Spring/early summer

Now posting has become a seasonal event. That's the way right now. If I have free time, I'll be darned if I'm going to spend it inside. And lately I have had little (Saturday mornings are family mornings for us).

We just finished our GI module and anatomy. By the end of anatomy, we have so thoroughly dissected every body part (I sort of want to use a Native American analogy about using every part of the body; but I'll resist) that the cadaver is really really discombobulated. We can't help it; we saw everything and figured out exactly where it was and what nerves, arteries, and veins supplied it, etc., but in so doing separated so much from so much else that some things are no longer recognizable to people who didn't participate in the dissection. We were meticulously respectful of our cadaver, but you just can't learn the dissection without getting between the parts and taking apart what was together in life.

I will be relieved for the cadavers to be cremated, as they will be this week. They have given us a learning opportunity that is probably more profound than it feels right now, which is pretty profound. I have HELD a kidney, heart, lungs, spleen, GI tract, etc. I know what nerves look and feel like. It's amazing. Even as I write this I'm thinking about body parts I wish I'd gotten to know better. Our cadaver was male, so I wish I'd gotten to see a few more uteruses and ovaries because if I practice OB/GYN, I'll need that. Now I'll have to wait until the brief window next year between the dissection of the last body parts and the closing of the lab for the year. In all, I saw and understood much more than I expected to see and understand. I am really thankful for that.

I am also really eager for these cadavers, these bodies that are now thoroughly asunder, to be ultimately disorganized. I want them to just finish their entropic journey and become ashes. It may be less organized in a way, but right now they're in a disturbing state of purgatory between organization and disorganization. Resolution will be good. There's a memorial service that I'll be attending.

Anyway, I have to go to bed. Renal module day two awaits in the morning. I like kidneys. PS Vivian and Mazie finish their school year on Friday!!! I could just go on and on, but the cork will have to stay in the bottle tonight, per the usual. Peace.

So, in no particular order, these photos are from a day at Stone Mountain, Mother's day at Kennesaw (we used physical sunblock so all the photos from that day look like phantom of the opera), my friend Laura Jane who fed us dinner taking pictures of M and V clamoring for sweets, Vivian doing dishes (she loves this), and me studying at my favorite study spot.