Breakfast

BREAK FAST

Sarah carefully constructs my egg and cheese muffin, muffin well done, two, three times a week.

She works silently, diligently, caringly -- toasting, then re-toasting the muffins before she wraps them tightly in crinkly wax papers and places them in paper bag, folds over the top, neatly, once, twice, and takes my few dollar bills and some change.

It's not a fair trade. I can watch her cook, assemble my order, take my cash, and answer the intercom to take other orders.

I inquired civilly, and came to know that she is a single mother of two. A boy, one, and a girl, five. She hasn't missed a day of work for years. Never sick, never tardy.

Today, all alone until her shift partner arrives, she seemed a little lonely and smaller still in the big kitchen, filled with shiny stainless steel forms and surfaces. The juice machine bubbles away, the milk machine letting a few drops fall into the waste tray and the espresso machine releasing a little steam. The grill smokes from a few pieces of bacon crumb or is it a scrap of egg?

Her skin is clean and clear and her pink ears stand out like little shells stuck on her head. She wears her hair in a ponytail. Her ponytail wrap is all business. A big, red, rubber band.

I noticed today that her arms are long and lean from holding and feeding babies and reaching over the hot grill to fry my eggs. The veins show through her arms from her wrists to her upper arms. Her forearms are discolored from burns from the black, iron plates covering the gas burners.

I left her a thousand dollar tip this morning at the drive-through window. I stuffed ten, one-hundred dollar bills in the jar and drove off just after she gave me a milk bone for my dog. I didn't say anything, and will deny everything the next time I'm in for an egg and cheese muffin, muffin well done.

Six Orange Cats

Six Orange Cats

I was sitting under the bridge over the creek.
A bag flew over my head and splashed in the water. The creek was running low that summer.

I heard some squeaks from the burlap bag
as I ran into the water and pulled the bag out.
I took it to the bank and opened it.
Out spilled a bunch of wet little creatures,
helpless and tiny and clinging to each other.

I read in the paper later that week that a man was killed when a burlap bag blew up from his rusty floorboards and tangled in his feet when he tried to brake for a curve down 101. His old pickup went straight through the rail into the ice cold lake.

Six orange kittens sit on the ledge of my front window, licking their paws after their meal and smiling and they seemed to know about the story in the paper.

TEETH article

ULTRA WHITE

 

Not satisfied with the whiteness of your teeth?  Are your choppers yellow, gray, brown, black, or dingy?  Do they look like little, burnt pieces of rice sticking out of your gums? Do you crave a bright, white smile like that of Officer Francis 'Ponch' Poncherello of TV’s Chips fame, or would you prefer the smile of the celebrities that leave the professional retouching of their teeth to experts when there is a call for publicity shots and head shots of them in the annual, corporate report?

 

Most of us are satisfied with the greenish-gray or the semi-sparkle we get from brushing twice daily with a fluoride-containing toothpaste, cleaning between our teeth once a day and the getting the regular, bi-yearly cleanings at the dentist’s office.

If you decide you would like to go beyond this ordinary maintenance and care and make your teeth virtually shine in the dark, there are a variety of products and procedures available to you. You should be warned, however, as I have seen people who have teeth so white that their teeth appear to be false. This would neutralize having gorgeous, white teeth if people thought they were false. Snow-white teeth draw attention away from the remainder of the face.  If the room were dimly lit, people would only see two rows of fluorescent dentition when they looked your way.

Oh, and if you are concerned about the color of your false teeth or partial plate, bleaching is only for real teeth. The bleach will only bleach enamel.

Replacements for decayed or lost teeth have been produced since antiquity. The most common material that was used for artificial teeth was ivory harvested from elephants.  Human teeth were also used, and these were taken from the dead. These teeth soon rotted, turned brown and rancid. The need for more stable material arose.  In the past artificial teeth were made of metals like silver or  gold. The most commonly used materials for artificial teeth today are porcelain and acrylic.

The bleaching method most widely used for teeth whitening is the use of dentist-prescribed carbamide peroxide or hydrogen peroxide in trays used outside the dental office.  Carbamide peroxide, also called urea peroxide, is an oxidizing agent, consisting of hydrogen peroxide with  urea. Hydrogen peroxide has strong oxidizing properties and is a powerful bleaching agent that has found use as a disinfectant and as a fuel in rockets. Urea contains a lot of nitrogen, and is contained in fertilizers. 

Peroxide-containing whiteners typically come in a gel and are placed in a mouth guard. Usage regimens vary. Some products are used for about twice a day for 2 weeks, and others are intended for overnight use for 1-2 weeks. If you buy the bleaching solution from your dentist, he or she can make a custom-fitted mouth guard for you that will fit your teeth precisely.

You also may want to speak with your dentist should any side effects become bothersome. For example, teeth can become sensitive during the period when you are using the bleaching solution. In many cases, this sensitivity is temporary and should lessen once the treatment is finished. Some people also experience soft tissue irritation—either from a tray that does not fit properly or from solution that may come in contact with the tissues. If you have concerns about such side effects, you should discuss them with your dentist.

 All toothpastes help remove surface stain through the action of mild abrasives. "Whitening" toothpastes in the ADA Seal of Acceptance program have special chemical or polishing agents (silica- or processed sand) that provide additional stain removal effectiveness.

 So to keep your teeth white, use rocket fuel, fertilizer and a little sand twice a day, and get regular checkups.

 

--
Thomas J. Pitre