Fantastic reading, watermelon mania

Did y'all see either or both of these articles? The first, by Michael Wolff, is from the current issue of New York Magazine and is about aging and dying in the modern age of the American medical complex. What rights or lack of do we have, both the sick and infirm and the families of those individuals? How do medical interventions prolong life and nudge death away yet leave many suspended in a netherworld which surely can't be considered living.

The second, by Samantha Shapiro, is in today's NYTimes Magazine and, like Wolff's article, focuses on American medicine though through the lens of childbirth. She asks similar  questions regarding agency and decision-making: why are women in the U.S. urged towards medicalized births that often make them feel as a simple vehicle of biology rather than an empowered being able to grow and give birth to new life?

Both are excellent reads on the control/loss of control, safety and security and the very lack thereof that Americans in our medical system, albeit at opposite ends of the life cycle, face. ````````````` We've had watermelon mania over here this morning. My mom loves pickled watermelon rind so I made about 10 cups for her and they're pickling now. I'll can them tonight. With the excess of remaining flesh, I made watermelon-lime-mint lassis (yogurt-fruit drink). Delish, and I will post this incredibly simple recipe for you.