Old Dogs of War

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1Thursday morning arrived a bit late for me after a restless night.  I began a planned withdrawal from the NSAID’s I have been taking for years to relieve a rotator cuff injury.  It seems that my old pal Ibuprophen® is very bad for me, and if I don’t want to destroy my kidneys before go naked in a nursing home, I had better go cold turkey on them.

Without them, I itched. I ached. I lay there wide awake until I finally just got up and indulged my news addiction.  That’s not very conducive to a night’s rest either.  I see no peaceful way out of the North Korea mess.  It should have been handled in 1948, but the US was war weary and just wanted that horror to go away.  But I am too old for war, and someone else will pay the price for our inability to face uncomfortable truths until terror lands on our shore.

And so I sip my late morning coffee while Snook patters about on her morning chores and the day warms up from the 40’s to the 70’s.  Today, one of Linda’s co-workers may be coming by to look at my pickup.  I am reluctantly selling it.  I doubt that I will ever use it again and it is an expensive ornament now.  But a man without a pickup loses a large chunk of his masculinity down here, and I very reluctantly await its sale.

Not that I mind aging so much.  I am weary.  Though I still hear the drums and bugles calling me to ride out with each new team at Fort Hood deploying, the blood no longer runs so hotly in my veins.  Like an old dog on the porch, I watch the parade go by, then drop my head on my paws and go back to sleep.  War, valor, impregnating females and winning at poker are just pleasant memories now.  Mostly fond memories, but regrets … I got a few.

… but the coffee cup is empty and needs refilling. The time is passing, and I have chores.

Good morning!

This entry was posted in Journal.

7 thoughts on “Old Dogs of War”

    Donnafaye Woodall said:
    December 1, 2017 at 5:08 pm

    When I chose to go *free on the arthritis journey, there have been time of pain and sleepless endurance. I use Thai Basil tea. It takes most of the pain and allows me to sleep.
    I am also taking a journey into the later stage of earthlife. I’ve stopped watching news broadcasts though I do read news in the paper and online frequently. I’m just tired of the hype.

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      Catherine said:
      December 2, 2017 at 10:36 am

      I have an irrational fear of doctors and medication, so the only thing I take for pain is one Tylenol. Rusty, if you truly love your pickup then maybe you should keep it. If it will go to a good home, then maybe letting go of it won’t be that difficult. I cried when I sold my 1965 Ford Mustang (way back in the day), but it went to a collector who I knew would restore it. As for the news, I won’t watch it at night but during the day is a different story. Sometimes it takes my breath away … literally … and other times I want to punch someone in the nose. Peace!

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        Rusty Armor responded:
        December 2, 2017 at 5:37 pm

        I am not so in love with the pickup that I can’t let it go. But it is an admission that an era has passed in my life. It is a time to get rid of stuff that I’ll no longer be using. A matched bicycle set, a table saw, tools … lots of stuff.

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      Rusty Armor responded:
      December 2, 2017 at 5:38 pm

      I might try the tea … my Asian friend is always sending me Asian nostrums to turn me back into a 20 year old, but they don’t seem to be doing their job. I’ll ask her about the tea. 😉

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    A Perfectmindstorm said:
    December 8, 2017 at 3:07 pm

    Turmeric curcumin. Once I started taking that my knee pain went completely away. I had it for over a year after climbing dunes in Idaho. I was about to just break down and go get the old leg cut off hahaha. Then a miracle happened.

    Get rid of the truck, and buy a Segway lol (wonders if you remember that conversation?)

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      Rusty Armor responded:
      December 8, 2017 at 3:53 pm

      One of my Asian friends sent me turmeric curcumin for tea … the stuff was … ah … different, so I got the pills because I felt like I was drinking tree sap.
      She told me it wasn’t the same … I dunno. Maybe I’ll try the turmeric and black pepper again …
      I don’t remember the Segway post, but it sounds like one of the asinine comments I often make! 😛

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        A Perfectmindstorm said:
        December 8, 2017 at 4:01 pm

        I’ve made the tea , it is “different” for sure. I take the pills , but I do drink some tea and it has ginger in it which also helps. The segway conversation came up quite some time ago. We were kidding each other about riding around on segways. It was pretty funny actually

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