MONTCLARION: NOVEMBER 13, 2009

A lot has changed since we last got together. For one thing – I’m bionic. I’m home from the hospital with a perfectly-engineered part in my right hip – a titanium ball and socket that appears like a beam of light in my otherwise ghost-like x-rays.

“You have the cutest little bones.” I’m still stunned by the words that my doctor first shared in our post op visit. No-one has ever told me my bones are cute, or little. But then no-one has seen them from the inside out.

The 72 hours I spent in the hospital can only be described as a wild ride. Nurses coming and going – checking my vitals and giving me shots and dispensing more care than I probably deserved in a busy orthopedic unit. But I had the chocolate.

It’s amazing how your popularity soars with a good box of chocolate. I just put it out on the nightstand and invited everyone who came in to have a piece. “Just take one” I warned –“and no putting it back if you don’t like the filling.”

Before long, that little act of kindness was lifting spirits across the ward. “There’s chocolate in room 3012” I heard one nurse tell another. I had a bottle of wine, too, but there weren’t any takers – of course. “You don’t want to see me on wine,” said one nurse, who confessed she got giddy when partaking of the fruit of the vine. “I tell every joke I’ve ever heard,” she shared with a smile. It was the first smile I’d seen from her – as the stress of her job seemed to lift like a low-hanging fog.

Around town: The old Montclair Wine and Spirits has been cleaned out – its inventory hauled away as the landlord prepares for a new tenant. Rumor has it a yogurt shop is moving in – one of those pay-by-the-ounce yogurt shops that are all the rage. I still don’t understand how they can sell such a yummy sweet treat that is fat free.

E-mail bag: My snippets on the issue of parking are still causing a stir. Reader G. Smith says I may have been a little biased in my re-telling of the story of a shopper who got slapped with a fine while she was walking to the dispenser to purchase a meter receipt. “Why didn’t she look down the street to see if an officer was near?” Smith queries, adding the officer must have felt threatened by the Montclair merchants who came to the woman’s defense.

Animal tales: Did you hear the one about the wild turkey, crow and the squirrel? They were dining together on birdseed, provided by a kind-hearted homeowner on Pleasant Valley Court near Mountain View Cemetery. Apparently, the turkey is a regular in the cemetery, where walkers like Bob Tsaconas see him strutting about. “He follows me and my dog around,” Bob says, adding it’s good to see Mr. Turkey has an eclectic group of friends.

Got news? You can reach Ginny Prior by phone at 510-273-9418, by email at ginnyprior@hotmail.com or on the web at http://www.ginnyprior.com.