It has been some time since I have thought about prophylactics.
This word came up in an online communication with one of my traveling companions to Madagascar. I told her that my pharmacist had advised taking prophylactically the antibiotics prescribed by my doctor. That way, she reasoned aloud, I would not have to worry while in Madagascar about either microbial intestinal afflictions or the bubonic plague.
My friend from my Madagascar childhood cautioned me against that use of antibiotics. There are side effects with antibiotics and they often create their own whirlwinds to reap.
I pondered that risk against an image of myself spending two weeks prostrate in a strange bed, under mosquito netting, in temperatures that could melt all the adipose tissue from my generous frame. Other than the prospect of nearly instant weight loss, using preventive and protective measures seemed to be the wiser and happier choice. Besides, I already would have been taking anti-malarials, anti-histamines, and anti-inflammatories--why not antibiotics, too? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all.
Prophylactics. Hmmm.
Two nights ago, a friend texted me and a couple other friends who had plans to walk the next morning, quite early, followed by breakfast at the Brick Oven Bakery. The weather forecast was for cold winds and snow. Maybe even a snowstorm. Protection and prevention. If we decide now against going out in the early morning, we won't have to risk a cold or a fall. And then our day will begin more graciously.
Prophylactics--medicinal or meteorological--are our modern way of almost guaranteeing that we will pass more gently into that good night. Prevention and protection are not unwise measures to take when one is over 60 years old.