Moose was being annoying Thursday afternoon. Isabel had been here the first half of the day so he knew Thursday was a bonus treat day — four treats as opposed to the usual three. His yowls became so incessant that San Geraldo finally began to sing: “Shoo fly, don’t bother me.” Maybe not the best choice but he knew the first line. Then he looked puzzled. I figured he was trying to come up with the next line. But, no.
“What’s a shoe fly?” he asked. Sometimes I just want to kiss his adorable, complicated head. I explained it was shoo, not shoe. “Oh, yeah. I knew that,” he said.
I’m still improving. Sciatica hasn’t disappeared but it’s not too bad. I had no idea what a long way I had to recovery. I’m still taking paracetamol every 6 hours. One paracetamol would knock me out for an entire day, so four in 24 hours makes me feel like a potted plant. SG had been giving me an injection every day to reduce the risk of after-surgery blood clots. I had my last one yesterday (injection, not clot). Major progress. I buzz cut my head yesterday. It was a bit of work. I usually don’t wait two weeks between buzzes and, where my hair still grows, it grows thick. A half hour standing in front of the mirror and then a shower. What excitement. I walked around the apartment and terrace and sat at my desk for breakfast. Two hours on the move and out of bed. I was then back in bed for a bit (because the paracetamol kicked in).
The annual Sevilla tourism hot air balloon was back on the beach this morning. I watched from the terrace. Some time back, San Geraldo told me he liked something so much, it warmed the cockles of his mind. I always thought cockles were in your heart. SG is very special.
Moose estaba molesto el jueves por la tarde. Isabel había estado aquí la primera mitad del día, por lo que sabía que el jueves era un día extra de aperitivos: cuatro en lugar de las tres habituales. Sus aullidos se volvieron tan incesantes que San Geraldo finalmente comenzó a cantar: “Shoo fly, don’t bother me”. [Espanta, mosca. No me molestes.] Tal vez no sea la mejor opción, pero conocía la primera línea. Parecía desconcertado. Me imaginé que estaba tratando de llegar a la siguiente línea. Pero no.
“¿Qué es una mosca del zapato [shoe]?” preguntó. A veces solo quiero besar su adorable y complicada cabeza. Le expliqué que era shoo, no shoe [zapato]. “Oh sí. Lo sabía”, dijo.
Todavía estoy mejorando. La ciática no ha desaparecido, pero no es tan mala. No tenía idea del largo camino que tenía para recuperarme. Sigo tomando paracetamol cada 6 horas. Un paracetamol me dejaría inconsciente durante un día entero, así que cuatro en 24 horas me hacen sentir como una planta en una maceta. SG me había estado poniendo una inyección todos los días para reducir el riesgo de coágulos de sangre después de la cirugía. Tuve mi último ayer (inyección, no coágulo). Gran progreso. Ayer me corté el pelo. Fue un poco de trabajo. Por lo general, no espero dos semanas entre cortos y, donde todavía me crece el cabello, crece grueso. Media hora de pie frente al espejo y luego una ducha. Que emocionante. Caminé por el apartamento y la terraza y me senté en mi escritorio para desayunar. Dos horas en movimiento y fuera de la cama. Luego volví a la cama por un rato (porque el paracetamol hizo efecto).
El globo aerostático anual del turismo de Sevilla ha vuelto esta mañana a la playa. Observé desde la terraza. Hace algún tiempo, San Geraldo me dijo que algo le gustaba tanto que le calentaba los berberechos de la mente. Siempre pensé que los berberechos estaban en tu corazón. SG es muy especial.
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Slowly but surely…..good to hear that you are coming around.
My grandmother always told us that ‘patience is a virtue’.
Take care.
Jim,
No one in my family ever said patience was a virtue.
A hot air balloon on the beach? Must be rather dramatic if it arrives from/departs to the skies! (Although, given the massive mountains between the Costa and Sevilla, I somehow doubt anyone would be daft enough to want to fly it all the way…) Jx
PS Those desert roses are the gift that keeps on giving! As is SG…
Jon,
The balloon arrives folded up in a truck. It’s then tethered and always goes straight up and straight down. The desert roses started blooming early March. I’m beginning to wonder if they’ll ever stop.
Very bright people each in their own special way, find a way to amuse the world. If paracetamol does that to you, I wouldn’t worry about opioids, you wouldn’t wake up to take a second one for days.
David,
I’m such a lightweight, I can’t imagine opioids.
SG knows what he means, at least. Tylenol is my happy friend. I use 400gr whenever I overdo something or an old injury rears its ugliness.
PS, that balloon warms the cocoadoodledoes of my heart!
Ron,
You and SG would get along so well.
Ron,
It’s amazing I’m still alive after all this paracetamol. I’m such a lightweight.
I would love to float along the shoreline in a hot air balloon; how peaceful.
I think cockles ARE in the heart, and windmills are in the mind.
Glad you’re slowly getting better and feeling better; slow and steady wins the race.
Bob,
Sadly, this is a tethered balloon that takes people straight up and straight down for brief free rides… and not very high. Still, it looks nice. I thought cobwebs were in the mind.
Maybe the cobwebs appear if the windmills stop working?
I love watching hot air balloons come and go. They must have been awfully Brave to land on the beach with some beach winds. I hope the one day go up in a hot air balloon as I have a gift certificate from a company to do so. I just haven’t found somebody crazy enough to go up with me.
Mistress Borghese,
They truck in the folded up balloon and then hope it holds air once it’s inflated (it hasn’t a few times). It’s then tethered for quick free up and down rides.
Good to hear that you are improving even if it is slowly. Pretty soon you will be out there taking your walks. Best to stay inside in this weather anyway.
Claudia,
You’re right about the walks.
You need to sing “Shoo Moose” when he gets annoying!
Debra,
Now that’s an idea. Moose hates when we sing.
As long as SG isn’t special as in takes the short bus to school, then everything is fine. I’m amazed Tylenol can knock you out that way. Big time drugs barely affect me. I had to look up cockles of the heart:
The cockles of the heart are its ventricles, named by some in Latin as “cochleae cordis”, from “cochlea” (snail), alluding to their shape. The saying means to warm and gratify one’s deepest feelings.
Love,
Janie
I thought the same, Janie, about paracetamol. It’s not an opioid, so shouldn’t have a drowsy effect at all. I guess everyone reacts differently to different drugs. I don’t like paracetamol, personally, because it makes me feel a bit queasy but I’m fine with any other painkiller. Jx
Jon,
Drowsiness and fatigue are not an extremely rare side effect of paracetamol. And I’m a lightweight.
Janiejunebug,
I looked that all up when SG said it, although I did know the basic meaning of the phrase. So much better than warming the ventricles of my heart.
Janiejunebug,
I am a lightweight with most drugs… despite all my early experience with elicit ones.
Bravo, Janie, for explaining that! I wondered where that expression came from.
I don’t think I knew the song in that clip. When I hear “shoo fly”, I think of “Flies in the buttermilk, shoo fly, shoo”. As for cockles, I think of “Mary, Mary, quite contrary”.
Kelly,
And don’t forget shoo fly pie and apple pan dowdy.
A moody Moose sounds quite worrisome.
Urspo,
Just annoying.
That beautiful view of life outside is healing in and of itself. You’ll get through this my friend.
Shirley,
Thanks. With a little help from friends like you. I’ll be back tomorrow. Today didn’t start out very well. Much better now.
Happy to see you are on the mend, it is never as fast as doctors promise. I remember my hernia operation it is called day surgery and it took 6 weeks to heal. I should have asked what day surgery actually means in fact. If it is any consolations Dachshunds can be just as spoiled as cats and just as insistent.
Larrymuffin,
Nicky and Nora sound even more bossy than Dudo and Moose. I didn’t ask how long recovery took. The day I was released I was told I couldn’t exercise for another month! Then the sciatica kicked in and all bets were off.
Nick and Nora are Dachshunds and they are pretty used to their routine. With them it is always high theatre.
I looked up the definition of cockles and here’s what it said: “an edible burrowing bivalve mollusk with a strong ribbed shell.”
I don’t think I want that in my heart OR my brain!
Anyway, glad that the sciatica has eased up some.
Kirk:
A variation on gummi worms?
I didn’t know cold cockles were a thing… Perhaps they keep you in the back roads by the rivers of your memory.
Walt the Fourth:
Glad I never committed to eating cockles, cold or warm. I’m not shackled by forgotten words and bonds.