TEMPTATION! (noun)- a desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.
There it was in all its magnificence. A real orchard. Apples for the taking. An orchard just waiting to be raided. And we did. Frequently. Climbing trees and grabbing as many apples as we could carry and generally covering ourselves in scratches and glory. But fate intervened. Some cruel town politicians decided that there should be a wide river of mud and, in places, quicksand, cut through the swamp from the main highway to the right edge of the Stanfield estate. We were beaten; now we were blocked by a high iron fence across the front and left boundaries of the estate and a river of what we thought was quicksand on the right. No more apples.
Yah, right. A little old river wasn't going to stop us! We were more determined than ever to yield to the temptation to get across that river to our apples.
Aside: You have to imagine the likes of a river of molasses. Our river was composed of a thick, smelly, oozing mud, with just a hint of water floating atop the bottom sludge. It had the consistency of, well, molasses, Maybe a touch denser. But, we were the sons of soldiers. We could surmount any obstacle.
It took a few weeks to get up the courage, but the temptation was just too irresistible, a force of nature in 11 year old boys. We gathered up boards and laid them on top of the putrid quagmire and ever so lightly we stepped onto them to make the crossing. No, nothing happened, the slough carried our weight easily. One boy did fall in and the rest of us almost followed, we were laughing so hard. We pulled him out (which was not easy) and continued into the orchard, but something was wrong. There were tall plants throughout the orchard. Plants that we had never noticed before but now seemed to be everywhere. We stopped. Something fishy was going on. Oh well. Were we going to let these plants stop us? Out of the question. Through the plants and up the trees, heavy with apples for the taking. And take them we did, anywhere from 5 to 10 per person. Can't stop us Mr. Stanfield.
It was on the way home that we noticed a problem, our arms and legs were covered with blisters. We never raided that plantation again. The river could not stop us but stinging nettles could. We were the victims of our temptation and we suffered greatly for it. I don't know if the nettles were planted there deliberately or whether they grew naturally and this was a bumper crop. To this day, I can't eat an apple without remembering those telltale blisters.
OK, why bring this up now? What's it got to do with PD? Everything. It has to do with temptation. Temptation and PD. For example, today I felt really good and left the house without taking my morning meds. I was feeling alive and was tempted to walk faster than usual, using the movements of a cross country (nordic) skier. It is possible with the trekking poles to emulate those athletes' motions and build up a little speed. I resisted the temptation and it proved to be the correct decision. The last half of my walk was ruined by the "feeling" in my legs of the parky gait. Had I picked up speed, I am certain I would have encountered my old friend, festination. Believe me, once it starts, it can't be stopped. You will fall. You will hurt yourself.
Then there is the "why me" temptation. Why did I get PD. I have been good.
The best answer is Why not you? What makes you special? You have PD so now do something about it. Read and learn. Exercise. Do something. Resist the temptation of the "Why me" syndrome lest you get stung by metaphorical nettles.
Say with me "I will avoid feeling sorry for myself. I will avoid ignoring my condition and do something stupid like speeding on my walk and most of all, I will live in the present and ignore the future.
Thus endeth today's responsive readings
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