–OR–
No Can Do
Posted 7-3-19
In the never-ending providential spin of our globe it seems like things return like reruns on Netflix, every day. Take today, for example. You may have noticed my Facebook post, but I went early to drop off rent in the rent box and, to my surprise, there was a sweet little black kitty with its head stuck in a bean can sitting there. Traffic at the complex is quite busy and with a 90+ degree day predicted, the little black dumpling would have been in deep trouble had I not happened on the scene. I first had to size it up to be sure it wasn’t Pepe Le Pew. I tapped its noggin lightly and spoke to her in my best cat dialect and decided it was safe. A few light twists and tugs and rear leg kicks (by the kitty) later, and she was free. I should have videoed it, but with my luck it would have been a skunk and I would have gone viral. Being skunked is not a good viral video plan. 🙂
Flash back 35(?) years ago on a camping trip with my mom and step-family and a similar thing happened. We were strolling along the banks of Lake Okmulgee and heard a frustrated rustling in the woods. Fearing a bear, a Cobra-headed Rattle Moccasin, a Chupacabra or a BigFoot, we stood waaaaay back and watched as it emerged from the shrubs. Our first thoughts upon seeing it was: platypus? Anteater? Turns out it was a red fox with a BBQ Pringles can stuck on its head. Neither Mom nor I wanted any part of freeing this very angry-sounding fox from his chippy trap, so I stayed behind to keep an eye on the Fantastic Mr. Fox and mom drove like a banshee (the same sound as the fox was making) to a local ranger station. He came in his Jeep and saw the canned fox circus. We all stood around for a bit trying to work out a plan of how to extract said can without Mr. Fox extracting a pound of flesh from the first person he saw when freed. We ended up standing on his Jeep that was pulled next to the mess while he tugged and twisted and finally freed the fox, then jumped on the Jeep with us. Too bad we didn’t have Wikipedia in the 80s or we would have known a 3-foot-jump was easily doable for this beast. Fortunately he was happy to be free and ran away instead, sparing us the rabies shots to the eyeball or spleen or wherever they inject those things….
Now, fast-forward to today in this season celebrating Freedom and America’s birthday. Mom has a terrible, metaphorical Pringles can of dementia stuck on her head and only a freedom-granting miracle from the Lord’s hand can free her. The ladies at the memory unit are pretty much just sitting around waiting to die or for a cure. 🙁 Fear, confusion, anger and anxiety abound for the dementia patient. Some turn silent like today’s kitty while others get mad like Mr. Fox. As a “fixer” type of person that I am, I desperately want to free mom and the Sweet 17, but, sadly, such is life. We will have to wait and we will comfort them and love them until the great Warden comes to rescue them someday with either a cure… or a trip to their eternal home in Heaven.
#EndALZ
By the numbers: There are 5.8 million people diagnosed as living with dementia in the United States. It would still require giving each patient over 170 cans of Pringles to equal the number of cans consumed yearly worldwide. There are a whole lot struggling with dementia…and a mega-ton of these delicious chips out there… News you can use, brought to you free of charge from DigitalCornbread.com 😉 (P.S. Throw your stupid cans away!!! Come on, Litterbug!)
Update: Mom was better yesterday. The 3 days of extreme tiredness seems to have passed for now. 🙂 The rest of the Sweet 17 are holding their own as well. We won’t give up…no can do!