The mosquitoes that made me their blood bank during my most recent hiking trip gave me a strong reminder to pack insect repellent. Without blood, the female mosquito lacks the proteins necessary to produce fertile eggs. One could say that my blood was as valuable to them as it is to me; without blood there is no life. The tonsils or the appendix have never been considered the core of our being, but whether a culture centered the human soul in the mind, the heart, the stomach or the loins, blood still contained life. Continue reading True Blood →