GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS

A REMEMBERAMBLE OCT. 30, 2025

It is Halloween Eve, which is the day before my birthday. Of course I was born on Halloween, it had to be then or April 1, now didn't it? I always have enjoyed it being my birthday. More importantly, October 31 aka Halloween is also babee Conway and lil Merle's birthday! But please, let us not get bogged down with we boyz three's birthday today. Please save any birthday greetings until tomorrow. Thanks. Let us be in prayer for the untold millions whose lives have been so devastatingly affected by the hurricane.

We got a taste of how a hurricane can disrupt life, and damage so much, last year with Helene, but that paled in comparison to what Mellissa has done, and is doing to those island nations just east and southeast of us. The video coverage is showing vast destruction to structures and infrastructure, and a surprising stripping of foliage from trees. The sustained winds were almost double those we had with hurricane Helene. Of course we will be called upon to help.

Those Caribbean nations generally will not be able to fund the massive recovery and rebuilding effort they are facing. The question of whether many or any folks still play checkers, came to me earlier. For that matter, do folks still play any board game as we did, or card games that kids once loved? Chess has never been played by the majority of people of any generation, some of us did, but I and others gave it up long ago because so few knew the game nor cared to learn.

Checkers was of course, popular with many more, and has a cultural tie to the south. I used to see groups of black men playing dominoes, usually at outdoor tables in small towns or neighborhoods in larger towns, but that game play seems to have about faded away. I never played dominoes because I did not understand it. How about Monopoly? I imagine it is withering on the vine. I did not look to see, but I am quite sure there is an online version played electronically, and that would hold no appeal to me.

We played Chinese Checkers as kids, but I have not seen anyone play that in maybe sixty years. I am going to get over onto a new topic, one that has really been brought home to me lately. You may wonder why I feel the need to discuss this subject, but I feel it is a very important issue. That topic is, "vitamin D deficiency." Vitamin D is acquired through exposure to sunlight, as well as from foods that are fortified with vitamin D.

In the past, when most people were outdoors most days for extended periods, they got sunlight-derived vitamin D in amounts that kept them healthy, but the advent of modern farm machinery, more indoor employment, and more importantly, air conditioning and efficient heating systems drawing people from outdoors to come indoors. Older folks are very likely to have low Vitamin D levels since they no longer spend considerable amounts of time outside.

Those in assisted living and nursing homes are apt to almost universally suffer from D deficiency. I have written and spoken about the subject and thought I was, as a spokesman for the topic over time, that I was staying on top of my own needs for vitamin D, but I was sorely mistaken. Over the past two years or so, I have suffered from several physical ailments, among them, facial acne and folliculitis, scalp lesions and numerous growths on my scalp, and the number of them was alarming and embarrassing.

My mouth and tongue were chronically sore, and eating crunchy foods always left my mouth and tongue painful, making many of my favorite foods a no-no. My facial skin was also marked with abnormalities, I suffered debilitating pain in my fingers and hands, and in most of my bones and muscles. My arm hair became thin and brittle, and it was shocking because I had always had very hairy arms. My baldness increased in area, on my head. I was weak, easily tired, and plagued with constant pain, discomfort, and exhaustion.

My face and skin took on the look of one who is a chronic alcoholic, although I have not consumed alcohol in decades. Recently, my healthcare provider did an enormous amount of bloodwork testing on me, and found my vitamin D level was very low. In just a few weeks of taking 50,000 IU of vitamin D each week, has made an amazing difference. I have my gorilla arm hair back, and it tells me I am healthier now. My muscle, bone, and joint pain is so much better now.

The places on my scalp have almost completely cleared up. My face is also healing, the embarrassing adult facial acne and folliculitis are almost gone, and I had been on repeated rounds of antibiotics that did nothing for it. My brain fog has declined a bit. Depression and anxiety levels are low now. The only other healthcare problem I ever had that had affected me so profoundly was when my thyroid function had ceased and I had almost become an invalid before the problem was diagnosed.

If you are low in vitamin D or your thyroid hormone levels are low, addressing those issues can dramatically improve your quality of life. Now, let me stress this, always let your healthcare folks test for these problems, and follow their advice in dealing with them. If you are not suffering from vitamin D or thyroid hormone deficiency, vitamin D supplements or thyroid hormone will not help you at all, and will likely cause you great harm. Let a FNP, PA, or medical doctor handle it.

For goodness sake, never take any supplements that I mention without conferring with your personal healthcare professionals, I am no expert on any of these matters. My purpose is to make you consider that you might need to address these topics with your doctor, because if you do, and testing shows your are deficient, it can make a big difference in your quality of life. These things are not magic and only help if and when needed! You might not need it!

Okay, let us take a breakfast break, and see you here again tomorrow. The boyz are hungry.

..... NUMBERS 6: 24-26, KJV

..... we boyz three, babee conway, lil merle, & me