We spent most of the day getting to an urgent care an hour away from the resort. Nick was up most of the night. His cough sounds scary, but it didn't quite reach into my gut and twist. It's getting worse though. The hardest part was that we waited for a hours in the back of a drug store to get to see a doctor. The good part was that the doctor seemed to know what he was about when it came to viral-induced asthma.
Oh, this isn't what we had in mind when we came here, but we didn't really have a plan for the day, so nothing was seriously spoiled. We found things to do while we waited in the chairs at the back of the drug store. Mike and I took turns shopping for little things while the other kept Nick company. Mike bought a bag of Combos, some Hawaiian chips, and two cans of Pringles. I bought a bottle of nail polish, proud that I'd held out from buying the twenty dollar bottle of a color I didn't like from the spa earlier. I was tempted to paint my nails while Nick played with my iPhone. I knew that the minute I got polish on a nail, Nick's turn would come up and I'd smudge it. I'd nearly forgotten about what a pain it was to set aside a time to paint my nails only to have the phone ring and smear a nail trying to answer it or to have to pee and wrangle with a zipper.
While Mike went to get something to eat and stop at the Starbucks for me, Nick got bored with the games on my iPhone, so I asked him if he could make the Vulcan sign for 'Live long and prosper.' Piece of cake. Then, I told him to put his ring and middle finger together and separate his pinkie and index fingers to make a 'W.' Still not too hard. I told him to go back and forth between them. Not as easy. Nick could do it, but his hand was shaking with the effort. About that time, Mike got back with a mocha. Nice. Mike got it down after a couple of tries. Good eye-hand coordination from all those video games.
Next was to see the hot dog in space. I told them to look at me steadily and to point their index fingers at each other in front of their eyes, then to bring them together slowly until they could see the hot dog floating out in space. That made them laugh. Good one.
I asked Nick if he could bend the last joint on one of his fingers without bending any of the rest. I'm not sure either of them could manage that one. These are the things I learned to keep myself occupied while I waited for a doctor's appointment. Invaluable, aren't they?
When it was finally our turn, we'd reached that Zen level of waiting for an appointment that could have gotten us through an entire day of waiting. We could feel infinity.
In the evening, Mike and I walked out onto the rocks by the beach while Nick watched a movie. Actually, they weren't rocks. It was a single rock, lava rock that looked as though it could impale you if you slipped where it met with the water. There was motion written into it, swirls, spikes, bubbles that had burst and frozen that way. It was hard to walk on and I felt as though it cut up the soles of my shoes. How old was this rock? Not that old, in rock time, I would guess. It wasn't worn down all that much. How long before this rock was worn down to look like an ordinary rock? Infinity.
Thank you for listening, jb
Oh, this isn't what we had in mind when we came here, but we didn't really have a plan for the day, so nothing was seriously spoiled. We found things to do while we waited in the chairs at the back of the drug store. Mike and I took turns shopping for little things while the other kept Nick company. Mike bought a bag of Combos, some Hawaiian chips, and two cans of Pringles. I bought a bottle of nail polish, proud that I'd held out from buying the twenty dollar bottle of a color I didn't like from the spa earlier. I was tempted to paint my nails while Nick played with my iPhone. I knew that the minute I got polish on a nail, Nick's turn would come up and I'd smudge it. I'd nearly forgotten about what a pain it was to set aside a time to paint my nails only to have the phone ring and smear a nail trying to answer it or to have to pee and wrangle with a zipper.
While Mike went to get something to eat and stop at the Starbucks for me, Nick got bored with the games on my iPhone, so I asked him if he could make the Vulcan sign for 'Live long and prosper.' Piece of cake. Then, I told him to put his ring and middle finger together and separate his pinkie and index fingers to make a 'W.' Still not too hard. I told him to go back and forth between them. Not as easy. Nick could do it, but his hand was shaking with the effort. About that time, Mike got back with a mocha. Nice. Mike got it down after a couple of tries. Good eye-hand coordination from all those video games.
Next was to see the hot dog in space. I told them to look at me steadily and to point their index fingers at each other in front of their eyes, then to bring them together slowly until they could see the hot dog floating out in space. That made them laugh. Good one.
I asked Nick if he could bend the last joint on one of his fingers without bending any of the rest. I'm not sure either of them could manage that one. These are the things I learned to keep myself occupied while I waited for a doctor's appointment. Invaluable, aren't they?
When it was finally our turn, we'd reached that Zen level of waiting for an appointment that could have gotten us through an entire day of waiting. We could feel infinity.
In the evening, Mike and I walked out onto the rocks by the beach while Nick watched a movie. Actually, they weren't rocks. It was a single rock, lava rock that looked as though it could impale you if you slipped where it met with the water. There was motion written into it, swirls, spikes, bubbles that had burst and frozen that way. It was hard to walk on and I felt as though it cut up the soles of my shoes. How old was this rock? Not that old, in rock time, I would guess. It wasn't worn down all that much. How long before this rock was worn down to look like an ordinary rock? Infinity.
Thank you for listening, jb
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