"Even just a hundred years ago the average woman would have had 110 menstrual periods in her life. In the modernized world this average now exceeds 350." On the first day of spring Francis always put aside a bit of time for himself, to sit in contemplation of whether or not this was the year when there would be an advertising campaign for a new brand of laundry soap that utilized the above fact. He liked having an inside ritual for the spring equinox because in the country of his residence you could never trust the weather. ["Rites" March 20, 1999] --------------------------- YOUR DAILY STEAM --------------------------- ISSN 1206-4130 http://www.interlog.com/~spyker YOUR DAILY STEAM is a continuing series of almost-daily fables written by James Spyker. If you like them feel free to forward them around. Send me your e-mail address to receive a free subscription. Subscription and editorial correspondence to yds@2x4group.com