Although I have seen patches of ice flowing down the Fraser River every year for decades, every time I see it, it makes me realize I live in the North. Of course in every season there are unmistakeable signs of the northern environment I live in, it is really this flowing ice that really cements the realization.
View ny paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
Here is a view of the Fraser River as it looked yesterday. I liked the fact that you could see the teepee jutting up from the bushes on the far side. The teepee is part of the Beaver Creek Cabins complex. It has been standing there both winter and summer for a couple of years. It sure adds a feel of the Old West to the scene.
View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
One sunny summery Sunday afternoon, I was returning from my home town after a weekend visit. I had the top down on my MG, and I was motoring down the highway with the wind in my face. The cap I had on one of my front teeth had been starting to loosen for some reason, but as drove back to Indianapolis, I was too wrapped up in the immediate pleasures of music coming from the radio, and the sunshine on my face, to give much thought to my tooth.
Suddenly, I experienced an overwhelming urge to sneeze, and when it exploded, the cap from my tooth shot out of my mouth, clearing the windshield, then as it hit the wind streaming over the windscreen, made a U-turn and was carried over my shoulder, disappearing forever somewhere down the highway.
The next day at work, keeping my mouth closed as much as possible, I discovered that because of my low income level, I was eligible to get dental work done at the Indiana University Dental School in Indianapolis. There they fixed me up with a temporary cap, and scheduled me for weeks and weeks of future appointments. It seemed I had a mouth that offered lots of opportunity for learning dentists.
Having been used to small intimate dental offices, it was strange to sit in a large room, full of people in rows and rows of dental chairs, while an army of dentists-to-be walked around peering into all of the open mouths. It was also a bit disconcerting to know that the dentist working on me was the same age as I was. One of the student dentists there was even a high school classmate of mine.
On one of my visits, after giving me a shot of Novocaine, my student dentist had to go and get a supervisor, before going to work on me. I sat there and sat there, waiting and waiting. I looked around, I waited, then I waited some more. Finally, he returned with the supervisor, explaining to him how he was going to proceed. Once his explanation was over and he had gotten the okay, he began to grind away. Unfortunately for me, by the time he finally began, the novocaine I had been given, had started to wear off. After some violent twisting in the chair, and some jerks of pain, thankfully, my student dentist figured out why I was reacting the way I was, and gave me another shot before continuing.
Another dental moment that I found a bit embarrassing, happened when the supervisor who had come over to check on the work that was being done on me, noticed a squirting gland in my mouth. To my chagrin, he called out to the whole room, full of young dentists, to come over and take a look at my squirting gland. So I had to sit there with my mouth open, while the whole group of dental students took their turn gawking at my over stimulated gland.
Although, I realized that I was getting a lot of good dental care for cheap, after week upon week of tightly gripping the dentist chair and listening to the whirr of the drill, the experience was beginning to get a little old. I was greatly relieved once all the work in my mouth was complete. Because the students had to get experience doing all kind of fillings, I had one cavity filled with gold foil. For years, afterwards, whenever I went to a dentist, he would look into my mouth with surprise, and say, “Wow, you have a gold foil.” and I would have to tell the story of my contribution to future dentistry.
View my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
We got our first real snowfall overnight that left us with 15 cm (6 inches) of the white stuff on the ground. I am always happy to see snow on the ground before we get a cold snap, because it gives a bit of insulation to the ground and to the roof. The cold snap is gradually developing, with a forecast of -9°C (16°F) tonight dipping to -22°C (-7°F) on Tuesday night.
The temperature is just below the freezing point, so it is a wet snow and every time we take Kona outside we have to march her to the shower to melt off all of the clinging snow she has on her feet and legs.
Just after I shot these photos the wind started to come up, blowing the snow off of the heavy laden trees.
Weeks ago, while eating popcorn, I crunched down on an un-popped kernel and then noticed a sharp edge on a tooth. At first I thought that a corn husk was stuck between my teeth, but soon after realized that part of the side of a tooth had sheared off. It didn’t leave the tooth sensitive or anything, but the tooth’s sharp edge started to rasp against my tongue which made it sore. Luckily I had previously made an appointment with my dentist in Prince George for a dental checkup on the following week.
When I went to the checkup, the dentist rounded off the sharp edge, and suggested that I get a crown put onto the tooth. I decided that since the tooth was still firm and healthy, it might come in handy for chewing as I grow older, so I decided I would go for a crown. An appointment was set for this last Wednesday to do the work.
Waiting for two weeks for the appointment, left me plenty of time to agonize over the procedure. I knew it meant grinding down the top of the tooth, and that filled me with fear.
Since childhood, I have had a fear of going to the dentist. I am sure it stems from my first dental experience that I had as a very young child. I don’t remember it, except subconsciously, but I am sure it left me traumatized. Here is what happened.
When I had my baby teeth, one of the two front teeth on the bottom started to discolor and turned gray. The dentist said it should be pulled and my parents took me in for the procedure. When the dentist began to pull on the tooth, it soon became evident that the bad tooth was attached to the tooth beside it and that caused a lot more trauma for my young brain, as he struggled to get the two teeth out.
It didn’t help matters that I had a lot of cavities as a kid, and that our dentist never used Novacaine to deaden the pain of the drilling, so going to the dentist always meant sitting there suffering as the dentist ground around on a tooth with his drill. I was surprised to hear the other kids in my class talk about getting a shot at the dentist’s that killed the pain when he worked on their teeth.
Like I said, I don’t remember any of this, but my mother had shown me the double-headed tooth, and I have always had a fear of dental work, and have a history of fainting during dental and medical procedures, many of which were absolutely painless, but my unconscious and deep seeded fear was always working overtime when ever I had to go to a dentist’s or doctor’s office.
Anyway, Wednesday, I went up to the dentist, and was amazed at how quickly and painless the whole thing went. I was given a relatively painless shot to deaden the pain before the work began. The dental drill was very fast and things proceeded quickly. The only real pain I experienced was that my jaw began to ache because I had to hold my mouth open so long.
I am sure appreciative of the fact that the dental tools and procedures have improved so much during my lifetime.
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
We have been amazed at how well these petunias had grown this summer and were further amazed as they proceeded to thrive through the Fall, but here they are frost-bitten with snow crystals on them, so I suspect, this is finally their end. Truly our weather has the unmistakable feel of winter to it. Snow is forecast for tonight and tomorrow and then they have a frigid -24°C (-11°F) by next Tuesday night. Yikes!
You can see my paintings at: davidmarchant2.ca
When you live in a place like Canada, with distinct seasons, you tend to pay attention to the seasonal changes, particularly those on either side of Winter. We had our coldest temperature of the Fall last night, when it got down to -8°C (17°F). When I looked out over toward the pond this morning I saw that it had frozen. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it will stay iced up until Spring, because we may have some warming spells before the big freeze arrives, but for me, getting the first ice on the pond is always one of those noteworthy events of the season.
