If it’s true that you are only as old as you feel, then my age fluctuates massively throughout the day. This is life with the advance of Parkinson’s Disease. As each dose of Levodopa kicks in, I feel normal, sometimes even energetic. But as each dose wears off, the fatigue sets in. Walking and even just standing up straight become quite difficult. There is no comparing this fatigue to anything that I have previously experienced in my lifetime. At times, it is virtually crippling, especially when it’s coupled (as it often is) with anxiety or depression. And there is often a physical restlessness at the same time. To put it another way: I simultaneously have both the urge to move, and the inability to move. This is the worst (or at least most annoying) part of it all. What the Hell do you do when you feel like you MUST move, but also like you CAN’T move?

As I write this, I am sitting in a traffic jam inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Apparently, this traffic CAN’T move. But I have my windows open and there is burbling within earshot. That’s right: a small stream just shot me in the ear.