Eye Candy

There must be some kind of insane jealousy going on with the girls in this house. I swear they are running a competition to see who can have the most doctor visits. You’d think Renee would be done with that by now, especially knowing that she’s way ahead in that race. But that didn’t stop her from making another visit yesterday morning.

Renee’s eye had been bothering her for a couple days and she has been experiencing some dizzy spells. (How can you tell, you ask?). She’s got a head cold and its all part of it. But the eye gook was getting out of control so she made an appointment for the doc. We’ve just got to be sure there’s not more to it like some strange residual effect to the allergy shot reaction from a couple of weeks ago. She wakes up Thursday morning and says her eye hurts. It’s as red as maraschino cherries and she’s doing the squinty Popeye impression (ugugugugug). She was considering doing carpool, almost insisting but I didn’t think a half blind person should be driving children around.

I took the kids even though I had to be on the other side of the city for work by time certain that morning. Traffic was light luckily and after the round trip, car switch and slalom across the expressway, I arrived at my destination less than five minutes past deadline. No harm, no foul but the donuts were gone.

Renee drove herself to the doctor who checked for things like conjunctivitis. She’s just got a cold in her eye. She got a few eye drops to settle things down until she recovers or the cold moves to a more common place like the nose or the lungs. But she just can’t get a simple cold, no, its always got to be a production. She even had to one up the dog this time. Yes, Polly’s pretty much recovered from the dog fight. It looks like she’ll have a double scar under the left eye but its all closed up and she’s back to her lazy dog self.

This has been the month of swollen eyes around here - three for Renee and one for Polly. Let’s see if we can settle this crew down, they’re wearing me out with out all these medical distractions. Sheesh, don’t they know its my birthday month?

Here’s something I wrote for times like these when things seem to be sprouting out of control like wildfires. It was inspired by Jimmy Buffet’s book A Salty Piece Of Land. Ix-nay is the Mayan Shaman who explains to Tully a short respite enjoyed by fish at the changing of the tides. It is called the slack tide. It’s got a reggae groove.

SLACK TIDE (Ix-nay on the ide-tay)
By Bob Masterson © Old Paint Music

I’m searching for the slack tide
Hidden in my life
Where the sharks they are not circling
Baring teeth as sharp as knives.
Hanging near the tide pool
Not searching for a meal
Taking time to find out
how I really feel.

Racing currents, flowing tides
They push me on my way
Slack tide, slack tide, slack tide
I need a rest beneath the waves.

Slack tide, slack tide, slack tide
I need a rest beneath the waves.

I’m searching for the slack tide
Hidden in my life
Where the sharks they are not biting
And I’m not swimming for my life
Hanging near the shallows
Not fighting for a meal
Taking time to find out
how I really feel.

But I’m not a fish
And I don’t get to take those lucky breaks
It’s quiet time I need
But there’s too much here at stake.
Racing currents, flowing tides
Push me on my way
Slack tide, slack tide, slack tide
I need a rest beneath the waves.

Slack tide, slack tide, slack tide
I need a rest beneath the waves.