Fava Beans and a Nice Chianti

In case you haven't met my dad, he's huge. He also played football in college (at Tulsa University), and as a result of that and his various other (mis)adventures, he has had some ankle trouble. They are basically the size of grapefruits. So, a few days ago, he had one of them operated on. He's doing fine; still in some pain, but he's able to moderate the use of painkillers now to the point where he's lucid. What's really noteworthy here is that the surgeon let him keep all of the crap that he removed from the joint. Before you look at the pictures below, do a couple of things - first, make sure you aren't eating; and second, look down at your own ankle to get a feel for the approximate size of the joint, paying special attention to how much bone you think could be removed and still have a functional joint. Now, here are the pictures, served on a salad plate with a fork for reference. (Click to enlarge. You know you want to.)


The second image (with the lovely garnish, supplied by my twisted mom), was taken by my brother. It should be noted that we are, for the first time in history, using a team-coverage tactic for this story. Check out his work here, and leave a nasty comment for him about how much better my blog is. In case you're wondering, most of the material that was removed from my dad's ankle is bone spur, which has been accumulating in the joint for many years. So that's that - I will take a picture of his ankle after the bandages are removed to show how slim and sexy it is now. Until then, I will follow my brother's lead and provide the following palate-cleansing picture. Enjoy.