behindtheax

a little less wisdom

The trip up north was fun. Huntsville is a pretty town and very quiet this time of year. The sap was running in the maple trees and we did the tour while a very well spoken tour guide explained how this sweet sap was discovered. A native American would stick the blade of his tomahawk high into the trunk of a tree every evening to keep it away from the kids in the camp and one day when he pulled it out, sap ran down the tree and collected into a bowl. A woman from the village thought the sap was water and used it when cooking deer that evening, boiling the sap down into a syrup, giving the meat a sweet taste.

After we visited the trees, we went back to the sugar shack and the guide explained the entire operation to us and we got to sample many things maple. The maple cider was particularly good. The most wonderful part of the day was the sun. It was ten in the morning and this strong, brillant sun was coming through the bare tree branches giving the snow beneath our feet a polish, all these little crystals of white snow slowly turning clear along the edges, running off in little streams here and there. I took some pictures. When I downloaded them onto Greg’s computer and transferred them over to mine they looked fine but then when I tried to put them on my blog they wouldn’t come across well. I will try again tonight. It was a great weekend.

Yesterday I finally did something I had been putting off for twenty years. I had my wisdom teeth removed. OUCH! I had to have it done under a general anaesthetic at the hospital, which was fine with me but it left me more than groggy for the rest of the day. The reason I had it done at the hospital is because I had a splenectomy when I was young so my risk of infection is a little higher than some.
Anyway a stitch in time does save nine. So, if your wisdom teeth are bothering you, it is a good thing to get them looked after. And besides waking up with chipmunk cheeks, I feel fine. Another thing he told me is to take it easy for a couple of days and that is just the way I like to take it.

Two more rejection letters yesterday.

Although spring is my favourite time of year it does feel a little empty knowing my sister isn’t around to enjoy all the new buds, the smell of sun baked mud, the cups of tea with my other sisters on the glider outside my father’s home. I would love to be doing that right now. Sitting with all of them. The glider fits six. There is a washer toss set up right next to it. I can imagine it is still covered with snow but the wood on the glider would be warm today. Everyone’s spirits would be up and we would probably all be having a great laugh over something trivial. My sister Sandy would have been laughing the hardest. That girl laughed at everything. When you come right down to it, it really is the small things we remember most – it has so little to do with making our mark on this world, getting that promotion, getting that bigger house, that long sought after recognition – it is cups of tea and laughing at something trivial and moving the glider back and forth. I miss my family today. I miss my sister.

posted by mary j. @ 10:49 AM