The Best Parts of Yesterday

I am a firm believer that whenever possible one should do what is necessary to have a good birthday. And it was with that thought in mind that I planned my day yesterday. I ignored my children, neglected the cooking, and spent as much time as possible sewing.

Unfortunately I also had to have an emergency filling repair at the dentists office. But how bad could that be on my birthday, right?
The dentist came right in--I didn't have to wait a bit. While we were waiting for the Novocaine to work (did you know it's really not novocaine anymore, it's something like epinephrine, and that's why it makes me totally jittery) we chatted about traveling.

It was my dentist who told me that if I ever went to Maui, I needed to stay overnight in the town of Hana instead of driving there and back in just a day. Cindy Lynn and I appreciated that advice when we had a lovely visit in Hana, as did Russ & I last year. I told him what a great time we'd had and we chatted about the different things to see and do around Hana.

And then he said it. "You know, now that my wife and I are older, we don't really like to travel anymore. Sitting on a plane all day is just not something that we want to do."

I'm not sure what "older" means to my dentist. He's one of these men who hides his age well. I know he's thinking about retirement, but I don't know if that means that dentists make a lot of money and retire early, or if it means that dentists control their own schedule and so they can work a day or two a week long past the normal retirement age.

All I could think was--is this going to happen to us? Will we get to the place where we don't want to travel and have adventures anymore? I assumed that by the time we were truly geriatric we might be limited to a travel rotation between grandchildren, but that up until that point we'd continue to have an exciting travel life. But are we going to stop liking to travel???

The dentist then continued, saying that they do other things instead. Other things? Like clean out the garage?

So I asked him, "what other things?"

He reminded me that we are so lucky to live close to so many beautiful beaches right here in North Carolina, and said that now he and his wife and son just go to the beach.

I agreed that we are lucky. I told him about our awesome family reunion at Holden Beach a few years ago, when we saw newly hatched baby turtles several times.

As he ascertained that my mouth was properly numb and started drilling, he remarked that his family used to go to Sunset Beach, an island that is right by Holden Beach. He said that one year, though, he saw a 10 year old almost drown because of an undertow. After that he did a lot of research and found out that while 6 people had died on South Brunswick County beaches (which both of those are) in the previous 10 years, the beaches just over the border in South Carolina had lifeguards and no one had died while those lifeguards were on duty in the previous 10 years. (Despite an exponentially larger beach-going population.) He said that since that time his family had only gone to the South Carolina beaches.

Cool. So now I get to worry if we're going to die because we go to non-lifeguard beaches...

He finished the repair job quickly and wished me a Merry Christmas while patting me on the shoulder, and then was off to another patient.

I commented (in fat lip dialect) to the dental assistant that my mouth tasted really nasty. She said that it was because of something he had used in my mouth, and offered me a small cup of mouthwash to swish with. I put the cup to my mouth and took a sip while stepping over to the small sink, trying to move the liquid to the numb side of my mouth. Apparently my mouth didn't get the message though; just as I got to the sink the mouthwash came squirting out of my mouth, spraying all over the counter.

I apologized to the assistant, wiping furiously at the mouthwash, and then tried again. Once again, mouthwash everywhere except the side of my mouth with the nasty taste. I decided to give up with the mouthwash.

I left the dentist's office feeling like a perpetually petulant child with my bottom lip thrust far past my top lip. (Funny how it can feel so much that way and yet not look that way!)

But not all of the pouty lip was from novocaine. Some of it was from sadness at the thought that one day — who knows when — Russ & I will be too old to want to travel. Some of it was a new anxiety about beach safety. And some of it was just plain embarrassment at having spit all over the counter, not once but twice.


And that, my friends, is why you should never go to the dentist on your birthday!!!


PS--have you ever tried to put chapstick on a numb lip?