The Frog

'Never’s just the echo of forever'

Recently, an uninvited guest showed up in my life; one that won’t be leaving. I should have seen it coming because there were plenty of clues, but the words when they were spoken still came as a shock.

“You’ve got Parkinson’s Disease.“

About five years ago, I was told that the most likely explanation for some of my symptoms at that time was “Parkinsonism,” which sounded to me like an impression of a disease, not a real one. I thought it might never grow up.

After all, we live in a world of “isms,” like Marxism, Fascism, Cubism, most of which never move in to take over our lives, although one of those may be looming next Inauguration Day.

But in my case PD dropped the “ism” and emerged from the shadows.

There’s not much to be done about this. I’m to continue taking a drug I’m already on — the romantic-sounding Carbidopa Levodopa — and try to exercise. The good news is the disease typically proceeds slowly, I’m told, crippling its victims gradually, like a frog in boiling water, with me being the frog.

As I drove away from my doctors office, starting to process this news, I heard an old Kris Kristofferson tune running through my brain:

We may never pass this way again
Just let me enjoy 'till its over
Or forever
Please don't tell me how the story ends

HEADLINES:

• 24 reasons that Trump could win (Silver Bulletin)

• Judges punishing Jan. 6 rioters say they fear another burst of political violence (AP)

• Trump thrusts McDonald’s into the political arena in final days of campaign (CNN)

• US election: Legal experts question Elon Musk’s planned cash giveaways (Al Jazeera)

• A Pennsylvania road trip finds voters full of doubt, anger and unease (WP)

• Trump makes vulgar comments about Arnold Palmer at Pennsylvania rally (CBS)

• Trump Responds to Climate Question by Rambling Incoherently About Golf Course (Rolling Stone)

• The Fight Over Ballots Has Already Begun in Wisconsin (NYT)

• US-backed Israeli violence reshapes old Gulf enmities (SCMP)

• The World’s $100 Trillion Fiscal Timebomb Keeps Ticking (Bloomberg)

• Hurricane Oscar heads to Cuba, could lead to 'humanitarian crisis'(USA Today)

• Colombian scientists develop supplement to protect bees from pesticides (Reuters)

• Remote-control robots could help humanity explore the moon and Mars (Space)

• Chatbot hack shows why you shouldn’t trust AI with your personal data (BGR)

• How robots are transforming physical therapy (WP)

• Dumbass Apple Picker Goes For Overripe McIntosh Red When Pink Lady Cleary Best Option Given The Topography, Time Of Harvest (The Onion)

LYRICS:

“Just Like Tom Tomb’s Blues” by Bob Dylan

When you're lost in the rain in Juarez, and it's Easter time too
And your gravity fails, negativity don't pull you through
Don't put on any airs when you're down on Rue Morgue Avenue
They got some hungry women there, and they'll really make a mess outta you

If you see Saint Annie, please tell her thanks a lot
I cannot move, my fingers they are all in a knot
I don't have the strength to get up and take another shot
And my best friend, the doctor, won't even tell me what it is I've got

Sweet Melinda, the peasants call her the goddess of gloom
She speaks good English, invites you up into her room
And you're so kind and careful not to go to her too soon
And she takes your voice and leaves you howling at the moon

Up on Housing Project Hill, it's either fortune or fame
You must pick one or the other, neither of them are what they claim
If you're lookin' to get silly, you better go back to from where you came
Because the cops don't need you, and man, they expect the same

All the authorities, they just stand around and boast
How they blackmailed the sergeant-at-arms into leaving his post
And picking up Angel, who just arrived from the coast
Who looked so fine at first, but left looking just like a ghost

I started out on Burgundy, but soon hit the harder stuff
Everybody said they're right behind me when the game got rough
But the joke was on me, there was nobody even to call my bluff
I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough

Hear Neil Young’s version.