Chisels and drills

"We need so to view the world as to combine an idea of wonder and an idea of welcome."

G.K. Chesterton

"The human gaze is not the closed, fixed view of a camera but is creative and constructive. Both the gaze that sees and the object that is seen construct themselves simultaneously in the one act of vision."  John O'Donohue

Two days ago while making my morning coffee one of my ears opened. It actually happened over a few days. At first I had a moment of opening, a slight pop, and then it closed. A few moments later it happened again. Just a moment, an awakening, a respite from the silence and then silence again. That was it for the first day. But then, standing at the sink filling the coffee pot, bink my left ear opened. I didn't move for a moment. I was afraid it close again. No, it hasn't closed yet.

I went to see the surgeon and as he examined the closed ear I took a perverse pride when he stated, "in all my years of practice I have never seen such an extreme case. Your ear is completely closed off." I swelled with a boyhood since of a job well done. I did it the best!

He then stated that the other ear wasn't much better. It was only when he started probing my ear canal with small metal tools forcing me to squirm in my seat that it dawned on me that this was not such an accomplishment. 

The surgery is scheduled for late August. "Do you use the mirco chisels or the drill?" I asked (showing off my newly acquired knowledge of surgery procedures.) "Both" he said. "I do the rough work with the chisels and then clean up with the drill." Sounds like he's doing construction.  I suppose he is.