A number of you have expressed concern about my shift to less frequent blogging.  As I said, one main reason is that, given my rather quiet life these days, it was becoming difficult to think of subjects for the blog.  Everyone has said that blogging about health matters, even if nothing really changes much, is always welcome.  I'm touched by the sentiment, but even I get bored writing about how many hours I sleep, the number and quality of my bathroom trips, the fluctuations of my appetite.  I can always write about politics, though I haven't been as involved as usual, and as far as reading, I've been plugging away at Madame Bovary for a month or so now, falling asleep after reading a page or two.  I'll have to admit, however, that my energy level has been particularly low the last three weeks with the last few days being particularly bad.  I sleep even more than I did before, and I can't concentrate for very long.  A few new aches and pains have developed, and they make getting around even more fatiguing.  I'm sure I've just strained a muscle or two from sitting so much in the same position, not one that enhances good posture.  I keep promising myself that tomorrow I'm going to pull myself together and be more energetic and productive.  Tomorrow...

Maybe a month or so ago, I wrote about Joe, the friend of a friend, who was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in circumstances similar to my own diagnosis: neither of us had had any symptoms of kidney problems, but both of us had developed pains--his in the ribs, mine in the scapula--that we attributed to physical activity but that wouldn't go away.  We kept meaning to get together to discuss our treatments.  Although the beginnings of our cancer were similar, the ends were not.  Joe died 48 hours ago--a little over four months from diagnosis to death, while I'm still putzing along 2½ years after the diagnosis.  It hardly seems fair, but then again, we don't live in a world where fairness obtains.

For the first time in the 25+ years I've lived here, we didn't have a single trick-or-treater last night.  The number of kids who come has always fluctuated, but there have always been at least 15 or 20.  Our street isn't exactly conducive to kids: there are only seven houses on each side, and there are no street lights, so it's very dark.  Still, the weather was good, and it was rather surprising--and disappointing--for their not to be any costumed visitors.