So much for that grand excursion.
Murphy’s Law in the form of a muffler clamp caught in a snowbank and detaching from the car sent us rattling to the nearest car repair place. The Baron got it fixed, but the dentist said a half-hour delay wouldn’t work with his schedule. Sigh. That means another appointment. It’s difficult to smother one’s glee at a missed dental appointment… postponing the necessary is both stressful and a relief.
Now, all those layers of clothes are peeled off and here we are, open for comments.
Fire when ready, y’all.
By the way, there’s an old saying ’round here that took me many years to decipher:
I’ve mentioned this before but we have lots of new readers since the last telling of this tale. Around here, as people take leave of one another, sometimes their parting remark is, “See you soon, God willing and the creek don’t rise”…
Sounds like rural-South-speak, right? Not quite. Those rising creeks were once Creek indian tribes who, in fact, did often rise against The Encroaching White man, rising so far as to kill off the residents of small villages in the area. Creeks weren’t the only one tribe. Coastal Virginia still has a small Indian population; there are two remnants.
Here’s a brief wiki on two of the remaining Indian tribes who actually have their own reservation and make a modest living from the tourist trade.The Mattaponi is one of them.
According to archaeologists, indigenous peoples of successive cultures have been living in the area now called Virginia for as long as 15,000 years
Schloss Bodissey is on a plateau or ridge some distance from the James River. The small creek in back of us must have been a popular spot for the Woodland Indians, who appear to have used what is now our property as a seasonal stopping place. This was more or less three thousand years ago. [Or so we were told by an archeological grad student who spent a lot of time studying Colonial artifacts along the coast and dated our find with some authority.]
Every time we dig in the garden, we’re on the lookout for arrowheads and spear points, chipped from the abundant quartzite rocks in the soil. When they excavated here for the foundation of our house addition twenty or so years ago, a beautiful intact spear point was unearthed just a few feet down. One of the carpenters told me such a find was good luck for the house. And so it has been.
I imagine Brits must feel the same sense of awe when they unearth some Roman artifact or other and hold it in their hands. It’s a strange feeling to hold in the palm of your hand an artifact that was crafted three thousand years ago.
…there are precious few “aborigines” left. Not enough to “rise up”, anyway — as the Creek once did when they believed they had a chance to push back against the encroachment of the barbarian White Man. ’Twas ever thus.
Dominance isn’t eternal. When our home is gone some generations down from now, curious people will be digging the soil. I wonder what will remain for the curious.
Great news! The executioner has the flu. Can we make it another time?
Heh.
I’m doing my best to deflate the large balloon of relief. I remind myself how fortunate I am to have a good dentist.
The old adage is that anticipation of the event is worse than the actual event itself. I believe the person who stated that was waiting for his head to be removed from his body at the Tower of London.
But having written all that, I still hate going to the Dentist!
I used to when we lived in Alberta, my dentist just jammed the needle in and wondered why I groaned! Told him he needed needle training; he said the problem was the patient! Then we retired to British Columbia and I lucked into finding the world’s best dentist–so good I feel nothing, actually anticipate a visit to him, not to mention the lovely young dental hygienist who gave me a big Christmas hug!
What a practice! And he never uses amalgam.
Hello Peter. For your info, I have a head full of amalgam, but as yet, no discernible side effects.
Well that is, at least to my knowledge.
One of our dear friends (female) is a dental nurse so I know what you are saying – special people!
Actually, the last Dentist I had to visit was from Canada. But knowing that doesn’t make the next visit any less anticipatory.
Over and out!
Hi Nemesis, look, that’s just the point you’re missing about amalgam–you don’t know until you get it taken out, which I did about 35 years ago.
Did I notice any difference? Yes. Or rather my wife did, she said for the first time in our marriage, (over 20 years at that time) I fell asleep shortly after hitting the sheets. I had always been a poor sleeper.
FGS, it’s a poison, and it’s right there in your mouth! (head)
We’re all different, as you know, so some react more noticeably than others. Of the people I’ve spoken to who had their amalgam taken out, all reported benefits.
Do it, what have you got to lose? You can only become better! Cheers, Pete
Amen. It can sure improve your health…and today NO dentist would use any mercury amalgam…for a long time, when it was the most efficient material available they swore by it. As soon as better technology came along, they were more than willing to admit, “well, yeah, there could be problems…”
Depending on your dental degradation, it can be expensive, though. Not as expensive as the same amount of time for a procedure done by an MD, though. Imagine if you took up 90 minutes of a good doctor’s time. Whoo-boy! Dollars fly out the window.
A rule in any kind of health care is that when it’s not covered by health insurance, medical care (think Lasik procedures for eyes) tends to be cheaper and prices don’t increase over time they way they do with mainstream medicine.
An example: in the US, most of the “hearing-challenged” folks cannot afford the so-called medical care of being fitted for hearing aids. It’s about three thousand dollars. However, entrepreneurs found a narrow clause in the laws that allows them to sell “enhanced hearing devices” for anywhere from two hundred to five hundred dollars. The only difference is you don’t have a doctor to call when they don’t work well (or you’re having a hard time adjusting to them). The better companies have excellent customer service, though.
Now some docs are getting around mainstream medical practices by going to a cash-only basis. No insurance, though with some of them you can purchase flat-rate care, i.e., you pay a flat rate a year for your care and it covers a certain number of uncomplicated office visits. It’s just them and a receptionist – no paperwork.
“Dominance isn’t eternal. When our home is gone some generations down from now, curious people will be digging the soil.”
When I read that my first reading of curious was curious as in strange, not curious as in inquisitive. Just an accidental misreading or reflective of our increasingly tenuous position as dominants? Who knows? But interesting. Call it a report from the field.
My dentist is painless.
“Need a filling done and you’re on the run, Bohdaine. He don’t lie, you don’t cry, Bohdaine!
No apologies to J. J. Cale
So’s mine..I killed him..lol But serioosly(sic), I heard they’re pretty high on suicide stats..Sorry no link..and sorry no hideous after/before shots..Uh teeth shots..Mine..Just sayin’..
I went 20 years without a visit to a dentist. I spent around 5 years casting about trying to find one that was recommended, the last 2 or 3 of those with an on-again off-again tooth ache. Once I was back in the dental chair my teeth were in great shape considering the lack of cleanings and x-rays. Chock it up to good toothpaste, I guess. The sore tooth was cracked and needed a crown, but that was the sum of the damage.
The dentist I found was great, but she retired. The colleague she referred me to is in many ways better, at least how he has his practice structured. And after each visit they send me off with a little bag with a travel size toothpaste, floss, and a nice toothbrush with and imprint of the dentist’s name. What they don’t know is that, since I have an electric toothbrush, the brush they give me ends up on the work bench where it cleans car parts.
I always thought God willing and if the Creeks don’t rise was the nice way of saying Come hell or high water. Learn something everyday.
“…..Creeks don’t rise…” Yes, got that, we do indeed learn something; thanks D!