Scary Stuff

Hey everyone,

This won't be a long post. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still in the blog-o-sphere. I was on the fence on whether or not to post anything on this, but decided to go for it.

On Tuesday, I woke up and got dressed---normal morning routine followed. It was my first day volunteering with The Athens Council on Aging's Community Garden. I was a little apprehensive, because I had to reschedule so many times, but was relieved once I got there and got started.

The garden was larger than I imagined and it was very cool to see eggplant actually growing! The garden coordinator, Stephanie, showed me around the garden and explained various gardening techniques. Some of the seniors came out and visited. It was nice to meet new people. One of the ladies was from Malaysia and I would have loved to sit and chat with her more.

I ended my time dead-heading the flowers---looking for flowers that looked dead or wilted and plucking them from the plant. By this time it had begun to get pretty hot. I had been drinking plenty of water or so I thought.

John came by to pick me up and Stephanie and I showed him the garden and gave him a tour. We continued to talk and everything was going great....that is until things started getting black and green and fuzzy. I laid my head on John's arm and told him I wasn't feeling so well. The next thing I know. I'm on the ground leaning against John. I had a heat stroke. I've fainted before, but I never thought I was going to die. This was one of the scariest things I've ever been through. I'm pretty sure---I felt my heart stop. Scary stuff! Stephanie refilled my water bottle and they helped get me to the car. I've been very weak since and today is the first day where I'm starting to feel back to normal.

I try very hard not to draw attention to myself if I can help it, but I hope that this entry will stress the importance of staying cool and hydrated. For most of us, it's been a harsh summer. Right now, we are under a heat advisory until 8pm tonight. Please stay inside if you can and if not, please drink more than you think you need of water. I thought that I had been drinking plenty, but that was not the case and I had something like this happen to show me that I needed to slow down and take care of myself.

Anyway, I hope that everyone has a great day! Stay cool and hydrated!

<3 Anna