From Twin Peaks, O’Shaughnessy Boulevard swoops down like an eagle, landing, or one might say perching, in my neighborhood of Glen Park. And with all this avian imagery one would assume that I go swooping too. I don’t. I go braking, but not always. In fact, I can remember a fairly recent occasion when I did more or less swoop, enjoying the scenic descent. And it’s a good thing that I can remember. Because with some physical medicine help, I am beginning to get on top of at least one aspect of my driving. Pain. My foot hurts. And at this age, sure, this is to be expected. Never mind what’s expected. It’s draining.

So the good, and rather boringly mundane, news is that something that can be done. Possibly. Maybe even likely. And even if it can’t, I am getting out of my head and into my body around this. It’s a big mistake to be stoical about something that is clearly sapping me. So the sun shines bright on the Kaiser health plan. Alleluia.

One finds one’s way. On my last visit to the Kaiser clinic on Sixth Avenue, various friendly clinicians pointed out the parking area. I had avoided it on that occasion, because I just didn’t want to deal with the quadriplegic ritual of reaching for the plastic parking ticket. These machines are invariably too far, involve leaning out the window in a desperate bid to achieve parking legality. And for what? There were plenty of spaces on the surrounding streets. The last time, and this time. Still, I gave Kaiser’s parking a shot. I won’t give it another. All the disabled parking spaces were taken. So I occupied two, only able to do this because there was a real-life parking attendant. He handed me the ticket on entry. He helped me deploy my own parking cone in an adjacent space…that’s how much area I need to lower the wheelchair ramp on the right side of my car. And upon departure, he reversed the process. Still, I showed that it was possible. Just not necessary. Proof of concept.

As for the foot pain…it’s not necessary. Proof of concept? That it’s unwise to bite the bullet that ultimately explodes in your mouth.

Then there’s the political science class I just began. This very afternoon. Way cool. Things are obviously not right in the land. And with so many Americans not right in the head, it’s easy to dismiss themaa. Bad idea. Much better to study it. More on this later.