Whew! Finally! I get to remove my street shoes – the Sperry Top Siders – and put on my evening wear – Clogs (size 11 to accommodate my made in Canada thick mohair therapeutic socks from The Real Wool Shop in Carleton Place). And sit down! As enthused as I am by the inexpressibly magnificent weather we’ve had this autumn, the pervasive reality – the splash of cold water so to speak – is my increasing paralysis (or at least, decomposition and withering). Thank gawd for Tylenol Arthritis 650 mg each caplets! Honestly I wouldn’t survive without them. Instead I’d be in a condition of constant complaint. Pain is an uncompromising additive. Yet, without the pain, and perhaps the help of some THC/CBD – well, we’re on the road again!
Nonetheless it’s good to get off the road and to sit down. My stick doesn’t improve my mobility, We’ve had what for us has been a busy day today. Up at 6:30 am this morning and sitting at the front door of the local optician’s office at 8 o’clock (when they opened) to collect the new spectacles. Thereafter – in accordance with last evening’s eager initial intention – it was off to the grocer’s emporium. I say “initial” intention because we discovered upon awakening this morning that the ‘fridge was acting up and we thought that might necessitate delaying the grocery shopping. However upon reconsideration we argued there were enough packaged goods and supplies required to make the attendance worthwhile. In the end – naturally – we collected the lot (packaged and fresh) – while conveniently rationalizing the matter. But my point is this: it all takes time!
After unloading the cargo and “putting it away” – the hour was already after ten o’clock. The splendid day continued to unfold. Even before I could contemplate a leisurely moment in the brilliant sunshine on the balcony, obedience called! Recognizing that we were due at the dentist’s office by one o’clock for our quarterly teeth cleaning, I reasoned that I had sufficient time to dart in and out of the city for a car wash (my personal metaphor for “drive my amazing electric automobile”). I confess the daily ambition is no different from the gentleman who turns on his model train in the basement in order to career it about the winding track on the elevated plywood platform decorated with imagery trees, buildings and people. It’s a toy!
While driving – windows open, savouring the uniquely fresh air – I listened to POTUS on SiriusXM. I aim – as a preliminary only – to get the full story, the view from every side.
POTUS is Politics of the United States. Politics from all points of view with Michael Smerconish, Dan Abrams, Julie Mason, Steve Scully, the editors of RealClearPolitics, and more. Spirited interviews with representatives from both sides of the aisle. Legal analysis of breaking stories, panel discussions, and daily recaps of everything happening in Washington, D.C.
I chewed upon the words from the radio. It wasn’t long before I quit the station in monotonous frustration. I asked myself why these talk shows spend all their time condemning others instead of the opposing advocates asking themselves (even without the monitors) what the goal should be? The problem for the putative combatants is themselves not the resolution they pretend to seek. Either it’s impossible or it ain’t. I prefer the latter. So why mess it up with the stage show of futile wasteful argument that is mutually punishing only? Evidently it gets them nowhere.
Regrettably the stalemate that persists among national leaders is nothing but a continuing embarrassment which by their own independent acknowledgment is of greater damage to the public than to the legislators themselves who distortedly presume to maintain their efficacy by such egregious misconduct.
But before I had time to recover fully from what I am now convinced is the American model of “decline and fall”, we stationed ourselves at the office of Dr. Naji Louis DDS for teeth cleaning. We have been going there for about the past thirty years. Dr. Louis’ sustained credibility pointedly derives from not only what he recommends but also what he repudiates. In short his diagnosis is balanced, removing the decision from unsupported but perhaps expedient options. As the late Louis de la Chesnaye Audette, QC OC knowingly said to me of similar medical matters, “It’s my doctor’s concern!” We have accordingly relied upon Dr. Louis’ professional advice and intelligence on dental matters. Dr. Louis and I spoke beneficially today about an upcoming extraction to involve a trusted endodontist in Ottawa.
Our familiarity with the excellent staff has admittedly caused us often to engage in personal discussions which delay the accomplishment of the task. Today for example I chatted with (or more exactly, interrupted) my hygienist about her children. They, the children, have both become indisputable successes already – distinguishing themselves on the playing field (specifically hockey – each boy and girl as “centre” of their respective teams). Mother proudly ells me as well glowing things about the personalities of the children, aged 11 (boy) and 15 (girl). I admit to a vicarious pleasure from hearing these accounts. Inarguably children are our future.
It was thus – almost reluctantly (because the weather continued its spectacular favour) – that we at last returned replenished to our residential seat where (as you may have already gathered) I am now at my desk, looking upriver across the field of bristling corn stalks beneath the slanting late afternoon sunshine.