Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat ??“ Louise Nomani

Feb 26, 2006

A SMALL MATTER OF NUMBERS

Louise Nomani

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I? ? ?  It has come to me recently that numbers control my life.?  Do they control yours?? These numbers have mostly erased my identity, and I??™m not sure I know who I am.?  Today I will be a 10:00 appointment, a client number, a customer number, a credit card number, and a case number. Someone will undoubtedly check my license number. I??™m a number in line.?  Whoops!?  I??™ve forgotten my number.

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There are lucky numbers, unlucky numbers and neutral numbers.?  I realize that this is a personal thing.?  My calendar has confirmed that notion but like a virus, these conditions can spread so I encourage you to pay attention.

One or two numbers strike terror into my heart; There is confusion, however, for sometimes I cannot discern the lucky from the unlucky.? Let me explain.?  I have suffered disasters, personal castrophies on dates that I cannot forget.?  These castrophies, with a little divine intervention, have turned out in a positive way. Are these lucky or unlucky numbers? I spoke to a surgeon once as she looked with some interest and concern at a dismal record of disaster.?  ???I can??™t tell,??? I said to her, ???whether I??™ve been really lucky or terribly unlucky.????  The doctor is a very positive person.?  ???Well,??? she said, ???you??™re still here, so I guess that makes you very lucky.??? I keep that in mind, and the luck has been defined and redefined since.?  I am certain that I have a guardian angel, but I am terrified that one of these days my angel will be on lunch break when I need her.?  It is that power of association that has defined the numbers for me.?  How can one not take note of those numbers that chart your life?

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? ? ? ?  ? ? ? ? Three is a big number for me, I don??™t know why.?  I plant bulbs in threes??”sometimes fives or sevens.?  I have three dogs, three cats, three horses, three daughters, three siblings. Of course, I was number three in the birth order.?  I take three little pills in the morning.?  ? ? Is three my lucky number? It is at the least a power number, and I regard it with a great deal of respect and a little bit of fear.

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A friend is drying.?  How long does he have??  The doctor says three to six.?  In my experience, doctors tend to be too positive about these things.?  Say three.?  Oh my God, three months, just three.?  I cannot bear it.? ?  I just lost a neighbor, a friend.?  I hugged him warmly and tenderly.?  How long did he have I asked myself---3-6??  He passed before our day of Thanksgiving. It was a mere 3 weeks before he left this earth.? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 

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? ? ?  ?  Three is definitely a power number and it is a factor of nine.?  That??™s important.?  Did you know that? No? ? Well that does it.?  Three strikes and you??™re out. Talk about power----!

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? ? ?  ?  Five has always a good number on a personal level.? ?  I like the look of it and the sound of it.?  Fee, Fi FO Fum.?  Five fits nicely don??™t you think??  Five months to warm weather, five friends, a good time to eat.?  Five doesn??™t worry me; but, on the global order of things, five has been a catastrophe.?  2005.?  How many lives have been lost to tragedy this year??  How many children, how many limbs, how many eyes?? ?  I can??™t count this agony.?  What are the numbers of the budget deficit??  I need numbers I can count please!? 

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? ? ?  The number six is a number giving hope.?  It is a number of huge possibilities.?  I pray that it will be a lucky number in 2006. Please note that a six is an inverted nine. This is of great significance!

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? ? ?  ?  I really like the number seven.?  Blazing Seven is my newest horse acquisition.?  He was a lapse in good judgment.?  Let me blame the number or----is he good luck or bad luck? ? ? I sent him for surgery to repair racing damage and he suffered awful complications.?  Day after day I would talk with his surgeon, and she would relay dismal news.?  I found my mind and determined to have the brave horse euthanized; but, on day seven the doctor called me. ???It??™s a miracle,??? she said, ???but he??™s better.????  Was this a miracle coming of the number seven??  I have decided that seven is my luckiest number, and so now I am deliberate in my use of seven.?  I can count to seven and then stretch my mind and compute seven times two or seven times three or the myriad of numbers containing seven.?  I hand pump water and an effort of seven will half fill the pail.?  Seventeen pumps will fill the small bucket and 27 pumps will fill the large 5 gallon pail.?  Seven is a very good number and I remind myself of this 7 days a week.

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? ? ?  ?  The number Eight translates to eight scoops of ground coffee for a twelve cup pot.?  Four scoops of decaf and four regular. This makes a perfect brew, and with a little company at the table I can rest comfortably that I??™m really only drinking a couple cups a day.?  Is eight a lucky number?

Yes, the numbers have become a small hint of early dementia.?  Bear with me.

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? ? ?  ?  The medical profession is hung up on the number ten.?  ???Count to ten,??? the doctor advised.?  ???Take a deep breath and count to ten.????  The finger was hanging down straight but a portion of it stuck out at a sharp right angle. His hands were warm and strong, and the voice reassured me.?  The nurse and doctor led me back to a different room from the main exam rooms.?  I told myself that it was soundproof and prepared to scream.? The kind physician with the black hair and gray beard pulled that badly dislocated fourth digit back into a straight line. Dutifully, I held my breath and my color went from white to red to purple until the nurse noticed.?  ???Breath, Louise.?  For goodness sake you can breathe now!????  ? ? The good doctor proceeded to inform me of the permanent disability that would afflict this joint.?  I, being a practical person, only worried about those rings that had been cut from my finger.? 

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? ? ? ? Of course, if you are so unfortunate as to need an I V started you too must be prepared to count to ten.?  With luck and a smile the tech will find that elusive rolling blood vessel that has learned to evade that long sword.?  My word, count to ten again please for the vein has just disappeared shrinking its way into oblivion.

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?  ? ? ? I attended the birth of my grand-daughter and long minutes were spent as the brave husband, also in attendance, counted to ten over and over and over until he was hoarse; and we were all exhausted from the strain of pushing on ten. Baby came on one of those tens.?  I lost track.

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? ? ? ?  ? Have you experienced the terrors of a colonoscopy??  Oh joy!?  I remember clearly my first encounter with the physician who was to be paid handsomely for his plumbing.?  I didn??™t know him.?  I had been warned that many found him unpleasant and arrogant.? I was nervous, uncomfortable and cold in that paper sheet of a cover.?  There was no warmth or reassurance to be found in that cold room or in that man.?  ?  He was a cold fish of a doctor.?  He didn??™t like his work and I could tell this though can you blame him??  I felt a little desperate.?  I tried to buy a few minutes to gather my nerve and dignity.?  ???Do you have I D???? I asked, and he looked at me in disbelief.?  He was not wearing a name tag.?  I was feeling more than a little vulnerable.?  ???Do you have I D???? I repeated, and he left the exam room and was gone for several minutes having to go to his car to retrieve a wallet with his driver??™s license. There is little joy to be found in a hospital but this was a moment of small satisfaction having to do with control. How much power can you have in a paper sheet??  I exercised all that I could find. The hallway outside the exam room reverberated with the snickers of those who appreciated this novel approach at delay.?  I gained new respect among staff, but it didn??™t save me. Again I was instructed to count to ten, several times until the procedure was finished.

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? ? ? ?  ? ? I neglected to mention the preparation for this exam which requires the imbibing of a gallon or two of a vile tasting formulation.?  Louise, Count to ten I instructed myself.?  Take ten swallows and then have a reward.?  A little Scotch might have helped if only I had thought of it.?  Take ten swallows and then ten more and ten more. I count to ten very well.?  Ten is a strong number, mostly a good number I think.

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? ? ? ? ?  I??™m getting beyond myself.?  I skipped the number nine. Did you notice??  That number strikes terror in my heart and mind.? 

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I almost died of appendicitis at age nine.?  I will never forget, and when they finally removed that foul organ from my poor body I did not think I would ever again walk upright.?  Incisions were long a hundred years ago.?  Muscles were tortured and torn.?  That was my first encounter with nine.?  It almost finished me.

My father rewarded me for that misery. I had been begging for a horse, a real horse since I could walk.?  My father bought me a pony, a beautiful black and white she devil of a pony.?  She was nine years old.?  I can still remember the pain of that pony.?  She was made of soft velvet and hard temper.?  She reminded me over and over to respect the pain of nine and I do remember the pain of her teeth and hard hoof-- the pain of hard ground too for she would dump me without ceremony.?  That pony was a teacher, and I was a good student at age nine.

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The history of nine does not end there.?  1989, 1990 1999 were years of horror. I do not care to remember.?  ? Can you imagine my fear as I look ahead to 2009? I only know that the ninth month of the year has never been problematic, and the ninth days of the months have never left unforgettable scars.?  I set the timer on the stove, the microwave and even the toaster.?  I set the television to record favorite shows----when I remember.?  ?  Rarely, I set an alarm clock, but I never set any of those clocks to nine.?  8(:58 works just as well.?  I don??™t want to take any chances. I schedule appointments but avoid the nines.?  The ninth of the month or 9 o??™clock appointments are never convenient.? ?  Perhaps that is why these nines have never given me trouble.

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We can jump ahead to thirteen.?  I can tell that you are getting impatient with my ramblings.?  Thirteen also has a history for me, and I can??™t quite find the courage to write about it. People should know that thirteen is not a good number.?  You can question my sanity, but I will tell you that the number thirteen is one to avoid.? 

? ???Louise,??? he said, ???The results are not good.?  It is a problem.?  We must deal with it.????  My heart stopped.?  He put his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye.?  He is not a pretty man being big and square with thin hair and large square tipped fingers.?  His voice was gentle that day, but I had heard it boom in moments when he was seriously displeased.?  ? I needed his huge solid gentleness that awful day.?  ? ???We will deal with it,??? he said, and if there are problems down the road then we will deal with those too.??? ? He would be a formidable ally in these dealings I knew, and I was glad to have him on my side.?  Medically speaking, ten is a much better number.?  Go with ten??”backwards or forwards.? 

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My husband is a mathematician.?  He is growing impatient.? ???Theses have been written,??? he says to me indulgently, ???on how two plus two equal five.????  Then, of course, he produces formulas that are numbers and letters and other symbols of madness.? 

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Perhaps you??™re asking if I??™m really of sound mind.?  ???Yes!??? I??™ll answer you, but I may ask about your numbers.?  ???What is your telephone number, your box number, your license number, your social security number?????  ???What is your IQ???? ? Are we all stupid??  Would you put a number on that question??  ???Do you have a lucky number??  Will it still be lucky if you tell me?????  I??™m out on a limb now. It??™s a horror.?  All order would be lost without these numbers.?  Are any of them lucky??  We need some luck.?  We need a great deal of luck.?  Our losses cannot be quantified.?  How many children have we sacrificed? How many fathers and mothers have crossed the great divide??  I cannot count the losses or the tears.?  These are not good numbers; they are not lucky numbers.? 

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Number One may be the best number.?  I can understand one. I know that there is one moon that spreads silver magic over this winter landscape.?  There is one sun and even now it soothes my mind and body as I bask in its thin warmth from my favorite chair. There is one indulgent husband. There is one glorious earth that we have borrowed from our children.?  There is one God, and I thank him daily for his many blessings.?  I have lost count of those; but I tremble at our Lord??™s anger, and I despair at the pain and terror of this earth that all our numbers cannot fix.?  Is there any luck to be found?? Are there any lucky numbers? I direct you back to a love of the number seven.?  Lucky Sevens have a long sweet history, and the hope of six is upon us.?  We can look forward!?  We must look forward! ? The number One is okay too...? ?  Wait a minute please; Give me a minute, will you??  It is one minute to show time, one minute to heat this coffee in the microwave. Count to ten Louise, one at a time. Yes, I can do it.?  I can do it one day at a time.?  How about you?

Louise Nomani? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 

? windmill@tdstelme.net? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?  Norridgewock Maine

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My special thanks to Kay Seefeldt who encourages and inspires.

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