Who are we? We are our stories. We are our pictures

Monday, April 5, 2010

The Dentist Who Killed My Dog


He didn't start out intending to be a dentist. By schooling he is a large animal veterinarian. He has a nice business with a couple other vets, a handful of employees and horse barn hospital out back. A good life. Dennis only became a dentist after The Pen Incident. There were 500 ballpoint giveaway pens purchased to advertise his business .... all proudly emblazoned with "Dr. Dentist Nelson DVM".

He has his quirks. Dennis is older, my age, and has chosen to not participate in the new media revolution, the information age. In his business world, an assistant prints emails for him to read. He is bullheadedly proud of the fact that he's never turned on a computer. He edits his digital photos on a high end printer, refusing to concede that it's a specialized computer. As people a century ago feared the telephone, he is certain that email is going to be the death of intelligent one-on-one conversation. He prefers thick hardcover books and interesting multi-page personal letters written neatly in longhand, preferably on 8 1/2" x 11" bond paper.

In his sturdy green Singing Lark Morgan Horse Farm jacket and a battered Bob Marshall Wildness cap, Dennis is an unpretentious fellow. Easygoing and soft spoken, he is kind, with hands that are strong enough to deal with a nervous horse, his primary patients, yet soft enough to gently stroke and comfort an old pug as they both wait for the final shot to take him away. The Dentist is good company in a cold morning blind.

3 comments:

Lorna G. Berg said...

Lita like your blog on her Dentist.

Lorna G. Berg said...

I saw 18 wonderful photos that the Dentist took. The Dentist's wife shared them with our 3rd grade classroom and I showed my on Gmail photos. Too bad he can't put them on the internet to share.

Gunnar Berg said...

Yep. Maybe he needs an intervention - like they did for Chris Kvale.