The Cardio Doctor was firm. He was of the opinion that I ought to be dragging the larger portion of my body each week to a medical specialist who specializes in perfectly ordinary things. In this case, those are known as “feet.” The medical specialist is known by the area in which he operates. The Podiatrist. The Foot Guy.

This medical adventure was initiated by the failure of my heart to pump blood all the way to my toes. Some of the flesh down there gave up on the traditional mission area, and one of the toes decided to turn an alarming dark shade that ultimately determined it’s removal. The location of the Podiatrist’s office was a matter of some controversy. Oxon Hill is an unincorporated sprawl of close-in DC suburb. It is far enough to be directly east of Alexandria but beyond the sharp diamond of the District Boundary. That means crossing the Potomac for a weekly toe check, across all that new construction by Buzzard’s Point and the the waterfront on the SE end of town.

The trip across the placid brown river is something else. It is not something you want to do each week. All those cars filled with real bureaucrats. All those new buildings. One trip brought back old memories of routine trips in that direction to a couple Commands at Joint Base Bolling-Anacostia. Not routine these days since it includes a hectic transit across a bustling city with a crowded waiting room waiting on the distant end.

That meant finding a Foot Doc located in the same state in which we live. Blah blah. Medical Adventures. We just shared one of those as a nation. We have agreed not to discuss the public remedies to the Public Health emergency, or why the circulatory system we have operated routinely for several decades would decide to start stopping.

We are stuck in the adventure, once a week until a white-coated figure informs us we have healed sufficiently to amble around with the illusion of a regular stride and gait.

We will see how that works out on tomorrow’s trip to the Foot Doc. Our experience on this part of the adventure has been mixed, but that is the nature of adventures, right?

More fun to come, we expect, and there is word that they may have another adventure for us complete with boiling oceans. Forgive us if we are a little skeptical, but if the next emergency includes regular commutes across the District, we are inclined to take a pass on it, you know?

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