I have recovered in more ways than one.

I have recovered from the vacation.  That is always good.  I was disappointed that the Lilacs were not blooming while I was there.  So I checked when I got home and mine are closer then they are in Kansas!  That worries me because they have always been two weeks ahead of us.  Looks like the predictions that the climate zones are shifting are right on target.  Oh, well, not much I can do about that.
Today is my annual trip to see the doctor.  For the record, I do not like to go and since I am much like the wonderful one horse shay from the days of yore I am waiting for the big one.  You remember that poem?  I do not want to go look it up and quote it right now, so I will just tell you the jist of it is that a craftsman of years ago built  a wagon for a horse to pull and used the best of everything and did such a wonderful job that it lasted until one day when every piece gave out at exactly the same time.  I think my body will do that!
But I want to tell you about the old Doctor back in our home town.  He was located in a small red brick building that sat in the middle of the block between the church on the corner and the start of the Main Street downtown.  I do not remember his name or anything about him except that during my growing up years I was very sickly and since mother worked cleaning houses her hours and his were not always the same.  If momma could not get me in during office hours, he would come to the house.
Sometimes I would have an earache so bad I bled out my ears.  Then I would be constipated and next it was diarrhea.  High fevers were the normal at my house.  Stomach aches that kept me in bed were frequent.  Doctor figured I would never live to see adulthood.
Finally for lack of anthing else to do, he took my tonsils out.  Never had another sick day in my life.  I am now old enough to be considered old  and I take one thyroid pill a day.  And I go to the doctor once a year because I am supposed to go.  But, you know, I think back on the days when Doctor came to the house.  Do doctors make house calls now?  I do not think so.  And where I go is a 5 story building with labs and specialists and doctors and optometrists and about any service you can imagine.  A far cry from that little 4 room brick building on Main Street where one man and his nurse, who was also  his wife, dealt old time medicine to the people in Nickerson.
I have not been down the mainstreet lately, but I will go in August.  Going to see if that little building is still there.  I know the church built a big place out on the highway.  I know the school is no longer across the street from the church.
Time marches on.

Oh, hell! I am falling to pieces before my very eyes!

I have always prided myself on how well preserved I am.  Hard to convince people that I am actually 70 years old.  Well, now it may be catching up with me.  My foot has been hurting since last September, so I decided to go have it checked out.  Now before you get all excited thinking why did I put it off, I will tell you. 
See I was setting a new stock tank for the geese.  That entailed digging.  I thought I had probably bruised my foot.  So I kind of took it easy for a few days.  Then it was October and I began to think maybe I had sort of did the hairline fracture thing so I started doubling up on the Calcium.  By then we were just past Thanksgiving, and then there was Christmas to contend with and then New Years.  So this was actually the first chance I had to see Doctor. That and the fact that I seemed to recall a woman who had stepped on a needle and years later it showed up on an x-ray.  This sure felt like a needle.
So I called and of course, Deb got me right in. 
Doctor was very surprised to see me and after exchanging pleasantry's he checked my chart.  Now bear in mind that my blood pressure is always right there on the normal number and never fluctuates.  Well, except today when it found it necessary to jump up 12 points.  So here I sat with a needle in my foot ready to break loose and head for my heart and the elevated blood pressure.  I tried to explain to him that when she took my blood pressure, we were talking.  This really tickled him. 
"So when you talk your blood pressure jumps up?"
"Well, no, but I am under a lot of stress."
"Stress from what?"
"Well, that needle in my foot that is probably moving steadily to my heart while we are talking for one thing!"
"X-ray will pick up a needle like that!"  Course he snapped his fingers, because that is what they do. "Now what else?"
So I explained about how busy I have been selling on ebay.
"Oh, dear, making money stresses you?"
I told him about the big ice glacier in my front yard.
"Oh, dear, ice stresses you?"
I told him about all the things I do in my "spare time".
"Oh, you would rather vegetate?"
To make a long story short, the man knows me very well and he puts up with no crap and excuses.  I love him and have since the first day I met him.  That day when he walked into the exam room the first time and said, "Why are you here?"
And I said, "Since you are my new doctor, I wanted to meet you."
And he said, "So do you want a Colonostomy?"
And I said, "Do I look like I want a Colonostomy?"
And he said, "So then, why are you here?"
And I said, "Because if I have a major coronary and wind up in the emergency room I would at least want to know that you recognized me as one of your patients.  I do not take pills for my Cholesterol, and I will let you know if I have any needs.  Blood test once a year so you can tell me it is high and adjust my thyroid.  That is about it."
But now he is making Doctor noises and since I do love the man dearly and have gotten used to living on this planet I guess I will keep an eye on the old blood pressure and seems like the x-ray came back and there is not a needle in the old foot after all.  It is a spur and if it continues to bother me, "we" will do something about it which will entail a knife and a needle which strikes fear in my heart.  So the wiccan brought me some stuff to try and I will kind of try to stay off the silly thing a little more.  Oh, and I'm going to mix me up a concoction of cider vinegar, honey and garlic.  Garlic cures everything, including spurs and blood pressure!  Oh, yeah, vampires, too!
And being single and uninvolved, I can pack away the garlic!  Yes!  Life is good even if I am falling to pieces a bit at a time.