THE MEDIA PARTY... A "MINI" TEST
With just a few weeks away from the start of our Camel Milk Challenge at the San Diego County Fair, the euphoria of all the media attention matches crescendo with the hard reality of what we are about to undertake.
Friday, June 4, in the midst of the Taste the Fun Media event at the fair grounds, reality came knocking! I decided to promote the Challenge that evening by sipping from a chilled jar of fresh camel milk throughout the event. .... seemed like a great idea at the time. But this was the first time I would come face-to-face with my nemesis... fair food.
So there I stood, smiling schmoozing and sipping while an endless parade of bar-b-cue, sticky confections, grilled delights and deep fried delectables perched in the fingers of friendly passers-by.
Hour one... no sweat! The creamy cool milk kept me energized. Gil and I smiled, shook hands, posed for pictures and answered questions with ease.
Hour two... here comes a Cinnamon roll... that looks AMAZING! (sip... ahhh) back to schmoozing. Is that a battered potato smothered with ranch dressing? It smells like manna from heaven. What did that lady just say? I wasn't listening, I was sizing her up; determining if I could "take her" for her plate.
Hour three... Please God tell me this is almost over! I am blind to all I see... my olfactory sense has taken over as my primary scenery organ. And by the way... this camel milk is warm now... and here comes a chicken kabob. The girl carrying it is small and looks easily distracted... this could be my moment.
Hour four... somehow we are headed back to the trailer, Gil and Clyde as happy and as ever and me somehow surviving.
It was a great event! We met lots of terrific media representatives and visited with old friends.
We met David Moyer from AOL News. (David writes an amazing article about us that goes international and Gil and I spend the next week on dozens of radio shows!)
I finally relax, feeling completely calm and human again... of course, we are now sitting in McDonald's and I have eaten half an order of french fries!
I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP!
It's Monday morning, June 7 and less than a week away from our move in to the San Diego County Fairgrounds. We are up early as we have a morning tour at the ranch and our telephone interview with David from AOL News.
To insure we have enough milk for our challenge, Gil and I will milk Tula from both sides, each collecting at least a quart of milk in our glass jars. Although this isn't new, we have been milking in the chute: a small coral like structure with Tula inside and Gil and I outside the bars. But since we won't have the chute at the fair, we decide to ease her into milking free standing.
Gil takes up Tula's left side and I take her right. My bucket hangs and an awkward level and I have trouble getting the milk to squirt down into the bucket instead of out sideways, missing the bucket completely. Tula stands munching her grain as I reposition my hands trying in vain to re-direct the stream. I've almost got it... I'm deep in concentration when I feel what seems like a wet baseball glove on the side of my head. I look to the right to see Tula's face... right in my face! Apparently, she had had enough of my contorted hand manipulations. Like a mythical dragon her long, graceful neck turned her huge face to me as she, without moving so much as a toe, reached back placing her lips on the side of my head.
More than a little surprised I leaned back. I should have stepped back. For just as I leaned backwards Tula tipped her hip towards mine to nudge me away. Off balance already, I began to trip and stagger backwards, building momentum towards my obvious destination... the ground.
I fell backwards trying to "save" the milk only to end up wearing it.
Damn it! How inconvenient! Now I have to go change and I lost all my milk. But when I went to stand. I couldn't. At least, I couldn't seem to lift my right arm. I don't remember landing on it or hitting it particularly hard, but as I looked over at it stretched away from my, palm up... I could not lift it. All I could do is look at it... I couldn't make it do anything.
I tell Gil, "I can't move my arm" and he moves over to that side. We just stare at each other for a minute. It was just so weird to see it laying there but not be able to do anything.
So I ask Gil, "pick up my fingers and try to lift my arm up" As he did, we both heard a huge crack-pop, and taa-daa... I could move it again! It heart like hell but it worked.
We finished our chores, did our private group tour and then drove down to the fair to begin our set up.
Tuesday we went in for our pre-challenge physicals. While there, I showed my elbow, which was very painful and could not straighten all the way, to my doctor.
She immediately sent me in for Xrays.
Wednesday, while moving the camels into the fair and finishing building camp Camelot, I get a call from the doctor. She sends me to the orthopedic specialist who confirms it is broken. (for those of you who know me, insert applicable and typical obscenities here)
The dislocation was severe enough to cause a small fracture and a chip to the radius.
The good news: no cast! Nurse Gil got everything back in place perfectly, the chip is small and the fracture should heal on its own.. as long as I am careful. The bad news is I must use the arm as little as possible for the next eight weeks.
Gil and I are relieved that we will not be doing the fair with me in a cast. That would be very distracting to the visitors and would take attention away from what we are doing with the camel milk. So, unless a person reads this or one of my facebook posts, they would not know about it.
DOWN TO HALF THE MILK!
Our biggest concern about my arm is that now I can't help milk. That means half the milk for our challenge! Today is our first day of shows... and we'll just have to see how it goes. We don't start the challenge diet until next Wednesday so Gil is going to save all the milk he milks over the next five days as surplus for the Challenge. (He is so smart!)
Just a little twist to make the adventure more interesting don't you think?
With just a few weeks away from the start of our Camel Milk Challenge at the San Diego County Fair, the euphoria of all the media attention matches crescendo with the hard reality of what we are about to undertake.
Friday, June 4, in the midst of the Taste the Fun Media event at the fair grounds, reality came knocking! I decided to promote the Challenge that evening by sipping from a chilled jar of fresh camel milk throughout the event. .... seemed like a great idea at the time. But this was the first time I would come face-to-face with my nemesis... fair food.
So there I stood, smiling schmoozing and sipping while an endless parade of bar-b-cue, sticky confections, grilled delights and deep fried delectables perched in the fingers of friendly passers-by.
Hour one... no sweat! The creamy cool milk kept me energized. Gil and I smiled, shook hands, posed for pictures and answered questions with ease.
Hour two... here comes a Cinnamon roll... that looks AMAZING! (sip... ahhh) back to schmoozing. Is that a battered potato smothered with ranch dressing? It smells like manna from heaven. What did that lady just say? I wasn't listening, I was sizing her up; determining if I could "take her" for her plate.
Hour three... Please God tell me this is almost over! I am blind to all I see... my olfactory sense has taken over as my primary scenery organ. And by the way... this camel milk is warm now... and here comes a chicken kabob. The girl carrying it is small and looks easily distracted... this could be my moment.
Hour four... somehow we are headed back to the trailer, Gil and Clyde as happy and as ever and me somehow surviving.
It was a great event! We met lots of terrific media representatives and visited with old friends.
We met David Moyer from AOL News. (David writes an amazing article about us that goes international and Gil and I spend the next week on dozens of radio shows!)
I finally relax, feeling completely calm and human again... of course, we are now sitting in McDonald's and I have eaten half an order of french fries!
I'VE FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP!
It's Monday morning, June 7 and less than a week away from our move in to the San Diego County Fairgrounds. We are up early as we have a morning tour at the ranch and our telephone interview with David from AOL News.
To insure we have enough milk for our challenge, Gil and I will milk Tula from both sides, each collecting at least a quart of milk in our glass jars. Although this isn't new, we have been milking in the chute: a small coral like structure with Tula inside and Gil and I outside the bars. But since we won't have the chute at the fair, we decide to ease her into milking free standing.
Gil takes up Tula's left side and I take her right. My bucket hangs and an awkward level and I have trouble getting the milk to squirt down into the bucket instead of out sideways, missing the bucket completely. Tula stands munching her grain as I reposition my hands trying in vain to re-direct the stream. I've almost got it... I'm deep in concentration when I feel what seems like a wet baseball glove on the side of my head. I look to the right to see Tula's face... right in my face! Apparently, she had had enough of my contorted hand manipulations. Like a mythical dragon her long, graceful neck turned her huge face to me as she, without moving so much as a toe, reached back placing her lips on the side of my head.
More than a little surprised I leaned back. I should have stepped back. For just as I leaned backwards Tula tipped her hip towards mine to nudge me away. Off balance already, I began to trip and stagger backwards, building momentum towards my obvious destination... the ground.
I fell backwards trying to "save" the milk only to end up wearing it.
Damn it! How inconvenient! Now I have to go change and I lost all my milk. But when I went to stand. I couldn't. At least, I couldn't seem to lift my right arm. I don't remember landing on it or hitting it particularly hard, but as I looked over at it stretched away from my, palm up... I could not lift it. All I could do is look at it... I couldn't make it do anything.
I tell Gil, "I can't move my arm" and he moves over to that side. We just stare at each other for a minute. It was just so weird to see it laying there but not be able to do anything.
So I ask Gil, "pick up my fingers and try to lift my arm up" As he did, we both heard a huge crack-pop, and taa-daa... I could move it again! It heart like hell but it worked.
We finished our chores, did our private group tour and then drove down to the fair to begin our set up.
Tuesday we went in for our pre-challenge physicals. While there, I showed my elbow, which was very painful and could not straighten all the way, to my doctor.
She immediately sent me in for Xrays.
Wednesday, while moving the camels into the fair and finishing building camp Camelot, I get a call from the doctor. She sends me to the orthopedic specialist who confirms it is broken. (for those of you who know me, insert applicable and typical obscenities here)
The dislocation was severe enough to cause a small fracture and a chip to the radius.
The good news: no cast! Nurse Gil got everything back in place perfectly, the chip is small and the fracture should heal on its own.. as long as I am careful. The bad news is I must use the arm as little as possible for the next eight weeks.
Gil and I are relieved that we will not be doing the fair with me in a cast. That would be very distracting to the visitors and would take attention away from what we are doing with the camel milk. So, unless a person reads this or one of my facebook posts, they would not know about it.
DOWN TO HALF THE MILK!
Our biggest concern about my arm is that now I can't help milk. That means half the milk for our challenge! Today is our first day of shows... and we'll just have to see how it goes. We don't start the challenge diet until next Wednesday so Gil is going to save all the milk he milks over the next five days as surplus for the Challenge. (He is so smart!)
Just a little twist to make the adventure more interesting don't you think?
