06 November 2005

Oh Nuts!

One of the reasons I particularly enjoy my aerobics class is that we have a little community of fellow sweaters (no, not the wool kind, the people kind who are dripping all over the room, yes, it’s gross…). One girl in the class is a med student who always brings us entertaining (and sometimes gross) stories of her patients. Basically, if it’s nasty and related to bodily fluid, she’s dealt with it.

However, after talking with her, she assures me that even I could be a doctor. 98% of her work to this point has been telling people that they need to eat better and exercise more to manage their heart disease, diabetes, joint problems, ingrown toenails, colds, etc. She even has me practicing, “Eat broccoli, go for a walk and come back in three months.”

She was in I’m-so-tired-I-can’t-think mode, handing out the broccoli prescription when the old man she was working with took one look at her, got wide eyes and informed her that he wouldn’t be able to come back in three months. She asked why not. His answer, “The chestnuts are covering my front lawn.”

Yeah, so much for the dog ate my homework.

She woke from her intern stupor to go through a checklist of just why the chestnuts might prevent this man from returning to the clinic. Perhaps he was having trouble walking and was worried about falling. She suggested asking a neighbor to clear his sidewalks. Perhaps he was just stinking senile and was scared of chestnuts. She wrote down “suggested psych evaluation” on his chart. Perhaps there was a chestnut explosion and he wouldn’t be able to open the door after they piled up for three months. She took another drink of coffee and tried to calm her imagination.

“Sir, I don’t follow. Why are the chestnuts going to prevent you from coming to the clinic for a check-up that you really, really need?”

“Don’t you know anything, doc? When the chestnuts fall this much, we’re going to have a horrible winter and I’m going to be snowed in in three months. I won’t be able to get here through all the snow.”

What do you say to that?

If you live in Buffalo, you stock up on canned soup and harvest some of the chestnuts to roast over the pilot light in your furnace. I’ve never been much on Farmers Almanac knowledge, but personally, I’m glad I’ll have lots of time to knit while I’m snowed in this winter. Let those chestnuts fall as much as they want.

Diss: Wrote, read, enough said.
Diet: I'm trying to find small successes here. I did manage to make meal plans for the week. I find that I'm much better when I take time to cook decent dinners so hopefully Almond Crusted Chicken and Beef Mexicali Casserole will keep down the munchies this week. I'm trying.
Organization: The bags are filling the trunk. Will do a run this week to drop off and not pick up!

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