Help Yourself

In the days leading up to the election, I didn’t do much self-care. Throw Halloween in the mix, and I was subsisting on chocolate and anxiety for over a week. I was just a bit on edge. When I lost a 7 team college football parlay because the overwhelmingly prohibitive favorite Penn State that I knew would win actually lost badly, this was the result …

I loved that hot tub, but the heater was shot and we can’t sell our house with a 20 year old hot or cold tub sitting out back. I can’t stay mad too much longer at Penn State, because Pennsylvania actually delivered the election victory to Joe Biden. Anyway, that demolition was a good way to help myself alleviate stress, which I needed since there was even more stress to come.

As the cherry on top, my dear friend and brother from another mother was diagnosed with colon cancer which he WILL easily beat if he knows what’s good for him. Okay, that didn’t make sense, but he’ll know what I mean.

With the election over and democracy having won, a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can’t make my friend’s cancer disappear, but I can get checked myself. You see, I have also been lax about a colonoscopy. I am way overdue. Fortunately, our healthcare provider just coincidentally emailed me about getting a colon cancer check by mail for FREE. I immediately signed up, and received the stool sample kit this past weekend. However, there was a problem with the collection vial they sent me …

That was definitely not going to be big enough. You see, I eat lots of fruits and veggies. Fortunately, I found we had some of these …

Although a one quart bag still wasn’t quite large enough, I figured it was a big enough sample for them to get some sort of results.

I did find it rude that they wanted me to use this bag …

I mean, maybe if I had eaten chili the night before or some spicy Pad Thai, but not normally.

Helping my mood has been summerlike weather here for a week, well into November. I hopped on my bike this morning to pedal over and hand deliver the sample to the post office for an early pick-up. It’s not normally a scenic ride as it goes along some busy roads, but this morning just before sunrise …

I could have taken the same way home, but I decided to take a detour down the Great Western Trail which is so named because it is a trail that heads west and is great as it takes one through forest preserves and wooded corridors.

It was wonderful to take an extended ride on the trail as I contemplated our democracy and colons. My conclusions? We saved democracy … for now. There will be another right wing wannabe demagogue that will come along who is smarter than Trump. We must be prepared. If you’re over 50, help yourself by getting a colonoscopy. And as I also await some skin biopsy results, always wear sunscreen and a hat.

Okay, don’t get ridiculous with the hat.

Much better.