Random Product Plugs

I just got my DVD set for Sunrise Earth today. Absolutely awesome. It's an actual Nature program. That is, it shows scenes from nature, sounds included, without human interference and/or narration. Occasionally discrete captions will appear in a lower corner, but that's it. Otherwise, it's pure nature. Currently, Animal Planet is showing it at 8:00 am, but this is not a good show for network tv. Why? Because when the commercials come on, it's like the annoying idiot in the campground who suddenly turns his radio on full blast. It's horrible. So I bought the DVD set using Mom's Christmas money. Well worth it, both to be able to watch/listen whenever I want, and to avoid the commercials.

On an entirely different track, Bag Balm is an excellent curative for dry skin. It was originally designed for cows' udders, but works quite well on humans. I first tried it for a heat/moisture rash two summers ago (after trying several other things that made it worse), and it worked well on it. The cold tends to dry out my hands something awful, and bag balm is one of the few things to make a near-instant difference. Unfortunately, it's very greasy, but I think that's the price of having it work well. Incidentally, they no longer sell the actual "original" formula bag balm: It used to contain mercury. Great for infections, not so great for lots of other things.

Oh, and for anyone at all who ever has to deal with cold, wool is your friend. Unless you're allergic, in which case I pity you. So no specific product in mind, just a generic "YAY! Wool!" My winter coat is wool. My second best gloves are cashmere-lined. I'm currently wearing a cashmere sweater and wool socks. I've got a wool hat and a wool headband that just covers the ears. Best of all, I've got a wool-stuffed comforter on my bed. In years past, I've had trouble staying warm in my basement bedroom. This year I finally switched over to the wool comforter. Vive la Difference! I'm more likely to be too hot, now.