DAY 019 -- "It's Nothin' But A Lateral Climb"

Not sure why the emphasis the last two days on critters: yesterday the Broad-winged Hawk, and today in the radiation waiting room with aquarium fish and a stuffed Blue Heron.

Maybe I’m now more in touch with my animal impulses dealing with this brutal invader in my body. It feels that way sometimes, like there’s a backroom cockfight going on in my lung, or crawdad stampedes that come and go in unexpected places, or I’m a whale feeding on anti-plankton, whatever I mean by that. I think I know, but I’m too tired to be sure.

Or, maybe it’s because I often relate better to animals than humans. Note the Blue Heron looking askance but keeping me within beak’s length. Very wise bird, even if it is stuffed. I’ve known stuffed people who’ve been less attentive.

Or, the captive fish swimming in the illusion of vastness. That’s maybe too close to where I go when I let my mind play out worst case scenarios, but I am a sucker for the poetic, light or dark. In this photo, I’m pining for some fins and a way to breathe underwater, if all else fails.

Lastly, the Radionettes nailed it again with a guitar blues feed as I stretched out on the terrible table (I’ve now dubbed this my lateral good iron maiden), and they piped in Robben Ford’s “Lateral Climb.”

What once was a dollar
Is lookin' more like a dime
Heads up people
It's nothin' but a lateral climb

 More as we go, El