I’ll Try Not To Die

When your father is dying from pancreatic cancer and you ask him what he wants you to do after he is gone he probably won’t appreciate your saying ‘I’ll try not to die.’

I know this from experience.

When you have an allergic reaction to a medicine you have never taken before and your face swells up the doc you see might tell you to pay close attention to whether you begin to have trouble breathing.

He might not appreciate your saying I’ll try not to die.’

I know this from experience too.

I could tell you to read the Should I Care post for more information on some of this or simply say the moon is Waxing Gibbous and lasts until the full moon.

So yeah, blame my mix of insouciance and feisty upon an almost full moon and my desire to feed a monkey a banana.

Blame it upon having broken three of the four chains that bind me and irritation over not having broken the fourth one…yet.

Forty Years & This is What Happens

There is a rash on my neck that I thought I had taken care of. It seems to have come as a result of a dry shave I did.

Been shaving for at least forty years now and I have never had this happen. I don’t typically do a dry shave but was in a bit of a rush and seemed to have irritated my skin.

I figured it would go away after a few days and when the rash didn’t I took advantage of technology and scheduled a video appointment with a doc.

He got a few photos of my neck and the pleasure of seeing me extend in multiple directions on camera. He prescribed a cream that he said would clear it up and advised me to go in person if I had trouble breathing.

I told him I’d try not to die and he chuckled. I thanked him for his sense of humor.

The rash came back out of the blue today and I have done a fine job of scratching my neck so it is nice and red. I’ll resume using the cream upon it twice a day and see what happens.

If it doesn’t clear up I might try using some colored sharpies to create an interesting picture upon my neck and when people stare I will look at them and say “my eyes are up here.”

*****

I told some of my daughter’s friends about the time I told my sister’s former fiance if he didn’t shape up I was going to rip off his arm and beat him with it.

The moment took place at my parents house and my favorite memory is when my dad told the former fiance he should leave because he didn’t think he could stop me if I chose to go through with my promise.

Everyone laughed when I told this story and I made sure my eyes were filled with mirth so I didn’t look like a total psychopath, just a partial one.

It’s 20 years since those heady days and the former fiance, Dad, the house and much of my hair is long since gone.

I thought about some of these things for a variety of reasons not the least of which is I was asked today if I ever get upset about anything.

“It depends on what and who it is. I can be kind of feisty and tenacious about some things.”

It was hard not to laugh while saying that but it demonstrates to me some growth and maturity. Not that people might not have asked it years ago, but it was less likely.

The beauty of having been through some of the wars is you get better at figuring out what is worth devoting energy to and what isn’t.

Part of what I like best about writing is the ability to blow off steam. I can come here and tap upon the keyboard and walk away feeling like I let go of the ridiculous.