JUST CLOWNING AROUND

So ... my dear, sweet fellow MVC volunteer signed us up to coordinate the St. Joseph Mercy Employee Talent Show, part of a Fun Day we're having at the hospital. Having done some acting in my day, I thought that I'd have a little fun drumming up support and acts for the show. So I scrounged around for pieces of a costume and a few props, borrowed a set of scrubs from the OR, walked like a little old man, changed my voice to sound a bit like a Gorg from Fraggle Rock and became "Dr. Clown". (You can see Dr. Clown in the patient and family services office/alcove (my department!) with Leila, the receptionist, flashlight, octopus and boo-boo fish in hand. Eileen and I went around the hospital bringing laughter and getting a few people signed up for the show, and many more excited about going to see it. But the costume and character were a greater gift than I could have anticipated. One patient was beaming as I asked her son to hold my "octopus" (a little plastic one) as I fished around in my trashbag for a GIGANTIC flashlight to peer down the employees' throats and inspect for lovely singing voices, joke-telling tonsils, and the like. I pressed the sole of an old man's foot to my ear and listened intently before delivering my prognosis: it didn't look good - I couldn't make out a heartbeat. He laughed and laughed. Then there was the boy with nerve damage in his arm in the front office whose mother howled when I told her it was a good thing I didn't operate because I'd lost all my nerves. There were two ancient women on the top floor (in hospice care) who were just touched that I came by. And finally, there was a little girl screaming in the pediatrician's office, just crying and crying, and I came in and introduced myself to her, her sister and her mother, and gave her a "magic" flower and let her squeeze my huge bulbus nose and tickled her with my moustache until I left her smiling. Really, the laughter was such a blessing - as much for me as it was for them.

Dad - Please share this one with Lonnie: Any Mainer reading this right now should mark it on their calendars to head for Main St., Gray anytime after Memorial Day (I think that's the schedule). There you will find the best hot dogs in Maine, at Lonnie's hot dog stand. Now I tell you this by way of introducing this story. Eileen and I were amazed to find when we had a hamburger that things like pineapple slices and carrot shavings were included as toppings. Believe it or not, they were pretty tasty. However, Monday night on the seawall, dodging kite strings and small children, Eileen and I found ourselves at a hot dog stand, ready to try something else new. It immediately made me miss Lonnie. This dog was chicken, for starters, not the crispy red case, and more like a salad - as you can see. Onion, lettuce, carrot, tomato I'm sure (if I'd asked for it), and spicy mustard and funny-tasting ketchup on top - more like a salad than a chilidog. The Guyanese hot dog, while filling and flavorful, cannot hold a candle to my Lonnie dogs, but it'll do for now ....