Dust Mites

Several years ago, in the middle of the night, you woke up feeling as if you were unable to catch your breath. You were only able to feel like you could breathe when you sat up and placed your feet over the side of the bed and on the floor. The next day you felt absolutely fine.

This happened a few more times on subsequent nights. By then you were totally freaked out. On the Internet you looked up all the possible causes of such breathlessness, but none seemed to fit. You could still play two hours of tennis or do a hard workout at the gym. Then you read somewhere that it might be caused by an allergy to dust mites.

Dust mites are seriously gross, yucky creatures.

Sorry. You just couldn’t resist. Here's what they really look like.

You read more and learned that dust mites love down pillows. You immediately switched to pillows with synthetic stuffing.

And never experienced breathlessness again.

But you were nagged by doubts. Was your breathlessness really because of dust mites? You wished you had a microscope so that you could see if they actually lived in your bedding.

You told this story to a special friend. On your next birthday she gave you a beautiful microscope.

You took samples from your down pillows, sheets, mattress, and even dust under the bed – from every possible place where you thought a dust mite might tread.

And yet, you could never find one. Reading still more, you learned that dust mites usually like a climate with greater than 80 per cent humidity. Except for a few months a year, that was definitely not the climate around New York.

To this day you don’t know what caused the breathlessness. But you do have a wonderful microscope.

Mr. Bill says, “How thrilling! A regular Louis Pasteur! Save me before I pass out from excitement.”

More Guam Photos

A wonderful welcome.

.

.

.

..............................................................................................Big coconuts.


.

The best lunches at school.

.

.

.

.............................................................Joe and I head for the reef.

.

.

.. It wasn't all play.

.

.

.

.....................................................................Could it be any better?

Guam

You recently returned from a trip to Guam where you were the guest of the Guam chapter of the International Reading Association. Between speaking engagements, visits to schools, and TV and radio appearances, you got to see manta rays in the wild, discovered large blue starfish and baby giant clams while snorkeling, and had an all-around fabulous adventure.

(The trip took 23 hours, including 17 in airplanes. These were the folks who came out to greet you at the airport. It was a sign of the wonderful hospitality that followed.)

What made the trip great were the people you met. The members of the IRA, and their husbands, who escorted you around the island each day were among the friendliest and most generous you’ve ever met on a trip like this, and they made your 8 or 9 days* on the island some of the best ever.

* You crossed the international date line to get there, losing a day going and gaining a day returning, and still haven’t figured out exactly how many days you were there.

(The first people to inhabit Guam were the Chamorros. They grow the largest coconuts and smallest bananas you have ever seen. The papayas were average size.)


Cyndy and Joe, Liz and Ken, and Vickie and Rich were the people you spent the most time with, but there were others as well. They all went out of their way to make you feel comfortable and show you what they liked about that special island. You saw many fascinating things, ate lots of delicious and exotic food, heard some terrific music, and “met” Yemaya, goddess of the ocean and mother of the fishes.

(Joe with a 1948 balsa wood and fiberglass surfboard made by the legendary surfer Bob Simmons, "The father of the modern surfboard.")

For all of them it was probably just another week with another visiting author, but for you, it was the trip of a lifetime.