Peace and strife

Peace

I love trees 

their leaves 

bring a whispering mystery 

to calm the frantic soul, 

While unquiet spirits storm 

and find no rest, 

I only need a tree 

to calm my breast.

Annie Elliott

We have returned from a great break in Northumberland, staying at a magnificent country house. Technically, we were in a small wing at the back of the house, the former servants' quarters, but it was still luxurious with large bedrooms, multiple bathrooms, and a huge kitchen and sitting room. We had hoped to have visitors come and share with us, and Edwin and Andre did come for a few days by train. Lucy and family visited on a day trip but did not stay over because of schooling. During the visit, Ann was reminded on her great love of peace and her passion for trees, ultimately the most peaceful of symbols in a living, lively world. 

Some years ago when we lived in Clare, we had a local Clare-based dentist. Unfortunately, many of his patients developed problems with their dental work and complained. Eventually he was struck off for incompetence and dishonesty. Last week, so many years later, Ann also became a victim of the man's efforts when a crown he had fitted worked loose and came off during our holiday. She attended an emergency session with our new dentist in Hadleigh, who diagnosed that the remaining stump, to which it had been attached, was too small and damaged to re-crown and the the thing would need extraction. This he judged too difficult for his meagre abilities so arranged an appointment with a specialist odontological surgeon.

On Thursday, the operation of Ann's mouth began. The session had been booked for half an hour, but the root was a small, fractured and half-buried remnant so the poor girl had to have repeated injections as the gum was incised and the broken adherent root fragments drilled and grinded, gripped and heaved at. She was in the chair for one and a half hours and needed six stitches. Coming out, a sizable queue had formed as she staggered down the stairs. Because of the stupid Covid restrictions, I had been standing outside in the rain to wait for her, but I was glad I did because she needed my arm to steady her as we returned to the car park. Then, walking the dogs in Clare next day, a new sign in a shop window proclaimed Ann's belief. Tree Action Society of Clare (TASC) proudly proclaims they also stand for trees. Let's all go plant a tree for peace. Now, three days later, Ann has a huge hard swelling over the jaw and a huge pain she is desperately trying to suppress with various pain-killers. I am cooking her omelettes, the only thing she can eat besides her diet of soup and milk.

Also in Clare, I had to drop a prescription in to our doctors. While the dentist has remained open throughout the pandemic, seeing patients in the most intimate of ways via their maskless mouths, for eighteen months the doctor's surgery has greeted the ill and dying with a locked door and this sign: "STOP!!! Knock on window if you have an appointment". No one I know has seen their GP in all this time, and I am ashamed of the profession or to admit I once was a GP.