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Home My WebLink AboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-05-11, Page 26Page 12—Crossroads—May 11, 1983 Shirley Whittington In fl!ghtloonies The most widely -read Reader's Digest article of the past year was a piece called "How to Flatten Your Stomach". This certainly shows where our priorities lie, and it also shows that no matter what your problem is, somebody somewhere has identified it, researched it and will advise you on it, if you cross his palm with sil- ver. This crossed my mind when I read about a new book called Three Steps to Overcome Jet Lag. Jet lag, like whiplash and runners' nipple, is a 20th century affliction. For most of us it means feeling a little dozy for the first half-day after we get off the plane. Usually I'm so elated at being released from home and hearth that I recover quickly. Manic energy replaces fatigue and I eat, drink, tour, or moun- tain climb eagerly. It's when I come home that I collapse. For diplomats, politicians and businessmen, jet lag is a serious problem since it af- fects their judgment. (Ed. note: Is That what goes wrong?) Former president Dwight Eisenhower flew to conferences several days ahead off time in order to be alert. Henry Kissinger shifted his body clock by re- tiring one hour earlier each night and rising one hour earlier each morning for a week. ke- ctre..be.took. off.. Lyn don' Johnson kept his wrist watch. on Washington time everywhere he went. These are boring ap- proaches. I much prefer the one advocated in the book written by Dr. Charles Ehret and Lynne Waller Scanlon. The book arose out of re- search data gained from work with animals over the past 30 years. (Lab rats have been subjected to cigarette smoke, red dye number two, low bulk diets and. vitamin deficiencies. I like to think of them being rewarded with a couple of transcontinental flights.) The three stage jet lag pre- vention program begins with the eating of high protein breakfasts and lunches and high carbohydrate suppers for a period before you take off. Add feasting and fasting on alternate days, and limited imbibing of tea and coffee and you can see that there's a lot to think about besides paying the paper boy and getting your passport re- newed. You also learn how to trick your body into resting by putting on eyeshades during daytime flights and waking it by turning on the airplane cabin reading lights at night. This way you can set up an artificial rest activity cycle which allegedly defeats jet lag. The really interesting part comes in your relationship with your cabin mates. Travellers are instructed to move around a lot in their active phase. "Read, write, talk, stretch, watch films. ." says the book. In brief, dur- ing the active phase you are encouraged to make sure that nobody else gets any rest either. Just when everybody around you has gotten used to your effervescence, and the nice person on your right giggles at your bird noises and the fellow in front starts to show you card tricks (hap- pened on a recent flight), you must, if you follow the Ehret Scanlon creed, clam up "You should cease talking to your neighbor, close your book, or ._turn..away-from-the- -in-flight movie." Just like that. First the life of the party, then a silent re- cluse. Carol Burnett be- comes Mrs. Krushev, in- stantly. As time passes, those around you will adjust. They will put the playing cards away, keep their elbows to themselves and stop order- ing drinks for you. They may even doze off themselves. That's when the Ehret Scanlon disciple enters his active phase. It will be time to "write, read, talk to your neighbor, move about, stretch ..." and so on. This sounds dangerous to me, ,but it may account for some of our PM's peculiar behavior when he's away Down around the village of Marlbank near Kingston, there's a farm called "Philoxia". It's not a cult or a commune. It's more like a big family, living an alter- nate lifestyle. But it's not the usual back -to -the -land sort of thing. At first glance, the farm appears to be a mish-mash of boards, birds, and animals. There are friendly dogs, cats, goats and donkeys and lots of rare birds. It reminds you a bit of Noah's Ark. The Philoxians themselves are rare birds. Wonderful people. They were working away at various projects. Some were building an addi- tion to their rambling dwell- ing. It was interesting and attractive. It was also likely to become a building inspec- tor's nightmare. But they're such gentle people I doubt if anyone would say a word to them. Others were busy at their innumerable artistic creations and crafts. There are 18 in the group and they range in age from six months to 65. The 65 year old is the father of one of the members. Some are single, but most are married. They have taken names that are associated with ancient philosophy. A soft- spoken young man named Awanota showed us around. HONDA POWER PRODUCTS • Generators • Lawn Mowers • Water pumps Tillers Gas Engines All powered by quiet, dependable Honda 4 'cycle engines. Available at Cy -Jo Cycle t i J0 Wallace Ave. N., Latowel _....191y16. ,..._....._. He said that most of them were young former city dwellers who wanted to live close to the land and do "God's work" as he put it. But he was careful to point out that they don't embrace any formal religion. Awanota told us that the Philoxians had been at the farm for seven years. They grew their own food which consists of grains, fruits and vegetables. They have a small dining room where you can get an excellent meal for 79 cents. There's a wood shop where the members make every- thing from toys to chairs. They sell their products both at the farm and at craft shows. They also have a bakery with a huge oven that can turn out 300 loaves of bread every 90 minutes! And the group has what they call the Philoxian Farm Band which plays at various functions, and is putting on a concert at the Belleville Cen- • tennial Auditorium this month. Everywhere you go as you wander around the farm there are people weaving or painting or teaching the chil- dren in the little schoolroom. Educators from Queen's, U of T, and other prestigious universities have visited to observe and learn their teaching methods. The villagers of Marlbank like the Philoxians. They're proud of them. Besides, they're something of a tour- ist attraction. One villager told us that up to 400 people will visit the farm on a Saturday in the summer. It's hard to put a label on the Philoxians. They're just hard-working, happy people who got away from it all to live fii"'a way that seems to suit them. from home. I guess with some people you never know when they're going to swing into an active or rest phase. I suggest that airlines add another question to the ones they ask when they hand out the boarding passes. From now on, in addition to inquir- ing about smoking and non- smoking preferences, aisle or window seats, they better ask if passengers are into the Ehret Scanlon jet lag pre- vention program. 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