Friday, August 12, 2011

Friday 12th August

~ Dr Ban, the Asian rheumatolgist, is, by general consent, the best in the business hereabouts.  Fierce and delicate and direct, he manipulates Tom's arms and shoulders rapidly. 
'This way now. Pain? Pain now?'   
His English is so unhesitating, curt and quickfire that there's no question of trying to stay in French.  He is warm and kindly too, pats and squeezes our hands and shoulders reassuringly, is funny and responsive.  He drives the dreaded cortisone jab straight down into Tom's shoulder from the top into the socket so quickly and lightly that it is barely felt. 
' Hey Mrs Kempton, you don't want to watch? You can watch, it's a movie: Mr Kempton and the Needle!'
The phone goes mid-injection.
'Oh that'll be President Sarkozy.  He needs me.'
'He's heard you're the best too, then?'
'That's it.'
It's done, at last.  Let's hope it's fixed it. 

~ Stopping at the top of the hill above Hénon, it's very clear, and the dark blue band of the sea in the distance never fails to steady and lift the spirits.

~ Pink water lily in the pond, which needs clearing.  Oddly it's a task I enjoy so much I tend to put it off, thinking there must be something more disagreeable I should do first, which is a little hard on the fish who must be gasping for some more oxygen to the surface.  Thanks for the encouragement to keep on photographing flowers; the water lilies just clamour for it every time.


7 comments:

the polish chick said...

ah, waterlilies! they are so very shameless in their love for the camera and i can never resist. as a result i have far too many photos of water lilies, photos that i seem unable to coldly cull. after all, they are waterlilies! what was good enough for monet, is good enough for me.

Zhoen said...

Good for Tom. Be aware, those shots can hurt quite a lot for a few days. But they often do work very well after. Sounds like you got a real expert.

Roderick Robinson said...

Needles. Bear your own stoically, look away from the person ahead of you in the queue. For me this was standard RAF practice, Tom will know. In the fifties they didn't slide the needle in but stuck it in at right-angles. What was offputting was seeing the arm flesh dip in with the needle. Pity I wasn't there to talk about old times.

Footnote: WW doesn't just stand for William Wordsworth but Works Well too. Great confusion.

Zhoen said...

My sympathies to Tom. Been there, done that. Hurts.

The Crow said...

Lovely photo of the lily, gorgeous colors.

Dick said...

Ouch! But lucky Tom for being in such good hands. I might slip over and see whether Dr. Ban might sort out my arthritic toe!

earlybird said...

Oh wow! That water lilly's in your garden?