Just put your lips together and blow

One of the many pleasures of my pre-school days was meandering around the neighborhood with a small covey of my fellow three- and four-year olds. Unsupervised. (Those were the days!) We didn't stray far, but there was plenty to do on Winchester Ave, that's for sure.

Every few months, the sewer cleaners came by remove the dead leaves and whatever other gutter leavings had washed into the sewer. It was fascinating to watch the sewer guy maneuvering the claw thingy, and bringing up wads of dead, sodden leaves, and sometimes even a red ball that had fallen in. He would toss the ball over to us, and even though it did kinda-sorta smell of dead leaves and whatever else had ended up in the sewer, we were delighted to have it.

If someone in the hood had gotten a recent large appliance delivery, we would commandeer the box, stuff a couple of kids in it, and hurtle down the steep banks in front of the houses on our side of Winchester Ave.

If a delivery truck of some sort was parked on the street, we liked to scamper underneath it, always on the alert for someone turning the engine on. Whee!

We liked to go scrounging door to door, ringing doorbells to see if someone would give us something to eat.

Gladys "Chubby" Smith was a favorite port of call, because she always had candy and always welcome us into her living room, where she sat in a stuffed armchair chain smoking and eating candy, and where her obese cat Sylvester occupied the stuffed armchair opposite Chubby's.

And then there was the Anderson-Johnson house, where two of the three flats were taken by members of the Anderson-Johnson family.

The Johnsons were super kind. Super kind Bobby Johnson was in college, but when he was around, he'd always spend a few minutes tossing a ball - maybe even the little red sewer ball - with us. (Bobby went on to a career as a teacher and school principal. In 1984, his mother - the super kind Lillian Johnson was murdered. She was no longer living on Winchester when she was killed, but down nearer to Clark University. The cold case was solved in 2007 thanks to DNA evidence.)

Miss Anderson, the super kind aunt(I think) of Lillian Johnson lived on the first floor, and when Miss Anderson was at home, we struck it rich. She always gave us each a nickel or a Milky Way. And if she wasn't home, or if we'd already exhausted our weekly nickel or Milky Way allotment, we could always pick up the conch shell outside the front door, which had her spare housekey hidden in the shell's fold, and listen to the ocean.

There aren't many sounds that to me are lovelier or more evocative.

And now, it seems, there may be another use for the noble conch shell.

Blowing into a conch shell could help tackle the symptoms of a sleep disorder that affects millions of people across the UK, according to a study. Conch blowing, also known as shankh blowing, is an ancient ritual that involves breathing in deeply and exhaling into the spiral-shaped shell. The practice could improve sleep for patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), which usually needs to be treated with uncomfortable machinery, according to the research. (Source: The Guardian)

I don't know whether he was ever officially diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, but my late husband was a snorer. Wish this had been known back in the day, as we would definitely have invested in a conch shell. Or two. One for Jim to blow into, and one for me to listen to the ocean with. 

“Shankh blowing is a simple low-cost breathing technique that could help improve sleep and reduce symptoms without the need for machines or medication,” said Dr Krishna K Sharma, who led the research.

“The way the shankh is blown is quite distinctive. This action creates strong vibrations and airflow resistance, which likely strengthens the muscles of the upper airway, including the throat and soft palate, areas that often collapse during sleep in people with OSA.”

The most common form of treatment for sleep apnoea is a continuous positive airway pressure (Cpap) machine, which involves patients wearing a mask that blows pressurised air into the nose and throat while asleep. Previous research has also found that playing a woodwind instrument could help with the condition.

Although the machines are effective, they can be uncomfortable, leading the researchers to suggest that shankh blowing could be a promising alternative.

Sounds quite promising. And picking up a conch shell on eBay (or in a beach-side gift shop) is cheaper than a breathing machine or investing in a woodwind instrument. Plus easier to operate. Playing a bassoon or saxophone is hard. But we all know how to use a conch shell. It's just like whistling. Just put your lips together and blow.

Image Source: Wikipedia