dry leaves – foto by smith

Had a close friend who had his arthritis cured by acupuncture, so I thought I’d try to cure mine the same way. I expected a Chinese gentleman with thousands of slim slinky needles. Turned out to be a mid-30s Hispanic dentist looking dude in a small westernized office.

I had but one fact before starting – wherever acupuncture is trying to fix, the needles go in somewhere else because our bodies are interconnected, but its aura energy flow is never one on one.

The thousands of slim slinky needles turned out to be one electrode – he said this was Japanese electrical acupuncture. He poked my arthritic thumb, asked if it hurt, and when I said yes, he tapped the needle right into the sorest part. It or the electricity or both hurt like hell. He did three holes in the base of each thumb, all six extremely painful. I’m lying there squirming in pain, Lady and I both laughing at my misery, me through tears.

Afterwards he asked when I wanted my next appointment. Told him I’d wait and see if this showed any improvement. Since I see absolutely none yesterday or today, I won’t be going back. So much for that $30.

Still want to try old Chinese acupuncture though. Have this movie image (Body of Evidence, 1993) of a nude Madonna in an old dusty seedy shop lying on her stomach with dozens of quivering acupuncture needles rising from her body. Somehow my actual experience lacked that magic.

At least it was an adventure, albeit an unsatisfying and unproductive one.

We’ve begun another adventure – in the spirit of exploration, once a week we board an unknown bus and ride it to the end of the line where we walk around awhile, then try to figure out how to get back home. Our first try was last week. Bus took us east and south to an unknown little peopled place with no visible name. We walked an hour back and finally flagged a cab because we weren’t even close to home. Hope today’s unknown ride is more interesting.

south wall of Governor’s Palace – foto by smith