We just went for a walk in the lovely, lovely leaves. My daughter, who for some reason is sweetest of all, got stung not once, but twice by wasps. Are some of us really sweeter than others?
All this drama reminded me that I hadn’t posted for a while...
Write about needles. Pine, pins and, dentists (ugh), sewing, knitting, being needled—whatever comes first to mind.
Write for 11 minutes.
Don’t be afraid to go there, even if it hurts (clearly this writing exercise can vaccinate you against fall gloom).
Post your writing in the comments section below (for any newbies who don’t already know). In class, the writings had a remarkable connection to each other—it charged the class with ideas and interest, and no one got hurt.
In other news, if you’re in northern NJ and would like to come meet me in person, come to the Ramsey Public Library in Ramsey, New Jersey on Sunday, November 16th at 2pm. Here are driving directions to the library.
The event is free, and I’m hoping for some of the amazing questions I’ve had at book groups lately.
Come! Tell me you read the blog!
And, as always, I’d be happy to sign bookplates if any of you would like to get your holiday shopping wrapped up early with signed copies of The Other Mother. Just send me an email with your name, address, and what you’d like me to write. I’ve been sending them out by the dozen, and it feels great to know more people will be reading about Thea and Amanda and hopefully feeling just a little more compassionate toward other mothers everywhere.
I don't like needles. So much so that when flu season comes, I always try to find an excuse to skip the vaccine. Or if I go ahead and talk myself into getting one, I always think, "What if this needle isn't clean? What if they just forgot (people forget, don't they?) and they are using a dirty needle? It could have anyone's blood on it. Anyone. Maybe I'll get HIV or hepititus or some such as that. What if...don't junkies use needles? Well, most of them do. What if I get a needle a junkie used and there's a drug in it instead of the medicine I'm supposed to get. The nurse could be evil. She looks a little evil. WHY DID I DO THIS?"
That's why I avoid it. It's not the pain. Well, OK, I don't miss the pain. And I have this tendency to anticipate it hurting much worse than it actually does. But this just isn't an issue at all if I skip it. That's been the solution for several years now.
But that being the solution, I'm then led to wonder, constantly, if I've come into contact with the flu. I work in a gym where people are always sweating and then touching the weights. One after another, they put their sweaty hands on the cool metal and their germs just stay there, festering, waiting. For me. Some people sneeze into their hands and then touch the weights. Keeping ahead of the germs is a full time occupation. In the winter, it can also be a painful one.
Cracked hands, over-dried from soap and very hot water are not cured with regular lotion. It takes the high powered cremes, the ones you get in the little squat jars. After a few uses, you have to wonder what's living in there. So you only use it three, maybe four times. Then you have to buy it new.
Once, I got tired of paying for a new jar every couple of days, so I microwaved the contents of it. You know, trying to kill off whatever might be lurking in the oily ingredients of the creme. I'll give you some advice right now. Don't microwave it. It separates and it looks like somebody's coagulated innards. I nearly panicked.
I'm thinking of getting the shot this year. It can't really guard against everything, but at least I won't be worrying constantly about flu germs. I have a friend who is a nurse and I can trust her to get a clean needle. It's silly, after all. All of that worry. She'd have no motive to stick me with a dirty needle or give me the wrong medicine. Then again, we did argue over that last movie I hated and she loved...
Posted by: beth muse | July 27, 2009 at 09:03 PM
Out of curiosity, is there a way to edit what you've already written? I noticed in the very first paragraph, I left out what I was referring to. "It" is a flu shot. But I can't go back and correct. Which is driving me nuts.
Posted by: beth muse | July 27, 2009 at 09:05 PM