They say that our body's blood system, if laid end to end, would circle the equator four times. You could look it up. (I did in fact, when there was still such a thing as the World Book Encyclopedia.)

I have circulation issues, one result being the Raynaud's Phenomenon that I find bearable, but also a nuisance. To put it another way, my blood doesn't get around much anymore (at least the way it should - and with apologies to Willy Nelson).

But that's not quite the problem that many have, as their beautiful body goes bad on them. There are some things we do to ourselves through lack of exercise, general neglect and improper diet. There are some maladies that come as a result of DNA and genetic history. And then, there are those times when the geniuses of medicine and science get it wrong, or we simply pick up a serious virus through a visit or stay in a local hospital.

When Charles II of Eng. was ill, a pint of blood was taken from the royal right arm and half-pint from the royal left shoulder. His head was shaved and a blister raised. Then sneezing powder was given to him, and then a plaster of pitch, and then forty drops of abstract of human skull. And then, we are told, 'the king gave up the ghost.'

Who could blame him?

Prior to William Harvey's discovery of the circulation of the blood in 1628, little had been known about the value of blood.  In fact, blood was thought to be the source of disease rather than the body's life and defense; so sick people were bled to get rid of the disease.  That was, in fact the task of the Barber, my name-sake origins. Barbers bled people and the sign on their shop said so - the red for blood and bleeding, the white for bandages and the blue (still in our mind's in 'Blue Cross' and other medical symbols) - a general sign of the healing sought.

I bope that my contributions can be informative, inspirational, resourceful - even healing for some. And 'healing' brings to mind the word 'blessing.' The word 'bless' comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for blood. In French, to say 'Je suis blesse' is to say 'I am wounded.'

Before you can really bless a fellow creature you must part with your life or some part of your life for the other.