Toothworms & Spider Juice

Ok, it's not a proposed title Judy Blume was asked to change for one of her books. On a recent sojourn in the children's section of Minot Public Library, Loretta Frances Ichord's book Toothworms & Spider Juice: An Illustrated History of Dentistry (ISBN 0761314652) is something at first glance would probably not excite you. Especially if you've ever been to a dentist. However, this book's awesome exchange of text and photographs and a history of dentistry – the title comes from the ancient belief that a toothworm, which was most likely the pulp inside the tooth that people saw and when they saw it moving likely thought WAS a worm, caused your tooth to ache by its movement. And the spider juice was a toothache remedy “made of spiders, eggshells, and oil boiled together until reduced to one-third of its volume” that the sufferer held in his or her mouth. Yum. (But then like mouthwash, you're not supposed to swallow it right?)

But one passage particularly caught my attention, this one regarding the toothworm itself. First chapter, paragraph four:

People of these earlier times believed that the stabbing pain of a toothache was caused by a toothworm, which either had appeared spontaneously or had bored its way into the tooth. If the tooth pain was severe, it meant that the worm was thrashing about, but if the aching stopped, then the worm was resting. Cultures all over the world, many of whom had no connection to each other, held stubbornly to this myth. The folklore of the toothworm persisted from ancient times to the beginning of the eighteenth century. [Emphasis mine.]

For the easiest explanation why so many cultures with “no connection to each other” persisted then in this belief and persist even today in others, may I direct you to the eleventh chapter of Genesis.

I think I'll work my way backwards; before bringing Sarah and Jeffrey to Martha's parents house for the day today, Sarah asked me if we could leave from our house early to go to Ward County Public Library. I'd gotten my nap in after delivering the papers with Sarah (57 newspapers, and to start with I counted 56 and Sarah counted 58, so we ended up in the middle, delivering them all in forty-five minutes!), so I woke Jeffrey, the kids ate while watching a magic show, I got my devotional reading in and actually found my original journal, the one that started me on writing the story and the prayers for and of my life thirty-two years ago now (a story for another day!), and we left for the library where Sarah and Jeffrey checked out two books and chose themselves to enter Ward County's summer reading contest for kids! They chose it, not me, but I am so happy about it; there's two categories, one for kids up to age seven and the other eight years and older … Jeffrey's seven and Sarah's eight!

Imagine the cast of Peanuts a few years older, and you will laugh hearty upon reading Charles M. Schulz's What Was Bugging Ol' Pharaoh? (LOC 64-14751) The cartoons aren't all – or even mostly – about what makes us laugh or think in church (no, going to the pastor's study isn't the same as getting sent to the principal's office!) and … well, when you were a teenager too, you know? Saturday and Sunday was my first working weekend at Marketplace Foods in their dairy department because one of their regulars is on vacation. I certainly don't object to the hours, and I'm learning quick enough and keeping as much fronted and being as helpful and bright-faced (I know what I mean, I just like the adjective!) as I can to as many people as I can. I'd forgotten how much I like that environment … it's definitely work, I'll give you that, but the satisfaction of finding something for someone else – it was sriracha for an MSU student yesterday – there's just something to that. I wax on too much don't I?

Anyway, Eli was there with me in dairy Saturday and I had it on my own Sunday, stocking and fronting everything in the department and putting up new signage – it takes longer than you think. But I got out after eight hours and went home to wait for Martha, Sarah, and Jeffrey who were at a Kleinsasser Family Reunion held every two years in Bowdon, North Dakota. Apparently Martha's great-grandmother is a Kleinsasser, on her dad's side … doesn't make much sense to me either, but Martha brought her iPad and we've got a recording of her singing the hymn “Softly And Tenderly” as well as many photos from there, both inside the town meeting hall (Bowdon itself has less than 200 people, so I imagine they welcomed the event!) and at the playground. AND she had to give the family updates message after lunch which I did two years ago. The rest of Sunday was pretty much them getting home and me falling asleep off and on after my long work weekend!

And the rest of Saturday – HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, HONEY! Yes, since July 12, 2003 (which was also a Saturday) Martha and I have been married to each other and grown in spirit and in love. MUAH Anyway, after Martha mowed the lawn for the second time that week, Jeffrey went to his friend David's birthday party at Oak Park where Sarah and Martha also stayed and enjoyed the birthday cake … apparently the sloppy joes that were to be the main meal got lost in transit, the three went to Allan and Lesa's house for our nephew Trevor's third birthday celebration – his birthday had been Friday – and then Sarah and Jeffrey went to her parents' to stay the night, so Martha and I had the house to ourselves! Dinner at our local A&W which adjoins KFC where after eight pm many entrees are a dollar is a great thing to have when your wallet's tight, and we enjoyed it! Turning in a lost wallet and the girl behind the register flirting with me (Martha thought) and enjoying each other … it's all worth it.

Yes it is, David