Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Calm and not-so-calm

Walking down the path to the Quabbin was easy; walking up was harder.

Last week my friend Barry and I took a took a drive (with dog) to the Quabbin Reservoir. Located in Belchertown (Mass.), it's not far, but it's like another world. It's peaceful as can be, with beautiful views of water and hills. People love to fish there; bird-lovers go there a lot too. As for me, it's always good to get out of the neighborhood, and we had a good little walk there with Maddie. But it has a strange story that carries with it a slightly eerie feeling. Most people in Massachusetts probably know all about it. It occured to me that people from other states might not. I didn't when I moved here.

The official website gives some of the basic information:

Quabbin Reservoir is one of the largest man-made public water supplies in the United States. Created in the 1930s by the construction of two huge earthen dams, the reservoir is fed by the three branches of the Swift River, and seasonally by the Ware River. Quabbin's water covers 39 square miles, is 18 miles long and has 181 miles of shoreline. When full, Quabbin holds 412 billion gallons of water.

In order to flood the vast area of the Swift River Valley in the 1930s, the entire population of four towns had to be relocated. Hundreds of homes, businesses, a state highway, a railroad line, and 34 cemeteries were also moved or dismantled. Over 6,000 graves were relocated from the Valley to Quabbin Park cemetery.

But this is impersonal and doesn't include much of what people around here know, starting with the names of the four towns: Dana, Prescott, Enfield and Greenwich. The reservoir was created mainly to get water to Boston, and many of the locals were not too happy about being told to leave their homes and let them be knocked down. But they weren't given a choice, and the flooding started in 1939.

One interesting website shows photos of each town the way it used to be. There are also a lot of books on the creation of the reservoir, including a children's book, "Letting Swift River Go," by Jane Yolen, an author who lives in the area. I remember reading it to one of my boys years ago, and when we were finished, he said, "Don't ever read me this book again."

Anyway, it makes for a good outing. The water doesn't cover the whole area, so you can see remnants of stone walls, cellar holes and other things. We stopped for muffins and coffee in nearby Amherst on the way back, making the day complete.

I'm still working on carrying my serenity with me when I go into the clinic. I knew on Monday that my platelets would be low, because the petechiae were popping up on my face. After I saw my counts, I went into a tailspin, imagining my death, my funeral, the works. My platelets were down to 3. They haven't been that low for ages. Actually the rest looked fine: My hematocrit was 27, low enough to be tired but high enough for me to get around without being winded. My white count was still normal at 4.9, but I wasn't happy that it seems to be going down a little: The time before it was 5.2 and before that in the high 5s.

Melissa found me in the infusion room and said not to worry. She said she had talked to Dr. Alyea and he thought there was a reason for the low platelet count. When it was consistently lower, I had been taking a drug called Amicar to help with clotting. When the count was higher, I went off the medication. He said to go back on it because it may have been helping me hold on to the platelets for a longer time.

Melissa also said the white count was fine. She said I could return in a week instead of going twice this week. So I will try to keep my mind off of it. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and support on my last post when I also wrote about being fixated on my counts.

9 comments:

susiegb said...

Hey Ronnie
Nice to see you out and about in the countryside - even if it is a reservoir with somewhat creepy memories! I looked at your list of posts, and it looks like you've been out of hospital for nearly 2 months! Well done ... :)

Yes, you'd like for your blood counts to be better, but that will happen! Just keep putting healthy food into you, and taking your dog for a walk for exercise (both of you!), and you'll see ...

PJ said...

Here's to once a week clinic visits, a small step forward leading to to even less frequency in the days to come.

pam said...

Dearest Runni,

You are on the mend...on the long road...that rises more easily each step, with the wind behind you...
getting fleeter by the day...

Thank You for the fascinating legend...

Still waters run....deep!
Remember, the Province of Shelovia which we know so well is also on a lake that was manmade -- and also has its legends...

There is nothing like the majesty of Nature -- and water is, as you so well fathom, healing...

i'm going to post Yeats' Innisfree after this note to you, Runder-Woman...xop

pam said...

W. B. Yeats

The Lake Isle of Innisfree

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made:
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee;
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight's all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet's wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart's core.

Nelle said...

I love the Yeats....
what a lovely and serene place to be...I love the water. Sounds like a little graduation of sorts, one day a week will make it much easier on you I think. I know how easy the dark thoughts can come but you are making progress. Patience, grasshopper :)

SRS said...

Did you know that little white church with the steeple (now the museum) across the street from us was moved from one of the Quabbin towns?

Once a week...that's nice.

pam said...

Dearest Runder-Woman,

yes, as we spoke last night, so far the facts on the towns submerged...

legends are the stuff of the imagination -- the stories of folklore and literature that endure and enrich...
wonder if there are many/any on the towns...
mere factuality is limited -- witness
the king arthur reference in about 49ad to a soldier -- the kernel for the burgeoning of legends centuries later!
i might try to see if there are stories about steeples and churchbells chiming, know that candlewood has indeed some tales that Tami told me years ago...
if there aren't any, we/or the kids cld make them up..a lit-teacher's assignment, not exactly a reporter's!
xop

Jim said...

RG,

Your counts are fine. You know that one week, they're gonna zoom forward. Every day is a step closer to that point. Jim

Anonymous said...

Hi Ronnie - Glad to hear you had a nice walk. Too funny about the boys saying no more to the Yolen book. I laughed out loud.
Concentrate on the present moment because that is what we have - and that is what I keep telling myself when I flip into the no so calm arena. - Patty