“The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.”
The wind howled all night and rain pounded against the windows. I heard it when the coughing woke me up, but I didn’t mind being awakened as I might have missed the rain, one of my favorite sounds. The howling wind was a bonus. It could have been from the soundtrack of an old black and white horror movie, like The Werewolf.
Yesterday morning I called my friend of over forty years, and he thought I was a guy named Paul. That was it for me. I called the doctor. They wanted me in right away. I think my coughing during the phone call worked to great effect. Come to find out my cold has morphed into bronchitis and was working its way toward pneumonia. I’m on all sorts of stuff right now which should make me sound far less like Paul and more like me.
It’s still windy and rainy. I had to convince Gracie to go out this morning then I ran for the papers and yesterday’s mail which was still in the box. The mail was boring. I have to get Gracie’s license today. It is, of course, the very last day to get it without an extra fee. I like living on the edge!
At the doctor’s they told me I needed to rest. I almost laughed out loud. Rest is my middle name. I love a good afternoon nap.
Because I haven’t seen anyone or been anywhere, my life has no new stories and no new people. I communicate entirely by phone. I spend the day reading and relaxing. I know, I know, a really tough way to while away the day. I’ve been reading David Baldacci, The Forgotten, and I like it. I stretch out on the couch with my afghan covering me and my dog beside me. If I weren’t sick, I’d think my life idyllic.
The rain has stopped, and the sun is out. The sky is mostly blue. I can still hear the wind, and through my window I can see the swaying branches of the oak and pine. It looks like a pretty day.
Explore posts in the same categories: Musings
January 31, 2013 at 11:38 am
A couple of weeks ago I started to sound like that guy on TV that sells the suits. It finally passed but I reserved my singing to solos in the truck, only. Funny, I’ve always found that husky, Joan Greenwood voice much more attractive coming from women than men.
It sometimes seems our lives revolve around renewing a prescription or visiting a doctor lately. Fortunately we could skip both and still live since neither of us have anything any ailments that are slowly killing us…. except age. We’re the lucky ones.
I got up early this morning, did my chores and thought I’d give my big brother a call before he went out and about for the day. He finally retired a month ago today and I thought he might need some advice on how to be constructively idle. Then, I check my e-mail before sitting down with the phone. I got a note this morning from my niece letting me know my big brother’s in the hospital getting two lesions on his brain looked at. He’s had two bouts with cancer and now this. Sometimes, life’s the shits.
January 31, 2013 at 12:25 pm
oldfolkie,
I am the same except my singing is in the car instead of a truck. I like the early Waits husky voice and a few others I can’t bring to mind right now, but I am also partial to some women’s husky voices.
I agree we are the lucky ones. This is the first time I have been sick enough to see a doctor in a long time. I do my dentist every six months, the doctor once a year and the eye doctor every two years. I always figure prevention is best.
LIfe has a tendency to give you a a punch in the gut usually when you think everything is going so well. I hope for the best with your brother!
January 31, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Hi Kat,
Sorry it has morphed into bronchitis but at least you have some drugs to knock it down quickly now.
I got bronchitis the first month I went to work at the IRS. In those days, people could smoke at their desks. It was a huge open floor plan with hundreds of people working during the day. If I looked up, I could see a 2 foot pall of smoke hanging beneath the ceiling tiles. I smoked at the time but there was so much second hand smoke in that building that it made me dizzy to be in there. I saved a lot of money on cigarettes because I didn’t have to smoke while I was at work. The nicotine was free-floating. 🙂 Anyway, I got bronchitis every winter for many years after that except for the winter I got pneumonia instead.
It was so windy here last night that it blew a metal lantern off my doorstep. Now the sun is out but it’s still windy. The deer are way down back in my swampy woods. I think they are nibbling on birch and getting out of the wind.
Rest up. Drink lots of water or tea. Enjoy the day!
January 31, 2013 at 3:46 pm
Hi Caryn,
That is the good part-getting something to knock it out of me.
When I worked, I used to get bronchitis all the time as I’d never stay home and with my asthma, the cold always morphed.
I totally understand that pall of smoke! I worked in the post office and in the back where we sorted mail it was like that only not so great as there were fewer people. One actually smoked a cigar.
I am drinking a lot of liquid though mostly fresh orange juice. It’s like nectar from the gods!
January 31, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Fresh orange juice is lovely. The sugars in it make it dehydrating, though, so the goop in your lungs won’t move out as quickly. Better to stick with mostly water or tea.
Now I need to go make some fresh orange juice. 🙂
January 31, 2013 at 6:37 pm
Thanks, Caryn
I have no idea what works for stuff or what doesn’t! Water it is!
January 31, 2013 at 2:27 pm
So glad to hear you are on the mend! Time and meds and rest. Now if only you do not die of boredom! xoxoxox
January 31, 2013 at 3:46 pm
splendid,
I finished the book I started yesterday and will start another after my nap. Life is tough!!
January 31, 2013 at 2:30 pm
Hi Paul 🙂 🙂 🙂
Good thing You called the doctor! bronchitis is bad enough, pneumonia is really bad! I sound awful when I wake up but a hot cup of tea when I get up makes it almost normal 🙂
We had a storm here last night too! I could hear the wind roar in the forest but nothing hit my cottage. I love that sound but am glad that the wind rarely reach my home. We had that kind of sticky drizzle and it made driving a bit difficult because even if the wipers worked fast it still covered the wind shield within a second.
Take care and rest even harder 🙂
Christer.
January 31, 2013 at 3:49 pm
Christer,
Hahaha!!!
My hot coffee feels good on my throat as I’m really hoarse in the morning after coughing so much at night. During the day, the cold feels best.
A few years ago I had all the branches which hit or were close to the house cut down. With the wind storms we’ve had, it’s a good thing I did. Several branches are down in my back yard, but they do no damage. It just looks messy.
January 31, 2013 at 5:48 pm
That friend of 40 years must have been Meehan. Well, what did he have to say?
Chicken soup and a vaporizer will help.
January 31, 2013 at 6:40 pm
Bill.
I haven’t called him yet! “That gal” sort of made me hesitate!
I had chicken soup for two nights-never thought of a vaporizer-thanks!! (I even have one)
January 31, 2013 at 6:47 pm
Nasty, nasty stuff that bronchitis. I hope your doctor gave you the big gun antibiotics. The ones that are the size of white 45 caliber bullets. Did you get a shot of antibiotics? When I was a kid my mother didn’t think the doctor visit was any good unless he gave me a shot.
One of my theories of the origin of life on Earth involves germs. Before any life existed on this planet aliens from some very far away galaxy arrived on our barren planet and had a pick nick. They left their garbage which evolved into the bacteria and other microbes that are the beginning of life. I don’t want to offend the religious readers so one can believe that the deity created the aliens. Therefore, we all come from garbage and shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. In many cases the microbes will out last us all. After we are laid to rest our bodies will decompose and become the food for the microbes 🙂 It’s not dust to dust, it’s germs to germs.
Today was gorgeous with clear skies, light wind and a high temperature of 70 degrees F or 21 C.
Laughter is the best medicine so keep laughing and get well soon.
January 31, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Bob,
I did get the big gun antibiotics and the good cough medicine. No shots! I also got a rescue inhaler which I’ve used.
Given how I’ve felt the last few days, I’ll buy into the germ theory! I think I read we are all filled with germs to which we have become accustomed so we don’t react to them. They are just part of who we are. Besides in War of the Worlds, they killed the aliens who had no immunity.
Today turned out to be a really nice day here, in the 50’s and sunny.