Today I slept the morning and a piece of the afternoon away. It was 2 when I dragged myself out of bed. It was another night of coughing, the old three steps forward and two steps back. I called my doctor. His nurse practitioner and I will do a tele health appointment in about 15 minutes.

I am taking today off as I am exhausted. The nurse has set me up for a chest x-ray tomorrow so we can eliminate pneumonia. I need to take another Covid test. I am grumpy!

This morning I played my usual game. Without asking either Mr. Google or Miss Alexa, I tried to figure the day of the week. I saw the Sunday paper on the floor. Is it Sunday still? I woke up on the couch with both dogs snuggled. Had I napped or slept there all night? The back door was open. All night? My cable box showed the time: 11:30. The sky is blue. The sun is bright. Last thing I remembered was snow and rain. I got it!! I figured it out! Ta Da! It’s Monday!!!

I do feel better except I still have a heavy cough which has settled in my chest. I have a small bit of energy so I may bring trash to the car trunk but I don’t want to go hog wild. I am going to change my bed. I’m thinking slowly with breaks between sheets.

I have a tiny grocery order coming. Soon enough I’ll have bread, cream, coffee filters and Snickers, with a buy two get two coupon so I did. Did I mention java chip ice cream, for my throat of course.

Yesterday, a student from way back saved me. She dropped by and brought me presents. She brought me conversation, someone to talk to for a bit. She brought her chicken soup with pasta which I yummed my way through. That was my first food in almost four days, and it was scrumptious. I even have some left for today. She salved my spirit with a box of chocolates. She surprised me with drawing markers and drawing paper which appealed to my inner muse. She made my day, even my week!!

In Ghana, we always discussed our ailments. I’d see a volunteer I hadn’t seen in a while, and we’d stop to catch up. How’s everything at your school, village, town, city or site? What’s new? We never discussed the common ailments we all shared like diarrhea and catarrh, a dry season malady. They were givens. We discussed spectacular ailments like tropical rashes, worms, dengue fever and cholera when it appeared. We chuckled at Friedman’s disease named after a friend who had a horrid tropical skin rash. We had made up the name of the disease but it became part of the disease lexicon as if it were real. What a legacy!!

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!

I am sick. I went to bed last night at 7 pm and slept until 6:30 pm today. I was coughing so much last night I couldn’t catch my breath. I swear I have the plague. I get better then I get sick again. Today was the worst. I’m calling my doctor tomorrow. The dogs stayed in bed with me the whole time from last night. They were asleep lying next to me figuring I needed the warmth. They were right. The poor dogs usually usually eat around 3 or 3:30, but they waited patiently for me until 6:30 then they inhaled their dinner.

I don’t know how long I’ll last tonight.

I’ll drop a line tomorrow if I am still suffering from the plague. If not, I”m so my usual musing.

Today looks like winter. The still branches of the scrub pines are sun lit against the blue sky. Today is cold, 35°. I still have an empty dance card. I’m still in my cozies.

When I was a kid, time in winter was precious. After school, it got dark so early we played our hearts out until the street lights. Dinner was at the same time every night, usually around six, but it always felt later in the dark of the afternoon and early evening.

One Christmas I got the book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. It had been on my list. I grabbed it, found a corner and started reading. My mother found my reading a bit disconcerting. She warned me if I didn’t take it slowly I’d finish the book. She was right.

I don’t remember bring bored when I was a kid. I always had a book so there was, in my mind, no downtime. Some nights I had homework. Thursday was the big night: spelling test on Friday. I studied by spelling all the words out loud over and over. My favorite homework was reading. That seemed a treat of sorts. Sometimes I had a worksheet to finish, usually an arithmetic worksheet. I finished it before dinner.

When I lived in Ghana, I had no TV or radio. I did have a cassette recorder and tapes. They had been Christmas presents from my parents my first Christmas in Ghana. I played the tapes just about every night. I had cards and a Password game. I had a book of origami folds. I had a Peace Corps book locker and the town had a library. I was never bored. I was never good at origami.

Happy New Year!!!

I’m sorry about yesterday. I woke up nearly at noon as I had gone to bed when it was already light then I had to pick up my dinner at Ring’s and after that it was time to leave for the concert. This last concert of the year was superb, and I do not use that term lightly. We had the largest crowd we’ve ever had, and they stayed and they clapped and they sang along. I even had friends in the audience. It was also my first concert back after the mighty fall and the plague.

Today started mostly cloudy but the blue has broken through. It is a cold, still day, in the 30’s. I have nothing planned the whole week. We even have a uke break. I’m thinking cozies for the whole week. I’m also thinking maybe cleaning a little each day. That would make cleaning a bit more palatable, sort of like a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party for cleaning.

Every New Year’s Day now seems just like any other day. Today for example: I slept late, again, had life saving coffee and read the paper. That could be tomorrow or the next day or any other day. The only difference between them is the date, the change in year.

When I was younger, I used to get excited for New Year’s Eve. My friends and I would get together for a little party, play some games and drink toasts to Auld Lang Syne and to the new year. Last night I watched another year go by. I am going to be a year older, a year deeper into my 70’s. I will celebrate being retired for twenty years. I will celebrate for the sake of celebration. I’ve earned it.

Today is my Wednesday. I forgot to take yesterday off. I didn’t even think about it until this morning.

The days have started to run together a bit so I asked Alexa what day it was. I didn’t need to ask the weather. I could hear the raindrops. Today is dark and dreary. I didn’t even go out to get the paper. It is supposed to be rainy all day but it is warm, in the mid 50’s.

The dogs are napping head to head. They are, of course, on the couch. These dogs define creature comfort. They have already been out and had a couple of treats.

I have no to do list and nothing on my dance card. My voice is still a bit raspy, but I do feel better. I have no idea how I’ll spend the day, my pretend Wednesday. I’ll be surprised. Talk to you tomorrow!

Today is quiet. I don’t even hear a car. The day is warm, 53°. Rain is predicted, and the sky looks ready. It will rain most of the afternoon. My cold has resurfaced so I’m home today. I do feel better though.

One of my favorite gifts this year is Sloth Mode, a companion for me, from my sister Sheila. The stuffed sloth is dressed in a yellow hoodie. When you press his hand (paw?) and talk to him, he repeats what you said so slowly you can barely understand. His mouth makes the strangest movements. He makes me laugh. My sister also read my mind about slippers. She gave me a new pair of Acorn slipper socks, the same ones I mentioned in my blog the other day.

My sister Moe found a small, wooden uke for me. It comes in a great case. I tuned it yesterday and played a song. It felt strange to play a different uke.

Both sisters gave me doo-dads. They are the most fun to open though you can’t top the Sloth. Sheila gave me more Mexican solar dancers. I love the old Girl Scout Handbook. It had been sitting in my memories. Moe found Paper Marche figures, an old Spanish man and woman, and a Santa. She remembered my desk calendar and my cinnamon lollipops from See’s Candy. They are my addiction.

My dance card is empty on purpose. I only had one entry anyway, today’s concert which I am forced to miss. I do feel better, but I have a bit of a cough back.

I am still going to vacuum, maybe even dust, but I guess I shouldn’t go hog wild!