Less than three weeks now before take off - I'm starting to feel like an astronaut.
More developments on the health front though. I did have my old root canal re-done one week ago. Not a pleasant experience to be sure, but really, at least for me, not a horrible one either. I've had three root canals now over a period of twenty plus years, two originals and one repeat, and none of them have been horrible. Yes, I know I have a relatively high pain tolerance (this has decreased with age, and I imagine it will continue to decrease, but apparently it's still "relatively" high), but really the pain factor is mitigated by dental anesthesia anyway during the procedure, and ibuprofen was sufficient afterwards, so it's more about discomfort and unpleasantness than pain.
One week on and I have only a minimal residual discomfort when I move my jaw certain ways; almost completely gone. No ibuprofen needed. Coincidentally enough (?), or is it a cause and effect phenomenon (?), but I began feeling better the same day of the root canal; afterwards that is. I can't say if getting to the "cause of the infection" (as the endodontist called it) is responsible for this, or the oil of oregano I took (recommended by Ellie, our massage therapist), or the colloidal silver (recommended by me), or the few days of fasting or the pranayama I've begun doing regularly (also recommended by me), or a combination of any of these, but I seem to have turned the corner, and I continue to feel more like who I remember myself to be. Good energy, no exhaustion, not feeling like a piece of discarded old rag.
I want to give credit primarily to the fasting and the pranayama, but that may just be my yogic fantasy speaking. Or not. I know that doing pranayama, which I haven't done formally forever, is infusing my body with vital energy. I told Quinn, our acupuncturist, about this, and how I think it is replacing the jogging that I did for decades and can't physically do any more, which routinely strengthened my heart and lungs, and he agrees. He's treating me for, among other things, a weak lung pulse, so this all fits in with his understanding. In any case, I'm liking doing it, and I'm liking the effects. And, not insignificantly, the timing is terrific.
Today, hopefully the last of my invasive dental visits for a good long while, in which the permanent crown was put onto the broken tooth that led to the discovery of all the rest. I may or may not get in for the annually recommended full exam and twice annual cleaning before we leave. I suspect that there may be something going on on the other side of my mouth - where my other root canal resides - but maybe that will keep itself contained for a while longer, and maybe I'll need to deal with it in Thailand. All prayers gratefully accepted.
Still a bunch of stuff to get packed away; still a few chores to tend to around the house; farewells to be made; last minute unforeseen details that will no doubt present themselves. Still, now that I'm feeling better, I've begun to happily anticipate our departure. This has been tempered by other changes though, in which I've had to adapt myself to the major shift in what was planned to be a year or year and a half away, and what is now a mere six months, before we must return for the happy (God willing) birth of our first grand child in April of 2017, in Seattle.
Aaron and Saly very much want Nancy to be there, and Nancy very much wants to be there. I suppose I occupy the stereotypical male dimension in which the necessity of this eventuality doesn't register with me in anything like the way it does for Nancy. That is, I don't have to be there. In this situation though, the feminine wisdom will prevail, and we will be there, my initial disappointment at the decrease in our time away notwithstanding. And not only that, but as long as we're back in the States, we might as well hang around for 3 1/2 months (ughhhh!) so that we can attend Adam's - Nancy's nephew - wedding to Kate in July, in Colorado.
I know I'm grousing. It's just what I do when things I'm attached to don't go the way I want them to. I always come around. I suppose I could come around faster, but then I guess I'd miss the fun of griping, and of giving Nancy a hard time.
The current plan is that we will return to Thailand in July, and remain for....................who knows? At this moment it seems the best course to remember the title of this blog, and just leave it all open. Too much futurizing isn't generally a happy strategy, so I'm practicing being grateful for what we have, what we are able to do, and what will come.
One final note: this past Saturday night I had the immense joy and blessing of reuniting with the original kirtan band that we formed 2 1/2 years ago in Santa Fe, when Sitaram Dass, the founder of and inspiration for the band, and for the weekly kirtan that has continued after his departure, returned to town for a retreat, and for one kirtan at the yoga center. The four of us came together after more than a year apart, and played for a devoted group of Bhakti yogis. If I say so myself, the church was rockin'! And it was, well, divine. Deep thanks to all.
More developments on the health front though. I did have my old root canal re-done one week ago. Not a pleasant experience to be sure, but really, at least for me, not a horrible one either. I've had three root canals now over a period of twenty plus years, two originals and one repeat, and none of them have been horrible. Yes, I know I have a relatively high pain tolerance (this has decreased with age, and I imagine it will continue to decrease, but apparently it's still "relatively" high), but really the pain factor is mitigated by dental anesthesia anyway during the procedure, and ibuprofen was sufficient afterwards, so it's more about discomfort and unpleasantness than pain.
One week on and I have only a minimal residual discomfort when I move my jaw certain ways; almost completely gone. No ibuprofen needed. Coincidentally enough (?), or is it a cause and effect phenomenon (?), but I began feeling better the same day of the root canal; afterwards that is. I can't say if getting to the "cause of the infection" (as the endodontist called it) is responsible for this, or the oil of oregano I took (recommended by Ellie, our massage therapist), or the colloidal silver (recommended by me), or the few days of fasting or the pranayama I've begun doing regularly (also recommended by me), or a combination of any of these, but I seem to have turned the corner, and I continue to feel more like who I remember myself to be. Good energy, no exhaustion, not feeling like a piece of discarded old rag.
I want to give credit primarily to the fasting and the pranayama, but that may just be my yogic fantasy speaking. Or not. I know that doing pranayama, which I haven't done formally forever, is infusing my body with vital energy. I told Quinn, our acupuncturist, about this, and how I think it is replacing the jogging that I did for decades and can't physically do any more, which routinely strengthened my heart and lungs, and he agrees. He's treating me for, among other things, a weak lung pulse, so this all fits in with his understanding. In any case, I'm liking doing it, and I'm liking the effects. And, not insignificantly, the timing is terrific.
Today, hopefully the last of my invasive dental visits for a good long while, in which the permanent crown was put onto the broken tooth that led to the discovery of all the rest. I may or may not get in for the annually recommended full exam and twice annual cleaning before we leave. I suspect that there may be something going on on the other side of my mouth - where my other root canal resides - but maybe that will keep itself contained for a while longer, and maybe I'll need to deal with it in Thailand. All prayers gratefully accepted.
Still a bunch of stuff to get packed away; still a few chores to tend to around the house; farewells to be made; last minute unforeseen details that will no doubt present themselves. Still, now that I'm feeling better, I've begun to happily anticipate our departure. This has been tempered by other changes though, in which I've had to adapt myself to the major shift in what was planned to be a year or year and a half away, and what is now a mere six months, before we must return for the happy (God willing) birth of our first grand child in April of 2017, in Seattle.
Aaron and Saly very much want Nancy to be there, and Nancy very much wants to be there. I suppose I occupy the stereotypical male dimension in which the necessity of this eventuality doesn't register with me in anything like the way it does for Nancy. That is, I don't have to be there. In this situation though, the feminine wisdom will prevail, and we will be there, my initial disappointment at the decrease in our time away notwithstanding. And not only that, but as long as we're back in the States, we might as well hang around for 3 1/2 months (ughhhh!) so that we can attend Adam's - Nancy's nephew - wedding to Kate in July, in Colorado.
I know I'm grousing. It's just what I do when things I'm attached to don't go the way I want them to. I always come around. I suppose I could come around faster, but then I guess I'd miss the fun of griping, and of giving Nancy a hard time.
The current plan is that we will return to Thailand in July, and remain for....................who knows? At this moment it seems the best course to remember the title of this blog, and just leave it all open. Too much futurizing isn't generally a happy strategy, so I'm practicing being grateful for what we have, what we are able to do, and what will come.
One final note: this past Saturday night I had the immense joy and blessing of reuniting with the original kirtan band that we formed 2 1/2 years ago in Santa Fe, when Sitaram Dass, the founder of and inspiration for the band, and for the weekly kirtan that has continued after his departure, returned to town for a retreat, and for one kirtan at the yoga center. The four of us came together after more than a year apart, and played for a devoted group of Bhakti yogis. If I say so myself, the church was rockin'! And it was, well, divine. Deep thanks to all.
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