October again. Daylight shrinks, shadows return.
Another friend diagnosed with breast cancer, just in time for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Thank you AstraZeneca, another ribbon for my car.
Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention. Early detection is the best prevention.
The best prevention is avoiding the carcinogens that cause breast cancer. Women are disposable, breasts even more so.
My life's love and I agreed I would go first, that's the deal. She has a cyst the size of Kansas on her brain, perhaps a result of her getting struck by a car a decade ago, perhaps congenital, who knows? It's October--these things happen in October.
The brain surgeon told us she's OK, so I'm better now. A deal's a deal. We spent the weekend playing on the beach. Beaches are good places for playing. Every low tide reminds us of mortality--you can smell death. Every high tide reminds us of redemption.
In Old English, "tid" means "due time"--folks still died back then, but I hear we've been cured of all that death nonsense now.
Back at the shore, the sweet stench of death alternates with the fresh flood of life, twice a day.
I picked up a few dried carcasses of horseshoe crabs. They've been around a bit, and will no doubt be around long after humans are gone, a reminder that our cerebral cortices and opposable thumbs may be a bit overrated.
Low tide is around noon this Saturday. I will dig up a few clams from the dying mud, and eat them.
It's that time of year again.
This was written a year ago today. Breast cancer killed my mom. AstraZeneca was once part of Imperial Chemical Industries, a producer of vinyl chloride products associated with (you cannot make this stuff up) breast cancer. I'm too old to play nice anymore. The Pink Ribbon campaign is cynicism at its worst, naively perpetuated by people who hope for the best.
