Color Me Done!

I have been poked and prodded, studied and examined, from head to toe—well almost. Within a very few weeks, I have been to the cardiologist, the dentist, the endodontist, the podiatrist, the ophthalmologist, and my family physician. I have worn a Holter monitor, had a mammogram, learned that my eyes aren’t as good as I thought and rechargeable batteries are no longer available for my hearing aids. I have had blood drawn and, today, a root canal. I am through, I tell you---through, through, through!

Mostly, the intensity of my medical update is my own fault. During the omicron surge, I cancelled appointment after appointment. When it comes to medical matters, I am not one to do it today if I can put it off till tomorrow. Eventually, of course, my conscience catches up with me—along with a little voice that says, “what if?”

Anyway, today was the root canal. I will not lie and say I was not nervous, because I was. Afraid of the fear and anticipation. I would not want to have the procedure often, but it was painless—just a lot of lie still, don’t move, and don’t’ swallow kind of stuff. The doctor was kind, the set-up incredibly efficient and professional—and now it is behind me. I am so grateful.

I read a blog today by an author who is a good friend. We’ve never met, but we’re Facebook friends, and we agree on a lot of things. Today she wrote about distraction in these difficult times—how hard it is to write. I really found that true these last few weeks when I was so occupied with medical matters—and dread of the root canal. All that seemed to pile on top of Ukraine trauma and global worry, for what Putin has done attacks not just Ukraine but the balance of the global system.

I think most of us, at one time or another, think what’s the point? What’s the point of putting one foot in front of the other, if the world as we know it is going to end? Oh, I’m not talking about nuclear holocaust, though that possibility looms on the horizon again as it did in the 1950s. I’m talking about a change in world order—from democracy to autocracy, Fascism, dictatorship, whatever you want to call it when a handful of the entitled rule and have all the wealth while they make life miserable for the rest of us. As a person of faith, you can’t tell me that is what God intended for our earth.

We see all the danger signs, the biggest of course being the ongoing brutality in Ukraine. But never overlook the small warning signs here at home—book banning, laws passed by the states that over-ride the Constitution and a Supreme Court that seems inclined to look the other way, the denigration of public education in favor of charter schools, the overreach into people’s personal lives, be it their reproductive life or their parenting of trans children.  It’s all very scary.

The blog I read today gave me pause about one thing: the cozy mysteries (hopefully humorous) that I write seem so insignificant, so trivial in the face of the world situation. But neighbor Mary reassured me tonight that people need the distraction, they need to escape to another world. And heaven knows, as an author, I need that other world too.

So tomorrow, I begin again after a hiatus, putting one word on top of another until, the Lord willing, I end up with a novel. It’s a challenge I’ve issued to myself.

You too, no matter what your life consists of, can put one foot in front of the other. And then contribute in whatever way you can to support the people of Ukraine, to fight censorship and authoritarianism here at home. None of us can afford to sit back in complacency.

Remember the words of William Faulkner in his 1949 acceptance speech at the Novel Banquet in Stockholm: “I believe that man will not only endure. He will prevail.”

Preaching over.

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