“Have you seen any good scorpions lately?”

By

Gerry Niskern

I wrote this column awhile back, but I have an update. I speak from experience now on the subject of scorpion bites. I was stung on my foot in the middle of Wednesday night. It felt like a thousand tiny knives radiating up my leg. Called poison control and followed their instructions, but the symptoms grew steadily worse over the next 24 hours. My foot swelled up to twice its size. My head felt like it was in a vice and my face and lips were numb. I also suffered severe diarrhea. Finally, after about 36 hours the numbness and tingling in my fingers stopped and just my foot is still swollen. Good Samaritan poison control called back twice to check on me and I was surprised and thankful. Read on.

Are you new to our valley? How well do you know your neighbors? Have you met any of our resident scorpions yet?  The swift venomous arthropods are everywhere.

When you live in the desert, you have invaded their territory; especially when you dwell in an area where the ground has been disturbed for new housing construction and their nests are stirred up. The stinger is at the end of the tail; the sting site can be extremely painful. It generally does not swell, but there is instantaneous pain and numbness. Young kids and seniors are most at risk.

Almost everyone has a scorpion story.  I saw my first scorpion years ago. It was a rather large one, on the wall above a sleeping newborn’s crib. The proud parents had invited us in to see their infant, and there on the wall was the culprit. What a lucky intervention that was.

We’ve had them quite often because we live in the Dreamy Draw area that is especially known for its scorpions. Our son gave us something handy to keep from stepping on one at night; plug in Limelites  that cast a faint glow on the floor, enough to throw a scorpion’s shadow to alert you.  I recommend getting one.

My resident historian took off his socks one night and surprise, there on the bottom of one sock was a squashed scorpion. He was lucky that time. It pays to shake out your shoes before putting them on. Sometimes you hear them first; they make a slight scratching sound on a hard surface.

Most pest control companies will tell you that you cannot kill them. Scorpions usually follow other bugs into a home. What actually can be done is to spray for their prey thereby eliminating the scorpions.

I remember walking into the kitchen one morning and seeing one on the telephone sitting on the counter. I came back with the flyswatter and to my amazement, I watched that tiny scorpion run down the wall, under the locked and what we thought was an airtight Arcadia door and out onto the patio. They can crawl through a credit card size slit.

Last year, we were at a friend’s new home in the Sun City area. She leaned down to pick up what she thought was a piece of dry grass from the carpet. Guess what, it stung her!  Her pain from that scorpion sting lasted several hours.

Another friend tells about the time when he was in high school and the family had just moved into a new home. He thought he saw a scorpion run under the refrigerator. Determined to get it, the high school boy got down on his hand and knees and looked under the frig. The little pirate dashed out and stung him on the nose!  Of course, the repercussions were serious from that sting.

According to the emergency room staff at John C. Lincoln, children under six and seniors are the only ones they normally to give antiserum for scorpion venom. It’s very hard on you. But unfortunately with children, if they are crying loudly, and it appears to be quite painful, they have to assume it’s probably a scorpion bite.

According to my research, there are 1,300 species of scorpions worldwide, and many varieties are non- poisonous. However, the poisonous ones live mainly in the Southwest Deserts. Watch out!. And put poison control on your phone contacts. 602 253 3334

OK, BOOMER!

By

Gerry Niskern

Let’s turn this “Ok, Boomer” put down around.

“Have you ever noticed that mothers, over the age of fifty in sitcoms, are depicted as sex starved maniacs. The older men fare even worse. And their counterparts in the flicks are only portrayed as worthwhile if they ended up with a Jay Lo or Scarlett Johansen  type.”

As depressing as all this is, I think you mothers, and fathers too, of the boomer generation, could easily turn this trend around. After all, your large body of consumers have redefined marketing in this country. I know you could do it again regarding television and movies. That’s where millions of our nation’s young people pick up their ideas on life.

Granted, some children in today’s society are lucky enough to know their grandparents as individuals. However, most kids never learn about the senior’s careers or their life experiences. In other words, a large percentage don’t see the elderly as real people. They only know the stereotypes they have been conditioned to laugh at in entertainment.

You could begin with your children and grandchildren.  Yes, some boomers have grandchildren already! We all know kids learn by example. They see your daily attitude towards the older members of your neighborhood. Do they see you communicating with older people on a person to person  basis, or talking down to them, as if to a child?

Do they hear you complaining about the white haired driver doing the speed limit and holding up traffic…while not saying a word about the twenty-something playing  thread the needle, well over the speed limit?

Our sense of stability and security has always been grounded in respect for families and our elders. In these times, with our mobile society, we need assurance that if you lay the groundwork, our kids and grandkids will have a different attitude towards anyone growing older.

And the added benefit will be…when the boomers progress from middle age into the pace maker years, they won’t be automatically assigned the “geezer”  roles created by the script doctors!

“Let the Writing Begin!”

By

Gerry Niskern

Have you ever thought about writing your memoir?

A small group of people gathered at the Acacia Library this week to begin writing theirs.

They are going to enjoy the excitement of describing their lives, the people in their lives and the events that they want others to know about. They will take their readers on an exciting ride as they detail their experience and thoughts.

This group will paint a picture of their lives by showing what characters, places and events were like. And they will all this with the wonderful world of words!

What can I say about words? First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you to the first people who learned to communicate with words. And then thank you again to the scholars who learned to write them down in various forms to be read by everyone.

This evolved over thousand of years, but to each one of us who discovered that some little squiggly lines in our first school books were actually words; and those words told a story, it was a miracle!

At least it was to me as a six year old first grader, in a little country school in West Virginia.  We were allowed to take our readers home and read the next chapter. Well, it’s hard to believe, but I was so thrilled with the story of Dick, Jane and Spot, that I finished the book.

The next day when I excitedly told Miss Mary Jane Crowe, my teacher, that I loved reading the whole book, I was soundly scolded for reading more than I was instructed. Looking back, I’m guessing that she didn’t have a lot of books for us to read and that reader was supposed to last quite a while.

Fortunately, that reprimand didn’t deter me from being an avid reader all my life. Later on, I carried stacks of books from the first Phoenix Library every week while growing up and continue to read everything I can.

I do have to say, though, that the only thing better than reading words,  is writing them to create a story!

“Burnishing the old resolution again”

By

Gerry Niskern

My New Year’s resolution is the same one I have made for years. I just get it out and polish it up again.

The trait that I do like and value in another person is the ability to speak exactly the same with whomever they are talking . I think the habit of speaking the same with the bosses wife, the friend of your child, your pastor, a toddler, an official is a habit that I have strived to practice.

A person full of grace does no change tone, facial expression or their smile as the occasion dictates. Anyone who has practiced this democratic approach to life conveys the concept that they value the recipient of their remarks for who they are; not someone younger, or of a different social class, or different sex, but just a fellow human being.

I always admire a person dealing with the public who addresses everyone in the same straight forward direct tone and manner. They don’t speak condescendingly to a child or “sweety, sweet” to a senior.

I will admit that when I observe a friend  changing their tone of voice or manner in speaking to a new acquaintance of different stature, I am very disappointed. There is something dishonest about that habit.

Somewhere along in my life, I don’t know when, I decided to strive to speak  to everyone the same. I hope I have succeeded this past year and hope to do the same this year.

Feel free to borrow my resolution. You might like it!