It is only August 16, but my summer is essentially over. Next week I start teaching - two courses in the Masters in Teaching program at Binghamton. I'm also taking a class myself, for the novel writing certificate I'm doing, plus I've volunteered to be a submissions reader for the literary journal that some of the people in my writing group run. This is all more than I've committed to in several years, so goodbye to leisurely breakfasts and taking days off whenever I feel like it. I knew all this was coming, it's all stuff I agreed to, and I've sort of been planning for it (syllabi are done and I've finished a very rough draft of my 1890 Binghamton story (100,000 words!)).
What I did not agree to was having a root canal fail. If you've been following along for any length of time, you'll know my teeth are a whole saga. Sigh. Brush and floss, children! Don't be like me. Thankfully, my dentist had recently been to a continuing education course on root canals and recommended a new endodontist (I always want to leave out that extra "do" syllable") who was doing some fancy micro-surgical techniques and so on Tuesday I drove an hour (each way) to Scranton, Pennsylvania, of all places, to have my root canal re-cleaned and re-filled and honestly, the endodontist was great and explained what was going on in my tooth in a way that made root canals seem almost interesting. I am confident this work both needed doing and was done well. But now I have to go back to my regular dentist to restore the crown and blah blah blah, it never ends. But that is life. Well, it will end. But there is no moment of stasis where you're like, ah, now I am fixed.
A photo of my tooth would not be that interesting or aesthetically pleasing, so enjoy instead these two pictures taken nine years apart of Ella and two of her cousins - Michael's nieces Lexi and Bella, who are awesome women who I love very much.
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| Looking south from near Carmel, California, Easter 2017, when Ella and I were doing a tour of west coast colleges |
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| Encinitas, California, Summer 2026, after an extended family dinner at an oceanside restaurant. |
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