No good news in this small town of Red Wing lately. Just a few days ago, a drugged-out father beat and bit his two year old toddler, threw her down a flight of stairs, and now she’s fighting for her brain-damaged little life at Mayo. This occured in a familiar, small blue house right across from my grocery store.
In further bad news, a local factory closed which will put another batch of workers out of a job, including my uncle who had worked there for years. This is the third factory closing in a year, in a town which is principally blue-collar.
So, lately, my stuffed and aching head has been swirling with thoughts on financial difficulties and domestic life. Three of the books I have read during this illness all seem to do with the same subject, though in wildly different ways, and those books are: Morningside Heights (previously discussed), Rumer Godden’s Kingfishers Catch Fire, and Natsuo Kirino’s Out.
I was glad my appetite was out of order on the day I read Out. (In case you haven’t heard of it, the novel is about four female factory workers in Japan and what happens when one of them murders her no-good husband.)
I’ve got some things to say about these books I’ve read, but now I need to go to the hospital and pick up my 29-year-old sister. She had surgery yesterday for a torn ACL in her knee—that ligament that is especially vulnerable for female athletes. A few years ago she tore her right one, now this time the left. Though normally it’s considered a same-day procedure, after surgery yesterday she was in so much pain that they decided to keep her overnight.
I hate hospitals, because I am always hit hard with great pangs of envy at the usefulness of doctors and nurses, and wonder why the heck I didn't pursue a strong urge at age 22 to find a way into medical school. But I know that in so many instances they are dealing with the results of a culture gone awry and that somehow I would rather chip away at the culture, not just patch or medicate the results. So I guess I philosophically sweep my envy under the rug, at least for the time being.
10:15:12 AM 
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