Cold, Cold Air & Pizzly Bears

During the past few days I have learned several things that I didn't know previously. I walked out onto the patio on Tuesday, when it was -10 degrees, placed a handful of almonds in the squirrel chair, and returned inside, closing the door. Within 5 minutes, my throat tickled, and I coughed; then I had trouble breathing. I immediately grabbed my asthma inhaler and gave myself the prescribed "double shot." It took another hour before I could breathe normally again. Then, on the news, they announced that with the air temperature being so cold and dry, people who suffer from COPD (and I have the double burden of asthma and chronic bronchitis) should be very careful in exposing themselves to the frigid air, as it can cause asthma attacks and bronchial spasms. I guess that since I was originally diagnosed with this in Florida, my Doc did not advise me (or at least I don't remember it) that extreme cold would trigger an attack. On Wednesday, the GP that appears on our local news station announced that this extremely cold air could also bring on migraine headaches. I found out about that this morning. I headed out to walk Rosie and Remy, and became violently ill with a migraine before I made it to the bus station. Luckily, one of the female drivers was heading home, saw me, recognized me, and brought me back home in her car. Thank you!
My only other comment has to do with the positive DNA testing that showed that, in the Arctic Circle, polar bears and grizzly bears are breeding and producing hybrids. The one photo I saw of the resulting union called the bear a "pizzly." I hope that the naturalists and scientists that will end up deciding on a common name for this creature, will change it from "pizzly" to something else. Why? Because it is too close to the word pizzle, which is an ancient (12th through the 19th centuries) word for a man's penis. It is generally recognized that the term "pizzle" is used in reference to a bull - but in Elizabethan times, it became slang for a man's genitalia. My Mother was raised on Chincoteague Island, and I grew up with her using Elizabethan English and the slang that accompanies it. She frequently used the words "pizzle" and "pizzlin' strings" up until her death. Please, call the polar bear-grizzly bear cross something other than a pizzly!