We set up the tent, laid out our sleeping bags and spent the day exploring the woods and shooting the .22 at non-existent spectres. As night fell, we sat by the fire, eating, joking and insulting nature with locker room banter. Just before 11pm, the topic of the Loodleladdle came up. My buddy told me facts I didn't know. To this day, I say that he was trying to scare me with tales of a malevolent ghost of a bad guy who was killed many years before and now haunted the area around his decaying cabin.
Well..... he succeeded.
"I'm going home," I told him.
Naturally, he started in on me with boyish insults, followed by attempts to convince me to stay; but, my mind was made up. I gathered my gear and headed for home. The old dirt road to Waggle Springs, rose and fell and in the pitch black night, I rode as fast as I could, bouncing up and down on the seat, giving myself saddle sores but otherwise, I made it home without incident. My friend stayed the night and forever after he kept to himself the topic of my cowardliness. This is the first time I have admitted my craven act,
Unfortunately , I think the Loodleladdle inserted himself into me that night. We became as one, and I now carry the curse of the loodleladdle. He is determined to make my life miserable. The signs are there. Shortly after my frenzied breakout from Waggle Springs, I was bewitched and bedevilled with a backache that has lasted 50-odd years. A couple of decades later, years after my midnight ride, I agonized for six months under the spell of a spinal stenosis; very painful. Excruciatingly so. Next arrived the highlite of my list of things I wished to avoid. My anti-bucket list so to speak. Seven years ago, I was diagnosed with parkinson's and now I have a pinched nerve, (or so they tell me). All of these conditions are, without a doubt, disturbing my suburban routine. I shudder to think that perhaps the Loodleladdle came with me on that furious ride home with the intent of making life difficult. Can there be any other explanation?
Why he chose me is a mystery.
But now onto reality. I wonder if the cause of the new pain in my back is a symptom of PD. I know many doctors will tell the patient that pain is not a part of PD.
Do I take them at their word?
Not a chance.
The first result of a google search took me to the webpage of "The National Parkinson's Foundation" where I found an article by Jackie Hunt Christensen, in which she talks about Parkinson's and pain. She begins the article, Does Parkinson's Hurt, with the following:
If you are like most people who have Parkinson’s, one of your major complaints is probably pain. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce its impact on your life. Existing treatment options, including both pharmacological and non-pharmacological, can prevent it from interfering with your daily activities.While many family doctors and even some neurologists will tell you that Parkinson’s disease does not hurt, most people with the disease will probably disagree. In fact, pain might have been one of the early symptoms that, when combined with other signs, first compelled you to see a doctor. Chances are, if you did not experience pain as an early symptom, it will show up later, as your disease progresses. Usually, it occurs or is worse on the side of your body that is most affected by Parkinson’s.
What are the chances? PD or something else? Probably only a pinched nerve is culprit. With fingers crossed, I will have to wait and see. I am certain, in a Blair Witch sort of way, it is not the loodleladdle giving me grief. That's for sure. The loodleladdle is a ghost and as I have never seen a ghost, VOILA, I conclude that I don't believe in them. They are just the stuff of nightmares. Ain't no ghost going to scare me!
But, you know, as I have said in past entries, I have never seen an 80 foot great white shark either.
Doesn't mean it doesn't exist!
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