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Stone vats of colored dyes and white liquids.Hides of cows, sheep, goats, and camels.The eager salesman explained the process,how hides need to soak for two or three daysamong cow urine and pigeon fecesto clean and soften the skins for the dyes,natural colorants like indigoand henna and poppy. Then they areContinue Reading

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The process of this tattoo-makingrequires a steady hand, unshaking,so a continuous line can be laiddown by the needle’s glass blade. Precisely like a surgeon’s scalpel,but above the skin,this moving line will beginalmost feeling palpable of the practitioner’s art:she, who draws from imaginationand an experienced hearta unique creation. The brown dyeContinue Reading

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In the sandy haze, the pyramids riselike apparitions. There is nothing elsevisible in this land of sand and rockand rubble. They have spent a long time acclimating to the harsh conditions.It’s hot and dry and gets unbearable,but still they patiently impose their presence,having prolonged the inevitable. They challenge us toContinue Reading

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How to get familiar with infinity . . .A camel ride into the Saharato stargaze a wide open desert sky? The astronomer Carl Sagan once saidstars outnumbered grains of sand on beaches—so I rode a camel from Merzouga out into oceanic dunes of sandand sat there after sunset for theContinue Reading

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Test: Positive The test-tube test was taken this morning.Result: a rust-colored doughnut-shaped ring. That such a means should bring first proof of yousuggests the magic of this fragile life,the sleight-of-love that makes the wish come true.Yet pride insists we make a full disclosure:you were the best laid scheme of manContinue Reading

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We watched the pine box enter, the door close, and then the jets of the burners roared. ‘Through hell he goes,’ I thought. And how we stood together silently, hearing the flames consume so violently the stoic man that was our dad. It wouldn’t take long to reduce his 90Continue Reading

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Out of the proverbial top hat, like a rabbit, pulled. Imagine that was your beginning! The tooth fairy, Santa Claus, imaginary friends with extraordinary powers turned your focus into addiction with hocus-pocus and fiction. Language lent a sleight-of-hand to every word that you would understand. It could animate the heartless,Continue Reading

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First, the cost of blood work and biopsies to analyze the contents and properties of your state of ill- or well-being. The cost of prescription drugs to regulate your bodily functions after your deductible or Medicare allowable discount or amount. The cost of physical therapy to improve the limited motionContinue Reading