excerpt from By the Neck

So many vital structures reside in the neck, all the highways that keep us alive, upright, sentient—an airway tube, a spinal cord cocooned in bone, and those magnificent vessels transporting blood to the brain. 

Which is why children shouldn’t wear dangly necklaces while playing soccer, or chew gum while bouncing on trampolines, or suck lollipops while riding bicycles.  Why athletes shouldn’t bench press without spotters, why football players shouldn’t use their heads as battering rams, why swimmers shouldn’t dive into shallow pools.  And why Isadora Duncan shouldn’t have worn that long scarf while riding in an open convertible.