I am still unwell. I believe my illness is pericarditis, the first diagnosis. It may have been a reaction to a Covid vaccine. Vaccines may cause Pericarditis and Myocarditis, but it remains best to be vaccinated.
People suffering from pericarditis are usually prescribed colchicine. I was not. Colchicine may have been all I needed. I was prescribed corticosteroids and morphine in Magog. Pericarditis is extremely painful. So, this medication is appropriate temporarily.
In his Buffon des enfants, Félix Lorioux followed in Buffon’s footpath. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, (1707-1788) was a scientist. He classified his animals, and so did Lorioux. However, our second image shows a winged creature. It is a rooster and it may well be the emblematic coq gaulois (as in Gallic), the rooster of France. In 1870, France, under the French Second Empire, attacked Prussia. Self-proclaimed French Emperor Napoléon III was taken prisoner at the Battle of Sedan. The Franco-Prussian War was a bitter defeat for France. When it signed the Treaty of Frankfurt, in 1871, France gave Germany billions of francs in war indemnity, as well as most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine. (See Franco-Prussian War, Wikipedia.) I suspect, therefore, a soupçon of nationalism in Lorioux’s Les Oiseaux de chez nous (Our Birds) and Les Insectes de chez nous (Our Insects). France was again declared a republic, the French Third Republic, which lasted until 1940.
Le Buffon des enfants par Félix Lorioux: Les InsectesLe Buffon des enfants par Félix Lorioux: Les InsectesLe Buffon des enfants par Félix Lorioux: Les Insectes
Anthropomorphism
Lorioux’s insects are not only French; they are also anthropomorphic, or humans in disguise. Our insect musician, just above, has a dressed insect audience. Also, look at the image below this paragraph. It also has an audience. If they are dressed like human beings, animals are closer to children. Taming his animals reflects Lorioux’s insight into the nature of children. Here, Lorioux exemplifies a child’s need to identify with the animals of illustrations. One also senses that Lorioux was influenced by the very talented and numerous English illustrators of his age or nearly so.
Le Buffon des enfants par Félix Lorioux: Les Insectes
Conclusion
The Internet has a limited number of illustrations by Loriaux. I will have to purchase books Lorioux published. Le Buffon des enfants was Lorioux’ finest achievement. Consequently, Le Buffon des enfants is a good example of Lorioux’s immense talent. The main, if not the only, source of Loriaux’s pictures featuring birds and insects is: https://animationresources.org/illustration-felix-loriouxs-fantastic-worlds/ It is an admirable site. Lorioux’s use of pink is most fortunate. What insects are seeking in blushing flowers is their nectar.
Two nights ago, I was in such pain that I thought no law should prevent a doctor from prescribing medication that soothes a patient’s pain. I phoned a friend and my nephew to tell them that I may have to enter a hospital. However, after I took a muscle relaxant, prescribed, and several tablets of Tylenol the pain was more tolerable. However, this morning, the pain had returned.
I can understand that a government would “crackdown” on opioids. There are dealers making a fortune selling opioids and young people who use opioids for recreational purposes. In fact, it kills. But it is difficult to accept that the sick should pay the price for the criminal and abusive use of opioids. There are times when a painkiller is necessary, just as there are times when a doctor must be at liberty to perform an abortion.
The last time I was in the Emergency Room, the doctor spoke to me aggressively. I left with a prescription for medication that could not alleviate the pain I experienced. So it could be that doctors are afraid. Given the fight against opioids, they hesitate to prescribe them. However, having to suffer needlessly at this stage in my life seems an offence. In the past, I have taken codeine to relieve the pain of migraines, but codeine will no longer be prescribed to me by my new doctor. He had negative comments about codeine. A few days from now, I will know whether my illness is a degenerative musculoskeletal condition, which it may not be. But if it is, and the pain is not constant, i. e. every minute of the day, I will not qualify for genuine relief.
Moreover, a good relationship with my new doctor has now been jeopardized. How can I trust a man who has already shown indifference to the pain I was experiencing. He told me to buy Voltaren and to pay for the services of a physiotherapist. He claimed that my neck was the problem. However, the X-rays did not show damage to the neck. In Magog, I was prescribed Prednizone (cortisone) and morphine, a short course of each medication. That kind of prescription could not be renewed, but it had helped me. Besides, the problem was first diagnosed as pericarditis.
I hope that my next test does not reveal a degenerative musculoskeletal disease. What would I do?
Grief has affected my health adversely, … I was talked into selling my home in Antigonish, and my family bought an apartment in Sherbrooke. I had seen the apartment. It was large, and it had an office. They refused to have the condo inspected, which is a mistake, and, although I hired a notary fearing my father may not read the documentation about the building, I learned, too late, that the apartment could not be sold to a person who needed a mortgage. I could not sell that apartment. So, I lost my equity. Nearly all that my career had earned me. Besides, I was selling the Antigonish house on the condition that my application for disability benefits was approved. I was told that it had been approved, but it hadn’t. The person who bought my house died, but I did not have the money to repurchase it. Colleagues had already fooled me into relinquishing my tenure, but I would have liked to return to my home. What had I done?
It is all incredible. I often wonder why I have retained a youthful face and figure. It seems a lie.
It appears I suffer from a musculoskeletal condition. The pain is genuine, but which condition is it?
My smartphone just informed me that a curfew is effective now. No one can leave home between 10 in the evening and 5 in the morning, which means that New Year’s celebrations had to be cancelled.
But let us hope for the best. Covid hasn’t ended, but a new year brings promise. Life starts anew. It has always done so.
Love to everyoneand a Happy New Year 💕
Claude Debussy La Fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair)
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