask you to repeat it and then you speak loudly anyway. Made sense.

Then we worked on how I always run out of breath when talking. The key, she said, is to break your words up into like three- or four-word phrases. It is tough to do, but I liked this idea, too. She was good.

Here is what else happened this week:

• Another owner in my development read my towing post and said she tows right away, too. She said she tried leaving notes but too often got nasty notes back.
• I have foreseen my death. It will come at the wheels of a biker who tries to shoot past me on the bike trail without warning when we are crossing the street. I have decided to not go gently. I am going to start berating every biker who tears past me in a loud voice as a "GODDAMNED SON OF A BITCH." This is a goal actually; it may take some working-up-to.
• A friend did not lean on me with bad news, but shared good news, which is better, It is much easier to be funny in the face of good news.