Randomday, with Tea and Introspection

Last Monday, Groundhog's Day, was the 11th anniversary of my Mom's death.  People deal with loss in different ways, and that is really all for the best.  I wrote a poem.  It's one of very few poems I've written in the last few decades, and it took almost no mental effort on my part.  It practically wrote itself, As such, it doesn't feel too self-promoting to say it seems to me like one of the best things I've written in forever.

Then there's my Dad, who hit the ski slopes.  Too hard.  We got the email Tuesday morning: a broken right elbow and surgery Tuesday afternoon to insert plates and screws.  This was distressing, no question... but there is something of a point of distinction in the fact that this injury was received in pursuit of a hobby he took up when he retired ten years ago.  And he was quick to point out, when I was able to speak to him, that the doctor said he was a "perfect patient."  I suppose there are worse scrapes a man of his age can get into.  But I will continue to worry about him until I am assured he has made it safely home from Tahoe.

Also on Tuesday, we were able to get Peter's car out of hock from having its thermostat repaired.  You see, the thermostat was broken so the engine overheated, and smoke started coming out of it and it was spitting coolant in the Fred Meyers parking lot, and it had to be towed from there to the shop.  For all of that, the cost to fix it was, if not affordable, better than it might have been.

On Wednesday I lost the battle I've been fighting for over three weeks to keep the dreaded virus at bay, and I also lost my voice.  It was probably a bit dramatic in 8th grade, reading the mythology story of Ceres and Proserpina, as my voice faded to a fraction of its usual volume.  Then home to meet the appliance repairman, who fixed the stove by replacing the entire top panel with the embedded controls for the touchpad that had shorted out.  It cost about as much as Peter's car repair.  

I've been drinking a lot of tea for the last few days, as it seems to be the only thing that helps the sore throat and voice.  All in all, it's better than it might be. I'm still worried about it turning into something like the walking pneumonia that I had last year but I'm just uncomfortable.  The cough is not nearly so bad and with lots of tea, maybe it will stay that way.  I have drunk at least 10 mugs full today (mostly decaf).  I'm really not sure if all the elderberry cordial, and Zicam and Airborne and Cold-Calm and Cold-eze and vitamin C I took for the last 3 weeks did any good, or if more than one virus was involved.  No guarantees in life, but at least there's tea.

Well, the Great Muppet Caper has finished and the girls are heading to bed.  I have ironed enough things to erase some of the backlog, and I will declare this blog post done.  I think it was probably random enough.