I'm Out Of Here

Start my trip to Maine today and not sure if I will have the time or ability to blog while I am gone. If I can, see you soon, if not, be back in a little over a week. Have fun while I'm gone.

What A Difference A Day Makes

(I know there are major events happening in Iran and that the worries of one little person does not amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, even though, since I can not control what happens in the world, I will continue to focus on the little part of it that is mine. At the same time I will keep the people of Iran in my thoughts. God be with you.)

Actually, what a difference three days make. Friday I walked into my dentist office with a feeling of great apprehension. As the dental assistant closed the door to the small room I now occupied, after informing me that the doctor would be in shortly, I started crying. I got myself under control in a few seconds and then my doctor walked into the room and I lost it again. I told him not to worry, my tears had nothing to do with him and all to do with my childhood. For me my teeth had become a reminder of the neglect my siblings and I had undergone. I understand that some of the neglect, perhaps even all of it, was partially due to my mother fears. She had many and dentists were one of them.

Having the teeth pulled should have taken less than twenty minutes but it took almost two hours. The tooth that was being reabsorbed by my body broke just at the line between good tooth root and damaged tooth root After taking an x-ray my dentist showed it to me and pointed out the small section of tooth that was still in my mouth. Not only had the tooth broken off but the X-ray also showed that the root of the tooth did not end in a point but in a curved like a hook. This defect had not shown up in past X-rays because it had been hidden but now, since he had moved the tooth around in an attempt to extract it, it was visible.

As he worked I realized that my head was moving slightly in reaction to what he was doing and I so put my hand to the side of my head to hold it steady. He asked me if I was doing OK and I gurgled out a yes while a tear slid down the side of my face. He stopped what he was doing and reached over to pick up a square of gauze and used it to gently wipe the tear track from my face. That bit of kindness almost caused me to break down.

I have had lots of work done on my teeth and never reacted the way I did this day. I was not afraid but I realized that at this point I had all the muscles in my body so tense that if I had dropped to the floor I would have reacted like a Corelle plate, not breaking but wobbling back and forth. I thought why is this taking so long? Am I making this harder than it should be because I really do not want to loose the tooth? As I was thinking this my doctor said out loud to himself more than to me, "It's as if the tooth doesn't want to come out."

At this point I almost lost it completely. I never felt so alone in my life. I was afraid and I needed help so I called for my mother. "Mom, help me," I begged.

What I wanted was for the doctor to miraculously hold the bit of tooth up and say, "I've got it!"

What I got was the feeling that my mother was in the room with me and a utter sense of calm and peacefulness. I stopped fighting what was happening to me and relaxed. It took a few more minutes but with me helping the doctor by letting him know what I was feeling (pressure changes, the tooth moving, the instrument he was using hooking onto the tooth) the root came out.

My gum is healing nicely and the temporary bridge, known as a dental flipper, is only a little annoying. Hopefully I will get used to it. Eating with it will be a bit of a challenge but I think I can handle it until I get the permanent one.

I Cannot Stay, I Came To Say I Must Be Going

Still working at the library this morning. We got a good start yesterday but also realized how big the job is going to be. Every single book has to be re-cataloged into the computerized database. This will probably take the whole summer. Then this afternoon I go to the dentist. God, how I dread this right now. My husband said he will take me to the dentist office and wait there for me. It always feels good knowing someone has your back.

Now for your entertainment, Groucho Marx singing Hello, I Must Be Going from the film Animal Crackers (1930).



(Groucho Marx as Spaulding)
Hello, I must be going,
I cannot stay, I came to say, I must be going.
I’m glad I came, but just the same I must be going.
La La.

(Margaret Dumont as Mrs. Rittenhouse)
For my sake you must stay.
If you should go away,
You’d spoil this party I am throwing.

(Spaulding)
I’ll stay a week or two,
I’ll stay the summer thru,
But I am telling you,
I must be going.

(All)
Before you go,
Will you oblige us,
And tell us of your deeds so glowing?

(Spaulding)
I’ll do anything you say,
In fact I’ll even stay!

(All)
Good!

(Spaulding)
But I must be going.

(Zeppo Marx as Jamison)
There’s something that I’d like to say,
That he’s too modest to relay.
The Captain is a moral man.
Sometimes he finds it trying.

(Spaulding)
This fact I emphasize with stress,
I never take a drink unless - Somebody’s buying.

(All)
The Captain is a very moral man.

(Jamison)
If he hears anything obscene, He’ll naturally repel it.

(Spaulding)
I hate a dirty joke I do,
Unless it’s told by someone who -
Knows how to tell it.

(All)
The Captain is a very moral man.
Hooray for Captain Spaulding, The African explorer.

(Spaulding)
Did someone call me shnorrer?

(All)
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.

(Jamison)
He went into the jungle where all the monkeys throw nuts.

(Spaulding)
If I stay here I’ll go nuts.

(All)
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.
He put all his reliance, In courage and defiance,
And risked his life for science.

(Spaulding)
Hey, hey.

(Mrs. Rittenhouse)
You are the only white man to cover every acre.

(Spaulding)
I think I’ll try and make her.

(All)
Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.
He put all his reliance, In courage and defiance,
And risked his life for science.

(Spaulding)
Hey, hey.

(All)
Hooray for Captain Spaulding, The African explorer.
He brought his name undying fame
And that is why we say, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.

(Spaulding attempts to speak)
My friends, I am highly gratified at this magnificent display of effusion and I want
you to know.........

(All)
Hooray for Captain Spaulding, The African explorer.
He brought his name undying fame
And that is why we say, Hooray, Hooray, Hooray.

(Spaulding)
My friends, I am highly gratified at this magnificent display of effusion and I want
you to know.........

Hooray for Captain Spaulding, The African big hero.....

Well, somebody’s got to do it!

Rushing Into The 20th Century

Working all day in the library as we start automating (computerizing) the book check out process. Today and tomorrow are set up and learn the system days.

So, How You Doin'?

Not too badly, although it has turned out to be a busier Spring than I expected. I have almost rested up from all the travelling I've already done but next week I fly to the coast of Maine to visit a friend and then in mid July I head for Pagosa Springs. It would not be so bad if I was not constantly weary. This weariness, I have discovered, is caused by a chronic infection in one of my teeth and the mild depression that has accompanied it. I have been on antibiotics, which I hate, for the last month and a half, mainly because I wasn't sure just what to do about the tooth.

I knew the only cure for the infection was to have the tooth removed but I dreaded the idea since having the one tooth pulled was not the limit of the treatment. I've already had a tooth removed and now I have to have the infected tooth pulled along with another tooth who's root is being reabsorbed by my body.

This is all happening because of an accident when I was a child but in my mind I equated having the teeth removed from my mouth with not taking good care of my body and I felt ashamed. I thought to myself that if I had only taken better care of my teeth none of this would be happening; the ways in which we beat ourselves up. Anyway, I finally realized that all the teeth I am loosing are the ones I damaged as a child and that I can now truthfully say I lost them all in a car accident. This thought cheered me up immensely.

So, on Friday afternoon I get the two teeth pulled and a temporary bridge put in. In about four months, after my gum heals, I will go back to the dentist and a permanent bridge will be installed. In anticipation of the couple of days of down time that I will be experiencing after my "procedure," I have assembled a few books to read while I lay on the couch willing my body to heal as quickly as possible. All the books chosen will take me to distant times and places, all will make the time pass quicker, and all will keep my mind off of my missing teeth.

Yeamans Hardware (New And Old)

The oldest business in Akron, Colorado at the corner of Highway 34 and Main Street. Not only did the Yeamans family own the hardware store, they owned the town mortuary and built caskets in the basement of the store. I'm guessing that was only done in the building on the right.

(Go here and enter Yeamans Hardware Store in the search box to see a photo of the original 1885 building. Click on that photo to enlarge it.)

We Visited Some Exciting Places While We Were Gone

Bob and Duke in beautiful downtown Otis, Colorado

Travel Day

Heading home today after what seems like a very long time away. Have a great weekend everyone.

Stop The Madness

And yet another hate filled person goes on a shooting rampage.


From the musical South Pacific.

Spoken:
Emile: I do not believe that this is born in you. I do not believe it!

Cable: It's not born in you. It happens after you are born.

Cable sings:
You've got to be taught
To hate and fear
You've got to be taught
From year to year
It's got to be drummed
in your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught
To be afraid
Of people whose eyes
are oddly made
And people whose skin
Is a different shade
You've got to be carefully taught

You've got to be taught
Before it's too late
Before you are 6 or 7 or 8
To hate all the people
Your relatives hate
You've got to be carefully taught

Damn, I Missed The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards This Year

Hair:The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical won best musical revival.

She asks me why...I'm just a hairy guy
I'm hairy noon and night
Hair that's a fright
I'm hairy high and low
Don't ask me why- don't know!
It's not for lack of bread
Like the Grateful Dead, darling

Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there (Hair!)
Shoulder length, or longer
Here baby, there mama, everywhere daddy, daddy

Hair! (Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair)
Flow it, show it,
Long as God can grow it, my hair!

Let it fly in the breeze and get caught in the trees
Give a home to the fleas in my hair
A home for fleas, a hive for bees
A nest for birds, there ain't no words
For the beauty, the splendor, the wonder of my hair

Flow it, show it,
Long as God can grow it, my hair!

I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy
Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty
Oily, greasy, fleecy, shining
Gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Knotted, polka-dotted
Twisted, beaded, braided
Powdered, flowered, and confettied
Bangled, tangled, spangled and spaghettied!

O-oh, say can you see, my eyes
If you can, then my hair's too short!
Down to here, down to there,
I want hair down to where
It stops by itself!
doo doo doo doo doot-doot doo doo doot

They'll be ga-ga at the go-go
when they see me in my toga
My toga made of blond, brilliantined, biblical hair
My hair like Jesus wore it
Hallelujah, I adore it
Hallelujah, Mary loved her son
Why don't my Mother love me?

Hair! (Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair)
Flow it, show it,
Long as God can grow it, my hair!

Hair! (Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair)
Flow it, show it,
Long as God can grow it, my hair!

Hair! (Hair, hair, hair, hair, hair, hair)
Flow it, show it,
Long as God can grow it, my hair!