The Beat Goes On---Cardiology-wise

 Now there are protests against both hospitals, I guess. I didn't realize cardiologists could be held hostage. The chant could be, "Non-compete--You Should Retreat!"  But with law firms available for both sides, wouldn't  you think all parties should know what they're getting into. 

Dream

 I am in a large building that  is filled with books. I think of it as a library, but it is a bookstore. I see  someone I know and ask how long do they think it would take to read every one of those books. Then I decide that it would take a lifetime just to take each book from the shelf and  put it back. I wonder whose job it would be to do that.

As I walk by, I see a magazine on the edge of a table. I pick it up. The title is *(intriguing, but now it escapes me), but then I look again and the title reads Better Homes and Gardens, so I return it to where it was . 

  There is a film strip or stream of buildings and towns playing against one of the walls. Looking at it, I ask if that is my old house I recognize  and Dave answers yes it is. I look closer, catch a glimpse, but the film strip is moving too fast, showing other cities, Watervliet and such.

I  meet with Travis, who I am to help with his school work. He is holding  an assignment sheet and a  dictionary in his hands. He has been  a very good student academically, but seems reluctant to work on this assignment. I help him define  several of the assigned words, using the dictioary as a prompt, as the assignment required. But for some reason, he is perplexed by one of the words; that word is "redo" and I search the dictionary and it is not to be found, so I tell him that re means again and just say  it means to do again. Admittedly poorly defined, but he wants to be done with it for the day. He packs the assignment away, with 2 words left, says he'll finish later. 

I go outside and talk with his sister Tiffanie and a very wiry young girl who aspires to be  a professional athlete. She wants me to compete with her in a show of strength, but I good-naturedly decline. She is content to just show her strength. 

 We look over at the winding path to the building and Dave is climbing the slope along with a young boy, engaging with him in light conversation as they climb the approach. They are passed by a handsome young runner, who zooms by.

* The main reason for writing this blog entry is that all night long I was haunted by the title of the magazine I'd picked up in the bookstore, and as I began to write, the title wafted away, presumably lost forever.

  

Confirmation 1924

 HermanThomas Schroder, Jr.   February 24, 1924  Confirmation

Grocery Store "Amnesia"

 I won't use the other a-word, too predictable. 

  I don't keep a grocery list. Now I just replace the regular items as needed. But about 3 weeks ago, I noticed one item was almost depleted, so I added it to my mental shopping list. But when I got back from grocery shopping, I realized I had forgotten to buy it, so I wrote it on a slip of paper near my phone.  A few days later, I noticed another item was also running low, not a regular purchase, so I wrote  that on the piece of paper with the first item, noting that both items started with the letter c. When I arrived home after the next shopping trip, I realized I had bought the second item, but again had forgotten the first. 

  I was at the store yesterday and knew I had to get that forgotten item, the one beginning with the letter c which was on the slip of paper on the counter, and it was not the Clorox. I could not remember what that item was. It started with c, was not routinely used, and I could recall that it was packaged in a box, in multiple servings but I could not remember what It was. I walked down each aisle in the store, thinking I could spot it, but that was fruitless. The first thing I did when I got home was to look at that piece of paper with the several-times-unpurchased item. A rectangular package, seasonable usage, multiple sections:  Of course, it was c****. How could I have not been able to recall that!

The Cardio Offense (or maybe Defense)

Ellis Hospital just announced that 22 cardiologists are leaving St. Peter's to join Ellis Hospital practice. Rather heartbreaking, when you think about it. 

Blue PiePlate

 

M. had delivered a freshly baked apple pie several days ago. The empty dish, washed, was on the counter. ready for return. Last night, while I was on the computer, Dave appeared, holding the plate and a dish towel, remarking how intricate the design of the plate was, and how  many levels needed special cleaning. He seemed absorbed by it, and wanted to talk about it. I, busy with something else, just said that it needed to be returned, along with another blue dish, and added that the plate had once been Dorothy's. 

  So we're in the car, setting off to  return the dishes. Dave is not in the mood to talk, and I regret not having responded much to his previous comments. The road is long and winding, and snow has  fallen, so of course I am a little concerned about the driving conditions. The route is familiar, but seems rather treacherous, and at one point Dave chooses a longer way around rather than the more familiar direct route. I ask him why, but he nonchalantly dismisses the question. We continue, in the oncoming darkness and snowfall. We both realize now that we are returning the plate to Dorothy. It seems we are never going to get there. And we don't. 

Submerged Reality

David was here and said he was going to take a walk down to the old place and see how things were going. He was happy and looked fit, wearing a bright  geometric plaid  print shirt. He had just left when Juliet said she and her friend wanted to join them on the walk. I noted she was wearing white shorts and knew she would be visible on the roadside. So the two little girls started out to catch up with David. As they ran off from here, I could see the white shorts were obscured by the foliage, but was confident they would quickly join David and be safe. A short time later, David arrived back home. He was smiling as he told me  Juliet was going to take Michael Madigan and one of his friends on a tour of the village. The humor was in her, as a newcomer, wanting to show Michael around his old stomping grounds. But he had evidently agreed. My only concern was how Juliet and her friend would get back here since it would soon be getting  dark. I wasn't worried, figuring Michael wouldn't let them walk home in the dark. ****It must have been what we call a dream, unless it was a scene from an alternate version of life. Maybe at some point, we get to choose.