Break Time
I caught a break yesterday, another in a long string of caught breaks that pretty much define my life. This time it was small, dental, but it was still a break that went my way. I had a cavity on a tooth with a crown. It could have required another crown, or a root canal, or even an implant. But all it required was for me to keep my mouth open while the dentist and his assistant worked. When they finished the cavity was filled and I was on my way. I’ll need a new crown at some point, but not today. And just like that I went from a big cost to a little cost.
Later in the day, after sitting around to recover the feeling in my mouth and to recover in general, I decided to work in the garden. The hackberries were my target. I cut one to the ground and put a tin can on the little stump, then decided to try and pull the others since it had rained. Good choice. I got strong grips with my little pulling machine and they came right out of the rain softened earth. Another break. Rain. And now, for the first time in years, the garden beside the garden of the big oaks is all clean and tidy and ready for spring. The prickly chickens are center stage and the rock roses have room to roam. It’s gonna be fun this spring, and the first bindweed to pop its head up will be pulled.
One of these days, I think I’ll sit down and try to catalog all the breaks I’ve had, the things that went my way without me doing much of anything. It will be a long list of little things, the magical stepping stones that appeared out of nowhere to help me get from point A, the beginning of my life, to point B, where I am right now. It will be a teacher in the right spot, a school at the right time, a friend in a moment of need. Somewhere in there I’ll probably play a role, but mostly it will be a story of me bumping along the rapids of life looking for calm water, a place to catch my breath and people throwing me ropes along the way.