Other moments...

I'm a little bit over excited. Doubtlessly this is still due to the unrest I felt while waiting to hear from the vet about Tykes eye. I was quite uneasy about it, because when he called right after the operation, he said that Tyke's eye was bleeding quite a lot and that he had to put a collar on him straight away. He said he would call me when he thought Tyke was well enough to go home and then I didn't hear from him for a long time, so I envisioned all sorts of scenarios that involved a lot of blood. Your imagination does take a hold of you.

Anyway, at one point I was wound as tight as a violin string and I could have snapped if it had gotten any tighter, so I thought I had better take those tranquilizers I had not been taking in the afternoon. They helped me quite a bit and I felt a lot calmer afterwards and able to think more rationally. So, when the vet called with good news, I very calmly walked over there with my umbrella and was greeted by a happy, drooling Tyke who was still drowsy, but ready to go home.

We walked home slowly. Tyke was a little wobbly, but we made it in one go. He's asleep now on the sofa, still under the influence of the anesthetic and still drooling a lot. I won't get much movement out of him this evening, but I'm proud of him for walking home. He does have good instincts.

The cats were very happy not to have him home and luxuriated under all the undivided attention they got. Toby got as much cuddling in as he could and couldn't believe he could walk around the living room without being chased by a power hungry dog. Gandhi walked around looking in all the corners for Tyke, but couldn't discover him anywhere and I think she liked it. She has a very ambivalent relationship with him. I'm hoping for the day when Tyke will become mellow and leave them alone. God only knows when that will be. It may take a while. At least for today they are safe.

I got my hair cut earlier in the day. I walked over there and enjoyed the ambiance of the shop while I waited for my turn. I had an interesting conversation with a nine year old boy who wasn't too shy to talk to an old lady. I haven't talked to anybody that young in a long time and it was fun. I wanted to say, "Come here and give me a cuddle," but I don't think he would have liked that very much. It would have looked odd. There's nothing better than cuddling a kid. You just have to be related to them.

I looked up a haircut I liked in one of the books of examples that was lying there and showed it to the young woman who was going to cut my hair. It was the most perfect way to get my point across. She did a good job and cut it to the perfect length. It's not too short, but short enough to be manageable and easy. First, though, I got my hair washed with wonderful smelling shampoo and a little head massage. I do love that part.

But the wonderful part is watching the haircut take shape and seeing your own face emerge under a new hairdo. That's so refreshing. Especially when it's cut well and it falls into place the way you had imagined it. My hair always looks lighter when it''s been cut and I like the color, so I really do undergo a metamorphosis. I feel like a new person when I'm done. Same old body, but a new head.

When I got ready to leave the shop. a deluge started. The rain came down very hard and I had no umbrella. Another customer, unknown to me, had an extra umbrella and lend it to me with the request that I bring it back to the shop when I was done with it. I thought that was awfully kind and it was a good thing too, because I would have been soaked to the skin if I had walked home without it. Good Samaritans are out there.

On another subject, I had been having slight headaches and had been ignoring them, but then I also started getting dizzy and I started to wonder why. To make it as simple a solution as possible for myself, I thought it might be because I wasn't wearing my glasses. That was mainly out of vanity, because I thought they made me look uglier than I was and I wanted to prevent that at all costs. But what the heck, people with glasses aren't ugly. That's just a prejudiced point of view. I see people with glasses all the time and never think that.

So, I got out my glasses and cleaned them and put them on. It took me about an hour of wearing them to get used to them, but then I could see clearly and the next day my headaches were gone and I don't get them now until I take my glasses off and I instantly don't see well anymore. That's how much my eyes have made the adjustment. I put them on the first thing in the morning and take them off the last thing at night.

The funny thing is that nobody realizes that I have them on. Nobody does a double take or gives any sign that they wonder what's different about me. So, it makes no difference at all, the same as wearing no make up. People just see the essence of me. Not the little details. I don't have to worry about that at all. It's so silly to spend time fretting over those things. People just accept you as you are. That's it. There is no judgment.

We're too obsessed with that one vision of beauty that we all have to attain and dismiss the looks of the majority of the people in this world. I am boycotting the whole notion and liberating myself from the narrow idea that we should all look like Hollywood stars or catwalk models. I'll go my own way and find satisfaction in that. Why should I, at my age, try to look differently? I want to be healthy, yes. But I don't need to look eternally young and glamorous. I do want to age with grace and respect.

Well, I've had my say and I've told you the story of my day. Tyke is breathing very rapidly. I suppose that's from the anesthetics. I must keep an eye on him tonight.

Ciao,
Nora