A miracle happened! I found a pillow that gives me great neck support. I can sleep again!
Where did this miracle happen? At the Asian grocery store.
In the past few years, I have had trouble sleeping. The issue was my pillow. Not sure why or when my pillow became uncomfortable, but it did. I needed specific neck support. Most pillows are soft and if they are firm, it’s not specific to support the neck.
Recently, I was at the Asian store buying curry. I decided to see what pretty dishes/tea pots they had when I came across these pillows. It said they were buckwheat pillows. I felt them, I really liked how firm they were, so decided to give them a try.
I LOVE this pillow. The smaller one is better, because it fits perfectly under my neck. Turns out, buckwheat pillows, also known as sobakawa, originated in Japan. They are good for spinal alignment. Now, more people are using them around the world. I had not heard of these pillows. I do want to visit Japan, so now I have a very good reason. First stop, pillow shop!
The big question, as I was reading online, is whether or not these pillows have mites/bugs.
Some reviews said, “No,” but others said, “Yes.” So, it’s interesting, because our normal pillows/bedding can have mites, etc. We don’t see them, but they can be there. Then I thought about our clothing in the closet, moths love to each my cashmere and woolen jackets. Our houses have a lot of dust.
Here I found a pillow I LOVE, it lets me sleep. Do I worry about bugs?
I honestly don’t have neck pain anymore. This is what I am wondering. I don’t know enough about buckwheat, but I do know it is SUPER comfy. I mean it’s a hard pillow, but that’s what I need. I’ll just keep cleaning the pillow covers, and put the inner buckwheat pillow out in the sun.
Anyone use a buckwheat pillow? Share your experience, so we can learn.
If you are looking for one last summer book to read, I recommend Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer, her memoir. I’m listening to it on audio. The Mongol Derby, in Mongolia, is said to be the toughest horse race in the world. Riding 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) for 10 days, using 25 horses along the way. Lara Prior-Palmer, won at 19 years old in 2013, she is the youngest person to have won the race.
Fast forward to 2019, when the oldest person, Bob Long from Idaho, won the race at 70 years old. He said that age is just a number. True; however, he grew up riding horses, so he felt comfortable with this type of rugged race. Still, at 70 years, that kind of race is hard on the body. He made it to all of his pit stops without over riding his horses in any way.
So, I’ve got to say, this was a good summer find.
I’d love to read another memoir like this, one of endurance. Any good reads, share them.
Recently, I was thinking of Italy, missing Florence, my grandmother… Don’t they say, when we THINK about something the Universe answers?!
Thank you, Blogger Dave, Life In A Word, who wrote Covering My Tracks. In his post, he talked about his childhood train memories. I smiled, each of his memories, made me think of my own train memories.
ITALY: For me, I can still hear the LOUD train going by my Italian grandmother’s house in Florence between 1-4 AM every night. I first visited her when I was a Freshman in High School. This was my first time getting to know her, she did not come to America. I did not speak Italian; she did not speak English. Good thing Italians communicate with their hands while they talk. Otherwise, I might have starved (smiling, that would not have happened with an Italian grandmother!).
She immediately paraded me on the balcony, so the neighbors could see her granddaughter from America was visiting. She was so PROUD. After a long day, we closed the green shutters on the windows and settled in for a “peaceful” night’s sleep, so I thought.
Imagine my fright. I’m in an unfamiliar place, trying to sleep, when suddenly I sense a rumbling feeling and hear a loud horn tooting over and over. The horn is what made me realize a train was going by. THIS WAS LOUD, like it was in the bedroom. How could this be?
I tip toed to the green shutters. The apartment was small, if I tried to open the shutters it would have made a loud sound. I didn’t want to wake my grandparents, but peeking through green shutters was NOT easy, they are heavy and slant downwards.
Confirmed, it was a loud freight train, RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. I immediately wondered if the train went by every night! At that point, I could not sleep. I sat and watched the train go by. Freight trains have a heavy rhythmic sound. It took forever, as freight trains do. So began my nightly train adventure.
What’s amusing, is that often in childhood what annoyed us, brings us the greatest memories later.
Picture courtesy of Pixabay.com (victor893).
MOSQUITOS / ITALY: Another memory came to mind. THAT first night, my Italian grandfather was fiddling with some white netting. Remember, I spoke NO Italian, they spoke NO English. I had an Italian/English dictionary, no iPhone translator.
We were at their tiny kitchen table. It was HOT, middle of summer, no air conditioning. This meant we kept the windows open and had fans. Which meant — MOSQUITOS / FLIES would come in.
My grandfather was a little man with white hair and very intense blue eyes. When I say little, maybe 5′ 2″ tall. I was much taller than him. While he was small in stature, he was a VERY STRONG and CONFIDENT man, not weak at all. He kept working away at his netting and looking at me with a quirky grin. I smiled back, thinking, “WHAT IS HE DOING??” He was acting like a mad scientist.
Soon he was done! He put the netting over his head with a crazy laugh. He had very strong little hands, he grabbed my hand and said, “Stasera, NO ZANZARE! Capisci? NO ZANZARE!”
As he kept stressing ZANZARE, I knew that was an important word. I told him, “Aspetta (wait),” as I looked up Zanzare in the dictionary. THEN I showed him the translation and said, “ZANZARE, CAPISCO.” Basically, I was confirming — Ah, mosquitos, I get it!
I’m still laughing as I write this. My grandfather looked so funny and a bit scary with the netting over his head because he doubled it. I would never have thought about sleeping with mosquito netting on my head. However, mosquitos are awful, when you try to sleep, and you keep getting bitten and hear their buzzing sound. So annoying!
So, Blogger Dave, thanks! Your post, brought back my own memories about trains, grandparents, etc.
I’m sure some of YOU have memories of trains too. SHARE THEM, memories are good!
My daughter suffers from ongoing back pain. So, she’s constantly looking for ways to ease the pain. Recently, I was visiting her and I saw these cute Mama and Baby turtles. I was just about to pick them up, when she yelled, “Mama, CAREFUL, they are spikey.”
What??? As I went to touch them, I yelled, “Yikes, you’re not kidding!”
You definitely don’t want to leave these on the floor for someone to step on – OUCH!
There is NO loving Mama and Baby turtle here, that’s for sure. I secretly thought, THAT explains our relationship sometimes. This would make a good gift for a break up with someone. The card would read, “WISH you WELL! A massage on me! (Hope they would get the joke.)”
They have a travel size pillow/mat. I thought about being on the plane, going to the rest room and my mat falls on the person’s empty seat next to mine. Can you imagine the scream when they are half asleep and sit on it! Hahaha
Of course, I wanted to know more about these cute turtles. They are acupressure for massaging the body. I decided to give it a try. You need to lay down on them – CAREFULLY – the spikes do hurt. Best to have a very light shirt on or use directly against your skin, depends on what pain level you can take. You will find after 10-15 minutes that your back is REALLY red. I only did it twice, so cannot give a review based on long term use. It’s different.
Pranamat ECO has been around 11 years. Product is made in Europe, very good quality. You can read more about it on their site. I’m not promoting their product, just sharing something NEW with you. If you suffer from pains and believe in acupuncture/acupressure, look into this.
Ok, I’m off to give it another try. I’ll be on the sofa, laying on the turtle, legs on the mat, while reading my book. Hopefully, you won’t hear too many YELPS along the way!
Glad we are heading into the weekend for acupressure RECOVERY!
I laughed and said… NO, I’m a little old for that, right?!
WELL, that’s going to change! You’re going to LOVE this new movie, LUCA, set in Italy.
So… We watched it.
I have to say, it was a cute film. My ONLY critique is that the main characters should have had Italian accents. I mean, if these are Italian characters, they should speak English with Italian accents. Like the bad guy (Ercole Visconti), he was GREAT, he had an Italian accent along with the typical Italian expressions and hand movements. Super funny!
If life has you down and you need a laugh, a cute film to lighten the mood — TAKE A CHANCE ON LUCA!
Like me, you’ll be booking your next trip to Italy!
When COVID hit last year, we were finding new ways to exercise. Suddenly, virtual walks became really popular. I just did a virtual walk in Ireland with Fleet Feet. I liked it, it motivated me to log my miles every day, not fall behind.
When that walk ended, I took a break for a month. I noticed that without the challenge, I lacked the same motivation for walking. I walked, but not with the determination. It does HELP to have a challenge. Add friends for accountability – perfect!
My friend told me about The Conqueror website. Being Italian, I had to sign up for the St Francis Way challenge. I’m enjoying the walk and looking up new cities on the way from Florence to the Vatican in Rome. Some of the towns are really small, not many people.
In case you are wondering, I am not affiliated with The Conqueror website. Just sharing. The Ireland Fleet Feet challenge was nice, but not easy to log the miles. So, helpful to share with each other. If we are going to spend $$, good to find the BEST virtual site out there.
Now, putting gym shoes on, heading to CONSUMA, ITALY. Looked it up, many things to see/do: wineries, vineyards, castles, zip line, religious sites, art galleries and more.
I enjoy knitting. I go through phases though, sometimes no knitting and other times I find knitting therapeutic. Not long ago, I was in a buy yarn, knit scarfs mode. Scarfs are easy. I wanted a pattern where I didn’t have to think about the pattern.
This scarf was easy and I loved the blue color. My Italian grandmother taught me how to knit. It was interesting, because she didn’t speak English, so I had to watch, try and look to her expressions for approval. I either got the “Si, bene (YES, GOOD) or “NO, guarda (NO, LOOK).”
I still have the small mustard colored ball of yarn she taught me with. It’s packed in my treasure chest of memories. Over the years, my treasure chest of memories has gotten smaller and smaller. Old letters thrown out, report cards (do we really need to keep those), old year books, photos (of no real importance)… you get the idea.
So, today, this post is in memory of my Italian grandmother (Nonina). I miss YOU!
In fact, for lunch I will make pastina in brodo. I loved when she made that for me!
MEMORIES — I look forward to traveling to Florence soon.
When I was in San Diego I saw these two ships. I immediately wanted to climb aboard and stand at the helm like Horatio Hornblower OR Errol Flynn as the pirate. If you haven’t seen the Horatio Hornblower series (1998 – 2003), I highly recommend it. While it’s an older show, it’s not outdated. You will be engaged the entire time.
Take a look:
Here was another ship I saw. I didn’t have enough time; otherwise, I would have signed up for the tour.
It’s amazing to see these ships up close. A few years ago when I was in Sardinia there was a tour ship that was on the horizon. It looked BEAUTIFUL, I longed to see it up close there is such a mystery around these ships. In San Diego, I got my chance, they are a work of art. Intricate with all the details. I did not see a plank.
My daughter surprised her boyfriend with a Brews n “Baahhs” birthday celebration. For an hour they visited with the goats, then they were rewarded with craft beer.
A week ago, I was bored with what I was reading. Good books, but they weren’t catching my attention. I’m sure you’ve been there. When we keep reading the same paragraph over and over, it just won’t sink in. I even fast forwarded to the middle of the book to read a few paragraphs – NOPE, my interest in the story was not going to improve.
So, I went to the online library and started browsing. This book by Jack Canfield / Gay Hendricks, You’ve Got to Read This Book!, came up. The title alone got me hooked.
I’m half way through, and I gotta say, it’s a good title, good book. Great stories of people’s lives, some hardships and/ or how they got where they are. Somehow, this book has my attention. I think I like the short story aspect and learning about different people.
Time to head to a bookstore…
Spring / Summer — going to the beach, longing for a book to actually hold and read. Miss hardcover books, too much online reading.
Here’s to exploring the bookstore and buying a new book!
Brilliant Viewpoint 