MY 'TOOFIES'

It began undramatically enough  . . . my dentist was explaining

options for dealing with one of my tooth crowns that had a 'challenge'.  Among the choices was to remove the remaining top teeth (I already had a partial denture) and put in a 'full set'.

Among my first thoughts . . . isn't that something that 'old people' do?  Quickly counting my 79 birthdays, I concluded that I may now be among that grouping.   I remembered that dad obtained his full set when he was about 40.

Dentists and I have had a long-term relationship.  As a pre-adolescent, without so much as asking parental opinion, I went by Dr. Marvin Jones's office one afternoon after school to have a procedure done.  And, along with many (most ?) adults, I have vivid memories of wisdom teeth extractions. (OUCH !, 50 years later.)  Someone told me that any time he hears an extolling of 'the good old days', he has a one word rebuttal: "Dentistry".

    Now this !  At a preliminary consultation with the oral surgeon, she assured me that I would be well sedated and have no memories of the procedure.  Was she ever right !!  A Halcion tablet 45 minutes prior to the appointment had me well on the way.  Following the 25 mile drive (of which I remember nothing), I remember arriving at her office, sitting in the chair and the anesthetist preparing the IV.  I have no recollection, however, of seeing the surgeon.  Today when I returned for removal of stitches, she told me that indeed we had had a brief, friendly chat before she began.  If she says so . . .

There are other gaps of time for which I have no memory . . .

the drive back to my local dentist for the dentures (yep, same morning), returning home, my wife going to the pharmacy, and who knows what else !

In the 'now they tell me' category:  From a booklet provided from one of the the Dentist: "Adjusting to dentures or partials is challenging.  You will have to re-learn basic things such as eating and speaking clearly. You may struggle initially, but it will get easier as you adjust to your dentures."

The late Lewis Grizzard commented that surgery would change one's attitudes about narcotics.  Although the strongest post-surgery med that I had was 600 mg of Ibuprophen four times daily, that was                                                                                                         generally adequate.  There followed several days of dietary supplemental drinks with SOFT fare coming later.

     Now, 9 days later,  most of the soreness is gone and I have a tier of 'pearly whites' that attest that I have experienced one of those Adult Rites of Passage.

         A couple of days ago, someone posted a video on Facebook of a woman blowing out birthday cake candles and in the process, blowing out her dentures.  I'll be careful when blowing out candles.  I guess my big challenge will be determining whether I can eat corn of the cob.

Satchel

TO HATE OR NOT TO HATE . . .

       If within the past two or three days you have had access to television, the internet, or any other form of electronic communication, you have seen the pictures.

    Charlottesville, Virginia, home of Thomas Jefferson's University and a symbol of tolerance became the site of an outpouring of hatred reminiscent of intolerance visited upon German cities prior to World War Two.  Article One of America's Constitutional Bill of Rights spells out without equivocation the  "right of the people peaceably to assemble  . . ."  When many of the 'protesters' came armed with high-powered weaponry, 'peaceably' did not rank high in their intentions.  

    It would be easy to fall into a kind of cynicism suggested by the late Eric Hoffer in The True Believer: "hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all unifying agents."
After all, the long-ago radio  drama, The Shadow, always answered  the question, "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?" with "The Shadow knows."  Evil (or to render its theological name, Sin) has been around for a long time and likely will remain.

     Is there an antidote or an alternative?  There are those among us who believe otherwise.  

    In the past two days there have been several  Facebook posts of Nelson Mandela's saying that "no one is born hating another person because of the color of  his skin or his background or his religion . . . People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love . . . For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."  Somewhat like the song in the  1958 musical South  Pacific ..."You've got to be carefully taught . . ."

    There is that often overused, misused and misunderstood word ---LOVE.  It is not always synonymous with LIKE. Here I am not relying on some kind of soppy, mushy or even affectionate emotion.  Rather, how about words like compassionate, kindness, shared humanity ?  

     Whether one is an adherent, a believer, a practitioner or not, the Judeo-Christian scriptures offer alternatives to the  violence: "He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
And, perhaps the best known single verse in the Christian Testament: "For God loved the world so much . . ."  If one is to claim "Christian" as an identifier, then loving that which God loves becomes the bedrock.  

     I know; some would dismissively call these platitudes.  Try it. I suggest that it takes courage ---variously defined as 'the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain ...    with out fear' and 'mental or moral strength to venture, persevere , and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.' With that can come risks and consequences . . . personal, political, relational just to name the more obvious.   The Englishman, Edmund Burke, long ago noted that "the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

    Hate groups have no legitimate place within the fabric of civilized society !

     Satchel

    

LONG, HOT, DRY SPELL

   

   There has been no significant rain in our town in weeks.  A couple of times the skies looked promising --- many days of 90* temps, occasional dark clouds, and a bit of rumbling, and a splatter.  Wasn't like that earlier in the Summer . . . rains came frequently, lawns remained lush, plants and flowers flourished, days were mild.  Then, it just stopped !  Consequently, there have been many hours spent watering the vegetation.

    I have not heard the "D" word yet spoken (Drought). There do seem to be lots of beach vacation pictures posted on  Facebook; frozen yogurt and ice cream sales are strong; few coats and ties are being worn and lots of folks checking The Weather Channel.  Remembering my vow made in Winter not to complain of Summer heat, I 'plug along' (regional dialect for 'persevere').  

    Recently, realizing  that I have not written a blog post since June 15, I concluded that 'long dry spells' can also find parallels in my creativity and just plain disinclination to write. Perhaps that was part of the imagery that prompted Nat King Cole's song about The Lazy Hazy Days of Summer

     An Episcopal priest friend describing his rejuvenating Nantucket vacation years ago acknowledged that he had reached the  point that "I had nothing to say and no great desire to say it."  

   At times like this I remember the story of someone's asking an old Vermont farmer, "Reckon it'll rain?" to which he answered, "Always has.".  And, now, the tv meteorologists are hinting  for a wet week ahead.

    Can you locate your raincoat and umbrella ?

        Satchel