A Bus, Two Trains, Two More Buses, Two Planes, and A Car Trip Later...

I'm home from Dallas.

Have I ever blogged about how much I love getting mail? It's something I've just never really grown out of. Most of the time, mail is sort of dull: flyers, catalogs, junk and bills. But every once in a while, you get a surprise. I love surprises.

So today is your average Saturday around Toad Lake. The dog is snoozing in her chair, J and I are both working, but with frequent breaks where we meet in the living room for tea and/or snacks. I just got back from the mailbox. It's the daily trip, Zoe and I head down the driveway, no matter what the weather, for the mail. It's not a particularly long driveway, but when it's 20 below it can seem like a long trek down there. However, it is worth it for days like today, when I go down to the mailbox and get a long overdue check for work done this past summer. Not only that, in fact, not even primarily that, but I got a little package from Swampgrrl. Talking Heads! We are, at this moment, in our respective offices working, but the Talking Heads blare through the house, and I'm finding myself very productive. It's that sort of music. I think it will also be good cleaning music.

I'm back from Dallas, in fact have been back for a few days, but just haven't been inspired to blog. Sort of settling back in, I guess. We went to see our new physician, a homeopathic MD (became a doctor, then studied homeopathy in Switzerland). It was our first trip to see him, so we didn't really know what to expect. The office visit was very different from your traditional exam. The initial visit was two hours long, during which time you just talk to him. He directs you with questions, but it is not all about your health. He was interested in everything about me: my childhood, my writing, sleep patterns, food likes/dislikes, warm/cold, introvert/extrovert, everything.

It was actually pretty exhausting talking about myself for that long. I told him everything I could think of. After all, if you're going to try it, you might as well go all out, right? So I just sort of started at my head and worked my way down. At the end he said, "We can help all that," and poured a remedy from a paper cone that he had fashioned and filled, under my tongue.

That was a couple of days ago, and I have been noticing something interesting happening, and J agrees. It's like the things that were there are still there, but they're different. An example: I carry all my tension in my shoulders and neck. That fact, plus three major head/neck injuries, one shoulder dislocation, a severe case of shingles as a child, and some other stuff, results in a chronically tight neck, shoulders, jaw, painfully tight. Well, after the remedy, I woke up the next day really tired and a little stiff. Like if I had done a bunch of pushups, or lifted some heavy weights or something. The next day the stiffness was worse. Today I woke up and the stiffness had abated. And my neck is still tight, but not painfully so. Interesting.

So all in all, I'm happy with our choice of doctor. In the future our "visits" will be conducted by phone, and he will send us the remedies (and a bill). There are a few things we had to give up which might make it difficult for some folks, like coffee, mint, camphor, and tell the truth I'm having a hard time with the coffee one. I don't drink it often, but to quit completely is kind of hard. I have heard good things about soy coffee, as far as substitutes goes. Anyone got any suggestions?