Big Medicine

Watched a little bit of Discovery's Planet Earth tonight. Rob's irritated with how the episodes skip around, first one continent, then another. I tried to explain the whole 'biome' thing to him & how biomes aren't relegated to just one continent, they stretch across the globe. He doesn't care, it just annoys him that they talk about North America for 4 minutes & then, bam, they're in the Himalayas.

Anyway... we were watching pikas & birds in the Himalayan mountains... and this animal seemed to just pop up out of the ground. We both got chills, hair standing on end, that feeling like someone just sent a low grade electrical current through the couch. It was a Tibetan fox, caught on film for the very first time. It's a weird looking fox, and even Sigourney Weaver mentioned, "It's a bizarre looking fox, with thick fur for the cold weather. But why the square head?" When it layed down in the process of stalking a pika the coloring and square head made perfect sense - it looked like the rocks and stones of its surroundings. But the thing is this:

It's not just a fox. It didn't really look like anything that should be on film in the first place. Even looking at the one lone still-frame photo from the mini-series has that same electrifying effect. It... shimmers. I don't know how else to explain it. It doesn't want to be seen, or looked at, and it didn't want to be on film. Considering recent conversations, I think if someone had this as a totem or a clan totem, either everyone would know it immediately - or no one would ever know. It looks like there's something else looking out from its eyes, like it's wearing a spirit mask. To be truthful, I wouldn't want this animal anywhere in my spiritual pantheon. It's got that look like challenge is too mild a word for the lessons it has to teach.

All I have to say is, that fox has big medicine. ( See for yourself: )

(Edited for content: Originally, I just posted the picture in my post... and then I decided to put it behind a cut because... I don't want that thing looking at me every time I open my lj)

Journeys

Rob said the Tibetan fox reminded him of the coyote from that one episode of the Simpsons... ("I am a coyote after all."). So I went looking for stillframes of the 'space coyote', which led me to a series of books... Coyote Medicine, Coyote Healing and Coyote Wisdom by Lewis Mehl-Madrona. They're about the power of story-telling in Native American medicine... hmmm. Of course, now for some unknown reason, Amazon.com is recommending Aldous Huxley's The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell, along with something by Timothy Leary, a book about psilocybin mushrooms, and The Mysteries of Druidry. Wtf?!

I could start a whole new type of -mancy... amazonamancy. Ask a question & check amazon.com's daily recommendations for you. Of course, having an amazon.com account would be helpful. Could probably also do halfamancy, e-Bay's half.com division's recommendations. But they're cheaper, so mancer beware.

Coincidences

Heh, they played the coyote episode of The Simpsons tonight on the 'new' Vegas TV. Bwahahaha!!!

I am so worn out right now! Got up, took a shower, managed to hop down the step into the garage (it's a small victory - the body remembers even if the mind doesn't), went to my ortho doc appointment. My leave may end up being extended a week or two - which we honestly cannot afford. He just doesn't want me to put any weight at all on that leg for another 6 weeks. I go back to see him at the end of April, so it's more 'wait & see'. He explained fully about the torn cartilage repair, which was on the outside of my knee. The good news is I got my stitches out :) It was the first thing I asked about because it was like having fishing line sticking out of my knee. It kept catching on everything, kind of like when your pubes get caught in a nylon bathing suit or silky underwear. I anticipated far worse pain, never having had stitches before on anything, but it was just like getting my eyebrows plucked or something. From there, went to get another blood test done - the hematologist wants a white blood cell profile done. There are several different types of wbc's & he wants to know exactly which ones are elevated, plus checking me for various mineral deficiencies, namely B12 & iron. In the attempt to leave Quest, I almost face-planted, so that's the second fall since I came home. Luckily, they had a small fridge right inside the doorway which I was able to catch myself on so I didn't completely hit the floor. In my attempt to avoid falling on my right side, I'd probably fuck the rest of myself up. Went to the post office, got dinner from Yummy Sushi Grill & came home. I also managed to hop up the step into the house, which is a very big victory considering how when I first came home after the surgery, I had to scoot into the house on my butt. Ate, watched some t.v., had sex, watched the space coyote. Anyway, after my productive and active day, I am freaking exhausted. I keep thinking my forearms are getting bigger.

Rob's basically developed carpal tunnel & he's been in pretty severe pain over the past couple of days. He's pissed about it, too, because he was hoping for an entire month of Warcraft with me. Now, whenever he picks up the controller or mouse or keyboard, he hurts. He said it's even started hurting when he goes to make coffee, or tries to cut up his nightly tomato. We ordered him a therapuetic (sp?) tool called the 'cat's paw'. It's supposed to help strengthen the muscles & tendons in the hand & wrist. It only came in last week so he's been using it the past few days. No results yet, though.

I get to call the physical therapist tomorrow & set up appointments - 3X a week for 6 weeks, yay. I'm hoping for some massage. The doctor told me that after knee surgery, the thigh muscles 'forget' how to extend the leg, which explains one problem I've been having & I can use the stationary bike, which should help the continual cramping.