Feb 15 2018
Past Tense
Well, February is back, in temperature if not in rain. It’s been chilly and frosty in the mornings this week. It is definitely lighter both earlier and later in the day lately, which must mean the madness of the time change can’t be far away. This morning, the sky was the ethereal enameled blue found in Renaissance paintings, set with a silvery crescent moon.
Megan and I went to a little exhibit at the Kelley House last weekend. The Kelleys were one of the earliest settlers in the Village. Mr. Kelley built a lovely house on Main Street:
to lure his bride all the way from Nova Scotia to remote Mendocino. It worked! The house is now a museum, and has interesting exhibits about local history. It still has a lovely view:
This exhibit was about medical and dental treatments on the coast, and included a very early x-ray:
which Megan could not figure out how to read – is that part of someone’s boot beside the heel? – and a sign for a long ago dentist which was unearthed a few decades ago:
That was about as close as I wanted to get to any dentist after two appointments and three shots* in three days last week. I’m sure that was more pleasant than anything that went on in the delightfully named Dr. Gunn’s office, though.
There were beautifully written poison registers:
and little black bags and brass microscopes. Even now, the area is remote, and some specialists and treatments are not available locally, meaning either a long drive if you’re lucky or being helicoptered to Santa Rosa or San Francisco if you’re not. I imagine you would have had to be pretty tough to live here a century ago or longer. I’m thankful for anesthetic, even when it takes three tries, and antibiotics, among other things.
*It took an hour and a half and three shots to get me numb enough to replace a minor filling at the second of two appointments last week. Good times.
A YEAR AGO: Unlike this year, it was pouring. Like this year, I was watching (and loving) Victoria.
FIVE YEARS AGO: At the fine woodworking show. I missed it this year, but hope to see the year end show in May.
TEN YEARS AGO: Ah, Oaktown. I do not miss you, Sam I Am!