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February 24, 2014

Weather Beautiful, I am Not!

I haven't had a cold for ages -- and I have a lovely one. It's the kind where you wake up in the morning wishing you could fast forward a few hours because that is how much time it takes to feel human. Fuzzy head, sore throat, slight fever, juicy cough, and no voice. I force myself into a robe and slippers, traipse downstairs where I put on the kettle and make toast, pour orange juice, find the Vitamin C and the aspirin -- put everything on a tray and make my way to the living room and the big, comfy chair. Here is where i sit reading or on my computer until I begin to feel human again. The first to go is the sore throat and then little by little I realize that life isn't as bad as it was at 7:00 a.m. By afternoon and evening, I think I have it conquered until I go to bed and wake up again to the same routine. From very, very long experience, I know that it gradually subsides and life will be back to normal. I also know that it doesn't make a whit of difference in duration if I take fancy cold medicines or not.

At least the world is quite beautiful to look at since we have almost a foot of snow. It remains beautiful even when I feel dreadful and a fire in the fireplace just makes it even better. I'm cozy and warm and the only hitch was that we lost our Cable for a few hours yesterday when I thought I'd watch the rest of the Olympics. I started a puzzle instead. My family had all traveled to Seattle to Martin and Christine's house for our first ever non-holiday game day. We had such fun over Christmas playing games, Martin declared yesterday as a reprise. Unfortunately, nothing appealed to me once I woke up in such misery and so I cancelled. I thought about them all day and wish they lived closer because I would have popped over as soon as I began feeling better -- but not well enough for a long drive through this winter wonderland which, I understand, only reaches as far as Mt. Vernon. This snow came from Canada.

I am, however, surrounded by angels. My neighbor on the alley has decided to clear my sidewalks when it snows. I'm not sure why she adopted me, but somehow when the skies open up with little flakes, she comes up the path with her dog and shovel. She's done this for a few years now. Yesterday, unfortunately, the paths were white again in minutes. But, Katie's husband, Steve, came up with her to see the dress rehearsal of Carmina Burana at Western (Katie's women's choir is singing), and he once again cleared the sidewalks this morning before he took the train back to Seattle.

There is nothing more satisfying than sitting and feeling sorry for yourself while others are doing the jobs that need to be done. Man, is that cool! I suppose that is one perk of aging. It happens often with my kids. James and Charles have toted so many loads between floors, Dani pops in and makes tea and brings up my laundry from the basement. Even little Nico loves to do little errands for grandma. He takes after his Aunt Jeni because he has a good eye. He can find a missing puzzle piece that no one else can find. Once Jeni found a blue contact on a blue shag carpet. The loss was more disconcerting than a puzzle piece, but still little Nico has a real talent for finding the needle in a haystack.

So there you have it. At least I have lots of tasks -- taxes to do, puzzles to put together, a good novel to read, lots of tea and toast, warmth inside while freezing outside, email to read, Facebook to peruse, naps to take -- life can be good even when it is snotty.

Posted by Marilyn at 8:08 AM | Comments (1)