farmdoc's blog post number 17

I can’t find my favourite mechanical pencil. It’s a Bic, it’s turquoise, and it cost me a dollar. I put it down somewhere – I can’t recall where – and my searching has been fruitless. It’s not really the loss of the pencil that bothers me, but that I think my inability to find things is an early sign of dementia or some other brain disease. I care about my brain. I drink minimal alcohol, maybe even less than a healthy brain needs; I don’t do drugs, either psychotropic or illegal ones; and I take fish-oil and vitamin C, which may help and don’t harm my brain’s function. But the non-brain part of my body? That’s a different story. A week ago I lifted a recycling box full of very damp soil, from the ground on to the trailer that my ATV tows. I didn’t pay attention to the way I lifted it, so I probably bent my back instead of my legs. Stupid me! So now I have back pain. But no leg symptoms, I’m happy to tell you, and so no nerve impingement. In the week since then it has improved 80%. But it still bothers me – not only when I’m chainsawing, stacking firewood, repairing fences, and collecting wombat poo; but also when I’m searching for my mislaid mechanical pencil.