Thursday, October 25, 2018

I’m Not Contageous


dontravis.com blog post #308

Courtesy of Commons. Wikimedia
This past week has not been a good one around here. A good friend who lives in the same apartment complex I do, faced a serious and disturbing health issue, which got me to thinking about human frailties and the inevitability of new and frightening things lying ahead on this path through life. My thoughts resulted in the following rant against fate.

*****
I’M NOT CONTAGEOUS

          Do not snatch your hand away like I’m unclean, untouchable. My condition is not contagious; it’s debilitating… to me, not to you. You can touch me, huff my breath, sit where I sat, all without harm to yourself.
          This thing may have robbed me of my strength, depleted my vitality, put a walking cane in my hand, made uncertain my determination, and sapped my will, but you will not catch it from me.
          Old friends understand this and offer a hand in friendship, touch me in affection, and throw an arm across my shoulders in camaraderie. But new acquaintances, especially those with peach fuzz on their cheeks, shy away, sometimes cringe. Although I see no willful intention to cause distress, barbs that sting are not always purposeful.
          My condition will neither mend nor heal itself. Indeed, it will weigh heavier with the passage of each day. No pill, no serum will halt its inevitable march. There are ways to battle the ogre, slow its relentless progress… a bit. Diet. Exercise. But those are merely fingers in a dike that is near to overflowing.
          I do not surrender. I go about my life as always—as nearly as that is possible, that is—feeding myself and keeping me and my surrounding clean. I take comfort in old allies and in seeking new ones, something that becomes more difficult with the passage of time. Strangers shrink from my condition, you see. But if converted into friends, they would share novel experiences, generate fresh excitement, open heretofore closed doors, and expand my universe, no matter how minuscule.
          But alas, they find my condition off-putting, fearing, I suppose, contamination. Make no mistake, they will become infected in time, but not from me. This thing I have lies nascent in their genes, passive in their cells, silently growing stronger with the elapse of each and every hour. Short of meeting with a fatal accident or a deadly disease, they will deal with my condition just as surely as I do this day.
          You see, regardless of what fancy term you assign it, my condition is simply the onslaught of old age.



*****
Do you ever consider the March of Time? I do, more and more every day, especially as things happen to those close to you. Things like illness and debilitation and even death. Each one is a marker in our own journey along The Road.

Please get a copy of my latest book, The Lovely Pines, and provide feedback on the novel. If you do read the book, please post a review on Amazon. Each one helps.

By the way, The Bisti Business was named as a finalist in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards in two categories: Best Mystery and Best Gay Book. Winners will be named in November.

Now my mantra: Keep on reading. Keep on writing. You have something to say… so say it.

If you would like to drop me a line, my personal links follow:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/donald.travis.982
Twitter: @dontravis3

Here are some buy links to the Lovely Pines, which (as noted) was released on August 28:



Abaddon’s Locusts is scheduled for release on January 22, 2019, and the first draft of The Voxlightner Scandal is about 90 percent completed.

See you next week.

Don

New Posts are published at 6:00 a.m. each Thursday.


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