Monday, June 6, 2005

Live From Arrakis...

Anybody remember the movie "Dune" that came out in the 80's? The one where Sting made his theatrical debut as Feyd Rautha? Remember the home world of Arrakis? Sheets of rain, accented by more sheets of rain? That would be our corner of the world now. It's either Arrakis or Seattle. Probably Arrakis, as we don't have any seafood markets here. But I digress...

Today is my wife's 16 week checkup on the baby. Since all of the young 'uns are home now (school's out, eh!), they will all be accompanying her to the hospital to listen to the baby's heartbeat. This reminds me of some neighbors up the street, who about three years ago were doing exactly the same thing. They had everyone all settled in to the ultrasound room, when the doctor turned on the machine. A few seconds later, the doctor signalled the nurse, who immediately said "Hey kids, why don't you come with me? I've got some treats right down the hall here..." The kids were escorted out of the room, and the doctor continued to probe around with the ultrasound. He stopped a minute later, turning to our friends and saying "I'm sorry, I cannot find a heartbeat." The loss devastated our friends, and when we found out we were expecting about 8 months later, they avoided us for a while.

While I know that history has a way of repeating itself, I am hoping there are no "blasts from the past" today, or anytime soon. What a morbid thing to think about! Damned weather; it's all to blame.

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