I have risen from the dead. I’m still coughing, but I can catch my breath. My voice, though, is still so raspy I almost have to scream when I am on the phone so I can be understood. A few other symptoms linger, but I’ll spare you the details. I have felt better a couple of times before but the plague returned both times. Now I’m hoping this third time is magical.

I haven’t left the house in a week so now I have to play catch-up. My larder is empty of essentials. I need the staff of life, bread, coffee filters and cream for my coffee. I’m also wanting a Snickers or maybe two. I haven’t been eating because nothing tempts me but I can never turn away from a Snickers. I need to do a dump run. My house is dusty. My dirty clothes are piled. I need a nap!!

When I was a kid, I was seldom sick. I had all the usual, measles, mumps and chicken pox, but I seldom caught colds. If I did, my mother always gave me ginger ale or tea and Saltines. She saw them as panaceas. I still think tea is for only when I’m sick.

On one of my trips, I was in the Arctic Circle in northern Finland, in Lapland. I took a sleeper train from Helsinki and a bus from Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland, to go further north to Lake Inari. My friend and I stayed at a summer hotel. We had dinner at the restaurant just up the street. I had reindeer for dinner. When people ask how it tasted, I tell them I didn’t notice. I was too distracted by the red blinking light on the plate (sorry). The reindeer was actually tasty as they are domesticated though most forage all summer.

Because it was midnight sun time, on the way back to the hotel, I stopped to take pictures. The light was dim. It reminded me of twilight when the late afternoon light is diffused. The backdrop of those pictures is a lake surrounded by pine trees, tall trees with thick trunks. I have a picture of my friend standing in front of a grove of pine. You can just make her out, but the sun is big and clear.

It is good to be back!

This entry was posted on January 7, 2024 at 11:24 am and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.