TOUCH ME

Have you ever thought about which sense you would choose to keep if you had to lose one?  From time to time, I've pondered this and I always came up with preferring to keep my sight.

During the last 3 days, I've become exquisitely aware of the value of the sense of touch.  

Being temporarily radioactive (for medical reasons), I'm not supposed to come in contact with people.  In general, this isn't a great hardship (unless it conflicts with a massage, which it doesn't.)  Steve usually does the shopping, so I miss out on the supermarkets; no one visits here, unless they phone first.  

I can't use the same crockery and cutlery, and when I wash mine, they have to be done last.

I can't cook anything for Steve and I have to flush the toilet twice.

And we can't sleep together.

At all other times, we have to be at least a metre apart.

It's all going pretty well, except the part of not touching each other.  The sense of touch has become SO IMPORTANT.   I'm not talking in a sexual way.  I'm talking about all the little touches of life --- like a punch in the upper arm, a tweak of the ear, a pinch on the bum, an elbow in the ribs.    Well, those aren't the important ones.  It's the comfort and pleasure of "spooning" front to back, of rubbing your cold feet on his warm ones (or vice versa, in our case), of a spontaneous cuddle when you meet up, of holding hands during a movie or whenever you walk together,  of a sudden tap on the arm when you want to point out something and remain quiet.......

We have both reached out for each other, pulled back when we realised what we were doing and verbalise our frustration at not being able to entwine our fingers.

Holding hands -- that most basic of touches.

The gesture that young teenagers timidly make to show their liking for each other.

The gesture that we admire when we see very elderly people.

The final gesture when a partner or dear friend is dying.

We can hold hands soon.  We really look forward to it.

Fortunately, this is only for 3 days to a week.  We finish the isolation at home in 16 hours.

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Call Triple O

Last Monday was middle kid's 44th birthday.  As usual, I try to trace the mistake that has been made.  A conspiracy is being played out but I can never find the trail to follow.  Clearly, I'm physically old enough to have given birth to her, but I thought that I was the one in my forties!  I have missed at least 2 decades of my life.  Somewhere there will be documentation of this time.  Was I kidnapped? drugged? taken by aliens?

The last fortnight has passed incredibly quickly ---- an overnight stay in Bendigo to attend appointments, a trip to Swan Hill for the dentist and 5 days in Melbourne with daughters and grandchildren.  The most fascinating part of this time was spent finding an endocrinologist who can see me in under 4-5 months.  I see one in a week.  Yay!!

A less fascinating part of the trip was that I left my handbag at youngest kid's house.  It contained purse, computer glasses and worst of all, my iPod.

We returned from Melbourne in the wee small hours of Thursday.  Later in the day, as we prepared to go off to Kerang for my massage, eldest kid appeared.  He told us that a fire that had started the day before and was put out by the fire brigade, had sparked up again so he was here to ring for help.  Before we could blink, there were 5 fire trucks racing up our drive.  Where was this fire????  

In the paddock, only 500 metres from us.  

Oh well, the wind was blowing the other way so we left for my massage.  Most of the trucks had gone when we got home but the police and assessors were still there.  Just when they thought that the fire was right out, it flared up again and we were a bit hesitant about going out that evening.  Most surprisingly, especially for this drought stricken area, along came the rain!!!!!  A large part of Victoria and most of New South Wales is battling floods and here we have a fire???

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Unmentionables

We have had some rain.  Not flooding like in parts of Victoria and most of New South Wales. The temperatures have dropped and there are things outside that don't like damp and cold.   Some of these things are small and Steve has attended to 3 in the last half hour, using a small gadget.                              

Examples of the little unmentionables.  They are NOT on MY hand.

    

Unbelievably, incredibly, horrifyingly, some larger but similar creatures have arrived.  They don't come inside.  Steve has  a very large gadget for these abominations and he has dispatched 4 of these in the last week.  Oh, he also  found 2 of the smaller species in the big contraption outside.   That was a very determined suicide!   Or perhaps it's like children boasting about diving off the higher board?

 Please take note ------- I can no longer refer to these creatures by name.  

My stutter has improved and the tic in my left eye has gone.  We expect that the tic in the right eye will disappear in time. 

An example of the larger unmentionable creature.

              

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