Tell Me I'm Not A Survivor! Tell me the world isn't changing!!!!

Go ahead, just try. Two weekends ago I made it through my in-laws, a dual-interstate full speed tire blow-out, and a black widow spider bite.

But before we get there: Go, Obama! My God! Can you believe it???????? To paraphrase Tim Russert Tuesday night, I would loved to have been a history teacher in the inner city on Wednesday. The potential here is that every black male in the country will see an entirely different set of possibilities every time he looks in the mirror. I know I do. And I'm neither. And the DNC announced yesterday: No more money from lobbyists or PACs. Guess what? TRUE paradigm shift may be underway. Shut up. Don't be such a cynic. Evolution comes in leaps and bounds. And ya, I do think it's white people who need to evolve. Virginia can catch up later. For now, let the enlightened and the hopeful lead the way.

Now. Back to my personal survival of every possible disaster. It's true. On the way back from Chi town I was passing a semi-truck and its tire blew out. I hit the gas to try to get around it before I lost control (it was a front tire), but not quite in time. There was a lot of debris flying in front, and then behind us, one bit of it being a hub cap (I saw it), which I think is the thing that hit my back right tire and, yes, blew it out. My God. But all was well, no one lost it, Metal Ox changed the tire while I stood guard to push him out of the way if some space cadet veered toward him, and we drove the rest of the way home under 45 MPH on the secondary roads.

Black widow? Short version: they cleaned out his mom's attic. There were dozens and dozens of boxes, mucho grande dust, and the next day my hand was red and swollen. I got sick, stomach cramps and muscle aches and fever. Once well enough I looked it up, and the symptoms (plus the range) spelled black widow. Took the TCM herbs Leigh recommended, used a potato compress, got better. The skin peeled off, the puncture wounds are now visible (swelling subsided), and the skin is very dark. I think it may scar, stay dark permanently. But here's the up-side. I took a bullet for nature. It's kind of romantic, in a swashbuckling, Raiders of the Lost Ark kind of way, isn't it? Now I've been bitten by a black widow spider and lived to tell it?

The down side? Pretty soon I'm going to be nothing but scars.

Oh, and thank you, Leigh, for not questioning mu diagnosis. Given that you are the person (non-relative) whom I've known the longest, and that we once did women's health together, and that you are a doctor yourself, what do I care whether other less smart people looked skeptically at my diagnosis? I don't. And anyhow, much of their lack of faith vanished as they watched the damn thing progress.