I'm still hurting, so I'm not a happy camper at the moment. At least I'm down to regular Tylenol only twice a day, but I really want this ache to go away. And it's still hard to chew on the right side!

However, this did not stop me from enjoying lunch out with Michelle and Brian yesterday. We ended up at the Bamboo Shoot where I had honey garlic chicken on coconut rice. Not the best for blood sugar readings, but wonderfully yummy.

Old Adam, the Carrion Crow

Old Adam, the carrion crow,
The old crow of Cairo;
He sat in the shower, and let it flow
Under his tail and over his crest;
And through every feather
Leaked the wet weather;
And the bough swung under his nest;
For his beak it was heavy with marrow.
Is that the wind dying? O no;
It's only two devils, that blow
Through a murderer's bones, to and fro,
In the ghosts' moonshine.

Ho! Eve, my grey carrion wife,
When we have supped on king's marrow,
Where shall we drink and make merry our life?
Our nest it is queen Cleopatra's skull,
'Tis cloven and cracked,
And battered and hacked,
But with tears of blue eyes it is full:
Let us drink then, my raven of Cairo.
Is that the wind dying? O no;
It's only two devils, that blow
Through a murderer's bones, to and fro,
In the ghosts' moonshine.

Thomas Lovell Beddoes
1803 - 1849

My mouth still hurts - I'm starting to get very grumpy about all this. And I'm tired of chewing only on the left side of my mouth!!!!

My mouth is still bothering me, but I have managed to avoid getting dry socket, so that is a plus. And a very good thing, as my dentist has closed up his office for 2 weeks and I would have had to phone around until I found another dentist you would be able to look after me. I'm still chewing only on the left side of my mouth - hopefully I can stop that in a couple of days.

This is becoming a "don't wanna" day - I should be working on Sisters' books, I should be stripping the bed and washing the mattress cover, I should be stitching . . . but I don't wanna do any of it. It's a very good thing there is no one here who has to listen to me. There will probably be SOME stitching done, but I'm even lacking enthusiasm for that at the moment - probably because I'm doing a LARGE and boring block of orange that has to be finished before I can continue on to something a little more interesting.

Brahma

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanish'd gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.

Ralph Waldo Emerson
1803 - 1882

Well, the wisdom tooth extraction did not go as smoothly as the one 3 weeks ago. My appointment was shifted to 4 pm and I wasn't actually in the chair until 5 and then it took my dentist an hour of prying and tugging to get the tooth out. Obviously my teeth like being in my mouth! So, not only is the extraction area sore, but so are my right cheek and the corner of my mouth he was pressing on. But I haven't bruised, which really surprises me. So, I'm living on Tylenol 3s and smooth soup (to make sure nothing gets in the cavity) until tonight. Tomorrow I can start chewing soft stuff, carefully. Not surprisingly, I have a headache and it's a good thing I get to stay home today, as I would not be good company at all. The cats don't care if I whine and complain as long as I feed them!

The Chambered Nautilus

This is the ship of pearl, which, poets feign,
Sails the unshadowed main, --
The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer wind its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings,
And coral reefs lie bare,
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming hair.

Its webs of living gauze no more unfurl!
Wrecked is the ship of pearl!
And every chambered cell,
Where its dim dreaming life was wont to dwell,
As the frail tenant shaped his growing shell,
Before thee lies revealed, --
Its irised ceiling rent, its sunless crypt unsealed!

Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year's dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step its shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.

Thanks for the heavenly message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea,
Cast from her lap, forlorn!
From thy dead lips, a clearer note is born
Than ever Triton blew from wreathed horn!
While on mine ear it rings,
Through the deep caves of thought I hear a voice that sings: --

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!

Oliver Wendell Holmes
1809 - 1894

Supposed to be having another wisdom tooth extracted today, but the dentist's office has called and there has been an emergency, so I have to call back around 3 and see what's what. If things are going well, they will fit me in about 4, if not, will have to rebook at another date. I'm not sure which is worse - the waiting or the actual extraction.

"After great pain, a formal feeling comes"

After great pain, a formal feeling comes --
The Nerves sit ceremonious, like Tombs --
The stiff Heart questions was it He, that bore,
And Yesterday, or Centuries before?

The Feet, mechanical, go round --
Of Ground, or Air, or Ought --
A Wooden way
Regardless grown.
A Quartz contentment, like a stone --

This is the Hour of Lead --
Remembered, if outlived,
As Freezing persons, recollect the Snow --
First--Chill--then Stupor--then the letting go --

Emily Dickinson
1830 - 1886

I know I've been MIA for a couple of weeks, but there hasn't been much to talk about. Stitching, housework, Sisters, reading, sleeping - just the usual bits and pieces of life.

Anyone who has read "Alice in Wonderland" will recognize this one.

How Doth the Little Crocodile

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail,
And pour the waters of the Nile
On every golden scale!

How cheerfully he seems to grin,
How neatly spreads his claws,
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws!

Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson)
1832 - 1898

Apparently this is a parody of a poem by Isaac Watts - or at least the last two verses of it.

How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower?

How skillfully she builds her cell!
How neat she spreads the wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet food she makes.

Personally, I think the last line of this one falls a bit flat - the meter is off or something.

I seem to be living in slow motion these days and I can't blame having the wisdom tooth pulled - that stopped bothering me after the second day. Mind you, I haven't slept well or long for a few nights now, so that doesn't help much.

The Man He Killed

"Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have sat us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

"But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

"I shopt him dead because--
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

"He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand--just as I--
Was out of work--had sold his traps--
No other reason why.

"Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat if met where any bar is,
Or help to half-a-crown."

Thomas Hardy
1840 - 1928

Haven't done a lot of stitching over the past few days, so must get back at it. The deadline keeps approaching even though it seems a long way off at the moment. I don't want to be doing all day, late night marathons at the end.

A very nice sunny day - we've had several in a row which has been lovely. Maybe August will be our summer.

Neutral Tones

We stood by a pond that winter day,
And the sun was white, as though chidden of God,
And a few leaves lay on the starving sod;
-- They had fallen from an ash, and were gray.

Your eyes on me were as eyes that rove
Over tedious riddles of years ago;
And some words played between us to and fro
On which lost the more by our love.

The smile on your mouth was the deadest thing
Alive enough to have strength to die;
And a grin of bitterness swept thereby
Like an ominous bird a-wing. . . .

Since then, keen lessons that love deceives,
And wrings with wrong, have shaped to me
Your face, and the God-curst sun, and a tree,
And a pond edged with grayish leaves.

Thomas Hardy
1840 - 1928

It has been a quiet weekend, but I seem to be healing without any problems, so I've enjoyed it.

The Ruined Maid

"O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown!
Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?
And whence such fair garments, such prosperi-ty?"
-- "O didn't you know I'd been ruined?" said she.

-- "You left us in tatters, without shoes or socks,
Tired of digging potatoes, and spudding up docks;
-- And now you've gay bracelets and bright feathers three!"
"Yes: that's how we dress when we're ruined," said she.

-- "At home in the barton you said 'thee' and 'thou,'
And 'thik oon,' and 'theas oon,' and 't'other'; but now
Your talking quite fits 'ee for high compan-ny!" --
"Some polish is gained with one's ruin," said she.

-- "Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek,
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!"
-- "We never do work when we're ruined," said she.

"You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,
And you'd sigh, and you'd sock; but at present you seem
To know not of megrims or melanchol-ly!" --
"True. One's pretty lively when ruined," said she.

-- "I wish I had feathers, a fine sweeping gown,
And a delicate face, and could strut about Town!"
-- "My dear -- a raw country girl, such as you be,
Cannot quite expect that. You ain't ruined," said she.

Thomas Hardy
1840 - 1928

Quiet day today. Had my upper right wisdom tooth pulled yesterday afternoon, and while it wasn't the traumatic experience of my last one, it's still sore enough to merit no action. So, it looks like reading and stitching will occupy my time.