December 1-2: Great Dignity, Colonoscopy, Honorable and Dignified

Santiago respects the fish as a brother . . . 

Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. How many people will he feed, he thought. But are they worthy to eat him? No, of course not. There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity.

I do not understand these things, he thought. But it is good that we do not have to try to kill the sun or the moon or the stars. It is enough to live on the sea and kill our true brothers.

The old man is determined to kill the fish, despite believing that no person is really honorable enough to eat him.  It's like killing the sun or moon or stars for Santiago.  He's going to kill the fish, even though he admits that he doesn't quite understand the morality or ethics of killing such an honorable and dignified creature.

First, I have to apologize for not posting last night.  I was a little indisposed.  This morning, I had a colonoscopy, so yesterday evening and all through the night, I was doing the prep for the procedure.  Translation:  it was a shitty night.  Literally.

It's pretty difficult remaining dignified and honorable when you spend the entire night sitting on the toilet.  And it's a humbling experience.  I led a poetry workshop just as things were beginning to . . . move for me.  Perhaps that wasn't the best decision I ever made.  However, a lot of people showed up to write with me, and I was able to sit through the entire two hours with only three pitstops.  And everybody present was incredibly gracious and understanding.

My biggest challenge, aside from having to stay in Campground Commode all night, was keeping my blood sugar from dropping to dangerous levels.  Most of the poetry workshop, I was averaging in the mid- to low-fifties.  At that level, my thinking is not totally coherent.  Therefore, the poems I wrote during workshop were . . . not as good as usual.  In fact, I think they were pretty shitty.

Are you sensing a theme here?

Anyway, I had my colonoscopy at around 10 a.m. this morning.  I have to say that it was the best sleep I've had in a long time.  I understand why Michael Jackson was partial to propofol.  One minute, I was laying on my side in the procedure room waiting to be violated in my sleep, and the next minute, a nurse is calling my name and telling me it was all over.  I lost about 40 minutes of my life.

The good news is that my colon was given a clean bill of health.  The bad news is that there aren't any eggnog shakes at my local McDonald's.  That's where we stopped immediately following the colonoscopy, and I got the best batch of French fries I've ever eaten.

The rest of the day, I've been battling an anesthesia hangover.  Still am.  I feel a little wiped out from the last 48 hours, and tomorrow morning, I have to be the host of the Winter Wonderland Walk Celebration at the library where I work.  That means that, for about five hours, I have to do my best post-ghost Ebenezer Scrooge impression.  It's going to be a struggle.

But, I have a lot of blessings to be thankful for tonight:  good colon health, a great nap, an amazing order of French fries, and friends who call and text to find out how I'm doing.

Saint Marty was going to post the picture of his healthy colon, but thought better of it.  Instead, please enjoy this cute picture of his puppy instead . . .