{"id":642,"date":"2023-04-06T04:45:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T20:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gen-e-sis.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/06\/hesheotherwise-did-not-know\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T17:54:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T09:54:12","slug":"he-did-not-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handelbarweb.com\/blog\/he-did-not-know\/","title":{"rendered":"The Itch That Knew Too Much"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"Person
When nature gives you lungs, take a deep breath and question everything\u2014including your tent setup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nUnseasoned Peril<\/span>\n
\n

At 21, he thought he was invincible\u2014immune to seasons, sunscreen, and long-term consequences. Too busy being in the moment to notice it was cold, dark, and somewhere near Canberra..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

He did not know – at 21, most don\u2019t – so he let it be. Seasons? What are they anyway? A cold snap; winter approaches. The old know, but the young – those curious naysayers – persisting in rebellion, in experimentation, in evolving, in defying their fault-ridden mentors. He did not know that this bronzing sun would wane. He was the moment and he did not expect the change. And he was in no way prepared for illness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere near Canberra. Some intersection – some traveller\u2019s decision-point. It was dark, it was cold, it was real, it was wonderful. The damage began. Why had he sent the tent home? He had not had to use it for some time. So why carry it? Like any error of judgement, it made sense. He had not yet made sense of mistakes. He was decades away from enjoying them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not know that thirty years on, that itch in his lungs would still be coughing up advice\u2014unwelcome, unheeded, and oddly prophetic. He did not know that the body remembers what the mind edits, that every wheeze is a footnote to a decision made in youth and italicized by regret. He assumed the cough was environmental. Turns out it was ideological. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n