Landscape Escape

I'm one of those lucky guys who has lots of hobbies to occupy my time and energy. I am an avid reader and collector of books (as well as tea and turtles). I love to travel and play my guitar. And I stay busy with my writing, videos, and music projects (not to mention this blog and my video site). But one of my favorite hobbies is landscaping. I like nothing better than to take an empty or weed-strewn chunk of land and turn it into a colorful, blooming masterpiece that enhances the natural scenery and makes me smile every time I wander through it.

I enjoy landscaping so much that I consider it therapeutic, one of my great escapes whenever I need some time away from the everyday challenges and all too often stresses of life.

LANDSCAPE ESCAPE



Besides being a terrific form of exercise, landscaping is a wonderful way to get back to nature, to roll up those sleeves and dig your hands into the earth. There’s nothing like working up a sweat with the sounds of birds or squirrels singing and chirping away in the background.

Another thing that draws me to landscaping is the sense of accomplishment I feel when I (finally) complete a project. Life is a journey that should be enjoyed throughout each leg; the same can be said about landscaping. I like the fact that there’s a beginning, middle, and end, and while the finish line can seem a long way off at the outset of any project, the key is to enjoy every minute of the experience--I do this with landscaping, just as I try to do with all aspects of my life.

One thing I always talk about trying to achieve is the Triad of Balance, which is working on finding harmony between the Mind, Body, and Spirit, after first balancing each one on its own. Simply put: in order to lead the most fulfilling and purposeful life, I believe one has to work on the Mind, Body, and Spirit every day, and then balance all three together. If one of these is out of whack, then even though the other two are working fine, you are not complete, not in balance, and, therefore, not living your life to its fullest. Landscaping is one of those hobbies that helps me to stay balanced. My MIND is in constant motion, thinking and planning, focused on the tasks at hand and then executing and achieving. While my SPIRIT feels free as I dig up the dirt, plant flowers and trees, communing with nature. I also feel less stressful: when I am outside with a shovel in my hands I seldom allow distractions to interfere--a good thing. Lastly, my BODY gets plenty of work pushing a wheelbarrow around, freeing up boulders from the ground, and digging, digging, digging. Landscaping is great exercise and a calorie burner.

So what are you waiting for? Summer may be over, but fall is an excellent time to do some planting and work around the yard. Besides being a fun and rewarding hobby, landscaping is a chance to help you find balance between your MIND, BODY, and SPIRIT. Think about it.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

When in Doubt, Yank 'Em Out!

Is there anything more painful than a toothache? Okay, maybe a gunshot wound, but, thankfully, having never experienced being shot I can’t really make a valid comparison. Childbirth? Being of the wrong gender, I am legally not allowed to comment. How about having an angry ex-(anyone) rearing back and kicking you squarely in the lower region naughty parts? Having HAD experience with that, I can honestly say that, while having your family jewels rearranged is quite painful, a prolonged toothache is worse. How much worse? Bad enough to pay someone (a large chunk of cash) to knock you out under anesthesia and then take a sharp carving implement and have at the insides of your mouth. Turning you into something that resembles this:

WHEN IN DOUBT, YANK ‘EM OUT!



It all started with a little ache in the lower left side of my mouth. Being an avid tooth-brusher and compulsive flosser, as well as a regular dental checkup kind of guy, I figured the pain would go away, like one hopes an annoying neighbor will. Sadly, that is the wrong strategy to use for both toothaches and neighbors, so I paid a visit to my dentist. He probed and poked, x-rayed and consulted until he reached suitable recompense, then announced that I had a fractured tooth and that I should…

“Yes, yes?” I said, nodding hopefully, knowing that relief was just a few magical dental moves away.

“Wait,” my (not usually sadistic) dentist said.

“Huh?” said I.

“It’s fractured. Can’t fill it, can’t extract it, so just wait until…”

“Yes? Until…?”

“Until it either fractures some more or you need a root canal.”

After one more “huh?” and a few “what the…?'s”, my dentist smiled, nodded, and left me with drool on my chin and a still sensitive tooth in need of…what?

Patience.

So I waited, continued to eat my almonds and enjoy my dietary life as usual, while favoring that fractured side of my mouth. This went on for months and months, until…

AAARRRGGGOOOOOOOOCCCHHHHH!

The fracture fractured some more, creating enough pain to motivate me to make another visit to my dentist, who, after more adequate probing and x-raying to satisfy his curiosity and my deductible, announced:

“Looks like you may need a root canal.”

Through a mouthful of fingers, cotton, and that annoying little sucking machine, I said, “Warrgllehuhphmmm?”

My dentist smiled, nodded, added up my bill and decided to take one more x-ray, then shuffled me off to another practitioner of dental maneuvers: an endodontist, who specialized, I was told, in root canals, more probing, vague announcements, and, of course, additional x-ray taking. The biggest difference I noticed was the endodontist charges more and it takes longer to get an appointment. But if you tell them that you are in extreme pain, they will smile, recheck their appointment book, then tell you that whining won’t make the pain go away so take some Advil and practice…

Patience.

And that’s what I did, finally getting the pleasure of having a higher paid sadist probe my fractured tooth, while feeling the stirring of another tooth announce its painful presence on the other side of my mouth. So I said:

“What the heck, doc, it’s only money, right? Take a look at that other guy while you’re at it.”

My endodontist nodded, grunted, probed, ordered and received additional x-rays, probed some more then pondered and professed:

“You need two root canals. How much money do you have?”

My mouth stuffed with the expensive hands of a specialist, cotton, a dental assistant, and that annoying little sucky thing that sometimes gets stuck in the back of your throat, making you want to vomit and choke at the same time, I said, “Whadrrrgfhrrfertwwwooo?”

My sadistic little endodontist nodded, smiled, and left the room to order more x-rays. Leaving me to, you guessed it, practice…

Patience.

Finally the day arrived when I had my root canal exploratory exam that would let me know if I could save the fractured tooth, have the root canal, then be able to have a crown installed. The crown, of course, would be done by yet another dental practitioner and cost several arms, a leg, and the promise of donating various organs to science and x-ray development costs.

His hands deep inside my mouth, which was benumbed by enough Novocain to curtail the charge of a rabid rhinoceros, my endodontist announced:

“Tsk, tsk, bad news. Fracture is too deep, no root canal, have to have it extracted. I must leave now because you are no longer a viable money stream, but before you go let’s take a few more x-rays just to be sure.”

With that he left, leaving me with a numb face, two still very throbbing teeth, and an appointment with another dental professional.

While all this was going on, over the course of several months, I favored one side of my mouth over the other, effectively adding additional stress to that side, effectively causing the tooth that wasn’t yet fractured to SPLIT IN HALF!! This caused me enormous pain, and more trips to dental professionals, along with, you guessed it:

MORE X-RAYS!!

Finally leading me to this past Friday, where, after all three geniuses of the dental community, otherwise known as the Mike Foster Dental Retirement Fund Group, decided it was best that I had both fractured and root-befouled teeth extracted.

I, of course, had to find yet another dental practitioner, who, of course, took several more x-rays, and then, naturally, checked the balance of my dental coverage to make sure he charged enough, and then, thankfully, mercifully, at long last:

REMOVED MY TWO THROBBING TEETH!

Making my pain not necessarily go away, but at least be replaced by another pain, a healing, slightly bloody, cheek-puffing pain that while still nowhere near where I want to be pain-wise, at least was better than what I had been feeling for the past half-year.

The good news is I am feeling better every day, those two annoying teeth are gone (along with several painful extractions from my wallet and checking accounts), and I am well on my way to the road to recovery.

Hmmm, maybe just one more x-ray?


Until next time…

peace,

Mike