Monday, April 28, 2025

New Dangers!!

My fourth month of retirement is nearly in the books and things are going well. I’ve settled in to a comfortable routine. The sciatica business has been annoying but I am experiencing some improvement. I’ve spent a couple weekends visiting each of my kids. Kaitlin’s pregnancy is coming right along quite nicely. My grandson will be here in less than six weeks! A new volunteer opportunity has presented itself to me which will occupy me for a couple months. Baseball season is up and running, and we will be heading to Maine in 70 days!

This is not to say that retirement has been all fun and games, all moonlight and magnolias. Why, just the other day I was reminded just how precarious retired life can be. One minute you are blissfully enjoying the comforts of life and then…BAM…danger rears its ugly head. 

There I was at the Cafe getting ready to enjoy my mid-morning brunch of one Asiago cheese bagel with cream cheese, and my second cup of coffee of the day. I will admit that my guard was down. I had no idea that peril was near. I had taken my bagel out of the toaster, slathered it with cream cheese, then walked over to get a cup of coffee. When I took my first bite of the bagel I felt a strange sensation as I lifted it to my lips. There was brief discomfort, a slight stinging sensation, but as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone and forgotten. But then I took my first sip of coffee—there was blood on the rim and dripping down the side of the mug. What the heck? I lifted my napkin mouthward and dabbed at my lips only to find the napkin bright with red blood. When toasting my bagel I had apparently left it in too long which had burned the sharp edges black and rigid enough to make a small slice in my bottom lip! Eventually the lip stopped bleeding. It was then that my fellow volunteer reminded me that this catastrophe had happened while I was on my shift. Perhaps I could file a Workmen’s Comp claim! Never a dull moment.

Now, I have added—“eating bagels fresh out of the toaster”—to my list of potential dangers to life and limb.




No comments:

Post a Comment