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July 16, 2007
Labouring in vain?
‘Every marriage is different.’ That’s true in a lot of ways. Some couples go out dancing on their free evenings, others go out to discover new restaurants. Others sit quietly at home and read aloud stories about a mid-century vet in the Yorkshire dales…. Bryonie and I just finished a book by James Herriot (If Only they Could Talk), just such a vet who writes wittily about his first year on the job. I was struck by how different a life this man leads than I do. Take foaling a mare, for instance. Our poor hero is forced to stay up into the wee hours of night (or the wee-er hours of the morning) to go and wrestle with a foal that for whatever reason is refusing to emerge and take its first breath. He has to strip off his shirt and wrench his arms to pull the poor thing out, using ropes, hooks and levers to try and grab just one of the dangling legs and get the process started. First one of those long legs comes out, then the other, then pretty soon he’s wrestling with this gangly creature in a mess on the floor, not knowing which way is up – or even if the newborn creature is going to be able to take more than that one breath.
Actually, that feels rather familiar: staying up (too) late and getting up (too) early, wrestling hard with something that just won’t come out right, desperate for just one piece to come out, then another. All the while hoping the thesis will one day see the light of day – and that its first breath won’t be its last. Most days I feel like my sleeve is rolled up and I’m feeling around trying to find a way to just pull the thing out. Either that or I’m rolling around in a mess on the floor needing to go at it again. I suppose the vet has an advantage in seeing the fruit of his labours more readily. But I’m glad I don’t have to worry about the clean-up.
| By j and b | 09:44 PM
Comments
While an excellent analogy, I feel like I need to go take a shower. (And I agree, that is unique way to spend your evenings together and an interesting choice in readings)
Posted by: Shannon at August 15, 2007 07:33 PM
Yikes. Remind me not to do a PHD. That's a pretty graphic description of how you're feeling! Hang in there.
Posted by: The Brimms at July 18, 2007 04:57 AM