It’s not doing very well at it, but it’s dropping granular stuff that I’m unsure whether to call hail or sleet, and it’s white coming down, but liquid when it hits dirt.

I have the feeling there’s a layer of cold air sent to us off the heights at Snoqualmie, and that in the Cascades and the Selkirks it is indeed snowing.

Last night we were surprised by a burst of thunder—it almost never thunders in Spokane—and a burst of sideways torrential Oklahoma-style rain. Then it stopped.

Spring in Spokane. I recall on Bloomsday, the first of May, first time we did the race, it was sunny starting; then it rained, and as the cross-city race hit the heights it first hailed, then snowed on us, then as we came down it rained again and I think we finished in sun.

It was Bloomsday, third running, that gave me the notion that running is far more hazardous than ice-skating—got some very unhappy injuries…then of course I went back onto the ice the next day and in sheer fatigue, thought I’d lifted my foot properly in a crossover, but didn’t set it down clear—blades locked together on a fast curve and I took the worst ice fall I’ve ever taken. Usually you can mitigate a fall. Not when your blades lock. Owie. I still feel that one on certain mornings.

On which topic, I happened on a curious fix for general pain. I watched this commercial for a product called Quell, which seems to be a patellar band with a TENS (electrical shock) unit attached that claims to relieve pain, including neuromuscular pain, that burning-all-over-body pain, sort of like plugging a generator into one socket to enliven all the sockets on that circuit. I thought—wonder if its the shock—or the band.

So I hauled out the one of mine I could find, put it on, and lo, the pain markedly diminished, really markedly. I kind of live with the kind of pain often identified as fibromyalgia, but I don’t have some of the other symptoms, so I think what I’ve got is just a highly insulted nervous system that is constantly on the alert for pain; and also what I’ve got is ankles that want to knock in (the Vionic shoes help that) and knees that try to do the same. And that may be the source of much of the pain—sort of like that generator plugin that enlivens the whole circuit—you get to hurting in a particular major nerve and kind of hurt all over as the pain-chemical production just kind of goes over-enthusiastic. I don’t know if it’s the same as the Quell people, but I’m suspecting that for me, at least, sloppy patellar tracking (ie my knee doesn’t flex accurately: the patella is supposed to aim between big toe and second toe, and mine is inward of the big toe if not corrected.) And if I have to stand for any length of time, I hurt all over. At any rate, I’m scrounging up the other of the two patellar bands I have, just to see if it helps. It would be so very nice if it did. The shoes thing ‘cured’ the sciatica. if a band just below the knee could cure that all-over burning muscle pain, I would be so happy. We will see.