Day 284: Hats off to fine dentistry

I spent most of yesterday afternoon in a dentist chair in San Francisco.  This was the much dreaded "long appointment" in which a major upper molar which was damaged was being prepared to later receive a gold cap.  If you think of this event like a construction project it is the time when the old structure is torn down, gutted and excavated, new foundation innards are put in place, and these new filling "walls" need to be sandblasted and carved into a form that will accept the new cap.  The whole thing takes around two and a half hours.  I have a good dentist with a perky smile and a trustworthy assistant.  Around two o'clock yesterday we all went to work to get this construction project done.  Being awake, while anesthetized is an odd experience.  All kinds of loud and invasive stuff is happening as the walls come down and the debris is swept up, but everyone is calm and focused.  I was grateful for the mad scientist who invented novicane (or whatever it is they use now) and for the guy who also figured out that nitrous something or other takes the edge off anything scary that is happening.  And I want to thank the scientist who invented the adhesive and the materials used to make the temporary cap.  All this is a modern miracle.  We in the twenty first century are fortunate indeed.  All hail modern dentistry.    
And, this morning all of the strange numbness has worn off and I'm back crunching some homemade bread and marmalade.  I couldn't think of a truly appropriate photo for this post, but I just love this butterfly drinking for the morning glory.  My sister, Kathleen Ryan took it.  Beautiful, isn't it?