Finally, FINALLY, I’m feeling better which only bolsters my
theory on the recuperative powers present in the visit by one of my children. Just the prospect of this weekend’s visit by
the daughter and son in law was enough to help me turn the corner. Now that I think about it, this week’s storm
also prevented my weekly lunch with the son which must have barred an earlier recovery. Never underestimate the medicinal effect of a
filial hug.
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| We Lucked Out With Only 3" of Snow this Time Winds Were Fierce Though - Most of Driveway was Clear While Others Had 2' Drifts |
On a slightly more scientific level my wife may have pinpointed
the vector responsible for the illness.
She has continued her cleaning rampage through the house following her
return from Panama
and finally reached the master bathroom.
She discovered a greenish tinge of algae inside of the tank of a waterpik
I use each day on my teeth. Unbeknownst
to me she’s been cleaning the thing for me all along. Since it just held water which was dumped
after each use I thought it never got dirty.
Her extended absence put lie to that theory and for the last couple
weeks I was dosing my mouth daily with some pretty nasty stuff.
She took a photo of the reprehensible conditions she found to
provide audiovisual augmentation to the obligatory lecture. She adamantly refused to release the photo to
me (knowing it would appear here) saying she didn’t want anyone knowing that
such a filthy object existed in her house (her’s not our’s). She forbade me from writing about it here as
well (I’ll think about that). She didn’t
make the connection to my illness until I helpfully added that to our “discussion”
which only further elevated her scandalous regard for my ability to take care
of myself. I ended the conversation by
saying this is why I should not be left unsupervised for so long.
It’s strange during my time in the infantry I lived in field
environments for months at a time around the world, from jungles to deserts to wintry
Tennessee to summery Georgia (the worst)
and never had health issues. Two months
without the chief of domestic sanitation in residence and I fall apart; being a
civilian is tougher than it looks (no sergeants).
I just finished a book that should be required reading for
any lover of the canine species, A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. A friend mentioned the book on Facebook and
it was on my Kindle about 35 seconds later.
This is one of the times I miss having a real book because I would love
to pass this on to some of the other dog lovers in my family (they are legion).
The book tells the story from a dog’s perspective. The narrator moves through several lives as
he dies and is reborn in series of other dogs retaining the lessons and memories
from his prior lives.
This grabs you by the heartstrings from the very beginning as
we see the dog react to human behavior, both good and sometimes horribly
evil. It’s so funny to see the dog
reacting to cats and other animals – it rang so true. Pseudo-intellectuals will dismiss a book like
this but this was some of the best fun I’ve had in a while (it’s akin to the
secret shame of still loving the old Disney movies). It didn’t hurt that in one of the dog’s lives
he was named “Bailey” (name of my sister’s dog) and his climatic life is as a
black lab named (that’s right – you guessed it!) “Buddy”. If you love dogs read this book. Even those socially damaged people who do not
appreciate dogs will find something to like in this book.
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| My Buddy |
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