Rooting Canals amidst Life and Death

 Ovidia--every other Tuesday

I was going to make this a poor-me post after learning I need a root canal on one of my molars--and possibly more than one. 

'But why? Why me? I brush, I floss, I take calcium supplements, don't chew ice cubes and am probably in better health than I've ever been...'

'Possibly due to high doses of antibiotics and antihistamines in your preteen (adult tooth enamel formation) years--'

Okay. I can accept that. Given those anti-bug drugs kept me and my teeth alive till now, I'm grateful to them. Because remember, I'm one of the generation of school kids that got lined up in rows over the drain outside our classroom to learn to brush our teeth.

And that was because our parents and teachers, the generation of war survivors, were determined to give us the best they could... bottles of milk in a tin pail of ice in a corner of the classroom, followed by antihistamines to stop the allergic reaction the lactose triggered in me.

But then I got the news that an(other) old friend just died, far away in the UK. For years she was a friend and fixture in the Singapore arts (especially drama) scene. She coordinated scripts for shows she also acted in, like Bumboat! for the Singapore Festival of Arts and she directed too. I remember she did To Touch The Soul of A God and there were others I can't remember now. And after her return/ retirement to England, she crocheted cute animals that would turn up in Singapore for Christmas and birthdays 'Surprise!'.
I know we're all getting older but it's a shock because in my mind I'd had her fixed eternally at the age of her departure. And now she's gone, in my memory she's even younger than I am, back to the energetic, funny, wryly sarcastic dark-haired friend with no pain, no mobility issues, no problems at all. 
And it's all right, because I know there's no more pain for her now. Rest well now, sweet Katie. Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

You see why I can't grumble about my teeth?

But life goes on, so back to root canal preparation. Luckily a friend who's already been through the process (twice!) gave me this advice: 

"ask the dentist to lather on the anaesthetic gel on your gums where they're going to do the root canal BEFORE they inject the actual anaesthetic for the nerve. Yes, that half of your face will go numb and you'll drool worse than someone suffering a stroke but if it means zero pain, it's worth the price."

Which I'm sharing here for anyone else who might need it because he's someone who generally knows exactly what he's talking about and I'm a big fan of 'zero pain'.

And given that the root canal process is all about removing infected pulp and debris among the roots then cleaning, shaping, filling and hopefully bestowing a new lease of life, I decided to do the same to my limau purut or makrut lime (Citrus hystrix) tree. 

She was getting pretty pot bound, poor thing. 

I got to play at doing my own root canal, imagining what it's like for a dental surgeon going in and trying to clear the stuff in there. But luckily, on loosening the caked soil, I found she still has a root strong central root--

So I believe there's hope yet! This is temporary, though. I didn't have enough good soil mix, so in a couple of months there's going to be one more round (minus the trimming of rootlets) with some slow release fertiliser mixed in. 

Kind of like my follow up treatments and new crown, I guess. And sifting through the soil with my fingers really helped me too. 

Now I feel like I want to clean out forgotten debris from my life and bookshelves as well as from my teeth and plant pots! Because life goes on. You either clear the debris, flotsam and jetsam clogging your life or you become part of it.

On a happier note, we've received our CDC (Community Development Council) vouchers. They're from the '$1.1 billion Cost of Living Package' the government allotted every Singaporean household this year. We got $250 for groceries and $250 for food and I celebrated by splurging my first $5 voucher on this laksa.

 It was good too. The stall keeper was happy to take my voucher and threw in a stick of grilled chicken gizzards ("give you try-try--I make for myself one, not for sale") for free. Not to everyone's taste I know, but they were really good!

And I realise it's Pongal in Singapore now, from last Sunday 14 January till tomorrow, Wed 17 January. 

Pongal is a Tamil festival and Day 1 or Bhogi Mantalu is the day when people clear out unnecessary or outdated items from their homes--which also ties in with my rooting out debris theme, almost as though the universe is trying to tell me something. Traditionally these discarded objects are burned on a bonfire of cow dung patties with singing and dancing and thanksgiving, but I'll bring mine to the recycling stations and quietly thank them for their service.

Pongal celebrates Indra's victory over the dragon Vritra, when the sun, the rains and the cows were released from the dragon's control to be shared by all. It's a reminder that the joy and abundance of true prosperity and progress only counts when it is shared by all--a lesson we all need to remember!